A President's Day Carol

And there's only a little bit of Bush bashing!

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Nice To See Japanese Politicians Are Following The Kennedy Example

But at least this guy hasn't crashed a car into the river.

Nakagawa was speaking to reporters in Tokyo today after meeting with Prime Minister Taro Aso. Aso called on Nakagawa to remain in his post, the finance chief said.

Nakagawa earlier told lawmakers he had slurred his speech because he had taken double the prescribed dose of medicine at a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers on Feb. 14. The minister appeared to have difficulty understanding questions when addressing reporters after the gathering.

“I took a little more medicine than prescribed,” Nakagawa said at parliament, adding that he had “a sip” of wine earlier at a luncheon. He told reporters outside his home earlier today he “wouldn’t drink before a G-7 meeting” in remarks broadcast by Asahi Television.

Opposition lawmakers will table a motion for Nakagawa to resign as soon as tomorrow, Kyodo News reported, without citing where it obtained the information.

“He has been doing an incredibly good job, and I am grateful for that,” Aso told reporters today. “I told him to take good care of himself.”

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Great Moments In Air Travel

Courtesy of this lady.

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MOTHERFUCKING DUMBASS

I don't know why this irritates me so much but if I had to summarize what is wrong with the Obama Presidency, it is his childish need to keep his Blackberry and his administrations need for private e-mail and instant messaging.

This isn't fucking freshman year at college.  This is the governance of the most powerful nation on EARTH.  You fucking put your bullshit toys away.

And now every fucking hacker on Earth has a new goal and, as the man in the story says, there are hackers sophisticated enough to hack a Blackberry.  I don't care if the NSA gave you their 512 bit encryption.  Any person who chooses to ignore that fact fundamentally misunderstands the importance of the job.

10.... 9.... 8... 7....

Update: Hermit Dave originates some fun for the weekend.  Sample Obama Text Messages!  Here's mine:

To GOP:

I 1 n00bz.  Now r0x0r my $.

Put yours in the comments.

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Emergency!

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Still haven't found a Valentine's Day gift for that special someone?

Well, how about one of these?

Oh, right.  Because the prospect of sleeping on the couch every night for the rest of your life is none too appealing.

Posted by: Sean M. at 07:04 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I May Be Cheap, But I Will Never Go In For "Free Surgery"

Especially from a state-run health clinic.

Health Minister Anant Kumar Singh said initial reports suggested they may have gone blind from infections caused by contaminated eye drops used during surgery.

The case marks the second time in three months that mass blindness has been reported after free government surgeries in the impoverished state of Uttar Pradesh. Nine people went blind after treatment in December.

The latest affected group, most of them between 60 to 70 years old, complained of blurred vision, swelling and itching in their eyes within days of surgery, said I.S. Srivastava, a senior health official in Uttar Pradesh.

He said most also had difficulty seeing in their second eye and it was possible that "all of them have lost their eye sight permanently." All of the patients were sent to a government hospital in the northern city of Lucknow Tuesday night, he said.

Doctors at the state clinic have been ordered not to conduct any more surgeries until the inquiry is complete, Srivastava said.

The state's top elected official, Mayawati, who uses just one name, has suspended two doctors who carried out the surgeries.

Nine patients lost their eyesight in December after undergoing cataract surgery at a state-owned eye hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district.

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Protests in Kentucky

Well, let's see what's in the news:

Liquor industry officials criticized proposed alcohol and cigarette tax increases

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

at a Frankfort rally Tuesday that culminated in protesters dumping bottles of bourbon on the Capitol steps.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111eleventy

If this is what they meant by Change, I want none of it.

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WTF Is Wrong With Wisconsin: #93923220

Right in my back yard. 

Ick.

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Disturbing license plate of the day

I just went out to run an errand, and the SUV in the parking space next to mine had a personalized license plate with only five letters: NSDAP. If you're not sure as to why that's disturbing, click here.

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More Adventures In Air Travel

You know, it's not every day that the airlines burn your luggage.

She looked out the plane's window and saw a man with a hose and a big plume of smoke.

The pilot told Tadel her smoldering luggage would not be allowed on the plane. She nodded in agreement.

The pilot went down and fished her medicine out of the smoking bag. When she returned to her economy seat, an apologetic crew member upgraded her to first class.

For more than two months, Tadel said, that was United's last act of kindness.

When she arrived at O'Hare International Airport, what remained of her belongings were stuffed into a much smaller bag and placed at baggage claim. Tadel opened it to find a hodgepodge of clothing and undergarments. A pair of jeans was pockmarked with burn holes. A blouse was charred and crumpled. Her turtleneck sweater was splotched with black soot.

