Y’all Are A Bunch Of Lying Liers

Thus spake Harry Reid

Harry Reid spoke about the Obamacare “horror stories” on the Senate floor this morning. He said that “all are untrue.”

“Despite all that good news, there’s plenty of horror stories being told. All of them are untrue, but they’re being told all over America,” said Reid.

“The leukemia patient whose insurance policy was canceled [and] could die without her medication, Mr. President, that’s an ad being paid for by two billionaire brothers. It’s absolutely false. Or the woman whose insurance policy went up $700 a month–ads paid for around America by the multibillionaire Koch brothers, and the ad is false.”

So shut up, America.

I Can Resist Everything

Except King Cake.

Oh god, whenever one gets delivered to the office I eat nearly all of it.

Help me, please………..

Bacardi Fires Off a Big “UP YOURS, FIDEL” in Their Latest Print Ad

It is a thing of BEAUTY.

#Bacardi sends a big Up Yours/Bite Me to #FidelCastro in their latest print ad. #Cuba Thing of BEAUTY. pic.twitter.com/BphljqQajd

— tree hugging sister (@treehuggingsis) February 26, 2014

IN 1960, THE REVOLUTIONARY REGIME IN CUBA ILLEGALLY CONFISCATED ALL THE BACARDI COMPANY’S CUBAN ASSETS WITHOUT COMPENSATION AND FORCED THEM OUT OF THE COUNTRY. THE BACARDIS LOST THEIR BUSINESS AND THEIR HOME, BUT AS HISTORY HAS PROVEN, NOT THEIR SPIRIT. THEY SIMPLY STARTED OVER SOMEWHERE ELSE.

I Was Just In The Mood To Watch This Again

One of the finest scenes ever filmed.

I Know I Have Harold Ramis to Thank For This ~ Since Ebola’s Puppies Made Their Appearence

….EVERY day has been like Ground Hog Day.

We start off with Beau growling, snarling and lunging at their crate, as if their presence was THE single greatest surprise ever.

By the end of EVERY day, we’ve made ~ oh, shoot ~ sometimes LEAPS and BOUNDS of puppy peace progress. For instance: by the end of last evening, with only Beau on the barest minimum dosage of amitriptyline (cheap Prozac), I had NO muzzles on anyone. Dead dogs laying everywhere. Exiting politely through the patio door to go outside. A tiny flicker of hope in my bosom renewing yet again.

Everyone to OUR bedroom (Yes. FIVE dogs.) for seepy-time. Newbies together in the crate, ours OWNING the field…the floor…and our bed as usual. Snores ensue almost immediately.

This morning? Ozzie does his gentle morning shake, by tradition being the first to rise. Beau slides off the living room couch, where he wandered to sometime in the wee hours of the night. Cassie and ‘Chilles stir in the crate as Beau rounds the bedroom door…and we have an INSTANT case of:

“WHO the HELL are YOU??!!!“

Snarl. Snarl. Chomp. Chomp.

Grab him by the collar. Explain to his knucklehead they’ve been there for GOING ON TWO WEEKS NOW.

Park his ruffled ass on his palatial dog bed to get them safely out of the room.

**sighdeeply**

Start the day.

Again.

ths update: So much for progress. It’s been a many stitches = many dollars day.

Well, shit.

Well This Is Certainly Interesting

I know that correlation is not causation, and these rumurs have been around for a while, but still

Fifty years ago today, Muhammad Ali “shocked the world” and beat one of the most fearsome fighters ever to put on a pair of boxing gloves, heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.

…Maybe it wasn’t such a shock, as 4-decade-old documents released to The Washington Times under the Freedom of Information Act show the FBI suspected the fight may have been fixed by a Las Vegas figure tied to organized crime and to Liston. The documents show no evidence that Ali was in on the scheme or even knew about it. And nothing suggests the bureau ever fully corroborated the suspicions it investigated.

An interesting series of “coincidences,” especially to my mind at least the claim that Resnick (who played basketball at NYU) may have been involved in the CCNY point shaving scandal in 1950.

The Hills Are No Longer Alive With The Sound

The last von Trapp singer has died

(CNN) — Maria von Trapp, the last of the singing children immortalized in the movie musical “The Sound of Music,” died at her Vermont home of natural causes, her half-brother told CNN on Saturday.

The native of Austria was 99 and lived in Stowe. She died Tuesday.

