Stan The Man

Great essay by the one -- the only -- Joe Posnanski, about The One -- The Only -- Stan the Man Musial.

Musial

Lipstick on a Pig

A caller to Michael Signorile's show with an interesting tale about Jesse Helms.

It's All In Your Head

New ad from moveon.org:



Maybe I should start using psychological money in the grocery store? That should work.

Alternatives

Blogtopia is filled with alternative magazine covers for next week's New Yorker. Here are just a few:

The Edge of the American West

Jeremy Glass

News Corpse

BarelyPolitical.com

Sue the Bastards

In the ultimate "fuck the troops" decision, Bush's VA doesn't want veterans receiving care in VA hospitals to be able to vote. Disgraceful. I hope Connecticut sues their asses and all other states join in.

Alternet: Fight Over the VA's Ban on Voter Registration Heads to Court

The state of Connecticut may file a federal lawsuit to force the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow voter registration drives, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz said Friday.

"Time is of the essence," she said. "We have 109 days left before the election. The (Connecticut) Attorney General and I are looking at possible legal action. It is fair to say that is very likely."

Bysiewicz' comments came a day after she was notified by U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake that the VA would not permit voter registration drives at its campuses and was imposing new restrictions on who could contact veterans at VA facilities to help them register to vote.

"It is a disguised no," Bysiewicz said, referring to the VA's new policy that only "Voluntary Service" officers at VA facilities would be allowed to register the former soldiers. "It is legal mumbo-jumbo that appears to grant something but really takes away everything."

Anytime a person moves they must update their voter registration. This includes former soldiers who are receiving care at VA facilities.

In recent weeks, Bysiewicz has lead a bi-partisan effort among top state election officials to pressure the VA to become a voter registration agency like motor vehicle departments, which ask clients if they want to register during its regular course of business. More than 20 of these officials have signed a letter to the VA, urging a change in policy.

The Connecticut secretary of state is especially angered by the VA policy because the reasons cited by the VA for opposing voter registration drives -- they would interfere with its medical mission and be partisan -- have never been an issue at Connecticut's state veterans home in Rocky Hill.

No One On This Plane Hates Soccer Any More

Boston Herald: Save by Revs
Team takes down nude passenger on flight

On the front page of the online newspaper, the Herald uses this caption: Revs tackle naked nut on plane

Boston Globe: The Revolution 1, in-flight streaker 0
Team subdues male passenger

Send Karl Rove To Jail

Sign the petition at:

SendKarlRovetoJail.com

Tell the House Judiciary Committee to hold Karl Rove in contempt and send him to jail.

John McCain's Ultimate Senior Moment

In a major security breach, McCain Leaks Details Of Obama's Iraq Trip

Josh Marshall asks:

If the Roles Were Reversed

Any thoughts on the reaction if Barack Obama had publicly broken the embargo on details and timing of Sen. McCain's imminent visit to a war zone?

We don't need another shoot-from-the-hip moron steering the ship of state.

Do As I Say

I only do photo ops, anyway

McCain Attended Zero Afghanistan Hearings In Last Two Years

Happy 90th Birthday, Nelson Mandela

Medal of Freedom: Nelson and Winnie Mandela show off their firstborn daughter, Zindzi, at their home in Orlando West, Soweto in 1961. Mandela fled into exile overseas as the political situation in South Africa worsened, returning from exile eventually, only to be arrested and to be sentenced to life imprisonment in what became known as the Rivonia Trial. He served 27 years in prison before his release in 1992, after which he was elected president of South Africa.

A courageous lawyer who changed the world. He fought against apartheid and for civil rights, ultimately sacrificing 27 years of his life (ages 44 through 71) in jail for his beliefs. Here's his bio as compiled by the Nobel Peace Prize committee:

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.

After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered his proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela's campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence. His statement from the dock received considerable international publicity. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.

During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela's reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.

Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life's work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation's National Chairperson.

My law school class fought to give him an honorary degree in 1988. (The school divested in companies that invested in South Africa after many student protests in 1985). We were the fifth and final class to propose giving the imprisoned ANC leader the degree. One of the excuses the school used to deny it in an earlier year was that Mandela could not appear in person to accept it. (That would bar all political prisoners, wouldn't it?) I remember weeping in front of my TV in 1990 when he was finally released.

His courage stands in great contrast to most of the so-called "leaders" in public life today.

BBC: Audio slideshow: Nelson Mandela at 90

Independent (SA): Desmond Tutu: How blessed we've been to have Nelson Mandela

wikipedia: Nelson Mandela

A Pair of Dummies: Bush and McCain

Another excellent video from the Jed Report



hat tip to Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast

Big Oil/Republican Lie of the Day: "Not A Drop of Oil Was Spilled"

National Geographic:
Near New Orleans a small oil-slickened dog was seen wandering in Chalmette, Louisiana, as cleanup crews recovered oil from a ruptured refinery tank on September 6, 2005. Tens of thousands of barrels of oil had spilled and mixed with receding floodwater from Hurricane Katrina.

Republicans and Big Oil, who want to open up the oceans, the wildlife sanctuaries -- basically the world -- to drilling, are putting out this zombie lie: Not a drop of oil was spilled during Hurricane Katrina.

The truth:

Actually, there were at least 146 reported spills in Federal waters after Katrina and Rita, totaling over 700,000 gallons, the equivalent of seven "MAJOR" spills. Here are 43 satellite pictures of giant oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico after Katrina, stretching for scores of miles.

Worse, EIGHT MILLION gallons spilled out of Louisiana oil facilities after the storms. (The famous Exxon Valdez spill totaled 11 million.)

How is this not causing "a single oil spill"?

Watch the video below to see the zombie lie spread on cable TV, and pictures of the oil-slicked devastation left after the hurricane.

Replay video | Share video | Watch more videos

hat tip to First Draft, which I saw on Newsfare

Republicans Hate Democracy

Sheep or Sleep
When your base is small in numbers (rich people, the deluded) the fewer people vote, the better for your party. That's the Republican way.

Alternet: House GOPers Defeat Back-up Paper Ballot Bill

A bill that would have reimbursed local governments for printing back-up paper ballots for the 2008 presidential election died in the House Tuesday, when Republicans blocked suspending the rules to bring up the legislation.

The bill, which would have provided $75 million to pay for the ballots, was sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D‑CA). It required a two-thirds vote to pass. The vote of 248-170 fell short of that.

The measure was an attempt to reimburse localities that pre-printed paper ballots in case electronic voting machines failed on Election Day. The White House opposed the bill.

Disaster

bigsoccer
The US beat Brazil last night in a meaningless pre-Olympics friendly, 1-0. Brazil was again without Marta, Christiane and Daniela so it wasn't their A team. Natasha Kai scored late to win for the US.

The disaster? US striker Abby Wambach broke her leg. She went barreling into a Brazil defender -- probably steamed as Brazil had been fouling her all game -- and broke both the tibia and the fibula in her left leg. Amazingly, she maintained her composure and even gave the thumbs-up to the crowd as she was taken off the field on a gurney with her leg in an aircast. That is one tough woman. She is having surgery today to have a titanium rod placed in her leg. Ouch.

I didn't see the game as I had a class. Coach Mom reports that Brazil played dirty (as they always do) and the referee let way too much go. The team did not play well. Boxxy looked slow and couldn't connect her passes. The announcer Lori Walker is annoying and never stops talking. In general FoxSoccer's coverage was rather amateurish. All in all, a bad day at Black Rock for the USWNT.

The xinhua news says it best:

The heart, soul and leading scorer of a young U.S. Women's National Soccer Team will not play in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Your heart has to go out to Abby, who lives and dies for soccer and will miss one of the big tournaments where she was expected to lead the team. Get well soon, Wombat.

