Sunday Roast: A room with a view

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Photo by Zooey

Nice, huh?  Tonight we’re having a big wind storm, and the unseen ocean is crashing wildly.  Although my dog is not thrilled, I love a good storm.

Life is good.  🙂

This is our daily open thread. What’s on your mind today?

192 thoughts on “Sunday Roast: A room with a view”

  2. I woke up too early. I went to sleep watching the LSU-West Virginia game on ABC, and when I woke up a bit ago, this stand-up comedian show was on. Out comes George Wallace, the black comedian, to do a stint. He’s been around long enough that when he started, the ‘other’ George Wallace was still governor of Alabama. He’s standing there with a yellow legal pad, telling a joke, purportedly written down on the pad, then recording the audience reaction to each one. He’s running down a list of new flavors for Baskin Robbins Ice Cream, such as the Octomom flavor, where every time you open the container, another spoon pops out, and the Viagra flavor, where you lick on it, and eight hours later it’s still frozen. Then he says, “how about a Rush Limbaugh flavor? Tastes like crap, but you get a lot of it!” I laughed so hard, that was when I got up and got the coke and decided I had to pass that one along. He got a mixed reaction to that one, with some applause and some boos mixed in. He said, in response to the boos, “that’s all right, I’m going to put that down as, ‘joke’s funny, audience sucks!'” 😀

    Good morning out there!

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  5. Gorgeous picture!
    +++++++++++++++
    Why isn’t Obama pursuing Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld….for war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan?
    Is it because he is following the same policies?
    How can I vote for the man again?…….unless the alternative is Rick Perry

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      • “Would we accept that crap regarding rapists, murders, or bank robbers?”

        We already have. Our mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan have been alleged to have committed rapes and murders to little effect. Heck, even when they raped a fellow U.S. female contractor, the powers that be worked long and hard to keep her from being able to sue for sexual harassment.

        And something like a billion in cash disappeared in Iraq…

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      • Yeah, I wish that I could have used that “we need to look forward, not back” line when we faced foreclosure!

        I have to keep hoping that the civilized countries of the world will put pressure on the U.S. to do the right thing regarding BushCo. We certainly can’t expect it to happen as long as our “Department of Justice” is not interested in justice.

        Yes, parx, Obama still pisses me off about this and so many other things, but, as BnF says, look at the alternatives – after watching some of the R ‘debates’, I’m even more frightened that we’ll end up with a very scary nutjob taking the country backwards.

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    • “Why isn’t Obama pursuing Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld….for war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan?”

      A reasonable guess would be that the persons involve would implicate Heads of State of several Eurpoean nations, as well as run deep through our own government. Let’s face it, we’ve insulated everyone from the lowest CIA operative to hired mercenaries, all in the name of “spreading democracy” and “freedom.”

      “Is it because he is following the same policies?”
      I’m sure that’s part of it. It also sounds like The Family is running things behind the scenes.

      “How can I vote for the man again?…….”

      Would you care to see any of the current crop of Republicans in the White House?

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    • Maybe they didn’t do anything illegal. After all, the banking industry was de-regulated.

      Deregulating the banking industry is like giving a credit card with no credit limit to a gambling addict. Of course he’s going to run up debt. Then, wonder of wonder, the federal government stepped in and bailed him out of the mess of his own making. Along come Republicans who say, wait a minute – you cannot regulate this guy, he has to be allowed to keep doing what he’s been doing — government regulation is bad! So the gambler continues his old ways, and we’re continually stuck paying the bill. That’s called taxation with representation. The wealthy are well-represented, hence they get to pay a lower effective tax rate than the poor, who have to jump through more and more hoops just to be able to vote.

      Eventually, the masses will make their voices heard over those of the rich. But I do believe when that time comes, a lot of people will die. Armed revolution is messy, but it’s what the Republicans are pushing this country towards, if they ever get everything they want.

      Now, how about something more pleasant to talk about? Are the leaves turning on the East Coast yet?

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      • BnF, so far, it seems that only the vines that are smothering some of the trees are turning. We have some huge old trees along our property line, last year the neighbor had the top 30-40 feet cut down on some. The remaining 30-odd feet of a couple of these is covered in bright red vines now. Otherwise, it seems that the leaves are starting to fall before they’ve turned, particularly in the nearby swampy areas.

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  8. Why are Belgian waffles called “Belgian waffles”?
    Shouldn’t they be called “Flemish waffles”?

    Just got back from breakfast and this came up.

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  10. Crap. Ole Graham Cracker is saying we need to consider invading Pakistan. When is the rest of the world and the remaining sane Americans going to realize that lebensraum and Manifest Destiny are synonyms? Same with Aryan Supremacy and American Exceptionalism.

