The Right Value Is Truth

The right value is honesty.



La Casa de Los Gatos don't know about you, and how you might feel about homophobia, but we can tell you how we feel. We here are goddamn sick and fucking tired of all these closeted dickheads fucking around with OUR lives.

Just this month, we've had closeted homophobe Roberto Arango* posting pictures of his rectum to a hookup site. A fucking HOOKUP site! Where gay/bi men post for quickie casual fucks. If you're gonna bully other men for supposedly being gay, Roberto, you shouldn't be posting your starfish as an invitation to any swingin' dick within ten miles, know what I'm sayin'? Is that too much to ask, you arrogant asshole? Nobody really cares, Roberto, that you like to have another man's throbbing cock in your ass. Just don't fucking rub our faces in it after REPEATEDLY voting against our rights, you miserable piece of shit.

And look, what have we here? ANOTHER fucking Republican legislator caught with his dick hanging out? With a teenage boy?

His defense? "I'm not gay. I don't know why I did what I did."

I'll tell you why, you dumb fuck. Because you are gaygaygayer than a flock of fucking larks. You were so hungry for that pretty boy's 18-year-old body, his slender shoulders, muscular thighs, bubble butt, beautiful satiny dark skin. That's why. You were dying to stick your cock in him and his cock in you and to fuck until you both lost your minds. That's why.

Phil Hinkle's constituents think he should resign -- for being gay? For lying about it? For working so hard against the rights of gay people? This is the guy, incidentally, who is responsible for the "In God We Trust" license plate legislation in his home state. So, Phil, "In God We Trust" for what? For keeping anyone else from finding out that our cock throbs for teenage boys? Sounds like you spent all your time in the legislature on bogus legislation like this, and keeping gays from marrying. Have a good time on the unemployment line, you dumb fuck.

Phil says he's not running again. We say, "Not unless it's from his constituents."

So, homophobic Republican legislators? It's OK for you to fuck us, literally, and then fuck us virtually by denying us equal rights? Because, you know, all that shit y'all are continually spouting about "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," in the Declaration of Independence that you fucking claim to fucking worship? And all that crap in the Constitution about equality? You're not applying it to us, are you, when you vote against our right to marry and have families?

It's time for war on your hypocritical asses, y'all. Just come out of the fucking closet, admit who and what you are, and start acting like people, not ignorant fucking homophobes, OK? Because if you don't? It will be the civic duty of each and every one of us to do our best to expose you.

You hear that, girlzNboyz? If you've been schtupping a Republican legislator, it's time to let the whole world know. Start with the newspapers.

And now, to take the edge off, the gorgeous and brilliant Sara Benincasa sticks it to MishMash BatShitKrayZMann. Enjoy!

Stumble It!

For All Teh Nice Lady-People

This one's for you.



Yup. "Git fucked" sounds about right, and if you can't find a convenient page to fuck, yer hand will do fine.

More delightful bare-knuckle beating available here.

Stumble It!

Indians Need To Ask "How Hateful Can American Conservatives Get?"

My, my, my. It would appear that the Wall Street Journal, under Rupert Murdoch's guidance, is determined to alienate any Indian readers thereof. Since a substantial number of Indians in America, especially those born and raised in India, tend to be very conservative, pro-Republican readers of the Wall Street Journal, I sincerely hope any of you reading this, who might have friends or in-laws or neighbours of the Indian persuasion, take this issue up with those benighted souls. I'm well aware that many Indians, especially of the educated class and wealthier class, did not much care for Gandhi (I, personally, have plenty of issues with the guy). But something this outrageous cannot be allowed to pass.

Unless, of course, Indians revel in the thought of being spat on by the likes of Andrew Roberts. In which case, what can we say, except "Carry on, doods."

As for Roberts himself, sheesh, the guy is a closet case if ever there was. What IS the conservative fascination with other people's sex lives, anyway? Doods, aren't you getting any? Because if you are, it's either not enough, or not kinky enough. Normal people don't sit around fantasizing about other people's sex lives, honest. Because normal people are too busy, as a rule, indulging in some healthy slap-and-tickle themselves to worry about whether anyone else is getting it on.

Normal people with normal sex lives and friends and families and jobs and homes to look after barely have enough time to brush their teeth and match their socks, on a given day. Most of the people I know who have partners and healthy rolls in the hay are too exhausted after a good healthy bout of sweaty rogering to give a shit whether someone else is getting any, and if so, of what variety. Shit! Fuck me blind if I give a good goddamn about whether anyone else is knocking boots, as long as I'm getting some sweet, hot, slippery between-the-sheets action.

So, Mr. Roberts? Your fellow conservatives are pretty damn kinky, whyn't you ask *them* for some pointers on getting your knob nibbled? You could try George "Rentboy" Rekers, for some hot young purchasable action. Mark Foley can give you some tips on staying out of jail if you cross the line between "young" and "actionably young." If you'd rather blame it on "teh CULLUD," try FL Republican Bob Allen. If you'd prefer to assault children of the female persuasion, upstanding Republican congressman, whoops, ex-congressman and felon, Ted Klaudt can give you some, uh, tips.

No? Too tame? Don't worry! Former conservative candidate for Republican governor of Georgia, Neal Horseley might be just the thing for you! Neal doesn't deny charges of bestiality, and is quick to point out that "everybody did it," while eying the closest mule. Then there's David "ShittyVitty" Vitter, the Republican Senator with a diaper fetish whose Madam mysteriously "committed suicide" after threatening to reveal her client list. You, too, could probably find a prostitute to powder your freshly diapered bottom, if you just want to swim in shit for a bit. If you'd rather dress up and cavort around with teenagers, contact this bright and shining Young Republican star.

But for the love of deity, you worthless fecking eejit, keep your grubby, shitstained paws off the people who have done *some* good for the world, unlike yourself. You know, as in, more good than you will ever do, you worthless flaccid rump-pumper.

Stumble It!

Republican Scandal Of The Week

ICHC Very Demotivational

I'm actually wondering if I should change that head to read "Republican Scandal of the Day." Because, yaknow, there's just no keeping up with those motherfuckers.

Every time you turn around, there's yet another one in the paper, on your TV, at some Web site, saying or doing something totally unacceptable or getting busted for not keeping their pants on.

I sure do miss the days when the Democrats had all the sex scandals and the Republicans stuck to what they do best — robbing the people blind.

CA State Senator Roy Ashburn

Forgive me for not covering all the other scandals — Rand-Away Paul's reprehensible comments on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the right of private property owners (even those who do business with the public) to discriminate; Roy Ashburn's sudden 180 on LGBTQ rights after he got busted driving drunk with a young man in his car, having just left a GAYGAYGAYGAYGAY bar; Professor George Rekers, married (can you say "beard," children? I knew you could) co-founder (with James Dobson) of homophobic organizations Family Research Council and NARTH (one o'dem "cure teh ghey" groups) and his rent boy (who gives ass-levitating massages, I hear); et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Because, frankly, I'd be here all day with stubby bloody little finger-stumps if I tried.