Boltgirl on the Loose: Oh, Sad. Sad!

NYTimes: Wambach Breaks Leg in Exhibition

WaPo: Wambach to Miss Olympics

xinhuanet.com: Double-leg fracture means no Olympics for Wambach




Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Wambach will be on crutches for about two weeks and then is expected to face 12 weeks of rehabilitation for what Dr. John Gorczyca, an orthopedic surgeon at Strong Memorial Hospital who is familiar with such injuries, said could be a “career-altering injury.”

“Will she ever be as good as she has been? Perhaps. … It may be that this changes her career,” he said this morning. “Most people with a fracture like hers make a complete recovery. The fact that it’s (the fracture is) midshaft is good. If it’s closer to the knee or ankle we need to be a little more cautious. That’s a favorable prognosis for her to be able to get back to playing soccer more quickly.”

He said about 80 percent of these types of fractures heal in three months, but “the problem is they continue to hurt for more than a year and oftentimes for more than two years, especially with running and jumping and kicking activities, which is what she does.

“How bad will it hurt her? We don’t know. What’s her tolerance for pain? Probably great.”

But Gorczyca added, “I’m a fan of hers. She’s a great thing for Rochester soccer and U.S. soccer.”

If You Lived In Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.

You'd be seeing this ad about John McCain from Planned Parenthood:



I mean, really, it's a simple question, right?

McCain: Technology? What's Technology

Another great short video from the Jed Report.

Cool Pictures of Mars

Barren: Located on the eastern part of Echus Chasma is this cliff which is up to 4,000 metres high


Daily Mail (uk): Incredible pictures of Mars - and they look surprisingly like some parts of Earth
Spectacular: A view of Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, showing a network of valleys

JibJab's Campaigning

Their latest video

Read Liberally

wikipedia: Pear, still-life by Keaton Cooper

Have you heard about Postville, Iowa? The story came out because of this essay (pdf file) by Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D., who was employed by ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) as an interpreter at the raid of Agriprocessors, Inc., in Postville. ICE went in and charged hundreds of hard-working undocumented workers with the "crime" of working without the proper papers, and forced them into jail for months before they are deported. Jail time we taxpayers will pay for. Formerly such individuals would just be deported immediately. ICE is just trying to justify the enormous amounts of money we have pumped into our ridiculous Homeland Security agency. And of course ICE didn't go after the owners who are making money by destroying formerly middle class jobs and making illegal immigrants into the peasants of today.

Digby reminds us that Jimmy Carter was right. The Republicans jumped all over him 30 years ago for daring to say we need to break our dependence on foreign oil and conserve. And look where we are now. In 1979 the average price of a gallon of gas was $.86 cents. When Bush took office, it was $1.44. Today the average price is $4.12. And Bush wants to drill more as a solution. Moron. There isn't enough oil offshore to affect the price of oil one bit.

You could call the Bush era The Squander Years. What hasn't he done wrong? It's a very short list.

All those bailouts of Wall Street firms? They love capitalism until they've bankrupted their companies, then they love socialism. Why are we bailing out these crooks and letting them keep their ill-gotten gains?

The Bushies are making another end-run against reproductive rights. They're trying to change rules so all health organizations that receive federal funds must hire workers even if they oppose birth control. (so a hospital couldn't fire a nurse or a pharmacist who refused to tell teenage patients about birth control, for example.) Tristero at Hullabaloo explains it all, with a NSFW headline that is entirely accurate.

For you haiku and limerick buffs, check out firedoglake's Ted Stevens Poetry Contest!

My entries:

Ted Toobz in winter
Free renovations cause fall
Contemplates prison

Ted’s twilight years
Marred by thoughts
Of maximum security retirement plan

Ted Stevens regrets
His bridge to nowhere
No Toobz in jail for Ted.

