The Watering Hole: Wednesday, January1, 2016: I’m Briseadh na Faire, and I’m running for President, Part VII

I’m Briseadh na Faire, and I’m running for President. Here are a few of my positions on issues important to the American People today. Between now and November 2016, I will post additional policy and platform statements.

Today’s topic du jour: State of the Union – yeah, right.

I know, I know. By the time you read this, Obama will have given his last State of the Union Address as President of the United States, blah, blah, blah. He will have put a positive spin on all things Obama, all things black, all things from Kenya. And Fox “News” will have unleashed a barrage showing exactly how incompetent and impotent the Reign of Obama has been, replete with quotes from every Republican candidate from Palin to Trump. (FYI, Palin has never, I repeat never stopped running for President of these here United States.)

The penultimate question is, and always will be: “are you better off now than you were before Obama became President?”

The only possible answer is a resounding “NO!!!”

Before Obama became President, we had hope. Hope for change. Hope for a future better than that of our parents. Now, as we approach the end of his eight-year reign as our supreme leader, we are that much older, that much wiser.

We’re still at war in the middle east – only the name of our enemy has changed from Saddam and Al Qaeda and the Taliban to ISIS or ISIL and Al Qaeda and the Taliban. We’re fighting in Syria now, and Iran is still an open question. Iraq? Forget it. It’s a lost cause. As is Afghanistan. Maybe the oil pipeline is safe, but for sure their heroin production is hitting all-time highs (no pun intended).

Ok, so how about here at home? You feel the boost in the economy from the bazillions in bailout money given to the same banksters that robbed us? Neither did I. Nor anyone else making less than, say, a million a year.

Let’s face it, the only thing we got from eight years of Obama was ObamaCare. Republicans can’t repeal it. The Supreme Court didn’t overturn it. We’re stuck with it. It’s a massive gift to the insurance industry, which wrote much of it. But is it Universal Health Care? No. Medicare for all? No. Just another way for insurance companies to skim their profits off of our health care dollars without improving our health care at all. I know, Republicans created this Boogey Monster of “Government Death Panels” and all. But the reality is that private health insurance companies do that every day, every time they deny a claim, deny a treatment recommended by your doctor, to maximize their profits.

Don’t get me wrong. Obama has done some good.  He refused to prosecute Bush and company for war crimes and crimes against humanity. God knows he had enough evidence in the public record to convict at least some of the previous administration. But by not prosecuting his predecessors he let the whole world know that the United States of America will act with impunity when it comes to invading countries under false pretexts for the sole purpose of changing their government; that we will torture people with impunity; that we will kidnap people, and hold them in prison forever, without charges, without due process, because we are, above all things, a Nation of Laws, a Nation of Freedom, a Nation of Liberty. Which is why, of course, terrorists hate us.

So, come 2016, vote Briseadh na Faire for President. I’m the only candidate for President who knows what’s best for America; the only candidate who acknowledges up front that I will break each and every one of my campaign promises, and, when I do, you won’t be disappointed!

I’m Briseadh na Faire, and I approve this message.

[BriseadhNaFaireforPresidentisnotaffiliatedwithanyPolitcalActionCommitteenorhas receivedtheendorcementofTPZoonoranyotherindividualbusinessnonprofitorganizationorgod.]

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, February 29, 2012: Captain Kirk to vie for RNC nomination!

William Shatner, best known for his role as Captain Kirk of the United Federation of Planets Starship Enterprise, issued a press release this leap day announcing his intent to seek the Republican Nomination for President, in the event none of the current candidates go into the RNC Convention with the nomination locked up.

“I look at it this way,” Shatner said in a recent interview,

Nobody in the current Republican field has more foreign policy experience than I do. I was battling Klingons and Romulans while Santorum was still in grade school. And Romney may be a captain of industry, but I was Captain of a Starship. Romney led Bain Capital that bought up companies and bankrupted them. I helped take a defunct science fiction TV series to a successful franchise that had multiple successful spin-offs and created numerous jobs.

I will lead the Republican Party, and this Country into the future. The Republican Party ended slavery. I had the first inter-racial kiss on TV.

