Light Posting Today
Pulled my back, so I’ve mostly been resting and relaxing today.
Full posting should resume tomorrow
Bloodstar
Liberals and Libertarians on Everything and Nothing
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BloodstarLiberals and Libertarians on Everything and Nothing |
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Pulled my back, so I’ve mostly been resting and relaxing today.
Full posting should resume tomorrow
Looks like we’ll have another overtime election. with the court challenges and recounts galore:
Precincts 610/610
Scott Murphy (Dem) 77,344 50%
James Tedisco (GOP) 77,279 50%
so there are now 6000 to 10,000 absentee ballots to be counted. In theory that would favor the Republicans, however that didn’t hold during the general election. So, even though there are 70,000 more registered Republicans in the district than Democrats, there’s still a chance that Murphy could pull out a win. Personally, I think Tedisco will squeak it out. But I wouldn’t bet my house on it.
Well, I suppose if you’re going to game the system, it’s better to start before the polls close than wait.
Dutchess County Election Commission Fran Knapp tells us that John Ciampoli, a Republican lawyer, has informed her that he plans to file in Supreme Court to impound ballots from that county in today’s special election.
Voting is today in NY – 20, which is a Republican Leaning district which has attracted intense interest from both parties, and since the Libertarian candidate has endorsed the Democrat candidate after the aforementioned John Ciampoli had him kicked off the ticket, there’s a real chance the Democrats could pull out a win.
Kolob Canyon, Utah - March 2009
Photo by Gutter Glitter
Ambinder has a great post about how the Republicans continue their downward spiral, even their efforts to battle Obama continue to backfire over and over again:
One of the reasons why Barack Obama’s political team is so confident — “arrogant,” as Rove would say today, in their success is that even while some of Obama’s signature policies are viewed with healthy skepticism, Republicans are still splashing around in a fetid wading pool. Obama has room to maneuver because Republicans are giving him room. And while Rove was a master at strategic communications, his lessons didn’t seem to stick. Take the appearances in the public square of Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. Cheney remains the principle exponent of Republican national security policy. A lot of Republicans now disagree with the Cheney Doctrine, but because President Bush left no real political heirs, and because no real independent, conservative foreign policy voice has emerged, Cheney’s grumbles echo. (Sen. Dick Lugar is a voice, but he is not a partisan persuader. Rudy Giuliani has been fairly silent since the demise of his presidential campaign.) The Democratic National Committee could not be more delighted to treat Cheney as the primary political enemy and foil. Each time Cheney opens his mouth, the DNC — or Robert Gibbs, if he’s in the mood — finds a way to reduce Republican opposition to President Obama’s plans to the words of someone who is very unpopular with most Americans.
I’d say there’s no where to go but up, but it seems the Republican party is determined to reduce themselves down to a party the size of a phone booth. The conservative pundits have become so wedded to their view of the world, that they cannot separate themselves enough to adapt and adjust. In addition they’re too busy working to get people to listen, and a vocal angry minority is great for listenership, but not so great for getting elected when that minority is maybe 25%
Cause if they were, they may have an extended vacation…
Spain’s national newspapers, El País and Público reported that the Spanish national security court has opened a criminal probe focusing on Bush Administration lawyers who pioneered the descent into torture at the prison in Guantánamo. The criminal complaint can be examined here. Público identifies the targets as University of California law professor John Yoo, former Department of Defense general counsel William J. Haynes II (now a lawyer working for Chevron), former vice presidential chief-of-staff David Addington, former attorney general and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, now a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and former Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith.
This is the same judge who nailed Pinochet.
(HT: Sullivan)
I suppose if nothing else Cheney is entitled to his opinion…
According to the New Yorker, former Vice President Cheney late last year portrayed then President-elect Obama to Israel’s leaders as a “pro-Palestinian,” who would not support Israeli efforts in Gaza.
In private comments, Cheney also referred to Obama as someone who would “never make it in the major leagues.”
And I’m entitled to mine, which is that Cheney was too busy taking advantage of being in power to care what damage he did to the country. And now that he’s on the outside looking in, he can’t stand the loss of the spotlight. So he continues spreading poison and discord in an effort to keep himself relevant.