My favorite, submitted by Ripley:

Toobz abandon Ted
Indictments fall like snowflakes
Midnight sun has set

President Obama's Foreign Policy Plan

Obama gave an excellent speech yesterday laying out his foreign policy plan.

Full text here.

The corporate media will not tell you this, but yesterday John McCain threw out his previous positions on Afghanistan and adopted Barack Obama's position. Now McCain thinks we should increase our troop presence in Afghanistan. Of course, he also wants to stay in Iraq forever, so where he will get the troops is an open and unanswered question.

Read McCain's foreign policy speech of yesterday here. My favorite part, the part I laughed out loud at, is when he said "I will not bluster, and I will not make idle threats" and then he said he would get Osama bin Laden.

Won't it be nice to have a President who can speak the King's English, and isn't a hothead moron?

My Friends, John McCain Is a Nasty, Nasty Man

Didja hear the one about what a jerk I am?

Geekesque at dailykos: Note to media: John McCain is a disgusting misogynist

Ask yourself what kind of man thinks the following 'joke' is funny:

Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, ‘Where is that marvelous ape?’

This is a man who has opposed equal pay legislation for his entire career and has promised to appoint judges who are actively hostile towards women's rights.

That's one promise we can expect him to keep. Go ahead and ask him what he really thinks he'll do for women as President. He'll just laugh.

McCain was 49 years old when he told this joke at an appearance before the National League of Cities and Towns in Washington D.C. And he didn't learn anything as he aged, as at the age of 61 he said this:

Back in 1998, he odiously declared before a GOP crowd: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."

Yet another reason that John McCain is completely unqualified to be President. He's not a nice man.

It's Official

wikipedia: Historian John Boswell claims the 4th century Christian martyrs Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus were united in the rite of adelphopoesis, or brother-making, which he calls an early form of religious same-sex marriage
[Who knew? -truth]


I live in the most progressive state in the nation! Today the Massachusetts State Senate repealed a 1913 law that prevented gay and lesbian couples from other states from getting married here.

And yes, despite (or perhaps because of) our embrace of gay marriage, Massachusetts still has the lowest divorce rate in the nation (2.4 per 1000 population).

Boston Globe: Senate passes repeal of 1913 marriage law

Not An Actual Magazine Cover

Carton from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that you will never see on any real magazine cover. Can't make fun of McLame! Hero! Hanoi Hilton!

Cool

Cape Cod Times
Sue Hayden holds an arrowhead that she found on Menauhant Beach, and which an archaeologist at the Robbins Museum in Middleboro dates to before the birth of Jesus.Cape Cod Times/Paul Blackmore

Boston Globe: Beachcomber finds ancient arrowhead

FALMOUTH, Mass.—A Falmouth woman out walking on a local beach found what she at first thought was a curiously shaped stone.

It turned out to be much more.

The diamond-shaped rock Sue Hayden picked up on Menauhant Beach turned out to be an ancient arrowhead at least 2,000 years old.

Jeff Boudreau of the Massachusetts Archeological Society in Middleborough says the stone is an Early Woodland Indian arrowhead from the Rossville Era that is between 2,000 and 2,700 years old.

Your Daily Manny

Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez gestures to fans before throwing a ball into the crowd during practices for Major League Baseball's All-Star game at Yankee Stadium in New York, July 14, 2008. The All-Star game will be played July 15.
REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES)

Boston Globe: His story: History
Ramirez deeply concerned that hits keep coming

McCain Is Confused by The Modern World. Again.

HuffPo: McCain Defends Czechoslovakia, A Non-Existent Country -- Again

At a press availability today [actually, yesterday], John McCain expressed concern about relations between Russia and a country that hasn't existed for quite some time. According to a rough pool report transcript, he said:

"I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia. Apparently that is in reaction to the Czech's agreement with us concerning missile defense, and again some of the Russian now announcement they are now retargeting new targets, something they abandoned at the end of the Cold War, is also a concern."

