Best Wishes For LA

This is not Mordor:It's Los Angeles. Holy Mother of God. I had no idea. Here's hoping everyone fares well over the next days. (Via Cosmic Varience)

Christianity

Some people know how it's 'sposed to be done.
Sadly, very few of them are actually Christians. But every now and then, it's nice to hear about one them doing it right. (Thanks to Theresa for pointing this out to me)

Bipartisanship

From OregonLive.

Coup Coup

Story here.

The "revolution" that "they" hope to launch may work, Beck said, because "they are so far ahead of us." He lamented, "Most of America doesn't have a clue as to what's going on." So true, so true.

That's It

For tonight. We'll see if I face that face tomorrow.
Set 1. Set 2. Set 3. Set 4. Set 5.

Do You Have ANY Idea...

...just how many pictures there are, out there in the innertoobz, of Glenn Beck?





Set 1. Set 2. Set 3. Set 4. Set 5.

No (Other) Sunday Funnies Today

I find myself occupied with other matters.Set 1. Set 2. Set 3. Set 4. Set 5.

A New Meme?

Tengrain has suggested that this might be the next great thing: Beck Lolz! Thanks for the compliment, Tengrain!Set 1. Set 2. Set 3. Set 4. Set 5.

Ridicule is the Strongest Form of Protest

(Inspired by)
And this was just a drive-by lulzing that occurred to me as I was looking through pictures trying to find one like the first. And yes, looking through hundreds of pictures of Glenn Beck was every bit as awful as it sounds.

Followup: Almost flew by this without noticing. When I post something, Google takes the opportunity to throw some ads at me; I generally don't even register what they're about. In this case, I had already clicked through to "View Blog" before my mind said, "Waitaminnit! Back up!" Here are the ads that were on the "Posted" page:Now I don't care to speculate on why GoogleAds associated Glenn Beck with Jock Itch Pictures and Farm Animal Pictures, but it seems quite appropriate. I think "Advanced Syphilitic Dementia Pictures" would be better than "Tattooed Desktop," though.

Followup 2: I've been slapping together more of these; I now have nearly 30. You're at set 1. Set 2. Set 3. Set 4. Set 5.

Part Honest Fear, Part snark, Part Just Funny

I have never seen Downfall, but I have from time to time posted pieces of Hitler's rant with satirical subtitles. EB Misfit posted another one of these this week; I left a comment saying I found these very funny, and she recommended I watch the clip with its original subtitles. It was actually more difficult to find than I expected; there are apparently well over a hundred of the spoofs. However, her point is well-taken; the original is not funny. It is terrifying. This man came to control over Germany under conditions that are eerily similar to what we have now: economic disaster, a non-functional political system, paranoia, searches for scapegoats, and a deep fear of the "other".

Could it happen here? I don't know. I'm not enough of a student of history, nor of political science, to hazard a guess. But it is clear that a very large portion of people in this country have utterly forgotten (or more likely, never learned) what fascism is. Forgetting history is the first step toward repeating it. Firedoglake has been running a three-part series on the patterns of nations' slides into fascism, how to resist those patterns and avoid the traps that lead to that state. It's a fair amount of reading, but highly recommended. I learned a lot from these, some of what I learned has been hopeful, some... not so much.

Part I: Fascist America: Are We There Yet?
Part II: The Last Turnoff.
Part III: Resistance for the Long Haul.

As Stewart remarked a while ago, what has this country come to that people could be accusing a gay Jew (Barney Frank) and an African-European halfbreed (Obama) of supporting fascism?

I will also point out that with darker hair and the proper moustache, I think Glenn Beck could pull off a powerfully accurate Hitler.

So with those thoughts, I offer a little comic relief... this is the best (funniest) version I've seen so far: Hitler finds out his subtitles are wrong.

In case you think I take this whole thing too seriously...

see more Political Pictures

...and you may (or may not) recall that I started off the year begging that we quit calling each other fascists, and doing my darndest to show how silly it was to trivialize the concept.

Just saying.

A Note to Republicans Who Seem Determined to Start a Shooting War

The perfect Illustration for this post, from imgur.

Saturd80s

Missing Persons, "Destination Unknown":
One of the first people I got to know at OSU later became a DJ for the college radio station. Missing Persons was one of many groups he introduced me to. Wall of Voodoo was another group introduced to me by one of those first-term dorm friends. "Call of the West" is my all-time favorite from this group, with a firmly tongue-in-cheek mockery of the mythology we've built about the American West. Wall of Voodoo is probably best known for "Mexican Radio," which was on this same album.
Aww, heck, I just checked on "Mexican Radio;" I'm gonna double up on Wall of Voodoo.

Capricorn Tattoos

Capricorn tattoos are represented by a very unique looking symbol that is named the "Seagoat". People born between December 22 and January 19 are surely to find this tattoo design quite appealing.

This would be a considerably good choice for a first tattoo, and to help you decide, we have listed some nice pictures of Capricorn tattoo designs to choose from.

