Oh the Things She Says

Sarah Palin.  And we know she says a lot of dumb things...


"don't retreat, reload"


"Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn"


"this recent talk coming from the White House, about President Obama's attempts to perhaps infringe further upon our Second Amendment rights."


"Look at this recent b.s. about Todd supposedly being all caught up in a prostitution ring in Anchorage. Heck, all they had to do was ask me or ask Todd himself, 'Hey Todd, you been hanging out with hookers in Anchorage?' and he'd tell the truth"


And she has been selected to give the keynote address at the opening of two days of festivities marking Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday.  Really?  Oh, one entertainer to another...


There are some who want to not listen to her.  Including Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, who has made a pledge not to write anything about her for the whole of February.


To which, good ol' Sarah says the media boycott of her is good--because then she won't get "blamed" for the uprising in Egypt.
HuffingtonPost.com

Oh yeah, she does say some dumb things.

Who Gets to Define It?

Dictionary.com defines it as "the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse."  And as it stands now, federal laws restricts the use of government funds to pay for abortions except for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.  The new Congress, however, wants to change the definition of rape when it comes to Federal funding to only "forcible rape."  (MotherJones.com)

"No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" is a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors.  In the House of Representatives there are currently seventeen Republican women.  Nowhere does it say whether any of these 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors are women.  But according to Laurie Levenson, a former assistant US attorney and expert on criminal law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, this bill would have dramatic effect on women.


Is it right to redefine the term to prevent funding for women who are compelled to have sexual intercourse that is not 'forcible'?  That would limit rape funding in cases of statuatory rape, rapes of women with a limited capacity, or when drugs or alcohol are given to compel.


Have those 17 women thought about any of that?

Protecting the Children

There are so many things we have to protect the children from.  There are R-rated movies, some PG13-TV programs.  Heck even the news has stories that the children need to be protected from.  Now, there are a few supermarkets who are trying to protect the children from something nearly as bad...

The supermarkets are Harps Food Stores in Arkansas.  And the grocery chain lets managers at its 65 stores decide to put a shield over a magazine cover if it might be "sexually provocative or too revealing."   And really what is more provocative or revealing than two proud parents and their new child?  Well, perhaps provocative or revealing, considering that the proud parents are two gay men.

An Arkansas supermarket had decided to hide a magazine cover showing Elton John and his same-sex partner David Furnish holding their new baby.  The shield said "Family shield to protect young Harps shoppers."  CNN.com  Because who wants their children looking at that?

Look at the picture: 

That is horrible!
(An Update!  The supermarket reversed its decision Wednesday to hide the magazine cover.  Good for them!)

Sounds Fishy

Not a whole lot to write about today.  There was something on TV that replaced the usual fare last night - NCIS and NCIS, Los Angeles.  Something about these elected people vying to sit next to the most popular kids.  And thankfully, a ton of black and white ribbons.


But, the thing that most people remember from the TV program last night was something that was said about salmon.  Yep, a fish story... that was the biggest take away, according to NPR.  Nothing about green energy, education, innovation or even Sputnik.  Salmon. (HuffingtonPost.com)

And what was said?  Well, it was about 'reorganizing' the government, in general, and the different departments that deal with the same things.  "The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they're in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them in when they're in saltwater. And I hear it gets even more complicated once they're smoked."


Funny how most people will remember that, and not much else.  Sounds Fishy...

The Monster is Created

After the horrible shootings in Arizona, Sarah Palin whined about how it was not her fault.  Dismissing the idea that "political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal."  Saying that "Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn." 


And even though it was HER map, she says "Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them... not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle."  Guardian.co.uk

Maps with cross-hairs, mind you.  And does Palin incite others who are deranged?  Well, yes, she probably does.  And for some reason, the cross-hair thing is a common thread.  A critic of Sarah Palin has been threatened in an email sent to the Anchorage Daily News:  "So I have my scope cross hair on her head! She better watch out, the request may have been her last!" MotherJones.com

And all the critic wanted was some documents from the ex-governor's office.  "Andree McLeod, [requested], under Alaska's open records act, the work-related emails Palin sent and received while governor."  But, the governor's office has obtained its 14th delay in processing the request.


So, the questions remain.  First, does the current governor serve "Ex-governor Sarah Palin, or the people of Alaska?" 


And second, do only deranged people - "monsters" -  follow Sarah Palin around?

How Far Should We Go?

