If The Gadfly really wanted to blow your mind he would post this:
If you still think global climate change isn't going to affect you --- dream, or nightmare on.....
----TFG
Politics, Humor, Music and just the plain simple pleasure of being an annoying sonofabitch.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
If I Don't Say So Myself . . . .
One of the many of American rock n' roll's roots:
Eddie fucking Van Halen -- eat ur hear out.
----TFG
Eddie fucking Van Halen -- eat ur hear out.
----TFG
Jeebus Kripsmas . . . . . . .
The Gadfly has already had one family member testing his patience this eve .... before we let it get to a point where nobody wins, lets agree on this:
70's Pop music sucked so hard that the vacuum it created came back around and made 80's hair band bands --- like these clowns:
-TFG
70's Pop music sucked so hard that the vacuum it created came back around and made 80's hair band bands --- like these clowns:
-TFG
Smells Like Nirvana . . . . not Madonna . . .
Ok -- so The Gadfly has had a decent run of posts these past few days. Even by The Gadfly's standards, it is considered overkill.
Therefore .. let's let our guard down and expose our inner idiot to each other ...
Here's The Gadfly's offering to that proposal: . . . .
Don't even try to compete with me .... The Gadfly has 52 years of life experiences to humble you with.
----TFG
Therefore .. let's let our guard down and expose our inner idiot to each other ...
Here's The Gadfly's offering to that proposal: . . . .
Don't even try to compete with me .... The Gadfly has 52 years of life experiences to humble you with.
----TFG
The Year The Gadfly Stopped Giving a Shit About his Government and Started Loving The Snowden . . .
Yawn . . . .
BRUSSELS/BERLIN, June 30 (Reuters) - The European Union has demanded that the United States explain a report in a German magazine that Washington is spying on the group, using unusually strong language to confront its closest trading partner over its alleged surveillance activities.
A spokeswoman for the European Commission said on Sunday the EU contacted U.S. authorities in Washington and Brussels about a report in Der Spiegel magazine that the U.S. secret service had tapped EU offices in Washington and Brussels and at the United Nations.
"We have immediately been in contact with the U.S. authorities in Washington D.C. and in Brussels and have confronted them with the press reports," the spokeswoman said.
"They have told us they are checking on the accuracy of the information released yesterday and will come back to us," she added in a statement.
Der Spiegel reported on its website on Saturday that the National Security Agency had bugged EU offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks in the latest revelation of alleged U.S. spying that has prompted outrage from EU politicians.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/30/us-spying-on-europe_n_3525320.html
The Gadfly is yawning for two reasons. First, the twelve pack of Shock Top beers that The Gadfly imbibed in last night is catching up to his ass, and secondly, because the Europeans are feigning shock about something, that anyone who has been paying attention to since 9/11/2001, already fucking knew about.
Face it - America's national security apparatus has gone rogue in their spastic response to 9/11. They are out of control and paranoia rules their day. EVERYbody and EVERYone is suspicious to them. Hell, The Gadfly has already accepted the reality that his name and his political views are tightly stored in a digital dossier somewhere deep in the caverns of the NSA's computer database. It is what it fucking sadly is.
But what Edward Snowden did wasn't to reveal some "shocking" new information that nobody in the whole world knew about --- that claim is so laughable that it just simply irritates The Gadfly's staid sensibilities to the point of him wanting to pee on the shoe tops of those making that claim. What Snowden has done is to "dramatize" that which was already known, and make an international story of it. That is a whole different animal.
Snowden, by his actions of international flight mostly, has managed to keep this story in the news headlines for much longer than previous whistle blower stories accomplished. That, in and of itself, is not a crime -- in fact, The Gadfly would argue that it is an act of heroism.
Before we go on - it is crucial that you, dear reader, know the story of one Mr. William Binney:
William Binney — one of the best mathematicians and code breakers in National Security Agency (NSA) history — worked for America's premier covert intelligence gathering organization for 32 years before resigning in late 2001 because he "could not stay after the NSA began purposefully violating the Constitution."
Binney claims that the NSA took one of the programs he built, known as ThinThread, and started using the program and members of his team to spy on virtually every U.S. citizen under the code-name Stellar Wind.
Thanks to NSA whistleblower/leaker Edward Snowden, documents detailing the top-secret surveillance program have now been published for the first time.
And they corroborate what Binney has said for years.
Edward Snowden is not a trailblazer in the arena of standing up and talking publicly about the unconstitutional, criminal behavior of his government. He is simply the latest actor - a dramatic one at that - but his revelations are not new.
William Binney has been stalked, harassed and threatened with prosecution to the point where he has just accepted his fate that his government will do as they please with him without regard to decency and justice.
Yeah kids -- we're living in a sad world. You by virtue of your birth in this country are now considered a "potential" suspect of wrongdoing as defined by the state.
You all can sit around and accept your circumstances. The Gadfly grants you that right. But this citizen isn't going to go to his grave quite so docilely.
So it stands to reason -- they already have every one of your phone calls and your e-mails and your blog posts and your Facebook posts -- so what do you have to lose at this point? Speak up --- if not for your own self interests, then for your children's or grandchildren's future interests?
The Gadfly can't ask any more than that. Either you give a shit about the future of your country or you do not. Yeah - it's a stark fucking choice but so is the choice between life or death.
----TFG
Consistency!!!!!
The Gadfly's tiresome old eyes read in the toob newz yesterday that American gays can marry (and divorce - just like us non-gays).
The Gadfly shrugged his shoulders. To him it was the equivalent event of his dear tomcat passing gas - something natural that is, and or was, bound to happen.
