I ♥ Angry Bulls, Part II [08 Jul 2008|06:19pm] jblaque [ mood | Paid Up ] [ music | 'No Mercy' - Nils Lofgren ] Inspired by this thread... When I was just a little green sprout, my old man would repeat the same, exact phrase to me every time I got caught doing something absolutely stupid and/or self-destructive: "You pays your money, you takes your chances. No refunds." Moo-hoo. ☺ And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Curve Ball [08 Jul 2008|03:21pm] jblaque [ mood | Pyew ] (Hat-tip Chris in Paris) Nice. Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed for major deletions in congressional testimony on the public health consequences of climate change, fearing the presentation by a leading health official might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases, a former EPA officials maintains. When six pages were cut from testimony on climate change and public health by the head of the Centers for Disease Control last October, the White House insisted the changes were made because of reservations raised by White House advisers about the accuracy of the science. But Jason K. Burnett, until last month the senior adviser on climate change to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson, says that Cheney's office was deeply involved in getting nearly half of the CDC's original draft testimony removed... (Read the rest) So tell me, Dick... if global warming is such an obvious hoax, why bother fudging already-false evidence from a bunch of tree-hugging, capitalist-hating loons, eh? Couldn't possibly have anything to do with your hip-pocket, Big Oil buddies, could it? Scumbag. And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

McBully [08 Jul 2008|02:32pm] jblaque [ mood | Pyew ] [ music | 'When I'm 64' - The Beatles ] Hat-tip lsanderson... On orders from Senator John McCain's security detail, Denver police escorted a 61-year-old woman away from a so-called "town hall meeting" that was billed as "open to the public." Librarian Carol Kreck held a homemade sign reading "McCain = Bush" as she stood in line to attend the event. With help from McCain's lackeys, police cited her for trespassing and escorted her to the sidewalk where she was told if she returned she would be arrested. She ultimately received a ticket, and her court date is July 23rd. "And all I did was carry a sign that said McCain = Bush," Kreck said. "And for everyone who voted for Bush, I don't see why it's offensive to say McCain = Bush." Watch it: Bullying little old ladies doesn't seem very presidential, now does it? P.S. This episode by McCain's campaign appears to be a rerun of a 2005 "town hall" in Denver in which the Secret Service had three citizens forcibly removed from an "open" event where Bush and McCain were campaigning for Social Security privatization. Welcome to Bush's third term. http://www.StopMcCain08.com And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

McAbsent [08 Jul 2008|02:09pm] jblaque [ mood | Annoyed ] (Hat-tip Jonathan Stein) This seems legitimate, right? McCain took Congress to task for taking a July 4 recess without completing action on a housing rescue plan, calling it "incredible that Congress should go on vacation while Americans are trying to stay in their homes." ...until you realize that ol' Straight Talk has missed 367 votes during the current Congress. He is the most absent member of the Senate. http://www.StopMcCain08.com And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

I LIVE [08 Jul 2008|09:48am] atomsku Sort of. I took off work today because breathing the outside air agitates my sinuses which in turn gives me this horrible headache and all the other symptoms that I've had for a while that I should go see a doctor about and omg I should really just go see a doctor. lol... there was a longer entry here, I'll probably post it later when I can put it together better. for now, I'm gonna hop back in bed.f I miss him everyday

The Running of the Fools [07 Jul 2008|05:12pm] jblaque [ mood | Amused ] [ music | "Spanish Fly' - Van Halen ] I always root for the bulls. ☺ ( More ouchy goodness... ) And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Monday's Girls (NSFW) [07 Jul 2008|03:25pm] jblaque [ mood | Monday... Ugh. ] Who's the Fairest? ( VOTE NOW! ) And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

McInsanity [07 Jul 2008|01:43pm] jblaque [ mood | Pyew ] "What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is. ~ Dan Quayle (Hat-tip SusanG) It's official: McCain has lost his fuckin' mind: "In the long-term, the only way to keep the budget balanced is successful reform of the large spending pressures in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid," the McCain campaign says in a policy paper to be released Monday. "The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction." [Emphasis added.] Set aside for a moment the fantasy economics involved (e.g. just because I stop charging on my credit card doesn't mean I'm suddenly making income to pay off the debt I've run up, does it?). It appears that Bush's third term is going to be even more delusional than his first two, if the cornerstone of John McCain's deficit reduction plan is the blithe assumption of "victory" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kind of reminds you of candy and flowers and being greeted as liberators, doesn't it? And promises of billions of dollars of oil guaranteed to pay for Iraqi reconstruction? Slam dunks and cakewalks are undoubtedly just around the corner. http://www.StopMcCain08.com And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