This, no doubt, all started with the woman who fell into a mall water fountain while she was texting that was blogged about and made headlines - especially after she decided to sue because the mall's surveillance video went viral. (CBSNews.com)  But now, two states are thinking about pulling "the plug on texting pedestrians and iPod-obsessed runners." (FoxNews.com) 

Arkansas and New York want to stop those who are distracted by electronic gadgets.  The apparent message?  Distracted pedestrians are dangerous.  So, in Arkansas, peds can only wear headphones in one ear when they are near a motorway.  In New York, electronic devices are completely banned while crossing the crosswalk. It would cost you $100.


Is this a bit too far?  Most states have issues with distracted drivers, and it is illegal to use electronic equipment behind the wheel.  But, is it fair to ban that equipment while you are on your own two feet?

I will see you in court!

Oh, the things that people sue other people for.  It is amazing.  Like the woman who was video taped falling into a water fountain because she was texting and not looking.  She now is threatening a law suit against the mall security folks who posted the now-viral video.  Her attorney, James M. Polyak said. "We intend to hold the appropriate persons responsible." (HuffingtonPost.com)


Or, just because celebrities send lots of tweets, VS  Technologies is suing Twitter for infringing on a patent, filed in 2000, for a "Method and system for creating an interactive virtual community of famous people." Not that VS Technologies actually had a twitter tool... just the idea about getting Lady Gaga and Kanye West interactively communing.  (HuffingtonPost.com)


But this one might take the cake.  A college student claims he was traumatized by an underwhelming session with a Las Vegas prostitute -- and now he's suing her escort service for distress caused by the "tragic event."  (HuffingtonPost.com)  That's right.  Suing an escort service for $275 - the cost of the underwhelming session - plus $1.8 Million for the distress.


Too bad Hubert Blackman of New York didn't realize that the trade was illegal in Vegas.


Don't think he will get his money back.  Or ever be taken seriously anywhere, ever again.

Bert and Ernie are Better

Better than Bill and Glenn.  Well, at least more trusted then those two.  The second annual TV news trust poll by Public Policy Polling was released on Wednesday.  PBS - maybe not Bert and Ernie really - was the most trusted news outlet with 50% of respondents saying they trust it, as opposed to 30 who don't.
(Huffingtonpost.com)


And the most distrusted?  Well, just ask Bill and Glenn.  That would be O'Reilly and Beck.  The poll revealed that 46% of respondents don't trust Fox News.  Go figure.  The least trusted News Outlet on TV.  There are many sites that list the lies that Faux News has told.  (SpitefulCritic.com)


The question remains, however.  Why does Faux News have the highest Primetime Cable News Ratings? (TVByTheNumbers)  That means that more people watch the least trusted, most untruthful Cable News channel. 


What does that say about people??

The End of the World as We Know It

That could be what is happening.  And, technically, it would be about a year early for the Mayans.  But with all the crazy things going on in the world right now, it could indeed be a fulfillment of a prophecy of biblical proportions.


What are the indicators of destruction, you may ask?  Well, there have been these unexplainable deaths of the beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven; and yea, the fishes of the sea (thousands of birds and fish in Arkansas, hundreds of birds in Sweden, Louisiana and Kentucky and 200 cows in Wisconsin). (Time.com)


And what other things are there???  According to the latest ABC/Washington Post poll, the President's approval rating is up to a robust 54%.  (Swampland) That's enough to scare some people.


Then there is this.  Sarah Palin does not stand up so well in the polls:  About 30 percent give her positive marks, while nearly half - 46 percent - disapprove of her actions. (Swampland)


And what is scarier than that is she says: "I am not going to sit down.  I am not going to shut up" (CNN.com)

Hopefully she won't run for president either.  Although, online theologian Paul Begley says "we still need seven years of tribulation" on top of all these other signs before the end of the world.  We got two more years of President Obama, and with a 54% approval, he might get re-elected... that would put us at six years total...


No tribulation there.

There's an App for That...

There really is... Apple has an app available today that gives access to hundreds of Martin Luther King, Jr quotes.  (Product-Reviews.net)

Some of the good ones about equal rights and basic equality:


A right delayed is a right denied.


One day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed...that all men are created equal.


But, thankfully, there isn't an app for everything.  Chuck Colson found Jesus while in prison and is now an "arch-social conservative".  Which basically means that he thinks he is allowed to hate people, and Jesus and the Apostles said it was ok.  So, Chuck wrote an app, an iHate app.  It is called the "Manhattan Declaration App" and it has a document whereby people who oppose same-sex marriage can declare that they would rather go to jail than legitimize homosexuality.


