Black and Jewish

Yeah!

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Can't We All

Just do like these guys and GET THE FUCK ALONG?

I mean ... how cute is this?

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Congratulations Are In Order!

It's the morning after the night before, and what a night it was! First off the bat, congratulations, California! It looks like the voters of the Great Golden State proved themselves, once again, to be the forward-looking independent-minded, trend-bucking bunch of eccentrics they've always prided themselves on being. Result: Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Barbara Boxer, Congressmembers Nancy Pelosi, Fortney "Pete" Stark, Henry Waxman, Lynn Woolsey, and a slew of other progressive Democrats. Neutral about Kamala Harris, but it looks as if she might have won her race, too. Thank you for keeping the Great State of California a deep and enduring blue. All over CA, Democrats have won their races by 60-80%.

Congratulations are also due to the Great State of Colorado! Despite forebodings and prognostications of doom, CO now has a Democratic Governor, John Hickenlooper, who ran on NOT attacking the other candidates. Yay, Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper's win means that disgusting maggot, Tom Tancredo, will have to find some other body politic to devour. CO has also returned Senator Michael Bennett to his Legislative seat. Good riddance to Ken Buck, the man who won't admit to wearing high heels. Finally, thanks to Dan Maes' dismal showing at the polls (<10% support), the Republican party is now an official minority party in CO. Thank you Dan, and thanks to all your teabagging supporters. Suck that Koch.

Congratulations to the State of Rhode Island, where former Republican-turned-independent and always-sensible moderate Lincoln Chaffee won the Governor's mansion with the help of Democrats, who turned the whole state blue. Democrats won all their statewide races. GO, RI! And as for Frank Caprio, dude, this is why you DO NOT fucking diss the fucking President of the fucking United fucking States, OK? He's the Prez. You might not like him, but he has a huge and loyal following. President Obama, despite the terrible shape of this country when he took over, still has higher ratings than most other Presidents at his stage of holding office. When you diss him, you  piss off a lot of Democrats who might otherwise have thought of voting for you. I hope you've learned your lesson., you little fucker. Now go hold your tongue and try to make yourself useful.

Congratulations to the blue, blue State of Massachusetts! Deval Patrick keeps the Governor's mansion, and Barney Frank goes back to the Senate! And better yet, Democrats won EVERY SINGLE RACE in MA.

Congratulations to the State of New Hampshire for retaining your Democratic governor, John Lynch. Despite the efforts of homophobes to unseat him because he supports LGBTQ rights, Lynch beat out the Republican handily and goes on to serve his fourth term. Some anti-incumbent mood.

Congratulations to the State of Maryland for returning feminist icon Barbara Mikulski to the Senate. The Senate sure could use a few more like her, and a lot less like, gee, Cornyn? Coburn? Brownback?

Congratulations to the State of Connecticut for rejecting Linda McMahon and supporting Richard Blumenthal instead. Blumenthal's clearly the better candidate, and your voters proved that they knew it.

Congratulations to Delaware for sending the would-be witch and perennial Senate Candidate, Christine O'Donnell, back to her battery-toy collection. DE went with Chris Coons, who knows the First Amendment by heart. Yay, DE!

Congratulations to the Great State of New York for choosing Andrew Cuomo instead of krayZloony Carl Paladino, who brought his baseball bat to his concession speech. The guy is nuttier than a fruitcake, and I'm glad he's history. Also, Schumer. I'm not wild about him, but his constituents seem to be, so good work, NY, for sending him back to the Senate. Pity y'all allowed five districts to slip into Repub hands, but Gillibrand won her race, so overall, y'all done good.

Congratulations to the beautiful State of Hawai'i for making Neil Abercrombie your new Governor! Duke Aiona was a dangerous loon. Abercrombie was by far the better choice. Thanks to y'all, Democrat Brian Schatz takes the Lt.-Gov's seat. Democrats hold both the State House and Senate, so y'all are on the right road! Daniel Inouye returns to the Federal Senate. Colleen Hanabusa beat Charles Djou. And Mazie Hirono returns to her job with a solid win. 

