ThePoliticalCat

A Blog devoted to progressive politics, environmental issues, LGBT issues, social justice, workers' rights, womens' rights, and, most importantly, Cats.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Caturday!

Well! Hasn't this been an exciting week!

  • Bishop Willard "Mitt" RomneyCare started the week claiming to have created 100,000 jobs while at vulture corporation Bain Capital, but ended it whimpering something about "6,000 jobs."

  • After claiming that Romney won the Iowa state caucus, the GOP had to reverse itself and announce that Santorum actually won (Headline: Santorum easily slides ahead?)

  • Jon Huntsman (who? Oh, c'mon! You know! The guy who was polling at 1% or lower but the media still insisted he was in the race, even while refusing to let Buddy Roemer or Gary Johnson speak!) finally took his two million dollars worth of dental work and three hot daughters out of the public eye by announcing that he's dropping out of the race.

    In a slap-in-the-face to all the "liberals" who love him (because the Republicans/conservatives hate his motorcycling ass with a passion), he endorsed Bishop Willard. WTF, Jon? Y U treat us so bad, after telling us that schmuck was unelectable? Did the Temple Leaders threaten to take away your planet, or what?

  • Rick Purreh finally took pity on a suffering America and took his moronic undereducated dumber-than-the-last-Texas-hick ass back to N*****head Ranch where I guess he's keeping the local coyotes in fear for their lives and asking God "Why? Why me, Lord?" as he weeps incoherently into his bourbon-and-branch.

    Whom did he endorse? None other than "amoral jewelry-debt piglet"* Newt Gingrich, the man with the plan for trinkets from Tiffany's.

  • Meanwhile, the Godbag Faction of the Republican Party met last Sunday to anoint Santorum as their Chosen.

    No, not with santorum, you sick little puppies. In any event, those Fuckus on The Fambly turds, those Christianist Bible-bashers and homo-haters and misogynistic morons of Rightwingnuttia decided that their Not-MittRomney candidate would be Rick Santorum. These assholes were totes backing (P)Rick Perry just last week, so, talk about pivoting on a dime here. Faithless sluts.

  • Perennial punching bag and media slut-moron Sarah Palin apparently has lost even more of her brain to whatever deadly disease was making her spew word salad.

    After being informed that Newt's second wife, Marianne Gingrich, would be interviewed by ABC right after the South Carolina Republican debates, Babble Spice snorted that this would help Gingrich soar. Puzzled media bobbleheads have finally figured out that she meant Newt's amoral and perverse sexual shenanigans might have left him a little *sore,* or something. **

  • Over in Wisconsin, the Recall Walker campaign announced that it had received more (lotsmore) signatures than the minimum required to achieve their aim. Down, down, down goes Snotty Wanker, erstwhile governor of Wisconsin and rent-boy for the Koch Bros.

So, what's the deal, Republicans? Are y'all just tired of being a party, or what? Because this is some pretty weak fucking sauce, here, jes' sayin. I know we here at La Casa de Los Gatos have been saying for a while that President O could just cold phone it in, but, man? Do y'all have to make it so EASY for him? Y'all spent six years telling us he was a weak-ass n*****, a compromiser who caved on everything and apologised to everyone and bowed to foreign leaders and was morally weak. Meanwhile, he's been kicking y'alls asses nine ways to Sunday every day of the week.

I have heard Republicans telling me for six years or more about the fight against terrorism and how y'all are going to follow bin Laden to the gates of hell, and y'all know where he is and will take him out but only if we elect you (WTF? Treason much?). So, do we wanna talk about who might actually have taken bin Laden out? Because, you know, I don't remember that Republican President we had before Mr. Obama, you know, the one that NOBODY seems to want to talk about, I mean, they're *still* talking about Clinton and Carter, but you know, that guy, seems like everyone's done gone and forgotten about him, when he said he didn't care about bin Laden any more, and he disbanded the task force that was supposed to be looking for bin Laden, I don't recall ONE SINGLE Republican saying anything then. Not one word about following him to hell, or they will pay, or none of that shit. No, sir. None a that shit. And now Mr. Obama, he took out that Mr. bin Laden, and he took out that Mr. al-Zawahiri and he took out a whole bunch of these here, what the Republicans was calling "terrorists," round about ten years ago. He took them all out. And what do you suppose our fine Republican friends did about that? Did they say "Thank you, Mr. Obama"? Did they say "Thank you Mr. President, for keeping our country safe"? No, sirree, they did not. They said he illegally invaded a sovereign nation. These people, who had no problem with the US invading the sovereign nation of Iraq, which was NOT involved in any attacks against us, got all upset because Mr. Obama had to send a surgical strike team to take out the man who masterminded the most recent attack on American soil, who was being sheltered on Pakistani territory, by our "allies." Imagine that. Did you think you'd live to see the day when a bunch of "America, right or wrong! America, love it or leave it!" assholes would be more upset about the rights of those who shelter our enemies than about our right to pursue those enemies who kill our citizens?