I have dealt with illegal aliens on a galactic scale, and I always win.

When it comes to the economy, who…has a better reputation than…me … “THE … NEGOTIATOR” for the best rates for flights and lodging…anywhere!

And … like that Great Republican, Ronald Reagan, I … too … am a movie star. But where Reagan co-starred with a monkey, I … co-starred with a Vulcan. That’s gotta count…for….something.

Shatner’s announcement, coming on the heels of Super Tuesday, caught the Republican establishment totally off-guard. When asked for comment, Santorum said, “Captain Who?” Romney said “I’m good friends with the producers of Star Trek.” Ron Paul said, “Why do we need a Federation of Planets, anyway?” And Newt Gingrich said “Shatner’s a bad actor from a bad TV series that would lead our country in the wrong direction. I’m the only candidate who has promised to build a base on the Moon, because I know that obelisque is up there in the Tycho Crater.”

Sarah Palin issued a press release of her own stating, “Bill Shatner’s no big deal. I can see space from my front porch in Alaska!”

THIS IS OUR OPEN THREAD. ENJOY “LEAP DAY”. WOMEN, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE: GO OUT AND PROPOSE TO SOMEONE TONIGHT!

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, 2-22-12: A Limerick for Your Thoughts?

The candidate Richard Santorum,
Touts the ’vangelical forum;
He’d ban birth control,
With great vitriol,
To women who like sex, he’d whore’m.

Mitt Romney is just such a blast,
Once you get over his past,
He’s on every side,
Like the ever-changing tide,
Schizophrenic’s the role he’s been cast.

Now Newt Gingrich, what can I say?
Shut the government down in his day.
It’s not his fault,
He rubs wounds with salt,
And derides all who stand in his way.

Libertarians stand by Ron Paul,
And surely he gave them his all,
Legalize pot,
Smoke all you got,
But his poll numbers still fall.

The drop-outs are there by the score,
Cain, Palin, and Bachmann and more,
Perry said “Oops”
While Palin did loops,
And Cain’s 9-9-9 hit the floor.

Dear Friends, here’s the GOP pool,
Each one sounds a 1 percent tool,
But lest you should dread,
Tis our Open Thread,
Where Comments are really quite cool.

The Wartering Hole, Wednesday, February 1, 2012: Money Wins in Florida Primary!

“Do you know what I intend? I intend to be a king in a big palace and when I go out in my coach, all the people will wave and I will shout at them, and…and…in the summertime I will go to my summer palace and I’ll wear my crown in swimming and everything, and all the people will cheer and I will shout at them… What do you mean I can’t be king? Nobody should be kept from being a king if he wants to be one. It’s usually just a matter of knowing the right people.. ..well…. if I can’t be a king, then I’ll be very rich then I will buy myself a kingdom. Yes, I will buy myself a kingdom and then I’ll kick out the old king and take over the whole operation myself. I will be head king.” Mitt Romney, age 5.

(with apologies to Charles Schultz)

This Be the Open Thread O’The Day.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, …….December 28, 2011……. …..Hump DayyaD pmuH…..

Well, another year, shot to hell. Obama’s still the President, much to the chagrin of Christian Extremists. Osama bin Laden is dead, much to the chagrin of Christian Extremists.

Obamacare is still the law of the land; the government didn’t get shut down; and Republicans have gone on record supporting tax breaks for the very, very rich at the expense of everyone else.

Occupy Wall Street sprang out of nowhere and put the issue of the disparity of wealth, opportunity and power in the forefront of the news. Whether the movement will gain any traction going into the coming primaries and fall election remains to be seen. For now, it is enough that the ruling class has called out their police forces to put down the movement with violence, while letting Teabaggers attend protests bearing sidearms and assault rifles.

The battle lines are being drawn. It’s the age-old battle between altruism and selfishness. Just think, in a little more than 11 months, God will come and call the game on account of Judgment Day.

Or not.

This is our open thread.

O pen, opine,

or pen

a pun.

Whatever.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, December 21, 2011: Happy Solstice!