Congratulations to the Silver State for handing Sauron Angle a 7-8 point defeat in her widely acclaimed teabagger race for the Senate. The Koch brothers and Dick Armey spent millions there, only to lose. Happy Day. NV is no more for sale than CA or CO.

Congratulations to the Grand Canyon State for returning Progressive Rep Raul Grijalva to the House, despite last-minute attacks on him and his office. Congratulations for returning Democrats Ed Pastor and Gabrielle Gifford, also. Unfortunately, y'all have to live with the twin embarrasments of Dan "Potatoe-Head" Quayle and Jeff "There's A Good Reason For My Last Name" Flake. Also, Brewer? Srsly?

The Republicans are spinning like tops to claim that this was a landslide for their end of the political spectrum. We here at La Casa de Los Gatos are just really glad that the worst of the teabagger candidates went down faster than a manwhore. Palin endorsee and campaign slimebag Joe Miller? Looks like he's going down. Sauron "Church Lady" Angle? Gone, gone, gone. Cara Carleton Sneed Fiorina? History. Chuck deVore, are you happy now? PayLin endorsed her instead of you. It was the kiss of death.

Meg "Watch Me Spend My Billionz" Whitman? Gone. Christine "Masturbation is For Me, Not Thee" O'Donnell? Gone straight to jail, did not pass Go, did not collect those $200M dollars she needs to pay off all her bad debt, rehabilitate her candidacy, and try for political life ever again. Ken "Vote For Me, I Don't Wear Heels" Buck? A bad memory. Dan "Bicycles Are A UN Plot" Maes? To be remembered forever as the man who single-handedly took the Republican party to minority status in CO.

The teabagger candidates who won — Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley, and Rand Paul — represent a mere fraction of the total. But Rand will be a thorn in Mitch McConnell's side, which makes us kinda happy. Prediction? More political grandstanding, posturing, and fractures ahead. The Blue states seem to have become bluer, and the Red states seem divided between radicaloony teabaggers and moderate conservatives who find them unacceptable, with Democrats and Progressives tucked away in various corners, working hard to turn their Red states Blue. Despite teabagger challenges to most Republican candidates, most of them survived intact (Sam Brownback won handily in KS, Roy Blunt Trauma in MS, and Governor Goodhair in TX).

What's interesting is what happened to Blue Running Dog democrats, like Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin and Blanche Lincoln. 23 out of 54 Blue Dogs lost their seats. And their support of, (or opposition to) universal health care had nothing to do with it. If anything, we can expect more progressive Democrats in the House.

So, overall, as to be expected in a mid-term election year, the party in control lost seats. It's not a stinging defeat, it just shows that more work needs to be done. Today we celebrate. Tomorrow, we're back at work.

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I Don't Care If It Rains or Freezes, Long As I Got My ... Oops!

Touchdown Jebus

Well, darn! Looks like gawd's sending somebody a little message. Apparently, this ol' honkin' thing you see in the photo up there is a fucking six-storey statue of jeebus calling a touchdown on the side of some freeway in Ohio. Gawd must not have been happy about the morons who built this fucking thing spending a quarter of a million dollars on shit like this while her children starve and suffer, because just today, she laid a touchdown on this fricking statue (thank you, gawd).

Yup, she burned the gawd-damned thing right down to the ground, leaving only the twisted steel skeleton and some bits and pieces of foam, or so says the news.

Now, who the fuck would put up some bullshit like this, instead of doing what Jeebus taught?

These bozos, that's who:

The 4,000-member, nondenominational church was founded by Bishop and her husband, former horse trader Lawrence Bishop.

Lawrence Bishop said in 2004 he was trying to help people, not impress them, with the statue. He said his wife proposed the Jesus figure as a beacon of hope and salvation.

Horse trader? I mean - is that fitting, or what?

