My Email to CBS, for What It’s Worth

I’ve never watched the icky, gap-toothed pervert, but feel compelled to chastise the network. And the sponsors. I’ve added links for the post. (And the cheeseballs have a damn AOL email address! What up wit dat?)

Subject: David Letterman is a disgrace, as his advertisers will also learn
There’s comedy and there’s comedy, and his attempt at humor qualified as neither.
His attempt at a pseudo apology is pathetic and indicative of a complete lack of individual character.
Would CBS have been so accommodating if, instead of Willow Palin, the target had been, say, young Malia Obama?

But, then, it never would have been.

Because these stupid pseudo-intellectual f*ckers have been picking on Willow all along.
Picking on little girls when you don’t agree with their mum is okay. It’s clever and funny, doncha know?

Thoughts On Shooting Reporting

The murder of the guard is horrible beyond a doubt, but I’m somewhat struck by the coverage

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A rifle-wielding white supremacist entered Washington’s Holocaust museum on Wednesday afternoon, fatally shooting a security guard before being wounded himself by return fire from other guards, authorities said.
Stephen Tyrone Johns, a six-year veteran of the museum’s security staff, later “died heroically in the line of duty,” said Sara Bloomfield, museum director.
Law enforcement sources identified the suspect as James W. von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist from Maryland.

Did you know the shooter was a white supremacist? I guess it’s reasonable to prominently note in a report written just a few hours after the shooting some details that are in fact probably highly relevant to the crime, and here “prominently” means twice in the first three sentences of the story. To be clear: CNN feels that it is very important that the suspect’s political/philosophical world view be stressed; that it was his belief system that led him to act this way. And frankly I think they’re right. The guy is a wacko scumbag.
Meanwhile, last week

(CNN) — An Arkansas man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting at a Little Rock military recruiting center that killed one soldier and wounded another, authorities said.
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad — a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe — faces a first-degree murder charge and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act, Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said. The terrorist counts stem from the shots fired at an occupied building.
While authorities continued to investigate a motive, Thomas said Muhammad is a Muslim convert and, based on preliminary interviews with him, investigators believe there were “political and religious motives” in the shooting.

CNN’s being a little more coy here, aren’t they? You know, “investigators believe” that this person’s belief system “might” have played a part in what he did – but let’s not get hasty! Perhaps this little nugget buried by the AP yesterday may help them make up their minds

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A Muslim convert charged in the killing of a soldier at a recruiting center in Arkansas says he didn’t consider it murder because U.S. military action in the Middle East made the killing justified.
Abdulhakim Muhammad told The Associated Press Tuesday in Little Rock that he confessed to police that he killed Pvt. William Long outside an Army-Navy recruiting center.

After this murder yesterday it took only a few hours for Obama to issue this statement

“I am shocked and saddened by today’s shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world.
“Today, we have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this painful time.”

I agree with every word.
Compare that to the nearly 5 days it took for him to issue this somewhat more tepid statement

“I am deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence against two brave young soldiers who were doing their part to strengthen our armed forces and keep our country safe,” Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.
“I would like to wish Quinton Ezeagwula a speedy recovery and to offer my condolences and prayers to William Long’s family as they mourn the loss of their son.”

A bit of a difference, it seems to me.
Oh, and as a further point of comparison here’s what Obama said, again within hours, not 5 days, of Dr. Tiller’s murder

I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.

Priorities, my friends.

Hans Brix!

Here comes that letter to Kim Jong Il telling him how angry the UN is

NEW YORK (CNN) — The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agreed on a resolution that would expand and tighten sanctions on North Korea, two senior Western diplomats at the United Nations said Wednesday.
The permanent members — China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States — reached the agreement in consultation with Japan and South Korea.
The council began discussions late Wednesday morning. A vote is possible Thursday or Friday, according to several diplomats, including French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert.
The agreement comes amid rising tension with North Korea, which recently conducted a nuclear test, fired test rockets, and threatened U.S. and South Korean ships near its territorial waters. The nuclear test and the firing of six short-range rockets same in late May.

