Just a reminder....

If you're Southern, you're still not wanted in the New "Majority":

Yeah, he voted for TARP, and yeah, he voted for that awful confiscatory tax on the AIG bonuses, but he’s made to order as a message man: Young, comfortable talking about the economy, and not from the south. More TV time, please.

Mmmhmm. 

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 09:00 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Name That Party! Baltimore edition

I've read through this article about the Mayor of Baltimore three times, and I can't help but notice that something seems to be missing. Hmmmmmmm...

The two new indictments handed down by a grand jury reinstate perjury charges against Dixon and include new allegations about gifts she may have received but failed to disclose.

In total, the mayor is currently charged with three counts of theft, two counts perjury, three counts of fraudulent misappropriation and one count of misconduct.

Her political affiliation must be some sort of closely guarded secret. Oh, wait...

When former Mayor Martin O'Malley was sworn in as Governor on January 17, 2007, Dixon, a Democrat, became mayor and served out the remaining year of O'Malley's term. In November 2007, she was elected mayor in her own right and is currently serving her first term.

I can't help but think that if she was a Republican, that might just be prominently mentioned.

Hahahahaha! Who am I kidding? A real Republican (as opposed to, say, Nanny Bloomberg) as the mayor of a major American city? Not bloody likely.

{doubleplusundead} Update:  Baltimore media really does not want the public to know the party affiliation of Mayor Dixon.

Posted by: Sean M. at 08:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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An apology

On behalf of everyone here at DPUD, I would like to apologize for Vinty's inappropriate, tasteless, and regrettable blog post earlier today.  (link is NSFW and should not be viewed by children, the elderly, or pregnant women; DPUD accepts no responsibility for blindness or ED caused by viewing this link).

While DPUD and the rest of the gang are busy beating the stuffing out of Vinty, I've been assigned the task of adding a palate cleanser for you.  So here you go!  A woman who merits inclusion in the Hill's list in at least 8th place, and is more attractive than the chiseled arms of Michelle Obama.

more...

Posted by: plebian at 05:10 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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Obamacare Sees Bounce

IN a surprising announcement, highly-touted pollster Zigby today said that President Obama’s healthcare plan showed a sudden surge, giving hope to the beleaguered president and his congressional allies.  Support for the single-payer plan increased to 55% of those surveyed between July 24 and 27, with those under 35 now favoring the plan by an overwhelming 3 to 1 margin despite fervent Republican efforts to paint the plan as “a one-way ticket to government-forced euthanasia of the elderly.”
 
Vice President Joe Biden appeared on CNN to refute the charges, but made the situation worse when he said that “we’ll probably end up having to let a lot of old people die, but none of those who are politically connected.  And you probably won’t know any of ‘em anyways.”
 
Some even suggested that it was this part of the plan that suddenly made it attractive, as Generation X members realized they could increase the solvency of their pension plans as well as seize their inheritance before their Boomer parents squandered it on erectile-dysfunction pills and "medicinal" marijuana.  Typical of respondents was on Chelsea C in New York, who said “my parents are nothing but a couple of out-of-control embarrassments anyways.  The sooner they’re gone the better for everybody.”
 
A new lobbying group, Planned Orphanhood, has also sprung up to address this issue and already boasts 35,000 members.  Spokesperson Parpindo Geisel said in a statement that “Planned Orphanhood hopes to help adults in Generations X and Y assist their elders in making difficult end-of-life decisions, allowing the young people of today enjoy what little largesse will be available after our rapacious government taxes us into poverty.  Otherwise the Baby Boomers will continue their selfish habits of hogging all the best pensions, drugs, and lakefront property while saddling their offspring with a mountain of Chinese debt.”
 
Noted cranks the AARP called the new group “a syndicate of the purest evil” and denounced them, but Geisel responded that “those codgers are gonna be first on the list.”

Posted by: plebian at 03:56 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I suppose as long as they're American muscle cars...

Cato@Liberty details how to use Cash For Clunkers to get the Escalade you've always wanted and stick it to Government Motors at the same time.

Posted by: Alice H at 03:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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How to go from Fail to Epic Fail in one easy step.

Updated again, oops edition. _.
Tex at Whacking Day (err..uhhhh.. did you bring the pre-wacked snakes?) is a motorcycle guy and he found a Fail Of The.... well, it might be Ever.

First, he quotes the thread starter from a blog devoted to the Suzuki GSXR
My bike was running like crap on my way home from work so I stopped at a gas station to get some NOS. I poured in 2 bottles and rode it home. Well I don’t think it helped because it ran even worse on the way home and now it won’t start. Any ideas?