They're actually going to rebuild the fucking thing, idiots that they are. Listen up, Bishops. If you claim to be following this weird hippie guy supposedly born a couple of thousand years ago, you know, one of them Ay-rab types with a big hooked nose, I'll bet, some real dark skin, beady black eyes, a big ol' beard and a Jewfro that made him look a foot taller, well, here's some things he said that you might prefer to do rather than spending all that money on something else that gawd might zap a couple years (or weeks, hopefully) down the line:

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'

And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'"
(Matthew 25.35-40 ESV)

See, I don't remember that jeebus dude ever saying anything about making big ol' statues and idols to worship. In fact, I think he was pretty much against that kinda shit. So take that money and do one of two things with it: Feed some hungry people, visit some sick people, or jailed people, clothe some naked people — or convert it all into metal coins and shove them individually up your lardy asses.

ICHC

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The Secret Loves of Animals

Over on Treehugger.com, some fine individual posted a few videos that will touch you to the very depths of your soul.

Watching these, who can say that animals do not feel love, joy, gratitude, kinship, friendship — all those emotions that we arrogantly assume are reserved only to us humans?

Here is a gorilla named Kwibi, meeting again someone who helped raise him a decade ago:



Kwibi clearly has not forgotten his human friend, to whom he clung, and by whose sleeping place he stayed all night, calling and crying out. If we could understand his words, what would they say? "I love you, I remember you, I've missed you all these years? Thank you so much for saving my life?"

And what about this lion, returned to the wild to live among his kind?



Obviously, he hasn't forgotten the people who loved him and played with him when he was just a cub. What a joy, to be privileged to witness the friendship between these members of two different species.

And here, a dog tells her person how happy she is that he came home in one piece, safe, from a battlefield far away.



Hey, little doggie, you tell that human. Hey, human person, lucky you to be the object of such lavish affection!

Love is love. It doesn't matter what race you are or, obviously, even what species you are. La Casa de Los Gatos is grateful for these beautiful glimpses of the enduring power of love.

May the long time sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide you all the way on.

A Very Cellular Song, The Incredible String Band

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Health: Kidney Donations and Transplants

Today's health story is about a kidney donation.

I can't use the real names of the people featured in this story, so I'll call them R1 and R2. They served together in Vietnam as young men forty years ago.

As young draftees, they were part of a tight-knit group that repeatedly risked life and limb in the course of duty.

Yes, we all have strong opinions about that "war" that was never declared a war, about the millions of Vietnamese peasants and farmers who lost their lives, their homes, their farms, their families, their limbs; and the 58,000 Americans who came back in body bags. But the young draftees were not to blame for any of this, even if a few of them went on to commit war crimes. By and large, they were serving in the military for a myriad of reasons and most of them conducted themselves decently.

They are now in their sixties. Silver-haired men who continue to stay in touch, forever connected by the ties that bind, watching friends and old comrades drop away due to the ravages of old age.

So R1, a man who suffered many grievous wounds in the course of service, suffered a recent insult to add to all his injuries: his kidneys started shutting down. For close to two years now, he's been on dialysis. If you have healthy functioning kidneys, you probably don't know what dialysis is. Thank your lucky stars. It's not for the faint of heart.

Essentially, because your kidneys can no longer filter harmful wastes and extra fluids out of your body, you have to go to a location (a clinic or hospital) where you get hooked up to a machine that slowly filters your blood for you. This is called hemodialysis. Because only a few ounces can be filtered at a time, the procedure takes up to five hours. And you have to do this three times a week.

In addition, you don't get to eat tasty stuff anymore. No bacon, no salt, no cheese, no ketchup, no crackers, no chips, limited quantities of potassium-containing fruit and vegetables, or items high in phosphates (like chocolate), or protein (meat, dairy products, whole grains, nuts).

Fun, huh?

In the event, R1, after suffering through this and waiting patiently for a kidney donor, was finally told he didn't have much time left if he couldn't get a kidney replaced. So he put out the word to his old buddies: can ya spare a kidney for a fellow trooper?

