Thinking Voting With Your Vagina

…is no basis for a system of government.

Eventually, if they’ve been screwed badly enough ~ left wanting or feeling disrepected in the morning ~ even disappointed vaginas figure it out.

The Mandate To Raise Taxes on the “Rich”

Within days of winning the election, President Obama announced that his victory gave him a mandate to raise taxes on the “rich.”

Come again? This was a two-and-a-half-point election. It reflected a painfully divided electorate. The only mandate I saw was to unite a divided country.

I voted for Obama. I voted for him because I know how hard it is to buy health insurance for a single person with even a minor pre-existing condition. In the case of my nanny/housekeeper/dear friend, it was gastritis. Thank God for Kaiser, which sold me the insurance that some years later saved her life when she was diagnosed with cancer. So call it what you will, but I did not want to see Obamacare repealed.

Years after I stopped worrying about unwanted pregnancies, I did not want to risk Roe v. Wade. I was appalled that contraception could even be an issue. I believe that whoever wants to marry should have a right to do so regardless of their sexual orientation. I voted for Obama because I worry about cutting back on environmental regulation. I voted for Obama because I believe local schools need help from the federal government, because I believe we are one country, and that if there is an earthquake in California, we will need as much help from our fellow states — which is to say the federal government — as New York and New Jersey do in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. I voted for Obama because he ended the war in Iraq and is committed to ending the war in Afghanistan.

I did not vote for Obama because I think I am paying too little in taxes.

Poor darling. More’s the pity she got to take us all along on her tawdry little fling.

I feel dirty.

Saturday Night Eats

Not for us, mind you, but for a certain someone.

So I was making a yummy chicken dish involving dried fruit soaked in sweet wine

But a certain someone

had no interest in the fruit or the wine; he was focused on the chicken

specifically the giblets which he knew would somehow magically make their way onto his kibble

and thence to that most happiest of places

oh yeah baby!

One Word About Covers It

IRISH

Since Julie So Subtly Demanded Inquired

Unfortunately poor dear Claude watched too much of the election and now has another eye ulcer

and his always-challenged vision has now gotten somewhat more so.

This of course has not diminished his enthusiasm for food and mailman dolls

Such a dear sweet Boy.

From the Mayor

Yo quiero to extendo los ratioñing de gasoliño un otro weeko por que yo me gusta el power tripo.

— Miguel Bloombito (@ElBloombito) November 16, 2012

I Haven’t Forgiven Them Since They Reformulated Twinkies Filling in the Mid-70’s or So

Tastes like ass, quite frankly. Broke my heart. I’ve only ever loved WonderBread crust, because the middle’s a mushy mess. But “better living through chemicals” as Kcruella as always says, since their things are CHEAP, impervious to the temperature swings of your average urchin’s lunch bag and have the shelf-life of petrified dinosaur dung.

But any whangdoodles that want to strike while the rest of us are LOOKING for jobs ~ and your parent company is already IN bankruptcy reorganization ~ can suck a stone or the last bits of vile filling.

Whatever’s left in the pot.

I hope everyone who went along with the cuts to keep the company afloat let fling with a few choice words at the assholes who sunk the ship and put them all out on the street. (Sounds like the folks who voted for Gary Johnson, eh? Oh, YEAH! You, GO, Libertarians, big strong guys!)

ths update: Hostess wasted no time updating TwinkieCentral’s website:

Hostess Brands is Closed.

We are sorry to announce that Hostess Brands, Inc. has been forced by a Bakers Union strike to shut down all operations and sell all company assets. For more information, go to hostessbrands.info. Thank you for all of your loyalty and support over the years.

Sheesh. **sniffle**

The Atkins’ twits took out Prince Spaghetti and now THIS.

Another shoe from my childhood drops like a stone into the pool of oblivion.

ths update:

DAWG:

“URGENT WILL TRADE ENTIRE NUCLEAR ARSENAL FOR LAST EXISTING BOX OF TWINKIES CONTACT ME ON MYSPACE,” tweeted @KimJongNumbuhOne.