The Irony, It Burns... [07 Jul 2008|12:25pm] jblaque The White House staff celebrated the Commander Guy's 62nd birthday aboard Air Force One yesterday, where they presented Chimpy with a coconut cake and the gift of a “wooden box“: The party for birthday on Sunday was informal; the gift was not. The staff presented him with a wooden box made from a giant oak tree that fell on the White House lawn in 2007. Some of the wood from the tree, planted by Benjamin Harrison’s daughter in 1892, had been sent to Texas to be fashioned into a box... They filled it with notes and cards from members of his senior staff. Perhaps we should all pitch in and send him 4,114 little toy soldiers to put in it. And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Asshole of the Week [06 Jul 2008|01:50pm] jblaque [ mood | Pyew ] And the winner is... Recovering alcoholic/drug addict, ADHD-sufferer and divorced Mormon dickhead Glenn Beck, for his unusually insipid (even for him) comments on the SCOTUS/Gitmo decision: "If I’m president of the US, I would go on National television and say—’ladies and gentlemen, the Supreme Court said that we don’t have Gitmo so that is over. We’re going to release all of them, but I want you to know from here on out our policy is to not have prisoners. We’re going to shoot them all in the head. If we think they are against us, we’re going to shoot them and kill them... If we can’t put them away and they’re going to use our court system—kill them." Of course, as John Amato points out, the Court never said we "didn’t have Gitmo" or couldn’t arrest or prosecute suspects. Maybe Beck should ask Bush why he can’t get guilty verdicts with all the resources we spend on the War on Terror. What an example of American thought Beck represents, eh? Mass killings are only predicated on what we think about them. Small wonder his mother killed herself. P.S. Speaking of mass killings... And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Happy Kill Yourself Weekend! [06 Jul 2008|01:05am] jblaque [ mood | Dumbasses ] (Hat-tip Dr. Death) There's nothing I love more than being an American, where I have the right to eat myself fat, drink myself stupid, tell disrespectful jokes about my government, and blame everybody else when something doesn’t go my way. But there is nothing more genuinely American then celebrating our nation’s birthday each year by waking up, and wondering what idiot is going to blow themselves to smithereens, all in the name of entertainment. Yessir, there are all kinds of idiots to make fun of during this Great American Holiday. Some, like the moron in this video, escape with mere ass and nut burns instead of a date with the grim reaper: Yep, they are America’s future. God help us all. The death machine does find a few people each July 4th. Last year, people such as Danielle Barse, a Michigan mom who attempted to set off a three inch mortar. When the explosive didn’t go off right away, what does Danielle do? She puts her freaking face over the thing to see if there was something wrong. BOOM goes the mortar, and off went her head. One round — designed to fly 200 to 300 feet in the air before exploding — hit Barse in the face while the other 25 mortars continued to explode in sequence, keeping rescuers at bay. I'm betting it was a closed casket funeral. In Kansas City, 25-year-old Brock Barrett was killed when a four-inch mortar exploded in his face. In Ohio, Terrance Hough - who was upset at the noise the neighbor’s fireworks were making - decided to shoot three of the revelers to death, injuring two others. Near Seattle, another man was shot during an argument at a fireworks celebration and died after aid workers trying to help him felt threatened by a hostile crowd. More than 100 people were present when the two men began arguing in a parking lot. Paramedics called after the shooting found the crowd so threatening, they had to quickly take the wounded man out to continue CPR. In a Detroit suburb, an explosion that could be felt blocks away injured two brothers who authorities believe were trying to make fireworks in their apartment complex. The men, in their 30s, were critically injured. “Obviously something went wrong, we’re not sure if it was static electricity or they did something else stupid,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin McCall. Reports from this year's festivities are already starting to hit the newswires... U-S-A! U-S-A! And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

It's been a little too serious around here lately... [05 Jul 2008|11:36pm] m1lkhoney So I have decided, in honor of Caturday, to do myself and everyone a favor. lolcats are funny, yes, but wouldn't it be nice if someone posted only the funniest ones, the cleverest ones... the ones that actually deserve the "lol"? Yes, it would be nice, and that's exactly what I plan to do. Behold, the lolcats (and loldogs, and lol-whatevers) that have literally made me lol over the past month. Okay, so I'm starting with dogs. ( To make your day brighter and fluffier... oh my, there's like a zillion. ) And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Screw You, Detroit... [05 Jul 2008|05:49pm] jblaque [ mood | Want! ] ... and you Arab bastards, too. 235 miles per gallon. And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