The Business Man and His Three Employees

a modern parable

by

Briseadh na Faire

The Teacher sat in the tall grass near a quiet river, facing his small group of young students. “Tell us about Heaven” one of them said. “Yes. Yes. Tell us about Heaven” the group chimed in eager unison.

The Teacher looked at his young charges and began.

“Heaven is like, well, it’s a lot like here” he began. “Take a business man. He’s successful. He runs the show. Everyone must do exactly what he wants, or they’ll be fired, tossed out on the street.”

“So, one day, there’s this business man, and he’s going away on a long trip.”

“To China?” a boy interrupted. “My daddy goes to Chinaa lot. He says it’s for business. Mommy says he has a Chinese mistress.”

“What’s a mistress” another boy asked.

“It’s like a second mommy” a girl asserted, “one your real mommy doesn’t like very much.”

“Ok” the Teacher brought his charges back to paying attention again “to China. And he calls in three of his top employees. To the first one, he gives a stack of ten thousand-dollar bills. ‘I want you to take care of this. It’s ten thousand dollars, and I’ll want a strict accounting when I get back.’ To the second he gave five thousand dollars, and to the third, a thousand dollars, each with the same warning.”

“Then the business man went off on his trip. A year later, he returned.”

The Watering Hole, Wednesday, November 16, 2011: Death & Taxes

‘Tis said there are only two things that are unescapable: Death and Taxes.

The Ruling Class, should it have its way, would escape at least the latter. Abolish the “Death Tax!” They cry from their paid mouthpieces. “Death should not be a taxable event!”

But…why not? Why should someone who’s dead care? He’s been relieved of this veil of tears. During his lifetime, he either inherited, or amassed a great fortune. That’s great!

But he hoarded it, dying with millions, even billions, stashed away. He chose not to distribute his hoard while he was alive. Why should he, now that he’s dead, get to pass it all, tax-free, to folks he kept it from while he was alive?

The only way to prevent family dynasties from rising up and controlling everything, is to reinstate the Estate Tax. If our political leaders lack the will to do that, and do it now, then it is already too late.

When too much wealth is concentrated in too few hands, redistribution of wealth is inevitable.

THIS IS OUR OPEN THREAD. WRITE YOUR WORDS ON THE SUBWAY WALLS…AND TENEMENT HALLS.

The WATERINGWHOLE: Wednesday, October 19, 2011

THE FOLLOWING IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, obtained at great difficulty and expense by hacking into the computer network of the network of computer hackers currently hacking into the computers that are used to infiltrate the network of hacks intent on infiltrating the 99% movement.

WE, THE 99% OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in order to form a More Perfect Union, do hereby make and ordain these Demands upon our government, and the 1% who control a disproportionate share of the Income, Wealth and Political Power.

COGNIZANT OF THE REALITY THAT THE RULING CLASS WILL OPPOSE EACH AND EVERY DEMAND presented by the 99%, We, the 99%, hereby DEMAND the following:

WE DEMAND an END TO THE MINIMUM WAGE;
WE DEMAND an END TO CORPORATE TAXES;
WE DEMAND our OWN BEN AND JERRY’S ICE CREAM FLAVOR;
WE DEMAND an END TO CHILD LABOR LAWS;
WE DEMAND an END TO PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT;
WE DEMAND reruns of FATHER KNOWS BEST;
WE DEMAND an END TO SOCIAL SECURITY;
WE DEMAND an END TO MEDICARE;
WE DEMAND an END TO FOOD STAMPS;
WE DEMAND an END TO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE;
WE DEMAND a CHICKEN IN EVERY POT;
WE DEMAND an END TO ALL GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS;
WE DEMAND our PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACH THE BIBLE AS SCIENCE.

