Its Official

Trent Lott: HYPOCRITE.

Dear Trent,

Why do you hate American Business so much? Why don't you trust the market to take care of your needs? Ass.

###

Dear Insurance Industry,

How stupid are you? Screwing over Trent Lott, while a dream of mine, is just asking for trouble. I can't believe you let this get to the press, but thanks!

God's Great Mistake

Once again reason & humor triumph over fundamentalism: behold the rise of 'Incompetent Design' (also known as 'The Other I.D.'):

Don Wise, professor emeritus of geosciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is the nation's foremost proponent of ID. No, Wise isn't getting ready to testify on behalf of the school board in Dover, PA. Rather, he advocates for a different version of the acronym: "incompetent design."

Wise cites serious flaws in the systems of the human body as evidence that design in the universe exhibits not an obvious source of, but a sore lack of, intelligence.

"Teach the Controversy! Teach the Controversy!"

So is there intelligence in the design?
Yes! No, no there isn't. The thing that perhaps is closest to all of us is our own skeleton, and there are certainly all kinds of stupidity in our design. No self-respecting engineering student would make the kinds of dumb mistakes that are built into us.
All of our pelvises slope forward for convenient knuckle-dragging, like all the other great apes. And the only reason you stand erect is because of this incredible sharp bend at the base of your spine, which is either evolution's way of modifying something or else it's just a design that would flunk a first-year engineering student.
Look at the teeth in your mouth. Basically, most of us have too many teeth for the size of our mouth. Well, is this evolution flattening a mammalian muzzle and jamming it into a face or is it a design that couldn't count accurately above 20?
Look at the bones in your face. They're the same as the other mammals' but they're just squashed and contorted by jamming the jaw into a face with your brain expanding over it, so the potential drainage system in there is so convoluted that no plumber would admit to having done it!
So is this evolution or is this plain stupid design?

"Teach the... wha, huh?"

Take that losers.

"But what will we tell the children?!?"

Tell them that, clearly, God flunked Industrial Design in college and they should pay better attention to that 'science' thing you're trying to keep them from.

If you were to redesign things, how would you make design intelligent?
Well, for one thing I would put fewer teeth in our mouths. I would put fewer bones in our face, so that it could drain properly. I would straighten up the pelvis so we wouldn't have to have that bend. I would certainly take out the appendix so we don't have that problem and the tonsils, too.
And I did have one other. Some guy from Texas listed a number of things with this and he said, "Actually I would write more, but I have to go pee in Morse code, because some idiot designed my aging prostate."
Intelligent designers and, in fact, everybody from the creationists and so on back to the beginning of the last century used to talk about the wonderful design of the eye—which somehow has all your receptor cells behind a membrane curtain!
I mean, evolutionarily all of these things make sense but in terms of a reasonable, intelligent design? They're idiocy. So, the argument is there is no intelligence there in a lot of these things.

"Oh what will we tell the children?!?"

How about God wasn't really paying that much attention when he was designing them and they shouldn't be so surprised when parts fail or don't work properly? Or some of those penguins in that movie you touted so much were actually 'gay' (God clearly loves gay penguins 'cuz he keeps making them) and that movie actually demonstrates the power of evolution and instinct far more than it does 'family values.'

I believe that democracy was meant to keep us free
I believe that Jesus Christ was who he's meant to be
I believe a living Elvis will soon appear on my TV

For there's a reason for the choices we make
We're all a part of God's great mistake

I know we have a future out beyond the stars
I know that there are farmers who were taken off to Mars
I know there is a thing from outer space kept in a big glass jar

Well there's a reason that we fall for the fake
And there's a reason for the choices we make
We're all a part of God's great mistake

I believe in all those people having unprotected sex
I believe that I will die with or without that cigarette
I believe we all should slow right down and stare at every car we wreck

For there's a reason for the choices we make
And there's a reason that we fall for the fake
Yeah there's a reason for the choices we make
We're all a part of God's great mistake

Our thanks to Big Country ladies and gentlemen!

The Fox In the Hen House

Charlie Reina, former Fox News Channel producer, spills the beans on how FOX cultivates and creates conflicts that aren't there:

It’s no surprise, of course, that this phony call to arms, this “Christmas (ergo, Christians) Under Attack” hysteria, emanates from the bowels of Fox News Channel. The network is, after all, ground zero in the culture wars that polarize so much of America these days. Make no mistake about it: Fox is on a mission. Its slogans say, “Fair and Balanced” and “We Report, You Decide.” But in the six years that I worked there, what I heard most from Fox management were mission statements – about turning things around, taking news back from the liberals, and giving “middle America” a voice long denied it by the “east coast media elite.” In other words, using its news report to bring about change -- in the media and, ultimately, in the direction of American culture.

As FNC’s man at the top, Roger Ailes, knows well from his years as a political operative, there is no more effective wartime strategy than to divide and conquer. That’s why so much of his network’s programming is confrontational. The “us against them” gambit animates not only FNC’s night-time entertainment shows, like “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity & Colmes,” but the network’s daytime “news” report, where anchors regularly browbeat guests who are on the wrong (Democrat or liberal) side of issues.

Sadly? Not shocking just sad. So sad.

Another Early Christmas Gift?

Too good to be true?

Diebold CEO resigns after reports of fraud litigation, internal woes

The chief executive officer of electronic voting company Diebold who once famously declared that he would "deliver" Ohio for President Bush has resigned effective immediately, RAW STORY has learned.

