Oh, Paul

Krugman lavishes great praise on Edwards for his health care proposal but I can't say I concur. While his plan may be an improvement over others put forward thus far (and as I haven't examined this year's proposals in detail, I'll have to trust that he is right - not exactly a difficult thing given it's Krugman) it still has the major flaw in common with the others ... insurance. Politician's talk of health care insurance but people want and deserve health care. How ridiculous is it that we basically take bets with our health care in this country. Until we eliminate the insurance lobby from the equation our costs will remain grossly bloated owing to their profit margin as well as the additional bogus administrative costs as a result of their inclusion.

In every session of Congress large omnibus bills are passed that contain completely incongruous parts- how about tackling things simultaneously that are intertwined and would deal with the inequalities of our tax system, our social insurance and our health care? Take a big bite, toss out our current tax system, remove one cap from Social Security (for its deduction) and add another (for it's collection) provide health care and higher education with the tax dollars already provided by we the people - the money's there it always has been. It just has not been put to good use for the majority of our citizens.

More on this later because these are things that really piss me off and thus far the only thing you can say about the crop of presidential candidates is that they are all accomplished ... politicians - in the worst sense of the word and none will implement the necessary reforms to get us back on track to return our social and economic strengths.

A Little Good News

Tim Johnson is starting to work from his hospital room. Take your time Senator and heal well; if you've been paying attention it's clear you haven't missed much except the usual floundering.

Pumpkinhead on the Stand

I've been following some of the excellent coverage of the Libby trial and li'l Timmy Russert has been in the hot seat the last couple of days.

I can't say I've learned much new information (aside from the fact that I erroneously thought Swopa was a female before his coverage of the trial) but I think it's safe to say that the reading of Scooter's Grand Jury testimony supplanted watching paint dry as the least-favored way to spend time.

And speaking of Timmy and time expenditure, could Libby's attorney, Wells, have possibly expended more time and words to achieve so little in his cross-examination of Pumkinhead? This is my take of Timmy's testimony:

NASA Triangle

Geez - I thought these people underwent extensive psychological screening before they entered the space program. While donning her nappies for the trip was a nice touch I still think we've identified the obtuse angle here.



What a long strange trip it's been.

And speaking of bizarre psyches, the nutjob formerly known as Pastor Haggard e-mails his ex-parishoners to tell them Jesus is putting his own very heterosexual self back together and he and his wife are both going to pursue masters' degrees in ... wait for it ... Psychology. Demonstrating, once again, the overlap between Psychology majors and psychos.



Psycho heal thyself.

Bush Projects Clinton Win in '08

Well, that's the only conclusion I could come up with based on his 2012 budget prediction.

He remembers the surplus the last Clinton left him ... where'd that go anyway? F*#!ing. Moron.

Buckle Up for Safety?

Christian Ponce learned that you might get away with a triple-homicide (okay, allegedly) in Ecuador but you better wear your seatbelt in Palenville, NY.

Another Immaculate Conception?

In the Boston Globe article it was written that "She did not say how the child was conceived." Didn't she?

"This is a baby," Cheney said Wednesday at a forum sponsored by Glamour magazine. "This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate by people on either side of an issue. It is my child."

Another Virgin Mary? Next thing you know we'll be seeing her face appearing in all manner of animate and inanimate objects. Laugh if you will but I've seen her [scroll down or read;)]] myself. But, back to the Mary at hand, I want to know what happened to each and everyone of those fertilized babies embryos.

The Check, Please

Here's an idea - how about we let them pay for it -the Quagmire that is Iraq. I believe you could call it chump change -couldn't we chumps?

Be Afwaid. Be Vewy Vewy Afwaid ....

At least if you live in Boston. Okay, we want to get this right because we wouldn't want to make Boston officials look like complete idiots but ...

Two fake pipe bombs were found at least one of which was reportedly "a very realistic-looking fake" and the perpetrator was identified but not charged.

But then -- ooh ooh flashing lights and batteries, a little electronic advertising campaign and "hundreds of officers are called in to help during the scare", two guys arrested and that's not enough - they want to continue their buffoonery by investigating whether or not Turner broadcasting can be charge criminally or civilly.

Yet elsewhere the response to the light show was, shall we say, a bit more subdued:

In Seattle and several suburbs, the signs were removed without fuss, according to The Associated Press.

"We haven't had any calls to 911 regarding this," Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb told AP on Wednesday.

Police in Philadelphia told AP that authorities had confiscated 56 of the devices. In New York, a street was shut down for 45 minutes after two of the devices were found on an overpass, the New York Post reported. In all, 41 of the devices were found in the city, according to the newspaper.

In Portland, police Sgt. Brian Schmautz said officers had no plans to remove any of the signs, so long as they weren't on municipal property. Nor had officers been dispatched in any kind of bomb scare related to the devices.

"At this point we wouldn't even begin an investigation, because there's no reason to believe a crime has occurred," Schmautz said.

I wonder if those realistic bombs looked as sinister as these devices:



Oh I know this is just a static image and they were all flashy and stuff.

Never mind that they were up for weeks before they were noticed - you have to possess some special kind of deductive reasoning to imagine a terrorist would want to advertise with a device so bright it would be detected before it could reek its special havoc.

These Boston yahoos should definitely be in the running for the next round of heckuva job Brownie-type medal of freedom awards.

MA AG Coakley, her ASSistant Grossman, Boston Mayor Menino, Rep. Markie and Police Commissioner Davis - WANKERS one and all. It seems the only one with any sense was the judge:

Judge Paul K. Leary told Grossman that, according to law, the suspects must intend to create a panic to be charged with placing hoax devices.

It appears the suspects had no such intent, the judge said, but the question should be discussed in a later hearing.

This is the state of our homeland security - feeling safe yet? No? Then at least channel Molly and call your Congressional representatives and try to put an end to this surge nonsense.