Maria von Trapp was the third-oldest child of Agathe Whitehead and Capt. Georg von Trapp. The couple had seven children: Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina.

Georg von Trapp’s second wife, Maria Kutschera von Trapp, wrote a book titled “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers,” which sparked two German-made movies and “The Sound of Music.”

“I Collect Spores, Molds and Fungus”

The BRILLIANT Egon Spengler Harold Ramis is dead.

Oh, I just adored him, as much for being a decent human being as a comedic national treasure:

One of my favorite exchanges EVER:

Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis): There’s something very important I forgot to tell you.

Dr. Peter Venkman (Murray): What?

Dr. Egon Spengler: Don’t cross the streams.

Dr. Peter Venkman: Why?

Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad.

Dr. Peter Venkman: I’m fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, “bad”?

Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

Dr Ray Stantz (Ackroyd): Total protonic reversal.

Dr. Peter Venkman: Right. That’s bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.

Another great movie…

General Amos Will Assuredly Have His Knickers in a Wad

…now that his pissanty retaliatory strike at the Marine Corps Times has blown up spectacularly…and made Gawker to boot.

Marine Corps Commandant Got So Mad at Newspaper, He Tried to Ban It

Last year, the Marine Corps Times reported that the Department of Defense was investigating Marine Corps Commandant General Jim Amos and four of his aides for allegedly manipulating the military’s legal system and promotion process. Amos couldn’t stop the independently-owned Times from doing its job, so he tried the next best thing: Completely banning its sale from all Marine Corps bases.

According to emails obtained by the Marine Corps Times, the Marine Corps’ deputy director of public affairs sought advice from several other Defense officials, apparently at the behest of Amos, on how to address the Times’ reporting at the time. The director, Chris Hughes, wrote in one email:

Every couple of years, we have a falling out with Marine Corps Times that warrants consideration of some level of ‘ban’ from our facilities. We believe that we may be close to such an impasse, and we want to present the Commandant with options. We believe it becomes a ‘good order and discipline’ issue if CMC believes he is being misrepresented by them. On such grounds, could he prohibit their sale in our [Marine Corps Community Services] facilities?

Or, could he place them somewhere less prominent?

I’LL tell you what’s “prominent”, pal ~ your boss’s mug looking like a FOOL on the front of this article.

Charges in ANOTHER Classic Florida “Stand Your Ground” Murder Case Dismissed

But I guess you haven’t heard an OUTRAGED PEEP about this one, have you? Happened right here in Pensacola, so BORING REDNECK, right?

There another reason Reverand Al isn’t here marching down Palafox Street.

The defendent is black.

Charges dropped in fatal shooting based on Stand Your Ground law
Pensacola man acted in self-defense when he shot two men, Judge rules

A judge has dismissed a murder charge under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law against a Pensacola man who shot and killed a man last year during a confrontation in his front yard.

Last April, Earl Moultrie Jr., 36, was charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Landi Benitez.

According to witness testimony, Benitez was part of a group that got into an argument with Moultrie near his home on Medford Avenue. The group reportedly followed Moultrie to his residence and threatened him and his family.

Moultrie told investigators that he fired a warning shot, then fatally shot Benitez as he approached him with a knife. Jose Joya, a 21-year-old acquaintance of Benitez, was also shot during the incident.

Would Anyone Care to Guess Just WHAT the Hell Our Genius UN Ambassador…

…meant by this?

Daniel Pearl's story is reminder that individual accountability & reconciliation are required to break cycles of violence. @DanielPearlFNDN

— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) February 24, 2014

I know how I picture Daniel Pearl in MY mind’s eye, and I don’t think they’ve EVER gotten the people responsible.

Neither have the Benghazi killers even been sought, less mind brought to justice.

Perhaps, in her infinite spacey, big-thinking wisdom, she’s inferring it was PEARL’S fault he lost his head?

Wouldn’t put it past them…would you?

Pictures From Kiev

Per Syd in the comments, the Daily Mail has a tons of pictures.

I mean, I hate to take y’all away from CNN’s wall-to-wall coverage of Hillary and gay NBA players.

Russian “Doubts”

Now that Sochi is over Uncle Ivan is getting restless

Feb 24 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday said Russia had grave doubts about the legitimacy of those in power in Ukraine following President Viktor Yanukovich’s ouster, saying their recognition by some states was an “aberration”.