Meet Nimrata Randhawa Haley. Nimrata seems to be suffering the same Westernizification disease that has afflicted Louisiana governor Piyush Jindal. Just as Piyush became "Bobby," so Nimrata has become "Nikki" in her attempt to please the Betty Browns of this world.

Nimrata "Nikki" Randhawa Haley

In case you didn't know who Betty Brown is and don't want to clicky teh linky, Ms. Brown is the Texas State legislator who asked Americans of Asian descent to change their names to names that are "easier for Americans to deal with." Thereby implying, of course, that such Americans are not, you know, real Americans. Well, she won't have to worry about Nimrata and Piyush. Any American, even an Asian-American, can say "Nikki" and "Bobby."

Nikki Haley is a South Carolina representative in Washington, D.C. Apparently, a former colleague of Nikki's, one Will Folks, claims they've been boffing. They met when they both worked for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (yeah, the guy who was "hiking the Appalachian Trail" on Nude Hiking Day, when he was supposed to be in the office, or at least reachable by his staff, not to mention his wealthy wife who bought him the job).

At the time, Folks was one of Sanford's top spokesweasels. It's not clear exactly what Haley was other than a hot mama with a nice booty. However, Folks apparently is leaking the nasty details of their affair in a slow drip to the South Carolina press. None of it has convincing probative value, but a lot of it is pretty damn suspicious. For one thing, Mr. Folks apparently worked for Ms. Haley's campaign at one time. During which period, some 700 telephone calls were made, mostly by Ms. Haley to Mr. Folks, many of them late at night, and some of them lasting several hours.

Ms. Haley defends herself with the claim that she works hard and works her staff hard as well. (Perhaps she should have avoided the word "staff.") That's all well and good, Nikki, but if my spouse got on the phone at 11 pm and stayed on for three fucking hours, I would not be a happy camper at all. It would take some smooth smooth talking and lots of excellent sex to quiet my suspicions, if you know what I mean. And she was calling him at 2 am and talking till 5 am. OK, so, what's the story here, Nikki? I work hard too, but I would never call a colleague at 2 am. I would assume that they were sleeping the sleep of the righteous and just.

We've all pulled all-nighters, sometimes several days or weekends in a row. Would you feel it was cool to call a colleague who was not also pulling an all-nighter, after 10 pm? I sure wouldn't. Hell, I've been chewed out for calling people after 8 pm, especially if they have young children.

And three hours? Seriously, girl-child, if it takes you three hours to discuss your bidness, you in the wrong line of work.

The most interesting thing about this very strange and creepy story is, Ms. Haley has yet to deny it. She's said things along the lines of she doesn't want to give any weight to this story and it's not worth her time and energy and yadadadayada. But she hasn't actually denied that she had an affair with the guy. The furthest she has gone is to say:

"I have been 100% faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage," Haley said in a statement. "This claim against me is categorically and totally false."

See, now, it would have been so easy for Ms. Haley to say, "I never had an affair with Will Folks."

But that's not what she said. And we hairsplitters know there's a difference between lying outright and lying by implication.

More to the point, Ms. Haley said she "barely knew" Will Folks. That's quite possible, of course, we don't all know every single one of our former colleagues or employees well. But if you make 700 phone calls to someone, some of them lasting two or three hours, it gets kinda hard to argue that you don't know them well. People I don't know well might get one telephone call a year from me. On the other hand people I'm screwing like a bunny, yeah, I'm so there with the three-hour phone calls (much as I hate using the phone) and the everyday emails and shit.

Oh, and Nikki Haley has the endorsement of Scary Failin', aka Babble Spice. Who was rumoured to be screwing her husband's business partner some time ago, although the guy sealed his court records so none of us will find the hard evidence. Birds of a feather, and all that.

OTOH, you know, given that soon-to-be ex-Governor Sanford was making the beast with two backs (or whatever else he was doing) with Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentinian beauty for whom he dumped his wealthy wife Jenny, just recently; Lt. Governor Andre Bauer (also running for the same post) recently informed a shocked nation that giving welfare to poor people just encourages them to breed like stray animals; Third-string Repugly candidate Gresham Barret, polling at a whole 16% has won the endorsement of Darth Cheney himself (that should be teh kiss of death right there) — nah, we still hope she loses to the Democrat.

Satan always asks, "WWCD?"

Now, normally, we at this fine blog could give a fuck who's fucking who, you know? The more people fuck the less likely they are to be beating the crap outa each other, right? OTOH, the Scary Failin' ranks of Fambly Valyooz hypocrites really, really get our fucking goat. We'd like to see them all pilloried in public, pelted with rotten fruit and past-use-by-date eggs. They fucking suck because they want everyone but their sick sad selves to abide by rules that they themselves can't live by.

So, Nikki, here's a little song for you from the South Carolina electorate — Why don't we get drunk and screw:

Stumble It!

I Always Said Yoo Was A Bumwad

Photo from Gawker

And now activist Matt Cornell has given us Yoo toilet paper to remind students and visitors alike to Boalt Hall's terlets that Yoo has treated the United Nations Convention Against Torture, ratified by the United States in 1987 (under St. Ronald of Reagan? Can it be?), as his own personal bumwad.

Pity the TP doesn't have his likeness printed on it, but I understand those colored dyes ain't too good for your bunghole anyway.

Feel free to visit Mr. Cornell's site to find out more about what you can do to fight against the use of torture.

Stumble It!

Politics: Supporting The Troops

You know how we're always shooting off our mouth here at La Casa de Los Gatos, about how we should be doing more for our troops?

Because, you know, it's like the conservatives, ReUglycans, and teabaggers seem to have co-opted that issue right out from under us.

And we don't like that one fucking bit. All kinds of people end up in the military. Some of them are very rightwing, some of them are pretty fucking leftwing. As far as we here at La Casa de Los Gatos are concerned, their politics ain't the issue. Face it, you can't get most people to whistle a tune in fucking harmony, how the hell are you going to get an entire fucking military to have a single point of view on politics?

No, for us, the issue is, when you ask someone to go get killed because their Commander-in-Chief said so, then you owe them something. Maybe you don't need to wipe their fucking ass for the rest of their natural-born days. But you sure as hell don't kick them to the curb and treat them like bumwad, either.

Because once these guys join the military, the only way they can disobey orders (regardless about how they might feel about the righteousness or justice of those orders) is to risk the loss of their career, their benefits, few as they are, and jail time.

