Saturday, December 31, 2011

Don't Drink And Walk

Don't Drink And Walk

You would think that I would be advising you to not drink and drive this weekend. Well, that too. But did you know that you're eight times more likely to die walking drunk than you are driving drunk. It's strange, I know, but oddly enough true.

Add in that January 1st is the deadliest day for pedestrians. And of those deaths, 58% of those people who died were drunk.



Let's take into account that in 2009, 34,000 people died in traffic accidents. Half of them were drivers and 41% of those were drunk. Now consider that in that year 4,000 pedestrians were killed and 35% of them were drunk. Thanks to Freakonomics for this stuff:

In the 2009 book “Super Freakonomics,” authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner argued it was more dangerous to walk home drunk than drive home drunk — although they don’t recommend doing either.

Yes, more drunken drivers die every year than drunken walkers. But based on the ratio of miles driven drunk and miles walked drunk, and the number of deaths in each category, “on a per-mile basis, a drunk walker is eight times more likely to get killed than a drunk driver,” the authors argue.

The analysis comes with the major caveat that “a drunk walker isn’t likely to hurt or kill anyone other than her- or himself. That can’t be said of a drunk driver.” And the authors clearly state the safest choice would be to drink less or take a cab

But it highlights the dangers of what many consider to be the safer alternative.

Those who are intoxicated and decide not to drive home should be applauded, Jordan said.

“But walking home alone is a terrible idea when drinking, especially with the cold weather,” Jordan said.

People often underestimate just how far the walk is and can be unprepared for the winter weather. Dark streets and one too many drinks make it all too easy to trip over sidewalk cracks and curbs.

“You’re putting yourself at risk for other bad things to happen,” Jordan said of walking home alone.

Just like those who have to drive home, Jordan said party-goers should plan ahead if they want to walk home. Among the alternatives in Lawrence is the Tipsy Taxi, a free service that runs from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. tonight and takes people safely to their homes. Those who want to use it should call 842-TAXI at least 45 minutes ahead of time.

Several pedestrian fatalities in Lawrence speak to the risks involved.

So what's the solution to all this problem of not knowing exactly what to do when your drunk since both options of driving and walking are out the door? Why not call AAA? I'm serious. They're willing to tow your drunk ass home after a long night of drinking.

One way Santa Clarita Valley residents can cope with local law enforcement wrangling drunken drivers this holiday season is to take AAA up on an offer to tow their vehicles home free, a AAA official said Friday.

The program is called "Tipsy Tow," and it offers drunken drivers a better alternative than trying to drive their cars home after drinking, said Nichole Walker, AAA representative.

"The first seven miles are free," Walker said. "After that, the individual pays the rest of the way."

Any money AAA expends on this program will be offset by the cost of towing after seven miles, Walker said.

Sheriff's deputies across Los Angeles County have made 1,849 DUI arrests between Dec.16 and Friday, officials said. The number was up from this time last year, when 1,720 arrests for DUI were made.

And make no mistake, the cops will be out in full force today. Just the last few days I have seen them pulling over people left and right on the roads. It is not a good time to be a motorist. They really are out there working their pens over time to see how they can make the streets "Safer", or in other words, squeeze the final tax revenue from anyone before 2011 ends.



Though seriously, you shouldn't be out there drunk driving nor should you be putting anyone else at risk because of your shitty inability to multitask. This includes people on the phone. Because regardless on if you have or haven't been drinking a single thing, you best be careful in how you're driving today. The CHP has warned that they will have a zero tolerance for anyone who is driving while being distracted.

If you are holding your cellphone and talking or… weaving in and out of your lane while eating a cheeseburger, the California Highway Patrol says it will be handing you a ticket. Officer Adrian Quintero says the department got a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety and figured this weekend would be a good time to put that grant to use.

QUINTERO: "The number one concern we get from members of the community every time we go to one of these meetings is 'What are you guys going to about it. We see all of these individuals on the cell phones nowadays". It's a sense of complacency I think with a lot of these drivers now. So, we're going to be very active.""

Quintero says officers will be focusing on handing out distracted driving tickets today and tomorrow.

He says officers have already handed out a half-a-million tickets statewide for violations of the hands-free law and nearly twelve thousand tickets for texting and driving.
So even if you're not drunk or don't plan on drinking, you probably should put down the cheeseburger or just make sure all your make up is applied on your face long before you hit the open road as they will cite your ass and it will be an expensive ticket.

Friday, December 30, 2011

A Year In Tubes

A Year In Tubes

When you look back to the year for Youtube clips, you'll see that there was one clear winner of the most watched category. Mind you, this does not mean that it is by any account the most enjoyed. But it is the one that has generated the most eyes to be watching this mother fucker.

The winner? Oh you guessed it:



Rebecca Black's Friday is indeed the most watched video of 2011. What else made the list for 2011? Here is the complete list via the YouTube blog:

1. Rebecca Black - Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

2. Ultimate Dog Tease

3. Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)

4. Talking Twin Babies - PART 2 - OFFICIAL VIDEO

5. Nyan Cat [original]

6. Look At Me Now - Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes (Cover by @KarminMusic)

7. The Creep (feat. Nicki Minaj & John Waters)

8. Maria Aragon - Born This Way (Cover) by Lady Gaga

9. The Force: Volkswagen Commercial

10. Cat mom hugs baby kitten

It's only a question on what stupid inane shit will distract the attention spans of those in a cubicle for 2012. I'm pretty sure it'll have something to do with the whole doomsday prediction of the end of the year.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

2011 - Goodbye You Shitty Year!

2011 - Goodbye You Shitty Year!

What a piece of shit year. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say! Oh, you don't believe me when I say 2011 wasn't much of a year to smile about? Well then, let's review all the horrible things that happened in the past 12 months because I hate myself and want everyone else to feel just as bad, if not worse than I. It's what I do to get off.

Norway massacre

Gabrielle Giffords got shot

American Republicans systematic war on women and their reproductive rights (though this has been going on forever, it seems to have had major triumphs this past year)



Jerry Sandusky and the people who covered up for him and still defend him are out there alive and well.

28 men rape an 11 year old girl in Cleveland and film it.

26 men rape a 13-year-old girl in Turkey. Then the judge rules she consented.

An Italian girl sleeps with boyfriend; claims raped by gypsies; enraged mob burns gypsies camp to the ground; 2 were arrested.

This movie turned a profit:

Which is pretty much like ALL women getting raped at once.

Greece taken over by literal fascists

Sarkozy and Merkel are still free

Job free recovery somehow.

Duke Nukem Forever comes out

The second coming of Newt Gingrich

Rick Perry wonders why there are queers when our troops are out there dying.

More Americans were politically radicalized this year than any other in the last three decades. Which says something about out shitty political system.

Obama cut social security and medicare and compared it to not buying a new set of golf clubs.
“In my house,” Obama noted, “if I said, ‘You know, Michelle, honey, we got to cut back, so we’re going to have you stop shopping completely. You can’t buy shoes; you can’t buy dresses; but I’m keeping my golf clubs.’ You know, that wouldn’t go over so well.”
R.I.P Osama and Amy Winehouse (though you never saw the two in the same place at the same time...hmmmm)

Increase in drone strikes, PMCs in Iraq, Afghanistan is still occupied.

McRib came; McRib went.

Occupy Wall Street

Revolutions and uprisings shook global power and capitalism's crisis worsened.

It's also been a pretty impressive year for nuclear disasters, earthquakes, and fish die-offs.

Steve Jobs died and suddenly became Horatio Alger and is brought up in every context.
We could solve the Social Security crisis if WE HAD GUYS LIKE STEVE JOBS INNOVATING our system!