“We do not understand what is going on there. There is a real threat to our interests and to the lives of our citizens,” Medvedev was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

War In The Ukraine?

Well, things may have gotten much dicier overnight. The Presidential Residence in Kiev has been abandoned, as the President has fled to the eastern, Russo-Centric region of the country and the protesters are now the ones in essence protecting the Parliament building, where Parliament has just voted to release the former opposition leader from jail. Odds are much greater now of civil war, it seems to me, with the country splitting in two at the start of it which as the chart at Zero shows (via ZeroHedge) Putin will simply not allow

This is not a “Georgia” repeat. This could be a major armed conflict in direct contact with the borders of 4 NATO Members over control of some of the main energy supply pipelines to Western Europe, which means a very real danger of Article 5 being invoked:

Article 5

The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security .
Article 6 (1)

For the purpose of Article 5, an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack:

on the territory of any of the Parties in Europe or North America, on the Algerian Departments of France (2), on the territory of or on the Islands under the jurisdiction of any of the Parties in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer;
on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in Europe in which occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force or the Mediterranean Sea or the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer.

This can literally explode very very quickly.

But don’t worry, Obama is focused like a laser on improving diesel truck mileage.

Some More Pictures From The Ukraine

Once again via Syd, here’s perhaps some cause for hope: Police joining the Protesters

and to balance that here’s a shot of some of the government snipers entering the Presidential Administration building…perhaps to collect their bonuses

Ah, the Good, Old Days of Tass! Revived for YOUR “Education” and Mind Control

…by your friendly, national Obama administration.

(ths note: I see I got my post w/ the same article, but different emphasis, up after Bingley’s in the one immediately below. We must both be pissed.)

New Obama initiative tramples First Amendment protections

“This has never been put to an FCC vote, it was just announced,” says Ajit Pai, one of the FCC’s five commissioners (and one of its two Republicans).

“I’ve never had any input into the process,” adds Pai, who brought the story to the public’s attention in a Wall Street Journal column last week.

…The study identified eight “critical needs”: information about emergencies and risks; health and welfare; education; transportation; economic opportunities; the environment; civic information; and political information.

It’s not difficult to see those topics quickly becoming vehicles for political intimidation. In fact, it’s difficult to imagine that they wouldn’t. For example, might the FCC standards that journalists must meet on the environment look something like the Obama administration’s environmental agenda? Might standards on economic opportunity resemble the president’s inequality agenda? The same could hold true for the categories of health and welfare and “civic information” — and pretty much everything else.

“An enterprising regulator could run wild with a lot of these topics,” says Pai. “The implicit message to the newsroom is they need to start covering these eight categories in a certain way or otherwise the FCC will go after them.“

Where’s those Pussy Riot girls when you need someone with a pair?

Is It Any Surprise?

That the man who has turned every agency of government into openly politicized arms of his regime would next turn his sights to overtly control those who have been his greatest enablers?

The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” But under the Obama administration, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to send government contractors into the nation’s newsrooms to determine whether journalists are producing articles, television reports, Internet content, and commentary that meets the public’s “critical information needs.” Those “needs” will be defined by the administration, and news outlets that do not comply with the government’s standards could face an uncertain future. It’s hard to imagine a project more at odds with the First Amendment.

The initiative, known around the agency as “the CIN Study” (pronounced “sin”), is a bit of a mystery even to insiders. “This has never been put to an FCC vote, it was just announced,” says Ajit Pai, one of the FCC’s five commissioners (and one of its two Republicans). “I’ve never had any input into the process,” adds Pai, who brought the story to the public’s attention in a Wall Street Journal column last week.

Advocates promote the project with Obama-esque rhetoric. “This study begins the charting of a course to a more effective delivery of necessary information to all citizens,” said FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn in 2012. Clyburn, daughter of powerful House Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, was appointed to the FCC by President Obama and served as acting chair for part of last year. The FCC, Clyburn said, “must emphatically insist that we leave no American behind when it comes to meeting the needs of those in varied and vibrant communities of our nation — be they native born, immigrant, disabled, non-English speaking, low-income, or other.”

The FCC, who licenses the airwaves, will now under the orders of Obama send Commissars into newsrooms to monitor what they do and say.

Who’s scoffing at the idea of “Liberal Fascism” now?