WE DEMAND an INCREASE TO MINIMUM WAGE;
WE DEMAND an INCREASE TO CORPORATE TAXES;
WE DEMAND our OWN BEN AND JERRY’S ICE CREAM FLAVOR;
WE DEMAND an END TO CHILD LABOR INTERNATIONALLY;
WE DEMAND an INCREASE IN REGULATIONS PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT;
WE DEMAND reruns of THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS and LAUGH-IN;
WE DEMAND an END TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME CAP;
WE DEMAND an ENLARGEMENT OF MEDICARE TO MEDICARE FOR ALL;
WE DEMAND an END TO THE NEED FOR FOOD STAMPS;
WE DEMAND an END TO UNEMPLOYMENT;
WE DEMAND a CHICKEN IN EVERY POT;
WE DEMAND an END TO ALL GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS;
WE DEMAND pot IN EVERY CHICKEN;
WE DEMAND our PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACH SCIENCE;
WE DEMAND FAIR TRADE AGREEMENTS THAT FOSTER AMERICAN JOBS;
WE DEMAND THAT THOSE WHO CONTROL 80% OF THE WEALTH IN THIS COUNTRY BEAR 80% OF THE TAX BURDEN;
WE DEMAND our ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES REPRESENT WE, THE 99%;
WE DEMAND a RETURN TO REGULATED CAPITALISM AND STRONG ANTI-TRUST LAWS;
WE DEMAND a RETURN OF THE ESTATE TAX, SO THAT EVERYONE STARTS LIFE ON AN EQUAL FOOTING, GUARANTEEING THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL SUCCEEDS ON HIS OR HER OWN MERIT, NOT ON INHERITED WEALTH AND POWER.

This is our Open Thread. I’ve made my demands, now it’s your turn.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, 10-12-11

The Traveler and the Woman at the Well 

A Modern Parable by 

Briseadh na Faire

A woman sat hard by the well at the outskirts of town. High overhead, the sun beat down mercilessly with late August heat. A man wearing fine robes approached, accompanied by his entourage.

“Fetch me some water” the man commanded the woman, “and for my guests, as well.”

The woman lowered her eyes, “Yes, M’Lord” she murmured, then pulled at the rope with her calloused hands. She raised the heavy bucket by herself, while those whose hands knew no labor stood ’round and watched, belittling her for her slowness at raising the bucket, her tattered clothes and unkempt hair. One flicked her on the rump with his crop. Another lifted her skirt with his boot, while she strained on in her labours, and bore their insults in silence.

When she was done, the rich man tossed her a penny. “For your efforts,” he said, laughing. His entourage laughed, too. The practiced laughs of those who know their place and keep their heads. As the group headed into town, the woman picked up the penny, dusted it off, and sat, crying the dry tears of one who has cried too much.

A Traveler, dressed in a dusty green cloak and wearing sandals so covered with dirt that they were indistinguishable from his feet, walked towards the well. “Fetch me some water” the Traveler commanded.

The woman looked up and took in the Traveler in a long glance, from his uncombed walnut hair to his dusty cloak, tan breeches and caked sandals. “Fetch it yourself,” she said. “My hands are weary.”

“You didn’t say that to the other gentleman,” the Traveler observed, drawing up the rope.

“How could I?” asked the woman. “He’s rich. He owns everything in this town. Everything we have, we owe to him.”

“And how did he get to be rich?” the Traveler asked.

“He built the mill” the woman replied, looking over to a run-down ruin of a factory. “For awhile, everything was great. Our husbands worked, we raised families. We had good lives. Then the King made peace with a neighboring kingdom. And part of that peace allowed our Master to build a mill in the other kingdom, where the people were so poor that they would work for practically nothing.”

“And, so, your mill was closed” the Traveler concluded.

“Aye, it was closed, and the only jobs we could get was serving our Master for practically nothing.” An eagle cried plaintively overhead. The Traveler lifted the bucked out of the well and poured the clear spring water into his cup. He handed the cup to the woman, who looked up at him with surprise. He nodded, and she took the cup and drank. As she handed the cup back to the Traveler, she asked, “Why do you show me such kindness?”

The Traveler poured himself a cup of water, drank, and sat next to the woman. “The question is, why don’t you show yourself such kindness?”

“What do you mean?” her green eyes were looking for the answer to a riddle that escaped her.

“You have the right to say no” the Traveler replied, “as you did to me. You can say no to your Master.”

“But he would be angry. He would beat me. He might even have me thrown in prison for daring to disobey him.”