Horrifying

…Added the committee’s vice chairman, Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss, “Were mistakes made? Gosh, we know mistakes were made, and we’ve got to learn from that.”

Legislators saw a “real-time film (showing) exactly what happened” on September 11 in Benghazi, starting before the attack began up “through the incident and the exodus,” said Feinstein. A source familiar with the House committee hearing said the video included shots of Stevens being dragged out of the building. Sen. Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican, described the footage as “a combination of video from a surveillance camera and a drone.”

I wish a certain Fauxvius Outrageum Rex had been dragged down to answer for all this during his “press conference”. Schmaybe just had this looping behind him as background noise and a “reporter” of character grew some Ballsium Brassius and POUNDED away at him, instead of three or four questions without follow-up.

Four more years of his pewling, mendacious, can’t-keep-his-fucking-mouth-SHUT lecturing and legislating every facet of our lives on TV.

I’m off to the roof.

Thanksgiving Is Coming

And we have so very much to be thankful for.

Life is currently exhaustive.

But soon I will be in the kitchen like a good biatch making my Daughter some pah.

and I will be the contentedest feller in the world.

Borrowing Dead Children

Oh, those tricksy Hamasters!

What’s a little general whipped up outrage, eh? I remember when Hezbollah was planting LIVE bodies among the rubble and photographing them artfully splayed about, in a clever attempt to up the casualty count since REAL victims of these Israeli retaliation strikes were (SURPRISE!!!) kinda hard to come by. YOU remember THIS FAUXtograph…

…AND our ARTFUL Swilling recreation of the tragic scene, complete with commentary:

“Pull your pants up, son.”
Lebanese rescuer attempts to awaken exhausted poser, while Sheik “Six Pack Abs” Ali bin Bingley patiently awaits extraction from the only beam he’s ever been under that wasn’t out of a bottle. -Adinon Haggis, TPI

Now they don’t have to even get the seats of their Levis dirty posing ~ they just borrow a picture of a Syrian child murdered by his regime and claim it for their own.

Well, Lookee Here

U.S. initial jobless claims jumped 78,000 last week to 439,000

Haven’t seen Mort for a little over a month and we thought he’d gone to ground a smidge early.

I’ll bet he’s on the roof.

A Little Lighthearted Truth Telling From Maverick

…“Well, I say with great respect, that’s one of the dumbest questions I’ve ever heard,” McCain said in response.

“Alright,” the reporter can be heard saying defensively in the background.

“It’s four dead Americans. Four dead Americans,” McCain continues.

I Know It’s Been a Couple Days Since We’ve Posted

major dad and I are through shoving and wrestling each other aside to be the first to throw ourself off the roof, and Bingley’s merely occupied on Wallstreet (REALLY! He IS!) trying to keep his company afloat from borrowed bank office roomspace/ad-hoc communications hub after the first floor of his office building and most of the commodities at the dock literally went afloat. (Some perspective here)

So we’ve been PRE-occupied.

Had our cathartic meeting Monday night of the Escambia County Republican Executive Committee. No alcohol, just cookies. Probably smart.

And then Kcruella hit town this weekend, fighting flood, winter storm, early push-back, and an unscheduled night in D.C. to celebrate the Marine Corps birthday with us, come Hell or all that high water.

I’ll pick up the slack.

Damage To The New Jersey Transit Rail System

Some amazing pictures here.

The first few are of the NJ Coast Line, which is literally only a few yards from the ocean and as you can see paid a price for it.

Thanks Vets

We owe you everything.

Kick Us When We’re Down, Why Don’t You Gaia?

So this morning those of us in the North East were predicted to get 1″-3″ of Global Warming overnight.

we got 6-13

In all seriousness, many folks who had just gotten power back lost it again and, well, you can just imagine what these below freezing nights with snow are doing to those poor people who have lost, well everything.