The Gadfly has been blissfully and frightfully married for 24 years to a human being not of his same sex. Never, in those 24 years, has The Gadfly ever felt that the idea of two gals, or two fellows who truly love each other and want the same partner rights as The Gadfly and his beloved possess, posed a threat to his magical union. Nada. Nope. Not once. Never crossed the old man's mind.
In fact -- that supposition is asinine on it's face. If you are so insecure about your own fucking marriage that the mere thought of Joe and Tim down the street exchanging vows at the courthouse threatens the foundation of your relationship with your wife --- you might want to consider checking in to the nearest psychiatric ward. Barring that - maybe you really shouldn't be married at all.
And it goes without saying that this conversation merges perfectly with the abortion debate and the ongoing onslaught of state laws authored by conservatives to either drastically restrict family planning services for women or deny them outright.
The late, great, truly great, George Carlin addressed this barbaric stupidity 16 years ago -- long before the bobbleheads on television and cable news were squawking about it -- and by god if The Gadfly has anything to say about it, you dear readers will complement your corporate bought knowledge catalog with some true, blue American ..... truth:
CNN -- fuck you. Fox -- fuck you. MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC -- fuck you.
George Carlin was a rare invitee on these channel's shows for the simple reason that the man told the truth about his beloved America and the suits in their ivory towers knew they could not allow that to happen.
Edward Snowden -- eat 'ur heart out . . .
-----TFG
The Gadfly shrugged his shoulders. To him it was the equivalent event of his dear tomcat passing gas - something natural that is, and or was, bound to happen.
The Gadfly has been blissfully and frightfully married for 24 years to a human being not of his same sex. Never, in those 24 years, has The Gadfly ever felt that the idea of two gals, or two fellows who truly love each other and want the same partner rights as The Gadfly and his beloved possess, posed a threat to his magical union. Nada. Nope. Not once. Never crossed the old man's mind.
In fact -- that supposition is asinine on it's face. If you are so insecure about your own fucking marriage that the mere thought of Joe and Tim down the street exchanging vows at the courthouse threatens the foundation of your relationship with your wife --- you might want to consider checking in to the nearest psychiatric ward. Barring that - maybe you really shouldn't be married at all.
And it goes without saying that this conversation merges perfectly with the abortion debate and the ongoing onslaught of state laws authored by conservatives to either drastically restrict family planning services for women or deny them outright.
The late, great, truly great, George Carlin addressed this barbaric stupidity 16 years ago -- long before the bobbleheads on television and cable news were squawking about it -- and by god if The Gadfly has anything to say about it, you dear readers will complement your corporate bought knowledge catalog with some true, blue American ..... truth:
CNN -- fuck you. Fox -- fuck you. MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC -- fuck you.
George Carlin was a rare invitee on these channel's shows for the simple reason that the man told the truth about his beloved America and the suits in their ivory towers knew they could not allow that to happen.
Edward Snowden -- eat 'ur heart out . . .
-----TFG
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Intrafractitudal Goings on . . .
The Gadfly has already had one family member test his patience this eve .... before we let it get to a point where nobody wins, lets agree on this:
..... 70's Pop music sucked so hard that the vacuum it created came back around and made 80's hair band music sound acceptable. . .
----- TFG
..... 70's Pop music sucked so hard that the vacuum it created came back around and made 80's hair band music sound acceptable. . .
----- TFG
Republican Hood and The Big Bad Hillary Wolf . . . .
Lol.
Jeebus -- they really are terrified of having to field a candidate against her aren't they?:
WASHINGTON — Stuart Stevens, the top strategist for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, declared to an audience of reporters at a breakfast last month that electing Hillary Rodham Clintonwould be like going back in time. “She’s been around since the ’70s,” he said.
At a conservative conference earlier in the year, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, ridiculed the 2016 Democratic field as “a rerun of ‘The Golden Girls,’ ” referring to Mrs. Clinton and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is 70.
And Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, seizing on the Fleetwood Mac song that became a Clinton family anthem, quipped to an audience in Washington, “If you want to keep thinking about tomorrow, maybe it’s time to put somebody new in.”
The 2016 election may be far off, but one theme is becoming clear: Republican strategists and presidential hopefuls, in ways subtle and overt, are eager to focus a spotlight on Mrs. Clinton’s age. The former secretary of state will be 69 by the next presidential election, a generation removed from most of the possible Republican candidates.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/us/politics/republicans-paint-clinton-as-old-news-for-2016-presidential-election.html?_r=0
Yeah - and John McCain was 72 years old when you clowns picked him to run in 2008 - so what's your fucking point?
The Gadfly will state for the record -- he does have a measured level of respect and admiration (key word = measured) for Mrs. Clinton. There is no arguing that her record of public service rivals any male candidate, Democrat or Republican, that has ever run for the Presidency. And - she has been put through a whole lot of nasty shit in the political arena over the years - the kind of shit that has broken and destroyed many a male politician. That being said though, November of 2016 is a long damn way off, and anyone who is analyzing candidates and making predictions on who is going to run at this point in time are, quite frankly, engaging in quite the monumental act of farcical wankery.
Nonetheless -- The Gadfly is mirthfully amused at how the GOP is openly telegraphing to the world their scrotum-sac shriveling fear of having to face Hillary Clinton in a general election for the Presidency, even though she herself has made not one single statement intimating her intentions either for or against the possibility of running.
To The Gadfly, it is just additional evidence, added to the mountainous pile of evidence that already exists, that the Republican party these days, thanks in much part to the cowardly lion Teatards, is nothing more than an arrogant mob of chest pounding loudmouths who could easily be mistaken for a quivering horde of frightful political pussies.