“That is true” the Traveler nodded. “But what if everyone in the village said no?”

“How would that change things?”

The Traveler stood up and walked to the edge of the nearby woods to gather some sticks. The eagle that had been circling overhead swooped down low over the well, and up, to settle in a nearby tree. It ruffled its wing feathers as it adjusted its perch on a high branch.

“Take this stick” the Traveler said, giving her a twig. “Now break it.”

The woman snapped the twig easily in two.

“Now take these.” The Traveler handed a bunch of twigs, so much she could barely get her hands around all of them. “Break them.”

She tried. The twigs creaked a little. She tried harder, but could barely bend the bundle. “I cannot.” She handed the twigs back to the Traveler. “They’re too many.”

“Exactly!” said the Traveler, a flash of lightening in his blue eyes. “One, by itself, is easily broken.” He snapped a twig to punctuate his remark. “But take that same twig and bind it together with its brothers and sisters and the strongest hands cannot bend them.”

The eagle lifted from its perch, its call piercing the air, adding power to the Traveler’s revelation. The Traveler set the bundle of twigs on the rock wall of the well. The woman picked them up, one by one.

“One by one he’s been breaking us” the woman was speaking to no one, just picking up twigs and snapping them as she spoke. “One by one we’ve been driven to poverty, while he gets richer and richer.” She snapped another twig. “One by one, we’ve been getting sick, dying, starving.” Another twig broke in her hands. “But together” she grabbed the rest of the bundle “together….” she looked up at the Traveler, the midday sun behind his head…”together….we are stronger than he is…”

The Traveler smiled, a knowing smile. The woman smiled back. High above, the eagle called out once more. The woman looked up for the eagle, and, for a moment, it was as if the Traveler had stepped to one side, for she was momentarily blinded by the sun. She looked back down but the Traveler was gone.

Holding the bundle of sticks firmly in her hand, the woman walked back to town, her head tall.

© 2011 Briseadh na Faire

This is our Open Thread. I’ve said my piece, now it’s your turn.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, October 5, 2011.

This past weekend a group of “delegates” held a “Constitutional Convention” in the Bohemian Grove, a coastal redwood forest near the tiny town of Monte Rio, California.

Headed by none other than former Governor Sarah Palin, the group set about on a monumental task of rewriting the Constitution of the United States of America. Sources reveal their plan is to introduce their new Constitution shortly after Republicans regain control of the Senate and the White House, together with control of the legislatures of 38 States, ensuring its passage.

Eyewitnesses report the Grove had various notable politicos and various influential guests arriving and departing at all hours of the day and night, including brief visits by Michelle Bachmann, the Koch Brothers, Ann Coulter, Mitt Romney and Ginther, a local stand-up comic that does Al Jolsen imitations with a Southern German accent.

After the “Constitutional Convention” wrapped up, local dumpster divers, looking for left-over filet mignon, lobster and abalone, discovered a copy of their final-revised-completed-top-top-top-secret menu, as well as the handwritten copy of our next Constitution.

We, here at The Zoo, have spared no expense to bring this highly sensitive, potentially politically explosive document to you, our beloved Readers.

PREAMBLE

We, the Citizens of this Great God-Given Land, in order to form a more Perfect Union between us and Our Lord and Savior, and to prepare the way for His Coming, as He has promised us He would, do hereby adopt this Constitution of the Citizens United States of America.

ARTICLE 1

Congress.

Congress is useless, and a waste of taxpayer’s money. All laws shall be proposed by the United Citizens of this Great Country by posting them online on Facebook, or other such similar website as the President may declare from time to time. Those proposed laws that receive the most votes shall become law, unless of course, the President disagrees, in which case it shall not become a law, but it will be deemed a good idea anyway.

ARTICLE 2

The President.

The President is God’s Representative here on earth. He, or She, reigns supreme over the land, and the fighting forces, and all the animals and plants and birds and fishes and natural resources.
The President shall be elected by a direct vote of the people eligible to vote, that is, white men who own property, just as our Founding Fathers wanted. All votes shall be tabulated by Deibold voting machines, or by such similar machines as a successor company shall make. Votes shall be counted according to the net worth of the voter.