Czechoslovakia, of course, split into two separate countries in 1993.

Two countries now. The Czech Republic and Slovakia.

I've already gotten used to calling Tampa Bay the Rays instead of the Devil Rays. Took me about 3 months. In 15 years McLame hasn't sorted out the two countries that once made up Czechoslovakia.

But he crashed some planes and was a prisoner, so he's qualified to be President, according to your in-the-tank corporate media. BBQ and sprinkles, anyone?

Apocalypse Bush

12% of the soldiers who have died in Afghanistan died in the past six weeks. In the past six weeks, 64 American soldiers have died in the war George W. Bush has starved for five years to fight his war of lies in Iraq. Why doesn't the New Yorker magazine have a cartoon on the cover showing George W. Bush in burning hell, spending eternity looking under his desk for the weapons of mass destruction? Now that would be funny.

The press corpse continues to stink up the Presidential race. Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo has dug up one of the bodies. Ron Fournier (we wrote about him here when he wrote a terribly slanted article calling Obama "arrogant") has been appointed head of AP's Washington Bureau. Apparently he's encouraging more opinion and fewer facts. Great. And since you can judge a man by the company he keeps, guess who Ron Fournier was emailing the day Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan and the Bushies were frantically covering up his tragic death? Ron Fournier, "journalist", was emailing with the Prince of Darkness Karl Rove. Here's their exchange, as summarized in a House Oversight Committee report:

Karl Rove exchanged e-mails about Pat Tillman with Associated Press reporter Ron Fournier, under the subject line "H-E-R-O." In response to Mr. Fournier's e-mail, Mr. Rove asked, "How does our country continue to produce men and women like this," to which Mr. Fournier replied, "The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight."

And after those pious niceties and expressions of patriotic solidarity, they lied to the Tillmans about how their son was killed. Reprehensible.

Edited to add: Here's a PDF of the House Oversight Committee report; the Karl Rove-Ron Fournier emails are described on page 23.

A little history is in order. Who was the biggest supporter of the Taliban in Afghanistan before 9/11/01? Why, it was George W. Clusterfuck, of course. This post at dailykos details the Bush Administration's decision to send a $43 million dollar gift to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan in May of 2001.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I don't think the U.S. government was in on the 9/11 attacks. But George Bush, a stupid, arrogant fool, did everything wrong in his first pathetic 9 months in office. He gave the Taliban millions of dollars. He ignored the Clinton administration holdovers like Richard Clarke who were running around the White House with their hair on fire over Osama bin Laden and the threat of terrorism. He spent the entire month of August 2001 on vacation, and when the CIA briefer flew to Crawford to read him the Presidential Daily Brief on August 6, 2001, with the ominous headline "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US", he told that CIA briefer "All right, you've covered your ass now". All President DumbFuckinFratBoy could think to say when the CIA dared to intrude on his brush-cutting vacation was a dumb joke. He didn't hear the urgency. He spent the month playing Solomon and splitting the baby, deciding that the country would allow stem cell research on very few cell lines, most of which are contaminated with mouse DNA. He fiddled while Osama plotted.

Worst. President. Ever.

We can't elect another stupid, out of touch, arrogant fool again. (cough, cough, John McCain)
.

More Spain Celebrations

Who knew Pepe Reina was such a nut?

Veepstakes: Claire McCaskill

I like Claire McCaskill a lot. She doesn't talk like a Senator. She talks like a real person who worked as a waitress to put herself through law school. A woman from a working class background who can balance a budget, she should appeal to the disaffected Hillary voters. She doesn't come from money and she's not a fake. To my mind she has been Obama's best surrogate on the talking head shows, smart, tough, and on message.

On the downside, she has no military or foreign policy experience. And my brother thinks she's too ambitious to take the bucket of warm spit job.

Me, I'd give her two thumbs up for the job.

She wiped the floor with Carly Fiorina yesterday on MTP.