We could stop global climate change in it's tracks if we had a STEVE JOBS working on the issue!

Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack H. Obama's murderous tax policy is probably preventing the next STEVE JOBS from starting the next APPLE and changing the way the world works forever!

Two major European countries had their leaders replaced with unelected financial professionals within the same week

2011 was the year in which the least worst thing about the DSK case was that it might lead to a former head of the IMF becoming president of France

But hey, I'd also like to remind everyone that there were other countless wonderful things that happened this year and perhaps focusing on the bad ones is a curious habit to say the least. But maybe I just needed to flush it out of my system so that I can reset and prepare for how bad 2012 is going to suck... um.. I mean, kick major ass. Yeeeeah.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

2011 Nostalgia Sneaking Up - At The Movies

2011 Nostalgia Sneaking Up - At The Movies

Well, it's that time of the year already. People are over the whole Christmas shopping and we're ready to get it over with. For those who do celebrate Christmas it's already time to move on to the nostalgia stage.

You know, that's when everyone gets all wide eyed about the previous year and you see the slew of "Best of.." and "Worst of..." for the year. Though there's often far less Worst of's since people generally like to keep it positive to some degree. In any case, this all means one thing. The year is ending and you will be swamped with those god damn stupid list reminding you of shit that happened just within the last few months. It's really terrible on all accounts.

In any event, I have to say that if Drive isn't on the top list of best films of 2011 I'm going to be really upset. Okay, I'd probably care as much as I care for Time's Person of the Year. In that, I don't.

With that said, DRIVE may very well have been the best movie I saw in 2011. The main reason? Every frame of the movie just makes sweet sweet love to L.A. If films like Taxi Driver embodied New York, DRIVE tapped into that Michael Mann and made a film that had L.A. as a pivotal and great character.

tribute to drive from tom haugomat & bruno mangyoku on Vimeo.



If you really want to be like "the driver", you can get yourself a snazzy official jacket like that with the scorpion on it from Steady Clothing. It will run you back a pretty penny though. Around $150 for the jacket. Talk about pricey. But then again, if you want to relive the 80's style, which seems to come back in 20-30 year cycles anyway, then perhaps it's the way to go.

I do have to say though, I thought the style of the film and the clothing in it was just utterly amazing. You can read a lot about how they choose what they choose and how they got the look down in this little article about it..

But enough about fashion, what about the sound? Now I'm not going to say the soundtrack wasn't amazing. It really was great. But when people generally say something has a great soundtrack what they usually mean is that it has a couple of amazing songs. That is the case for this.

It has some really awesome songs up front, but after that it's just keyboard instrumental stuff that belongs in a film to help with the setting/mood. You'll probably not want to listen to that stuff while driving on the road. Incidental music isn't typically something you listen to on its own, because it loses a lot of its appeal once you strip the visuals away.

So yeah, if this film isn't one that is on your top list of the year then I have nothing to tell you other than you need to watch it. And if you have watched it and didn't care for it - what's wrong with you?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

All I Wanted For Christmas Was War Crimes

All I Wanted For Christmas Was War Crimes

Is pretty much what your kid was asking for when he was hoping for that Blackwater video game to be under that murdered tree you have sitting in your living room. Because if there's nothing more fun, it's pretending your hand is a gun and moving around and getting your cardio while killing those towel heads..



But there's some good to come out of this. While I say never read comments, this one is well worth going against my rules with:
Great looking game guys, can't wait to play as a Blackwater badass on release!

Just two quick questions if you'd please: Where are all the women and children, and why do so many of the people he's shooting have weapons?

Well played, Youtube commentator. You have done very well.

No, seriously. Fuck this game for everything it is worth. What a terrible game and the people playing it are terrible persons for doing so.



i'm reading a review of that game and this is great
If you play with the kinect control scheme, you'll likely feel a bit like tom curise near the start of minority report. You stand facing the screen and you hold out your left or right hand to direct the aiming reticle. If you want to fire on an enemy, you let the onscreen reticle hover over for a moment, triggering a burst of gunfire. It's all too easy to fire on a nonthreatening target by accident as you swing your weapon around toward a primary target (helpfully highlighted in red so that you know it's a threat). The result: wasting ammo on civilians, and having to pause and reload while still being fired upon by enemies positioned above you or to the side.

Sorry, Blackwater, gonna have to take some dings off your score because it's too easy to murder civilians.

That phrase just kills me. "Wasting ammo on civilians." Man, talk about no trigger discipline and dying of stupidly. I guess this makes it the most realistic war game ever.

Monday, December 26, 2011

How Many Slaves Do You Own?

How Many Slaves Do You Own?

Just in time for Christmas it's nice to find out how many slaves you actually have doing your bidding. What? I thought slavery was abolished?! You say. Well, after you watch The Help tonight (new on DVD!) you can find out how many slaves you currently have working for you with this helpful new guide.

HOW MANY SLAVES WORK FOR YOU?

It's the feel good link of the year. Now if only someone would create a "How many Slavs do you have" website and my life can be a little bit closer to being complete.

The defaults for technology are all sorts of messed up. I clicked gamer because you know, I'm a male that uses the internet even though I haven't played a game for ages, and then whittled it down to the technophobe and still had to delete half of the shit on that list.

For a moment there I was going to give up because I got to the closet part and I literally had no idea what clothes I own.

Oddly enough, according to this I'm a middle class white piece of fucking shit. Over all I got 24. I know I could fine tune it with a couple of more minutes of tweaking around with it but does it really matter? Especially after I did one fine tune of it to account for rum and alcohol consumption and my slave count jumped from 24 to 35.

I'm curious as to where is the part I can put in that I'm a CEO of a fortune 500 company and then watch as the results just blow up in themselves trying to figure out how many millions of slaves are under me.

In retrospect, I'm guessing that their findings showed that the average person who'd actually use this and feel uncomfortable about this website are mostly college educated liberal, white middle class, so they've tailored their options accordingly as per google/facebook advertisement assessment of their possessions. Because it's literally impossible to be poor according to that website.

Or maybe what I'm getting out of this is that we need to relax child labor laws to compete in today's global market. The website just assumes that all the seafood everyone eats comes from South East Asia. Like, there's literally no domestic fisheries in existence to them.

Though it is important to address both ends of the slavery system - It's creation and our cultural dependence upon it. The machine is never going to come down until The People are willing to bring it down, after all. I don't think that happens just through people shopping at Goodwill and asking for fair-trade coffee at Starbucks, but consumer choices are certainly a step in the right direction.

I don't think that your average American is necessarily to blame for the fact that they depend upon slave labor, and it is going to take a massive change from within the industrial complex to eliminate these problems. I don't judge the millions of people (including myself) who can't afford an all-local, all-organic, all-fair-wage lifestyle. But I do judge wealthy people who willingly engage in hyperconsumption of slave-made commodities, even when they are financially capable of buying fairer goods.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Tiny Tim Graph

The Tiny Tim Graph

It's Christmas and since I'm probably horribly depressed... (or maybe I'm just eating some Chinese food with my fellow Jews), I figured I would take some time to toss out plenty of reasons why you should feel very lucky to have what you have on this day and not bitch about a lack of PS3 or Xbox games you wish you did have.

But in the event that you're a bit of a snot noised brat, here's a helpful visual that shows you exactly why you should be thankful. They're a good graph showing you exactly who is the Tiny Tim's of the U.S.
Last month, the Census Bureau released what is arguably one of the most alarming statistics of the year: In 2009, the number of Americans living in poverty reached its highest level in 51 years. The poverty rate was 14.3%, up from 13.2% in 2008, much – if not all – of that increase attributed to the recession.

