Friday, September 30, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A Small Bit of Common Sense From Elizabeth Warren
I love this woman and I hope she keeps marching forward.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Sarah Palin and Crony Capitalism
Up until the sudden silence in the wake of Joe McGinnis’ book, The Rogue, Sarah Palin had been recently making charges against the Obama Administration’s so-called “crony capitalism.”
Palin’s apparent strategy is to take all of the negatives of the previous Republican administration and foist them upon the present one. Whoever dreamt it up- and surely it couldn’t have been Palin- has attempted to use the tried and true method developed by Karl Rove of attacking the opposition with your own crimes.
Recently I have been researching the background of Sarah Palin and found that when it comes to "crony capitalism," Sarah Palin is the last person that should be throwing stones.
Research by LA Times reveals that:
- More than 100 appointments to state posts -- nearly 1 in 4 -- went to campaign contributors or their relatives, sometimes without apparent regard to qualifications.
- Palin filled 16 state offices with appointees from families that donated $2,000 to $5,600 and were among her top political patrons.
- Several of Palin's leading campaign donors received state-subsidized industrial development loans of up to $3.6 million for business ventures of questionable public value.
So, What was Palin's relationship with the CEO of VECO Corp.- the Alaska-based oil pipeline service and construction company, Bill Allen, who is currently serving a three-year sentence in federal prison? Learn about the construction of an unnecessary sports complex which cost the small town of Wasilla and EXTRA 1.3 million because of Palin's simple mistake.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Turkish Language Mishap #56
So there I was, not very long after I decided to live in Turkey, sitting in the teacher's room. I was absently browsing the Turkish newspaper, not understanding anything, looking at the pictures and filling in the gaps in my mind.
Back then the newspaper were slightly different from what they are now. There were a lot more scantily-clad women in the back pages and for an American, this was one of those culture speed-bumps that one is apt to encounter from time to time. Such things are unheard of in American newspapers and I can't even begin to imagine the howls of complaints if they tried it.
In fact, the photos are all fairly tame, the coy scowl, the pout, the Slavic-looking girl in a seductive pose, revealing a nipple (at best). Some naughty unnamed girl, all alone, in some acrobatic pose, another kissing a puppy, and sometimes if the editor is particularly daring, she is looking straight into the camera.
"Look at that!" I told the fellow teacher, flashing the page in her direction. She glanced up and then shrugged.
"Berbat." she simply said, meaning "terrible" in Turkish.
Perplexed, I stared at her for a second, then back at the newspaper. "Well.. her butt's not bare but the everything else is!"
Thursday, September 15, 2011
New and Improved Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann's memoirs have just been given a title but I have improved it somewhat. It's coming out Nov. 21 Her husband's coming out sometime around New Years.
Or, if that doesn't suit your tastes..Try this.
Or, if that doesn't suit your tastes..Try this.
Flickr Tags: Michele Bachmann,Humor
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Rice and Palin- The Movie
From The Enquirer:
Sarah hooked up with the NBA great, then a 6-foot-8 junior at the University of Michigan when he was playing in a college basketball tournament in Alaska in 1987, the book says. At the time, Sarah, just out of college, was working as a sports reporter for the Anchorage TV station KTUU.
There's also this:
A publishing source told The Enquirer that McGinniss claims Sarah had a "fetish" for black men at the time and he quotes a friend as saying Sarah had "hauled (Rice's) ass down."
Rice played in the NBA from 1989-2004, making three All-Star teams.
The alleged one-night stand went down seven months before she got married to Todd Palin — though he was still "very much in the picture" at that time.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/sarah-palin-glen-rice-2011-9#ixzz1XwSeQlie
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The Republican Party and The Celebration of Death
I never thought I would see the day when a crowd would applaud capital punishment. In the past the excuse was that this form of punishment was a deterrent to crime. Now it seems like it is merely blood lust.
