Mud

http://www.mediaaccess.org/articles/comments-of-keynote-speaker-mark-lloyd-at-social-media-net-neutrality-and-future-of-journalism-event

"Allow me to clear away some mud: I am not a Czar appointed by President Obama. I am not at the FCC to restore the Fairness Doctrine through the front door or the back door, or to carry out a secret plot funded by George Soros to get rid of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or any other conservative talk show host. I am not at the FCC to remove anybody, whatever their color, from power. I am not a supporter of Hugo Chavez. The right wing smear campaign has been, in a word – incredible, generating hate mail and death threats. It is the price we pay for freedom of speech. And I do support free speech."

-- Mark Lloyd, Chief Diversity Officer, Federal Communication Commission

It's a shame that public servants have to actually say things like this.

Climate Change Rant

Image by United Nations Photo via Flickr

Here's another thing to rant about:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/18/copenhagen-draft-treaty-meltdown

I have news for the world.

Humanity WILL DO NOTHING to save itself. I absolutely guarantee that our civilization will eventually collapse under the weight of a disrupted environment. There is no doubt what so ever about this. It is a fundamental principle of biology that every species eventually destroys its environment, period. The only thing about humans, is that we will do it on a massive scale.

All this urgency... Speeches about how we must act now before it is irreversible... Well, news flash - it is already too late. Scientists and few politicians that seriously follow this know it. It
is too late. Global ice is melting fast. The oceans are rising already, and weather patterns are already altered. Permanently. Here's the scary bit, we have no idea what all will really happen as a result. And our science isn't close to able to make those predictions. The Pentagon is issuing a report citing climate change as a threat to global stability, and thus now a military issue.

That thinking is where the action is now. Not in Copenhagen.

Hard Times in Moscow

Image by ZedZap(Nick) via Flickr

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5AF4W320091116

"Russian police have arrested three homeless people suspected of eating a 25-year-old man they had butchered and selling other bits of the corpse to a local kebab house."

Meanwhile, In Oklahoma

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33340225/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

"The boy, malnourished and covered in bruises and scars, sought help from a security guard at a National Guard armory on Sept. 25. The teen told police he spent most of the last 4 1/2 years locked inside bedroom closets at various apartments where the family lived and never attended school or received medical attention, authorities said."

Even More Christian Baby Killers

Image by According to O'Brien via Flickr

http://news.opb.org/article/5925-clackamas-county-investigating-death-baby/

"The Clackamas County sheriff’s office and district attorney are investigating the death of a baby who died Sunday morning in Oregon City, within hours of being born, Saturday afternoon.

"The Oregonian newspaper is reporting that the family involved belongs to the faith-healing church, Followers of Christ."

Coyotes

Image by Anatoly Kraynikov via Flickr

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/28/jeremiah-raymond-berry-pl_n_301757.html

"Jeremiah Berry shot his father in the head, and then dismembered his corpse to feed parts of it to coyotes, according to court documents. Authorities said they also found some of Jack Berry's body parts encased in a bucket with concrete.

"Jeremiah Berry told police he killed his father after his father raped him. He said his father told him that day he had been told by God his son needed a sex change to become his wife."

Just another day in America...

Twits

Image via CrunchBase

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/09/24/breaking-news-twitter-to-raise-100-million-from-insight-t-rowe-price-other-investors/

"Twitter, the messaging web site that has become an Internet sensation, is nearing a deal to close as much as $100 million of new funding from as many as seven investors, according to people familiar with the deal."

Oh great... So this puts off Twitters eventual demise by pouring more cash into this .com no business model non-business. What is this? 1995?

Wilson's TRICARE

Image via Wikipedia

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/09/10/joe-wilson-s-dirty-health-care-secret.aspx

""As a 31-year Army Guard and Reserve veteran, I know the importance of TRICARE," he said in a press release. "The number of individuals who choose to enroll in TRICARE continues to rise because TRICARE is a low cost, comprehensive health plan that is portable and available in some form world-wide." He went on to call TRICARE "world class health care," concluding on a personal note. "I am grateful to have four sons now serving in the military, and I know that their families appreciate the availability of TRICARE," he said."

TRICARE is a single-payer, government run health care plan. All Representative Wilson is all for it.

More Family Values Fun

We hear a lot about nationally known Republicans and their family values, but there's a lot of local stories also that tend to get missed in the chatter.