So where are America’s poor? In this interactive infographic, we take a regional look at poverty. Roll over each state to see its poverty rate, along with those for children ages five through 17 and for children under the age of five.



Would you look at that belt of poverty in the south right there. That sure is something alright. Also, the dark spots in Wisconsin and the Dakotas are all right on reservations. So, you know, take that for what it is.



Sort of crazy when you think about it the level of poverty that is going on. If those graphs didn't depress you enough, try clicking the site for a ROLLOVER ACTION of all the hard hitting stats on how the break down of poor is even better (or should I say far more depressing)



In those areas around 32% of children 5 and younger live in poverty in Mississippi. 25% from ages 5-17 live in poverty. And yet we call ourselves the richest country in the world. Crazy world we live in.

I was sitting here looking at that and wondering why the percentage of people under poverty level wasn't higher and then i remembered that even "only" 20% is one in five. My local boys and girls club volunteer base is a weird mix of professional older white men and young native/black mothers, it's fun to go to events just to see the two groups together.

On an unrelated note, why are there no squiggly lines or circle districts? Come on, map makers, spice up county lines a little.

But back to poverty; There's plenty of reasons not to ever read the comments section of anything, but here's just another
douglass "A lot of people arfe not poor they just do not know how to manage money"
Just try to manage money from a 6 dollar an hour job. I dare you.

I really want to make an effort post in the coming year about the horrible shit we handle regarding how backwards this country is towards child welfare and juvenile justice and my frustrations in talking with politicians and policy makers.

Reminder; The coal miners of Appalachia wages one of the largest battles of the class warfare against the American capitalist system with a 5 day standoff against the US military. And they are now paying for it with systemic poverty and no one gives a shit. How bad was it?
Private planes were hired to drop homemade bombs on the miners. A combination of gas and explosive bombs left over from the fighting in World War I were dropped in several locations near the towns of Jeffery, Sharples and Blair. At least one did not explode and was recovered by the miners; it was used months later to great effect during treason and murder trials following the battle. On orders from the famous General Billy Mitchell, Army bombers from Maryland were also used for aerial surveillance, a rare example of air power being used by the federal government against US citizens.

It's remarkable how America is considered the richest country on earth because, like, 20 people have all the money ever and just so happen to live here when they're not chilling in their beach house in some other country.

And by remarkable I mean horrifying and we should kill them immediately.

No wait. I shouldn't say that, it is after all Christmas. And when you think about it, the poverty rate in the south (mainly black communities) really shouldn't be surprising to anyone though and we should all go back to just mindlessly being numb to the social inequality that every has towards one another.

Merry Christmas

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Bad Christmas Music

Bad Christmas Music

It seems like a redundant statement to make since let's face it, all Christmas music is essentially bad. But there's some songs worse than others. That even though they may stick to your mind like some awful tar filled glue, they are many that are far worse than others. Some that insult the intelligence of anyone with anymore than a single cell to think with.

First off I have to say that animals shouldn't ever fucking sing. There's many things animals can do. Die for my meal. Squander food for the winter. That sort of shit. But singing is just not one of those things. From Barking Dogs to silent night cats and even those fuckin' Chipmunks. Animals and singing do not go well together. It's just not right and should be a crime against humanity.



I just pray that helium runs out on earth sooner rather than later in order to make sure that no animal ever sings again. But even worse than that is another song that.. well, let's just say that there's Christmas Shoes


If you don't know why this song is disturbing, then let's have Patton Oswalt explain it:


But at the very least that one doesn't get into sexual situations. Not like the clear cut elephant in the room. I speak of course of the date rape song long before Sublime had their own date rape song. The ultimate white washed date rape song - Baby It's Cold Outside



Let's look at those lyrics again:
I really can't stay - Baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away - Baby it's cold outside
This evening has been - Been hoping that you'd drop in
So very nice - I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice
My mother will start to worry - Beautiful, what's your hurry
My father will be pacing the floor - Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I'd better scurry - Beautiful, please don't hurry
Well Maybe just a half a drink more - Put some music on while I pour

The neighbors might think - Baby, it's bad out there
Say, what's in this drink - No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how - Your eyes are like starlight now
To break this spell - I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell
I ought to say no, no, no, sir - Mind if I move a little closer
At least I'm gonna say that I tried - What's the sense in hurting my pride
I really can't stay - Baby don't hold out
Ahh, but it's cold outside

C'mon baby

I simply must go - Baby, it's cold outside
The answer is no - Ooh baby, it's cold outside
This welcome has been - I'm lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm -- Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious - Man, your lips look so delicious
My brother will be there at the door - Waves upon a tropical shore
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious - Gosh your lips look delicious
Well maybe just a half a drink more - Never such a blizzard before

I've got to go home - Oh, baby, you'll freeze out there
Say, lend me your comb - It's up to your knees out there
You've really been grand - Your eyes are like starlight now
But don't you see - How can you do this thing to me
There's bound to be talk tomorrow - Making my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied - If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can't stay - Get over that old out
Ahh, but it's cold outside

Baby it's cold outside

In the event that you don't see the pretty blatant narrative of this song, it's about a girl who is finding every excuse to say no and get the hell out of the rape den she's in and gets convinced to stay.

So what makes a good Christmas song? Rap, of course.

Taking The Christ Out of Christmas

Taking The Christ Out of Christmas

It's Christmas eve and all around the world.. people are... well, probably shopping. It is a busy shopping day after all. Gotta get those last minute gifts and what not.

I, for one, am all in favor of taking the Christ out of this silly holiday. It was, after all, the church that hijacked this holiday from the pagans and other cultures that were celebrating the winter festivals long before the church decided to tackle on the birth of some made up messiah on to it. To be honest the whole birth of Christ never made any fucking sense to begin with. Why would he be born in December in the desert? I mean, let's be real here. There's no way that it would have happened as those winter nights in the desert were tough.

If he actually did even exist, Christ would have been born in the summer. You know, during the time when Shepard would actually be tending to their sheep and not killing them trekking along the desert during the winter. Just sayin'.

But perhaps I should be careful with what I say because it seems that Christians are the most persecuted people ever in the history of mankind. Or at least they fucking act like they are.
No running in the halls -- and no Tebowing either.

That's what one Long Island administration said Wednesday when it suspended a group of high school athletes for replicating Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow's popular pose in the hallway at school.

Jordan Fulcoly, Wayne Drexel and brothers Tyler and Connor Carroll of Riverhead High School were all handed a one-day suspension Wednesday, after three days of taking a knee with their foreheads resting on their fists, the same way Tebow does in the end zone and on the sidelines. The news was first reported by Yahoo! Prep Rally earlier Thursday.
Riverhead superintendent Nancy Carney said that two of the students' suspensions were later rescinded, citing that administrators found that those students were not given the same warnings that the other two were.
Tebow has made headlines for the move, a display of his devotion to his Christian faith. The students were not suspended for bringing religion into the school, but instead for clogging the hallway.

Carney said that she supported the administration's efforts to maintain a safe environment and was surprised that the incident has received this much attention. Since the news broke, Carney said she has been receiving hate mail from people charging that the suspension is due to religious prejudice.
"It's very unsettling," she told ESPNNewYork.com on Thursday. "It's a shame that people out there are so ready to judge when they weren't there to see what happened."
Reports said that the students had been Tebowing all week, starting Monday. It was meant to be a joke, only paying homage to one of pro football's newest stars. But other students started joining in and administrators claimed it had become a disturbance. District officials reportedly told the students that the celebration was making it unsafe for students walking the hall in between classes.

The incident saw about 40 students engaging in the popular Tebowing. Only the four students, all athletes, were suspended. Caroll told Prep Rally that the administration told them "that our Tebowing was blocking the halls and could potentially cause a riot, because they were growing in number and if the wrong kid gets pushed a brawl could ensue."
Carney said students have three minutes to reach their next class.

