CK MacLeod really needs to work on his tone.

Why, it's not that I think he should shut up per se, it's that I think he might offend someone with his non-inclusiveness.  Stalwart Republican thinkers like David Frum, Meggy Mac, and Colin Powell just to name a few.  He needs to learn the base may be important window dressing, but they really aren't thinkers.  Not like us. 

Independents are important.  While they may not care enough to donate to a campaign, volunteer for said campaign, or provide the grassroots infrastructure necessary for a successful campaign, they provide something better: cultural cover.  And by that I mean, they allow us to seem more "cool," as the kiddos say these days.  Individual rights?  Not cool.  Respecting the unborn?  Also not cool.  Expecting our leaders to value philosophy over rhetoric?  The most uncool of all.  Who bases things on a grounding philosophy anymore?  So 18^th century.

We need more leaders like Colin Powell to attract these valuable independents.  Like them, he knows the importance of not really having any grounded principles, voting based on important concerns like skin color or an ability to read pretty words off a teleprompter, and perhaps most crucial, a politician's ability to sound tolerant of other opinions (even if he or she isn't).

I've always longed to be part of a political party that had absolutely no parameters set for inclusion (even supporting said party in presidential races.)  After all, Powell knows best.  Had we listened to him, the GOP would have nominated a moderate to run in 2008, instead of conservative firebrand John McCain. 

Good luck Gen. Powell, and by all means, CK, shut up. 

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 07:39 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Leave It To The Nanny State To Mess With Your Booze Consumption.

Fucking Nanny Staters.

Drinkers in pubs are to be told to stand in a queue and banned from ordering more than two drinks at a time at the bar.

Rope barriers similar to those used in shops and post offices will be installed to keep customers in line.

The plan has been proposed following concern over disorder and violence in a town centre's bars.

The two-drink limit is intended to curb binge-drinking and stop customers ordering large amounts of alcohol. In addition, customers would not be allowed to drink while queuing.

But critics say the 'nanny state' restrictions will end the convivial British tradition of drinkers buying rounds for their friends.

Mark Hastings, of the British Beer And Pub Association, said: 'We have no problem with tackling problem drinking but this is not the way to go about it.

'These measures are costly, unnecessary and totally disproportionate at a time when around 40 pubs are closing every week.

Posted by: eddiebear at 03:00 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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City Councilcritter Pays $68 Per Year In Property Taxes. Name The City Where This Happened

C'mon. I dare you.

"If it's an amount that's been determined by the people who are in the business of assessing ... and you pay that, then what's the issue?" she asked.

Watson's neighbors in comparable homes pay $2,000 to $6,500 in taxes. "My house has always been there," she said.

On Friday morning, Watson entered the city tax assessor's office and asked for a review of her tax bill.

...

Since joining the City Council six years ago, insisting that Detroit get its fair share has been one of Watson's signature issues.

On Sept. 29, for example, Watson was the only council member to vote against a tax break for General Motors Corp. in return for building the Chevrolet Volt at its Poletown assembly plant.

As recently as Tuesday, Watson blasted state officials who she said have cut $130 million from the city's portion of revenue sharing over the years. "They owe us," she said during a City Council meeting, demanding that the state pay the money to help the city through its financial crisis and reduce its deficit.

Here is the answer.

Posted by: eddiebear at 02:58 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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There might be a subtext here

Pizza sales are causing crime.

Posted by: Alice H at 02:40 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Suicide is selfish

So here's one way to deal with it.

Retired soldier Mr Lai at first volunteered to try to talk Mr Chen down but was turned away by police, Xinhua said.

Mr Lai is said to have then broken through the police cordon, climbed to where Mr Chen sat, greeted him with a handshake - and then pushed him off the edge.

Posted by: Alice H at 01:41 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Excuse Me While I Bang My Head Against The Keyboard

What? Are you fucking kidding me?

“With The Huffington Post, particularly, we see a lot of value in engaging with people who wouldn’t necessarily be inclined to agree with our point of view,” said Coburn press secretary John Hart, who added that it's one of a handful of sites that can have an instant impact on the national debate.

“HuffPo and [Talking Points Memo] really are the assignment editors for many in the Washington press corps — particularly the cables,” said Brian Rogers, who was a spokesman for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. “That’s not just a Republican hack saying it — that’s speaking as a press guy fielding calls and e-mails daily from the MSM that start with, ‘Did you see this thing on Huffington Post?’ They were effective and they wasted a lot of our time.”

While conservatives like Tony Blankley and David Frum {Frum is a "conservative"? Who knew?-ed.} have written for Huffington Post in the past, Republican Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) recently became the first active member of Congress to  blog— just after winning the site’s “Hottest Freshman” contest.

In his post, Schock wrote that while most Huffington Post readers “didn't vote Republican,” he was determined to take a bipartisan approach in Congress. Similarly, Coburn made sure to mention the left’s critique of the Democrats' health care plan in his piece — and also emphasized bipartisanship.

