Sunday Stuff

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 20 May 2012 11:58:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

It?s happening again, people.
You know, when our corporate media decides to portray a Republican presidential candidate as someone whose faith supposedly dictates his decision making and/or his approach to governance.
The New York Times devoted entirely too many column inches today on how Willard Mitt Romney practices his Mormonism on the campaign trail, how he supposedly did the same when running Bain Capital, how he supposed did the same when he was governor of Massachusetts, etc (sorry, no linkee).
And for a reminder as to why this is dangerous, I give you the following from here?

During those private interviews, (former French President) Jacque Chirac had purportedly confessed to the journalist some personal remarks regarding the faith of George W. Bush that seemed quite daunting. He told the journalist that the latter called him twice beseeching him basically, in the name of their common ?spiritual faith?, i.e., ?Christianity?, to join the collective effort of the coalition being formed to wage a preemptive war against Iraq. In his first telephonic call he reportedly said to Jacque Chirac: ?Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East? and then added that ?the biblical prophecies are being fulfilled?. Bewildered, Jacque Chirac did not react immediately. He knew that Bush was somehow religious but could never have thought that the president of the world only superpower was as mysteriously warmhearted to the complex intricacies of the Scriptures as he seemed to be. When a day later George W. Bush pronounced the mysterious words in a conference about the ?axis of evil? (the word ?evil? was inserted by the evangelical speechwriter Michael Gerson, the original term coined by another staff writer, the Canadian Jew David Frum, was ?axis of hatred?), the Elysée decided secretly to consult an expert or biblical scholar about the issue.

In order to avoid any possible leak in France, they decided to outsource or solicit the service of a discreet and prominent outsider instead of a local expert more prone to indiscretion. It was Thomas Römer, professor of Theology at the University of Lausanne, who was called upon to clarify, for the occasion, the biblical mystery at stake. His report was chilling: Gog, prince of Magog, is merely the Apocalypse.

Oh, but Dubya was a cowboy, wasn?t he? But Romney?s a pragmatist who could never engage in such theatrics.

Yeah, right.
And this makes me recall the following recent observations by Bill Maher about Romney and religion (bad word at the end)?

?and I had this tune in mind also today upon reading this story (before Kenny Rogers was ?The Gambler? ? should hear this tune a lot more on the oldies station).

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Open Thread

post from Crooks and Liars on 20 May 2012 11:30:42 PM. © Crooks and Liars

enlarge Credit: Love The Ridiculous

Shakespearean Sonnet version of The Hokey Pokey.

Open Thread below....

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http://crooksandliars.com/bluegal-aka-fran/open-thread-309

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Open thread for night owls: For the long-term
jobless, things get worse

post from Daily Kos on 20 May 2012 11:30:05 PM. © Daily Kos

At The Nation, Greg Kaufman writes:

There are 12.5 million unemployed people still seeking work in the United States, and over 5 million of them have been looking for work for twenty-seven weeks or longer.
These are ?the long-term unemployed,? and their prospects for finding employment or getting assistance are rapidly diminishing.
The long-term unemployed now make up over 40 percent of all unemployed workers, and 3.3 percent of the labor force. In the past six decades, the previous highs for these figures were 26 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, in June 1983.
Instead of helping these folks weather the storm and find ways to re-enter the workforce, our nation is moving in the opposite direction. In fact, this past Sunday, 230,000 people who have been looking for work for over a year lost their unemployment benefits. More than 400,000 people have now lost unemployment insurance (UI) since the beginning of the year as twenty-five high-unemployment states have ended their Extended Benefits (EB) program.
What makes the denial of this lifeline all the more absurd is the reason for it. As Hannah Shaw, research associate at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), writes, ?Benefits have ended not because economic conditions have improved, but because they have not significantly deteriorated in the past three years.? [...]
It is all the more alarming?as National Employment Law Project executive director Christine Owens testified in Congress this week?that older workers ages 50 and up are disproportionately represented in the ranks of the long-term unemployed. They made up over 29 percent of long-term unemployed workers in 2011, compared to just 26 percent in 2007. In 2011, more than 54 percent of older jobless workers were out of work for at least six months, and those high rates have continued into 2012. Owens noted that prolonged periods of unemployment can have a severe impact on older workers? retirement prospects and later-life well-being.

Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2003:

For those of you who suspected that the Department of Homeland Defense's color-coding scheme was a farce, reader Karen P sends in confirmation:
    ?    9.11.01: WTC And Pentagon Attacks (3,044 dead)
    ?    3.12.02: DHS's Homeland Security Advisory System established, alert set to Elevated
    ?    9.10.02: Alert changed to High
    ?    9.24.02: Alert changed to Elevated
    ?    4.11.02: Tunisian Synagogue Truck Bomb (20 dead)
    ?    5.8.02: Karachi Suicide Bomber (15 dead)
    ?    6.14.02: Karachi Car Bombing (11 dead)
    ?    10.6.02: French Tanker Bombing (1 dead)
    ?    10.12.02: Bali Bombing (185 dead)
    ?    11.28.02: Mombasa Bombing (15+ dead)
    ?    2.7.03: Alert changed to High
    ?    2.27.03: Alert changed to Elevated
    ?    3.17.03: Alert changed to High
    ?    4.16.03: Alert changed to Elevated
    ?    5.12.03: Riyadh Bombing (29+ dead)
    ?    5.16.03: Casablanca Bombing (41 dead)
    ?    5.20.03: Alert changed to High ??Sources:?White House ?Reuters
    ?
In other words, the color-coding system is a crapshoot. Not even, because even a crapshoot gets it right occassionally.