"It's just high school kids being kids and administrators doing what they do on a daily basis -- keeping kids safe," Carney said, "and with today's world and cell phones and people taking pictures and video, it can be taken out of context."

Tyler and Connor Carroll are on the football team along with Drexel.



Oh man. It sure does take a lot of courage to be a religious person these days, doesn't it? Now just imagine if it was 40 students bowing to Mecca in the middle of the hallway.

What confuses me is that he always has a bible passage on his stupid war paint face. What's the deal with that? Is it because he wants to be like In&Out and have bible passages on himself? Maybe it's because he's a miracle baby. For you see, his mother was going to abort him but had a last minute change of heart..



Someone should tell her that it's not too late to finish the job.

But apparently this warrior for the lord has some power. Back in 2008, presidential hopeful Nobel Peace Prize winning Barack H. Obama wanted to make a campaign stop and speech in Gainesville but Tim Tebow made a passionate appeal to the UF board of trustees against hosting a candidate with anti-christian views. And they were like "Anything for you, Tim!."

Again, it had to be the war paint on his face displaying to all that he is a Christ warrior and his face paint reflects that inner aspect of himself. Besides that, if the Broncos win the fucking super bowl this year, I'm going to be kinda mad. I don't think it's likely, but I just want my thoughts expressed just in case it does happen.









I have to say, there's something especially vile about Tebowing at Macchu Picchu. Why not just go all the way and strap on a rapier, cuirass, and conquistador helmet while you're at it.

Anyhow, back on to the main subject about being persecuted and then pointing the finger at someone else, you know what I miss the most? Moral panics over dungeons and dragons as being attached to satanic cults or some shit like that.

Or maybe it's just that the moral panics over DND went out of style when people were driven away by inferior systems like 3e/4e, but that still doesn't explain why satanic cults aren't getting the same level of attention anymore. On the flip side, there still is "rainbow parties" going on regularly.

Which I guess all makes sense because at this point anything else feels like such little a threat and far less scarier than Islam is to middle America.

It's not like they're actively trying to get other religions to be off the air or anything.
Lowe’s, the national hardware chain, has pulled commercials from future episodes of “All-American Muslim,” a TLC reality-TV show, after protests by Christian groups.

The Florida Family Association, a Tampa Bay group, has led a campaign urging companies to pull ads on “All-American Muslim.” The FFA contends that 65 of 67 companies it has targeted have pulled their ads, including Bank of America, the Campbell Soup Co., Dell, Estee Lauder, General Motors, Goodyear, Green Mountain Coffee, McDonalds, Sears, and Wal-Mart.

“’All-American Muslim’ is propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims who are advancing Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia law,” the Florida group asserts in a letter it asks members to send to TLC advertisers.

“The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to the liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish,” the FFA’s letter continues.

It was not clear whether the companies cited by the Florida Family Association, which has also targeted shows like MTV’s “Degrassi,” stopped advertising on “All-American Muslim” because of pressure or for other reasons.

Emails from Home Depot and Sweet’N Low posted on the Florida Family Association’s website suggest the companies had simply bought one commercial spot, and didn’t cancel any commercials.

A spokeswoman for Amway, also cited by the Florida group, denied the company pulled advertising from “All-American Muslim,” and said those reports were “misleading” and “falsely named” Amway.

Lowe’s acknowledged pulling commercials from “All-American Muslim” following consumer complaints, but denied they came from one group.

“We understand the program raised concerns, complaints, or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum, which we found after doing research of news articles and blogs covering the show,” said Katie Cody, a Lowe’s spokeswoman.

Cody declined to specify whether the complaints were anti-Muslim, and whether Lowe’s advertises on shows with Christian, Jewish, or other religious characters or themes. “It is certainly never Lowe’s intent to alienate anyone,” Cody said.

“Shame on Lowe’s, and shame on every one of these companies if they really did cave in to such bigotry and hatred,” wrote Sheila Musaji, who blogs at theamericanmuslim.org. If the Florida Family Association and other reports are misrepresenting these companies, she added, “then they need to speak up.”

The first of eight weekly episodes of “All-American Muslim,” which follows five Lebanese families in Dearborn, Mich., premiered on Nov. 13.
A TLC spokeswoman, Laurie Goldberg, said the network could not comment about the alleged advertising defections, but that the show maintained “strong” advertising. “There are no plans to pull the show. The show is going to continue as planned,” said Goldberg.
You see that, they're offended because the Muslim family appears to be normal and isn't firing off rockets at Americans terrorizing them like a cartoon character of what the average terrorist fearing American thinks is a Muslim.

Or perhaps Lowe's just realized that they bought one commercial that they didn't really have any money for anymore and are just going through the worse P.R. possible. These persecuted religion want the TV networks to believe that Palestinian would be more obsessed with British Sci-fi television shows than plotting on how to kill more Jews. How dare them!

It has gotten to the point that some many completely evil organizations, especially the ones that are religious, have the word "Family" in their name that I want to invent and spread a new word to refer to a person's relations because the word "family" has been tainted so much.

Friday, December 23, 2011

The Cost Per Pour - A Discussion About How Much Booze Cost

The Cost Per Pour - A Discussion About How Much Booze Cost

It's the holiday season and if there's one thing that happens more than anything else, it's alcohol is consumed. And consumed in great amounts. So perhaps it should be worth noting the actual cost per pour.

Let's take a look by comparing alcohol to other beverages.

The price of beer (per 12 ounce serving):
Cheap crappy macro: 50 cents per serving
$10 6-pack: $1.65 per serving
$10 bomber: $~5 per serving

Sure does get pricey, doesn't it? And I'm not even going to jump into the world of rare and highly sought after beers that get released around this time of year. Now compare that to the following every day drinks:

Milk: ~30 cents per serving
Soda: ~75 cents per serving
Tropicana Orange Juice: ~$1.20 pre serving
Starbucks Coffee: ~1.50 per serving
Red Bull: ~2.75 per serving
House Wine @ Olive Garden : ~$6 per serving

*Prices may not be completely accurate since your mileage will vary when buying them at the store.

So when your cheap crappy beer option cost as much as a cup of milk and less than a can of soda and your expensive $10 6-pack cost about the same as a cup of orange juice or coffee, I guess you really can't complain about that, right?

But what about the other alcoholic liquids that we consume during the Holiday? It's probably worth noting how much that bottle of wine breaks down per serving. How about that whiskey or aged bourbon?

$10 bottle of wine (750ml) = $2.00 per 5oz serving
$30 bottle of wine (750ml) = $6.00 per 5oz serving
$150 bottle of champagne (750ml) = $30.00 per 5oz serving

$15 bottle of vodka (750ml) = $0.74 per 1.25oz serving
$50 bottle of single malt scotch whiskey = $2.46 per 1.25oz serving
$200 bottle of PVW = about $10 per 1.25oz serving
$2000 bottle of Louis XIII = about $100 per 1.25 oz serving

Gotta say, it's all relative and whether you are drinking some beer or throwing back that wine, it's all still a luxury that you have the option to drink or not drink. No one is making you buy it and by all means, you should be careful about the amount you drink as police check points and DUI patrols are in full scale alert. Many people who don't normally drink often don't realize how quickly they can get intoxicated with that spiked eggnog.

So perhaps what I'm saying is that you should be aware of how much you're drinking and just realize that you can spread this love out all throughout the year.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

A Very Merry CIA Christmas To You

A Very Merry CIA Christmas To You

If there's one thing that I like about working in the movies is that we can make up our own shit at random and eventually people will accept it as truth. Take for example the CIA. I love it when movies show the CIA as the good guys. It's nothing but pure fantasy when you really think about it.