ARTICLE 3

The Judiciary.

The Courts shall deal with criminal matters only. People with civil disputes should resolve them before God, not a judge.

ARTICLE 4

Full Faith and Credit.

We put our Full Faith and Credit in God. All previous debts and obligations incurred by the United States when it was in the throes of pagan, heathen, secular-humanist, liberals are hereby refudiated.

ARTICLE 5

Taxes.

None.

ARTICLE 6

Amendments to this Constitution.

Ain’t gonna happen.

ARTICLE 7

Marriage.

Gay people can’t get married.

ARTICLE 8

Guns.

People can buy all the guns and ammo they can afford.

ARTICLE 9

Abortion.

See Article 6.

Oh, and all the previous laws of the United States are hereby declared null and void and to no effect whatsoever. And States, you can do whatever you want as long as you don’t want to do anything that’s not allowed by this Constitution.

This is our Open Thread. Speak Up!

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, September 21, 2011: Hump Day

“Thank you Sir! May I have another?”

This seems to be the political discourse these days; Republicans are holding the whip and Obama is their favorite whipping boy.

While the majority of Americans overwhelmingly do not want to go with the dictates of the TeaParty Republicans, the Teabaggers are running Washington. Instead of playing to his base, Obama cows down, time after time, to the most extreme demands of the Teabaggers. He’s playing to the evangelical christian base of the Republican Party, a base which he can never appease.

This author has one question: WHY?

Perhaps The Family has grown so powerful behind the scenes that no one, not even the President of the United States, dare challenge it.

One thing is certain, the Teabaggers stand ready, willing, and able to destroy this country, and will do so, unless they get thier way. So far, no one is willing to call their bet; no one knows if they will blink, because Obama always blinks first.

It’s time for Obama to take the whip.

This is our Open Thread, so flail away.

The Watering Hole: TGIF September 16, 2011

In the news today, 19% of the American public approves what the Republicans in Congress are doing. President Obama caves to Republican demands.

The Supercommittee will be prevented from even considering raising revenues – balancing the Federal Budget must come from cutting expenditures and taxes. Economists give a 1 out of 3 chance we’ll slide into another recession. I think they’re underrating the power of Republicans who are doing everything they can to destroy the economy so they can get Obama out of their WHITEhouse.

Tomorrow is Constitution Day. RIP

This is our open thread. Have at it and TGIF!

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, September 14, 2011: Hump Day

To Do List:
Monday

Create the heavens and the earth. Create Light. Separate Light from Dark. Call it a day.

Tuesday:

Create the sky.

Wednesday:

Create oceans and dry land. Create vegetation. Remember to add trees.

Thursday:

Create the sun and the moon. Make stars….lots of stars. Let the sun, moon, and stars serve as signs to mark the sacred times and days and years….better create years while I’m at it.

Friday:

Create fish and birds. Remember, fish go in the water, birds go in the air. Maybe for kicks create flying fish and swimming birds.

Saturday:

Create animals. Then create Man. Put Man in charge. Take the rest of the week off.

Sunday:

Take the day off. Call it holy.

Assuming for the sake of argument, the above depiction is an accurate portrayal of the creation of the reality in which we exist, it raises some serious questions regarding the order of operations.

Light was created before the sun and stars. What gave off the light? How did vegetation grow before the sun was created? What was the need to “mark the sacred times” on day four? for that matter, what sacred times?

Then there’s this enigmatic line:

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. (Gen. 6:4)

Who were these “sons of God” who impregnated women of the earth? Are their genes still in the human gene pool? Were these “mighty men which were of old” the heros of Greek and Roman, and other Mythologies? For that matter, were the “sons of God” the same as the panopoly of Greek, Roman, and other Gods?

Consider this possibility: the Apocalypse in Revelations was not a description of some future battle, but one that already occurred. (see last Wednesday’s Open Thread)

If you can hold that possibility in your mind, grasp it, roll it around…see the connections, then “Sokath, his eyes open!”

This is our daily open thread — The Truth is Out There.

IT’S ALL ABOUT JOBS!!!