(That spelling error in the last sentence is in the original CNN story, btw; I guess CNN’c editors have the same level of training as UN Nuclear inspectors)
That sound you hear is the NKs rolling on the ground in laughter. But don’t despair! The One has set his laser-like focus on cash-for-clunkers…whilst Kim is focused on clash-from-bunkers.

“What You Smell is What You Get”

“Burger King and piss and sweat.”

A slice of the delightful, HILARIOUS lyrics in this potty-mouthed anthem dedicated to striking UK subway workers.

I’d put that sucker up for a Grammy. A warm Swill salute to Wolf Howling for the find.

What About All the Jobs at the Hefty Garbage Bag Factory?

All those scientists and technicians employed to make the next greatest, stretchiest, strongest tall kitchen cinch sack with self ties and odor control?

Rubbish ‘banned’
FOOD, glass and drinks cans could all be banned from our rubbish bins under government proposals to be outlined today.

Nobody cares about the lives of those evil-doers in a clean, green world.
And I used to laugh at the British penchant for over regulating…

Take Off, Eh!

To the Great White North

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – The multiple frosts that have blanketed Western Canada in the last week are the most widespread in the top canola-growing province of Saskatchewan in at least five years, the Canola Council of Canada said on Tuesday.
Two overnight frosts last week have already resulted in some Saskatchewan farmers reseeding their canola, a Canadian variant of rapeseed, said Jim Bessel, senior agronomy specialist in the province for the industry group Canola Council.
…In Manitoba, the frost is the worst in memory for its frequency and area covered, said Derwyn Hammond, the province’s senior agronomy specialist for the Canola Council.
“Certainly (it’s) the worst year I’ve seen,” said Hammond, who has worked for the Canola Council for 15 years.

Reports of sightings of the Goreacle in Western Canada could not be independently confirmed.
Aside from the frosts.

Quote of the Day

CNBC regular on the union’s turning down the Boston Globe offer:

“They forgot the first rule of a parasite: NEVER kill the host.”

Don’t Bother Applying

I got it in the bag.

Every Evening I Go to Bed, Thinking There’s NOTHING Left Our Precedent Can Do to Shock Me

And EVERY freakin’ morning, the SOB proves me wrong, bless his little pointy head. File this new jaw dropper under “You GOT to be shittin’ me?!?!?!“

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Tuesday challenged Congress to pay for new increases in federal benefit programs as it goes rather than sink the nation deeper into a debt, calling it a matter of public responsibility. Republicans lashed back that Obama is no voice of fiscal restraint as the deficit soars.
The president’s plan would require Congress to pay for new entitlement spending, such as health care, by raising taxes or coming up with budget cuts — a “pay-as-you-go” system that would have the force of law. Under the proposal, if new spending or tax reductions are not offset, there would be automatic cuts in so-called mandatory programs — although Social Security payments and some other programs would be exempt.

Ohohohohoh, wait. I see.

…”It is no coincidence that this rule was in place when we moved from record deficits to record surpluses in the 1990s — and that when this rule was abandoned, we returned to record deficits that doubled the national debt,” Obama said, flanked at the White House by supportive Democratic lawmakers.

Bush did all this to us. I am at the point where I barely have any molars left in my head from the teeth gnashing that occurs every frickin’ time I see his smug, pretentious mug on the telly. Which, of course, seems like it’s fifty times lectures a day.
And it’s only been four months.

Oh Yeah? Well My Plan…

…will save or create (in my mind) at least one trillion jobs

(CNN) — As the nation’s unemployment rate inches toward double-digit territory, the White House insists that job creation is on the way.
Vice President Joe Biden on Monday is presenting to President Obama the “Roadmap to Recovery,” a plan to accelerate the implementation of the $787 billion stimulus plan in its second 100 days.
Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February, vowing the program would create or save 3.5 million jobs. So far, 150,000 jobs have been saved or created by the plan — fewer than that 345,000 jobs lost in May alone.
The White House says as a result of the expedited pace, the recovery plan will create or save more than 600,000 jobs in the second 100 days.

So there.
Notice how they say with a straight face that “So far, 150,000 jobs have been saved or created by the plan” even though there’s absolutely no data to support this, and one might *think* that their very next line, “fewer than that(sic) 345,000 jobs lost in May alone”, might make them maybe kind of sorta perhaps question the One’s math.
But really, trust me on this: I will create or save, my option, One Trillion Jobs.
Or not.