What, you actually think the CIA is the good guys? HA! Oh how wrong you are.

WASHINGTON — One of the CIA’s most important secrets in the war on terrorism was hiding in plain sight, on a leafy residential street along a busy set of train tracks in Romania’s capital. There, tucked in the basement of a government building, the CIA ran a clandestine prison, former U.S. intelligence officials said.

[...]

Unlike the CIA’s facility in Lithuania’s countryside or the one hidden in a Polish military installation, the CIA’s prison in Romania was not in a remote location. The building is used as the National Registry Office for Classified Information, which is also known as ORNISS. Classified information from NATO and the European Union is stored there. Former intelligence officials both described the location of the prison and identified pictures of the building

[...]

The basement consisted of six prefabricated cells, each with a clock and arrow pointing to Mecca, the officials said. The cells were on springs, keeping them slightly off balance and causing disorientation among some detainees.

[...]

During the first month of their detention, the detainees endured sleep deprivation and were doused with water, slapped or forced to stand in painful positions, several former officials said. Waterboarding was not performed in Romania, they said.

[...]

After the initial interrogations, the detainees were treated with care, the officials said. The prisoners received regular dental and medical check-ups. The CIA shipped in Halal food to the site from Frankfurt, Germany, the agency’s European center for operations. Halal meat is prepared under religious rules similar to kosher food.

Former U.S. officials said that because the building was a government installation, it provided excellent cover. The prison didn’t need heavy security because area residents knew it was owned by the government. People wouldn’t be inclined to snoop in post-communist Romania, with its extensive security apparatus known for spying on the country’s own citizens.

[...]

For the CIA officers working at the secret prison, the assignment wasn’t glamorous. The officers served 90-day tours, slept on the compound and ate their meals there, too. Officers were prevented from the leaving the base after their presence in the neighborhood stoked suspicion. One former officer complained that the CIA spent most of its time baby-sitting detainees like Binalshibh and Mohammad whose intelligence value diminished as the years passed.

For those of you who don't like reading... why the hell are you here? But once we're past that part and you're still not sure what that wall of selected text means, here's the short of it. The CIA tortured people, but they gave them halal food so it's alright. And it's not like the CIA agents that performed the torture lived in better conditions that their prisoners, all things considered.

Just look at that. They had to do 90 day tours in sleeping in the same sort of conditions. It must have been pure torture on them to endure such levels of not ideal living conditions while carrying out acts of torture.

I do wonder why it was a secret though. I'm not sure how keeping it a secret deters the citizen on the street who is thinking about poisoning my neighbors dog to not carry that act out or he'll be tossed into a prison he doesn't even know exist.

And even with it being a secret, I'm pretty sure that the CIA would find a way to fuck things up somehow. Remember that time when the 3 CIA agents tried to infiltrate an inner circle of a crime organization and were brutally murdered because of it? And that one guy in Pakistan shot 2 people and got jailed. The CIA fucking sucks at actual spy work when you think about it. They haven't successfully overthrown a regime that hasn't come back to bite them in the ass. Their only effective at waging death from above using unmanned air drones and chances are the kills they get from that are all going to be civilians as well.

The CIA, for all its claims, is an absurdly bloated and enormous intelligence organization compared to basically any other country in the world. In some strange way it mirrors the population it recruits from because the CIA is generally filled with insanely stupid people that are protected from the consequence of that stupidity by secrecy.

It's not like these people are some dudes in suits with cold calculating plans to take down foreign governments like some giant chess game. They're mostly just educated racist shitheads who happen to have an unlimited secret budget and the world is their playground.

That's really what the CIA is all about. They're like the only child of rich parents that tries to start a business chain which inevitably fails horribly. And then mom and dad are there to pick up the pieces and let them try stupid shit all over again like opening up a pizza parlor chain.

It's the only way to explain shit like that time when they tried to topple the French government with paratroopers and failed because the CIA failed to recognize that the country and its army loved its current benevolent generalissimo.

How about the time when that Al-qaeda double (or was it triple) agent set off a suicide bomb in the middle of a CIA camp and killed a half dozen CIA officers, including some really high ranking people. Do you remember that those CIA officers had baked him a cake and were just about to present it to him.

Furthermore, I man, didn't they just invent crack anyway? War on drugs are just a way to cover up the clear sign that the CIA is more harmful than any sort of drug or pregnancy.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A Very Doctor Who Christmas

A Very Doctor Who Christmas


You know, it just wouldn't be a proper Christmas without Doctor Who. In fact, I think I base my enjoyment on all holidays depending on if I can watch a new episode of Doctor Who. So perhaps this little prequel to the Christmas day movie should peak your interest in what will come of he Holiday with Who...



Oh man, I can't wait. Just a few more days!

Monday, December 19, 2011

To Il For This World

To Il For This World

Ding Dong, The Il is dead!

A tearful television announcer dressed in black said the 69-year old had died on Saturday of physical and mental over-work on his way to give "field guidance" - a reference to advice dispensed by the "Dear Leader" on his trips to factories, farms and military bases.

Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's youngest son, was named by North Korea's official news agency KCNA as the "great successor" to his father, which lauded him as "the outstanding leader of our party, army and people."

Video from Chinese state television showed residents of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, weeping while KCNA reported people were "writhing in pain" from the loss.

He was indeed to Il for this world, and now our glorious leader is dead. What's the reaction?



Oh wait. That was actually for his father. So what will be the reaction of King Jong Il? Well, I imagine it'll be something like this.


"Meanwhile, the Yonhap news agency said the South Korean military has been placed on emergency alert, as shares on the stock market in Seoul fell nearly five per cent"
Huh, looks like somebody's panicking. Though overall, let's take a count on the bad guys of the world. Bin Laden, Ghaddafi, and Kim all go down inside of 7 months of each other. It looks like 2012 is set to be a "rebuilding year" for bad guys. Till then I guess we can have some fun with it. Much like what you should do whenever anyone popular dies... Have a drinking game for them:
HEY KIDS ITS THE KIM JONG IL POST MORTEM FACEBOOK DRINKING GAME

okay here's the rules:

1. get your beverage of choice and a shot glass
2. log in to facebook
3. take a shot every time you see the word "ronery"
4. get alcohol poisoning and join your brother in juche heaven
And if you're sober enough after that, maybe we should look to the future. For example, is there any hints on what a Kim Jong-un glorious leadership will look like? Not yet, but oh man, I can kind of imagine him hanging out with Nicolas Cage's goth son.



But this does mean that one of my favorite websites to browse has seen its last update. Goodbye Kim Jong Il Looking At Things

At least it's not some Atlas Shrug sort of bullshit....



God fucking damn it. Why yes, for twelve years everyone has been asking "Who is Kim Jong-il?" This is King Jong-Il speaking. I'm the man who's taken away your victims and thus destroyed your world...

You would think that his death would have, you know, done something to reunify, free capitalist Korea and create a Kpop version of this classic:



Instead all it has done is this:


That's some crazy Stockholm syndrome they got going on there. Oh well, they're going to love the abusive man they'll love. As for me, I guess there's nothing left to do than to pour out a 40 for my nigga King Kong Jong-il!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Great Muppet Caper

The Great Muppet Caper

So.. apparently Fox News said a crazy thing about the Muppets. Yes, the Muppets. While I collect a pay check from the Rupert company, I will say that this is just... well, I have no words to express how not-surprised I should actually be about all this.



Watch.The.Whole.Thing.

Now pick up your jaw on how bad they've got to be grasping at straws to actually allow this to pass as content on Fox News. Then again, that news story that Fox News viewers are, on average, dumber and less informed than those who watch no news makes a little more sense now.