The bulk of her belongings, roughly two-thirds of what she had packed, was simply gone.

She said that on Dec. 2 she spoke to a customer service agent, who took her information and told her she needed to file a claim form. Tadel said she went online Dec. 4 and filled out the form. She also submitted a detailed list of clothing and incidentals that were damaged or missing. She estimated her loss at $3,300.

The Chicagoan said she also sent a hard copy of the form to United's claim office the same day.

Weeks later, the airline then sent her a FedEx slip and asked her to send the damaged clothing back. Tadel said she took pictures of the clothes, then sent them to United on Jan. 8, along with a third copy of her claim form.

After waiting three more weeks for United to respond, Tadel reached the end of her rope. On Jan. 29, she e-mailed What's Your Problem?

"I have sent numerous e-mails, called several different numbers ... sat on the phone for hours hoping someone can help me," said Tadel, 25. "I have left many voice mails and yet still I have no response from the company."

And to think, she probably paid an extra $25 for that bag to get checked in.

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The Spendulus just passed

The vote was 61-38.  Sens. Collins, Snowe, and Specter voted for it, as expected.

Update: It was the cloture vote.  Whoops.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 05:57 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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MMR Research Faked

Becoming a parent can turn even the most rational person irrational.  In my entire life, no other event has more regularly caused irrational fears and throughts to be taken seriously than that.  So, when my daughter turned one and received her MMR shot, I worried. 

Of course, I knew that the research was basically bullshit and that a tie between a vaccine and an extremely complicated mental disorder was counter-intuitive* the fear was still there.  I found myself watching her and wondering if she was different.  If there were any symptoms.

Turns out the study that raised that ugly fear was completely fabricated by a man that should be executed for manslaughter.

Why manslaughter?  Well, at least two deaths in England can be laid directly at his feet and I'm sure a lot more than that are attributable to his deranged actions.  Like I said, I'm not a person that is prone to irrational thoughts (they tend to be dismissed out of hand instantly) so I can only imagine what effects this study would have on more emotional/less logic-based people.

So, good.  There is no tie. 

And, Andrew Wakefield?  Stay out of Milwaukee, WI because I owe you the physical equivalent of worrying that my daughter's brain has been damaged by a vaccine.  I'm pretty sure the conversion ratio doesn't bode well for your survival chances.

* - Some day I'll expound on my hatred for the modern age's misguided belief that counter-intuitive things are true all the time.  It is a tool of the liberal mindset to be excited when you say "you'd think that, but actually..."

In reality, almost everything that happens is intuitive on some level and things that aren't should be given far more scrutiny because they're probably bullshit.

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Visit Beautiful New Jersey!

Great beaches!  The best gambling on the East Coast!  Kids choking on used condoms!

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Soup FAIL!

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Just wait until they get their unicorns

Remember how the election of The One was supposed to make the rest of the world (you know, the people who actually matter) love us again?  Well, not so much, it turns out...

(h/t)

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Car Care Can Be Perilous

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Bill Gates loses it

I know he's passionate about philanthropy, but, well...

Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft and a renowned philanthropist, let loose a swarm of mosquitoes at a technology conference in California to highlight the dangers of malaria.

‘Malaria is spread by mosquitoes,’ the Microsoft founder yelled at a well-heeled crowd at a technology conference in California.

’I brought some,’ he added. ‘Here, I’ll let them roam around – there is no reason only poor people should be infected.’

It turns out that the mosquitoes weren't infected with malaria, but needless to say, some of the conference participants were not amused.  I can't say I blame them.

Well, it's a good thing he has as much money as he does, seeing as how that seems to be the dividing line between "crazy person yelling and throwing bugs at people" and "eccentric genius."

(Via Elliott in the comments here.)

Posted by: Sean M. at 09:22 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Peas in our time

For years, peace in the Holy Land has been an elusive goal, but with this group of geniuses working on the problem, I'm sure it's finally within reach...

PETA's signs are in Hebrew and in English. They feature Israelis and Palestinians sitting down for a meat-free meal along with the slogans: "Give Peas a Chance," and "Nonviolence Begins on Our Plates: Go Vegetarian."

"Every time that we eat, we can choose not to participate in violence," PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk wrote Wednesday in a letter. "While choosing a falafel sandwich over a lamb kebab doesn't create instant peace, it reduces the sum total of violence and suffering in the world."

Yeah, um, if this is supposed to promote peace, why am I suddenly filled with murderous rage?

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Planned Parenthood caught again

Lila Rose does another undercover report, this time on a Planned Parenthood in Arizona, where they fail to report the statutory rape of a 15 year old.  Planned Parenthood needs to be held accountable for this.

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