And you know how anxious the world is to hire a jailbird, especially these days when you're lucky to be underemployed, at best.

So it turns out that there's an organization that builds homes for vets who are severely injured in the line of duty.

And it warms the cockles of our shriveled black heart to hear that they're doing this for one Frank Pierson, who lost one leg and a significant part of another in Iraq. And the most touching part?

"Many people who volunteer to work on these homes are Vietnam veterans," Thomas said. "They said they've sworn that they wouldn't have another war where veterans were treated as they were when they returned from Vietnam."

Kudos to those VN vets who, after all they went through, still found room in their hearts to help their fellow soldiers out.



You know we don't support the war in Afghanistan, we didn't support the war in Iraq, we were opposed to the bombing of Serbia, and we utterly despised, resisted, and demonstrated against the war in Vietnam. But these guys who get their asses blown off and their heads fucked up? They're not the ones who are getting rich off any of this. They're not the ones making the decisions. Just like the rest of us working stiffs, they got hired into this organization which pays them in "pride" and "honour" rather than, you know, filthy lucre, aka money.

It suckers them into this whole ethos of "serving the nation" (even though that hasn't been an issue since WW II, the last "righteous war"), and then pays them squat to go out and be cannon fodder. It imposes a strict training system that creates lifelong bonds between these people who, depending for their very lives on their comrades, are more tightly tied to them because of shared danger and trauma than most people are to their spouses and children.

If they make it back less than whole, it does its best to deny them care for any suffering they might have undergone.

And those same assholes of the rightwing who scream the loudest about "Supporting Teh Troops" are the same motherfucking pig-diddlers who vote against any funding for the VA, for educational opportunities for vets, for any improvement in servicemembers' lives. They're the assholes who won't volunteer, who find ways to vote for every war that every existed and ways to avoid getting their own worthless asses shot up. Those are the same dicksuckers who piss and moan about how "the troops volunteered, they need to suck it up."

Well, suck this, assholes.



As for the rest of youse, if you want to lend a hand, donate money, supplies, or labour, get your ass over there and do your thang. You'll find them here.

Stumble It!

Entertainment: It's Satire, Honest!

Which makes it all right. Babble Spice says so, and who are we to argue?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sarah Palin Uses a Hand-O-Prompter
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Oh, Stephen, you fucking kill me, guy.

Stumble It!

Entertainment: If You're Getting Tired of Democrats

Constantly and consistently snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, you might want to send them this:



Goddamn you, Democrats, you fucking RETARDS (like Rush Limbaugh, I'm using this in a satirical way, like Sarah Palin says Rush did, anyway, which makes it OK, says Sister Scare-ah). Get off your fucking asses and vote in some fucking health care reform!!

And you Republicans, you assholes, you really think the American public doesn't see through your shenanigans? Vote for health care or may each and every one of you develop an incurable case of buboes, for which your insurers, to a weasel (for men they are not, nor women either) dump you forthwith off your FUCKING SOCIALIZED MEDICINE healthcare rolls, and may it be exacerbated with much pain when your constituents proceed to run you out of office, which they should only do come next elections.

Stumble It!

Women's Rights: Jamie Leigh Jones

This woman has guts. She really does. She's taken a horrible experience and turned it into a blazing fight for justice. I look at her sweet little face and think, if I was her father, brother, husband, boyfriend? Some KBR employees would be sitting around wondering what happened to their gonads.

You know who else has guts? Our newest Senator, Al Franken. Watch him kick KBR's lawyer's ass nine ways to Sunday.

Minnesota, you did the right thing by giving us this wonderful guy. He comes to his committees and hearings PREPARED. He reads everything. And he's sharp as a tack.



Go, Senator Al!

Now I see why the Rethuglicans were so terrified of letting him into the Senate. He does not mealymouth around.

So, Minnesota, all y'all gotta do now is get rid of that batshit-crazy Bachmann and we're, like, on, yaknow?

Damn, he rocks. DiBernardo's going to take a week or two to dislodge that pointy boot from his ass. Serves him right too.

Stumble It!

Politics: War Atrocities

Goya, War

Because, as you know, this blog is dedicated to peace, to the end of war and its atrocities, to the hope of a brighter tomorrow when we will no longer throw our children — and everyone else's — into the gaping maw of Moloch.

The combat soldier, as an absolutely deprived person, responds to direct situational exigencies. [...] Deadening fear intermingles with acts of bravery. [...]

If enemy prisoners are taken, they may be subjected to atrocities in the rage of the battle or its immediate aftermath. The soldier's distaste of endangering civilians may be overcome by his fear that [the enemy], of any age or sex, can be responsible for his own death (Ed: Or the death of those of his comrades whom he has been trained to think of as his best and only friends.) Where the opportunity arises, looting often occurs. War souvenirs are frequently collected either to be kept personally or later sold to rear-echelon servicemen. (Italics added. Editorial note from ThePoliticalCat.)

— Charles C. Moskos, as cited inMalaya and Singapore During The Japanese Occupation

The "absolutely deprived person" status that is inflicted on servicemen as part of their basic training has the effect of deadening them to all that is human and humane. Apparently, such deadening no longer has the desired effect, for even these poor, pitiful humans retain some vestige of conscience and feeling. They come back from their war crimes with PTSD, and inflict upon their loved ones, neighbours, families, and society in general, the cost of rehabilitating them and dealing with their costly and painful suffering.

Thus, our armies now seek robots, "unmanned drones," that do not, and cannot, suffer any twinge of conscience about killing the innocent, the unarmed, the civilians who are so unfortunate as to live in a zone of war.

It is stated as a matter of fact in many of the memoirs written by PoWs in the Pacific Theater during WW II that their Korean and Taiwanese guards were often more brutal and inhumane than even the Japanese soldiers, who committed unparalleled war crimes in their imperialist expansion into Southeast Asia. Upon reading at greater length of the treatment meted out to these unfortunate "Imperial subjects" of Korea and Taiwan, it becomes clear that the dehumanization process to which these unfortunate "subjects" were subjected could only be remedied or stalled by inflicting upon their helpless prisoners torments that were at least as unpleasant as those that they themselves suffered.

Thus the cycle continues. Each person one rung up on the ladder of abuse directs their kicks and blows to those one rung below. Those at the very bottom of that ladder have no one upon whom to vent their frustrations and rage, and so turn them inward and punish each other and themselves, as they have been taught and shown to do.

Picasso, Guernica

When will humanity emerge from these dark ages? When will we evolve beyond the need of war? It must come soon, or we will surely destroy ourselves and all we hold dear. Iran announced the existence of a hidden uranium-refining facility, and everywhere, the neocons have crawled out of the woodwork demanding an immediate attack upon that unfortunate nation. Why? Because the government of the State of Israel, a bunch of neocon hacks and hawks to the last man, are "afraid" of the possibility that Iran might soon have nuclear weapons. Earliest estimates of this happening range from one to five years. Not that facts should get in the way of hysteria, of course.