You know, I wish the Muppets really were anti-capitalist radicals. It would be a much better thing to my life than realizing that what the Muppets represent is nothing more than cashing in on nostalgia working that money machine.



All I have to say about this is that even the two elderly muppets, Statler and Waldorf, who you would think represents the 1% sitting up their on the balcony wouldn't be as evil as your average fox viewers. In fact, I think they would say something like this:
these kids say they're right-wing

they're reaching for even half-right

dohohohoho

Saturday, December 17, 2011

For God And Country: An Illustrated Account of American War Porn

For God And Country: An Illustrated Account of American War Porn

I'm pretty sure that later in the month you'll hear endless amounts about how this was the year. How we finally got him. Oh, you remember the guy. Osama? Yeah, that guy. Well remember how we ended up finding him and a skilled group of armed force went in and instead of capturing him to face a jury for his crimes, he was killed in cold blood?

Yeah, well apparently Matt Fraction made a comic book about it AND YOU CAN SEE IT BY CLICKING THIS LINK---

The commentary in the panels that pops up when you mouse over it is utterly insane. They tell the story about how all this came about. This little nugget just stood out
In the end I wanted to see OBL face the ultimate sanction. Fifteen minutes trapped in the room where he knew he was going to die. Fuck it. Maybe one day I'll be more evolved.
I guess I should at least give Matt Fraction a tiny bit of credit for admitting that he's being a sub-human cretin for making this shit. But over all I'm just going to go with "Fuck everyone involved in the creation of this thing" as my stance for this.

Not because I in any way remotely close to agree with the terrorist. But because the sad fact is that this sort of thing exist as nothing more than a celebration of what happened that pisses me off as making me feel pretty disgusted to be an American. Aren't we better than this? I mean, isn't this something that we should all consider below us?

The info in the panel sickens me to a level. Shit like "The women here could have both be wired". That made me lose it. Are you fucking serious? Are you really going to go with that story? There's no way anyone can believe that shit and it shouldn't even be tossed out there like that.

Not to mention what was in the comments, that it's nice for Osama Bin Laden to keep himself looking exactly as he did from that one photo taken in 1991. Which is very true. Either way, Matt Fraction, your last comic arc of Fear Itself was a complete waste of my Marvel reading time. Fuck this guy.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Ding Dong The Hitch Is Dead

Ding Dong The Hitch Is Dead

Yesterday the world lost a liberal asshole when Christopher Hitchens died.
British-born journalist and atheist intellectual Christopher Hitchens, who made the United States his home and backed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, died on Thursday at the age of 62.

Hitchens died in Houston of pneumonia, a complication of cancer of the esophagus, Vanity Fair magazine said.

"Christopher Hitchens - the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant - died today at the age of 62," Vanity Fair said.


Well, at least he is in heaven now.....

Oh. Wait.

As an atheist myself I have to say that this guy gave us all a bad name. And I can't say his views with atheism were wrong, but man he sure said a lot of fucked up things and had an opposing opinion on just about anything else. I mean, the asshole said women can't be funny

I saw Hitchens in a TV interview say women should have just stayed in the kitchen because they are dainty, fragile creatures, or something. Th female interviewer looked justifiably annoyed.



But again, that wasn't the first or the last of the moments he just put his foot straight into his mouth and loved every inch of that stinky shit. Let's take a trip down memory lane and look at other Christopher Hitchens quotes.

War Monger!

"Bombing Afghanistan back into the Stone Age" was quite a favourite headline for some wobbly liberals... But an instant's thought shows that Afghanistan is being, if anything, bombed OUT of the Stone Age.

It must be obvious to anyone who can think at all that the charges against the Hussein regime are, as concerns arsenals of genocidal weaponry, true.

If you examine the record of the so-called the anti-war movement in this country and imagine what would have happened had its counsel been listened to over the last 15 and more years, you would have a world in which the following would be the case:

Saddam Hussein would be the owner and occupier of Kuwait, he would have succeeded in the annexation, not merely the invasion, but the abolition of an Arab and Muslim state that was a member of the Arab League and of the United Nations. And with these resources as we now know because he lost that war, he was attempting to equip himself with the most terrifying arsenal that it was possible for him to lay his hands on. That's one consequence of anti-war politics, that's what would have happened.

In the meanwhile, Slobodan Milošević would have made Bosnia part of a greater Serbia, and Kosovo would have been ethnically cleansed and also annexed. The Taliban would be still in power in Afghanistan if the anti-war movement had been listened to, and al-Qaeda would still be their guests. And Saddam Hussein, with his crime family, would still be privately holding ownership over a terrorized people in a state that's been most aptly described as a concentration camp above ground and a mass grave underneath it.

Now if I had that record politically, I would be extremely modest, I wouldn't be demanding explanations from those of us who said it's about time that we stop this continual capitulation to dictatorship, to racism, to aggression and to totalitarian ideology. That we will not allow to be appeased in Iraq, the failures in Rwanda, and in Bosnia, and in Afghanistan, and elsewhere. And we take pride in having taken that position, and we take pride in our Iraqi and Kurdish friends who are conducting this struggle, on our behalves I should say.

(He doesn't like Chomsky)

He [Chomsky] has now been impeached by his own standards, since scrutiny of the evidence does not bear him out on Serbia or Afghanistan or Iraq. It didn't bear him out on Cambodia either, though he was never a "Holocaust denier" or anything like it. And he has, I think, ceased to be of any use to young people who might pardonably doubt the official story. The position he took, comparing the attack on the World Trade Center to an admittedly criminal Clintonian strike on Sudan (and virtually concluding that the latter was worse!) showed the absolute exhaustion of the glib "double standards" school, as I point out extensively in Love, Poverty and War. But his decline and fall is a loss, and you miss the point by denying it.

On Moslems:
They ("Islamo-fascists") gave us no peace and we shouldn’t give them any. We can't live on the same planet as them and I'm glad because I don’t want to. I don’t want to breathe the same air as these psychopaths and murderers and rapists and torturers and child abusers. It's them or me. I'm very happy about this because I know it will be them. It’s a duty and a responsibility to defeat them. But it's also a pleasure. I don’t regard it as a grim task at all.

If you think that the intifada in France is about housing, go and try covering the story wearing a yarmulka.

Their [antiwar movement] mantra was: "Afghanistan, where the world's richest country rains bombs on the world's poorest country." Poor fools. They should never have tried to beat me at this game. What about, "Afghanistan, where the world's most open society confronts the world's most closed one"? "Where American women pilots kill the men who enslave women." "Where the world's most indiscriminate bombers are bombed by the world's most accurate ones." "Where the largest number of poor people applaud the bombing of their own regime." I could go on. (I think No. 4 may need a little work.) But there are some suggested contrasts for the "doves" to paste into their scrapbook. Incidentally, when they look at their scrapbooks they will be able to reread themselves saying things like, "The bombing of Kosovo is driving the Serbs into the arms of Milosevic."

And something about Michael Moore
I have noticed in observing and debating him [Michael Moore] that he is an addict of crowd-pleasing and demagogy, and also an addict of "secret financial government" rhetoric. He also affects a certain plebeian and blue-collar style. When he thinks it will work, he will pretend to believe that "American jobs" are migrating to Mexico, or that "American boys" are being duped into war by hidden cabals. This combination of nativism and populism (stirred in with a nauseating dose of sentimentality and an absolutely breath-taking contempt for objective truth) reminds me very much of the dolts who joined the SA. But then, those guys were probably as surprised as their dumb Stalinist counterparts when the Hitler-Stalin pact was signed. By the way, that was the only treaty he signed that Stalin didn't break. With much of the remaining Left, I have to say, there is a certain immunity from Moore's gruesome posturing, if only because they don't think it was a good idea to have General Motors, or the city of Flint, Michigan, in the first place. And some of them are genuine pacifists, while Moore is an open supporter of the Islamist death-squads in Iraq.