Damn You Chimpy!

Now you’ve stolen our Summer!

According to Long Range Expert Joe Bastardi, areas from the northern Plains into the Northeast will have a “year without a summer.” The jet stream, which is suppressed abnormally south this spring, is also suppressing the number of thunderstorms that can form. The ones that do form in areas of the Ohio Valley and West are forming in places with very cold temperatures, which can lead to more electrified thunderstorms than normal this year.

Global Warming: It’s Real.*
* but on Mars, not Earth.

Why Is It A “Coup”…

…when Republicans in the NY Senate do it

COUP IN ALBANY: GOP Takes Over NY State Senate
Malcolm Smith Ousted As Senate Majority Leader; Dems Turn Off Lights, Cut Internet Power In Attempt To Stop Coup
Paterson Goes Ballistic: I’m Here To Stand Up For Democracy
Reporting
Marcia Kramer
ALBANY (CBS) ?
Who’s in charge of New York?
That was the big question Monday night following a political standoff in Albany.
The Republicans said they pulled off a coup, snatching power away from the Senate majority, but the Democrats said it was illegal and that they’re still in control of the Legislature.
And the whole thing has Gov. David Paterson lashing out at lawmakers.
It was a carefully crafted coup — five weeks in the making, with independent Tom Golisano in on the plotting.
And when it was over Republican Sen. Dean Skelos of Rockville Center was back in power as Senate Majority Leader. Dumped was former Democratic leader Malcolm Smith.

but when Democrats in the US Senate do it it’s a “courageous and wonderful display of our democracy in action”?
Just wonderin’.

Dear President Sarkozy

As an American citizen I am dreadfully embarrassed by my President’s snub of you and your nation, one of our longest-standing allies.
While it may be of little consolation, please be aware that any time you and your Bride are in New York you have an open invitation to dine at our house.
It’s the least I can do.
best regards,
Mr. Bingley

Good News From Europe

Labour takes it on the chin

Labour has suffered its worst post-war election result as it was beaten into third place by UKIP and saw the BNP gain its first seats at Brussels.
Labour’s share of the vote at the European elections was just 15.3% – worse than party bosses had feared.
The Tories won with 28.6%, beating Labour in Wales but failing to increase their total share significantly.
The results have sent shockwaves through UK politics and led to renewed calls for Gordon Brown to quit as PM.

tick-tick-tick
You hear that Gordon? It’s time to go.
(mind you, the BNP is not a party that I support)
Elsewhere

June 7 (Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy led pro-business parties in defeating socialists in European Parliament elections, lessening the pressure for more stimulus measures to fight the deepest recession since World War II.
Amid signs the economic slump is bottoming out, the continent’s top two leaders escaped the drubbing in European Union-wide elections that was handed to U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and socialists in smaller countries including Spain, Austria, Portugal, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovenia.

Boy Obama really has some wide coat-tails in Europe, doesn’t he?

That Took Some Nerve!

Bravo to Lebanese voters and may we support you against Hezbollah with everything we have.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s pro-Western coalition declared victory early Monday, as local television stations reported the faction had successfully fended off a serious challenge by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies to grab the majority in parliament.
Official results for Sunday’s election were not expected until later Monday, but the winners were already celebrating by shooting in the air, setting off fireworks and driving around in honking motorcades.
The election was an early test of President Obama’s efforts to forge Middle East peace. A win by Hezbollah would have boosted the influence of its backers Iran and Syria and risked pushing one of the region’s most volatile nations into international isolation and possibly into more conflict with Israel.

And I wouldn’t say it’s Obama’s efforts, but a result of Bush’s democracy mantra.
But, hey. Who are we kidding and this is no time to quibble.

Some Holiday Celebrations Are Real

…quack ups. I won’t miss it next year.

[June 5] Today is Dead Duck Day. Like last year, the short open-air ceremony is open to the public. Please come and commemorate the sudden and dramatic death of the mallard duck that entered the scientific literature as the first ever recorded victim of homosexual necrophila in this species, and discuss (new) ways to prevent birds from colliding with glass.