As I was taking the ferry back from Manhattan yesterday in the driving snow (and 30 knot winds) the road was somewhat congested because the township had bucket loaders out scraping up the ocean-soaked mud-encrusted tumbled and battered remnants of people’s lives and depositing them in rusty extra-large dumpsters.

It is heart breaking.

Damn.

And The People Living In Darkness Saw A Great Ewok

Game Day

UNINSTALLING OBAMA…………is 99% Complete

Now git ‘er done.

I Have A Dream…

fun from Ace

Power’s Back

We have been so blessed this past week. I greatly appreciate everyone’s concern and kind words and thoughts. We really got away scot-free; many folks in our church lost their homes and, well everything.

I’m going to be very busy for the next few weeks with the disaster that is work just trying to help keep things afloat (well, that’s maybe not the best word to use right now) so posting will be scant.

Please continue to keep those who were so severely impacted by the storm in your prayers and for god’s sake get out and vote tomorrow.

Thanks again and God Bless.

FEMA Is Out of Water Redux ~ Anybody Ask the Army Corps of Engineers for Help?

THS NOTE: The Army Corps of Engineers maintains a registry of pre-awarded contracts (as part of their Advanced Contracting Initiative) for resources that are ready to move in to a disaster in real time. Their Commodities Planning and Response Teams, staged all over the country, are the mechanism by which those resources ~ specifically FRESH WATER and ICE in the first stages of the disaster ~ are implemented and delivered to the disaster site. This is ALL, by mission statement, REQUESTED and CO-ORDINATED BY FEMA after a Presidential Disaster Declaration. In a miserable display of incompetency, FEMA and this administration have failed to activate those very lifesaving assets, while scrabbling for “contracts” the USACE ALREADY has in place, READY TO GO. They merely put have 2 of these teams “on alert”. The explanation and the facts are below.

If they had, they might very well have water right now in an uninterrupted flow, instead of an embarrassing lurch and search for a bottling contractor with citizens suffering.

Let’s all revisit my “They don’t even have a f**king contract?!” comment (in the post below) for a moment, shall we?

Here’s the pertinent paragraph from the Breitbart article:

FEMA Taps Private Vendors to Meet Sandy Victim’s Needs

…FEMA only began to solicit bids for vendors to provide bottled water for distribution to Hurricane Sandy victims on Friday, sending out a solicitation request for 2.3 million gallons of bottled water at the FedBizOpps.gov website. Bidding closed at 4:30 pm eastern.

…and I remember saying “HOW is this possible?” Not just OUT of water, but not have PRE-POSITIONED contractors lined up to deliver life sustaining goods within certain parameters in every corner of the country for any eventuality they are chartered for? Every military unit has this capability in some limited fashion, or, at the very least, a detailed PLAN of exactly where and how to access those very essentials to continue the basic neccessities of the mission until such time as the cavalry arrives. And then “the military” literally rang my bell with the answer.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers’ mission is not just in flood control or setting up generators. Their Emergency Response components have some very specific functions in regard to relief of the civilian population as a whole:

USACE Disaster Response
In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is prepared and ready to respond as part of the federal government’s unified national response to disasters and emergencies. In any disaster, USACE’s top priorities are:

•Support immediate emergency response priorities;
•Sustain lives with critical commodities, temporary emergency power and other needs; and,
•Initiate recovery efforts by assessing and restoring critical infrastructure.

During natural disasters and other emergencies, USACE can respond in a number of ways to include providing engineering expertise to local and state governments in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, providing drinking water and ice, cleaning up debris, providing auxiliary power to critical infrastructure and making repairs to and providing temporary housing or roofing.

…Emergency Support Function #3 – Engineering and Public Works
USACE assists the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA by coordinating and organizing public works and engineering-related support.