There's a lot of things that can be said about this douche. Sometimes he was an imperialist in sheep's clothing, sometimes he was just an obvious parasite. But hey, we did at least get to see him get tortured.



The torture thing made him out to be a coward, not a hero. The fucking asshole advocated for it, until he tried in extremely controlled settings it. Here's the difference. I know waterboarding is torture because I can imagine it happening to someone else. Not being able to grasp a concept until it affects you personally isn't the sign of a brave and courageous intellect, it's a symptom of being a fucking sociopath.

Which is probably my biggest problem with him. That he presented an "enlightened" support for western intervention, twisting the language of equality and human rights to support criminal actions.

But maybe that's just my inner hate for him talking because I feel that his corpse should be desecrated for simply being someone I thought was really cool until I found out he wasn't.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Tis The Consumer Season

Tis The Consumer Season

Ho ho ho. I hope you've raided the stores for those gifts cause it's... well, no. Let's face it. I dislike capitalism. The whole season is a complete wash for me and I don't care if it's helping the economy. There has got to be nothing more depressing and sad than what happens in the following video.



I know what you're thinking. I must be crazy. Just look at that man child. He's playing video games and then he gets called by mommy to go open a gift.. let alone two gifts.

Just look at that video. You'll probably think me crazy as that dude looks as if he's experiencing more joy in those few moments of the video swinging around those light sabers than I have had in the last decade....

And you know what, that's what makes it so sad.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Random Thoughts That Will Get Me Sent Away

Every now and then I like to just spew out a random assortment of shit. I mean, more so than I normally do every other day of the week. These are like little shotgun blast. Sending out a random assortment of thoughts without actually hitting the targets or getting to thorough with the subject matter.

The odds and ends, if you will.


Tolerance

Did you know, that according to official FBI recruitment material, “all new special agents must visit the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to see firsthand what can happen when law enforcement fails to protect individuals.”

Why yes. The Holocaust: A Failure Of Law Enforcement.

I seriously wanted to write more about that but I couldn't stop laughing at the very notion of that. Why yes, let's waste a day of our police state workers time by making them watch other police states doing what they're gonna to do. If anything, the Holocaust was a product of law enforcement not questioning commands and doing what they were told without every stopping to think.... should I be doing this?



$Money$

I have to say, looking at my wallet is pretty depressing. Not because of the little amount of money I have in there, but the actual look of said little amount saved up. Some would say that all money that isn't American money looks like a neon or pastel joke with clowns on it with bad 90's comic book holographic foil on it.

To that I answer that American money looks like filthy tissue paper with murderers and slave owners on it. But I suppose it's only fitting to keep the tradition of all respectable imperial currency to highlight such oppressors forever more.



Tom Clancy.. an asshole

So the new rainbow six game is coming out. While I am planning on doing a huge piece on this later one, I figured it's worth noting that Tom Clancy is a huge asshole and his product line is nothing more than reactionary scare mongering at its worse. And insulting at its best.

Just take a look at the following clip of NOT the game play, but at the very least the outline of the story to this otherwise certainly shitty game:



I wonder if the 99% is getting any sort of royalty for being featured as the comically bad villain of this game. Why yes, the masses who want, nay, demand justice for the crimes of corporations should be painted as the bad guy extremist. Fuck man, that is just bad all around and I want to beat someone for it.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Russia

Russia

So some crazy stuff has been going down in Russia the last few weeks. First off, their elections have sparked some intense situations.
Results showed that Putin's party reached a low in the region of Yaroslavl, taking just 29% of the vote. It got a boost, however, in Chechnya, which is ruled by ruthless leader Ramzan Kadyrov. With nearly 100% of voters turning out, United Russia took 99.48% of the vote, results showed. It also took more than 90% in neighbouring Dagestan.

The New Region newspaper noted that "the record in central Russia was brought by patients of psychiatric clinics, who gave more than 90% of votes to United Russia".

Russians continued to register cases of falsification through the night and into Monday. News reports on state-run television appeared to show results that implied turnout in some regions was as high as 146%.

http://exiledonline....k-of-oligarchy/

And Monday night Moscow time, the protests against election fraud swelled in size to as high as 10,000+ according to some reports I’ve read, overwhelmingly young students and post-Communist Russians in their 20′s and 30′s. Watching this video, shot near the Kremlin, makes it clear that a tipping point has been reached in Moscow: Discontent over living under oligarchical rule is spilling into the open. It’s no longer enough to be “better off than under Yeltsin”–Russia’s youth wants more democracy, more people power, and more justice. The idea is spreading in Moscow, and this has got to make Putin and the Kremlin nervous:



Then we have an official at a polling station filling out ballots:



And then there's the whole situation of washable pens fitted in polling booths:



Well, good for Russia! They seem to have taken very well to democracy. I sincerely hope they get somewhere with this.

The city of St. Petersburg recently passed a law that banned lesbian gay bi-sexual transgenders pride parade because they were homosexual propaganda that could be viewed by minors. Russia is the single most depressing industrialized country that exists and even thinking about it makes the world seem more devoid of color.

I sure hope that by 2100 the saying becomes "Stalinism was the worst form of government, except all others we tried."

Monday, December 12, 2011

Penn State And Lawyers

Penn State And Lawyers

I'm pretty sure that by now you've heard every Penn State joke that there ever was, is, or ever will be. But what isn't a joke is the future road show attraction that is the pending court case of Jerry Sandusky considering what his lawyer is saying
Jerry Sandusky's lawyer said he's looking forward to questioning the witnesses against his client , including any alleged victims who testify at next week's preliminary hearing.

"Although the preliminary hearing is not a trial, but simply a probable cause proceeding ... we will, for the very first time, have the opportunity to face Jerry's accusers and question them under oath about their allegations," Joe Amendola said in a statement released Monday.

"We look forward to this opportunity."

So the alleged, "face Jeryy's accusers and question them under oath about their allegations", "we look forward to this opportunity".

Maybe it's just me, but perhaps we need a Batman or a Dexter to go around and take care of piece of shit scum like Sandusky. He should be put into a prison for the rest of his life and his lawyer Joe Amendola should join him on account of him "looking forward to face Jerry's accusers and question them under oath about their allegations." Which means, "I look forward to making them relive the horror of being molested as a child and try to trip them p while they go into a dark scary place."

And if at this point you still don't know who Jerry Sandusky is, he was a Penn State blah blah person who.. fuck it, just read this:
Sandusky has been charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse stemming from a grand jury report released last month that alleged the former Penn State football coach had illicit contact with eight young boys over a 15-year span.

In interviews, Sandusky has denied sexually assaulting children but has acknowledged showering with and embracing boys
As you can see, a Batman is really needed. Though Batman would probably just beat him up and leave him tied up outside a police station.... In which case Batman's so fucking useless in retrospect.
"I wonder if I should use my technology to see if there are any corrupt cops on the GPB.. NAH! I'm sure they're all cool."

If anything, we need a fucking Punisher.

Okay, less superhero talk and time for more gawking at the audacity of Sandusky's lawyer and his ability to be a slimy asshole is in order. Because really, you'd have to have chutzpah to defend the most notorious child raper in America's history.

Though perhaps it would be worth noting that Jerry Sandusky's lawyer, Joe Amendola, impregnated and later married a 16 year old girl at the fine age of 49. She was also a client of his, which I wonder if that isn't an ethical No-no for a lawyer. Though in PA, sixteen and forty nine is legal, but it sure as hell isn't right. Which just goes to show you that PA is really bad.