Israel possesses an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but will neither confirm nor deny that it does so. Israel is not a signatory to the NNPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). Iran is. Iran has notified the IAEA, as required by its membership in the IAEA, of its "secret" facility. Iran has also agreed to permit IAEA inspectors to assess its nuclear sites. Israel, not being a signatory to this, most important treaty, refuses to release any information whatsoever about what its doing with nuclear power. Israel is a hawkish state, constantly engaging in acts of hostility against its neighbours, supported by the U.S. to the tune of $10 million in taxpayer money PER DAY. In addition to obscene yearly quantities of military aid. Just this year, despite our own horrendous economic situation, we gave Israel nearly $3 billion in military aid.

The interests of the Israeli people are not being represented by their government, which prefers to use its own civilians as an excuse for further armament rather than negotiate peaceful solutions with its neighbours. Children of Abraham, of Hagar and Sarah, the time has come to beat your swords into plowshares. If you do not, then you will all be obliterated when the Third World War begins, because there are too many people who want it to begin on your doorstep. It is not a war that anyone will survive.

As Tom Lehrer sang, "We'll all go together when we go." Rather than contemplate the death of every living being on this planet, let us work together to a just solution. It can be done, if we all insist on it. Those Christian Dominionists who want Armageddon and The Rapture, do you think that teacher who said "Love thy neighbour as thyself; there is no greater commandment than [this]" would care for your efforts to create Armageddon?

Crossposted over at The Peace Tree

Stumble It!

Health Care: The Man Is On FIAH!

Your President Needs YOU

To fight for health care!

Listening to our President addressing Minnesotans in a health care town hall. It's all good, people, it's all fantastic. He's laying it out for the people and they are going WILD! He just announced that the same people in Congress who are yawping about how Medicare will be killed, chilled, spilled, spat on, shat on, are the same people who have been trying to kill Medicare for years.

President Obama reiterated that he was willing to listen to anyone who had workable ideas for health care, regardless of their political affiliation. But, in a new move, he also stated,

"I will not waste time with people who think it's just good politics to kill health care. [...] I'm not going to let people misrepresent what's in my plan. I will not accept the status quo. Not this time. Not now."

He talked about how members of Congress have been fucking around regarding this legislation. He also said that there was agreement about 80 per cent of health care reform. The remaining 20 per cent needs to be nailed down, but he did say we are closer than we have ever been to achieving health care reform.

"This is the hard part. This is when the special interests, the insurance companies, the people who think this is a good way to bring Obama down -- this is when they spread wild rumours."

He talked about "pundits" in Washington who have said, "Maybe you're trying to do too much too soon." Let me guess: those pundits would HAVE health care, yes? He called out those who depict his push for health care reform as "socialism" by pointing out that when FDR introduced Social Security, his enemies called it "socialism" too. He pointed out that senior citizens helped pass Social Security and Medicare, and detailed FDR's struggles with change.



In closing, he said something that I've always strongly felt: Change doesn't come from the top down, it comes from the bottom up. He called on the people of Minneapolis, and of Minnesota, to help him. The crowd greeted him with shouts, cheers, roars, chants, and multiple standing ovations.

Can I just say how sorry I feel for the Secret Service dudes who have to keep him safe? The people love him, everybody wants to touch him or photograph him or shake his hand. And there's something very genuine about Mr. Obama. He seems to really like people, like physical contact with people.

One didn't get that feeling with either of the Bushes. The elder Bush was clearly a patrician New Englander with a genuine physical discomfort around people. He didn't seem to have any empathy with those who didn't belong in his "class." The younger Bush had a completely inappropriate set of behaviours that was downright creepy. He grabbed the Chinese Premier by the sleeve to drag him offstage (the look on Hu's face was priceless. If he'd had the Patented Laser Glare, Georgie would've been fried to a crisp).

Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!

He tried to give a decidedly unwelcome back rub to the German Prime Minister that resulted in a public show of horror on her part. Anyone who's ever been groped by some creepy uncle or child molester will empathize with Ms. Merkel's reaction. He manhandled female athletes in a well-publicized shot.

President Obama comes across very very different. He's openly affectionate to his wife and children. He's reserved and cool in public, yet he seems to like the people he interacts with, genuinely like them. He seems genuinely appreciative of their ideas and opinions, he seems to care about their travails.

ICHC

So he's asking us to step up now and fight for our health care. Are you going to do your bit? All fired up? Ready to go?

It's the fight of our lifetime, people. Unchecked, healthcare costs have long since outstripped wage increases (wages have been stagnant for quite a while); the American consumer has made reductions in spending to deal with the facts of stagnant wages, unsustainable debt, an economy struggling out of recession, financial sector malfeasance, and tightened credit — and those reductions seem to be becoming part of the norm. In other words, don't expect the American consumer to increase spending when this recession is over. In an economy that is largely fueled by the hitherto-profligate spending habits of the American consumer, this is not the best sign. But it is a sign of the times. A sign of the changes that need to be made for a sustainable planet, a sustainable globally interactive economy.

If health care costs (currently between 15 and 20 per cent of GDP) are not contained, they will soon amount to an unsustainable burden on the economy. Very soon. It makes sound fiscal sense to move towards cost containment AND broadly inclusive health care. We pay double what Canadians do for less care. And in an era of global connectivity and climate change, we are at greater risk than ever of epidemics. So do your bit, peeps. For yourself, your friends, your family, your nation, and your world.

Stumble It!

Politics: Republican "Fambly Values"

Today's dose of Republican Fambly Values is brought to you by California Assemblymember Michael Duvall of Orange County. Duvall, who earned himself a 100 per cent rating for Repuglican Fambly Values, aka hatin' on teh ghey, was caught on tape talking about fucking two married female lobbyists. Apparently, the sex also involved spankings. Apparently, he has a habit of discussing his sexual adventures with other people in that deeply disturbing and creepy way that pervs usually have.



Apparently, the Assembly has no "zero tolerance" policy in place for such creepy perviness. In the commercial workplace if you corner your colleagues and start talking about scoring hot booty points the previous evening, you can be fired immediately for actions "contributing to a hostile workplace environment." But not in our Legislative bodies, where these slimy old hypocrites sit to pass the laws that regulate our lives.

Incidentally, both the fuckees were lobbying for industries that are regulated by the fucker. Ain't that sweet? Orange County, y'all need to get rid of this asshole. If it hasn't dawned on you by now that he sure as fuck ain't representing your interests, man, do y'awl need the trademarked Golden Bat o'Clue whumped upside your heads!