NOS isn't nitrous, it's a gasoline additive they have in Australia. So the guy poured two bottles of gasoline additive into his tanks, I gather it's made up of mostly kerosene. As Tex and a few commenters on the bike thread note, one bottle treats like 15 gallons, he added two to a 3 gallon tank.
"Well, that's Fail, but the most Fail ever? C'mon Veeshir". you say? (probably with more cursing, you guys are a foul-mouthed lot)

Tex quotes a guy from the thread
unless you used the NOS energy drink instead of injector cleaner, then you’ve really done it…

Oh noes! He poured two, 22 fl oz (pictured) bottles of 'Red Bull' into his Suzuki GSXR750.
That's two bottles of caffeinated sugar into his high-performance bike. 
And then, blared it to the world.
On a thread full of devotees of the Suzuki GSXR.

I'm not sure if he could have failed any more.

UPDATE: I was wrong, he could fail more as Jeff notes, quote
The best part? His avatar on the forum is a picture of a bottle of NOS... the energy drink.

As conservativeinthecity notices
Pretty sure the avatar change was AFTER he became a forum legend.
Oh well, it was too good to be true.

Posted by: Veeshir at 02:05 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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The Economist takes on the Obama cult (better late than never?)

In current (July 25th) issue of the Economist Lexington opines that because of the unreasonable expectations of his followers, as well as his failure to inject some reality into their rhetoric, that Obama may end up with a failed presidency and be the most unpopular president of the modern era.

Mr Obama has inspired more passionate devotion than any modern American politician. People scream and faint at his rallies. Some wear T-shirts proclaiming him “The One” and noting that “Jesus was a community organiser”. An editor at Newsweek described him as “above the country, above the world; he’s sort of God.” He sets foreign hearts fluttering, too. A Pew poll published this week finds that 93% of Germans expect him to do the right thing in world affairs. Only 14% thought that about Mr Bush.

Perhaps Mr Obama inwardly cringes at the personality cult that surrounds him. But he has hardly discouraged it. As a campaigner, he promised to “change the world”, to “transform this country” and even (in front of a church full of evangelicals) to “create a Kingdom right here on earth”. As president, he keeps adding details to this ambitious wish-list. He vows to create millions of jobs, to cure cancer and to seek a world without nuclear weapons. On July 20th he promised something big (a complete overhaul of the health-care system), something improbable (to make America’s college-graduation rate the highest in the world by 2020) and something no politician could plausibly accomplish (to make maths and science “cool again”).

...

Mr Obama is clearly not the socialist of Republican demonology, but he is trying to extend federal control over two huge chunks of the economy—energy and health care—so fast that lawmakers do not have time to read the bills before voting on them. Perhaps he is hurrying to get the job done before his polls weaken any further. In six months, his approval rating has fallen from 63% to 56% while his disapproval rating has nearly doubled, from 20% to 39%. Independent voters are having second thoughts. And his policies are less popular than he is. Support for his health-care reforms has slipped from 57% to 49% since April.

All presidential candidates promise more than they can possibly deliver. This sets them up for failure. But because the Obama cult has stoked expectations among its devotees to such unprecedented heights, he is especially likely to disappoint. Mr Healy predicts that he will end up as a failed president, and “possibly the least popular of the modern era”. It is up to Mr Obama to prove him wrong.

Oh sweet sweet karma. I can almost taste the ironic deliciousness. Unfortunately in order for it all to come true things probably have to get even shittier than they are now, and that is not something I am willing to wish on the country. Still it's nice to dream.

Posted by: chad98036 at 12:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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In remembrance

Heh.

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Obama To Boot Non-Marxist Honduran Officials?

Well, it looks like it.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly did not identify the Hondurans whose visas were yanked, but he indicated that other officials also could have their visas revoked. He said U.S. authorities were reviewing the visas of all members of the current government and their dependents.

The move came two weeks after the start of negotiations aimed at defusing the crisis and helping ousted president Manuel Zelaya return. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who is leading the negotiations, has presented a plan that would allow Zelaya back into office, with curtailed powers, until his term expires in January. The proposal was initially rejected by officials in the de facto government, but they have shown signs in recent days that they are softening their position, Honduran and U.S. officials said.

"We're trying to do everything that we can to support this -- this process that was begun by Costa Rican President Arias and the negotiation efforts," Kelly told reporters. "These actions that we're taking are consistent with our policy of the non-recognition" of the de facto government.

The Honduran military detained Zelaya on June 28 and flew him out of the country. Zelaya is an ally of Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chávez, and many Latin Americans see the Honduran's ouster as a test of the Obama administration's commitment to democracy in the region.

