What has happened to mornings?

What I try to do is get to work on time. that is all I am asking for. It used to be ok on the highway. But lately I have been bogged down so much.

Michelle Bachman inserts foot in her mouth - Take 2

After that train wreck of an interview with Chris Matthews last year we get this gem:

On the Chris Baker Show - KTLK - Feb 12, 2009

"ACORN is "under federal indictment for voter fraud," but the stimulus bill nevertheless gives ACORN "$5 billion."

Actually its only former temporary employees who were charged with voter fraud (of which ACORN was the victim) Also ACORN is not even named in the stimulus bill. (PDF link) ACORN are only eligible for grants in poverty and housing.

"The Census Bureau will report directly to the White House. Hey, for a community organizer-in-chief, that is the mother lode of all data, so that he can redraw all of the redistricting lines, so that democrats can control by a wide majority, every congressional seat across the country."

1. Redistricting was done in Texas by Tom Delay (R)
2. States have the right to redraw redistricting not anyone else.
3. The Census data is public
   
4. Democrats already control congress.

She falls for Betsy McCaughey's deception about Health care.

"So now we'll have a national rationing board, and your doctor will no longer be able to make your health-care decisions with you. Now a rationing board will be making those decisions."

Podcamp

Admittedly no idea what I am doing or if I did it right. But I signed up for podcamp and plan to attend (hopefully something won't come up before then.

Bob Corker FAIL

I wrote to Bob Corker expressing my outrage at the republican obstruction and cutting of the stimulus bill. I wrote of how tax cuts to the rich, trickle down economics and tax breaks for corporations have been tried and failed. I asked him (and Lamar) to stop obstructing and work for the American people for once. I also told both that I did not vote for them but expected them to vote for the people and not for Rush Limbaugh.

Here is Bob Corker's response:

Dear Mr. A..,



Thank you for contacting my office to share your concerns about the proposed economic stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.



I agree with you the stimulus package introduced in the Senate will have little benefit for our economy and I voted against this bill. I am disappointed that we have chosen to spend nearly $1 trillion and still have not solved the issues that created this economic crisis - credit and housing.



To turn our economic crisis around, I believe our priority should be to address the problems in our credit markets and get banks lending again. Additionally, we need to take steps to improve the challenges in the housing market. Unfortunately, the proposal considered by the Senate would borrow hundreds of billions of dollars and spend this money on government programs, many of which will clearly not help us address the two challenges I mentioned above. Until the housing and credit markets are dealt with in a serious and real way, anything else we do for the economy is just throwing good money after bad.



I know right now our country is experiencing tremendous economic turmoil and people are hurting. My heart goes out to all those who find themselves in financial situations that in many cases are beyond their control. I assure you that the difficulties being faced by Tennesseans during these times of economic uncertainty and hardship are of the utmost concern to me, and my staff and I will be using all the resources and options at our disposal to help in the months ahead.









Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me.



Sincerely,

Bob Corker
United States Senator

Words resonate with me [VIDEO]

May be taken down in future due to copyright.

Happy Darwin Day

Before I forget, I should make people aware. That today is Charles Darwin's birthday.

Kudos to Google for pointing this out:



Kudos to the bank of England for honoring him on the £10 banknote (one of which - I saved and took a photo of the one pictured above)

In which I go off on a rant (what else is new)

Wing nuts: To these people using stem cells that would ordinarily be thrown away (that are not living humans) is "killing the innocent". To them, aborting a blastocyst is murder, but killing a doctor who performed abortions, or killing a man for murdering someone as sanctioned by the death penalty is ok. Explain to me how this makes sense again? These people live on a different planet. They put up tasteless billboards similar to the one posted above.

To them its a black and white issue, They feel its ok to dictate, as men, to a woman about her body when they do not have that right. I disagree with abortion, I find it very sad indeed, but I have no place telling a woman what she can do with her body - unless I am the father. You do have the radical fringe feminists who use abortion as a form of birth control, which is of course wrong. But the issue we are dealing with here is you cannot paint all "pro choice" people with the same poop brush. They like to preach abstinence and sit on a moral high ground instead of teach something that actually works, PREVENTION.

