Whiskey Fire

There Just Ain't Enough Quatloos

Upon being presented with the concept "let's all talk about the Herman Cain sex scandal" my brain appears to be reacting like that evil computer when Captain James T. Kirk asked it, "why"? MAS. Or am I thinking of where Kirk just fucked a guy named Finnegan, or Nomad, or McGoohan? Whatever. This just stiffens my point.

UPDATE. Brendan Gleeson this summer said that he has secured the funding for an At-Swim-Two-Birds film. I believe that I have made my foursquare opposition to this project plain from the outset of the get-go. If we foolishly concede that a novel may be made into a film, then we admit that, say, a painting may be made into a rap video, or a middling This American Life episode made into a haiku, or a Jersey Shore class reality television program converted into a chanson, or a Jonah Goldberg "book" thought of as a book. It is all so very perverse and against nature. Mr. Gleeson ought to contemplate a more wholesome endeavor, such as a Canon Sheehan rock opera.

WEIRD. Apparently when one looks for Pogues songs on You Tube, the advertising algorithm suggests a "You May Enjoy a Becoming a Mormon" video.

The math may in this instance may be a tad katywampus.

 

Politiburico

SON of ERICK SMASH! Herman Cain, Christ-like victim of the Red Press, of which The Politico (!) is the reddist:

Hours after the Politico’s Roger Simon accused the GOP of being racist, the Politico begins a sincere effort to destroy the black guy running to be the GOP’s Presidential nominee. The opposition dump on Herman Cain has begun in earnest. Before getting into the details, let’s pay attention to what this means.

It means for certain that Herman Cain’s lead in the polling is real — very, very real. People are taking him seriously. Mr. Cain is about to spend a week in Washington answering questions and giving speeches. Someone wanted to make sure he has a miserable week.

It's not nearly as miserable a week as it would have been if Cain were to have actually "answered questions and given speeches," as the man is about as literate as a cabbage, albeit a cabbage implanted with a microship set to deliver sub-Limbaugh-class fart soundbites ("fartbites") upon being vigorously prodded with a fork.

 

Hide the Denial

The world's most prestigious climate science journal, the Daily Mail, and humanity's most prestigious climate scientist, David Rose, have once more convinced flocks of chirpy idiots that it is great fun to squawk chickenshit on the Internets.

I'm not a statistician, but I think I see the problem with the Daily Mail's graph!

I believe the response here ought to rhyme with "clucking bell."

Just read this.

Scare Tatics

Interesting:

On any other evening, presenting a frightening or threatening visage might be a violation of a general duty not to scare others. But on Halloween at trick-or-treat time, that duty is modified. Our society encourages children to transform themselves into witches, demons, and ghosts, and play a game of threatening neighbors into giving them candy. — Bouton v. Allstate Ins. Co., 491 So. 2d 56, 59 (La. Ct. App. 1986)

So, if there is, under law (or something) a "general duty not to scare others" (except on All Hallows Eve) can the right-wing phobia-induction propaganda machine therefore be estopped, as the legal eagles put it? (And might there be just a bit of punishment in the deal as well, at least for the worst offenders?)

— M. Bouffant, who wishes all not a "happy," but a truly frightening, horrific Hallowe'en that puts fear (if not an acute myocardial infarction — that's truly frightening, not "scary") in your hearts & poop in the pants of whatever idiotic costume you're sporting.

Too Mean?

Nah.

Townhall writer Charles Butler advises the OWS protesters to "stop by one of the bookstores you are passing pick up and read some economics, history and political sciences books, and get a job that meets your skill set and passion."

And then he says -- utterly sic --

Now I am working on my own book called the “The Mis-education of the Black American: Mislead by Teachers, Preachers, and Politicians about the Pursuit of the American Dream.”

Uh, maybe you want to work harder on that?

Or hire an editor who speaks, you know, English? Or at least can offer advice as to avoiding Eye Creatures?

Bend It Like Eh

Our 12 year old is OK at soccer, he's not really into it. But he still likes running around in the rec league. And that's cool! That's what rec leagues are for! He has fun with it, gets exercise, and enjoys the game at his level.

But it's weird that 12 is the age when apparently we have collectively decided that Organized Sports for Fun ends.Why?

Anyway allow me to flog a hobbyhorse. Wingnuts are always giving us this shit about how awful and corrupting it is that kids get Trophies for Trying. In terms of youth sports, this is just loony -- it is difficult to express how irrelevant it is to anyone who has ever done something like "volunteer to keep a local kids' sports league going."

Why do humans play sports? To have fun. This is what kills me about the whole "we can't give trophies to everyone blah blah" -- why the fuck not? Kids are not stupid; they know how good they are, relatively, even at a young age. But that doesn't mean they should be shouldered aside from the field, pitch, court, what have you. It's fun to play crap pickup soccer! Why is doing anything that gets kids excited about going out there and playing, having fun, bad?