2010 – It’s all about JOBS!

2011 – no JOBS bill out of Congress yet.

2011 – President to give major speech about JOBS.

Republican reaction?

How dare you give a major speech when we’re debating for our Party’s nomination to be the guy to replace you…

Hey, now you’re giving a major speech on opening night of Football!

I’m not gonna show up for your major JOBS speech – I’m gonna stay home and have a football party.

I’m not gonna show up for your major JOBS speech – I’m gonna sit in my office and tweet about it instead.

Republicans have been playing high-stakes political chicken – and Obama has blinked every time. By the time they’re through with a JOBS bill, we’ll have more tax breaks for the rich and corporations, more free trade agreements, all offset by a reduction in unemployment benefits to balance the budget and force people to go to work – all they have to do is be willing to relocate to a third-world country…that’s where all the hiring will be.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, September 7, 2011: Nuclear blast kills half a million in India

A heavy layer of radioactive ash in Rajasthan, India, covers a three-square mile area, ten miles west of Jodhpur. The levels of radiation there have registered so high on investigators’ gauges that the Indian government has now cordoned off the region.

An atomic blast … destroyed most of the buildings and probably a half-million people. Skeletons scattered about the cities, many holding hands and sprawling in the streets. People were just lying, unburied, in the streets of the city. Huge masses of walls and foundations … are fused together, literally vitrified! (In other words, the heat turned the clay in the bricks to glass.)

One account states:

… (it was) a single projectile
Charged with all the power of the Universe.
An incandescent column of smoke and flame
As bright as the thousand suns
Rose in all its splendour…
…it was an unknown weapon,
An iron thunderbolt,
A gigantic messenger of death,
Which reduced to ashes
The entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas.
…The corpses were so burned
As to be unrecognisable.
The hair and nails fell out;
Pottery broke without apparent cause,
And the birds turned white.
After a few hours
All foodstuffs were infected…
….to escape from this fire
The soldiers threw themselves in streams
To wash themselves and their equipment.

No one is pointing to Al Qaeda, nor Pakistan. This particular nuclear attack took place thousands of years ago.

This is our daily open thread — The Truth is Out There.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, August 31, 2011: May the Fours be With You!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

From the Archives:

Open thread

Posted on August 30, 2007 by Gregg Mattocks

I’m off to work! You kids all play nice.

And, don’t forget, tomorrow TPZoo should have a new URL (https://tpzoo.wordpress.com/) and then we’ll officially be in business!

Then, with little fanfare:

A whole new domain!

Posted on August 31, 2007 by Gregg Mattocks

Welcome to https://tpzoo.wordpress.com!

It was sheer hell but I think I have everything pretty much back to normal here at the new URL. We may have lost a few minor things in the transfer, but I think that all in all, the site is fairly intact.

Many thanks to Gregg for getting this site off the ground, as well as to other Zoosters who were there at the beginning of this humble corner of the internets.

And many thanks to those who visit, and those who comment. This site was created for you, and us. We wanted a place where we could go and talk about events and news, without threads devolving into troll droppings and troll bashing. And that is what we made here.

To be sure, we’ve had our challenges over the past four years. Life happens. Health, work, and family impact us all. Four years ago, this writer had no idea whether this blog would last four months, much less four years. But here we are, four years and nearly 2 million hits later, still going strong.

So, to my fellow critters, Sliante! Here’s to four more beers!

Four More Beers!

And…for more years!

May the “fours” be with you all!

This is our daily open thread — Happy Hump Day.

Taking the “Nigger” out of American History.

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Mark Twain wrote that “the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter.” A new edition of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Tom Sawyer” will try to find out if that holds true by replacing the N-word with “slave” in an effort not to offend readers.

The Watering Hole: 1/12/11 : Haiti – What a difference a year makes.

January 12, 2010, the sun is low on the horizon when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Haiti.

For comparison, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that flattened a section of freeway in the San Francisco Bay area and caused a section of the Bay Bridge to collapse, was 6.9. The Northridge quake of 1994 that flattened freeways and buildings was 6.7. And California leads the nation in building codes for earthquake safety.