The Gadfly himself would prefer to see a younger, more progressive Democrat or Independent run in 2016, but since the GOP is already pissing and shitting in their collective panties at the thought of Hillary running, The Gadfly could potentially see himself getting behind a President Hillary campaign, if only for the entertainment factor of watching the Teabaggers and the GOP do their Chicken Little/The Sky is Falling comedy pratfall routine over the next 3 years.
----TFG
Gohmert Pyle and The Song of Solomon . . . and a 1, and a 2 and a 3 ... Hit it Boys!
The Gadfly has, on more than a few occasions during his prolific blogging career, found cause to make the proclamation that most of the politicians in this country who are outspoken about their Christianity, are just out and out flaming hypocrites and ignorant frauds.
And what exactly, do you dear reader surely inquire, gives The Gadfly the right to question the genuineness of these good, decent Christian politician's faith?
Well - since you asked . . . .
[ h/t crooksandliars.com ]
That was Texas Loony Toons Congress critter Louie Gohmert (who rumor has it, has disco dancing squirrels juggling knives inside his head) quoting Solomon, the hedonist son of David and Bathsheba from the Book of Kings in the Old Testament, in a priceless effort to voice his opposition to the Supreme Court's decision on gay marriage.
So where does the hypocrisy, ignorance and fraud come in to play in that video clip, you dear reader may ask?
Well - for starters - King Solomon is quite the curious, and arguably creative, choice for Congressman Gohmert to put forth as a qualified spokesman on the subject of marriage sanctity -- considering that the man, during his 80 purported years of life, had amassed an impressive stable of 700 wives and 300 concubines. The wives, according to scripture, were all foreign princesses, and the concubines - well - let us just refer to them as "ladies of the evening" - m'kay?
The Gadfly only broaches this subject because he is truly pretty fucking sick and tired of the Louie Gohmerts of the world employing cynical ignorance of their own religion as an attack weapon and a divisive force against those whom they have political disagreements with - and even more so while simultaneously collecting a paycheck on the taxpaying public's dime.
So Louie, Louie -- go pound holy sand you phony dumb ass and keep your Saturday morning cartoon religious visions to yourself. On that note - please do also take some time out of your busybody life of making other people's lives miserable to actually read your precious Bible - you just might learn something useful from it. . . . on second thought - scratch that suggestion . . . just go pound holy sand.
----TFG
And what exactly, do you dear reader surely inquire, gives The Gadfly the right to question the genuineness of these good, decent Christian politician's faith?
Well - since you asked . . . .
[ h/t crooksandliars.com ]
That was Texas Loony Toons Congress critter Louie Gohmert (who rumor has it, has disco dancing squirrels juggling knives inside his head) quoting Solomon, the hedonist son of David and Bathsheba from the Book of Kings in the Old Testament, in a priceless effort to voice his opposition to the Supreme Court's decision on gay marriage.
So where does the hypocrisy, ignorance and fraud come in to play in that video clip, you dear reader may ask?
Well - for starters - King Solomon is quite the curious, and arguably creative, choice for Congressman Gohmert to put forth as a qualified spokesman on the subject of marriage sanctity -- considering that the man, during his 80 purported years of life, had amassed an impressive stable of 700 wives and 300 concubines. The wives, according to scripture, were all foreign princesses, and the concubines - well - let us just refer to them as "ladies of the evening" - m'kay?
The Gadfly only broaches this subject because he is truly pretty fucking sick and tired of the Louie Gohmerts of the world employing cynical ignorance of their own religion as an attack weapon and a divisive force against those whom they have political disagreements with - and even more so while simultaneously collecting a paycheck on the taxpaying public's dime.
So Louie, Louie -- go pound holy sand you phony dumb ass and keep your Saturday morning cartoon religious visions to yourself. On that note - please do also take some time out of your busybody life of making other people's lives miserable to actually read your precious Bible - you just might learn something useful from it. . . . on second thought - scratch that suggestion . . . just go pound holy sand.
----TFG
Friday, June 28, 2013
WHOMP! There it is! . . . . SMACKdown! . . . . WHOMP! There it is! . . .
The Gadfly is swooning . . . . a new heroine is among us . . . .
Apparently there was a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday, which typically does not induce anything but a yawn attack in The Gadfly, but oh dear reader -- this was a very, very special hearing.
Apparently the hearing was a typically routine, mundane government oversight hearing dealing with the captivating subject of the IRS and government contracts.
Routine and mundane that is, until The Gadfly's new heroine, Illinois Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth showed up for the festivities.
Tammy Duckworth, if you are not in the know, is a Democratic Congresswoman and former Iraq war veteran, who while piloting a Blackhawk helicopter during a combat mission in Iraq, was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade by Iraqi insurgents. The explosion blew off both of her legs and most of her right arm. She spent months recuperating from her devastating injuries, came back home to Illinois, saw that some guy named Joe Walsh (not from The Eagles), a Teabagging asshole loser, had become her Congressman, and decided to challenge him for his seat. She won.
But the Gadfly digresses -- back to the mundane hearing.
Apparently this particular oversight hearing was investigating how it came to be that a fine, upstanding American CEO, by the name of Braulio Castillo, had secured a $500 million dollar IT contract with the IRS based on his status as a "service-disabled veteran-owned business" man.
Something was wrong with the picture though. It seems Mr. Castillo came by his military disability in quite a unique manner -- he had suffered a foot injury playing football at a military prep-school many years ago. Yup - that's it folks. The poor fellow twisted his ankle playing football at WhinyRichLittleShit Military Academy. Funny thing though -- this grievous injury apparently wasn't grievous enough to prevent Castillo from going on to play football in college, nor did it interfere with his then Republican Congressman nominating him for admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
So -- basically this guy had used this military prep school twisted ankle tragedy and some inappropriate lobbying of an IRS contact to get his very own, sweet little $500 mil. public money teat to suckle at. Unfortunately for him, and a godsend to The Gadfly, Major Tammy Duckworth got wind of it. And the rest is history.