    Oh, and good morning. Nice view, Zooey.

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    • Yeah, I saw that. I just posted the following comment on TP:

      “That’s a pretty stunning statement” is an understatement. The complexity of the U.S.’s relationship with Pakistan is such a tangled web that tugging on or cutting any one thread can have enormous consequences. The U.S.’s policy of pouring billions of dollars into an unstable nuclear state like Pakistan has been misguided at best, and incredibly dangerous at worst. If warmongers like Graham have their way, how many countries, both unfriendly and friendly to the U.S., could be swept up in this? Thinking ‘worst-case-scenario’, not only does the U.S. have military bases in the region which Pakistani nukes or conventional weapons could easily reach, but any military action would certainly cause India to put its own nukes on alert. In addition, Saudi Arabia has been interested in purchasing nukes from Pakistan http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/15/Saudis-eye-Pakistani-nukes-to-face-Iran/UPI-15881316101921/, and what’s to guarantee that the Saudis would continue to be on the side of the U.S. if we attack Pakistan? The “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” idea only works for so long, and the U.S. version of this idea in the Middle East is already strained to its limits.

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      • Somebody out there really ought to be realizing that the way the US is going the only way America will ever be safe in this world is if everyone is American and the only way to get that is to make every country safe for democracy by getting rid of all those pesky types who don’t agree.

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  13. I grew up on the coast of Northern California and always associated going to the beach with warmest clothing possible even in summer time.
    Here I cover up to keep out of the sun.
    The Atlantic ocean smells different.
    I like the smell of the Pacific ocean better.

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    • That’s because the Atlantic has currents that come up from the south whereas the Pacific has currents that come down from the north. Hence the smell on the Atlantic coast comes from old retirees and people stuck in the 1800’s and the smell on the Pacific comes from Canadians!!

      Note: Please don’t check any facts presented in this post.

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      • Actually, dycker, there may be more truth to that than one might think. The Atlantic currents do have the detritus from the southern states, mixed into a tepid bath where it is joined by the dumpage of the industrialized and densely populated northern states while the Pacific currents from the north flow by a reasonably unpopulated section of the continent. Your claim is also supported by the mild hops tang to the surf in the Northwest. 😉

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  14. 6 hours to take off. House cleaned. Need to take the dogs to their vacation spot and a final pack to do. Stomach churning with anticipation.

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  15. That wind blew in hard here about 5am I think – closed the remaining windows that were open… listened to the rain hitting the window for a while.

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    • Hmmm.

      Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . or the right of the people peaceably to assemble . . .

      That video must have come from Cuba, maybe. Or China. Surely not from Amurka.

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    • It’s hard to tell from this video, did the cops knock down some of the girls with the netting?

      On the local NBC news last night, they spoke to what looks like the girl in the black tank-top and light brown hair; she said that one of the cops put his arm around the neck of a petite blonde girl and dragged her behind the netting. Sick!

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      • I think a couple of the girls fell to their knees after getting a direct hit from the pepper spray, but I couldn’t tell about anything else. Those two girls were just standing there, for fuck’s sake!

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  17. Apparently Perry’s ass kicking in the hayseed poll was actually a crushing defeat of Romney, who wasn’t even running. At least that’s the attempted spin of the Perryoids. The tastiest bit of all is buried in the final paragraph. From a disappointed supporter:

    “It’s almost like the American people vote on soundbites,” she said. “They don’t check it out,” she added referring to the attacks on Perry’s record from his opponents.

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  18. Herman Cain’s win of the FL straw poll is really going to encourage that doofus. 🙄

    Is this the same type of poll as in Iowa, wherein the candidates buy the ballots and distribute them to their voters? If so, it’s a completely useless farce.

    But if the media goes nuts over the FL straw poll, they don’t have to cover Occupy Wall Street, right? Idiots.

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    • Wayne says that tweets from #OccupyWallStreet aren’t getting through on Twitter. WTF? More media suppression, I guess that they don’t want another ‘Iran uprising’ in the U.S. Fuckers! Yeah, other countries “hate our freedoms”, so apparently we have to lose those freedoms so nobody hates us?

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      • Slight correction, as I believe Jane misunderstood me. The tweets are going through, but when the hashtag “#OccupyWallStreet” (or some variant) is used, it;s not making the “Trends list”. And I said that I wasn’t getting e-mails messages every time I get a mention on Twitter, which I’m supposed to get. Jane doesn’t use the Twitter, so she may not completely understand what I’m saying about it.