There is a poll on this app and if the user answered what the authors thought was the wrong answer- that is supporting same-sex marriage- it took you to the text of the Declaration, which condemns “immoral sexual partnerships” that will “erode the institution of marriage.”  (LezGetReal.com)


Well, Apple pulled the Manhattan Declaration App due to offensive material.  And the iHaters are not happy about that.  “Apple is telling us that the apps’ content is considered ‘likely to expose a group to harm’ and ‘to be objectionable and potentially harmful to others.' Apple’s statement amounts to the charge that our faith is ‘potentially harmful to others.’”


Makes you wonder if these people ever heard of the bible or Martin Luther King, Jr.  Without equality and with hate their faith is harmful.


Thank God there ain't an app for that.

The Devil Made Me Do It

Yes, it is really Satan.  Not any of the idiotic things that a certain Vice-Presidential candidate may have said or done.  (Here's a list of 10 - Huffingtonpost.com).  Nor could it possibly be the mindless, baseless and irrational... oh wait... Nahh... it is SATAN.


At least according to American Family Association radio host Bryan Fischer. Joe.My.God He said on his radio show that for poor Sarah Palin: "The hatred directed at her is mindless, it is baseless, it is utterly irrational, and it is disturbing to an alarming degree."  But, obviously the hate she directs other places isn't?  "When we look into the face of the unvarnished and seething meanness ... We are looking into the face of Satan himself." RightWingWatch.org

So, it is Satan that makes people mean to Sarah.  But, what definition of mean?  Fischer goes on to cite the "malicious invective".  Ms. Palin has strewn some of those type of invectives too.  Does that make her Satan?


No, of course not. She is in the heavenly place.  And the hate-speech towards her is just the  “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”


Really? 

Me Thinks Thou Dost Protest Too Much

The Blogs are all a-gog today over Sarah Palin's 7 minute 43 second protest about being blamed for the shootings in Arizona over the weekend.  There is so much to say about this, and has been said already, by many.


But, first... couldn't Ms. Palin have just said "You, know I am sorry that my graphics back in 2010 were mis-construed as meaning that these people needed to be shot.  That was certainly not my intention and I apologize if that is how that was taken."  But, no... Ms. Palin has not said anything like that at all. And as Amy Sullivan points out on Time.com's Swampland, Ms. Palin thinks that others are inciting hatred and violence: 

• Palin's words are obviously just words and could never ever influence anyone's actions. But the words of her critics are irresponsibly provocative and have the power "to incite hatred and violence"?  Time.com

And what words did Ms. Palin use today to NOT influence?  “Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn.”  Time.com


Blood Libel.  Interesting choice of words.  As defined in WikiPedia.org, it is that " Jews murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays."  Not sure exactly how Ms. Palin thinks that accusing her of inciting the Arizona shootings is just like using children's blood for religious rituals. 


And she is being dragged over the coals for the use of the term.


But in all fairness, and so like Ms. Palin anyway, she stole it from somebody.  "The term was initially used in the context of the Arizona shootings by conservative pundit Glenn Reynolds, who in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Monday characterized efforts to link the attacks to rhetoric on the right as a “blood libel.”"  CNN.com


So, let's not give too much credit to Ms. Palin.  Heck we've already given her too much ink.  And definitely come November of 2012, let's not give her any votes.

As Seen on TV

Again, the "reality TV" mentality of our country rears its ugly head.  No, this will not be a mention of "Palin's" one season Alaska show, or other one season shows that won't make it back on TLC.  No, this is just an amazing reflection of the people in this country.


The HuffingtonPost.com Headline:  "Sales in Glock Pistols Up After Arizona Shootings".  Yep, just a few days after 6 die in Arizona, the public has chosen its weapon, the one "popular with police, sport shooters and gangsters."  Just what every household in Greater Phoenix needs.  HuffingtonPost.com

Just goes to show... there really is no such thing as bad publicity.  Then what the hell are the right-wingers all up in arms about.  Even if this was there fault, just think of the ratings it's going to bring in.

Who is to Blame?

We were all shocked to hear on Saturday about the mindless killing of 6 and the wounding of several others in Tucson.  At first there was shock and then there was the typical mudslinging.  The political "vitriol" being blamed for the shots fired.  Vitriol itself is defined as sulfuric acid, which in the aftermath of Saturday seems sadly appropriate.