Truce Breaks Down

Well, it looks like Captain Impotent Line-In-The-Sand will get to emasculate us yet again, as the ‘truce’ announced in the Ukraine yesterday has collapsed spectacularly and at least 20 are dead

At least 17 protesters have been killed in renewed clashes with police in central Kiev after a truce agreed on Wednesday broke down, eyewitnesses say.

Witnesses reported live rounds, petrol bombs and water cannon at the main protest site, Independence Square.

A meeting between EU foreign ministers and President Viktor Yanukovych is now under way, officials say, contradicting earlier reports that the ministers had flown out without seeing him.

The EU will discuss sanctions later.

Well, I’m sure that’s comforting.

UPDATE: Oh god, they’re saying over 100 dead now.

Update The Second: A video from Syd in the comments that is horrific

note the sniper shot hitting the tree behind them in the very last second of the video.

Some More Kiev pictures:

The last one, showing a series of tweets in Ukrainian, was from a girl who tweeted her own death. Last tweet: “I’m dying”.

I’m told this 21 year old young lady was a medic who was shot by a sniper today. She has died.

And now that Capt. Genius has committed us again to a “Line” being crossed, just what exactly does he propose?

HAPPY UPDATE: I’m not sure how to say “Mark Twain” in Ukrainian, but rumors of her demise were exaggerated…barely

Miracle in Kiev: Shot Medic Survives After Tweeting ‘I Am Dying’
By Alexander Smith and Maria Stromova

Losing blood from a gunshot wound to her throat, Olesya Zhukovska sent what she must have thought was her final tweet.

“I am dying,” the 21-year-old wrote in Ukrainian on Thursday after being struck by a bullet. She was working as a volunteer medic amid fierce clashes between police and anti-government protesters in Kiev.

Moments later she lost consciousness.

…But Zhukovska received emergency surgery and survived.

Her next tweet came Friday: “I am alive! Thanks to everyone who supports and prays for me! I am in a hospital, my condition is stable so far!”

Zhukovska was visited at Kiev’s No. 17 hospital by Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Iryna Herashchenko.

“Olesya was shot in the throat and yesterday she was in danger,” Herashchenko told NBC News through a translator on Friday. “Initially [before getting to the hospital] we thought she was dead. But thankfully they were able to operate on her and she made it through. She was in intensive care but now she has been moved to another ward where she is now with her family.”

(thanks to Julie for the good news)

Chaos in The Ukraine

Some reports are saying perhaps 25 people, including at least 7 police, were killed in yesterday’s clashes in Kiev

Police are storming the main protest camp in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, which has been occupied since November.

Explosions are taking place, fireworks are being thrown and large fires have broken out in Independence Square.

On Tuesday at least 18 people were killed, including seven policemen, in the worst violence seen in weeks.

President Viktor Yanukovych blamed the violence on opposition leaders, but said it was still “not too late to stop the conflict”.

He was speaking after a late-night meeting with opposition figures Vitaly Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Key dates

21 November 2013: Ukraine suspends preparations for a trade deal with the EU, triggering protests
30 November: Riot police first take action against protesters, injuring dozens and fuelling anger
17 December: Russia agrees to buy Ukrainian government bonds and slash price of gas sold to Ukraine, taking wind out of protest movement
25 December: Renewed outcry after anti-government activist and journalist Tetyana Chornovol is beaten
19 January: Protests take a violent turn as demonstrators torch police buses and throw petrol bombs; police respond with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon. Several died in following days
18 February: Bloodiest day of the clashes sees civilians and police officers killed

In a bold display of Smart Power, the US said it was “concerned.”

And from Twitter

(it should be noted that the above picture is a week old, not from yesterday/today)

Chicago Style

Former Democratic Rep. Mel Reynolds continues his winning ways

Former Illinois Democratic Rep. Mel Reynolds was arrested Monday in Zimbabwe after police learned that he was making pornographic films in hotels where he had accumulated $24,500 in unpaid bills, and that he had overstayed his visa by two months.

A former Reynolds assistant told the state-controlled newspaper The Herald that the Democratic pol had been paying a model and several other girls to produce his pornos.

…Reynolds, once a close confidante of Rev. Jesse Jackson, resigned in disgrace after two years in Congress when he was convicted of 12 counts of statutory rape, solicitation of child pornography and obstruction of justice.