David Mixner, HuffPo: Senator Claire McCaskill for Vice President

A Wee Bit O' Good News

Orlando Sun-Sentinal: Voter registrations in Florida show 'huge swing' toward Democrats

An escalating number of voters registering as Democrats is providing evidence that the 2008 election could produce a wave of support for Barack Obama — and trigger a decades-long shift of party allegiance that could affect elections for a generation.

The numbers are ominous for Republicans: Through May, Democratic voter registration in Broward County was up 6.7 percent. Republican registrations grew just 3 percent while independents rose 2.8 percent.

Democrats have posted even greater gains statewide, up 106,508 voters from January through May, compared with 16,686 for the Republicans.

Monday Morning Quarterback

Flickr: Brooklyn Museum
Egypt. Abu Simbel. Colossus No. 4. 19 Dyn?, n.d., B.J. Brooklyn Museum Archives (S10|08 Abu Simbel, image 9488).

The U.S. government is buying Big Shitpile! The feds are going to give Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the huge finance companies, billions of dollars of federal money -- your taxes -- to avoid bankruptcy. Atrios asks, why don't we just take them over rather than giving away our money for free?

The military is throwing firecrackers into the fire: 1 in 10 military recruits require a moral waiver, for "serious criminal conduct", or alcohol or drug abuse. Just the sorts of people you want to drop into a powder keg. Way to go, Bushie. Oil, meet match.

Nine American soldiers died in Afghanistan yesterday when more than 100 "militants" (who are those, anyway? Taliban? Afghans? Pakistanis? We are never told. George W. Bush says we fight "The Enemy", and the specifics are rarely mentioned.) attacked a remote base in northern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

Obama has an Op-Ed in the NYTimes today outlining his plan for Iraq.

McCain = Bush. So much so that South Carolina governor Mark Sanford (rumored to be on McCain's VP short list) couldn't come up with one major economic policy difference between McCain and Bush. Watch the video here. (Because there are no major economic differences between McCain and Bush. McCain = Bush, like the librarian said.) So long, short list.

When I heard on the radio this morning that the International Criminal Court had for the first time brought charges against a sitting head of state, I cried "George W. Bush is called to the Hague!" Wrong, moose breath; it was Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, charged with masterminding the genocide in Darfur.

BAGNewsNotes eviscerates that execrable New Yorker cover.

MBM, Gatorade Edition

Extra Bases blog, Boston Globe

Manny Ramirez had another Monster moment Sunday afternoon, climbing into the wall to sip on a sports drink during a pitching change in the seventh inning. When he was done, Ramirez tipped his cap to the Fenway faithful.

189 Days To Go

From The Onion, via Brilliant at Breakfast

The New Yorker Jumps The Shark

This is the cover of the New Yorker this week. Thankfully I discontinued my subscription a few years ago, so my money didn't go into making this monstrosity.

It's every rightwing email in one loathesome caricature. Obama as a Muslim, certainly a foreigner, perhaps Osama himself; Michelle Obama as Angela Davis, or a Black Panther, or a member of Osama's bodyguards; the terrorist fistjab (thank you E.D. Hill for that turn of phrase), Osama bin Laden in the picture on the wall, the American flag burning merrily in the fireplace, all set in the Oval Office.

I look forward to their companion cover on McCain. A caricature of him in a pair of Depends underwear, holding out his empty wallet, to his wife encrusted with diamonds, asking for a little more?

A cartoon of McCain depicted as a canary, singing "Vietnam Rules, America Drools" at the Hanoi Hilton?

Or a cartoon showing McCain kicking his first wife and kids to the curb, her cane and their little baseball caps flying, as he holds onto Cindy McCain's miniskirt made of $100 bills?

Or just a naked McCain, from behind, his wrinkled white ass as he screws Uncle Sam (us)?