Officials of the current Honduran government say the arrest was legal, noting that Zelaya had defied the Supreme Court in calling a referendum that could have led to overturning the constitution's ban on a second presidential term. But his ouster has been roundly condemned internationally as a coup.

The Honduran imbroglio has spilled over into U.S. politics, with some Republicans charging that the Obama administration is being too soft on Zelaya. On Tuesday, in a sign of protest, four Republicans on the 19-member Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted against the confirmations of two Obama nominees -- Arturo Valenzuela as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and Thomas A. Shannon Jr. as ambassador to Brazil. Both were still approved.

Zelaya has lashed out at the U.S. government in recent days, saying it is not doing enough to help him. But on Tuesday, he praised the State Department announcement.

"This is a coup that has been dead from the start, so they will have to abandon their position of intransigence in the coming hours," he told reporters in the Nicaraguan town of Ocotal near the Honduran border, where he has camped out in recent days with hundreds of supporters.

The interim president, Roberto Micheletti, played down the importance of the U.S. announcement. He said that although he hadn't been targeted, "it wouldn't bother me if the ambassador revoked my visa. He has no justification for doing it," according to the Associated Press.

Yeah, and anybody who thinks Obama hasn't picked sides is mistaken.

Posted by: eddiebear at 10:25 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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No Good Can Come From Negotiating With The Taliban

Seriously. Are the British really going to fucking talk and negotiate with the fucking Taliban? Sadly, it appears so.

For more than a year, British intelligence officers have been instigating contacts with Taliban commanders and their entourage. But their task has been very delicate given the sensitivities of the Karzai administration in Kabul {yeah, given the history of the Taliban to kill anybody not them, they damn well have a right to be concerned-ed.}.

The situation has been complicated further by the influx of hardline and ideologically motivated fighters joining the Taliban and other insurgent groups from across the Pakistani border {this sounds like 2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008-ed.}.

But the fact that senior ministers and military commanders seized on the apparent success of Operation Panther's Claw to highlight the possibility of talks with the Taliban reflects their concern about the lack of progress so far in Nato's counter-insurgency. Significantly, and as if to counter public aversion to talks with the Taliban, ministers and military commanders alike compared the current campaign in southern Afghanistan to anti-terrorist operations in Northern Ireland.

A ComRes poll in today's Independent suggests most people now believe British troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan. Most of those who responded (58%) said the Taliban could not be defeated militarily, and 52% of those surveyed said troops should be withdrawn immediately. This compares with a Guardian/ICM poll earlier this month which showed that 42% of those surveyed wanted troops to be withdrawn immediately.

America's priorities in Afghanistan will be spelled out in a briefing paper drawn up by General Stanley McChrystal, the new US commander in the country, due to be handed to Barack Obama tomorrow.

He will emphasise the need for speeding up the training of Afghan troops, according to defence sources. He is also expected to ask for more troops from Nato allies. British military commanders are drawing up contingency plans to increase the number of British forces to more than 10,000 from the current 9,000.

Asked whether he needed more troops, Brigadier Tim Radford, commander of British troops in Helmand, replied: "I have enough forces to do what I set out to do in Panther's Claw."

The number of British troops that might be deployed in future was "out of my hands", he said. But he added that as the number of Afghan army recruits increased, the number of Nato forces required to train them also increased {and other than the US, Canada, and UK, the NATO troops are in the pacified areas, not the hotspots-ed}.

Miliband's call for talks with more moderate Taliban elements {hah!-ed.}was echoed later by Gordon Brown, who said: "Our strategy has always been to complement the military action that we've got to take to clear the Taliban, to threaten al-Qaida in its bases – while at the same time we put in more money to build the Afghan forces, the troops, the police."

Posted by: eddiebear at 08:42 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Your morning dose of EPIC FAIL, courtesy of The Hill

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 5th most beautiful person on Capitol Hill.

Done bleaching out your eyeballs?  Okay. 

I'm assuming that Rep. Waters threatened The Hill with nationalization if she didn't make the cut.  But do make sure to click to the rest of the link, as there is enough EPIC WIN there to balance it out.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 07:01 AM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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Project much?

Sure, five or six years ago the photoshops were funny, but since then?  I have no fucking idea what Ace or Malkin still see in this douche.

Posted by: Sean M. at 11:52 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
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Help us, Zombie Churchill!

Am I disappointed by this? Yes. Am I surprised? Hardly. It is, after all, a textbook example of FAIL Britannia:

Scores of Scotland Yard officers are in open revolt after being banned from wearing Union Flag badges in support of British troops.

Met chiefs have decreed that the tiny emblems – which cost £1 with proceeds going to charity – must be removed after a complaint that they are offensive.