I wonder where they found this crowd- left overs from the Jerry Springer show or the World Wrestling Federation? More importantly, Governor Perry's cheered record for executing the most convicts is somewhat tainted by the facts
Perry, however, continues to voice his confidence despite widespread evidence that the system is flawed. Anthony Graves spent 14 years on death row before being exonerated and released in 2010. He’s not the only one: Ernest Willis, Michael Toney, Michael Blair, and Robert Springsteen are just a few of the others who have been released from death row during Perry’s tenure. Maybe Perry has a good reason for believing that these are Texas’s only mistakes, but if he has such a reason, I don’t have any idea what it is.Then there’s Cameron Todd Willingham, whose case suggests we probably don’t catch errors all in time. He was executed in 2004–on Perry’s watch–for killing his three children by setting fire to their house. The problem is, every national arson expert to have reviewed the facts (there have been at least four) has concluded that the fire was accidental. A committee investigating the case was preparing to hear from the nation’s leading arson expert who intended to explain why there was no evidence that Willingham had committed any crime. On the eve of the expert’s testimony, Perry dissolved the committee.
In the last debate, another candidate came under the spotlight regarding the uninsured. He was asked what happens to the people who fall through the cracks. It's not our problem, appears to be Ron Paul's answer. It isn't government's responsibility to protect its own people, according to his explanation.
More importantly is the reaction of the audience. Who would cheer at this notion? What has happened to the American public?
So in honor of this celebration of mortality (other people's) I submit for your approval this Tea Party promotional poster.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Turkish Language Mishap #31
Something like..
1. I don't have my watch but I think it must be (twelve)
2. Although George is nearly forty he still looks (young)
Everything was fine and dandy and then I stepped on the bomb...
3. I had to leave class because I was feeling (sick)
The girl I called on absolutely refused to answer the question. She kept saying, "Pass!"
So I called on the next student. Same thing. Finally one student said, "Hocam, I will answer it but can you close the door first?"
All of this defied my understanding. Eventually, after some nervous giggles, we skipped the question and moved on. Later, I was in a tea house with my Turkish friends and I was trying to explain the strange event to them. Before I could finish, they all burst out laughing and guffawing and pounding the table.
I was left with a big fat question mark over my head.
One of them finally explained. The word you wanted them to say was...." he gulped,and whispered, "sickish."
"Yes, so?"
"Well, you don't know but the word, sick means penis in Turkish. and Ish means work."
"Oh dear.. but.."
"Together they are a common slang for the sex act."
When I caught my breath, I thought, "penis-work" equals screwing? Hmm.. isn't that rather sexist? That certainly doesn't leave much for the woman to do.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Reflections on an Empire
Imperial Delusions: Ignoring the Lessons of 9/11
Here's an excerpt:
Empires rarely learn in time, because power tends to dull people’s capacity for critical self-reflection. While ascending to power, empires believe themselves to be invincible. While declining in power, they cling desperately to old myths of remembered glory.
Today the United States is morally bankrupt and spiritually broken. The problem is not that we have strayed from our founding principles, but that we are still operating on those principles -- delusional notions about manifest destiny, American exceptionalism, the right to take more than our share of the world’s resources by whatever means necessary. As the United States grew in wealth and power, bounty for the chosen came at the cost of misery for the many….
While the terrorism of fanatical individuals and groups is a serious threat, much greater damage has been done by our nation-state caught up in its own fanatical notions of imperial greatness.
Being outside of the US, I could easily see, all through the 90s, where this was
I recall sitting in a cinema watching "Jerry Macquire" and the opening was something like, "This is the world. (CGI of Earth spinning) This is America. America sets the standard for the rest of the world." It set my teeth on edge because it was had the vile smell of imperial pretension. And worst of all, even if you accept that statement, if America did set a standard for the rest of the world, then, as a model, it had an even greater responsibility to live by the rule of law, to seek peace over war and to show tolerance. Instead that arrogance led us to do exactly the opposite, against all of our best ideals.
Retro poster from OldAmericancentury.org
As It Happened…
It has been ten years and yet when you watch these clips it still takes your breath away.
What were you doing when you heard the news?
Friday, September 9, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Portal
Looks like it could be an interesting full length film. I liked fact that she was able to learn the "ins and outs" of the portal-making gun rather quickly.
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