Unbelievably, to this old cynic, at any rate, replies came pouring in. Yes, they would spare a kidney if they could, said his brothers in arms. Dutifully, they submitted to the tests required to determine if any of them qualified — and if they didn't make a perfect match, they'd donate anyway, if they could, just to bump their old buddy up to the top of the list so he could have the next kidney that did match his needs.

There is a special deity for old soldiers, methinks, and s/he lent a hand. After much trading of insults (which, really, is just another way of saying, "Hey, man, I fucking care,") one of his brothers in arms was found to be both in good enough physical shape to spare a kidney and to be a match for R1. So R2 (the trooper with two good kidneys and a clean bill of health) signed up to give one of his to his fellow serviceman, R1.

Sometime in January, the swop takes place. R2 goes home with one less kidney, and R1 emerges with one working kidney, to a life of, hopefully, no more dialysis. Send some good thoughts their way, peeps. Just because it's so fucking heartwarming that somebody would give up a vital organ for someone else, in commemoration of bonds forged four decades ago.

The deity of old soldiers would like both these fine men to know the following information, published in Science News (175:5):

The Jan. 29, [2009] issue of NEJM (the New England Journal of Medicine) has reported that Hassan Ibrahim and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis have found that kidney donors have the same probability of survival over several decades as the general population, including adequate kidney function and — surprisingly — even less risk of severe kidney disease. The data was derived from studying kidney transplants performed at U.Minn between 1963 and 2007, including selecting 255 of the donors to undergo kidney function tests. The test results were then compared with similar tests on individuals with two functioning kidneys, and donors were matched for race, gender, body weight, and age.

So, R2, for your great generosity in donating one of your healthy functioning kidneys to R1, the deity of old soldiers wants you to know that you're giving away nothing but your love, man. Power to you both, continued health and long life.

ICHC

And as for those who are all, like, supporting the troops? Consider donating an organ. Especially you rich young Republicans who don't ever plan to sign up for military service but support all wars with your mouths. Now you can show that you *really* support the troops. Sign those organ donor cards and carry them at all times. And if you have two healthy kidneys, go see if there's someone who could use one.

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Science: The Large Hadron Collider

in RAP! Talk about making physics cool:



Science is sexy, science is fun. Rock your science out to Higgs bosons and Higgs fields, matter and antimatter!

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Science: Stem Cells and Stuff!

How cool is this? Science Daily is reporting that researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia have figured out a way to treat victims of corneal disease — by culturing stem cells on a therapeutic contact lens that is placed in the sufferer's eye. Dr. Stephanie Watson, who performed the surgical procedure, described it as "simple, inexpensive," and requiring a minimal hospital stay and inexpensive lab equipment. A great breakthrough for Third World countries which cannot afford expensive techniques. Hell, it's a great breakthrough for everybody!

The procedure involves harvesting cells from the patient's cornea, culturing them in the lab, then placing them on a therapeutic contact lens. The lens is placed in the patient's eye and left in for ten days, during which time the stem cells recolonize the damaged cornea. No animal products, no invasive techniques. Shout it for SCIENCE! Yay!

Also from Science Daily, an interesting report about new drugs made from the mineral selenium, easily available at health food stores. Remember this blog's report on clostridium? Clostridium is one of the bacteria that could be thwarted by development of antibiotics that interfere with the selenoprotein process in both human and bacterial cells. Another likely candidate is Treponema denticola, which causes us to fund our dentists' annual holidays in the Caribbean. Could this be the end of tooth decay AND the superbugs? Keep your fingers crossed.

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Politics: President Obama, A Slide Show

Callie Shell / Aurora for TIME

Today marks the 100th day, supposedly, since Obama took office. What a bunch of guff. It isn't 100 working days, although our President appears to work around the clock, rarely taking time off.