They won't be the last Republicans to post at the site.

During the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Huffington invited House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to blog. Said Cantor: “I can’t say we enjoy being on your site, but we seem to be on there a lot.”

Indeed, there’s sort of an if-you-can’t-beat-join-them mindset driving Republicans' increased outreach to the site.

“The reality is that at the end of the day, like them or dislike them, sites like The Huffington Post, Plum Line, Salon, and others can drive news,” said Brad Dayspring, press secretary for Cantor. “For that reason alone, being responsive and even proactive — especially on wedge issues — has become more prevalent as political communications has evolved.”

Posted by: eddiebear at 11:13 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The tolerant left

Nyuck nyuck nyuck! We'll make "rug-munching" jokes, but then cover our asses by adding the NTTAWWT disclaimer. You know, since we're not homophobic or anything. But, well, wouldn't it be funny if everybody in Carrie's family was a FAG or a LEZZIE?!!!!11one!!1!eleventy!!! Har! Though, not that there's anyth—yeah, who are we kidding? If you're the slightest bit Christian or conservative or are connected to any such person, rumors about your sexual proclivities are teh funneh!

To borrow a phrase, it's supposedly BECAUSE OF THE HYPOCRISY!!! Uh-huh. Not like it's a cudgel to beat people into silence or anything. Of course not.

Notice that the anti-gay-marriage stance of a certain Public Fister is never mentioned.

Posted by: Sean M. at 01:43 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Seriously folks, you need to chill with the handwringing

No, seriously, the reaction to the ad is ridiculous, man up, er, nancies. If you want to argue that it was an ineffective or stupid ad, fine, but why all the squirming and panicking about how the media is going to spin this?  Why do we spend so much goddamned time wringing our hands about the fact that the media and the left are going to distort and twist what it is conservatives or GOPers say?  The ad isn't sexist, man up and say it, and slap down any leftist who says otherwise. 

But we won't, because we're way too willing to let the left set the terms of the battle, I can lay any money that tomorrow morning we'll watch the same Beltway douches squirming nervously and apologizing to Stephanopoulous or David Gregory or whoever, like we do every time we see something like this.  Really folks, it's four simple words, and an understanding that we can't continue to let the left define the terms of battle and the battlespace and expect to win. 

I keep going back to this, but I really think conservatives need to take a step back, and watch the NRA and gun nuts (and I say gun nuts in the most positive manner) to see how political fights are waged.  If you've followed the Second Amendment debate, or have gone back and learned about the evolution of the debate, you'll come away with at least some sense of how to fight the fight and win.  They don't back down, and on those occasions where they NRA doesn't step up, local activists step in and make things happen. And they're always on the attack now, gun control advocates can't seem to get any traction outside of a few Marxist havens like NY and CA.  And you'll notice, when you see Wayne LaPierre or some other pro-2nd advocate arguing, they don't let the media or Bradys define the terms of the debate.

Even in what is theoretically a politically impossible place for pro-2nd activists to see victory, they're still racking up wins, such as the bill allowing concealed carry in national parks.  The Bradys and VPC are completely demoralized, Josh Sugarmann and Paul Helmke have quit issuing press releases, they now issue lamentations.  The media screeches impotently, gun nuts point and laugh. 

Conservatives would be wise to step back and learn how to win political and culture wars from the NRA and gun nuts.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 01:25 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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What's Next, Defacing St. Peter's Basilica?

I officially will no longer drink Jim Beam.

Part of Illinois-based Fortune Brands Inc., Beam is preparing a national rollout of Red Stag, a specialty whiskey that infuses natural black cherry flavors into 4-year-old bourbon.

Even brand ambassador Fred Noe, a great-grandson of Jim Beam, sees the tinkering with a time-tested Kentucky tradition as a positive way to lure new customers.

“The bourbon purists might think it’s a little too sweet,” Noe said during an event touting Red Stag at Beam’s Clermont distillery in central Kentucky. “But for somebody who is not a big fan of bourbon, this may be an opportunity for them to enjoy bourbon in a little different way.”

The 80-proof Red Stag by Jim Beam, as the product is formally called, is being billed as Beam’s biggest rollout since the launch of Jim Beam black label bourbon more than a decade ago. Shipments start June 1 after about a year and a half in development.

Chuck Cowdery, an American whiskey writer and author of “Bourbon, Straight,” likes the taste.

“I think the quality of the infusion, the depth of the flavors is pretty sophisticated,” he said. “It doesn’t taste like they threw some flavor house cherry flavor in there.”

The product could appeal to younger consumers who may prefer bourbon in cocktails rather than straight up, he said.

My reaction?
more...

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:38 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Now You Know Why I Stick To Drinking Flower Pot Sized Cups Of Coffee

At least I don't fucking get cocaine in my system.

Authorities said the cocaine levels do not pose a health threat but are not permitted in foodstuffs.