And even rec soccer is insanely competitive. I have the blown knee from getting cheesed at trying to coach my 12-15 year olds a thing or two to prove it! (Ow ow ow...)

What I am saying is, that if you have strong opinions about how a 9-Year-Old will react upon being presented with a Trophy, and you are someone who has never worked with 9-Year-Olds, you are someone who ought to consider shutting the fuck up.

Comment = Superfluous

From the Twitter feed of the Anchoress. Belief!

Snakes offer clues to healing humans is.gd/8jAWG1 Chinese doctor once treated me for acute bronchitis w/tea made from snake bladder

See now, here is the problem; I like red. Want to watch ballgame. Husband wants to watch Hellboy. Who is also red, but not so fine a shade..

Nevertheless I have loved red since my first pair of patent-leather shoes. Deal with it, if you can. :-)

we are sharing wine. Which is why I am a little 'stunade right now. And I've only had two glasses!

Although I am a Yankees fan, I hope the Cardinals win. Because I like the color red.

Bishop addresses House panel on ‘grave threats to religious liberty’ http://bit.ly/sQiVCu

Couple sees light emerging from personal experience of abortion http://stlouisreview.com/article/2011-10-26/couple-sees-light --

 

Vicious Bigot + Facebook = Asshole!

Jim Whitney, math teacher, is an asshole. No way should he be allowed near young people. And his "apology" is for shit.

Idiot Empire

In these dark, uncertain, scabic times it is good to know that we can always count on Jonah Goldberg to supply the nation with noisome bullshit.

And so it ends. The United States is leaving Iraq.

We're leaving Iraq now. It's in our eyes. There' no disguising it. It really comes as no surprise to find that Obama planned it all along. And now, sure as the sun has crossed the sky, this lie is over. Lost, like the tears that used to tide us over. Etc.

I'm solidly in the camp that sees this as a strategic blunder.

Whatever camp you're in, man, you're solidly there. Nobody ever said otherwise.

Still, there's an upside. Obama's decision to leave Iraq should deal a staggering blow to America's critics at home and abroad.

After all, what kind of empire does this sort of thing?

That's actually a rather good question.

My thesis about the True Reasons for why the Iraqi Adventure was launched has for a long time been that they did it because they were a gang of demented ideologues. Yes: they wanted the oil. But they also wanted to Prove Melodiously Triumphant a cacophany of horrendously ludicrous wingnut theses about how the world might be brought into sweet sweet music. It never ocurred to them that they were sub-kazoo class incompetents. But they were! Jonah is still trying to get an A-flat out of a Gowanus Trombone...

In many quarters of the Middle East, the war on terror is cast as a religiously inspired front for crusader-imperialism. This nonsense overlooks the fact that America has gone to war to save Muslim lives more often than any modern Muslim country has. Under Democrats and Republicans we've fought to help Muslims in Somalia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya. We've sought the conversion of no one and -- with the exception of Kuwait -- we've never presented a bill. When asked to leave, we've done so.

When asked to stay home, we haven't, also too. "Thank you for the invasion! Also the drone bombs."

What sort of an empire are we?

Invasions did not make us popular amongst the invaded. Ingrates. Weird!

The War On Halloween Begins Earlier Every Year

That's a nice, neutral headline isn't it? No surprise coming from The Plain Dealer, which not only endorsed Ohio Governor (and Koch-pawn) John Kasich, but has recommended approval of his union-busting SB-5 in the upcoming referendum.

Joseph Marinucci, president and chief executive of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, said his organization will arrive about 6 a.m. Saturday to begin putting up Christmas lights and other holiday displays around Public Square. The group will need unrestricted access to the decorations until the beginning of the year, he said. Demonstrators are willing to help decorate. "They don't have to pay us," (Erin) McCardle said. Responded Marinucci: "We already use volunteers."

I suppose those merchants need to advertise earlier and earlier for the annual spendathon when most people have less and less cash for presents. In any case, Occupy Cleveland had its day in court and won (note: The Plain Dealer had a far different headline).

Here are some pics from Occupy Columbus on Saturday. No one has threatened their space in front of Capitol Square (home of Ohio's Statehouse) thus far.

In Chicago, Rahmbo is making a name for himself by arresting nurses along with OWS protesters.

Finally, here's video from Occupy Oakland, scene of a police riot on Tuesday:

The War Criminal Post covered this as I've learned to expect (link is not to The War Criminal Post). So give Charles Pierce a read. As for John Kasich and his SB-5, here's a tune.

(Posted by ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© and cross-posted at my place. Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.)

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