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story_2nd.php?story_id=125254485065097200

"Tony J. Marino, 48, who has worked in broadcasting, marketing and Web development, and is a former board member of the Tigard Chamber of Commerce, will be sentenced Sept. 25 in Pierce County, Wash. He was initially charged with raping his estranged daughter, but the superior court in Pierce County changed the charges to second-degree incest — a class C felony — in exchange for a guilty plea.

"Marino is currently lodged in the Pierce County Jail.

"Marino, who created and ran America Web Works from Tigard, pleaded guilty to sexual contact with his daughter while they were staying at the Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel in Fife, Wash. on Aug. 16, 2008. The daughter reported this incident to Tigard police on Feb. 17, 2009, telling them her father had nonconsensual sexual intercourse with her while she said she was intoxicated."

Meanwhile...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27025.html

"“…I will not be muzzled. I will speak up loudly against this risky plan,” Wilson says in the video appeal on his campaign web site."

Ha! That's great news! The dumb people will bury us eventually, but the dumber the dumb people look, the better the chance of keeping this shaky country a float for another few decades.

"Wilson’s appeal for campaign cash capped a day of frenzied political activity, with Wilson’s Democratic opponent, former marine Rob Miller, raising a whopping $700,000 over the course of the day."

D is for Dumb

Image by jmtimages [off] via Flickr

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26744.html

"School districts from Maryland to Texas are fielding angry complaints from parents opposed to President Barack Obama's back-to-school address Tuesday – forcing districts to find ways to shield students from the speech as conservative opposition to Obama spills into the nation's classrooms."

How dare the President of the United States give a speech to children on the value of education!!

"But Democratic strategist Chris Lehane said the protest against the presidential speech "shows at some level how desperate the right is to find an issue to challenge Obama on...They have gotten some traction on health care, but the mere fact that they have jumped on this reflects that this is a party without a voice. Are they going to run in the mid-terms on a 'Presidents shouldn't talk to kids' platform?""

Strange Story...

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32592133/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

"When investigators entered the house after her death, they found plastic bags "everywhere," according to Romankow. It took months of interviews before they were able to piece together what happened.

"The case leaves many unanswered questions for investigators."

Perp

http://picktheperp.com/

Pick the Perp names a crime and shows you a set of mug shots - you get to guess which perp did the crime.

Just when I think the internet has already done everything....

Even More Christianity

When people are idiots in one way, like being creationists, you can usually assume that they are idiots in another way...

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/99359/Unemployment_catches_a_break_Tax_troubles_in_creationist_paradise

Like thinking they don't have to pay property taxes.

"a federal judge approved the sale of creationist theme park, Pensacola’s Dinosaur Adventure Land, because owners Kent and Jo Hovind,owe $430,400 in back taxes. The Hovinds argue that since they are employed by God, they needn’t pay income or property taxes."

I See Dumb People

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.alternet.org/story/106551

"The change from a print-based to an image-based society has transformed our nation. Huge segments of our population, especially those who live in the embrace of the Christian right and the consumer culture, are completely unmoored from reality. They lack the capacity to search for truth and cope rationally with our mounting social and economic ills. They seek clarity, entertainment and order. They are willing to use force to impose this clarity on others, especially those who do not speak as they speak and think as they think. All the traditional tools of democracies, including dispassionate scientific and historical truth, facts, news and rational debate, are useless instruments in a world that lacks the capacity to use them."

Dead on correct.

This article absolutely nails what has happened to America since, I would say, the very early 1980s - the campaigns of Ronald Reagon in other words. And it is highly informative reading in a context of our current, and critical, "debate" about our health care.

Your Health Care

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/opinion/31krugman.html

Image via Wikipedia

"At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Representative Bob Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.” The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program — but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, “wasn’t having any of it.”
...
"Most obviously, the government directly provides insurance via Medicare and other programs. Before Medicare was established, more than 40 percent of elderly Americans lacked any kind of health insurance. Today, Medicare — which is, by the way, one of those “single payer” systems conservatives love to demonize — covers everyone 65 and older. And surveys show that Medicare recipients are much more satisfied with their coverage than Americans with private insurance."

People are stupid. Not just a little, but deeply and profoundly stupid. It's just a simple fact the intelligence, in any sense of the word, is not required to live a normal adult live in America today. And this is why a profoundly broken health care system will not be fixed, and why America is already declining as a nation.

People are stupid.