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  21. Candy Crowley is having a Cheney-fest next Sunday on State of the Union. Both Dick and Liz are the scheduled guests. Fortunately, very few people watch her show.
    Maybe Obama could capture or kill Khadafi five minutes before airtime…

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  22. So darned interesting that the protests over in the Middle East get our government’s support, even to supplying military force to help the people rid themselves of oppressive militaristic regimes, Yet those same sorts of protests in the US and Israel are bad and have to be shut down. Those two militaristic states are gooood and the protesters are baaad.

    It’s a miracle everyone in DC doesn’t have to wear one of those foam collars for whiplash.

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  23. Apparently, on Wall Street you’ll get thrown to the ground, crushed, and arrested for protecting yourself from the NYPD.

    The heroes of 9/11 have become the shame of a nation.

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  24. A quick Google News search reveals hundreds if not thousands of article in the MSM covering the events on Wall Street.

    Or not. Mostly very much not. At least not in this country. Canadian and British media at least acknowledge that it is happening.

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  25. What many of us have been seeing for several years no is summarized and referenced in the following. We the people do, indeed, have cause for concern. STRONG cause for concern.

    Conservatives Say It Out Loud: They Hate Democracy

    Excerpts:

    . . . retiring Republican Congressional staffer Mike Lofgren writes,

    Far from being a rarity, virtually every bill, every nominee for Senate confirmation and every routine procedural motion is now subject to a Republican filibuster. Under the circumstances, it is no wonder that Washington is gridlocked: legislating has now become war minus the shooting, something one could have observed 80 years ago in the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. As Hannah Arendt observed, a disciplined minority of totalitarians can use the instruments of democratic government to undermine democracy itself.

    They [Republicans] are doing it on purpose. They are making the government dysfunctional on purpose. They are making people hate government on purpose. They are working to turn people against democracy and put themselves in power in its place.
    [highlights added]

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    • I’ll take a pass on: the N.Y. French/freedom fries & onion rings [FF are boring as hell]; Scramble from the Phillipines (looks way tooo sweet) and Indonesia’s Red Bean Ice. – I just don’t think of red beans as dessert – it probably is quite delicious to some.

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        • It’s regular meatloaf, mashed flat and filled with roughly the equivalent of pico de gallo then rolled into a loaf. In the final 10-15 minutes of baking it gets smothered in Sargento’s 4 Cheese Mexican mix. (Also pour off the excess grease at that time). Today’s loaf gets to be about 2:1 ground chuck to ground venison.

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          • Sounds yummy! Venison too — make me jealous, go ahead!

            We make a special meatloaf, one that is brought to life with a mixture of orange marmalade and Dijon mustard (1:1 blend) that’s spread on the loaf about three times during the baking process. It’s off-the-wall delicious, both as a hot entree and then the next day in a sandwich.

            I’m thinking a store trip tomorrow is in order as I sit here with watering mouth!

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            • orange marmalade and Dijon mustard

              The aroma is wafting my way – ok I’ve a vivid imagination but this sounds so delightful!

            • I do another Italian version. Stuffed with chopped spinach and portobellos, fresh chopped basil, any grated hard Italian cheese (I like Romano) and a bit of marinara sauce. Top gets glazed with marinara and red wine with mozzarella for the final 10.

              I’m presently working up an ingredient list for a Greek version with lamb, black olives and served with Bobby Flay’s Radish Tzatziki sauce.

              Radish Tzatziki:
              3/4 cup finely grated radish
              1/4 small red onion, finely grated
              3/4 cup Greek yogurt
              3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
              2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
              1 teaspoon lemon zest
              1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
              1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

      • Many years ago in SF, Fisherman’s Wharf, there was a little family-operated cafe that served, for breakfast, what they called Crabs Benedict. It was fresh crab, homemade Hollandaise, and poached eggs on (fresh made) English muffins. Absolutely delicious.

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  27. Interesting summary of #OccupyWallStreet:

    #OccupyWallStreet Is More Than a Hashtag – It’s Revolution in Formation

    …thanks to some imaginative theorizing by Aaron Kein of the right-wing online publication WorldNetDaily, the idea began circulating that the movement was “closely tied” with ACORN, SEIU and that it took its inspiration from the Weather Underground; George Soros; and, ultimately, President Obama himself.

    Where’s Bill Ayers, I wonder?

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  29. How magnanimous/

    Yes it is a step forward – why four years hence? (if it were a law taking away a right its implementation would be instantaneous).

    Saudi King Abdullah announced Sunday that the nation’s women will gain the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections to be held in 2015 in a major advancement for the rights of women in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.

    Saudi Arabia held its first-ever municipal elections in 2005.

    The kingdom will hold its next municipal elections on Thursday, but women will not be able to vote or run in those contests.

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    • Srsly, if the King doesn’t change his mind in four years and take back women’s right to vote and run for office (a definite possibility), then women still can’t drive themselves to the polls and will need permission from a husband or father to do the voting.