He was found guilty in 1995 of having sex with a 16-year-old campaign worker. Police ran a sting against the congressman when his mistress, who was too young to vote, told her next-door neighbor about the sexual relationship.

That neighbor was a Chicago police officer. In later taped phone conversations, the teen promised him a three-way sex romp with a 15-year-old Catholic schoolgirl.

‘Did I win the Lotto?’ Reynolds was heard exclaiming on tape.

While serving a five-year prison sentence, the disgraced Reynolds was convicted on unrelated bank fraud charges in 1997, including lying to Securities and Exchange Commission investigators.

He received another six and a half years, but President Bill Clinton later commuted his sentence when he still had three years left to serve.

Naturally, his screwing of teenagers has led to all of us getting screwed:

It was Reynolds’ trysts with the 16-year-old campaign aide that opened up Barack Obama’s first opportunity to enter politics.

Following the Congressman’s indictment, state Senator Alice Palmer leaped forward to challenge him in a Democratic primary. Obama immediately put his name forward to win the open state legislative post, starting his meteoric rise to the White House.

A friend from Obama’s community organizing days had been Palmer’s campaign manager, and made an introduction.

What a tangled web we weave.

Romulus and Remus Update

Five dogs, four different sized muzzles and NO one seems to think of theirs as a fashion statement.

Well, I take that back. Except Ozzie. He’ll wear anything.

On the upside, they’ve all been moving freely around the house for several extended periods today, as long as “freely” is defined as “wide circle around Beau”. We have strategically placed water bottles for face-blasts when eruptions occur. Thanks to the mesh-muzzles, it’s 90% sound and fury, vice immediate bloodbath.

While Bingley’s Enjoying Yet Another Idyllic Robert Frost Weekend

…we are attempting to integrate Ebola’s two sweet puppies into our household for the 2 1/2 months while he’s in school, prior to LEAVING HIS MOMMY TO PCS TO GUAM FOR YEARS. (WWWAAAHHHHH!!!!!!! Of course, he’s THRILLED.)

It’s not going well, thanks to the general intransigence and overall surliness of two of OUR three cabal of ancient canines. (It just dawned on my math-challenged mind last night that Beau was NINE, not the seven I’ve been telling everyone. Katrina was in 2005, duh, ths.) They don’t brook intruders, however welcome, lightly, Cesar Millan and all the doogie advice online to the contrary and be damned.

As of yesterday, I have a bottle of Xanax for 3 of them, with enough pills lefover, I’m assured by the vet tech, for needy, anxious owners.

By this afternoon, I will also have three muzzles, so maybe we can have all five loose in the house at one time with a minimum of blood spilled, since the big crate the pups are in is just turning into a target at the moment.

Man.

Another Couple Snowy Inches Last Night

While the commutertory aspects of the snow are somewhat odious I must admit it has been a lovely Winter with many a Currier and Ives vista out our front door.

And many a bottle of warmthifying red wine consumed inside.

If You Save It…

They will steal it

(Reuters) – The savings of the European Union’s 500 million citizens could be used to fund long-term investments to boost the economy and help plug the gap left by banks since the financial crisis, an EU document says.

The EU is looking for ways to wean the 28-country bloc from its heavy reliance on bank financing and find other means of funding small companies, infrastructure projects and other investment.

“The economic and financial crisis has impaired the ability of the financial sector to channel funds to the real economy, in particular long-term investment,” said the document, seen by Reuters.

The Commission will ask the bloc’s insurance watchdog in the second half of this year for advice on a possible draft law “to mobilize more personal pension savings for long-term financing”, the document said.

If there’s anyway the government can steal your retirement money (oh, sorry, did I say “steal”? I meant “protect.”) they will.

GULP

Literally and figuratively.

Sinkhole opens up at National Corvette Museum, swallows cars

A massive sinkhole that opened up under a Kentucky museum Wednesday morning swallowed several vintage and rare Corvettes.

The National Corvette Museum said the Bowling Green Fire Department estimates the sinkhole to be around 25-30 feet deep and 40 feet wide.

“This is going to be an interesting situation,” Museum Executive Director Wendell Strode told the Bowling Green Daily News, noting that a structural engineer is at the Bowling Green facility to evaluate the damage inside its Sky Dome section.

Six of the cars in the sinkhole are owned by the museum; two others are owned by General Motors.

And:

…The museum is closed for the day.

Ya think?