And when he's not the Caveman-in-chief, he's supposed to be some kind of Superman who is singlehandedly preventing yon teabaggers from getting anything done while shoving unpopular measures down the collective throat of the American people. He's a Marxist, a Stalinist, a Fascist, and an Islamist, he controls the courts (which, nevertheless, stubbornly refuse to rule in his favour on certain issues, why, no one can say). He's using mind control techniques to hypnotize the weak willed sheep who are cowed by his bullish tactics even as they are seduced by the pork he proffers. Geez, no wonder we're obese. Half our metaphors are about spectator sports and the other half about food. Oh, NOEZ!! He's forcing states to take care of sick people, disabled people, poor people, babies and children who might be hungry, starving people, old people! How AWFUL!

What the FUCK kind of world are we living in where these nutbags can turn reality into something resembling sausage, i.e., chopped up, mixed up, and stuffed up a pig's anus? Seriously. There is a styful of pigs on the Republican side of this election. Fortunately, it's thinning. Still, the choices fucking suck.

So it's off to Florida for Mittens and Newt and Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, while the rest of America stabs itself in the eye with a fork over and over and over, just to dull the pain.

Happy Caturday, y'all!

* Forever indebted to Kirsten Boyd Johnston of Wonkette for the so-fitting sobriquet of "amoral jewelry-debt piglet" for Newtie.
** Apparently, Bobblehead Barbie was correct, and them South Carolinians just LERVE them some amoral pigfuckery of the adulterous, wife-dumping, intern-humping, vow-breaking Nouveau Papist variety. Newt Gingrich just won South Carolina.

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35 Comments:

At 11:51 PM, Blogger C.FireRaven said...

The whole fucking thing really does boggle the mind. I guess that's what happens when you actually have a mind. If I think about this too much now though it might make it hard for me to sleep, since it's almost 3am here. Then again, if I think about it a bit more I'll probably go into a coma trying to figure out what the fuck the repubeicans can possibly be thinking other than what shapes to shave their pubes into and if it will be a sin. No, best to just go upstairs and let the orange boy walk along the nerves on the side of my legs for a while until I scream. Similar outcome. Happy Caturday!!

 
At 10:30 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

It's me Derrick Wildcat!

 
At 10:57 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Is this a better place to muse about birds and shit or maybe on your pop culturey blog instead?

 
At 10:59 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Hey, Derrick! How do! This here is my friend Ron Sullivan's photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsullivan/

Do you know her? She and her husband write for various media, usually about gardening and birds. Ron used to be an arborist, and for some reason I thought you might know her.

 
At 11:05 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

This is just fine, Derrick.

 
At 11:09 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Hey, I don't know that guy, but then again, I don't know very many people. Those shots on his Flickr page make a very good point on the difficulty of Wildlife photography.

Birders look at shots as more of a proof of identification. The majority of them zoom right into the Bird and it's identifying features. They couldn't care less about composition or any quality of, "art" in the shot. Photographers look at a shot and the bird is often times secondary to the overall composition, lighting, mood and such. It is difficult to get a shot that pleases both.

 
At 11:09 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Or email, even: username at gmail. Thanks!

 
At 11:12 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Actually, Ron's a not-guy, but yes, as a birder it's all about identifying the boid. You, however, use your camera for art, more than science, I think.

 
At 11:12 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

I guess my ultimate goal is to take a picture of a bird that is more than just a picture of a bird.

 
At 11:15 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Yeah, thanks. At first it was pure documentation. I just wanted to get as many pictures of as many different birds as I could. It slowly started changing as I started really learning how to use my camera and trying to determine what pictures I liked the best and why I liked them.

 
At 11:15 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

I just wonder that you can afford to invest so much time and resources. Your work is great and stuff like that doesn't happen without a lot of commitment and effort (and talent, of course). You make me feel very ashamed to be so lazy!

 
At 11:17 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Do you ever show your work -- galleries, museums, exhibits?

 
At 11:19 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Yeah, it takes a lot of luck, but the more you are out and looking around the luckier you get. There have been times when I've spent an hour or more to get somewhere and spend all day hiking around and I just don't see anything. It can really be frustrating, but I think that's why it's so rewarding when you do get a good shot.

 
At 11:20 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

You make a great case for dragging one's lazy ass out of bed in the early hours when the light is perfect and the dew is still out.

 
At 11:21 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

No, I haven't. I've thought about it, but I think I need one more good season, hopefully this one, to get a larger and more diverse portfolio.

I don't think you are lazy, you have like a broken knee or something right?

 
At 11:23 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

I saw the soccer shots too. Just fantastic.

It's titanium and sometimes painful, but nothing gained without effort, right? I can see from your shots that you work very hard. I know for each one you post you probably throw away three.

 
At 11:24 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Now is a good time to get ready. Migration will be in full swing starting around middle March I only live about an hour away from where the Sandhill Cranes come through...800,00 of them! They are everywhere! It's amazing.

 
At 11:26 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Wow, nearly a million birds! That must be a wonderful sight. I used to hike into the Audubon preserve to see the Great Blue Herons do their mating dance. And the snowy egrets were there too, in their hundreds, at least. Tell me when those shots get posted, please, I'd love to see them!