Watch, and more importanly - learn, how someone who does not suffer fools nor frauds lightly deals with such a situation:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/tammy-duckworth-strong-castle_n_3504531.html
Those are the yelps of excruciating pain (not the twisted ankle kind of pain - The Gadfly assures you) emanating from CEO Braulio Castillo's crooked mouth as Tammy Duckworth yanks the barbed, red hot poker out of his scaly rectum after she personally rammed it up there and twisted it around a few dozen times herself.
There aren't many things that The Gadfly sees these days that brings tears of joy to his weathered and cynical old eyes -- but baby, oh baby -- this was one such viewing.
Now if we can only tap some of Major Duckworth's DNA and inject it in to Obama's spine, maybe there is still a chance that this country can turn things around.
----TFG
Apparently there was a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday, which typically does not induce anything but a yawn attack in The Gadfly, but oh dear reader -- this was a very, very special hearing.
Apparently the hearing was a typically routine, mundane government oversight hearing dealing with the captivating subject of the IRS and government contracts.
Routine and mundane that is, until The Gadfly's new heroine, Illinois Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth showed up for the festivities.
Tammy Duckworth, if you are not in the know, is a Democratic Congresswoman and former Iraq war veteran, who while piloting a Blackhawk helicopter during a combat mission in Iraq, was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade by Iraqi insurgents. The explosion blew off both of her legs and most of her right arm. She spent months recuperating from her devastating injuries, came back home to Illinois, saw that some guy named Joe Walsh (not from The Eagles), a Teabagging asshole loser, had become her Congressman, and decided to challenge him for his seat. She won.
But the Gadfly digresses -- back to the mundane hearing.
Apparently this particular oversight hearing was investigating how it came to be that a fine, upstanding American CEO, by the name of Braulio Castillo, had secured a $500 million dollar IT contract with the IRS based on his status as a "service-disabled veteran-owned business" man.
Something was wrong with the picture though. It seems Mr. Castillo came by his military disability in quite a unique manner -- he had suffered a foot injury playing football at a military prep-school many years ago. Yup - that's it folks. The poor fellow twisted his ankle playing football at WhinyRichLittleShit Military Academy. Funny thing though -- this grievous injury apparently wasn't grievous enough to prevent Castillo from going on to play football in college, nor did it interfere with his then Republican Congressman nominating him for admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
So -- basically this guy had used this military prep school twisted ankle tragedy and some inappropriate lobbying of an IRS contact to get his very own, sweet little $500 mil. public money teat to suckle at. Unfortunately for him, and a godsend to The Gadfly, Major Tammy Duckworth got wind of it. And the rest is history.
Watch, and more importanly - learn, how someone who does not suffer fools nor frauds lightly deals with such a situation:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/tammy-duckworth-strong-castle_n_3504531.html
Oooch! Owwch!! Yeeoww!!! Arrgggggggh!!!!
Those are the yelps of excruciating pain (not the twisted ankle kind of pain - The Gadfly assures you) emanating from CEO Braulio Castillo's crooked mouth as Tammy Duckworth yanks the barbed, red hot poker out of his scaly rectum after she personally rammed it up there and twisted it around a few dozen times herself.
There aren't many things that The Gadfly sees these days that brings tears of joy to his weathered and cynical old eyes -- but baby, oh baby -- this was one such viewing.
Now if we can only tap some of Major Duckworth's DNA and inject it in to Obama's spine, maybe there is still a chance that this country can turn things around.
----TFG
If You Can't Do The Time, Don't Chalk The Walk . . . .
Jeebus . . .
Is this what America the "Great" has come to?:
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18056-man-who-scrawled-chalk-protests-on-sidewalk-against-big-banks-faces-possible-prison
So basically, a San Diego, CA guy who got screwed over by Bank of America (The Gadfly welcomes you to that prestigious club pal) decides to speak out against their well known criminal banking methods by writing protest messages in chalk on the public sidewalk in front of his local B of A branch. The B of A rent-a-cop head honcho, a former SDPD cop himself apparently, is perturbed by such communistic behavior, so he runs to his pals in the city attorney's office and gets them to charge the poor schmuck with a series of gang crimes infractions which are punishable by up to 13 years in prison.
And don't you just love that added little touch of quaint totalitarianism wherein the judge bans the defendant or his attorney's from even broaching the subject of First Amendment free speech rights? Can we say HEIL HITLER!?!
The Gadfly has only one word for these people . . . . . . . Fuckers.
This is the kind of shit that is going to come back and haunt the elites in this country eventually. The Gadfly says "eventually" because he believes it really is just a matter of time before the ruling class presses their jack-boot of oppression just a little too hard on the carotid artery of the American working man's neck -- and then it's:
And those my dear reader friends are the joyous sounds of a free people exercising their rights to pursue life, liberty and happiness by breaking the femur bone of the leg that was attached to the jack-booted foot that had been heavily pressed for way too long against their persecuted collar bones.
----TFG
Is this what America the "Great" has come to?:
Jeff Olson, 40, of San Diego is currently on trial for writing messages on sidewalks protesting big banks and their predatory practices. Olson used water soluble chalk to express his advocacy on public walkways in front of three Bank of America branches in San Diego.
Yes, by water soluble it means that when it rains or is hosed down the chalk dissolves.
Months after he finished chalking his protests, he was charged with 13 misdemeanors that could, conceivably, land him in jail for nearly 13 years.