The OC Weekly has named the lobbyist Duvall is porking. FTA:

"Their relationship is the worst-kept secret in Sacramento," a capitol staffer recently told me. "He's old and fat. She's hot, blonde and about 20
 years younger. He could have never gotten a woman like that before he got
 this job.'"

[...]

"Assemblyman Duvall has been a consistent trooper for the conservative causes," CRI president Karen England announced in March. "For the last two years, he has voted time and time again to protect and preserve family values in California. We are grateful for his support of California
 families.'"

Acknowledging the CRI award, Duvall observed in a press release that as long as he is in office, he would work to protect "California families" from "constant assault in Sacramento."

Somebody should tell that to the families of the TWO women he is cheating on his wife with. Oh, yeah, and what about his two kids and wife? Apparently, he's content to "constantly assault" family values, he just doesn't want the rest of Sac'to joining in. Or something.

Is anybody surprised that this schmuck is an outspoken supporter of Prop 8? Or that he's voted against "Domestic Violence Protection," whatever that is?

Oh, and guess what? The creepy old perv sits on the Ethics Committee. Time to get him off that one, fersure. Also the Utilities and Commerce Committee, where he gets to decide on things that affect all our lives.

If you're disgusted by the gross, vulgar, unbelievably stupid and hypocritical "Fambly Values" displayed by this idiot, feel free to check out his Democratic opponent, John MacMurray. You can donate to his campaign here.

Update: Duvall has resigned. Naturally, he has not apologized or expressed any regret for being a scum-sucking scumbag. Let's hope the wife and both mistresses confront him and ensure that he spends the rest of his life panhandling on the streets of Yorba Linda. Yes, he's from there. Nixon is spinning in his grave.

Stumble It!

Health Care: What YOU Can Do

If you haven't done it yet.

ICHC

Eve Gittelson, who blogs as NYCEve over at Daily Kos, needs YOU to sign this goddamned petition. Pass it on, fer the luv o'Mike, and make sure you, and all your friends, neighbours, and cow-orkers sign it!

People, we need to get out there in front of the GOP on this issue. We NEED health care reform with a strong public option, and we need it NOW. Don't let these shite-talkers fool you. The Pharm industry, the health care insurance industry, and the medical lobbyists would not be pouring $1.4 MILLION per day to fight against health care if they didn't think we had a real chance to win.

What? Nobody pours money down the drain. These people are in it for the money. Our money. Yours and mine. They're already drafting plans to raise health care costs, and employers are responding by increasing the amount YOU will pay for your health care. Can you afford to pay more? Do you want to pay more? Real wages have been stagnant for a long time, and they're not going up any time soon.

The same government-run health care that has benefited all those hypocritical Congresscritters who want to deny you what they're getting (for far less than you're paying) has done a fine job of taking care of Federal employees for decades. Why shouldn't you have the same thing your elected representatives have? Do you see any of them dropping their government-run health plan because it's not good enough? Not a single anti-healthcare reform Congresscritter has come out against their own insurance plan or offered to put their money where their mouths are by dropping the coverage in favour of private health care, which they keep telling us is so great. If it's so damn good, you guys, you go first. Drop your government-run health care and get some of that fine private insurance. Go on! Show us the way, you assholes!

Mike Enzi? Mr. "Health care with a public option will never pass"? Drop your government-run health care NOW or explain to us why you won't vote to give us the same thing that you're enjoying, because we're paying for your health insurance, motherfucker.

Jon Kyl? John McCain? Any Republicans out there willing to walk the walk? Or are y'all just good at flapping your gums?

*crickets*

OK, peeps. Facebook friend POE alerted me to these cool tools for fighting the healthcare fight. Sign Firedoglake's petition, and go do some health care reform organization while we still can, and before the damn health insurers suck every last drop of blood right out of our bodies!

Oh, yeah, and don't give me that "I haz helf insurans" line. Yeah, you got it now. But for how long?

Stumble It!

Politics: Republicans

we can respect. That's what we want. Is that too much to ask?

ICHC

We have to listen to Bible Spice yawping her endless lies. Senator Charles Grassley, who really ought to know better, is giving credence to the fears of the elderly with his yawp about "death panels," nothing but lies. Tom Coburn, a Repugnantcan't from Oklahoma who specializes in indoctrinating his young interns into abstinence by showing them gross STD slides while serving them pizza (hello? Visuals here?) flaps his gob spewing the same lies. Then that pathetic cross-dressing liar, Rudi Giuliani, opens his yawp and spews yet more lies.

And various old farts who have been enjoying the Socialistic, Government-run and funded Medicare for a good part of their worthless lives, are out in force screaming and yelling and acting like idiots and making the rest of us old farts look bad.

Hey, lookit, you ignorami: If you're THAT het-up about Socialism, get off Medicare! Find someone willing to insure you and pay for it out of your own fucking pockets. The rest of us will take your place. I'd be happy for some government-run and funded Medicare. Die already, you worthless, oxygen-stealing sacks of shit, instead of embarrassing the rest of us who might be in your age demographic. Jesus fucking J.H. Christ, what a worthless lot of louts.

Where the FUCK are the Gray Panthers when you need 'em?

Now the Repugnants are proposing Rick Santorum as their Hope for the 2012 elections. Are you fucking kidding me, people? Rick "My last name is synonymous with fecal matter and lube" Santorum? His eyes are so close together you have to wonder if his parents are siblings. You want HIM for your candidate?

When will we find a Republican with guts and brains and something approximating decency? When will we find a Republican we can respect, like former Colorado Governor Ralph Carr?

Only one state did not take measures to prevent the Japanese from settling within its borders once they began voluntarily leaving the West Coast as they were urged to do prior to evacuation. That state was Colorado. The fact that Colorado was officially open to Japanese was due to the courage of Governor Ralph Carr, who stood firmly against the many citizens and community leaders disagreeing with his position and angered by his refusal to close the state's borders to Japanese. Compared to other states where Japanese could not rent housing or purchase food or gasoline, Colorado was what one paper described as "a haven of sorts."

Japanese could hold jobs in Colorado, but not in many other states. And the Colorado Times was the only Japanese-language newspaper allowed to publish in the United States.

-- Lest We Forget: The Japanese and America's Wartime Mistake, Joyce E. Williams and Alice M. Coleman

Governor Carr's principled stand cost him a chance at the Senate. He was one of very, very few who dared to speak out against the unprincipled herding of American citizens into concentration camps, without trial or even a determination of their guilt.

Today we have Republicans like Giuliani, Grassley, Palin, and Coburn, who lie not to save their lives (which would be understandable) but to save their corporate masters a few dollars. For that, they are willing to peddle lies, infuse the citizens with fear, and betray the basic principles of that very same democracy that they took an oath to defend.

Stumble It!