It's On! (Reader Poll) [05 Jul 2008|04:08pm] jblaque [ mood | Ready to Grumble ] UPDATE:: Congratulations to Forrest Griffin for a gallantly-fought upset victory over Jackson to take the UFC Light-Heavyweight belt. This guy has the heart of a lion. (Hat-tip Gareth Davies) Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (27-6) defends his UFC Light-Heavyweight title against Forrest Griffin (15-4) tonight in Las Vegas, a potentially vicious contest with many imponderables. Jackson has fought at the top level for over five years. Yet last September, any doubts about Griffin's credentials disappeared in 14 minutes and 45 seconds when he destroyed Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (who'd previously handed Jackson the most one-sided beating of his career). Since then, the notion of Griffin as UFC's 205-lb. title holder was no longer far-fetched. The imponderables, however, surround whether Griffin can master his first-five round contest, against the man who defeated Chuck Liddell to take the title. Jackson comes back after a long lay-off, but has still as the 3-1 favorite in Nevada. Jackson, the UFC light-heavyweight champion, is one of mixed martial arts' biggest stars. He has beaten the best, yet has twice been solidly beaten by Wanderlei "The Ax Murderer" Silva (who just happens to be Griffin's training partner). On paper, the reigning champion wins this fight, holding advantages over Griffin in wrestling (which may nullify Griffin’s striking and heart). To win this fight, Griffin needs to follow the same model that allowed Silva to beat Jackson, i.e. be aggressive, and keep the pressure on Jackson for the duration of the fight. If Griffin can weather the storm of Jackson’s striking, he may be able to keep the fight in close quarters, and sink in a Muay Thai clinch, similar to the way Silva did. In the end, it will come down to technique, conditioning and defense. Me? My heart is with Griffin, but I have a feeling Jackson's gonna dominate and close the show early, based solely on his sheer strength and ferocity. I'm not laying out any money tonight unless I can get at least 4-1 on Griffin at the pub. So I ask you, fellow fight fans... Poll #1218347 Jackson vs. Griffin This poll is closed. Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All Who ya got? View Answers Jackson by KO/Submission 2 (40.0%) Jackson by Decision 1 (20.0%) Griffin by KO/Submission 0 (0.0%) Griffin by Decision 2 (40.0%) Other (Explain in Comments) 0 (0.0%) And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Going, going... [05 Jul 2008|03:30pm] jblaque [ mood | Discouraged ] (Hat-tip Raw Story) Orangutan populations continue to plummet on the only two islands where they still live in the wild, and they could become the first great ape species to go extinct if urgent action isn't taken, a new study says. The declines in Indonesia and Malaysia since 2004 are mostly because of illegal logging and the expansion of palm oil plantations, Serge Wich, a scientist at the Great Ape Trust, whose survey found the orangutan population on Indonesia's Sumatra island dropped almost 14% in thee last 4 years alone. It also concluded that the populations on Borneo island, which is shared by Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, have fallen by 10 percent. In their study, Wich and his 15 colleagues said the declines in Borneo were occurring at an "alarming rate" but that they were most concerned about Sumatra, where the numbers show the population is in "rapid decline." "Unless extraordinary efforts are made soon, it could become the first great ape species to go extinct," researchers wrote. The number of orangutans on Sumatra has fallen from 7,500 to 6,600 while the number on Borneo has fallen from 54,000 to around 49,600, according to the survey on the endangered apes, which appears in this month's science journal Oryx. "It's disappointing that there are still declines even though there have been quite a lot of conservation efforts over the past 30 years," Wich said. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's top two palm oil producers, have aggressively pushed to expand plantations amid a rising demand for biofuels which are considered cleaner burning and cheaper than petrol. Michelle Desilets, founding director of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, praised the study for offering the first comprehensive look at the species population. "What matters is that the rate of decline is increasing, and unless something is done, the wild orangutan is on a quick spiral towards extinction, whether in two years, five years or 10 years," Desilets said. In their paper, the researchers recommended that law enforcement be boosted to help reduce the hunting of orangutans for food and trade. Environmental awareness at the local level must also be increased. "It is essential that funding for environmental services reaches the local level and that there is strong law enforcement," the study says. "Developing a mechanism to ensure these occur is the challenge for the conservation of the orangutans." The study is the latest in a long line of research that has predicted the orangutans demise. In May, the Center for Orangutan Protection said just 20,000 of the endangered primates remain in the tropical jungle of Central Kalimantan on Borneo island, down from 31,300 in 2004. Based on that estimate, it concluded orangutans there could be extinct by 2011. Learn more here. And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Whattya say, kids? [04 Jul 2008|06:03pm] jblaque [ mood | Help ] http://community.livejournal.com/siamesecats/169163.html A donation of just $2-3 dollars from each of you oughta get this poor little fellow back on his feet (and on his way to adoption). You with me? UPDATE 7/05 11:AM CDT: I spoke with a young lady at the emergency animal hospital this morning, and it appears our little friend may have a broken jaw. They're feeding him intravenously at this point but, sadly, not enough money has been raised to have him treated. I'm hoping that enough donations will come in before they have to transfer the cat to the country shelter (perhaps a soon as Monday), where no one knows if he'll be treated and put up for adoption or simply put down. I was told that the little guy is alert (albeit frightened) and that he did do a little purring this morning. And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Ding-Dong... [04 Jul 2008|10:27am] jblaque The Witch is Dead Helms shows us which Circle of Hell he'll be occupying And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Trash Peddler [03 Jul 2008|08:11pm] jblaque [ mood | Pyew ] Still whoring for a spot on McCain's cabinet, I see... (Hat-tip Steve Benen) About a month ago, as the debate over coastal drilling began in earnest, Dick Cheney pushed the rhetorical envelope a bit, telling the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that “oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida. We’re not doing it. The Chinese are in cooperation with the Cuban government … Even the communists have figured out that a good answer to high prices is more supply. Yet Congress has said… no to drilling off Florida.” It has been a common Republican talking point, but it’s patently false — the Chinese are not drilling off Cuba’s coasts. In fact, the very day after Cheney made the bogus claim (i.e. after someone actually called him on it), the V.P.’s office acknowledged that he was "mistaken." And yet, for some reason, high-profile Republicans like Rudy Giuiliani can’t stop repeating a ridiculous claim that’s already been debunked. Maybe conservatives have decided that they can’t win a debate on energy policy on the merits, so misleading people about communists stealing our oil is the better strategy. Here’s video of The Ghoul dry-humping CNN’s resident right-wing lap-dog, Glenn Beck. Giuliani: “You look at Cuba. Cuba is going to allow China to drill for oil within 80 miles of Florida. And Florida had a 300-mile limit. So in essence, we have China drilling for American oil.” Maybe it’s my imagination, but it almost seems as if the 'Pugs have been spreading this horseshit even more now that it's been debunked. And now, it looks like Stormin' Norm Coleman is getting in on the fun. TPM has been keeping track of all the examples, and there are some real doozies in there. Some Republicans have altered the myth a little (I think Giuliani is the first to suggest that the Cubans and the Chinese are actually "taking our oil"), but they’re all repeating a charge that isn’t remotely true. Either these morons don’t know what they’re talking about, or they know the claim is false and shamelessly repeat it anyway. At this point, WTF's the difference? http://www.StopMcCain08.com And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