When Bristol Palin was exposed as being pregnant the right wing nuts commended her for making the right "choice" when Sarah Palin wanted to make that choice for the rest of American women by banning abortion.

Roe Vs. Wade set the standard in 1973. We now have accountability, safe medical facilities to do these operations, and also COUNSELING (no one ever mentions that) none of which were present pre R.V.W. If someone tries to tell you a horror story about a botched abortion, firstly ask them if the person was born pre 1973 or after. Yes it is not a pretty subject nor is it happy. But it shouldn't be the political third rail that will either electrocute or propel a candidate. This is the year 2009, I would have thought that we would have advanced by now.

These people need to make a visit to St. Jude Hospital in Memphis and look one of those poor children in the eye -who within weeks will die of a disease. When treatment and the ever-advancing wave of medical science that benefits from stem cell research could very well PROLONG HER LIFE.

These people are the height of hypocrisy.

Important -

I got this email from Shawn Otto and I felt I had to pass it on:

Dear Chris,

I am writing to alert you to efforts underway this morning to zero out a large portion of the science funding from the Senate American Reinvestment and Recovery Act as a part of a $77.9B reduction effort led by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

As you know better than most, science and technology are responsible for half of the economic development of the United States since WWII and yet, if current trends hold, some, such as the Business Roundtable, have predicted that 90% of all scientists and engineers will live in Asia within 5 years.

The United States simply MUST renew our investment in the single greatest economic engine this country has ever known. Small federal investments in scientific research have helped produce things like the internet and the transistor that have consistently delivered multi-trillion dollar economies.

The United States is at a critical juncture, and if this concerns you we suggest now would be a time to contact your Senators and urge them to support science funding. Here is what is being proposed to be cut from the bill, according to TPM:

NASA exploration $750,000,000 = 50%
NSF $1,402,000,000 = 100%
NOAA $427,000,000 = 34.94%
NIST $218,000,000 = 37.91%
DOE energy efficiency & renewable energy $1,000,000,000 = 38%
DOE office of science $100,000,000 = 100%

Collins-Nelson Group Staff Paper Potential Cuts -- $77.9 Billion
02-05-2009

12:48CST EDIT:

1. WHAT TO DO: call and email your two U.S. senators. Contact from a constituent on a wonky issue like this will have enormous influence. Calling is better than email, but do both if you can.

Go here to find your Senator, and select your state in the drop down box in the upper right hand corner:
http://www.senate.gov/

Tell them in your own words to reject the reduction
effort in the stimulus bill led by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) when it comes to science.

Note that most Senator's web pages contain a form (e.g. - CONTACT ME) that you can fill out to contact the Senator. Also, use your own words since identical
messages get rejected by the Senators' staff. You can adapt language from my previous email or from below, but be sure to personalize it.

2. TALKING POINTS:

A) Science & technology have produced half of the economic growth of the United States since WWII.

B) Spending on basic research is the single greatest economic engine this country has ever known.

C) Funding to federal granting agencies is about as "shovel-ready" a stimulus as you can get. If the granting agencies lower their score thresholds for awards across the board the money will be flowing within months, leading to rapid hiring and increased purchasing from technical service and supply companies that are largely American, and creating thousands of the kinds of high-quality jobs the country needs.

13:02 CST EDIT:

I just fired off letters to both Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. Expressing my disgust. I don't know if it will do any good or not though.

Finally, a Gmail client that works

Finally, a Gmail client that works
Originally uploaded by Chris1051

Wow what a trial! the original client that shipped with the N810 worked - but was not very effective. Then after Diablo release of OS2008 came a new client. This one has never worked for me. I finally got around to install Claws. After some pain in the ass configuring I finally got it to work (fingers crossed)

Very cool. After the Feedcircuit debacle I am glad to feel something positive again.

You can't make this stuff up

You can't make this stuff up
Originally uploaded by phoebeofthesea

Found this in my Bible Belt group. Hilarious!

Oil Barons

Exxon Mobil sets record with $45.2 billion profit

Since this is an AP story and the AP are total asshats when it comes to fair use I won't repost here. I won't even Link to their pathetic story but I will trust anyone reading this to do a google search of the above headline. Its sickening.