Entertainment: Today's Republican Hypocrite

ICHC

OK, Republicans, are you guys (and all two or whatever of you gals) running a contest to see who can be the biggest weenie-waving fucking hypocrite on the planet? Or are you just trying to make sure that the recession that you told us "wasn't happening" back when we noticed it happening doesn't hurt as much because we're laughing so hard at you?

Cos y'awl are just working this meme too hard, boyz'ngrrlz. I mean, thanks for the laughs, but, fuck me, children, when does this fuckin' stop?

Every day another Republican explodes in a welter of hypocrisy, greed, mind-boggling stupidity, and record-breaking shamelessness. What, Mark Stanford dumping wife and four kids to boink his mistress on Father's Day wasn't enough? John Ensign getting his Momma and Daddy to pay huge sums of money to his ex-best friend whose wife he's porking wasn't enough? Michelle Bachmann's increasingly unhinged pronouncements about how government healthcare would be cheaper than private (which, according to nutty Michelle, makes it a bad thing) isn't enough? And skanky harpy Liz Cheney appearing on every fucking TV screen 20 minutes out of every hour with her defense of Daddygumz' torture isn't enough.

Christ on the fucking cross, people! Maybe the plot is to make us all laugh so hard we'll die and then the rethugs can take back the country.

Today's plotter, in all his shameless glory: Tennessee State Senator Paul Stanley. What, you ask, did Senator Stanley do? Why, Senator Stanley, a married father of two charming Christian sprogs, a "Republican Fambly Valyoos 4evah!" kinda guy, you know, dumped his first wife to marry an attractive intern he was boinking — got caught boinking his latest intern and taking nude photos and videos of the whole thing.

OK, Stanley, I get it. Sump'n in the water out that way makes for teh abysmally stoopid in real life. And you're definitely a champion fucking (uh, literally as well) hypocrite.

But Jesus fucking J.H. Christ and his Black brother Harry, man! Even teh stoopid know by now that you don't videotape the whole fucking episode and you don't compound that level of idiocy by giving the tape to the chickie you were boinking after you already met her boyfriend who doesn't like you.

Christ on a fucking croissant! And then, guess what, Mr. IAmStoopidAndMyPantsKeepFallingOff is amazed, amazed, I tell you, that Boyfriend offers to perform a nutectomy on him unless he coughs up ten grand in small bills. Yo, Stanley, dude, you practically offered the guy a size 20 log to shove up your size 10 ass, be grateful he didn't make you bend over and take it in the tonsils.

ICHC

Holy quacking duckshit. And that's not the worst of it. This is why this fecking eejit deserves to go down into the Hypocrites' Hall o' Infamy. FTA:

State Sen. Paul Stanley only recently sponsored legislation designed to prohibit gay couples in his home state from ever adopting children. He has also opposed family planning services, explaining that his “faith and church” require him to “promote abstinence.” And Stanley has run as a “pro-family” candidate in his campaigns for the Tennessee State Senate.

Pro-family except for teh ghey. Promoting "abstinence" for everuhboddah else. And full o' faith and church that won't allow a body to plan their family without Stanley's Senatorial nose all up in their crotch.

With any luck, Stanley's current (ex-intern) wife will staple his pants to his crotch and he'll never be able to boink anyone else again. One look at the guy and you know nobody's boinking him for teh handsome.

Just quit, you guys. I mean, literally. Just every one of you Repuglies, quit your jobs, quit your lives, quit the human race. Because we can't take too much more of this.

Stumble It!

Politics: Goodbye To The Old

Fart leftover from Nixon's times, Pat Buchanan, who is now "joking" about murdering Levi Johnston, according to Raw Story.

ICHC

And before you complain that Raw Story lacks the supposed gravitas of the Wah!Poo (Washington Post, also known as The Public Whore of DC) or the New York Times, they have the video of UnKKKle Pat actually saying it, so put a sock in it, peeps.

Who'd'a thunk the Internet would've changed the world to the point where lying shills and political whores could get caught everytime they lie? Anyway, UnKKKle Pat is hoping:

“Well, first, with regard to Levi, I think First Dude up there in Alaska, Todd Palin, ought to take Levi down to the creek and hold his head underwater until the thrashing stops,” Buchanan quipped.

Uh, first off, that is NOT a quip. A "quip," as defined by the dictionary, is "A clever, witty remark often prompted by the occasion." Does anyone out there see anything "clever" or "witty" in calling for the murder of a teenaged boy? Especially after we've had repeated incidents over the past months of lunatics who listen to the likes of UnKKKle Pat, and the Faux Noise combine going out there to shoot police officers, museum guards, and doctors? Anybody? Clever? Witty? I thought not.

Hey Pat, I thought you were a big believer in Fambly Valyoos? You do realize, don't you, that killing Levi Johnston would leave Bristol Palin's little son, Blob, or Plop, or whatever its name is, without a father? I may not think much of Levi Johnston, a highschool dropout with little education or, for that matter, intelligence, but at least he shows interest in the fruit of his loins, and even (pew!) changes its diapers. Ask any mother how difficult it is to get childcare for a child still in diapers, and you'll realize right quick that Levi is worth SOMEthing at least to Bristol and Poop, if no one else.

Yaknow, if someone on the liberal side of the spectrum started making jokes about holding SSairy Failin's head underwater till the thrashing stopped, the entire rightwingnutters of America would be screaming like scalded baboons for a month.

But they're too busy calling our President's 11-year-old daughter a "whore" right now to pay attention to anything nasty said by their own goon squads, I guess.

When does "free speech" cross the borderline into "hate speech"?

Stumble It!

Caturday!

Yeah, yeah, it's ICHC

And here in the fire zone, the grass and weeds have already turned brown despite a long, wet spring. Fortunately, it's not as hot this year as it was last year. Nevertheless, it's time to put on the shorts and the old sun hat and venture downstairs for another day of weeding. We leave you to determine how much pain this day's adventure will cost. Fuck me blind, when you haven't used your muscles for over a year, they find new and innovative ways to let you know that fact.

A joyous Independence Day to all! The Declaration of Independence belongs to this day, and herewith a brief excerpt to remind us all of why we celebrate this day:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

"To effect their safety and happiness ... ." Wouldn't those words lend themselves to the interpretation that a government that does not provide health care for its citizens should be rejected in favour of one that can and does?

La Casa de Los Gatos apologizes for the desultory blogging of that issue, and begs its friends and readers to understand that recent health problems make one unable to brain sufficiently to say something intelligent and useful on the topic, wherefore it is better to say nothing at all than to irritate by one's stupidity. We urge our fellow hoominz to continue pushing for Universal Health Care - a public option that will safeguard the health of nearly fifty million of our fellow Americans who are currently without any health care at all, and who, being placed in this position by us all, constitute a greater threat to the public safety of all of us in case of an epidemic than the expenditure of tax monies in providing them with health care possibly could.