 
At 11:27 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Oh definately. I try to limit my keepers to about 10% of what I shoot each time. Taking the shots is only half of it. I still have to go through a few hundred photo by photo and decide which I want to keep. Then work on a couple to post. And then catalog them and backthem up. It's a long tedious process.

How did you break your knee? Car accident?

 
At 11:31 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

It certainly sounds like it.

Would you believe I fell in a parking lot. Hit the kneecap squarely on the edge of a cement kerb and did some severe damage to it and the bone underneath.

 
At 11:31 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Well more than a million. 800, Sandhill Cranes, but they arrive with millions of Snow Geese, White-fronted Geese Blue Geese and millions of other assorted ducks.

http://www.rowesanctuary.org/

They have a webcam set up on the river, but it's still alittle early and not much worth looking at right now.

 
At 11:34 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

oh no. You have to make up better story. Like you were stopping a robbery or something.
You will be able to walk around fine after it's all better right?

 
At 11:34 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Wow. Thank you very much. I can see them when they arrive. I look forward to seeing your shots of them also. How did you decide on birds as a subject?

 
At 11:37 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

This site has a little more information and a sound file of them. Imagine several 100,000 thousand of them making that noise. They are really loud.
http://www.nebraskaflyway.com/index.php

 
At 11:40 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Wow. I can't thank you enough. This is wonderful.

 
At 11:42 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

I think because the first digital camera I bought had a really good zoom lens. I just thought it was neat to take pictures of people a block a way and they were none the wiser. A friend of mine said, "You know, that's really kind of creepy, right?" And I thought, yeah it IS creepy. Well I gotta take pictures of something else. I know, BIRDS! they are perfect for a camera with a long zoom. And then I learned that Nebraska is actually a surprisingly great place for birds. and there I am.

 
At 11:44 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

The Cranes are truly amazing. People from all over the world come to see them. When they take off from the river in the morning you can hear a big whoooooshhh.

 
At 11:47 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

I have to step out for 5 min. I'll be back .

 
At 11:56 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Fantastic. I gave you my email address. You should use it anytime you want to talk to me. I'm not a birder, but I am interested in all kinds of things, including what once was called "Natural Science," or, you know, just watching the web of life. Many years ago, I actually spent time taking photographs and developing them. You've been quite an inspiration. I think I'll take my (new digital) camera out this weekend.

 
At 12:03 AM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Ok, thanks.
Do so. It's fun. Birds are everywhere. You just have to take the time to actually look for them. And if you don't see anything, hey you're still walking around in the woods are whatever, and that's a good thing. It can be really hard to ID birds at first, but you can get good fast if you work at it.

 
At 12:04 AM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Oh by the Way. Kurosawa is my favorite director. Toshiro Mifune is amazing! I have nearly every Kurosawa film.

 
At 10:00 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Hola,
If I would buy another camera, I would buy a Canon. It's just my preference. In my opinion, Nikon makes better bodies, but Canon makes better lenses.
Yes, the 50D was replaced by the 7D and the 60D. There will be a 70D that comes out that will replace the 60D.
In general there are 3 lines of DSLR cameras from Canon.
1 number (XD), 2 numbers (XXD), and 3 numbers (XXXD).

Top of the line is one number like the 1D and the 5D variants.
(XD)
These are Pro cameras. They are heavy duty, waterproof and pricey.

Middle of the line is 2 numbers.
like the 50D and 60D
(XXD)
These are semi-Pro, advanced amateur cameras. They are fairly solid, but not waterproof. A little more reasonably priced.

Bottom is the 3 number like the 600D XXXD
These are enry level DSLRs and are still very capable. More plastic parts than the other two series cameras.

The 7D is a bit of an oddball. it really falls inbetween the XD and XXD series. It came out only a few months after I bought my 50D. If I were to realistically buy a new Camera, I'd get that one.
Below that, are the Point and Shoots. These are not DSLRS, but some of them are pretty good with surprisingly good zoom lenses.

I am calling Camera guys on Thursday to see the status. It should be getting close. With any luck, it will be not repairable and they send me a new 60D to replace it, or at least a new 50D.

 
At 10:05 PM, Blogger ThePoliticalCat said...

Hola, DW! Thanks for the detailed advice. I hope the Camera doods send you a new 60D, since that's the one you want most. PT's over today, and I shall start hiking again on Friday, so it will be good to be armed with a camera!

 
At 10:11 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

Hooray for you.
It's been really crappy weather around here the last month so it's a good time to not have a camera. It's all snow, cold or mud.

 
At 10:28 PM, Blogger DerrickWildcat said...

A good starter camera for wildlife would be this one:
Canon Powershot SX40 HS. It has a pretty capable zoom.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Canon+-+PowerShot+SX40+HS+Black+12.1-Megapixel+Digital+Camera+-+Black/3098129.p?id=1218382128420&skuId=3098129&st=SX40%20HS&cp=1&lp=1

 

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