Tea Party Gives Boehner a Budget Headache

I'm a little late in getting this video posted, but I think it's a good representation of how the Teabaggers are coming across internationally: like immature and reckless babies. From NMAtv in Taiwan.

Let's Be Honest...

...these numbnuts are only the tip of the iceberg in the GOP.

Faux News Fail

Chyron-fail at Faux News? Or secret instructions to American wingnut terrorist sleeper agents?

We report, you decide!

HT: MediaMatters

The Astounding World of the Future

Someone has taken a 1950s-era newsreel film and replaced most of the original visual content with a tongue-in-cheek parody. Ironically, a lot of what the original film talked about ("robot" this and that) really has come about in the time since the film was made. As a result, the so-called "astounding world of the future" really is here, even if it doesn't seem so astounding to our jaded eyes.



HT: SF Signal for both this video and the two Han Solo, P.I. videos.

Michelle Obama and the Right to Bare Arms

Is it any surprise that the American media would focus on such a trivial topic?

Trekkies Angry with New Star Trek Film

The Irony of Satire

Several political blogs have noted an Ohio State University study about the TV show, The Colbert Report. The study has found, in essence, that Republicans lack a sense of humor:

...we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups [liberals and conservatives] in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion. (Emphasis mine.)

Of course, the fact that Republicans do indeed lack a sense of humor was seen in the unlamented Faux News program The 1/2 Hour News Hour.

But seriously, I'm not that surprised that conservatives might find programs like The Colbert Report difficult to understand. Two years ago, I commented about a Psychology Today article, The Ideological Animal, which reported, among other things, that "...conservatives have less tolerance for ambiguity..." Is it, then, that conservatives live in an alternate reality (as Crooks & Liars suggests) or that they are unable to fully understand the world they live in?

Messing with Texas!

Don't let the door hit you in the @$$ on your way out! ;)



Update: This is rich! Governor Rick Perry of Texas, who is prominently featured in the above video advocating for secession from the Union, has recently asked for federal funds to deal with a possible swine flu pandemic. If you're going to be even remotely serious about secession, Governor, pay your way. Failing that, try shutting up for a change!

Are You Annoyingly Happy?

Good news! Help is on the way!

I got a kick out of the list of "natural treatments for the gratingly upbeat" (at the 1:36 mark):
* Following the news
* Visiting rest homes
* Considering man's impact on nature
* Looking at bank account
* Thinking about how old you are, how little you've accomplished
* Interacting with Kinko's employees

From The Onion; HT: WTF Is It Now?!?

The Late Show - Sarah Palin's Top 10 Excuses

David Letterman's Top 10 List for Sarah Palin's "excuses" for her turkey debacle. (Can't this woman get anything right?)

But, Wait! There's More!

With the huge amount of satirical pictures and videos about Failin' Palin out on the Intertubes, I may have to make this into a daily feature.

Let the good times roll! >:)


HT: WTF Is It Now?!?

Hey Sarah Palin

Cute.

Hey Sarah Palin, do you tell them in Wasilla
That 4,000 years ago we roamed the planet with Godzilla?
Is it true?
I am so fucking scared of you
As number 2

Hey Sarah Palin, I think Alaska's very pretty
But just 100,000 people more than Oklahoma City
Yes it's true
Go look it up, I'm telling you
Oh man, were through

Chorus
Oh, if you become VP, oh, it's Canada for me (2x)
It's Canada for me

Hey Sarah Palin, did you really once inquire
Whether you could throw library books into a big bonfire?
God, my eyes
This really might be our demise
This pack of lies

Hey Sarah Palin, just because you're good at shootin'
Doesn't mean you have the ammo to negotiate with Putin
Are you on coke?
This fucking country's up in smoke
Oh what a joke

Chorus
Oh, if you become VP, oh what will it mean for me (2x)

Bridge
Just because I can see the moon
Doesn't make me an astronaut, you loon
Your foreign policy expertise is pooh
Do you really think a woman commits
To a candidate just because she has tits
Please tell me that this ticket is not true
I thought that there could be no worse
Than Cheney, but here you are, I curse
The madman who would cast a vote for you
And McCain too

Hey Sarah Palin, is it media distortion
Or would you tell a girl who's raped that she could not have an abortion?
It's a new low
Who knows just how far you would go
I'd rather vote for Ross Perot
Hey Sarah Palin I don't know
Where can we go

Chorus

HT: TBogg

Don't Think So!

Is Failin' Palin smarter than a fifth grader? I think we can safely assume what the answer would be. ;)

Original photo credit: WTF Is It Now?!? Modified by yours truly.

Your Urgent Help Needed

Classic; this would be funny if it weren't true. From Angry Bear:

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

Juneau

From the party that gives you gross hypocrisy about "family values"...


HT: FrostFireZoo

What McCain Really Thinks About Palin

John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for Vice President is the stupidest political decision I've ever come across. It almost makes George H.W. Bush's decision to pick Dan Quayle look like an enlightened choice. Seriously, do you want a complete unknown to become the next president should McCain win the election and become incapacitated in some manner?

Crazy, Old, Desperate, Goony, Erratic, Republican - John McCain

HT: WTF Is It Now?!?

Bush Tours America to Survey Damage Caused by His Disastrous Presidency

HT: Crooks & Liars

The Foreign Fashion Models' Employment Relief Act of 2008

An odd story out of The Economist this week: Apparently not enough foreign fashion models are able to get H-1B's, a temporary work visa the U.S. government gives to foreign nationals for specialized occupations. The H-1B, of which only 65,000 are allotted per year, is frequently given to tech workers; companies such as Microsoft and Infosys sponsor many of the H-1B employees, and even they are feeling the pinch from not enough foreign talent coming into the country. "Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, testified to a Senate committee last year that the only way to solve the 'critical shortage of scientific talent' was to open up the country's doors."

This is causing the New York fashion industry to get their knickers in a twist. Coming to the rescue is Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY09), who has proposed a bill that would allow models to be reclassified into their own special immigration category. "This would free up more visas for the nerds; and it would allow 1,000 models to strut their stuff in America each year, compared with just 349 in 2007, half the annual number admitted between 2000 and 2005."

So why is Weiner sponsoring this bill?

Steve King, an Iowa congressman, thinks the bill should be called the “Ugly American Act” because it implies there are not enough beautiful people in the United States. But Mr Weiner, a bachelor accused by the tabloids and his fellow politicians of using the visa issue to get himself a glamorous date, says he's only thinking of New York's economy, which is heavily involved in the fashion industry.

The business generates thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenue: the average photo-shoot costs about $100,000. If a foreign model is denied entry, he says, the production is likely to be lost to other countries. New York's skyline or California's hills can be easily photoshopped in later. This “beauty drain,” as the newspaper Politico calls it, affects make-up artists, stylists and photographers as well as media companies and advertising agencies.

In other words, if this bill becomes law, all those foreign models, who have such limited prospects for modeling in their own countries, would be allowed to model in the U.S. if they're to avoid working at a real job.

But what about the "supermodels," you ask? Fear not! There's some good news:

...[S]upermodels like Gisele Bündchen are in the clear. They are eligible for O-1 visas, given to those with “extraordinary ability,” like Nobel laureates.

The War Prayer

An animated film of Mark Twain's The War Prayer. The animation is a little long (run time: 14:21), but well worth watching.

The Messenger who speaks aloud the second part of the Minister's and congregation's prayer for victory reminds me somewhat of the Parable of the Companions of the City (Ya Sin; 36:13-32), especially ayah 36:30:

Ah! Alas for (My) Servants! There comes not an apostle to them but they mock him!