Typical ESF 3 assistance provided by the Corps of Engineers includes the following:
•Needs Assessments: Participation in damage/needs assessments.
•Temporary Power: Provision of emergency power to public facilities.
•Ice and Water: Management and emergency contracting to support public health and safety, such as providing potable water and ice.
•Debris Management: Emergency debris clearance and removal and disposal management of debris from public property.
•Emergency Infrastructure Assessments: Assessments of damaged streets, bridges, ports, waterways, airfields and other facilities necessary for emergency access to disaster victims.
•Critical Public Facility Restorations: Emergency restoration of critical public facilities (including temporary restoration of water supplies and wastewater treatment systems).
• Demolition / Structural Stabilization: Emergency demolition or stabilization of damaged structures and facilities.
•Technical Assistance: Technical assistance including inspection of private residential structures and commercial structures.

USACE uses pre-awarded contracts that can be quickly activated for missions such as water, ice, temporary roofing, generator installation and debris management.

Gracious goodness! I see something called “commodities” in that list, referring to ice and potable water! As well as something called a “PRE-AWARDED CONTRACT“.

What could that mean?

Engineers. They explain EVERYTHING:

Contracting in Disasters

Contractors are our force-multiplier during a disaster response. We count on them to help us meet our mission requirements quickly and completely. The Corps of Engineers has pre-awarded contracts for major emergency response missions, such as bottled water, packaged ice, debris, and temporary roofing. These contracts are part of the Advanced Contracting Initiative (ACI). ACI provides depth to the Corps’ ability to respond quickly and effectively.

The Corps of Engineers has developed a contractor registry to assist us with our disaster response mission. The Corps uses its engineering and contracting capabilities to support FEMA and other Federal, State and local government agencies in a wide variety of missions during natural and man-made disasters.

So the Corps of Engineers ALREADY has contingency contracts signed in an ACTIVE, NATIONWIDE registry to ~ what was that phrase again?

SUPPORT FEMA IN A WIDE VARIETY OF MISSIONS DURING NATURAL DISASTERS

But schmaybe FEMA doesn’t know the USACE has all these mah-velous capabilities ready and waiting for the call to action?

Well, they SHOULD. Because the Corps ALSO has these things called “Commodities Teams” (commodities, like “ice”, “water”…). This is the Norfolk, VA Commodity Team’s Emergency Operations Mission Statement:

The Norfolk District’s Emergency Management Office’s primary missions are emergency preparedness and coordinating response for natural disasters and national emergencies. The Corps provides emergency engineering and public works assistance including emergency power, commodities distribution; temporary housing and roofing; debris management and removal; and various forms of technical assistance .

Before support can be provided, local resources must be fully utilized. In response to a Presidential Disaster Declaration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency may task the Corps to provide certain types of assistance. The National Response Framework enable a unified national response to disasters and emergencies, assigning specific duties to each agency. Under Emergency Support Function # 3 of the NRF, the Corps may be tasked by FEMA to provide services.

Norfolk District has a dedicated Commodities Planning and Response Team, or PRT, to provide commodities distribution and management on an emergency basis. The “Commodities PRT” may deploy anywhere in the U.S. and its possessions as needed in response to a disaster situation.

It should be remembered that the Corps’ ability to provide assistance during a disaster is limited. Emergency help is more readily available through local and state emergency management or civil defense agencies, or local police, fire and rescue.

They also have Corps liasons attached to FEMA as part of the staff to REMIND them of ALL the wonderful stuff the CORPS can and WILL do. Let’s repeat one particular line from the mission statement:

Under Emergency Support Function # 3 of the NRF, the Corps may be tasked by FEMA to provide services.

Sandy’s devastation has received a Presidential Disaster Declaration.

DID FEMA activate the Army Corps of Engineer Commodities Planning and Response Teams?

Did they?

They wouldn’t be going door to door praying for a water bottle contract by Monday if they had, I’m thinking. And they’re not on THIS list.

Defense Department Continues Supporting Storm Response

…The Army Corps of Engineers has received 25 mission assignments from FEMA, with more than 400 people engaged to support the response mission.