There have been many difficult, politically charged debates. But its hard to think of when more outright lies have been shoveled down the throats of the unquestioning sheep as the current debate on health care reform. Oh wait, I can think of one. Republicans said exactly the same things about Medicare. Reagon called it socialism. Bob Dole boosted of voting against it. Same trash...

Sister

http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1645467

"A man drunk on mouthwash who performed oral sex on his unconscious sister in Rainbow Park was sentenced to jail-time served and three years probation Tuesday in Sarnia court."

Wow, that's messed up...

"The mother of the pair told McFadden she hopes her son didn’t realize the woman was his sister. She called it the low point in her son’s life of alcohol abuse, the lawyer said."

The Other, Other White Meat

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.strangenewproducts.com/2005/09/tofu-that-tastes-like-human-flesh.html

"Hufu is the name of a tofu-based product designed to resemble the taste of human flesh. Billed as the "Healthy Human Flesh Alternative", it's designed to provide connoisseurs of people-parts with a legal way to please their palates."

It's what's for dinner!

Christian Parenting Skills

http://news.opb.org/article/5400-father-thought-prayer-and-fasting-were-working/

"The father of 15-month-old Ava Worthington told a court Friday that there was no need for medical intervention because anointing her with oil, praying and fasting appeared to be working."

Man's Head, and Duck

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5617094/Chinese-woman-boiled-mans-head-to-cure-daugthers-psychiatric-problems.html

"Lin and her husband decided to enlist the help of a man in December who knocked unconscious a drunk 76-year-old passer-by before beheading him, the paper claimed.

"The couple then gave their 25-year-old daughter soup made from the man’s head, and duck."

Medical

Unbelievable... How in the world could anyone be stupid enough to think that we shouldn't do what every industrialized nation has done and fix this?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31103572/

"Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

"More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts"

Parenting

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25609943-5006009,00.html

"Magistrate Barry described the horrific condition the children were found in her house as "squalored, putrid and uninhabitable", while littered with dirty clothes, nappies and food scraps and contained broken glass from shattered windows, bottles and a shower screen."

There's a link to an impressive photo gallery at the beginning of the article.

Baby

Image via Wikipedia

People are just plain crazy... There's no other way to put it. Of course this article makes sure to mention Craigslist, several times. Let's be sure to blame the internet for the daily madness and stupidity all around us.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31159132/

"A pregnant 21-year-old found dead with her baby no longer in her womb befriended the woman charged with killing her through Craigslist, her mother said Sunday.

"Police said they found Heather M. Snively's body Friday in a crawl space in Korena Elaine Roberts' home in Beaverton, a Portland suburb. They'd been called there because a newborn wasn't breathing. The baby later died."

DIY Wine

Image via Wikipedia

I think there might be better ways to make wine. I think...

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000373.php

"As for the White Prison Wine, it would contain: White grape juice and the moldy bread sock. No extra yeast added. For the requisite sugar, I went with some powdered drink mix, a few packets of ketchup and a handful of Tigger fruit snacks."

Have a Heart

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98E2QEG1&show_article=1

Canada's governor general ate a slaughtered seal's raw heart in a show of support to the country's seal hunters, a display that a European Union spokeswoman on Tuesday called "too bizarre to acknowledge."

...

Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered Monday as Jean knelt above a pair of seal carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin. After cutting through the flesh, Jean turned to the woman beside her and asked: "Could I try the heart?"

Changer

Image via CrunchBase

Hey Sony, 1990 called, it wants its disc changer back!

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/21/the-sony-blu-ray-mega-changers-are-coming-soon-are-you-ready/

Even More Christian Parenting

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5588968

"A mother accused of praying instead of seeking medical help for her dying 11-year-old daughter was found guilty on Friday of reckless homicide.

...

"Neumann's daughter Madeline died from untreated diabetes on March 23, 2008, surrounded by people praying for her. When she stopped breathing, her parents' business and Bible study partners finally called the emergency dispatcher.

...

"During closing arguments, Marathon County district attorney Jill Falstad described Neumann as a religious zealot who let her daughter, called Kara by her parents, die as a test of faith.

"Basic medical care would have saved Kara's life - fluids and insulin," Falstad said. "There was plenty of time to save Kara's life."

Family values at its finest...

Soup

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30884902/

"A Georgia man has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for poisoning his children to extort money from Campbell's Soup Co.

"William Cunningham was sentenced Thursday after a jury found him guilty on seven counts of aggravated assault for forcing the children in 2006 to eat soup laced with prescription drugs and lighter fluid."

Traditional family values in the southern states...