But, is it only the acidic politics that caused this situation?  Is it Sharron Angle and her "Second Amendment Remedies"? Or Sarah Palin and her "crosshairs" map, relock and reload?  Or is it more?  Maybe it is just the rampant violence and hate that flows so easily through this country. Sarah killing caribou on her 'reality' show, not to feed her family, but because of the ratings and excitement it causes.


There is also signs at National Organization of Marriage rallies that say "Kill the Gays."  There is a Facebook page called "Kill Obama".  The top rated video game is "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and is rated M for mature for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence.  And that is a game!


Maybe it is time to dial back all the violence.  Perhaps guns ought to go back into the hunting cabinet and not be taken to the grocery store.  Maybe politics ought to talk more about what is best for the country and less about how to 'target' or 'kill' legislation or legislators.


Who is to blame?

Turnabout is fair play

Basically the idiom means "It is fair for one to suffer whatever one has caused others to suffer."  And so to be screwed after you screw somebody else might fit just perfectly.  Remember back to October 2007 when the "newspaper" The National Enquirer began a series of reports alleging an adulterous affair between Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards and former campaign worker, Rielle Hunter.


Now, this all happened after Edwards' wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer in November of 2004.  So, while his wife was battling cancer, he was banging the campaign worker and eventually got her pregnant.  He didn't even acknowledge the baby until January of 2010.  Such a nice guy. Wikipedia.org

Sadly, Elizabeth Edwards died from the cancer December 7, 2010.  But in that turnabout is fair play kind of thing, details of her will were released today.  And basically, John was disinherited.  Ms. Edwards had "$496,000 in cash, securities, household furnishings, vehicles and ownership in businesses. She also owned real estate worth an additional $1 million."  And John isn't mentioned at all.  He doesn't get a dime.  Yahoo.com

An idiom for an idiot... perfect!

The Dow Piano

Over at CNNMoney.com, Bard Edlund has something called the Dow Piano.  He has translated the Dow industrial average into music - "Using a five-note scale spanning three octaves, pitch is determined by each day’s closing level."  One would have to wonder what songs the Dow would play:


"Here's A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)" performed by Travis Tritt
"Never Gonna Be Your Fool Again" performed by Deanna Cox
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" performed by Simon & Garfunkle
"I Will Survive" performed by Gloria Gaynor
"Here Comes the Rain Again" performed by the Eurthymics


Or maybe just some funeral dirge.


But, then again perhaps it is not the Dow itself that needs the sad songs.  Maybe what Mr. Edlund should have created was some sort of Wall Street-ers musical montage.  It would definitely have to include "Cheater, Cheater" performed by Joey + Rory.


The Dow Piano can be found here:  Dow Piano

Not Equal Protection

Well, at least not for all.  The 14th Amendment to the Constitution gave Equal Protection.  It was originally supposed to give protection to blacks.  But, no equal protection for anybody else?


When asked if this "equal protection applied to sex discrimination, or ... to sexual orientation", Judge Antonin Scalia says that it doesn't.  He says "the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't."  HuffingtonPost.com

He also thinks that you don't need a Constitution, just get your cause on a ballot somewhere and "persuade your fellow citizens it's a good idea and pass a law.  You want a right to abortion? There's nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn't mean you cannot prohibit it."


So, one member of the highest court in the land doesn't think that sex discrimination is covered under the Constitution and really the Constitution is not all that necessary. It seems that maybe the United States ought to just follow what ESPN does with sex discriminators.  Fire those who mess up.


During the Fiesta Bowl, an announcer made some sexist comments to an on-field reporter.  He told her  "Listen to me sweet baby, let me tell you something."  When she called him out on that he said ""OK, then listen to me a-hole."  HuffingtonPost.com

An ESPN spokesman said "based on what occurred last Friday, we have ended our relationship with him."


Now, there's some equal protection.

Well Ya Gotta Do Something

Considering that the unemployment rate is at 9.3% of the labor force - Not seasonally adjusted - Nov 2010
www.google.com/publicdata


The average price of eating at a restaurant is usually about $55.
wiki.answers.com


What is one to do??


Now, free television exists through the use of antennas that can pull signals from the air.  But cable TV will only cost you $50 per month.
eHow.com


That might explain this: Americans watched more television than ever in 2010.  That's an average of 34 hours per person per week.
yahoo.com


And what might be even more sad about this whole revelation is that "in the world of cable news, Fox News remained the favorite."


Very scary...  Might need to find something else to do.