Remember, you Republican nutcases and "small-government" yobbos — in the face of a raging epidemic, it's too late to vaccinate. Precautionary measures must be taken before the fact, not in response to it. New and increasingly deadly epidemics are moving swiftly among us, thanks to global warming and increasing urbanization. Better to spend the money now if need be than regret the loss of one's loved ones after the fact.

Stumble It!

Politics: Mark Sanford

Oh, boo-hoo. Some pinhead opinionifying over at CNN is drilling in the Deep Well of Gall to tell us all we should not be getting outraged over Sanford's shenanigans. FTA:

We need to understand this situation for what it is: human weakness, poor judgment, personal longing and complicated relationships. The question is, how are we -- each one of us personally -- going to respond? I'd like to make a suggestion:

We should empathize.

I'd like to make a suggestion, too, dumbkopf — pull your cranium out of your rectum. Whatever happened between Sanford and his wife is their fucking problem (literally as well as figuratively). And while we enjoy bwa-ha-haaing at those holier-than-thou hypocrites who preach "fambly valyooos" out of one side of their ass while pillorying anyone who looks like they might have snuck a little sideline of horizontal samba, we empathize with ridiculous modern-day notions of marriage as being between one guy and one gal but not for teh ghey. (I can't imagine any gay person doing more damage to teh "sanctity" of marriage than, oh, Britney Spears, Mark Sanford, and all you other Christo-fascist yobs.)

The *real* issue for us here at La Casa de Los Gatos is, this dumb motherfucker took off work without making any arrangements for anyone else to take up his duties; and flew off to boink his girlfriend after LYING to everybody and their fucking sister-in-law about where he was going. He didn't call in, he didn't check that the whole fucking state hadn't been blown off the map during his absence, he didn't show ANY responsibility whatsoever.

When I accepted the last paid job I had, I had to sign a contract that said that if I missed work for more than THREE DAYS without notifying the office of my absence and giving them a way to contact me, I would be FIRED. And I was not some high-ranking corporate BigDick. Or some governor of a state, responsible for the lives, safety, and well-being of hundreds of thousands of other human beings. Just a lowly corporate worm. But them wuz teh breaks. We had that drilled into our heads by HR. If you want to take time off, fill out a form at least two weeks before you leave, explaining that you will be out of the office, the purpose of your absence (you could just put "vacation time," or "bereavement leave," or whatever, but that form had to be filled in), date of return to work, emergency contact number, approval of your immediate manager and approval of your manager's manager.

If you got hit by a car and were not dead, then you had to instruct your next-of-kin to call the fucking office, for crying out loud, and tell them that you were dying at such-and-such hospital and would return to work (or not) by such a date. So where does this motherfucking yobbo get off, just disappearing into the wild blue yonder? I'm supposed to empathize with this shit? I THINK NOT, mofo. Fuck that! What's so special about Sanford's Holy Taint? What, the rules don't apply to him?

To add insult to injury, the motherfucker paid for his boinking trip with taxpayer money. The state of South Carolina is in the shitpit for money, the unemployment rate is high and climbing, the governor stamps his little feet and whines about not wanting to take Federal money for unemployment so working people who've been laid off can put food on the fucking table for themselves and their kids, and he's got the unmitigated gall to take THEIR money to pay for his horizontal samba? And lie about it? Stealing, lying, cheating, irresponsibility ... this is what I'm supposed to empathize with? I'm supposed to happily susidize Sanford's knob-polishing ventures while surviving on cereal and water?

What planet are these dumb asses from?

And it's not like the guy has shown any shame and remorse for his utterly shameful acts. Today he's whooping on about how, like King David in the bibul, he is NOT, NOT, NOT going to resign. Hey, fuckface — you're not a king. You were *elected* governor. David couldn't be impeached. You can. And I sincerely hope you are. What's more, I hope your wife kicks you out on your ass, and your Argentinian bombshell takes up with someone younger, cuter, and hotter than you. Because you did her a big disservice too, you hypocritical bag o'dicks, outing the whole affair and crying in public about how you done your wife wrong.

Your wife is mega-rich, she'll soon get over your wack crap. And the Argentinian babe is muy hot, so I'm sure there's no shortage of guys lining up waiting for a smile from her. You're the asshole here, not either of the two ladies involved. You hit on another woman after years of mush-mouthing your "Praise Jeebus I R a Xtian man and the Lord totally blesses my schlong" crap. You had the balls to ask your wife's permission to go visit your mistress. Instead of manning up to your responsibility as the father of four young boys and the "Law(d)fully wedded husband" of your wife, who has worked hard to promote your career for close to two decades, you miserable bastard.

You need a come-uppance, man, because you're too fucking arrogant by half. King David, my ass. ESAD, you slavering fuckwit.

Stumble It!

Politics: Republicans

Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina

By now you've heard the whole nine yards of this guy's story, right? RIGHT? I waited for the explosion before touching it, but now that all the dirt's out, I can indulge in that delightful frisson of schadenfreude I experienced when I first heard the news.

So, I know what you're thinking: PC, how can you be so LOW, enjoying this shit so much, and YOU are so MEAN, and MEAN PEOPLE SUCK! and all that bwa-ha-ha. Hey, lookit, friends and other people: this motherfucker was slated for a prime post in the 2012 elections, you get my drift? This Mr. "MyPantsAreSoHotIGottaDrop'EmNOW" dude was gonna be a con-TEN-dah for the Republican Run For The White House. After what the Republicans have done to this fine nation for the past eight years, and to me, personally, for about that long (we won't talk old history heah), I say I have every right to bwa-ha-haaa! all over this unseemly piece of personal douchebaggery.

Excuse me, those sumbitches have seriously shit all over the nation's sandwich for over a decade now, while whipping up the nutcases, racists, Religious Right, panty-sniffing scandalmongers, greedy douchebags stealing and robbing us blind, corporate whores exporting our jobs by the hundred thousand while awarding themselves bigger and bigger salaries and bonuses each year. How does that make you feel, snookums? Git yer mad on and get in line to give this guy, and any other Republican aiming at higher office, a thwack or twenty with the trademarked Casa de Los Gatos Golden Bat o'Clue. They deserve it, goddammit, and I'm gonna be happy about it.

So, to cut to the chase. Governor Stanford decided sometime last week that he was going away. He didn't tell his office where he was going. He didn't leave any way for them to contact him. He didn't even tell his WIFE where he was going. This is a man with FOUR children, he takes off over the Father's Day weekend, and his family don't know where he is? Does that sound like coolth to you? To me, it sounds like the epitome of douchebaggery.