But furious junior officers are continuing to wear them in defiance at the politically correct stance.

A petition has been launched on the Downing Street website demanding they be allowed to wear the badges, which are to raise funds for the Royal British Legion and the Help for Heroes charity.

Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: ‘The decision to forbid police officers from joining the rest of the country in showing support for those who are fighting for their country is nothing less than shameful.’

Um, maybe it's just me, but if you find the flag of the country you happen to be living in "offensive," you might want to, you know, relocate. Seeing as how you're likely to see that particular symbol rather frequently and all.

Oh, and good on the officers who are defying this stupid order. I don't know if it would help, us being Americans and all, but you can sign a petition supporting them here.

Posted by: Sean M. at 08:44 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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The DCCC is smarter than you

For example, they know that GOP House members are secretly GOP Senate members as well! Behold the title of a press release they sent out today:

Senator Cornyn Votes NO on Sotomayor – Where is Rep. Pete Sessions?

Ummm....I dunno, but I think he may be busy in the U.S. House of Representatives following the Constitution and leaving votes on judicial nominees to Senators.

But what would I know about such matters.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 05:15 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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High standards or just high?

You've all probably seen the Hot Air link to the Politico story about Obama now refunding illegal contributrions.

It's funny for so many reasons (Including how so many of us were screaming about his illegal fundraising), but I'm going to just look at one aspect and it involves making fun of Politico.
Quote
...to identify and return donations that ran afoul of federal election laws or Obama's own strict fundraising standards.

My major problem with Obama? You have to be willfully ignorant and/or stupid to believe anything he says.

Posted by: Veeshir at 02:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm salivating here

Is it just me, or are the infected bleeding more?

More here.

Posted by: Alice H at 01:42 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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You didn't really want that new car you just bought, did you?

I'm sure this is leaving a warm and fuzzy feeling in the mouths of both buyers and dealers.

Some car shoppers are finding that their trade-in vehicles, which qualified for a Cash for Clunkers rebate last week, don't this week thanks to changes in the EPA's fuel economy ratings.

In some cases, car buyers say, dealers are backing out of sales they've already made because the EPA changed the fuel economy figures on their trade-in.

The article continues with the usual CNN tactic of finding that one family that will tug at our heartstrings - the family that purchased a new car, and was later told that they would have to either pony up the additional $4500 or turn in their new car. Can a car that's been driven for a couple of months and then returned even be sold as new?

The law that created Cash for Clunkers (PDF warning) allowed the Feds 30 days from enactment to have all this crap in place. That's...um...tomorrow.

Title XIII, Section 1302 (f) Information to Consumers and Dealers- Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and promptly upon the update of any relevant information, the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall make available on an Internet website and through other means determined by the Secretary information about the Program, including--
(1) how to determine if a vehicle is an eligible trade-in vehicle;
(2) how to participate in the Program, including how to determine participating dealers; and
(3) a comprehensive list, by make and model, of new fuel efficient automobiles meeting the requirements of the Program.

If this act were really designed to help America's economy, wouldn't the qualifying cars for purchase be limited to American owned or manufactured vehicles?  It will be interesting to see how much of the surge in auto purchases goes to overseas companies.  The blatant bread and circuses the Obama administration has handed the people with this bill may be the only transparent thing the administration has done thus far.

Posted by: Alice H at 01:29 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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DHS: "Tornado Alley" a great place to build an infectious pathogen lab

Fortunately somebody at GAO noticed.

WaPo:

The Department of Homeland Security relied on a rushed, flawed study to justify its decision to locate a $700 million research facility for highly infectious pathogens in a tornado-prone section of Kansas, according to a government report.

The department's analysis was not "scientifically defensible" in concluding that it could safely handle dangerous animal diseases in Kansas -- or any other location on the U.S. mainland, according to a Government Accountability Office draft report obtained by The Washington Post. The GAO said DHS greatly underestimated the chance of accidental release and major contamination from such research, which has been conducted only on a remote island off the United States.

Still want government to run health care?

(via Slashdot)

Posted by: JoeCollins at 11:52 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Sen. George Whinybitch laments that there are southerners in the GOP

I am so friggin' sick of this whiny little tool, I'm going to be thrilled when he retires or loses the next election.  Seriously, whining about Southerners in the GOP is like a Democrat whining because there are Californians, New Yorkers and Massholes in the Democrat Party.  It makes no fucking sense.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 11:36 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Independents breaking 2:1 against Obamacare

Majorities think the cost of health care will increase, and the quality will decrease.  I think if we can bog things down long enough, Obamacare will collapse, along with Obama's approval numbers.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 10:51 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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