      The King is just flapping his stupid gums.

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    • Ebb, Saudi is still a theocratic monarchy. And as they hear the sound of oil wells sucking sand, they will slowly realize the gravy train, like Mr. Peabody’s coal train, has done been hauled away.

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    • Even as many wingnut fascists in Amurka are hoping (planning?) on rescinding wimmin’s right to vote in the US. White male property owners are the only legitimate voters. Ask Rush, he’ll ‘splain it to you.

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    • Meanwhile, back in the United States, Republicans are doing everything they can to suppress the vote and control women’s sexuality.

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  30. As an unreconstituted hippy or, more correctly rebel, I have to disagree with Dylan. The times, they aren’t a changing. They were until the Right propped a B grade actor up as puppet prez. Now I can’t help but be afraid that Wall Street may generate a present day Ohio.

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  31. I’m jealous of your view and living near water. My hubby and I visited both San Francisco (for the Bay to Breakers Race) and Seattle (business and a chance to visit old haunts) this year and I longed for other venues in the world besides the desert. Maybe someday….

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    • For years I loved the Sonoran Desert, still do in fact. There’s a silent magnificence built into it. The Desert is beautiful, and silent. But not the crowds, not the idiots, not the four-wheelers and dirt bikes, not the beer cans clanking as they fall. People ruin everything, it seems.

      A friend in Phoenix a long time ago summed up the desert thus — it still brings wistful memories.

      The desert is a barren place
      For myopic guests,
      But for the waiting eye, quietly,
      Astonishing much endures to see:
      Rooted things rapier barbed; things wingéd,
      furry whiskered, fork-tongued, and scaly,
      The desert is a many creatured place.

      The desert is a peopled place,
      Outpost isles of life,
      Each from solitude its strength must take,
      Some with spines themselves a fortress make,
      All self-contained and lone, unlike jostling
      throngs of human procreation,
      The desert’s a selective dwelling place.

      The desert is an austere place
      For its denizens,
      Which small things, to live, must frugal be,
      And grasp each spartan possibility,
      Unbounteous land, unforgiving careless
      ecstasy, sanctum-like,
      The desert is a mirthless, muffled place.

      The desert is a beauteous place
      Of resplendencies,
      Though drab sun-baked hues voice year-long mood
      With rapture from pent-up solitude,
      Water hoarding plants, in muted cry of
      flower, unfold exquisitries,
      The desert is a fragile garden place.

      The desert is a private place,
      Like a human heart,
      Unspeaking, it has a subtle beat
      In night’s chamber, safe from glare and heat,
      Guests, intrusion is no access – enter not
      unless you understand,
      The desert is a shy, unpublic place.

      T R Nissle
      The Desert
      circa 1975

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      • frugal, I’ve never been to the desert and have it on my bucket list. But from what I have read, it is similar to the ocean. A vast alien place, unforgiving to the foolish, rewarding to the cognizant, beautiful in ways humans fear to embrace yet yearn for. An overpowering presence if one seeks to dominate, a source of comfort if one can yield their personal arrogance. An enemy that can’t be beaten, a friend that can’t be beat.

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        • Excellent summation. It’s all that, and more. I strongly recommend a book by John C. Van Dyke (published in I think 1903 but is still available today via Amazon) titled The Desert. Here are a couple of brief quotes to demo the high level thinking and prose of the author:

          “At last you are free. You are at home in the infinite, and your possessions, your government, your people dwindle away into needle-points of insignificance. Danger? Sleep on serenely! Danger lies within the pale of civilization, not in the wilderness.” ~John C. Van Dyke

          “Not in the spots of earth where plenty breeds indolence do we meet with the perfected type. It is in the land of adversity … that finally emerges the highest manifestation.” ~John C. Van Dyke

          “Was there ever such a stillness as that which rests upon the desert at night! Was there ever such a hush as that which steals from star to star across the firmament!” ~John C. Van Dyke

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          • “Was there ever such a stillness as that which rests upon the desert at night! ”

            Yes, the one that rests upon the sea and even more so. The desert surface has many dwellers, both plant and animal, that the eye can perceive, the ear can hear. The sea hides it’s denizens and their voices so that to be adrift on it’s surface is to be in the midst of absolute stillness.

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            • But you’ll never hear a sound from the coyote exploring your camp at night. Later when the packs chorus together, definitely, but never the lone explorer — the one who cleans last night’s Dutch oven, and with no charge! Even the lip smacking is silent!

              What a grand world it is, “out there!” Almost anywhere “out there,” actually.

      • Don’t get me wrong, Frugal.

        I love being here in Phoenix, but I do miss living near water. I just wish I could do both. Both have their appeals. I like seeing coyotes traipsing through the open area behind my house or being surprised by a dozen full grown quail making a morning meal out of the ants in my backyard.