The trial, which is now underway, resulted from the contracted head of security for Bank of America in San Diego, Darell Freeman, leaning on his apparent former colleagues in the SD police department. Paige Hazard, deputy city attorney, informed Olson of the charges, after a prosecution referral was received from -- get this -- the city's gang crimes unit.
A San Diego television station reported this chilling twist to the opening of the trial on June 26:
During pre-trial motions prosecutors introduced a motion to prohibit Olson’s defense attorney Tom Tosdal from using the words First Amendment, free speech, free expression and other similar terms during the trial. The judge agreed saying jurors should focus on whether Olson committed vandalism and not why he did it.
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18056-man-who-scrawled-chalk-protests-on-sidewalk-against-big-banks-faces-possible-prison
So basically, a San Diego, CA guy who got screwed over by Bank of America (The Gadfly welcomes you to that prestigious club pal) decides to speak out against their well known criminal banking methods by writing protest messages in chalk on the public sidewalk in front of his local B of A branch. The B of A rent-a-cop head honcho, a former SDPD cop himself apparently, is perturbed by such communistic behavior, so he runs to his pals in the city attorney's office and gets them to charge the poor schmuck with a series of gang crimes infractions which are punishable by up to 13 years in prison.
And don't you just love that added little touch of quaint totalitarianism wherein the judge bans the defendant or his attorney's from even broaching the subject of First Amendment free speech rights? Can we say HEIL HITLER!?!
The Gadfly has only one word for these people . . . . . . . Fuckers.
This is the kind of shit that is going to come back and haunt the elites in this country eventually. The Gadfly says "eventually" because he believes it really is just a matter of time before the ruling class presses their jack-boot of oppression just a little too hard on the carotid artery of the American working man's neck -- and then it's:
And those my dear reader friends are the joyous sounds of a free people exercising their rights to pursue life, liberty and happiness by breaking the femur bone of the leg that was attached to the jack-booted foot that had been heavily pressed for way too long against their persecuted collar bones.
----TFG
The Teabagger Revolution -- One State at a Time . . . . First Up - The Tar Heel State . . . .
This is the predictable outcome of electing self-centered, vindictive extremists to positions of legislative power:
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — With changes to its unemployment law taking effect this weekend, North Carolina not only is cutting benefits for those who file new claims, it will become the first state disqualified from a federal compensation program for the long-term jobless.
State officials adopted the package of benefit cuts and increased taxes for businesses in February, a plan designed to accelerate repayment of a $2.5 billion federal debt. Like many states, North Carolina had racked up the debt by borrowing from Washington after its unemployment fund was drained by jobless benefits during the Great Recession.
The changes go into effect Sunday for North Carolina, which has the country’s fifth-worst jobless rate. The cuts on those who make unemployment claims on or after that day will disqualify the state from receiving federally funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation. That money kicks in after the state’s period of unemployment compensation — now shortened from up to six months to no more than five — runs out. The EUC program is available to long-term jobless in all states. But keeping the money flowing includes a requirement that states can’t cut average weekly benefits.
Because North Carolina leaders cut average weekly benefits for new claims, about 170,000 workers whose state benefits expire this year will lose more than $700 million in EUC payments, the U.S. Labor Department said.http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/north-carolina-becomes-first-state-to-eliminate-unemployment-benefits.php
Ahh yes -- because nothing says "we've got your back fellow American" than kicking the already down and out to the curb by running a box-cutter blade to the underside of the fragile safety net that these people have been desperately clinging to, and as their destitute asses fall to the cold hard cement, handing them a one-way ticket to the poor house accompanied by an emotionless smile and the now truly meaningless words, "God bless America."
----TFG
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Glenn Greenwald is Gay! There -- That Absolves All Government Crimes and Coverups For-evuh! . . .
Here's just one additional example as to why The Gadfly does not give a rat's fucking bunghole about the U.S. government's, or the lapdogs in the American mainstream media for that matter, screams of "traitor!" aimed at NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden:
Glenn Greenwald
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 June 2013 16.21 EDT
When I made the choice to report aggressively on top-secret NSA programs, I knew that I would inevitably be the target of all sorts of personal attacks and smears. You don't challenge the most powerful state on earth and expect to do so without being attacked. As a superb Guardian editorial noted today: "Those who leak official information will often be denounced, prosecuted or smeared. The more serious the leak, the fiercer the pursuit and the greater the punishment."http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/26/nsa-revelations-response-to-smears
To get right to the point -- the lazy, incompetent, gutless U.S. media, apparently, is infinitely more interested in digging in to Edward Snowden's pre-NSA personal life, his ex-girlfriend's life, and now are surreptitiously probing journalist Glenn Greenwald's personal past, because by their calculations, character assassination is a much simpler undertaking than actually investigating why the U.S. government is mass spying on and hacking in to American citizen's private communications without probable cause.
But, horror of horrors, if anyone dare request that the media just do their fucking job, which at one point in time in American press history meant reporting the unbiased truth to the American people - it just ain't gonna happen. Unfortunately for all of us, and more importantly for democracy, they are just much too busy sniffing in people's underwear drawers to bother with such a troublesome business as defending the constitution from enemies at home.
All the more more reason The Gadfly urges his dear readers to eschew the viewing of any news shows on network or cable television and urge others to do the same. Your media obviously have taken it upon themselves to act as water carriers for their corporate paymaster sugar daddies and the powerful intelligence apparatus, which is now disturbingly corporatized as well, so why would anyone, ever, look to them for the truth on any matter, trivial or significant?
Do yourself a favor dear reader and preserve the integrity of your worldly knowledge faculties. . .
Turn the mainstream media OFF!
Turn them OFF NOW!!