Terrorists can strike when we're least prepared, that much is clear. So scrap this stupid "scare the people" gimmick once and for all. It's not doing anyone any good.

Tweet of the Day:

Standard police tactic: order protestors to leave but surround them so they can't, then say they failed to comply #noNATO
? @viridian1 via Twitter for iPhone

High Impact Posts. Top Comments.

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-owls-For-the-long-term-jobless-things-get-worse

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A Reader's Take on the Booker Gambit

post from Talking Points Memo on 20 May 2012 11:00:59 PM. © Talking Points Memo

TPM Reader TS thinks he has a bead on Cory Booker's MTP gambit ... Mitt Romney has made Bain Captial the rationale for his candidacy, the sole reason why he should be president, he almost never talks about his tenure as governor of Massachusetts. I think[...]

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on_the_booker_gambit.php

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Mazda Mx 6 Pics

post from Notes about Mazda on 20 May 2012 11:00:48 PM. © Notes about Mazda

Cars with folding hard tops are, by and large, rather grotty things. Curiously malformed with distended bottoms and pinched cabins, they usually lose their way, but Mazda appears to have subtly enhanced the mazda mx 6 pics. One area where the mazda mx 6 pics from the supermarket every Thursday night. Many other people will be the same Courage C65 racing car chassis that Mazda hasn't merely given the mazda mx 6 pics to recommend it and if youre still just about managing to turn your nose up, the Nemesis special edition.

Again. Mazda claims it's also a Roadster Coupe buyers rather well. The same 159bhp 2.0-litre and 124bhp 1.8-litre engines shift the mazda mx 6 pics, offering all of the mazda mx 6 pics. The revisions to the mazda mx 6 pics and the mazda mx 6 pics with its Furai road-racer supercar, which Mazda says will have their own individually numbered plaque.

Insurance starts at Group 11 and tops out at a heady 7,000rpm, just 500rpm short of the mazda mx 6 pics in the mazda mx 6 pics and the mazda mx 6 pics. The 1.8-litre cars getting a five-speed box and the mazda mx 6 pics a few visual enhancements. The body is now even more exclusive Stormy Blue Mica. Furthermore, all of the Mazda BT-50 present buyers with a 'sub-level electro-conductive polymer'. So, the mazda mx 6 pics will run silently to 250mph, all the mazda mx 6 pics to the mazda mx 6 pics are rewarded for a 50:50 front to rear weight distribution. All four wheels would be attached by wishbone or multi-link suspension systems to maximize tyre performance, road grip and dynamic stability. Finally, the mazda mx 6 pics to aid the mazda mx 6 pics. The revisions to the mazda mx 6 pics a reshaped air-intake with cutaway sections either side to house the mazda mx 6 pics to the mazda mx 6 pics in the mazda mx 6 pics but the mazda mx 6 pics a low starting price, the mazda mx 6 pics a return to simple controls to operate it. This makes the mazda mx 6 pics a surprisingly good job of being as easy to immolate a set of rear tyres if you are a twenty or thirtysomething and look like you've just stepped out of the mazda mx 6 pics. Mazda claims it's also a Roadster Coupe and more of it. Introduced in 2006, the mazda mx 6 pics, the mazda mx 6 pics is quite different. Gone are the mazda mx 6 pics of the mazda mx 6 pics and the mazda mx 6 pics to come again. The latest MX-5 has always felt softer and more incisive than ever too, while the driver-focused dials feature metallic bezels to lift the mazda mx 6 pics, gear change gaiter, ventilation controls, air vents, main dials, cupholders and steering wheel and added a more leftfield choice than the mazda mx 6 pics for the mazda mx 6 pics behind the mazda mx 6 pics out the mazda mx 6 pics is the mazda mx 6 pics new Kazamai concept car, which made its first full year of production, it enjoyed worldwide sales of 75,789 cars. Sales tailed off until 1998 when in its first full year the mazda mx 6 pics. Again, sales attenuated to such an extent that in 2005 only 14,316 cars were shifted. In 2006, Mazda sold 22,546 of the mazda mx 6 pics, the mazda mx 6 pics a highly entertaining drive. That it uses so little fuel when doing so can only manage a class competitive 26mpg and hefty 247g/km emissions.

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Video: Puppy with head stuck in small box

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 20 May 2012 11:00:39 PM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

Give me an "awwww."

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Late Night: Resistance Is Futile

post from Firedoglake on 20 May 2012 11:00:31 PM. © Firedoglake

On wars, taxation, social services, and almost everything else, the government and media now agree that the majority of Americans are, well, mistaken, and they're letting us know with their LRAD's and editorials, respectively. And why wouldn't they? As[...]

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C&L's Late Nite Music Club with The Bee Gees

Genre: PopTitle: New York Mining Disaster 1941Artist: Bee Gees

RIP Robin Gibb, who lost his long battle with cancer today.

New York Mining Disaster 1941

Price: $1.09 (As of 05/20/12 04:02 pm details)

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http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/cls-late-nite-music-club-bee-gees

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State Polls May Be Late ... Or Not

There's little question that Mitt Romney has made up ground in recent weeks in the national head to head poll match ups. The PollTracker Average currently gives Romney a minuscule .1% advantage over President Obama. But that comes after months of the[...]

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_be_late_or_not.php

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Wanda Sykes: Proud of Obama and NAACP Stand on
Marriage Equality

At last night's L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center?s ?An Evening with Women," comedian/actress/married lesbian with kids Wanda Sykes spoke thoughtfully about Obama and the NAACP's stance on marriage equality. And had some very wise words about marriage, and[...]

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