        I love the crisp blue skies in the morning and the bright stars at night ( although the light pollution is washing them out these days). I even like the 110 degree heat – as long as I can escape it from time to time. And I love a good thunderstorm.

        But, then there is an allure of the ocean. The rhythmic crashing of waves on the shore and the smell of salty air. I get a peace and calm when waters are still and delight in seagulls making a meal out of a flying fish or even the leftover remains of what was once a Starbucks bag with crumbs. I miss watching ferries silently transporting cars and people from one island to another and back again. And I miss fresh fish and a decent farmer’s market.

        If I had a million dollars… I’d split my time.

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        • I spent forty years in Phoenix, always waiting for the moment when California fell into the ocean and AZ finally had some ocean to go with all that beach! (that was an oft-spoken myth, esp. on the hot days — i.o.w., every day for six months each year) 😉

          I, too, love the shore as much as the desert, as much as the forests, canyons, mountains, lakes, name it. What troubles me most of all is what the ever increasing hordes of people are doing to ALL of that.

          If you like fresh ocean fish (and have a reasonably thick wallet), in Phoenix the best place we found was any A.J.’s store (there aren’t many, only three I know of for sure). But their fresh fish is impeccable, always, with a nice selection. A treat for desert dwellers. Maybe there’s one in South Phoenix, or Tempe? Worth a try if/when the spirit moves!

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          • There’s an AJ’s in Chandler… but you are right. kinda pricey. The cost of bringing fresh seafood to the desert is high. But alas, the salmon they sell is from the Atlantic and not quite as tasty as Pacific Salmon can be. Thankfully, I can get frozen Alaskan salmon from the Trader Joe’s.

            But there is just something missing about grilling salmon in the desert or sitting at a Bayside restaurant on the waterfront of Seattle with a fresh caught salmon steak in front of me with a Ceasar side salad and a glass of a Chateau St. Michele Chardonnay …

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            • I think St. Michelle also produces a delightful Gewurztraminer. Mouth watering.

              AJ’s, last time I visited one, had Alaskan Salmon “in season” only. Had to pay attention to their ads, but it was always worth the trip. They also occasionally had halibut that was unequaled anywhere in the city, and their Ahi Tuna was always impeccably fresh. Sushi fresh, actually. Pricey yes, but now and then it seemd SO worth it!

              We live here in the middle of nowhere and have found that we can get frozen Alaskan Salmon and Cod via Schwan’s. The price isn’t very gentle, but for frozen fish both are really quite nice.

              My sister in MN has a good life: lives in the lake country there, also has a son in Alaska who keeps her stocked with his own fresh-caught and frozen salmon; her other son in MN handles the fresh Walleye and Northern Pike end of the business.

              Basic message remains: we who are clever and have good taste can make it happen IN SPITE OF there being a McDonalds on every freakin’ corner!

      • Yep… We did run it this year. Hubby is a California Boy and had always wanted to do it. Figured the 100th anniversary would be a good one to do. (He was surprised by the naked people though.)

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        • It was quite tame this year – many more rules and regs that were actually policed!
          Gone were the UCDavis Aggies running with their open tiki bar – that actually handed out drinks!
          There used to be clever group costumes – were there many this year?
          (oh, I always walked ‘heart attack’/Hayes Street Hill).

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          • Yeah, not too many people drinking on the course this year. I did see the salmon swimming upstream and a 60+ year old hiking in the buff that I can’t quite seem to get out of my head. I was able to make it about halfway up Hayes hill, but was thankful it wasn’t as bad a hill as some of them in San Francisco….. I tried to stop at the top an look back down the hill, but had to keep moving from the sheer number of people behind me.

            As for costumes, we watched the costume contest at the end and some were quite clever. It was fun. I’d like to do it again sometime.

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  33. Robin Hanson takes issue with our remembrance of 9/11:

    “In the decade since 9/11 over half a billion people have died worldwide. A great many choices could have delayed such deaths, including personal choices to smoke less or exercise more, and collective choices like allowing more immigration. And cryonics might have saved most of them. Yet, to show solidarity with these three thousand victims, we have pissed away three trillion dollars ($1 billion per victim), and trashed long-standing legal principles.”

    http://www.overcomingbias.com/2011/09/forget-911.html

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    • Fear is a great freedom-removing factor. Knee-jerk reactions with far reaching consequences.

      The U.S. ‘exceptionalism’ makes some vote against their own best interest – we need to be afraid of Brown and Black people –
      fear instead of common sense a/o caution rule this land.

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  35. We’re getting Zooey’s storm now. Apparently it didn’t squeeze out all the water at the coast. I eliminated all but one errand when things got really hairy. No fun going from car to store or to library when it’s coming down like that.