I’m ok with him doing all of this, because it certainly helps the Republicans continue their identity crisis and maybe, just maybe, they’ll get a clue and jettison the entire insane wing of the party and move back to the center. otherwise I’ll just get some popcorn and enjoy the death spiral.
Source: NASA
All electric, $49,900, seats 7, has a range of 300 miles and goes 0 – 60 in 5.5 seconds. mmm tasty!
Tesla claims the Model S sedan will be produced at a rate of 20,000 units per year, with an expected 3rd quarter of 2011 start of production and an expectation of mid-2012 for when they hope to hit that 20,000-per-year number.
The Tesla Model S Sedan will supposedly have a 300 mile range from its floor pan-located, easily removable battery pack which Tesla claims will have a quick-charged capability allowing it to partially charge in just 45 minutes. The company is considering renting customers a long range battery pack for long trips. The regular batteries are available for lease and are expected to last from 7 to 10 years depending on use, but expect closer to 10 for normal use. The entire car will be covered under a warranty, the length of which is expected to be between 3 and 4 years.
The interior features 2 LCD screens, one displaying the gauges and one mounted centrally featuring a full touch screen.
Looking at the car, I’m not sure how it seats 7, evidently there are 2 seats in the trunk or something? either way, it’ still a nice looking car, and 50K isn’t bad at all for an all electric with some pep.
Well President Ortega Wants one (wait, doesn’t he hate us?)
To offset the recent wave of factory closings and work suspensions at U.S. textile and manufacturing plants in Central America, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is asking the U.S. government for an economic bailout plan for Central America.
Speaking at Wednesday’s extraordinary presidential meeting of the Central American Integration System, Ortega went against the current of other leaders in attendance by criticizing the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) as being fickle and unjust. Despite the promises of CAFTA-DR, Ortega said, “What’s happening now is that they are closing U.S. investment linked to the trade agreement in Central American countries, especially in Honduras and Nicaragua.
Without getting too snarky, good luck with that. The US economy isn’t exactly in a position to bail out other countries (we let Iceland go bankrupt). Nor is Congress in a mood to help out other countries. Also, the other nations attending the summit didn’t seem particularly enthused about the idea…
None of the other Central American leaders at Wednesday’s meeting — attended by the presidents of Honduras, El Salvador and Panama — seconded Ortega’s motion. And Panama’s President Martín Torrijos, who is trying desperately to finalize a U.S. free-trade agreement for his own country, appeared to slouch deeper into his chair during Ortega’s intervention.
Perhaps the best solution for Central Americas woes is summed up by the Honduran President:
”Sometimes I pray more for the U.S. economy than our own,” admitted Honduran President Zelaya.
I think they’re just jealous because they’re not getting world attention, so they’re rattling the cage a little. They can’t feed their own people, but they’ll be damned if that won’t stop them from trying to build Long Range missiles and threatening to build nukes if someone tries to stop them.
North Korea said on Thursday that if the international community punishes it for next month’s planned missile launch it will restart a nuclear plant that makes weapons grade plutonium.
The secretive state this week put a long-range missile in place for a launch the United States warned would violate U.N. sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for past weapons tests.
North Korea still isn’t the biggest risk to the world (that Distinction belongs to Pakistan and India, which are still sniping and suicide bombing over Kashmir and Pakistan is teetering on the brink of a complete collapse). But a nuclear North Korea could be the final straw to push Japan into a full rearming of their military.
Don’t look, don’t look
the shadows breathe
whispering me away from you
don’t wake at night to watch her sleep
you know that you will always see
this trembling, adored, toussled bird-mad girl
every night i burn
every night i call your name
every night i burn
every night i fall again
don’t talk of love ’cause shadows blur
murmuring me away from you
don’t talk of worlds that never were
the end is always ever true
there’s nothing you can ever say
nothing you can ever do
still every night i burn
every night i scream your name
every night i burn
every night the dream’s the same
every night i burn
waiting for my only friend
every night i burn
waiting for the world to end
just paint your face and shadow smile
slipping me away from you
oh it doesn’t matter how you hide
find you if we’re wanting to
so slide back down and close your eyes
sleep awhile – you must be tired
when every night i burn
every night i call your name
every night i burn
every night i fall again
every night i burn
scream the animal screams
every night i burn
dream the crow black dream
dream the crow black dream
Still every night I burn, every night I scream your name.
