More Evidence There is no God

A Light went out in Texas today.















'night, Molly. The fight won't be the same without you.

F12

And speaking of Microsoft, Gates was on The Daily Show where Jon asked him if 5 years for Vista development wasn't a tad long in the computer realm and just what the F12 key does exactly.

Yes, Bill Gates representing the finest in American-style capitalism demonstrating (no doubt once again with his latest OS) you can produce horse-shit products and become a billionaire in the process.

As for the F12 key it probably does what any key does under a Microsoft operating system - leads to a crash or an error message. My F12 key on the other hand brings my handy little widgets in and out of my desktop.

I did purchase a new laptop in December though and I have to admit that Windows XP has run fast and flawlessly thus far. Of course that may have something to do with the fact that it's loaded on a MacBook Pro with Parallels software. It's taken a couple of decades but I will never have to own a PC again. A virtual desktop, like virtual reality ... sometimes it's just better.

Colbert Cites His Own Vandalism

Or rather his vandalism by proxy. Perhaps you've read about Microsoft's attempt at, to use Colbert's word wikilobbying, well, Stephen discusses this as well as his success in recruiting his audience to virtually triple elephant populations in wikiality. I thought I'd check out the edited entry and this is what I found:


If only BushCo had gone through Wikipedia instead of the MSM to spread their version of reality perhaps ...

If a Blowhard Shits in the Public Square ...

will anyone notice? Not so much. What. A. Joke. It's kinda like the Marines - we're still looking for a few good men candidates.

Still Looking for Their Strong Suit

Geez, the pResident's puppet Iraqi government can't seem to get anything right:

“In a rare incident, the head of the accused Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan was separated from his body during the execution,” al-Dabbagh told reporters.

Hangmen gauge the length of rope needed to snap the neck of the condemned but not to create enough force to sever the head.[emphasis mine]

I guess we can rule out math and physics. But at least, according to the Iraqi government spokesperson, Ali al-Dabbagh:

“No one shouted slogans or said anything that would taint the execution. None of those charged were insulted.”

Good to know nothing was said to taint this execution.

Faith Silencing Reason

If I could only read one Op-Ed columnist for the remainder of my days it would be a difficult task to choose between Paul Krugman and Robyn Blumner (albeit a task made infinitely easier thanks to the Times Select wall to which I refuse to capitulate - unless subscriptions were to be made 'by columnist').

In her latest column, Robyn comments on Pat Robertson's declared visitations as well as the ubiquitous pass given religiousity in our society. She does so by way of a book review of sorts - commenting on and including excerpts from Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation. A good read.

Anatomy of a Headline

Presumably the headlines from ABC News:







and the Washington Post:







were derived from the results of the poll they conducted after the miserable fuck-up's speechification last night - which found Americans less than impressed with his way forward.

So, does CNN have different information:






If not, shouldn't that headline have read: The Administration Attempts to Sell Iraq Plan but Americans Aren't Buying

Enough already. Too many Iraqi and American lives have been lost as window dressing in Bush's tragic opera 1upmanship with Poppy. In this final act we merely return to the blameless sociopath who's accountable for nothing - the surge providing the cover necessary for the claim that the failure in Iraq should fall squarely on the Iraqis - because America did all that it could. Now there's a poll question for you: Do you think the purpose of the Preznit's surge plan is allow American withdrawal while avoiding any responsibility for the fiasco that is Iraq?

Republicans: Never Accountable; Never to Blame. Kinda catchy. Maybe they can use in in '08.

FUSSDIRAGs?

Colbert is back:

Retention

Last week we heard about Gerald Ford and how his pardon of Nixon was an effort to heal the nation (for definition see presidential election 2000) which I guess makes sense in an invading-Iraq-for-weapons-of mass-destruction kind of way if you want to discount the fact that his pardon likely had more disastrous ramifications than Watergate itself (see Administrations Reagan, Bush I, Bush Miserable Fuck II) but that's beside the point.

Today, were he still alive, would have been Richard Nixon's 94th birthday. While he will always be remembered for his little 'I'm not a crook' fiasco with regard to his part in Watergate, he also started arms control agreements with the boogie man of the times, the Soviet Union, and greatly improved our relations with China so we now have pandas and cheap clothing (and by cheap, I mean inexpensive AND shoddy). He established the EPA, expanded Social Security and other state welfare programs as well as, get this, over 4 decades ago, tried to create a national health insurance system.[emphasis mine]

Does this sound like a Republican? It would seem the party retained all of his bad qualities (paranoia, secrecy, deception, etc.) while burying all of his positive attributes. I read somewhere that Bush, the son, was Nixon without a brain - I think there's more to it than that but it pains me to say that after this administration we sure could use a man like Herbert Hoover Richard Nixon, again.


[link]

More for the Annals of *Outstanding Reporting

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer Sat Jan 6, 7:22 AM ET

WASHINGTON -President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq is running into trouble on Capitol Hill, with Republicans joining Democrats in raising eyebrows before the president even has a chance to make his case.[emphasis mine]

Thanks, Anne -heckuva job. Yes, poor little George with absolutely no press coverage and only a matter of weeks since the Iraq Study Group report was released (from which I'm sure he had no advance information) hasn't had any opportunity to make the case for his latest round of lunacy.

*And by outstanding I mean ... worthy of the Medal of Freedom. Which, by the way, shouldn't Harriet be in line for now that she's gone to spend more time with the family she doesn't have.

Interesting timing on Harriet's resignation no? Democrats take control of congress and the woman who was the most qualified person Bush could find to sit on the Supreme Court is somehow not so competent when she might be called upon to defend him.

Too bad Bush can't find a reason to hang her, she no doubt has information that might be - hmmm, how do you say ... incriminating. I'm just saying, if she drowns while changing the water in her goldfish bowl ...

New Year Same Old Shit

Not so much a new Iraq strategy as much as a new implementarian^TM.

The Gay Surge?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army general who was Joint Chiefs chairman when the Pentagon adopted its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays says he no longer opposes allowing them to serve openly.

John Shalikashvili, who retired in 1997 after four years as the nation's top military officer, had argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment and undermine the cohesion of combat units. He said he has changed his mind after meeting with gay servicemen.

... His view could carry weight at a time when advocates of lifting the restriction on gay service members argue that the military -- under the strain of fighting two wars -- can ill-afford to exclude any qualified expendible volunteers targets.[emphasis mine]

Well, isn't that special - want to increase troop levels in Iraq but don't have any troops? We don't plan on asking 'cause it's still a sin and all besides being just plain icky but hey we'll even let you tell us because you too should be allowed the opportunity to give your life so that others can line their pockets. After all, if you're busy trying to stay alive or dying over in Iraq maybe you'll forget that whole same-sex marriage stuff.

Shalikashvili cautioned, however, against pushing for repeal of the ban early in the new Congress, which he said should be focused on urgent priorities like developing a better strategy in Iraq and healing divisions over the war.[emphasis mine]

I'm thinking it's one and the same thing if you want Repugnicans to support openly gay service - gotta be something in it for them. Fortunately with their level of incompetence it can't happen that quickly - gotta love the timing though.

Is it safe?

Well, it's January - is it 2009 yet?

We know where the end of the tunnel is -whether or not there is light at the end of it rests in great part on the new Democratically-controlled congress. I wish I were more optimistic.