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  36. Homebrewing today – friend of mine brought me a bunch of hops from his mum’s yard and I am brewing his favourite beer from a clone recipe – Rogue Dead Guy Ale…

    13oz Belgiun Cara-Munich
    13oz German Munich
    7oz US Crystal 40 deg L

    Steep grains in a bag at 155 degrees. Sparge with 1/2 gallon 170 degree water. Allow grains to drip into pot, but don’t squeeze. Discard grains. Bring to a boil and add:

    4lbs Alexanders Pale LME
    4LBS LDME
    1 oz perle 60 mins
    1/4 oz perle 30 minutes
    1/4 oz perle 5 mins
    1/4 oz saaz 5 mins.

    ONly snag is that the hops are Halletauer and Tettnanger not Perle and Saaz – the alpha acid count will be tough to match, we’ll see how close it is…. should be ready by Halloween

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    • Geez, TtT, I haven’t heard those terms in years. Not since my brew buddy and I ran the brewery in my basement. Still don’t know what most of them really mean but dang we made good beer.

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  37. OK. Morning was shattered by a robocall from Mike Huckabee and his friends at “Citizen’s United” — they are trying to get the US out of the UN. They want Congress to defund the UN. And they want to get 1 million people on a petition to present to John Boehner. They through in that it would save the taxpayer some small sum of money…

    Then the robocall shifted back to some telemarketer who wanted to know if I agreed that the UN was a useless organization. I said, “NO.” and she thanked me and hung up.

    Questions: What is Citizen’s United up to with this? And Why is Huckabee associated with it?

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    • The Right has hated the idea of the UN since the League of Nations. The idea that all the countries of the world should band together and work towards the betterment of the entire world gives the powers that be a spastic colon. All people shouldn’t have a voice, just those with money and power.

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    • The concept “United Nations” doesn’t recognize American global superiority and relegates this nation, God’s favorite, the only nation defined by its own massive ‘exceptionalism’, to just one more fart in the global human windstorm. With veto power, of course, but even that is demeaning.

      Consider the difference between rich and poor, between godly and sinner, between effervescent beauty and horrid ugliness, and then understand that America and the rest of the world are equally dissimilar, and how dare ‘they’ hold us in tow!

      Something like that. We are, you know, SO much better, SO far superior, that … well, you know, even having to congregate and try to communicate with those other smelly hundreds of billions is, well, demeaning to us.

      It’d be like if the Koch bros. were to be forced to stop by here for dinner once or twice a year. No caviar, y’ know? Ick.

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      • It’d be like if the Koch bros. were to be forced to stop by here for dinner once or twice a year. No caviar, y’ know? Ick.

        Reminds me of some recent commercials that I have seen for Febreeze… where they blindfold some people and take them into the dingiest of places and describe what they smell. The participants extoll about how fresh and clean everything is …And then they have them remove their blindfolds.

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      • Money doesn’t suffer. Nor does it grieve or whine. Money is a silent imaginary servant. Same as this god thing. Neither talks back or contradicts.

        Money and it’s servant, power, both children of man’s imagination, both nasty little things that bury the voices of the people, prevent man from realizing his true potential. Ever the slave to things that aren’t real in the fear of seeing the things that are.

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        • Whenever screwies start telling me the virtues of money and wealth, I ask them to please define money for me. They try, I call them on every bit of their silliness, and finally they disappear muttering under their breath. I like your definition (and am saving it for possible future use): “Money and it’s servant, power, both children of man’s imagination, both nasty little things that bury the voices of the people, prevent man from realizing his true potential.” A lot more compelling than that old “a medium of exchange” saw! I’ve used “Money is nothing made something by nobody in particular” but am always greeted with a blank stare. Oh well.

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          • Be my guest, frugal. If money was the end all and be all of existence, we would all be speaking Spanish. Spain pulled more money (as in gold) out of the New World than was imaginable. Same for Portugal. If material wealth equaled power they should have divided Europe and 15th century politics between them.

            Yet, that didn’t happen. Both countries had immense wealth and the rest of Europe came out on top. America today is 15th century Spain. It has accrued massive wealth with no real reason. The world cannot eat money.

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          • Also, frugal, if you ever decide to write a sequel and think it might be beneficial to bring someone else in, for whatever reason, I’ll be happy to volunteer.

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  38. Rethinking the TSA: No Longer Accepting Police Repression in Exchange for Safety by: William John Cox, Truthout ..

    Air travelers dare not complain. TSA standards focus additional scrutiny on travelers who are “very arrogant” and express “contempt against airport passenger procedures.”