Every night I burn, Every night the dream’s the same.
Every night I burn, screaming the animal scream
Every night I burn, dreaming the crow-black dream. yeah, yeah
Dreaming the crow-black dream…
I’d heard of The Cure for a while, and I remember seeing their videos in High School and College, but never really got into them “Isn’t Robert smith a part of The Smiths also?” I’d ask innocently, much to the consternation of some of my erstwhile Cure fans. I was also much more of a Metalhead in the mid 80s, with Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, then Carcass, Entombed, and other Earache bands in the late 80s and early 90s (at the time I was hosting a Thrash/Death Metal show over at the college radio station). Thank goodness Earache had some interesting and creative bands on their Label, Godflesh and OLD In addition Fear Factory had really caught my attention.
By the time The Crow had come out, I was primed to explore all the different Genres out there. You also had Hideaway and Mortal Combat come out with a series of crossover soundtracks, featuring a number of metal acts but other bands there were extremely talented, but not Metal. So, as I listened to The Crow Soundtrack, There were all these awesome and somewhat obscure (to me) Artists Some I knew from my college radio days, My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult, Helmet, NIN doing an awesome cover of Joy Divisions Dead Souls, Pantera, the Rollins Band… And The Cure, creating a song that was both driving, powerful, rocking, with a touch of sadness.
I can’t say I was hooked to The Cure yet, but every time I heard that song I was touched and impressed. And finally, I broke down and started buying Cure CDs. I know I got to the party late, so to speak, but The Cure is one of those bands that should be savored and explored as they’ve found a way to both identifiable as “The Cure” and yet still able to reinvent themselves with different sounds and style. Considering they have a new album coming out in the next month or so, 30 years of music is a long time. With no two albums similar to each other, but still remaining… The Cure.
I’m putting up Burn because to me it still represents one of the Perfect Cure songs. Very Rock oriented, but complex, layered and a gorgeous sound. And deep down, it’s how my heart always feels.
I know I’ve said previously I didn’t want to bring up the subject of AIG, but can someone explain why two of their managers resigning in Paris would do this?
Representatives of the Federal Reserve, AIG’s lead U.S. overseer, are talking with French regulators and AIG officials to deal with the consequences of a complicated legal scenario in which the departures of the managers in Banque AIG, a subsidiary of AIG’s Financial Products unit, could trigger defaults in $234 billion of derivative transactions…
Any system that can have a quarter Trillion dollars in defaults happen based on 2 people resigning is utterly and completely insane. We’re not talking Manson Crazy, we’re talking that real batshit crazy that should make you want to buy land in Montana and build a cabin. To me that’s less crazy than having a system set up like that.
Balloon-Juice put it even better:
Having said that, I would still suggest that any system that allows for so little redundancy that the removal of two people can trigger a quarter trillion in defaults is a house of cards built in breezy weather on a fault line over a nuclear bomb.
Indeed, Heh.
Yep, Israel is in an implosion that’s only more remarkable by how blind they are to their own self destruction.
Dead babies, mothers weeping on their children’s graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques – these are a few examples of the images Israel Defense Forces soldiers design these days to print on shirts they order to mark the end of training, or of field duty. The slogans accompanying the drawings are not exactly anemic either: A T-shirt for infantry snipers bears the inscription “Better use Durex,” next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him. A sharpshooter’s T-shirt from the Givati Brigade’s Shaked battalion shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull’s-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, in English, “1 shot, 2 kills.” A “graduation” shirt for those who have completed another snipers course depicts a Palestinian baby, who grows into a combative boy and then an armed adult, with the inscription, “No matter how it begins, we’ll put an end to it.”
There are also plenty of shirts with blatant sexual messages. For example, the Lavi battalion produced a shirt featuring a drawing of a soldier next to a young woman with bruises, and the slogan, “Bet you got raped!”
War is hell and all that. I get that, but at some point you’re going to have to make peace or there won’t be anyone left alive to continue the fight. The biggest concern is the continued rightward lurch of the entire country, as they become more and more radical in their fight.