The Corps of Engineers’ priority is support to the New York City flood mitigation mission, deploying technical assistance and senior leadership oversight while working to identify and deploy 100 high-volume water pumps to FEMA mobilization centers. This is in addition to the 100 water pumps U.S. Northern Command is sourcing at FEMA’s request, officials said.

The Corps of Engineers also is supporting states’ and FEMA operations centers in three regions to organize response efforts. More than 20 team leaders or assistant team leaders have been alerted or deployed to provide public works and engineering expertise, such as damage modeling, storm surge modeling, and coastal preparations.

Other planning response teams remain on alert for debris management, commodities distribution, infrastructure assessment, temporary roofing, critical public facilities, water planning, and temporary housing. Additional temporary power teams have been placed on alert status.

“On alert” ain’t “Boots on the ground”, baby.

They NEVER activated them.

Amazing the questions you can answer on your own.

ths update: What FEMA HAS tasked them with can be found here:

Current Operations (as of 2 November)
•USACE has more than 500 people engaged to support the response mission, and has received a total of 35 FEMA Mission Assignments.
•USACE received a Mission Assignment from FEMA to provide 80 truckloads of water to West Virginia, 56 truckloads of water to New Jersey, and 40 truckloads of water to New Jersey. That mission is complete.
•USACE debris teams are in ports and the waterways in both NJ and NY clearing debris.
•Other Planning Response teams remain on alert for any additional debris management, commodities distribution, infrastructure assessment, temporary roofing, critical public facilities, water planning, and temporary housing. Additional temporary power teams have also been placed on alert status.
•USACE is supporting States’ and FEMA Regions I, II and III operations centers to organize response efforts. More than 25 Team Leaders or Assistant Team Leaders have been alerted and/or deployed to provide public works and engineering expertise to include damage modeling, storm surge modeling, and coastal preparations.
•USACE has assigned a liaison to the Department of Energy and to the National Guard Bureau to coordinate any combined response actions.

That’s it? 176 truckloads of water ~ NONE (as a friend points out) to New York City ~ and THAT’S IT for the water FEMA’s tasked them with procuring, yet FEMA’s OUT OF WATER?!?!?!

And the Corps remains “on alert”, BEGGING for something to do, because they have the resources, the knowledge and the ASSETS IN PLACE TO HELP PEOPLE NOW…

In any disaster, our top priorities are:
•Support immediate emergency response priorities;
•Sustain lives with critical commodities, temporary emergency power and other needs; and,
•Initiate recovery efforts by assessing and restoring critical infrastructure.

…but this smartest, most transparent, you’re doin’ a heckuva job administration doesn’t mind more people dead, as long as those campaign optics are all rosy halos.

ths update: The USACE Hurricane Sandy FEMA update as of November 4:

Current Operations (as of 4 November)
•USACE has more than 400 people engaged to support the response mission, and has more than 50 FEMA Mission Assignments exceeding a total of $134 million.
•USACE debris teams are in ports, waterways and coastal areas in NJ and NY clearing debris along the Atlantic seaboard.
•Other Planning Response teams remain on alert for any additional debris management, commodities distribution, infrastructure assessment, temporary roofing, critical public facilities, water planning, and temporary housing[ths adds: !!!].

GUESS what HASN’T CHANGED? No water or temp housing teams YET.

NO ONE HAS CALLED IN THE CORPS.

Today, November 4th’s DOD Press release is all National Guard and Transcom, with a teeny Navy/MarineCorps note. (H/T Dave in Texas) NO Army Corps of Engineer ANYTHING.

Public Service Announcement

Change your clocks on Saturday.

Change your President on Tuesday.

Courtesy of our own Syd. B

FEMA Is OUT OF WATER

OUT. Of water.

HOW can that be possible.

It boggles the mind.

They don’t even have a fucking CONTRACT yet. YET! And won’t have any water to the DISTRIBUTION CENTERS ~ NOT THE PEOPLE SUFFERING, MIND YOU ~ until Monday.

How is that possible?