    Is such repression the only choice? Or can TSA officers be trained to exercise the necessary discretion to detect would-be terrorists, while allowing innocent travelers to swiftly and safely pass through screening?

    Reply ↓

    • It works. Since 1980, Americans have been taught things like government is bad, scientists are bad, thinking is bad. We have been turned from a country of independent thinkers to one of blind followers. From a country with a news media that investigated everything to one that reported what it is told. From a news media, independently owned and fighting every day for a scoop to one that has dismissed most of their investigative reporters and scrambles to say what they are fed.

      If CBS, ABC or NBC had gone to court to get permission to say whatever they wanted in the 60’s or 70’s, they would have been laughed out of America. Fox did it in the 90’s and are presently saying whatever they feel like saying.

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  40. If Bachmann really wanted to honor the Founding Fathers, she’d embrace vaccination:

    “If it hadn’t been for mandatory smallpox inoculation, the Republic might never have survived. General George Washington ordered the Continental Army inoculated against smallpox in 1777, the first large scale inoculation of an army in history. … Among his many achievements, which included writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson was a pioneer of smallpox prevention. He was a proponent of smallpox inoculation. As a young lawyer he acted on behalf of doctors who were persecuted for performing inoculations, including one physician whose house was burned to the ground by a mob during an anti-inoculation riot.”

    http://www.thenation.com/article/163514/michele-bachmanns-anti-vaccination-rhetoric-not-only-bad-science-its-bad-history

    Reply ↓

      • ya do realize that back in the Founding Father days there were no sech critters as any you listed? Jest a bunch of folk who were tired of kings and those who thought witches were real. Course ya do, ya ain’t listnin to them voices like Joan did. Too bad about her. hyuck, hyuck.

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    • Interesting, the article came out 20 September 2011
      and
      here
      we have
      on the Wiki Smallpox vaccine

      “This page was last modified on 20 September 2011 at 10:28.”

      (the three or four comment on the article you linked to were from, very, ill-informed people who need to hone up on reading skills. Or at least read newer studies on vaccines)

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    • And interesting enough, the decimation of Native American populations was, in large part, due to smallpox. Wonder how that happened?

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    • There isn’t a serious Republican candidate for next year’s election. Nor will there be one. The Republicans don’t want a Republican president while they finish dismantling America. They are in total scapegoat mode. When Obama wins in 2012 we will get another 4 years of Republican obstruction. Personally, I hope he asks Joe to fade and pulls Hillary in as his new VP. Or Alan Grayson. Anyone who will give the Right a serious shit hemorrhage..

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  43. Republicans want a Democrat as president. Look at the past three years and the obstruction they have used to derail anything the President has tried. They want another 4 years to embed their obstruction, to prove to America government doesn’t work. They have the propaganda machine, the filibuster machine, everything that works to show government is a failure.

    The only thing that bothers them is the damn protesters

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  44. I’ll put it a tad more directly. If the Republicans were to get the WH in 2012 they would have to do something positive for the US economy. Since they have been able to torpedo the whole thing the past few years by their obstruction AND blame it on the President, why would they want to have a Republican president?

    Reply ↓

    • The GOP is looking at 2012 as their shot at an FDR-type moment. It’s the most important election in a generation. The party occupying the White House when the economy does finally start booming will get the credit among the public for saving the country. It doesn’t matter so much who was in power when the recession hit or whose policies helped or hurt the recovery. To a large extent, it’s simply a matter of being in the Oval Office at the right time.

      Reply ↓

      • Interesting concept. If the R’s win they get to claim victory as the hoarders decide to pump some life back into the economy. Not enough to turn everything around but enough to help.

        If they lose, they get 4 more years of obstruction and harassment.

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        • If the Republicans win, they won’t care about turning around the economy for the working class. They will work immediately to end Social Security and “Obama Care”; to reinstate DADT and prevent gay marriage. They will go about deregulating business, eliminating environmental protections, minimum wage, and workplace safety laws, all in the name of creating jobs.

          They will make the Bush tax cuts permanent, and permanently repeal the Estate Tax.

          In short, they will use the period from 2012 to 2014 to take everything they can from this country and disenfranchise the voters so they stay in power permanently.

          They actually look forward to riots, as it will give them an excuse to impose Martial Law and suspend all Constitutional protections.

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    • The GOP’s fundraising and financial underbelly is that corporate/lobbyist cluster which is purely fascist in concept, construction, and practice. The Kochs have pretty much established themselves to become de facto (perhaps behind the scenes) dictators if and when the GOP gains workable majorities in both houses of congress. The Supreme Court is already theirs. We, the USA, are right on the edge. If/when the change should happen, it’s all over; the Constitution will be left in place as a hallowed document, but one that will be ignored most of the time if not always. All that will remain will be mirage, an umbrella which will partly conceal the war machine as the principal instrument of government. The “president” will be a servant of the fascist machine. Period. We’ll make the Third Reich look like amateurs, and no place in the world will be safe….save for those who agree to play the game.

