This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: TSO

  • Senate to IAVA: I can haz skorecardz 2?

    OK, in part I, I parsed the House Scorecard votes for IAVA and Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!, the Senate Part is equally useless and flawed.

    This one had 9 votes, 4 of which I am punting on for now since they deal with the GI Bill that I will cover in part III. Additionally, once again we see the two extra points (Casey Kasem: Two???) awarded for supporting the Webb GI Bill, and no other versions. That leaves us with 5, one of which was unanimous.

    Of the four remaining votes
    • The “Enhanced Veterans’ Benefits” vote was 96-1;
    • The “Expanded Veterans’ Benefits” vote was 92-3;
    • The “Funding Veterans’ Health Care, 2008” vote was 92-1; and
    • The “Funding Veterans’ Health Care, 2007” vote, like the one in the House was actually a continuing resolution.

    So, I took the liberty of looking up the first three, even though they were nearly unanimous, and just as with the House votes, scoring these is entirely deceptive. Taking the “Funding Veterans’ Health Care, 2008” vote first, I looked it up and found that the sole vote against it was cast by Senator DeMint. Now, I have a buddy on DeMint’s staff, so I looked it up.
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  • Why I am cancelling my IAVA membership immediately PART I

    I’ve always been a little leery of IAVA, right from the start. I personally like Paul Rieckhoff, and have friends who speak highly of him. I like the fact they stayed neutral on the war, instead advocating on behalf of veterans regardless of their position on the war. Well, today I’ve come to realize they are another hack organization masquerading as non-partisan.

    A couple of months ago I met one of the IAVA reps, spoke with him and gave him my business card. About a week later I got a full package in the mail explaining the benefits of my having joined IAVA. I was shocked, since I never said I wanted to join, and had no interest in joining. But, hey, a veterans group looking out for the troops, I can stomach the fact I disagree on several issues and figured I wouldn’t raise a stink by demanding they remove me from the rolls immediately.

    And I maintained that position right up until today when I got this absolutely absurd, biased and factually inaccurate “Congressional Report Card” email. My BS detector got off to a rip roaring start when I hovered over the link and found that it went to IAVA through “Democracy in Action.” For those not aware of this craptastic organization:

    DemocracyInAction.org believes technology can be a decisive force for social change. We exist to empower those who share our values of ecological and social justice to advance the progressive agenda.

    Great. So, while I paid no dues, as a Member in good standing of IAVA, I apparently support ecological and social justice initiatives in line with my progressive agenda. That sounds like me, doesn’t it?

    My first look over the report card had me screaming “EPIC FAIL!!!” in my office.
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  • Foisting the Jolly Roger

    What with the ship currently in the hands of Pirates off the coast of Somalia (you know, the one with RPGs and T-72s) modern day maritime piracy is the topic de jure. Anyway, I’ve been fascinated in the topic for years, and even wrote a paper on it for my Terrorism Law class back in 2005. Mind you the media will move on from this topic any day now and you won’t hear any more about it, but it’s kind of scary when it gets down to it. Anyway, some portions of my paper.

    The Seabourn Spirit is a cruise ship measuring 439 feet in length, and 63 feet across the beam. It displaces 10,000 tons, and the 208 guests are treated to “savor bistro-style fare at the Veranda Cafe, or lunch al fresco at the Sky Bar grill” made by celebrity chef Charlie Parker. Complimentary “wines, spirits, and French champagne from the House of Heidsieck” can be enjoyed with each of your meals as you travel around the Mediterranean and Horn of Africa in the lap of luxury. And there is no additional charge for the added excitement of being attacked by Pirates.

    Enroute from Alexandria, Egypt to the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, the Seabourne Spirit became yet another statistic in the burgeoning field of Maritime Terrorism in early November of 2005. Armed with automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades, the pirates attacked in at least 2 speedboats. “My daughter saw the pirates out our window,” said one passenger of the vessel. “There were at least three RPG that hit the ship, one in a stateroom four doors down from our cabin,” she said. The Pirates were frustrated in their attempt by the actions of the captain and the crew, with a resultant of only one injury aboard the luxury liner.
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  • Big ass buses and terror snow flakes, the life and times of Joe Biden

    Actually, maybe a better autobiography would be Live Free or Lie Hard.  Anyone?

    Anyway, reading an article on Foxnews.com which I like infinitely more than the TV channel by the same name that I find unwatchable.  And it is discussing the legions of gaffes made by the Dover Dullard.  This one cracked me up immensely:

    And looking back on his 1972 Senate campaign, he told Pennsylvania delegates at the Democratic convention that people from his hometown of Scranton, Pa., piled in up to 10 buses and drove to Wilmington, Del., to show him support. “Literally,” he said, “there were hundreds of thousands of people.”