Underwater #obama #FEMA#NewJersey #useless twitter.com/Jack6010/statu…

— USMC-Jack (@Jack6010) November 3, 2012

ths update And UNIONS ARE OBAMA’S BIGGEST SUPPORTERS:

Hannity’s shock audio: Union members shout ‘Scabs!’ and ‘Scumbags!’ at utility crews in New York

*UPDATE: The Daily Caller has learned that the audio Sean Hannity played during his Friday, Nov. 2 broadcast was taken from a 2011 union protest against replacement workers during a Verizon strike. A YouTube video of the protest carries a description naming the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, local 827, as the source of the comments. That union local is based in East Windsor, N.J.

…New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pledged Friday that he wouldn’t permit union interference with power restoration, but the governments of New York state and New York City have been silent on the matter. (RELATED: Christie threatens “Disaster Control Act” order to guarantee nonunion utility workers can help restore NJ power)

The audio Hannity played Friday featured what he said were “union thugs” berating utility workers from Alabama.

“That’s who you hurt, scumbags! That’s who you fucking hurt! Scumbags!” a loud voice on the audio recording is heard shouting. ”Fuck all of you fucking [unintelligible]! That’s who you hurt! You’re taking it from our families! Good jobs!”

“Go back where you came from! Look at her face! Scab! Look at her face, scab! That’s who you’re hurting, scab! You feel good tonight? Go home, you bunch of scabs! That’s who you’re hurting! Taking our jobs! That’s who you’re hurting, scabs! You’re hurting families!”

Bet there’s some cold people shivering in the dark who’d be interested in how concerned the Unions are for their well being in the middle of a natural disaster.

We treated those out-of-state crews ~ specifically the one from Texas fixing the lines in our neighborhood after Ivan ~ like Gods come down from Olympus, lemme tell you. And to a person, the whole Gulf Power Company bunch were damn sure glad to have them. Same for the hundreds of out-of-state trucks that came in for Bertha and Fran clean-up in N.C. Freakin’ heroes.

These people…speechless. I’m speechless.

*Thanks for the heads up to leelu in the comments for the DC correction.

Hurricane Sandy Cuisine With Bingley

Neighbors reaching across the aisle to neighbors. The Marine across the street grills the chicken and Bingley makes the alfredo sauce.

My ‘wake-up’ phone picture (keeps forgetting about the time difference in his camping enthusiasm…)
yesterday ~ with the admonition, “Tell them we still survive!!!” ~ was “eggs-in-a-frame” à la Weber.

Of course, this morning, I hope he had a good feed. He’s sitting in the 38° chill at the Belmar Ferry terminal. Said the berm that protected it is completely blown away and the terminal itself is full of sand. On the way in, he saw horrendous lines at the few gas stations that were open, so all the more reason the use your full tank (Remember? We said FILL UP/TOP OFF?) wisely in the coming days. NO LOLLYGAGGING. He’s also equipped with a flashlight, because they’re opening his office building so he can get paperwork out to work from (his cellphone plugged into the ashtray in the car at) home.

The flashlight is for the TWENTYFIVE FLOOR JAUNT he has up to his office before he actually gets to root through what he needs.

I hope he’ll still have oxygen in his brain when he gets UP there. O_o

I’d hate to remember I forgot something halfway down.

Staten Island

#StatenIsland is starting pt for the NY Marathon.Running by the freezing, hungry people waiting for rescue? Really?

— martha maccallum (@marthamaccallum) November 2, 2012

And precisely WHY I tell everyone to be prepared to fend for yourselves for DAYS and NEVER, EVER RECOMMEND ANYONE GIVE MONEY TO THE RED CROSS:

10 emergency response vehicles now en route to Staten Island loaded with comfort kits, snacks, shelf stable meals, water (11.1.12) #Sandy

— American Red Cross (@RedCross) November 1, 2012

NOVEMBER FIRST ?!?!?

They have all the money and ALL the resources in the world and their FIRST foray onto the borough is in RESPONSE to the borough president lighting them up on national TV.
Despicable.