But worse of everything Jerry Sandusky went on national TV and said he "horsed around with kids," "showered with them", and "touched them", and said he "enjoys young people." in response to direct questions about "loving children."



I obviously never heard Sandusky speak before, but holy shit if his voice in that video is not the voice of a man in serious mental health crisis. Totally flat affect, totally separated from reality, totally disengaged with the person he's talking to. His lawyer is a horrible person for even thinking of defending this clearly insane person.

How else can you explain the classic move that any criminal uses in these sort of cases by the only way they know how - Sandusky is heading up his own investigation to find out who really raped those kids in the shower. not him. no sir

Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach accused of sexually abusing boys over a 14-year period, is working with a private investigator in his quest to prove his innocence, his lawyer said Monday.

Attorney Joe Amendola said his client, who is free on $100,000 bail, is conducting his own
investigation, someone stop this train cause I want to get off on this crazy ride. All these fucking rape cases are beyond reprehensible to me. My personal breaking point was the rape trial that got dismissed because the victim was wearing skinny jeans, on grounds that no one could ever remove tight pants without your consent.

Or maybe it was when the rich French guy raped the maid and then hired a PR firm run by former CIA employees to character assassinate her and then deport her, while he returned to France where he faced similar claims.

The proof that she was lying was when she associated with her boyfriend, A criminal, and asked "what should I do about this rape" because, you know, why would she ask that was she afraid nobody would believe her and she would get deported or something? Heavens no.

In any case, all these rape cases just make me feel... so dead inside. Fuck it.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Homeland

Homeland

For all of you watching Homeland on Showtime and thinking that we couldn't possibly treat a returning hero and prisoner of war in such a way that they would turn terrorist, right? Well, that's up for debate. Namely because of the following story.

So you've probably seen this picture before



It's a returning soldier who was a P.O.W. and there's a very strange story behind it:
Lt. Colonel Robert L. Stirm was one of the 591 American prisoners of war who were returned during Operation Homecoming, in 1973. This famous Pulitzer Prize-winning shot was taken by Sal Veder, and is known as “Burst of Joy”. It came to symbolize the end of the United States involvement in the Vietnam. The photo shows Stirm’s teen-aged daughter sprinting toward him with her arms out, followed by his other children and his wife. Despite the photos happy appearance, it was just three days before the picture was taken that an Air Force chaplain handed the Lt. Colonel a letter from his wife of 18 years, stating that she had fallen in love with another man during his five-and-a-half years in imprisonment. The next year, the Stirms divorced and his wife remarried. The judge awarded his wife custody of 2 of his younger children, plus the Stirms’ $24,000 suburban home and their car. Stirm was also to pay $300 a month child support. He was also ordered to pay over 40% of whatever pension he would eventually receive. The court denied his wife a share of his POW allotment and refused any alimony claim. However, it ruled nothing could be done about the $136,000 she’d already received.

Interesting Fact: All of the family members depicted in this picture received copies of the photo after it was announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. His children are now grown and have families of their own, and each one has a framed copy of “Burst of Joy” hanging in their homes, except Stirm, who says he cannot bear to look at it. Stirm became a colonel and retired from the Air Force at age 72.

Yikes. I know it's not directly related to the show, but it reminded me of Brody and his wife and I thought it was interesting (if not depressing), so there you go. So with all that in mind, I'm not saying I agree with Brody on the show in turning to terrorism.... but I understand.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Home Burns Just In Time For Christmas - Firefighters Stand And Cook S'mores

Home Burns Just In Time For Christmas - Firefighters Stand And Cook S'mores

Hey, remember a not-to-long time ago when a families home burned down as the firefighters stood there and did nothing because they didn't pay the tax for the fire service on their home? Well, this may seem like a repeat but I can assure you that this is a brand new incident..
Home burns while firefighters watch, again

OBION COUNTY, Tenn. — A local family watches their home burn to the ground and just a few feet behind them, firefighters watch, too.

It's happened multiple times before in one local community: firefighters refuse to respond because the homeowner didn't pay a fire subscription fee.

The last time this happened, the city of South Fulton, Tennessee, received a lot of heat nationwide for this policy. That was more than a year ago but nothing has changed.

The mayor said it comes down to simple business. If they don't collect fire fees, the fire department can't survive and if they make exceptions to the rule, no one will ever pay the fee.

Besides that, he likes the "pay for spray" policy and said it's fair.

But that's hard to stomach when you've just lost your home and everything you've worked for.

"In an emergency, the first thing you think of, 'Call 9-1-1," homeowner Vicky Bell said.
Firefighters came out.

Bell said, "9-1-1 said they were in fact dispatched and they showed that they were on the scene."

But once on the scene, they only watched.

"You could look out my mom's trailer and see the trucks sitting at a distance," Bell said.

For Bell, that sight was almost as disturbing as the fire itself.

"We just wished we could've gotten more out," Bell said.

It's a controversial policy that we've dealt with before. If you live in the city, you get fire protection but if not, you have to pay the $75 fire protection fee each year. With this policy, the city makes no exceptions.

"There's no way to go to every fire and keep up the manpower, the equipment, and just the funding for the fire department," Mayor David Crocker said.

And Crocker said by now, everyone should know about the city's fire policy.

"After the last situation, I would hope that everybody would be well aware of the rural fire fees, this time," Crocker said.

Bell and her boyfriend admitted they were aware but thought this would never happen to them.

For tonight, this hotel is home and they're happy be alive

No, but you see, if they put the fire out anyway no one would ever pay and then where would they get their funding from? Tax Dollars?! PFFT. Or.. you know, we could take it back to olden days when firefighters fought each other over who would put out the fire and take the reward.



One of my choice favorites in the quotes of the article is the following:
"There's no way to go to every fire and keep up the manpower, the equipment, and just the funding for the fire department," Mayor David Crocker said.
*watches a house burn down*

America is pretty amazing that way... in the way that it's pretty horrible to the point that everyone here has stockholm syndrome and thinks it's the best place on earth. There's no other way to explaining how that best bit from all this happens to be that they're using the previous incident as justification for their actions in this one.

America owns in the sense that it has occupied and taken possession of your perceptions, like those fungi that make ants climb up to the highest point they can find and then explode so the spores spread further. We're just a few inches from exploding and spreading more spores. Oh, that's actually a real thing:



Anyhow, back to the fall of Rome. Future researchers will be able to learn exactly how horrible of people we are/were and it will be documented more rigorously than anything else. Think Rome if they didn't lose most of the documents to fires. We have all our crimes against humanity well placed in our harddrives and smart phones.

I hope to all that one day it'll be one of those rich people's homes. You know, because it makes you wonder what they would do if it was someone "important"? They're notorious for never paying taxes. Why would they ever want to pay a firetax?

Then again, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, at least that's what my crazy grandmother used to say in broken English.

I guess it's just a matter of if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. No. Seriously, get the fuck out because it's not like the fire department's going to help you or anything. Not unless you paid them their money.

Nice place there, sure would be a shame if somethin' happened to your-- oh, cool. Thanks for the payment.

I know I shouldn't, but just looking at the comment section is a battle between the personal responsibility team and the team that says "It would seem that the fire department and the county are acting like the Mafia, making people pay for the fire protection. Sounds a lot like extortion tactics to me."

Which is why there's a general rule that you should never read the comments section of anything.

I guess the real solution in all this is to make your house out of high clay content adobe. Then if a fire comes through, the worse you can expect is that the fire will just make your house even stronger. In this instance, I guess since the home is already burned down to the ground whether we like it or not, the real focus is on the inevitable legislative response to all of this. You know that shit is going to be great.