So while he's gone some enterprising journalist(s) in his fair state decide to find out just where he went. His office says, "We don't know." His wife says, "I don't know." When you're holding a position of public fucking responsibility, you don't just take off like that. Shit, even when you're selling your labour to a fucking bunch of greedy corporate shills, if you go on vacation, you're supposed to check your email and call in once in a while unless you're just a faceless grub in the organization. You're a manager? Even if you have Teh Shittiest Job In The World, you gotta check in. Teleconference with your reports, call your boss, email the admins. Everybody has to know how to get hold of you if they need to.

And this guy just takes off. That is SO not OK. Corporate whores are mostly not responsible for the life and well-being of anyone else in the company. A governor of a State is, theoretically at least, responsible for the fucking lives and well-being of everybody in their state. And what's the deal with the wife? What kind of guy takes off on a vacation without the wife and kids, especially over Father's Day? And doesn't even tell his wife where he's going to be? Or call the family over the weekend?

So for a few days, the InnerTubes were rife with theories about the guv. Best of all, the guv had apparently taken off WITHOUT his security detail. Huh? Rightwingnuttia, as is their usual wont, was speculating (among other things) that the CIA had kidnapped him (just like they did with Jesse Ventura, 'cos he opposed the stimulus package, and everything). Oh, yeah, dipshits. Don't let your conspiracy theories hit ya where the good lord split ya. Dumbfucks.

Meanwhile, some enterprising individual had recognized the guv at an airport. Whereupon his car was traced there. Even more meanwhile, his office, weaseling like crazy, had told journalists that the guv was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Well, didn't that just put the shit in the rotary motor, anaconda that weekend was National Hiking Naked Day, and all the responsible speculators were speculating that the guv was running around getting poison ivy on his schlong out there where the poison ivy was rife. The best part of this story is, the person responsible for alerting us all to the existence of National Hiking Naked Day is one Woody Lipps. Srsly. You can't make this shit up.

Unfortunately, the stupid sumbitch put paid to my fantasies about him and Woody Lipps today by admitting to an affair with some hot Argentinian. Damn! I do want to say, however, that the Republican Party fell to its collective knees to thank the LAWD that, at least this once, the Republican at the heart of this scandal wasn't porking an underage boy. Or getting his rocks off on, um, diapers.

OTOH, after reading some of Teh Guv's ltrs, let me just say that the guy could have a future as a romance writer. Pity he wasn't saying these things to his lawfully wedded wife. Oh, and adultery is a CRIME in South Carolina. Bet yer wishing you'd changed THOSE laws, huh, Sanford? Also, the papers have had these letters since last year. No wonder the guv is crying in public. And more also, he claimed he was giving his hot mistress "marital advice." Sure thing, honey. And finally, he's all, "God is forgiving me, oh yeah, I R Xtian, fambly values."

BLEEEAAARRGGGH! Sick, stupid puppy! Smack, smack, smack!

Stumble It!

Economy: Imagine

ICHC

Losing your house over a bill for a lousy fifty bucks. That's what happened to Jean Castro of Connecticut, who emigrated from Haiti many years ago. He's saved all his life to buy this house. (Note: he also owns the house next door.) Is he a deadbeat who refused to pay taxes? No, he's apparently always paid his property tax bills in full. However, the city of Bridgeport, where Mr. Castro lives, claims that Mr. Castro has run up various bills with the city before and refused to pay. On further examination, it turns out that the city sent the property tax bills to Mr. Castro, and he forwarded them to his mortgage company, which was supposed to pay them. The total bill was around $3,000 but most of that was for attorney's fees. The actual tax bill was a little over $50.00.

I used to have an arrangement like that with my bank. The city persisted in sending the bills to me, although I repeatedly (and often irately) notified them that the bills were to be sent directly to the bank, which was paying the taxes out of the adjusted mortgage amount that I paid monthly (they calculated the property tax plus mortgage and then billed me monthly for the sum including "a little something" for their trouble.) I finally terminated the arrangement because it was cheaper and less troublesome to pay the property taxes myself. So my sympathies are with Mr. Castro, of course.

I have no idea how efficient the city of Bridgeport is, but if they're anything at all like my city, they need to rethink their position on this. Taking someone's home because they were late paying a lousy $50.00 is ludicrous. As for the summons they claim they sent him, pish, posh, and piffle. $2,700 in attorneys' fees over a fifty-dollar debt? Puh-leez. The fact that the bank paid the bill indicates that someone screwed up here and that someone is not Mr. Castro. Chances are, like my bank, they delayed paying the bill and, in fact, delayed doing anything at all about it until caught flatfooted, and then paid to have the matter swept under the rug. It IS Countrywide Bank, after all, and their El Jefe is currently facing charges from the SEC, so who knows what can of worms this might open?

HuffPo reports that the March disbursement of Treasury monies called the "homeowners bailout is beginning to show some positive signs. They promise to keep an eye on the issue. We should all keep an eye on the issue. I'm still overwhelmed by negative feelings about the bank bailout, as the above picture clearly shows. I know it was necessary (and there I disagree with most of my good friends and fellow bloggers who have whupped me upside the head for such statements, but Your Cat Is A Stubborn Cat, and I plough on). The current financial crisis seems to be easing, and even Paul Krugman says so. Other countries are having differing degrees of fiscal troubles, but all the economies who could afford it (and even some who couldn't) have poured money into their troubled banks to shore them up. It could have been much worse.



Goodness knows the Bushies probably intended it to be, taking billions in loans from China to prosecute an endless and unjustified war.

And speaking of war, I'm currently reading a history of modern Japan (from the Tokugawa Shogunate through the 1980s), and came across these words of wisdom regarding World War II:

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East was created for the purpose of trying the political leaders who were responsible for "crimes against peace." [...] war criminals were charged with "the planning, preparation, initiation, or waging" of aggressive war. Most of these men were also tried for violations of the laws and customs of war [...].

Wouldn't that accurately describe the Bush Administration? They declared war against Iraq before the UN's weapons inspectors had finished their task. Subsequently, American inspectors announced that they had failed to discover the "weapons of mass destruction" that purportedly formed the basis for an uninvited and unprovoked war of aggression against a sovereign nation.

So, why exactly are we not trying these sons of illegitimate drunken toads-in-a-ditch for war crimes? Or is that reserved only for non-Americans? I think it would be a delicious irony indeed if Japan, Germany, and Italy would band together to create a war crimes tribunal for teh Bushies. OTOH, that would probably cause mass hysteria (I only find it amusing because of my deeply cynical nature). So perhaps it's just as well that the effort appears to span all continents and nationalities save this one.

Hint: Drop your fucking congresscritters yet another note urging them to move on war crimes. Sheldon Whitehouse (yay, Senator!) is hinting that torture investigations might well encompass the war criminals at the top.

Stumble It!