Can the oil companies now bailout the auto industry? The Auto industry has bent over backwards over the last 40 years for these oil companies. I would think they owe them one.

Bonuses

In 2008 DJIA Lost 34% of its entire worth, or $7 Trillion (7.0 x 10^12) Just to put that number into perspective, if you had a really big yardstick, that reached to the moon; 240,000 miles away; And every single inch of that yardstick was a stack of money with $460.33, that would equal $7T.

Bearing that in mind, failed Wall Street firms who took our tax money with open palms cause they were "too big to fail" have decided to pay out $18 Billion in bonuses. If this is taxpayer money these crooks should have to reach in to their pockets and put that money back. If they can't afford to make the payment on one of their mansions in the Hamptons, they should reach into their savings like the rest of America, or tighten their belts like the rest of us. These crooks live in a world to their own. In the worst year on Wall Street history since 1931, these people pay out bonuses that rank 6th, $18B.

On top of that Citibank tried to buy another corporate jet for $50M after receiving an infusion of cash from us taxpayers reference. If these idiots had any sense they would at least suck it up and fly ...first class. When some companies are sucking it up and knocking First class down to coach.

President Obama steps in and says something similar to "WTF are you thinking?!?" I feel as if we finally have someone in charge who isn't going to be in bed with these rich pigs and also isn't going to put up with any shit. I am a dreamer yes, but I just get that feeling from him. I have to laugh at when the right wing tried to paint him as an "elitist".

President Obama says "No you can't" :)

People who do not deserve to have kids - issue 3

Father throws four year old girl off a bridge to her death

Father 'suicidal' after girl thrown from bridge

Posted Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:19pm AEDT
Updated Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:48pm AEDT

The father of a four-year-old Melbourne girl thrown from a bridge this morning was suffering from acute psychiatric distress and was suicidal, a court has been told.

It is alleged the 35-year-old Hawthorn man threw the girl off the Westgate Bridge in Melbourne this morning and he has been charged with her murder.

Police say witnesses reported seeing a man stop his white Landcruiser near the top of the bridge and throw the child over the side about 9:00am AEDT.

About 10 minutes later, water police pulled the girl from the Yarra River near the Scienceworks Technology Museum, close to the Spotswood pumping station.

Paramedics then spent 45 minutes trying to revive her on the riverbank. She was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital, where she later died.

The man did not appear in the dock of the Melbourne Magistrates Court and the court heard he was suicidal and suffering from acute psychiatric distress.

He was remanded in custody to reappear in court in May.

'You just shudder'

Police say when the man was arrested he was with two other children, aged six and eight, and was visibly distressed.

Detective Inspector Steve Clark says the mother of the dead girl has been informed.

"It's a dreadful set of circumstances, and often you think you've seen it all but you haven't," Detective Inspector Clark said.

"It's particularly distressing obviously for family members but for the witnesses who saw what occurred, a number of those people are upset and I've got a number of police here who have young children themselves, who have had to deal with it."

Police want witnesses to the incident to contact them.

Victorian Premier John Brumby says the incident is a terrible tragedy.

"It's such a horrible thing to happen to the child," he said.

"As a father I think, what are the circumstances that could possibly bring this about? I just shuddered when I heard about it ... you just shudder, you just think, how can that happen?"

Joe Knows

PinnacleAndat&treflect (1)
Originally uploaded by Chris1051

New photosets uploaded to flickr.

(Hint look at the bottom of the photo for blog post naming solution)

Answer: Joes Crab Shack on 2nd Ave.

People Who do not deserve to have kids - issue 2

5 children, mother fatally shot in Wilmington

Police found notes inside the house in which the gunman referred to "job and work-related issues," police said

By Andrew Blankstein, Richard Winton and Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
10:09 AM PST, January 27, 2009

Five children under age 10 and their mother were fatally shot inside a Wilmington home this morning, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police said that the assailant appeared to be the children's father and that he apparently committed suicide after calling a news media outlet. The organization, which was not immediately named, then contacted authorities, police said.

The LAPD was dispatched to the 1000 block of McFarland Avenue at 8:22 a.m. Officer Sam Park said the man apparently committed suicide.