----TFG
P.S. : And yes - it is actually true (per the post title) that Glenn Greenwald is gay, which as you can rightly imagine dear reader, means goddamn for certain that an army of peckerheaded little NSA moles is presently hard at work burrowing in to his private life from moment of birth to the present in a cynical attempt to dig up any sexual related dirt they can, regardless of significance. For by doing so, they seek to make the story about Mr. Greenwald instead of their own criminal and unconstitutional actions.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
The Day They Dug Old Dixie Up . . . . . .
The Gadfly is not in the least bit surprised by the action today of the conservative bloc of black-robed charlatans on the SCOTUS, which by even the most generous assessment, basically amounts to a precedent mocking, slitting of the throat of The Voting Rights Act (VRA.)
Keep in mind that this is the same Act that was renewed in 2006 by an uncontroversial 390-33 vote in the House and a 98-0 vote in the Senate. What major, ground-shifting event has occurred in U.S. politics since then? If you answered - the election and re-election of the nation's first black President in addition to emerging, rock-solid evidence that minority voting demographics are trending at an unwavering pace away from Republican party support, you get a beautiful yellow smiley sticker. ☺
Does that mean, you dear reader may ask, that The Gadfly is of the belief that today's SCOTUS decision was a racist one? No -- at least not overtly anyway. In fact, The Gadfly is much more certain that this cynical decision is much more about the blatantly provincial, self-preservation of the conservative ideological movement than anything else -- although The Gadfly did get a hearty laugh out of Chief Justice John Robert's line in the majority opinion which absurdly stated "our country has changed," wherein Roberts was referring to the well documented history of minority voter suppression in the nine southern states, which was the catalyst for the VRA's existence to begin with. Because yes Mr. Roberts - lord knows that prejudice and racism are extinct attitudes in the deep south dontcha know? Hell - just ask Paula Deen. In fact - Shit Mr. Chief Justice! -- just show up at any random TeaBagger rally in any of those 9 states that were bound by the VRA law and come back and tell dear old Gadfly how "our country has changed" for the better on the subject of racism. You Mr. Chief Justice, quite simply put, are full of pure, unadulterated bullshit.
Nonetheless - we already have a recorded history trail that proves beyond a shadow of any reasonable doubt that what the conservatives on the SCOTUS accomplished today, has been a decades old goal of the far right - as evidenced by this amazing video of the late right wing conservative leader Paul Weyrich, outright admitting to a 1980 gathering of evangelical political leaders, that the more Americans who have un-encumbered access to their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote - the worse news it is for Republicans and their beloved conservative movement as a whole:
So yeah Mr. Roberts -- The Gadfly does not doubt that you and the other Supremo finks can bullshit the gutless lapdogs in the mainstream media in to believing that your motive in today's decision was legalistically pure, but those of us who pay attention to this shit are not in the least sense persuaded by your fork-tongued, weasel-like double talk.
And it goes without saying that based on today's travesty, The Gadfly longs for an even more drastic and expedited flight of minority voters away from the GOP and in to the waiting, multi-ethnic arms of the Democrats - not that that is necessarily a productive, long term trend, but until it has accomplished the needed effect of a sledgehammer pounding some sense in to the cracker skulls of the Republican poobahs, it's a necessary evil.
----TFG
**UPDATE** . . .
Didn't take the neo-Jim Crow crowd in Texas very long to act did it:
Just two hours after the Supreme Court reasoned that discrimination is not rampant enough in Southern states to warrant restrictions under the Voting Rights Act, Texas is already advancing a voter ID law and a redistricting map blocked last year for discriminating against black and Latino residents.http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/06/25/2212281/two-hours-after-the-supreme-court-gutted-the-voting-rights-act-texas-ag-suppresses-minority-voters/
The Gadfly rests his case.
----TFG
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Let Them Eat Popsicles and Honeycomb! . . . .
Another superb example of why The Gadfly has such a visceral hatred of right wing Republicans:
Donny Ferguson, an aide to outspoken right-wing congressman Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) claims that people who say that the Special Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps, isn’t enough to live on are lying and that the program should be cut even further. Think Progress flagged a Stockman press release in which Ferguson said he believed that the weekly allotment of food for one person of $31.50 is too generous because he claims was able to purchase a week’s worth of food for $27.58.
“I wanted to personally experience the effects of the proposed cuts to food stamps. I didn’t plan ahead or buy strategically, I just saw the publicity stunt and made a snap decision to drive down the street and try it myself,” Ferguson said in the release. “I put my money where my mouth is, and the proposed food stamp cuts are still quite filling.”
Ferguson was reacting to the “SNAP Challenge,” in which Democratic legislators and activists are protesting proposed cuts to the newest Farm Bill, which would slash benefits to people on SNAP. To protest the cuts, people taking the challenge will attempt to live for a week on the amount of food money allotted to people who receive SNAP benefits, $31.50 a week, or $4.50 per day.
Stockman’s office called the challenge “a left-wing publicity stunt” and claimed “Democrats have been intentionally buying overpriced food and shopping at high-priced chains to make it appear the cuts go too far.”
With his $27.58, Ferguson purchased:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/19/right-wing-aide-food-stamp-cuts-are-ok-because-i-saved-money-living-on-them/Two boxes of Honeycomb cerealThree cans of red beans and riceJar of peanut butterBottle of grape jellyLoaf of whole wheat breadTwo cans of refried beansBox of spaghettiLarge can of pasta sauceTwo liters of root beerLarge box of popsicles24 servings of Wyler’s fruit drink mixEight cups of applesauceBag of pinto beansBag of riceBag of cookiesGallon milkBox of instant oatmeal
So basically, in order to prove to all of the brain-dead teabaggers that $31.50 a week for food is way too much goldurn money for a human being to survive on and ,some wingnut Congressman's lackey by the name of Donny Ferguson, goes to his local grocer, buys $27.58 cents worth of "food" which he claims he himself could live off of for a week and voila! - case closed (and stated so with the smuggest of disdainful smirks).