Wait…?! What’s that you say? Dead ducks doing…what?

Sad, but true.

The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the
mallard Anas platyrhynchos (Aves: Anatidae)
Moeliker, C.W., 2001 – The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos
(Aves: Anatidae) – DEINSEA 8: 243-247 [ISSN 0932-9308]. Published 9 November 2001
On 5 June 1995 an adult male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) collided with the glass façade of the
Natuurmuseum Rotterdam and died. An other drake mallard raped the corpse almost continuously
for 75 minutes. Then the author disturbed the scene and secured the dead duck. Dissection
showed that the rape-victim indeed was of the male sex. It is concluded that the mallards were
engaged in an ‘Attempted Rape Flight’ that resulted in the first described case of homosexual
necrophilia in the mallard.

Almost sounds like the result of a grant from the NEA, doesn’t it?

Stoopid Saturday Video

…late Friday evening. It’s only 18 seconds.

Go ahead, cowards.

Obama’s Rebuilding That Overseas Love…

…One dinner snub at a time

The Obamas turn up in Paris this evening, but have declined a dinner invitation from the couple next door: the Sarkozys.
President Obama’s reluctance to spend more than minimum time with the French leader on his visit for the D-Day anniversary has come as an embarrassment to the Elysée Palace.
America’s First Family will not be dining with President Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, even though they are staying at the residence of the US Ambassador, yards from the Elysée apartments where the Sarkozys spend their weekends.
Mr Sarkozy’s staff were trying yesterday to arrange another private moment between the couples. Mr Obama is due to fly back to Washington tomorrow night or on Sunday.

Good gawd almighty, this guy is the most arrogant SOB we’ve ever had.

You Know I Love You Guys Dearly

But I am somewhat disappointed that no one (and I’m looking at you, Ken) has gotten the pun yet in my Music Theory post from a few months ago:

Sunday Dinner

I’ve been quite merrily working my way through the NY Strips from last month, very very tough work, let me tell you…the sacrifices I make for you guys.
Anyhow, as the weather was quite lurvly on Sunday I decided to use the bottom of my WSM as my own little Smokey Joe kettle to grill the steaks over charcoal. After many months of me begging my local Imbibery has finally stocked one of my all-time fav wines

The Mondavi Carneros Pinot Noir is, for about $18, a simply lovely wine. It has very nice fruit and structure and as close to a burgundian flavor as I’ve found in an American pinot under $30. Buy it if you see it.
I wanted to see how much I could cram on the grill; I think 3 NY Strips and 4 ears of corn fit nicely

The nice thing about this ad-hoc kettle is that the grill itself was easy to spin so I could control the cook pretty easily by having the coals piled against one side of the bowl. This gave me both direct and indirect cooking.
Served along with a batch of oven-roasted rosemary/thyme/sea salt spuds (and another bottle of wine, natch) it was a very satisfactory way to end the weekend.

Oy

The French government expressed deep disappointment Friday over the news that ocean debris recovered by the Brazilian military this week appeared to be the remains of a shipwreck and not from an Air France jet that crashed in the South Atlantic on Monday

Crap. And if THAT’S true, who were the poor guys on the boat?

With major dad, I’ve Always Known I Was Lucky Enough to Have Snagged (From His Cradle, Mind You)

…an époux extraordinairement. Wednesday night, without quibble or whimper, not only did he take me out for a divine dinner, he willingly sat in the theater through the re-release of one of my all-time favorite movies. An utter and complete chick flick.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, do you know what he did last night? Do YA?!?!
After noting that Polly Walker was HOT, he told me…he had really enjoyed the movie.

Guy’s a keeper.

Patton’s Speech

via our friends at Babalu as he really gave it, 65 years ago today

Be seated.
Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle.
You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight.
When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser.
Americans despise cowards.

Read more »

Barack O Borg?

“Resistance is futile.”

(image from GraniteGrok)

As We Honor The Veterans Of D-Day

Let us not forget what happened on these very same days in June two years earlier:

Midway.
We can never thank you glorious guys enough.
(via Ace)