    I believe that Vizini said it best, “He didn’t fall? Inconceivable!”

    Anyway, go and read the article and see how brave he was in facing off against Father Winter in the Hindu Kush.

  • This is almost as gruesome as service in Southeast Asia, I mean DC

    Cindy McKinney has lost her mind.

    [youtube YbEEyTIVKMI nolink]

    Word on the street is that this guy is going to run against her for Emperor Emeritus of the Mental Midgets.

    [youtube Ywu8ZfvtjwA nolink]

  • Since I’ve been banned there, OPEN LETTER to DUmmy “mod mom”…

    The GOP is at it again, falsely maligning the Democrats in Ohio. Or, at least that is mod mom’s contention.

    I HEARD THIS REPORT ON NPR THIS MORNING AND COULDN’T BELIEVE THEY WOULD STOOP SO LOW (MAYBE I’M NOT SO SURPRISED)

    S/he is referring to this article, where in the GOP Chair for Ohio claims that

    “We are already receiving reports from around the state of Democrats and Obama supporters offering everything from alcohol to concert tickets for voter registration and even votes.”

    The Ohio Secretary of State’s office says they have received no reports of such activity. Ohio’s Obama campaign spokesman Isaac Baker completely dismissed the accusation.

    Of course that isn’t happening? Seriously, who would use alcohol and concert tickets to entice people to register and vote?

    Certainly not Chad Staton, he requires crack.

    Mary Poppins. Jeffrey Dahmer. Janet Jackson. Chad Staton.

    Defiance County elections officials were confident the first three hadn’t moved to their small community. But the fourth one lived there, and – in exchange for crack cocaine – tried to falsely submit the first three names and more than 100 others onto the county’s voter registration rolls, police said….

    Defiance County Sheriff David Westrick said that Mr. Staton was working on behalf of a Toledo woman, Georgianne Pitts, to register new voters. She, in turn, was working on behalf of the NAACP National Voter Fund, which was formed by the NAACP in 2000 to register new voters.

     

    Sheriff Westrick said that Pitts, 41, of Toledo, admitted she gave Mr. Staton crack cocaine in lieu of cash for supplying her with completed voter registration forms. The sheriff declined to say how much crack cocaine Pitts supplied Mr. Staton, or to say whether Pitts knew that the forms Mr. Staton gave her were falsified.

    Stop acting like the GOP Chair is just making stuff up, it’s not like there isn’t a precedent.

  • lolz! Code Pink pwns Congress!!!!

    I just receieved an email from my good friends Dana, Deidra, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jean, Jodie, Liz, Lori, Medea, Nancy, and Rae.

    Dear TSO,

    WE DID IT!!! Let us repeat: WE DID IT!

    We joined together, in a wonderful, resolute outpouring of democracy. We stood toe-to-toe with Wall Street and their lackeys in Congress, and defeated them. Amazing what can happen when the people stand up!

    In Washington DC, as CODEPINK staged a “die-in” on the steps of the Capitol to say “Bailout? Over my dead body,” Cong. Carolyn Kilpatrick gave us a big hug and said, “It’s thanks to you that the bill is better than it was, and it’s thanks to you that the next bill will be better than this one. Keep it up.”

    I know what some of you are saying: What in the Holy Name of Spongebob’s ghost does this have to do with “a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities”?

    [What follows may not make sense to you.  If so, move along, this isn’t the post you are looking for.]

    Ladies and Gentlemen of this supposed blog, Code Pink’s accusers would certainly want you to believe my that they only deal with issues regarding the War and peace activism, and they make a good case. Hell, I almost felt pity myself. But Ladies and Gentlemen of this supposed blog, I have one final thing I want you to consider.

    Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk, but Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it. That does not make sense. Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot-tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor with a bunch of two-foot-tall Ewoks. That does not make sense.

    But more important, you have to ask yourself what does this have to do with this case. Nothing. Ladies and Gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case. It does not make sense. Look at me. I’m a lawyer defending a major peace movement and I’m talkin’ about Chewbacca. Does that make sense? Ladies and Gentlemen I am not making any sense. None of this makes sense.

    And so you have to remember when you’re reading this blog and deliberating and conjugating the Emancipation Proclamation, does it make sense? No. Ladies and Gentlemen of this supposed blog it does not make sense. If Chewbacca lives on Endor you must accept that Code Pink has a vested interest and reason for doing Die Ins on the Capitol steps.

    Look at this Wookie.

    The defense rests.

  • Impeached Judge says what?

    Impeached Judge cum Democratic Representative from Florida, Alcee Hastings:

    If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention. Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through.

    Keep it up. Just please keep it up. Hysteria like this goes over well with most of America.