The Gadfly would ask of you dear readers though -- anyone notice the one critically important item missing from Mr. Ferguson's shopping list there above? If you said - FUCKING NUTRITION! - give yourself a bright, yellow smiley sticker. ☺
Because yeah -- who the fuck doesn't want to fast track their health into the shitter by eating popsicles, jelly, peanut butter, Honeycomb, cookies and refried beans, and washing it all down with .99 cent liter bottles of plain label root beer and powdered drink mix week in and week out?
And also, The Gadfly discovered via another news site that Ferguson did not actually take up the challenge of living for a whole week off of his grocery list like the other Congress critters did -- oh no -- after purchasing his sundries, he dropped them off at a food bank. So in all truthfulness, it appears the only point he ever meant to make was that he himself is a flaming fucking dick.
The Gadfly truly has to laugh at cowards like this. And more so because these are the people who lead the teabagging, right wing faction of the Republican party these days - and they are the same losers who are being a thorn in John Boehner's fat, pasty white ass right now and are the number one reason why nothing in Congress is getting accomplished.
Listening to the Tea fuckheads is the Republican Party suicide decision. Pure and simple. The demographics and numbers do not lie. They are a dying party, and the few sane members of their caucus know it, yet they are powerless to do anything about it.
Think about it --- arguing to deny poor people a couple of extra weeks of that lovely grocery list above is more fucking important than maybe raising the tax rate 1% on the cocksuckingly obscenely wealthy bastards who are already employing legions of attorneys to dodge every goddamn tax law that was ever legislated. If that's not suicide by cave man politics, what is?
So yeah - Mr. Republican - pretend that you made a valid point with your little shopping list. Thankfully there are still enough sane people in this country to know what a prick move that was and it simply validates the view of us dirty hippies that the right wing in this country is just one goose step away from tyranny by assholery should they ever gain total power.
----TFG
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Capitalism as an End to Justify Criminally Gluttonous Means . . .
Rolling Stone Magazine's Matt Taibbi, one of the remaining handful of investigative journalists in the country who has actually earned the right to call themselves a journalist, is to the U.S. financial system what unfiltered, bright sunlight is to bloodthirsty vampires.
Observe:
W
hat about the ratings agencies?
That's what "they" always say about the financial crisis and the teeming rat's nest of corruption it left behind. Everybody else got plenty of blame: the greed-fattened banks, the sleeping regulators, the unscrupulous mortgage hucksters like spray-tanned Countrywide ex-CEO Angelo Mozilo.
But what about the ratings agencies? Isn't it true that almost none of the fraud that's swallowed Wall Street in the past decade could have taken place without companies like Moody's and Standard & Poor's rubber-stamping it? Aren't they guilty, too?
Man, are they ever. And a lot more than even the least generous of us suspected.
Thanks to a mountain of evidence gathered for a pair of major lawsuits, documents that for the most part have never been seen by the general public, we now know that the nation's two top ratings companies, Moody's and S&P, have for many years been shameless tools for the banks, willing to give just about anything a high rating in exchange for cash.
In incriminating e-mail after incriminating e-mail, executives and analysts from these companies are caught admitting their entire business model is crooked.
"Lord help our fucking scam . . . this has to be the stupidest place I have worked at," writes one Standard & Poor's executive. "As you know, I had difficulties explaining 'HOW' we got to those numbers since there is no science behind it," confesses a high-ranking S&P analyst. "If we are just going to make it up in order to rate deals, then quants [quantitative analysts] are of precious little value," complains another senior S&P man. "Let's hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of card[s] falters," ruminates one more.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-last-mystery-of-the-financial-crisis-20130619
With all of the cumulative evidence to date demonstrating quite decisively that the American economic dynasty is just one big fucking criminal slush fund for the Wall St. grifters and corporatists, their bought and paid for lackeys in Washington, D.C., and the uber-wealthy elites who play the role of pilot fish to the big money boy's shark, why would anyone with an ounce of functioning intellectual capacity question The Gadfly's assertion that maybe this country needs to fail miserably and disastrously before it can ever realize the moral salvation that it so desperately needs to set things straight again?
Quite honestly, The Gadfly isn't even numbed by these revelations any more - and besides - why should The Gadfly worry his beautiful mind over such drudgery? Nobody else seems to give a shit, much less want to enjoin any efforts to change things. All the more reason for why The Gadfly just doesn't get all choked up about the, likely not too distant, prospect of America's empire meeting a comparably mortal denouement none too dissimilar to that of the Roman Empire.
C'est la vie.
----TFG
The Gadfly is Morally Opposed to Sleazy Casino Mogul Hypocrites (among various other loathsome things) . . .
A meritoriously good knee-slapper if The Gadfly doesn't say so himself:
Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson said Thursday that he is "morally opposed" to online gambling, labeling it a "cancer waiting to happen."
"It’s a train wreck, it’s a toxicity, it’s a cancer waiting to happen,” Adelson said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "Younger people, people who can’t afford it, can gamble while they’re on a subway or a bus or a passenger in a car, or while they’re lying in bed in their birthday suits on their smartphone or on their iPad...What is the purpose of putting a casino on everybody’s kitchen table?”