Short Takes

I have mentioned this weekly feature in The Oregonian before; I'm quite fond of it. One of the short takes in this week's selections gets it just right:

Descent of TV news:
"And that's the way it is." Walter Cronkite.
"And that's how I see it." 24-hour TV news personalities.
"And that's the way it is because we said so." Fox News
Thomas W. DeJardin, Southeast Portland

From OregonLive.

Requiem For The Right

There is a very interesting e-mail interview at Newsweek with Sam Tanenhaus regarding the future of conservatism in this country.

The editor of The New York Times Book Review and the paper's "Week in Review" section, Sam Tanenhaus is the biographer of Whittaker Chambers and is at work on the life of William F. Buckley Jr. In a new, short book, The Death of Conservatism, he argues that the right needs to find its footing for the good of the country. In an e-mail exchange with Jon Meacham, Tanenhaus reflected on the book's themes.

A self described independent, he comes to much the same conclusion regarding conservatism that I have, namely that the country is best served by both parties having smart and insightful opposition, and that currently conservatives in this country show little evidence of either.

Hannah Arendt identified the ability to listen—to place oneself inside the mind of others—as the essential requirement of democratic statesmanship. The function of conservatives is not to meet every liberal program or scheme with a denunciation or a destructive counterscheme, but rather to weigh its advantages and defects, supporting the first and challenging the second. A declaration of ideological warfare against liberalism is by its nature profoundly unconservative. It meets perceived radicalism with a counterradicalism of its own.

This is an article I wish everyone would read and consider.

Facebook In English (Pirate)

Ok, this may be old news to others, but I just found out I can have my facebook page presented in Pirate dialect. Below is my home page before translation (click to enlarge)......and after translation:Wonderfully silly! (I have wiped others' names and pictures.) If you want to try this out, scroll to the very bottom, and you will see a blue "English" button just left of the middle. Click on it and you will have a wide variety of language choices, one of which is English (Pirate)

My Sort Of Overwhelming View

is that Cheney is an ass, who knows that he's an ass, and who committed and caused others to commit numerous crimes. He'd just really like everyone to look somewhere else.

Cheney, who strongly opposes the Obama administration's new probe into alleged detainee abuse, was asked in the Fox News interview whether he was "OK" with interrogations that went beyond Justice's specific legal authorization.

"I am," the former vice president replied.

"My sort of overwhelming view is that the enhanced interrogation techniques were absolutely essential in saving thousands of American lives and preventing further attacks," he said. "It was good policy. It was properly carried out. It worked very, very well."

From McClatchy.

You Have to Admire His Confidence

but not his intelligence.

Why is it every time I catch a clip of Beck these days, it sounds like he's about to collapse bawling on the floor? Could this be it?

This Looks Like Fun!

CD Bubbles!

Video Game - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

Cheney's Pride and Panic

Welcome to the brave new world.

Here's what the "CIA pros" did to prisoners (the non-CIA pros improvised the president's directive to torture and abuse prisoners in very similar ways): stress positions, nudity, hooding, sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation, long time standing, beatings, hypothermia, and walling. They key thing, according to the CIA, is to enhance "the potential dread a high-value detainee might have of US custody." Notice the shift from the standards of the past. In the past, the US was known for being a country whose soldiers would never mistreat prisoners; now, the US wants the world to know that US custody is something to be dreaded. That's what Cheney did to America. He's proud of it. If you are ever captured by a US soldier, and suspected of terrorism, you know that torture will be coming soon. The values of Washington and Eisenhower and Reagan are inverted. The reputation of the US as a defender of human rights is reversed. The point is that America must be feared for its willingness to abandon all human rights.

I remarked to a friend recently that all of us were sad and scared after 9/11; I know I made a number of not-very-rational comments. I was also certain, within minutes of hearing about the events, that Al Quaida was responsible; Iraq never crossed my mind. The whole piece linked above is worth reading... of particular note are the passages dealing with prisoners being forced to lie in their own excrement.

Which leads to the point I want to tack on here. Within a week or two after 9/11, as the fear and fury receded, and a touch of rationality returned, I supported the invasion of Afghanistan. I still feel it was necessary, I just wish we'd had some sane leadership. Because Bush, and particularly Cheney, never did get over that bone-chilling, stomach-clenching terror. I guess Cheney felt if he was going to spend nearly eight years crapping in his britches, that'd be fine for the prisoners too. He wasn't strong, his policies weren't determined, the results didn't improve American standing and safety. His reaction was that of a panicked four-year-old, running around screaming and hitting, and fouling his underwear.

The outcome was pretty similar too, but on a global scale. The main difference is that a panicky four-year-old gets over it in a few minutes. Cheney never has.

Cat Tattoos

Cat tattoos are an excellent choice of design, they are more common among women as they have a feminine quality to their appearance.

Even if they are more common with girls, who wouldn't want a tattoo of they're favorite furry little cat, especially a fallen kitten, as a sign of remembrance.

Checkout this picture gallery of cool cat tattoo design ideas.