"He called 911 and said his family was dead inside," Park said. "We responded. We have multiple victims inside of the house, and at this point we don't know how many."

Police said the children were an 8-year-old girl, a set of 5-year-old girl twins and a set of 2-year-old boy twins. Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner said police found notes inside the house in which gunman referred to "job and work-related issues."

"This was a financial and job related issue that led to the slayings," Garner said. "I these tough economic times, there are other options. In my 32 years, I've never seen anything like this."

The bodies were found around the house and were shot with a revolver.

The stupid: It burns!

When eating Chinese today I overheard a woman say "they found human footprints with dinosaurs" pointing to that as evidence of creationism. I did some digging and found it to be -as I suspected - a hoax. The man who found it was a man with faulty credentials and has been behind every creationist hoax in the last 30 years. When asked if the piece can be examined and held to scientific scrutiny the creationists withhold the peice and at the same time claim scientists don't want to examine their "evidence". On this link http://bit.ly/3lmMSg Ed Darrell says it best: "When the facts show a scientist to be in error, the scientist admits error and issues a correction. When the facts show a creationist to be in error, the creationist yells louder and does his best to get to the mail box and send more copies of the error out, before the truth can be known. That's a significant difference in
behavior, and ethics." (I can't say much more since an MMS only allows 1000 characters)

Awesomeness

I submitted a photo to Wordsplosion. And they posted it.

That is all.

People who do not deserve to have kids - issue 1

I am starting up this series again. Today's issue goes to a Jacqueline Crank who lives right here in the bible belt of Tennessee. (hat tip to Thaddeus) I will republish it here since it is not an AP story.

Lady allows child to die. Places faith in faith (no pun intended) instead of modern science

LOUDON - A mother accused of neglecting her dying daughter by turning to prayer instead of medicine took to the witness stand Monday clutching her defense in her hands.

"I decided to turn to Jesus Christ, my lord and savior, for her healing, believing in this word," Jacqueline Crank testified as she held up the Bible she brought with her to Loudon County Criminal Court.

She expects to carry that same Bible all the way to the state Supreme Court, where nearly everyone involved in this landmark Tennessee case of prayer versus medicine agrees it will wind up.

Crank and her two children, including 15-year-old Jessica Crank, were living communal style with Jessica's self-professed "spiritual father," Ariel Ben Sherman, and other members of a branch of the Universal Life Church in Loudon in May 2002 when Crank took her daughter to a clinic because the girl had a large tumor on her shoulder.

Clinic personnel advised Crank to take her daughter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. She didn't. Jessica later died from a rare form of bone cancer known as Ewing sarcoma.

Crank and Sherman wound up charged. Much legal wrangling followed. The case now has been whittled down to its core issue: Is Tennessee's law allowing parents to put their faith - and their children's health - in God's hands too vague to be valid?

Defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs and Sherman's attorneys, Donald A. Bosch and Ann Short-Bowers, contend the law is silent on when a parent relying on faith can be held criminally responsible for that decision.

"Our state does not delineate whether you can try to heal your child of the common cold through prayer alone but you cannot try to heal your child of Ewing sarcoma through prayer," Isaacs argued.

Assistant District Attorney General Frank Harvey tried to steer the argument toward wording in the law that allows parents to follow the tenets of a "recognized" church headed by a "duly accredited practitioner."

Harvey contends Sherman is not a minister but a cult leader, an allegation Sherman has faced for decades in a host of states where he has set up house with followers but has steadfastly denied.

"The religion in question is Christianity," Bosch countered.

Isaacs echoed that argument with a reference to Christ and his disciples.

"I wonder if 12 people having supper with someone they consider to be the messiah who were not part of the establishment, the Sanhedrin, would that be considered a cult?" he said.

Judge Eugene Eblen declined Monday to dismiss the charges but is allowing an emergency appeal to the state Court of Criminal Appeals. In his view, it will take a decision from the state's highest court to determine whether Crank and Sherman can be tried under Tennessee law.

The pair now live in South Carolina with Crank's teenage son and at least four of Sherman's parishioners.

Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

Chris Matthews nails it dead on!

Quote of the day

"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion."

(Steven Weinberg / born 1933 / Nobel Laureate in physics)