Hey, it's satire, right, and all's fair in modern journamalism. Wes Clark couldn't tell the truth, that being shot down and held captive don't qualify you to be President. The media attacked him like he'd said John McCain wears a G-string and pasties under his suit. But "journalists" and "publishers" and "the media" can put out complete and utter garbage like this cover and will hide under their handy First Amendment umbrella. Free press! Free press!

How free is a press that, like Chatty Cathy on steroids, regurgitates conservative propaganda every time the string is pulled?

The hitjob piece it illustrates can be read here, but don't miss the soft wet kiss the same writer, Ryan Lizza, wrote about McCain in February in the very same magazine. Or save yourself the time. Shorter Ryan Lizza: Obama bad, McCain good.

Lizza has a long, sad history of advancing right-wing memes, as it was he who named the Democratic plan for withdrawing our troops from Iraq "the slow-bleed plan", a phrase which was eagerly adopted by Fox News and their Republican overlords.

Journalism is dead. Long live the rotting press corpse.

Dick For Sale

wikipedia: Askar Akayev
Yes, Mr. Payne, I would like access to Mr. Dick. Mr. Cheney, I mean.

Bush Pioneer Stephen Payne is caught on tape by the Times of London selling access to Dick Cheney and other Bush Administration officials for contributions to the Bush Library. And not just to anyone. He's selling access to the exiled former president, Adkar Akayev, of Kyrgyzstan, the former Soviet republic. A guy with a human rights record much like the Cheney Administration.

Will "Bush Library" come into the corporate media's lexicon as "Lincoln Bedroom" did? Don't hold your breath.


Times (uk): Stephen Payne: a hotshot lobbyist who can get you into White House
A lobbyist offered access to Dick Cheney and other US leaders in return for a donation to the Bush library

Booman Tribune: Askar Akayev Sets Up Bush Administration

Eek! A Mouse!

wikipedia

John McCain doesn't know how to get on the Internet. He said so in an interview with the New York Times.

Are you telling me they can't set up a laptop in the LapDog Express and show him the button to click to get to the 'net? That's beyond the Republican nominee to lead the country? He can't get on the internet himself? That is pathetic. It's beyond pathetic.

John McCain never crossed the bridge to the 21st century. Another reason he is completely unqualified to be President.

NYTimes: McCain interview

He said, ruefully, that he had not mastered how to use the Internet and relied on his wife and aides like Mark Salter, a senior adviser, and Brooke Buchanan, his press secretary, to get him online to read newspapers (though he prefers reading those the old-fashioned way) and political Web sites and blogs.

“They go on for me,” he said. “I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.”

Asked which blogs he read, he said: “Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously. Everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics.”

At that point, Mrs. McCain, who had been intensely engaged with her BlackBerry, looked up and chastised her husband. “Meghan’s blog!” she said, reminding him of their daughter’s blog on his campaign Web site. “Meghan’s blog,” he said sheepishly.

As he answered questions, sipping a cup of coffee with his tie tight around his neck, his aides stared down at their BlackBerries.

As they tapped, Mr. McCain said he did not use a BlackBerry, though he regularly reads messages on those of his aides. “I don’t e-mail, I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail,” Mr. McCain said.

Waste Not, Want Not

Library of Congress:
Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information Collection
Display of home-canned food
[between 1941 and 1945]
With the economy imploding (thanks a lot, George & Dick) everyone is looking to save money.

Britain's government is encouraging a return to Victory Gardens.

Towns in Massachusetts are doing all kinds of things to save money, including saving energy by installing solar roofs, closing buildings, and using more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Grocery shopping tips abound: here, here, here, here, here. I learned to grocery shop in Mrs. K's health class so I'm all set! Shop the exterior of the store for veggies, meat & dairy; the more processed & hence more expensive products are in the middle. Make a list using the store circular. Plan menus for the week. Stock up when pantry foods you eat often are on sale. Done!

The Boston Globe has an article today on recycling the ultimate waste: human. Ewwww.