HULK SMASHED
:Rubs eyes, squints, goes back to bed:
What?
Our country is in disrepair
leaks, isn't that what gov't does?
One trillion dollars was one estimate I heard for infrastructure repairs.
Or we could do Iraq instead.
leeks? I grew some last year. More of a cold weather thing. I recommend them.
From Below:
And make 'save time and money' above considerations of law, says WaPo
The longest case I was ever involved in was a mandatory arbitration and the defendant filed bankruptcy after the US Supreme Court ruled against it. Nine years and millions of dollars.
So much for saving time and money.
One trillion dollars was one estimate I heard for infrastructure repairs.
Or we could do Iran instead.
trifecta
Fixed your typo.
Like I said, I was drinking when I wrote this. Started off kinda alright, but it goes downhill from there...
Diane posting on the LA police gettting socked with immigration enforcement. at http://cabdrollery.blogspot.com
I’ve been thinking about the end of the world lately. Well, I guess I’ve always thought a lot about the end of the world. Maybe I’m some sort of depressive malcontent; I’ve certainly have had blue periods that lasted years.
But this time around my end-of-the-world musing has more prosaic origins: I’m having a birthday next week and so like the middle-aged star of every cheeseball moronic second childhood movie, I’m contemplating my ever-nearing mortality, my ultimate purpose in this vale of tears, yada, yada, yada.
This is one of those birthdays that ends with a 5, not a 0, so it’s not that big of a deal, but here’s the thing: my birthday is April 14.
Probably only people with birthdays on April 14 know the significance of the date. The crazy Americans talk a lot about 9-11 having “changed everything,” and we can all agree that 3,000 dead is horrific enough. But really, mostly the events of that day were just an excuse to go fuck up things all around the world---plans that had been sitting on the Project for a New American Century bookshelf for a few years already anyway.
So for world-changing events, forget 9-11 and consider April 14. Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14 and, 47 years later to the day, the Titanic hit an iceberg. Both events have something else in common: the drama happened on April 14, but the full weight of the tragedy waited until the next day to manifest itself....
snow, those contracts need to be outlawed, most people never have to encounter that mandatory arbitration scam, but those who do are being cheated out of their rights entirely.
We are allegedly getting snow showers Monday morning. It's been in the 60's and 70's this week, but a cold front is moving in tomorrow.
The longest case I was ever involved in was a mandatory arbitration and the defendant filed bankruptcy after the US Supreme Court ruled against it. Nine years and millions of dollars.
So much for saving time and money.
Snow (D-SC)
Bleak House?
...John Wilkes Booth, the famous actor who had been called “the handsomest man in America,” shot Lincoln in the back of the head on April 14, 1865 as Lincoln was watching a performance of *Our American Cousin* in Ford’s Theatre. Major Henry Rathbone, Lincoln’s guest in the presidential box, attempted to capture Booth, but Booth stabbed Rathbone and jumped out of the box and onto the stage below. Booth landed awkwardly, breaking his leg, but recovered and yelled “Sic semper tyrannis,” the Virginia state motto that translates as “Thus always to tyrants.” He then stumbled across the stage and jumped on a waiting horse to escape, making the best stage exit *evah*.
As I said, this was all very dramatic, and is why now actors are encouraged to “break a leg” before a performance.
Anyhoo, Lincoln didn’t actually die until 7:22 a.m. the next day.
As for the Titanic, you’ve seen the movie: Kate Winslet gets naked down in hold with a bunch of poor but musical Irish guys, and then the boat rams into the iceberg. Kate and that DiCaprio asshole run around the ship for a few hours, until the thing goes stern-up and finally sinks---at about 2 a.m. on April 15.
That’s the pattern. Consider the gigantic dust storm of April 14, 1935. It began in the morning, in Saskatchewan, and moved south, ripping up thousands of farms and collecting soil and dirt all along the way, through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and into Texas. Visibility was down to ten or even five feet, which was just as well, because all anyone would be able to see otherwise would be their devastated lives.
I couldn’t find any body count for the April 14 dust storm, but it led to *The Grapes of Wrath*, Woody Guthrie and the crucial “dumb Okie” scene in *Chinatown*....
One trillion dollars was one estimate I heard for infrastructure repairs.
We spent our allowance on candy and flowers in Iraq.
the answer is easy. they are greedy pigs who can't see beyond their next bank statements; and the last thing on their minds is the welfare of the citizens.