However, Time magazine has collected some truly beautiful photographs of our President, and you can see them here. The one above is one of my favourites. It's the President on Air Force One. Interestingly, almost every photograph shows President Obama working. It provides a great contrast with the last occupant of that office. That worthless lout almost never seemed to work. Even the "rolled-up sleeves" during his Hurricane Katrina flyover were strictly photo-op material.

President Obama has set the bar very high, with his daily performance over the past two years leading up to the election, and the 100 days since. Perhaps that's why his popularity continues to increase, while the Republicans seem to be losing ground daily as they do their best to slander and attack this wonderful man.

I'm not an Obamabot — already in the past 100 days, he has made many decisions I'm not happy about. But I recognize his dedication to the country, his hard work, his genuine love for the country and all its people, and I can't help but be impressed. I'm too much of a curmudgeon to "like" people. It's all I can do not to rip most of their heads off, and I've often felt that humanity would improve greatly by being decimated by intelligent aliens, or even microbes and virii.

But I am impressed by, and respectful of, those who love their fellow humans. Our President is clearly one of those people. He is genuinely warm and affectionate to people he doesn't know — and if it's not genuine, then he deserves a fucking Oscar because he is the best damn actor ever.

Check out the pix. Even if you don't like the President, you'll like the photos. There's even a couple of the Obama girls in there. Good work, Time! My only quibble is that Time repeats the falsehood that Michelle Obama flouted British royal protocol by hugging the Queen of England. Our previous post shows Queen E. quite comfortably slipping her own arm around Michelle's waist. An unidentified spokesman of Buckingham Palace stated that Mrs. Obama had not breached protocol, and even the Wall Street Journal, which bears little love for the Obamas, collected a number of references in the news to that effect. So why Time chooses to repeat this bilge is beyond me.

Pas de quois. The issue is, the photos are beautiful. The photogs must be thanking their lucky stars to have such a gorgeous and photogenic couple/family as their assignment. Deity knows they probably had to wait for Georgie to quit picking his nose or playing with his marbles to snap their shots.

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Letter From A Hedge Fund Manager

Apparently, one Andrew Lahde, a hedge fund manager, wrote this letter to his erstwhile clients after deciding to shut down the hedge fund which had paid them returns of 1,000 per cent since he started it.

Mr. Lahde is to be commended for his breadth and range of topic and his writing style. Also ass-kicking. An endeavour of which we highly approve:

Today I write not to gloat. Given the pain that nearly everyone is experiencing, that would be entirely inappropriate. Nor am I writing to make further predictions, as most of my forecasts in previous letters have unfolded or are in the process of unfolding. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye.

Recently, on the front page of Section C of the Wall Street Journal, a hedge fund manager who was also closing up shop (a $300 million fund), was quoted as saying, "What I have learned about the hedge fund business is that I hate it." I could not agree more with that statement. I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy, only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.

There are far too many people for me to sincerely thank for my success. However, I do not want to sound like a Hollywood actor accepting an award. The money was reward enough. Furthermore, the endless list those deserving thanks know who they are.

I will no longer manage money for other people or institutions. I have enough of my own wealth to manage. Some people, who think they have arrived at a reasonable estimate of my net worth, might be surprised that I would call it quits with such a small war chest. That is fine; I am content with my rewards. Moreover, I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they look forward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life.

So this is it. With all due respect, I am dropping out. Please do not expect any type of reply to emails or voicemails within normal time frames or at all. Andy Springer and his company will be handling the dissolution of the fund. And don't worry about my employees, they were always employed by Mr. Springer's company and only one (who has been well-rewarded) will lose his job.

I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to get worse for some time, probably years. I am content sitting on the sidelines and waiting. After all, sitting and waiting is how we made money from the subprime debacle. I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life -- where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management -- with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established.

On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal. First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have reigned in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government. Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man's interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft's near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken.