The Frankfurter Neuen Presse reported that the investigation was prompted by the use of a de-cocainized extract of coca leaf in the drink. That means the drink cannot be classified as a foodstuff but as a narcotic and needs a special license, authorities said.

The newspaper reported that German retail group Rewe had already issued orders to remove the fizzy drink from its shops. Wilhelm Deitermann, spokesman for the North-Rhine Westphalia consumer ministry said he expected other German states to follow suit and ban the drink.

But Red Bull Cola has protested the action. “De-cocainized extract of coca leaf is used worldwide in foods as a natural flavouring,” the paper quoted the company saying. The company added that Red Bull Cola as well as other food that contains coca leaf extract is considered safe in the EU as well as in the US.

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'll Be In My Bunk

My new dream is to see 500 of these things storming an enemy position.  Bonus points if we get zoomed in footage of the enemy soldiers crying.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 11:45 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Elections have consequences

Oh yeah. You can bank on the fact that we're definitely going to be getting a liberal activist justice on the Supreme Court:

"I said earlier that I thought empathy was an important quality, and I continue to believe that. You have to have not only the intellect to be able to effectively apply the law to cases before you, but you have to be able to stand in somebody's else shoes and see through their eyes and get a sense of how the law might work or not work in practical day-to-day living," he said.

As an example, he cited the Lilly Ledbetter case, in which the court ruled in 2007 that a woman who had suffered pay discrimination, but discovered it after the window for filing suit had passed, could not sue her employer. "I think anybody who has ever worked in a job like that understands that they might not know that they were being discriminated against," Obama said. "It doesn't make sense for their rights to be foreclosed. That's the kind of case where I want a judge not only to be applying the law in front of them but also to understand that as a practical matter."

And this guy is supposed to be some kind of super-scary Constitutional scholar? Really? Supreme Court justices are only supposed to apply the law in front of them, especially as how it relates to the Constitution. Not how something makes you feel, or whether or not you think something is unfair.

Oh, silly me. That's a strict-constructionist view of the role of the courts. Which is also probably RACIST, SEXIST, and HOMOPHOBIC somehow. Code words, you know.

Posted by: Sean M. at 08:46 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Saturday morning hotassery

Yes, it's early.  No, I'm not just going to bed, I woke up because my brain hates me and I had a very disturbing nightmare.  To soothe my troubled breast, I bring you Terminator:  Salvation hotassery.

Cut for the largeness.   Yes, it is bipartisan. 
more...

Posted by: alexthechick at 06:19 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Wanna see some stupid hippies lose their shit?

If you answered "yes" to that question (and I know you did), click here.

 Make sure to read through the comments.

(Via serr8d in the comments here.)

Posted by: Sean M. at 01:02 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I Know I Shouldn't Be Surprised, But I Am

What a shock the Obamacare people feel this way.

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I know I'm probably in the minority...

...but I really liked this story, and if there's anyone who needs to hear it, it's the students in DC's public schools.  If only there were some way our President (y'know, the who is for the "little guy") could help raise them out of those schools.  Perhaps a voucher program of some sort.  Oh wait.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 12:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What's in a name?

Who knew that being petty and vindictive could potentially get you in trouble?

When married real estate agents Scott and Melinda Tamkin read online this spring about an episode of the hit crime drama “CSI” featuring real estate agents named Scott and Melinda Tamkin -- and a kinky-sex element -- the explanation seemed clear.

A house sale involving the Tamkins and a “CSI” producer had fallen apart four years before, and the producer was listed as the co-writer of the episode.

On Friday, the Tamkins filed a $6-million defamation and invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the producer, Sarah Goldfinger, saying she humiliated them and cost them potential business “by creating from whole cloth characters engaged in a reckless lifestyle of sexual bondage, pornography, drunkenness, marital discord, depression, financial straits and possibly even murder.”

Yeah, I can see how someone might be just a little miffed about something like that.

Posted by: Sean M. at 08:42 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Boosting Rubio

Nobody is happy about the NRSC trying to sabotage Marco Rubio by endorsing Crist.  We really have two options at this point, let the RINOs have the GOP, let everything fall apart and rebuild, or try and salvage things with decent candidates. 

If Rubio is going to stop the RINO Bob Barker lookalike, he'll need support, RedState is calling on people to begin volunteering or donating to the Rubio campaign.  I'd say it's worth boosting Toomey or Rubio, we need to make one of them win in order to send a message to the GOP leadership, and the NRSC in particular. 

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 06:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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More proof God loves me and wants me to be happy

How so elegant, Dita?  How so elegant?

Posted by: alexthechick at 12:27 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Plus value-added tax

If anyone had any doubt whatsoever that bureaucracy will try to take whatever they can from you, you can lay those doubts to rest.

On the other hand, it's good to know that certain acts are legal in Germany.

Posted by: Alice H at 10:38 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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