Gillian Welch wrote about the fateful day for two songs on her album *Time*. “Ruination Day,” which spells it out: * And the great barge sank / And the Okies fled / And the great emancipater / took a bullet in the head / in the head... / took a bullet in the back of the head. / It was not December. / Was not in May. / Was the 14th of April. / That is ruination day.*
The other song is appropriately named “April 14,” and spells out a series of personal events of tragic proportion. Surprisingly (to me), Welch wasn’t born on April 14 but rather on October 2, which also happens to be my little sister’s birthday.
On April 14, 1915 the Turks invaded Armenia, resulting in the eventual genocide of 1.5 million people, which kind of puts that 9-11 business in perspective.
So, end of the world? I dunno. Everyone who lived in centuries past has died. It’s probably not even statistically relevant that a lot of the ones I’m aware of started their slide into death on April 14. It’s just kind of weird.
And, of course, we’ll all die sometime in the future. There do, however, seem to be storm clouds gathering on the near horizon that suggest there might be some dramatic and more or less simultaneous mass die-offs: the crazy Americans threatening to drop A-bombs on Iran, disappearing oil reserves leading to mass starvation, melting glaciers flooding the farmland of hundreds of millions.
I could get depressed about all this, but when I think about it I realize that while April 14 is, at least in my head, a pivotal, starting date for all sorts of horrors, the actual horrors don’t come until later.
Maybe I won’t last that long. That’s something to celebrate Monday.
okay, Moe, that's not a birthday celebration, it's a timeout. Happy one, anyhoooo
THE END.
That's the kind of ridiculousness Moe writes when he's drinking.
I am going ramps digging in a couple weeks. Ramps are a good thing about spring.
most people never have to encounter that mandatory arbitration scam
If you mean that most people don't have dispute with a company requiring arbitration, I would agree. But they are increasingly found in contracts everybody is entering into. There have been some good decisions against arbitration, starting with Green Tree, and now a case out of the 9th Circuit, that demand court remedies, such as class actions, in arbitration. But it is not nearly enough.
Chimpy demonstrated how crappy gummint could be if you wanted it to be, but he also showed us how crappy our private sector is, too. I don't think he was supposed to do that part.
good morning all.
Since George Bush admitted on an ABC interview that he KNEW and APPROVED of his cabinet members holding meetings on torturing people against current law in the United States, will there be any consequences? Or will this just be one of those "funny" anecdotes that he will go on to use in his speeches as an ex-president, while laughing and bobbling his head at his audience?
Has he and his administration really gotten away with the most heinous crimes against this country, to the point that they brag openly about it?
The laptop has been drinking, not me.
Well, this is likely to piss some people off.
That’s the pattern. Consider the gigantic dust storm of April 14, 1935. It began in the morning, in Saskatchewan, and moved south, ripping up thousands of farms and collecting soil and dirt all along the way, through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and into Texas. Visibility was down to ten or even five feet, which was just as well, because all anyone would be able to see otherwise would be their devastated lives.
I couldn’t find any body count for the April 14 dust storm, but it led to *The Grapes of Wrath*, Woody Guthrie and the crucial “dumb Okie” scene in *Chinatown*....
Moe Szyslak, cold
----------------------------
Oh my God!!!! There may be something to what you say. My birthday is on April 14th and the very next day you have to pay your taxes to the federal government. 
Bleak House?
Green Tree. Began 1996. Bankruptcy 2004. Settled 2005.
Morning, all.
Getting ready to head to Gomorrah on the Hudson, in preperation for this evening's de rigeur quaffing of elitist chardonnay.
Anything irksome going on I should know about before I depart?
The laptop has been drinking, not me.
Moe Szyslak, cold | Homepage | 04.12.08 - 7:45 am | #
Isn't that a Tom Waits song?
Since George Bush admitted on an ABC interview that he KNEW and APPROVED of his cabinet members holding meetings on torturing people against current law in the United States, will there be any consequences?
Wonder why this is surfacing now?
Is it to "immunize" the GOP against it surfacing closer to the election?
in preperation for this evening's de rigeur quaffing of elitist chardonnay.
Just to be a contrarian, I'm not going to wait until this evening.
hey steve-- surely you've seen this?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-...h?v=-
gwUtEEjZJ8
steve,
I'm going to see the New Pornographers tomorrow, does that help?
(avec Niko!)
morning, simels, do not arbitrate. ever.
Snow, indeed, and most people don't realize until they have a problem that they've signed away their basic rights, essentially saying it's okay to cheat them. Glad to see WaPo make it upfront, your laws are being trompled on. Even tho I'm sure /WaPo tho't it was doing its part to suborn public interests.
steve,
I'm going to see the New Pornographers tomorrow, does that help?