Independence Day: Tribute to Vinnie Jordan [03 Jul 2008|05:28pm] jblaque [ mood | Nostalgic ] Vinnie Jordan: 1955-2001 For those of you that have been my friends since the alt.tasteless days, the name Vinnie Jordan needs no introduction. For those of you that've never heard of him: Vinnie Jordan blasted on to the 'net in the early 1990s. He found a home in alt.tasteless (in fact, he was named Mr. Alt Tasteless for 1997) and its less slutty stepsister group, alt.peeves, and he was well-known on the ba.* and scruz.* groups. A Google Groups search on pigface@deeptht.armory.com, pigface@netcom.com and vinniej@sco.com will show his meanderings into other newsgroups through cross-posted flamewars and trolls. He had a number of noms de 'net: Pigface, Notorious P.I.G, One Sick Individual, King of Beasts, Missing Link, Dirty White Boy, Filthy McNasty, Pickled Punk, Doggiestyle, Official Asshole of the 1996 Olympics, and I.M. Bent. Off the 'net, Vinnie was a gentleman (except when he was channeling Pigface; in that case, he could be both funny and infuriating to be around, depending on whether you were his target or his audience). Yet Vinnie had a streak of self-destruction and seemed destined (and at times, determined) to meet an early death. He said he expected to live to age 40 and that anything after that was borrowed time. Vinnie was expressive and profane and belligerent. But those who knew him well knew another side to Vinnie — a side that was rarely expressed in the public sphere of the 'net. You'll see proof of that in some of the e-mail exchanges that people have contributed. Vinnie died in 2001 at age 46, in Santa Cruz, California. The following post was among the first of Vinnie's works that I read after aimlessly wandering into a.t. in 1995, and one that I have reposted in various other forums every July 4th as a memorial to his twisted spirit. I warn you that it isn't pretty, but I hope that you'll enjoy it as much as I still do. ( Rest in peace, old soldier... ) And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

You Don't Say... [03 Jul 2008|03:09pm] jblaque [ mood | Idiots ] Hat-tip Think Progress... June 2008 was the deadliest month of the Afghanistan war, and the second straight month that the number of troops killed there surpassed that of Iraq. “It has been a tough month in Afghanistan,” Commander Flightsuit acknowledged at a Rose Garden press conference on Wednesday. Yesterday, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen said he cannot send more troops to Afghanistan until there are further troop reductions in Iraq: "What I said in my statement is also important as a part of that calculus, which is, I don’t have troops I can reach for, brigades I can reach to send into Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq..." Watch it: “[U]nlike the insurgency in Iraq, we don’t have enough troops there to hold,” he added later, when asked about the Taliban’s growth. Mission Accomplished. Bring on Iran! And now you know about it| I miss him everyday

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