"The board of directors and Wally [O'Dell] mutually agreed that his decision to resign at this time for personal reasons was in the best interest of all parties," the company's new chairman said in a statement.

O'Dell's resignation comes just days after reports from BradBlog.com that the company was facing imminent securities fraud litigation surrounding charges of insider trading. It also comes on the heels of a RAW STORY interview with a Diebold insider, who raised new allegations of technical woes inside the company, as well as concerns that Diebold may have mishandled elections in Georgia and Ohio.

Not sure it could happen to a nicer bunch of guys. Here's hoping this is true so we can gain control of our elections again.

If You've Never Done So...

It is clearly time to write your various representatives in Congress and Demand an immediate investigation into this:

The Pentagon has a secret database that indicates the U.S. military may be collecting information on Americans who oppose the Iraq war and may be also monitoring peace demonstrations, NBC reported on Tuesday.

The database, obtained by the network, lists 1,500 "suspicious incidents" across the United States over a 10-month period and includes four dozen anti-war meetings or protests, some aimed at military recruiting, NBC's Nightly News said.

Now look, I understand the need to look for terrorist threats, but that is not exactly what was going on here according to NBC:

A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.

A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period.

Was that a 'suspicious incident'? Yes, but only in terms of what the government was doing. As for why this is important for us, well here you go:

The DOD database obtained by NBC News includes nearly four dozen anti-war meetings or protests, including some that have taken place far from any military installation, post or recruitment center. One “incident” included in the database is a large anti-war protest at Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles last March that included effigies of President Bush and anti-war protest banners. Another incident mentions a planned protest against military recruiters last December in Boston and a planned protest last April at McDonald’s National Salute to America’s Heroes — a military air and sea show in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Fort Lauderdale protest was deemed not to be a credible threat and a column in the database concludes: “US group exercising constitutional rights.”

It went on, "The protest in Hollywood, however, was an ugly display as the latte-swilling, prius driving, chomskyite, actors and writers turned on their own MSM ('mainstream media') colleagues at CNN and then all purchased used CDs at Amoeba and took in a movie at the Arclight"... oh sorry, I think that is what I did.

Anyways, if you've never written to your various representatives I think now is the time. Not sure who they are? Well you can locate your Senators here and your Representatives in the House here. Be sure you let them know how deeply disturbing this is.

The So-Called 'Ownership Society'

Hmmm, Barak Obama out there telling the People what the Republicans really mean:

Sen. Barak Obama of Illinois, a fast-rising Democratic star, told Florida party members that only a philosophy among Republicans of sink or swim explains why some Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans still live in cars while Republicans in Washington prepare next week to enact $70 billion in tax breaks.

"It's called the 'Ownership society' in Washington. This isn't the first time this philosophy has appeared. It used to be called Social Darwinism," Obama said late Saturday at the Democrats meeting at Walt Disney World.

"They have a philosophy they have implemented and that is doing exactly what it was designed to do. They basically don't believe in government. They have a different philosophy that says, 'We're going to dismantle government'," Obama said.

Yes, Social Darwinism: totally bankrupt (actually, Darwin didn't even use the phrase 'survival of the fittest': some jackass named Herbert Spencer did. nice beard... loser)

The Gift That Promises to Keep On Giving

If you read one article today, let it be Bob Scheer's Tonto's Revenge on the unfolding Abramoff scandal, which contains this little quote:

"I don’t think we have had something of this scope, arrogance and sheer venality in our lifetimes," Norman J. Ornstein of the conservative American Enterprise Institute wrote in Roll Call. "It is building to an explosion, one that could create immense collateral damage within Congress and in coming elections."

(And that guy is a conservative!)

HO HO HO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The Wisdom of George Clooney

And this is why we should clean out the lot of them in Congress-Republicans AND Democrats:

Asked about Clinton’s tortured attempts to distance herself from her past support for Bush, Clooney shrugs dismissively: “She’s pretty political so I’m not surprised. Am I disappointed? Yeah. I hate it when smart men and women are saying, ‘Well, if I knew then what I know now’. The fact is: I knew it then and I don’t have national security clearance. I knew there was no tie between Saddam Hussein and 9/11. We all knew the UN inspectors wanted to keep looking for weapons of mass destruction. Basically, the Democrat leadership was scared (of criticising Bush) and it’s too bad, because it’s come back to haunt them.”

And it is just that simple and we should toss them all out (well, ok there are a handful I would keep)

If you haven't already folks, both Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana are well worth your time and money.

This Is Showing Respect For The Fallen?!?

Then I guess it doesn't mean you can't save a few taxpayer dollars at the same time:

Family Upset Over Marine's Body Arriving As Freight

Marine Bodies Sent To Families On Commercial Airliners

SAN DIEGO -- There's controversy over how the military is transporting the bodies of service members killed overseas, 10News reported.

A local family said fallen soldiers and Marines deserve better and that one would think our war heroes are being transported with dignity, care and respect. It said one would think upon arrival in their hometowns they are greeted with honor. But unfortunately, the family said that is just not the case.

Dead heroes are supposed to come home with their coffins draped with the American flag -- greeted by a color guard.

But in reality, many are arriving as freight on commercial airliners -- stuffed in the belly of a plane with suitcases and other cargo.

Un-f@#king-believable. Mind boggling.

If this is even remotely true... thanks to AMERICAblog for the heads up.