Carpet

Image via Wikipedia

http://ask.metafilter.com/122697/What-are-the-ramifications-when-a-real-estate-disclosure-is-misleading-and-nasty-surprises-are-revealed-after-sale

"Here they found a hideous scene: between the new carpet padding and the hardwood is a thick layer of dried, saturated blood and crunchy tissue which appears to be brains. The residue runs the entire length of the hallway, some 15 feet, with distinct lines at each of the five doorways. Despite the disclosure that the shooting happened in the back room, the blood evidence makes it clear that the suicide closed himself off in the smallest area of the house, the hallway, and shot himself there. The body was removed, the walls repainted, but the residue of the shooting was never cleaned up. Instead, someone had laid down new carpeting to give the impression of cleanliness."

"Great"

Image by holotone via Flickr

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/05/tweeting_the_mona_lisa.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

Ok, so let me see if I have this straight... 1) Someone invents a "new" "communication" "tool" whose "innovation" is 140 character message length limitation, then 2) someone creates an "innovative" new protocol for sending image data 140 characters at a time. Super!

George Will

Funny...

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/05/george-wills-irritable-mental-gestures.php

"Will claims to find it unbelievable that as many as 0.01 percent of Americans would ever bike to work regularly. But rather than tossing off ridicule, he might have looked up the Census Bureau’s statistics on commuting patterns and seen that right now 0.4 percent of commuters normally get to work on bicycles. Now that’s a small percentage. But it’s forty times larger than a percentage that Will deems unrealistically utopian."

Comedy!

Image via Wikipedia

BahHaHaHaHa!!
OMG, this guy is killing me! HAHAHAAA!!

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22709.html

Steele also said that the "corner has been turned" for the GOP and predicted a Republican resurgence.

"The Republican comeback has begun. It is underway, and it is not in Washington," he said.

...

"The Republican Party is again going to emerge as the party of new ideas," he added. "It will take some time, for sure, but it is beginning now."

Man, that's comedy gold right there.

Bakersfield

Image by anarchosyn via Flickr

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Blind-Bakersfield-boy-Daddy-ate-my-eyes/RK0Wdl1WTUCH5BlkgKlGuA.cspx

"Police believe a Bakersfield man bit the eyeball out of his son's face and ate it, according to court documents. The 4-year-old's other eye was damaged beyond repair, reports said.

"The boy's missing eye could not be located, reports said, and he told a detective, 'Daddy ate my eyes.'"

It's hard to believe that things like this happen - but they do.

Parenting Failure - Religion Again...

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30763438

"A Minnesota judge has ruled that a 13-year-old cancer patient whose parents want to treat him with “alternative medicine” must seek conventional medical treatment for their son.

...

"Daniel was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and stopped chemotherapy in February after a single treatment. He and his parents opted instead for “alternative medicines” based on their religious beliefs.

...

"Doctors have said Daniel’s cancer had up to a 90 percent chance of being cured with chemotherapy and radiation. Without those treatments, doctors said his chances of survival are 5 percent."

Seemed like a good idea at the time?

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5473JM20090508

"A Florida woman has been indicted for keeping her dead mother's body in a bedroom for six years while collecting more than $200,000 in pension benefits, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

...

"Police found the decaying body of her mother, Timmie Jordan, on a bed in a spare bedroom at the mother's home in late March, when they were called to investigate a report of nuisance cats."

Crazy people always have a lot of cats.

Gab

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30361435/

"Fayetteville police spokeswoman Teresa Chance said Wednesday the woman had a handgun and demanded money when she entered a Carter Bank & Trust branch at 9:43 a.m. Tuesday.

"But she got distracted when her cell phone rang. Police said she began talking to the caller and left the bank without taking any money. No one was hurt."

Pat Robertson on Marriage Between Two Adults

Image via Wikipedia

http://mediamatters.org/clips/200905070024

"we haven’t taken this to its ultimate conclusion. You got polygamy out there. How can we rule that polygamy is illegal when you say that homosexual marriage is legal. What is it about polygamy that’s different? Well, polygamy was outlawed because it was considered immoral according to biblical standards. But if we take biblical standards away in homosexuality, what about the other? And what about bestiality and ultimately what about child molestation and pedophilia? How can we criminalize these things and at the same time have constitutional amendments allowing same-sex marriage among homosexuals. You mark my words, this is just the beginning in a long downward slide in relation to all the things that we consider to be abhorrent."

-- Pat Robertson