But in Haiti, seismic safety was not part of the building codes and plans when many of the homes were built.

There was an immediate outpouring of relief efforts, and much aid was promised. But unfortunately for Haitians, most of the U.S relief funds promised were held up in the Senate by Republican obstructionism. Much of the country remains unrebuilt, and cholera outbreaks are not uncommon.

This is our Open Thread. Feel free to write on this or any other topic that comes to mind.

In Memorium

Christina Taylor Green was born on 9/11/01. She was killed Saturday in an assassination attempt on Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

There are no words great enough to give comfort to Christina’s parents and loved ones.

If I were to have but one hope from this tragedy, it would be that those who give voice to hatred, to “Second Amendment Solutions,” to cross hairs on political opponents, etc., that they would look into Christina’s eyes and see what they have wrought. And that they, collectively, would change their ways, that we might see the day, starting NOW that “hate radio” ceases to exist; that we can have differing points of view without villifying those who view differently than us; that the ballot box is enough, we don’t have to suggest resorting to the bullet box. The price of such rhetoric is just too great a price to bear.

Yet, with each passing day, the voices on the “right” grow stronger – ‘don’t blame us, everyone does it.’ And so, tragically, the killings will continue.

Kyrie Eleison means, roughly, God have mercy on us.

Kyrie Eleison down the road that we must travel.

Wednesday:1/5/11: Hump Day: Articles of Impeachment Against President Obama

Now that Republicans are firmly in control of the House of Representatives, we can look forward to:

Defunding Health Care for millions of Americans;
Defunding the Environmental Protection Agency;
Defunding the Department of Interior;
Defunding the Department of Education;
Defunding unemployment;
Defunding Social Security;
Defunding Medicare;
Defunding Medicaid;
Shutting down the Federal Government; and
Impeaching President Obama.

This is our Open Thread. What are you waiting for? Get posting!

The Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Many folks are curious about the effect of the repeal of DADT. Here’s the text of the bill signed by President Obama:

H.R.2965 — Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (Enrolled Bill [Final as Passed Both House and Senate] – ENR)

–H.R.2965–

H.R.2965

One Hundred Eleventh Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten

An Act

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010′.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, December 15, 2010: Hump Day

Please accept without obligation, explicit or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, politically correct, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious and/or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions.

Please also accept, under aforesaid waiver of obligation on your part, my best wishes for a financially successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the calendar year 2011 CE (C.E., being an abbreviation for “Common Era” or “Christian Era”, is equivalent to A.D., but is placed after the year, and is preferred by some in secular writing), but with due respect for the calendars of other cultures or sects, and having regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or dietary preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting you acknowledge that: This greeting is subject to further clarification or withdrawal at the wishor’s discretion.

This greeting is freely transferable provided that no alteration shall be made to the original greeting and that the proprietary rights of the wishor are acknowledged.

This greeting implies no warranty on the part of the wishor to fulfill these wishes, nor any ability of the wishor to do so, merely a beneficent hope on the part of the wishor that they in fact occur.

This greeting may not be enforceable in certain jurisdictions and/or the restrictions herein may not be binding upon certain wishees in certain jurisdictions and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wishor.

This greeting is warranted to perform as reasonably as may be expected within the usual application of good tidings, for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first.

The wishor warrants this greeting only for the limited replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wishor.

Any references in this greeting to “the Lord”, “Father Christmas”, “Our Savior”, or any other festive figures, whether actual or fictitious, dead or alive, shall not imply any endorsement by or from them in respect of this greeting, and all proprietary rights in any referenced third party names and images are hereby acknowledged.

~anon~

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.

p.s. no electrons were harmed in the making and transmitting of this message, although a few of them may have been slightly inconvenienced.

Transparent Government – Republican Style

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Jeff Danziger, Syndicated Political Cartoonist

Catholic Condom Conundrum Canard Countenanced

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Jeff Danziger, Syndicated Political Cartoonist

Between Iraq and Ahardplace

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartoonist and Animation Artist.
For Nick’s animations, visit Nick Anderson: Animation Archives.
For Nick’s cartoons, visit Nick Anderson.