Lastly, while I still have an audience, I would like to bring attention to an alternative food and energy source. You won't see it included in BP's, "Feel good. We are working on sustainable solutions," television commercials, nor is it mentioned in ADM's similar commercials. But hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products. Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term. The original American flag was made of hemp fiber and our Constitution was printed on paper made of hemp. It was used as recently as World War II by the U.S. Government, and then promptly made illegal after the war was won. At a time when rhetoric is flying about becoming more self-sufficient in terms of energy, why is it illegal to grow this plant in this country? Ah, the female. The evil female plant -- marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. My only conclusion as to why it is illegal, is that Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other additive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers. This policy is ludicrous. It has surely contributed to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Our policies have other countries literally laughing at our stupidity, most notably Canada, as well as several European nations (both Eastern and Western). You would not know this by paying attention to U.S. media sources though, as they tend not to elaborate on who is laughing at the United States this week. Please people, let's stop the rhetoric and start thinking about how we can truly become self-sufficient.

With that I say good-bye and good luck.

All the best,

Andrew Lahde

He's right, y'know. And that has to be the best-written Fuck You on the planet.

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2008 Elections: Oui, On Peut

For Ms. Manitoba and all our French-speaking friends in Africa, Canada, La Belle France, and Louisiana, a rockin' Obama Zydeco from that fine Cajun land:



Si, se puede!
Si, possiamo!
Yes, we CAN!

It's getting down to the wire, folks. Vote early. Volunteer. Do everything you can to ensure that when we all wake up on the fifth of November, it will be to a President Obama.

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Entertainment

OMGWTFBBQLOL.

This woman is so fucking funny, we're investing in extra Depends at La Casa de Los Gatos.



The wide-eyed look just fucking kills us.

In case you're thinking of giving Betty lip:



Hat tip to Digger niradg and original poster Hope Reborn over at DailyKos.

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2008 Elections: The Right Temperament

What does it mean, to have the right temperament to become the President of the most heavily militarized nation in the world? It means, in our humble opinion, accepting that one has tremendous responsibility — and a need to be able to consider one's options calmly and rationally.

Thus, we present to you, at the behest of R. Greenwald and Brave New Films, this excellent YouTube clip for your, um, edification:



He backhanded some woman whose only crime was to attempt to talk to him? Wonder what he does to the wife when he's in a bad mood.

Like the man said. Pass it on.

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Meta: Light Blogging

Light day today. Bad reaction to meds. In the meantime, amuse yourselves with this:



It is to larf.

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Entertainment

Because, lookit, after reading our various diatribes on economics, the economy, politics, and how much shit we're in, you're probably stressed out enough to need some of these two BAD boys:

Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart parody New Yorker's Obama cover

You can see why they totally deserved any fucking Emmys they won, right? The first decade of the 21st century - totally PWND by Colbert/Stewart! No, they'll never run for President, and they shouldn't, because they're entertainers, and mocking politicians and the power structure is what they do best. But they're certainly Pres/Vp of the comedy world, especially in the field of political satire. Read the interview here.

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LGBTQ: An Activist Addition To The Blogroll

La Casa de Los Gatos welcomes Queers United to the blogroll and thanks them for this very interesting post on the formation of the LGBTQ Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. The post links to all the LGBTQ Caucus members so you can thank them yourself, and includes such progressive stalwarts as Fortney (Pete) Stark, Lynn Woolsey, Robert Wexler, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Niki Tsongas, Henry Waxman, and our very own dearly beloved Barbara Lee!

You rock, Reps! Fifty-two members, count them.

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Politics: Too Funny

Pass it on. This is just too good to resist!



Spread the word!

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2008 Elections: The Democratic Party's Nominee

In his own words:

My job, as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, isn’t to scold people for their lack of ideological purity. It’s to persuade as many people as I can, across the ideological spectrum, that my vision of the future is compatible with their values, and can make their lives a little bit better. Thus, while I may favor common-sense gun control laws, that doesn’t keep me from reaching out to NRA members who are worried about their lack of health insurance. I favor affirmative action, but I’m still going after the votes of white union members who oppose affirmative action, because I think I can convince them that it’s Bush’s economic agenda, and not affirmative action, that is eroding their job security and stagnating their wages. And while I may object to the misogyny and materialism of much of rap culture, I’m still going to spend the time reaching out to a hip-hop generation in search of a future.