      I’m glad I’m old, but if I were younger and able, I’d get the fuck out of here and I’d do it asap. Find a corner somewhere that’s liable to be overlooked and sip fresh mango juice on the veranda of the grass shack.

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    • someone’s got waaaay too much time on his hands….

      how long does it take to make one of those, anyways?

      I think they’re way cool!

      (can I still say that?)

      Reply ↓

      • Glad you like them.

        They actually don’t take all that much time. There are tools that will create the mosaic. You just supply the input pictures (which does take time to go shoot them), pick the destination photo and set various parameters (number of tiles, are repeats allowed, etc.) and away it goes. 🙂

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  49. Stuffed artichoke bottoms with a tomato tartare, crab meat mixture; a mushroom risotto, and a very friendly blackberry/tobacco Pinot Noir. I’m full. Hope your Sunday was full too.

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  50. There are many Americans who are compassionate to their fellow citizens and harbor a great desire to see every person prosper in the spirit of equality to make this nation a source of pride at home and abroad. It is tragic, but there is a growing segment of society that are displaying behavior and attitudes that portend a nation of hateful people who rejoice in other’s misery and relish the thought of causing pain and suffering because of bigotry, greed and intolerance. Although those attitudes are not universal, they are giving the appearance that America is rife with mean-spirited and selfish people and it begs the question; is this the America people really want?

    Good question. I know how the Critters and Zoosters would respond, but why is there any other response?

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    • From a link in the above story:

      Incredible video of Paul Ryan at his only, $15-a-pop public appearance, wherein he makes the lunatic claim that “most of our debt comes from our entitlement programs” – Bush tax cuts? Iraq? Afghanistan? anyone? – as police wrestle to the ground retired plumber Tom Nielsen for objecting.

      As Ryan kept talking, Nielsen, 71, found himself face down on the floor being handcuffed by police. He was thrown to the ground, placed in handcuffs, and arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest after objecting to Ryan’s plans to gut Social Security and Medicare during his congressman’s only public appearance scheduled during the August recess — a $15 Rotary Club luncheon in West Allis, Wisconsin on Tuesday.

      Nielsen repeatedly told police that he wasn’t fighting them and that he didn’t want to make any trouble. He also told them several times that he had a broken shoulder. Police officers ignored his comments as they wrestled him to the ground despite his howls of pain.

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      • God damn these assholes. Police, and Paul Ryan is whom I’m speaking to; this is where America has come to you fucks. You brought it here now prepare yourself to its backlash.

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      • Does anyone remember in the 2010 election, was there a single instance, in all of the Democratic townhalls where the GOP/Teapartiers were there to yell down and disrupt the Congressmen/women and Senators, was there a single instance where the police rushed in to drag them out, manhandle them and drag them off to jail? Can you think of ONE instance?

        That would make for an interesting post: How many instances of police strong-arming constituents and dragging them out under arrest when they protest or stand up and disagree with their Representative or Senator (GOP) as opposed to the same situation with Dems. The first one that pops to mind for me was Nicole Sandler, Progressive radio talkshow host who often sits in for Randi Rhodes, who went to her Representative’s Town Hall in Florida. It was that nutjob Allen West. She was manhandled too while trying to ask him, firmly but respectfully, a question. Dragged out, manhandled, maced, arrested..
        http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/constituent-arrested-at-allen-west-town-hall-maced-in-jail-video.php

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        • No, not a single one of those teabagger fuckwits was ever dragged out of a room, roughed up, and arrested — even at their most disgusting.

          I remember hearing Nicole Sandler talking about her arrest and imprisonment on the radio the next day. It was horrifying.

          Is this the America the people really want?

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  53. We have a good feeling the President is staying in our fair city this night.
    He’s been here since around 6p. (it’s not on the public agenda – for security purposes we presume).

    We never thought about it until – doing our Peregrine bed checks. It’s down town between two hotels (neither one where the Pres. was/is or we wouldn’t be using binoculars to see the bird).

    We notice certain streets blocked off and police cars nearly everywhere.
    It seems all the motorcycle cops were out – zig-zagging. U-turning wherever and they were in their presentation uniforms.

    We walked down one street – saw a police car & asked what was going on: the cop said a VIP (we looked at each other then at the cop) light bulb time: OH, HE’S Here in our fair city? The laugh and nod of acknowledgment and we knew – the President was only blocks away.

    We weren’t certain what was more exciting – watching the Peregrine after sunset
    or knowing the President wasn’t too far away~!~ Equal elation!

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