(avec Niko!)
Molly Ivors | Homepage | 04.12.08 - 7:51 am | #
Always a good thing. Enjoy!!!!
You know, it always puzzles me why they can't funnel hundreds of billions of dollars to their corrupt pals to have them do something necessary.
If that was flooding my back yard you'd see some action.
Well, this is likely to piss some people off.
Molly Ivors
I certainly hope so!
What a fine post, Molly.
Ooo, Daniel Radcliffe's Equus is coming to Broadway!
Politics calls. L8r.
heh.
obama jujitsus the fascist tag team mccain/clinton over 'bitterness:'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S...h?
v=Sc9PepjyDow
Thanks, Diane!
Ooo, Daniel Radcliffe's Equus is coming to Broadway!
Molly Ivors
You just want to see his penis.
Sheets.
You just want to see his penis.
He's a very cute boy.
Goal of the Bush Admin seems to be to spend all the money, borrow loads more and spend all that too, and have as little as possible to show for it.
It's a Grover Norquist kinda deal, to put the US in a position where no one expects the govt to be able to do anything.
I think it overlaps very nicely with the bin Laden-Al Qaeda plan.
Well, this is likely to piss some people off.
Molly Ivors
--------------------------
Baptists and Methodists and Episcopals ...etc. have stained glass windows. Just saying.....
What surprises me about this is that people continue to look for tolerance and understanding in any of the mainstream churches. For centuries, they just ignored such things. Never spoke about them. If you don't talk about them, they don't exist.
If you want the love and mercy of Jesus Christ, then you had better seek it outside of the church, because they got no time for that crap. It always brings a wry smile to my face to listen to "christians" go on and on about what Jesus did for them by dying on the cross, while in the same breath speaking so hatefully against other people who aren't like them. When they talk about Jesus as a personal savior, they MEAN IT!!!! He is their's, like their credit card is theirs and their houses and cars.
Oh well. Just don't be surprised when a jackass behaves like a jackass is all I am saying.
owls
Wonder why this is surfacing now?
Is it to "immunize" the GOP against it surfacing closer to the election?
Gimlet
--------------------
I'm more cynical than that. I think they are talking about it because they know they've gotten away with it. They are completely immune. They broke the law, hell, they've broken America and nobody is going to do a God damned thing about it. They are talking about it because they can rub this in Pelosi's "impeachment is off the table" face. They could admit to torturing and killing people with their bare hands and democrats would just shake their heads and say "isn't that a shame, but what do you want us to do about it".
The bad guys have won, and we have lost.
I'm more cynical than that. I think they are talking about it because they know they've gotten away with it. They are completely immune.
I'll see your cynicism, and raise you.
Since we know this kind of torture does not produce reliable information, it isn't about getting info. It's about power and humiliation.
And a key step in the exhibition of power and humiliation is to let others know you did it.
It's not nearly so much sick ego-stroking fun to do it secretly as to do it AND make it known you did it.
SICK.
On the bright side, the work of the Hague is greatly simplified now.
Yeah, whatever happened to "honest graft." This is just graft.
"trillion dollar wars rule, repairing infrastructure drools"-repubs
Angioplasty!
Funny, this is the second time this little rural area has made it to Eschaton. There was once a post about the local high school in Grahamsville, which is right next to the Rondout, girls objecting to getting their purses searched or something like that.
I hear they have nicely painted schools in Iraq and a Green Zone...sounds very environmentally friendly.
.
the mighty US; 200 hundreds in the making of the richest empire ever known to Man, 28 years of republican rule to destroy it.
.
It always puzzles me why they can't funnel hundreds of billions of dollars to their corrupt pals to have them do something necessary.
Baecause doing something necessary and measurable would mean they would have to actually deliver on their contract terms, and that would cut into both profitability and Rethug kickbacks.
These parasites aren't capable of doing anything necessary, that's why they're Rethug cronies.
And we can't have an example of the government doing something competently, that would undermine their entire ideology.
Leaky pipes and global warming = way high water levels. Time to move west beyond the Appalachians.
Have they thought of just shoving liners thru the damn things?
What would be the point of having billions of dollars funneled to you through graft and corruption if you had to actually do something in return? Putting Republicans in power is all about winning the lottery, not getting something done. After all, if government actually accomplished something, people might think government can accomplish something, and if they think that, they won't elect Republicans.
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