In other words, I believe that politics in any democracy is a game of addition, not subtraction. And I believe deeply enough in the decency of the American people to think that progressives can build a winning majority in this country, so long as we’re not afraid to speak the truth, and so long as we don’t write off big chunks of the electorate just because they don’t agree with us on every issue.

Found while perambulating around DailyKos. These words were spoken in 2003, as part of an interview.

This is what President Obama's message is: let us reach out to each other. There will always be things about each other that we don't like or don't agree with. But together, we can tackle the things that really hurt us. Together, we can change them and make them better. For ourselves, our loved ones, our nation.

Politics in a democracy is a game of addition, not subraction. Yes!

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Caturday Guest

This week, we're featuring our very own Caturday guest. Cloud, aka RainDragonPrincess of the lambent golden eyes has agreed to be our guest this Caturday.

La Petite Princesse

Sometimes Cloud prefers the Laser Look to the Lambent Goldeneyes.

Lasers on!

Angel, usual target of Cloud's chirpy wrath, must be close by.

Here, Cloud patiently posed for a portrait in anticipation of hosting Caturday over at La Casa de Los Gatos.

Dis ma best side

The black/white moire effect in the foreground is actually Buddy, Cloud's dearly beloved brother.

Sometimes she likes to display her freckled nose:

Count the dots

Sometimes she prefers to pose with a toy:

Just one of many toys

All marvelous photos of the little Cloudburst courtesy of her very kind and photographically talented hoomin, Lizzy (who has, would you believe, 922 cats {and kittens!}).

Okay, it's really not that many, but there are so many great photographs of them. Way more than 922. And such elegant prose in their favour, with nary a mention of hairballs and the like.

Happy Caturday, Cloudita! From your friends and admirers at La Casa de Los Gatos.

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Politics: No Excuse For Apathy

Photo credits Reuters

At the age of 89, Maimun Yusuf must be the oldest person ever to run for public office. Ms. Yusuf ran as an independent in the coastal state of Trengganu in peninsular Malaysia, and her determined stance has won her supporters to help with her campaign. Raw Story tells us:

Maimun Yusuf now has her own blog, and a page on the popular social networking website Facebook. Footage of her campaign has also been uploaded on the video sharing website Youtube.

Tok Mun, as she is affectionately known, attracted the support of members of Malaysia's diverse communities. Brian Ong, a former Yalie, helped her get online, while Gopi Munusamy and YK Sim have moved to Trengganu to help her get to the electorate. Before they started driving her around, Tok Mun was bicycling from village to village, appealing for votes.

"I am happy that these young men have come from far to help me. I hope that I will reach the young voters now that I'm online," said Maimun, who can hardly read or write.

Trengganu tends to be fairly conservative, and has unfortunately lined up with Kelantan behind the PAS, Parti Agama Islam se-Malaysia. While we don't like the retrograde mentality of the PAS, especially with regard to women's issues and religious orthodoxy, we do not think of the PAS as an "Islamist" party in the style of radical Islam so much as a bunch of ancient dodderers committed to their right to tell everybody else how to live their lives.

Tok Mun makes her living selling kain songket, traditional handwoven silk/cotton with gold brocade. It looks like this:


Traditionally, it is worn by both men and women, wrapped around the waist under a short fitted jacket.

Regrettably some PAS mental antique won the election instead. However, Tok Mun's candidacy impressed and touched so many that people have stepped up to pay her campaign debts. Check out her bilingual blog.

Tok Mun on her rusty old bicycle

If a nonagenarian can invest her life savings and schlep around dirt roads on her ancient rusty bicycle to make her country a better place, we have no excuse not to get involved.

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