Adelson is the CEO of the largest casino company in the world by market value, Las Vegas Sands Corp., according to Bloomberg.http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/casino-magnate-says-hes-morally-opposed-to-online?ref=fpb
Dunno' -- call it a gambler's hunch -- but The Gadfly is quite certain that in reference to the word "morally," the pure definition of that word does not mean what Mr. Adelson thinks it means (h/t to Inigo Montoya).
There is just something spectacularly extra creepy about Adelson, a person who has made his billion $ fortune off of the fevered recklessness, hopelessness and addiction of others, rhapsodizing piously on the subject of societal morality. In fact - it kind of makes The Gadfly spontaneously fantasize about shoving his size 10, steel-toed motorcycle boot right up this creaky old frog's reptilian sphincter.
Moreover - it should not be surprising then, to The Gadfly's dear readers, that this blood sucking miscreant was the single largest contributor, to the "morally repugnant" tune of $20 million, to Willard Mitt Romney's 2012 Presidential campaign.
Birds of a feather do flock together . . . and all that jazz.
----TFG
Southern Grace and Charm Be Damned . . . .
Oh dear! What will we tell the children??:
Last month, Food Network chef Paula Deen gave a videotaped deposition as part of a discrimination suit she’s facing in which she discussed her desire to have a “very southern style wedding” for her brother modeled after a restaurant where the “whole entire wait staff was middle-aged black men” clad in white jackets and black bow ties, according to a transcript of the deposition filed in federal court in Georgia. Deen also admitted to having used the N word and discussed the ways the word could be “not said in a mean way.”http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/paula-deen-racial.php
Yikes!
But wait dear reader! It gets much, much better:
As evidence that Deen “holds such racist views herself,” the complaint details an incident that occurred when Jackson was in charge of “food and serving arrangements” at Hier’s wedding in 2007. The complaint includes a comment Deen allegedly made when asked by Jackson what type of uniforms the servers should wear at the wedding.
“Well what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around,” the lawsuit claims Deen said. “Now that would be a true southern wedding, wouldn’t it? But we can’t do that because the media would be on me about that.”
Billips also asked Deen whether she thought “jokes” containing the N word would be hurtful. Deen said she was unsure.
“That’s kind of hard. Most — most jokes are about Jewish people, rednecks, black folks. Most jokes target — I don’t know. I didn’t make up the jokes, I don’t know,” said Deen. “They usually target, though, a group. Gays or straights, black, redneck, you know, I just don’t know — I just don’t know what to say. I can’t, myself, determine what offends another person.”
The Gadfly was not familiar with this Paula Deen "celebrity" person until a year or so ago when a "news" story came out recounting how this, apparently very popular television "chef," who's high calorie, southern recipes are renowned for containing heart-attack inducing amounts of fat, salt and sugar, had been, astonishingly, diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.
Setting that inanity aside though, and back to the story at hand, what kind of person is incapable of determining, of their own cognitive thinking abilities, whether or not certain words might "offend another person" - particularly words that exist exclusively to commit such offense?
So basically Queen ButterDeen, being of sound mind and sound manner presumably, cannot fathom in the most elementary form, the prospect that words like "nigger," "spic," "jew boy," "fag," "wetback," "zipperhead," etc. -- might offend the people whom those words were unmistakably meant to demean and insult? If that truly is her argument, it makes The Gadfly wonder then whether or not Ms. ButterDeen would be much too bewildered and unenlightened to take offense should The Gadfly find cause to call her an ignorant, "redneck" "cracker" "cunt?"
Just asking a simple question folks.
----TFG
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
"The wrong person finds out about this and I get a steel-jacketed anti-depressant right in the back of the head!" . . . [~~Tony Soprano]
Well -- this day officially sucks hairy meatballs:
James Gandolfini has reportedly died while in Italy, according to Deadline.com.
According to the website, the "Sopranos" star was in the country for a film festival. Variety also initially reported that he suffered a fatal stroke, but both the trade site and Deadline.com updated the cause of death to a heart attack.
Gandolfini was 51 years old and is survived by a wife and two children. He became a household star for his portrayal of mob boss Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos," a role which earned him three Emmys on six total nominations.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/19/james-gandolfini-dead_n_3468861.html
Cable TV, in The Gadfly's humble view, has been, is now, and always will be a vast wasteland of socially irredeemable sewage that in and of itself is arguably responsible for the severely stunted growth in maturity of American culture. But every now and then a show with a great story line and a superb cast of characters comes along that pretty much rescues television programming from the malodorous dung heap, where in the best of all possible worlds, it duly belongs.
One of those shows was "The Sopranos." James Gandolfini's portrayal of the psychopathic mob boss Tony Soprano, who's constant battle between his gleefully violent inner demons, and his regretful conscience, made for some of the best television ever made - which explains why the show earned 21 Emmy awards in six too short seasons, with Gandolfini nabbing three of them for best actor.
RIP James/Tony. He will be missed - but thankfully we have DVD/BluRay. Here's one, out of countless many, of The Gadfly's favorite Tony Soprano scenes:
----TFG
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Everything is Bigger in Texas -- Including Egregious Imbecility . . .
The Gadfly, until today, had been fairly certain that he had pretty much heard the gamut of asinine stupidity which incessantly emanates from the mouths of right wing conservatives. But even The Gadfly had to do a Scooby Doo double-take at this one:
As the House of Representatives prepares on Tuesday to consider huge legislative restrictions on a woman’s right to choose, one GOP congressman is using the idea that fetuses can masturbate to argue for more abortion restrictions.
On Monday evening, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), an Ob/Gyn by trade, told his colleagues to, “Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” as RH Reality Check reports:
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/06/18/2171931/fetus-masturbate-burgess/"They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?"
Oh yeah . . . . because if there is any one good reason to drastically restrict a woman's access to abortion services, it's because we would be disturbing little junior Zygote, who is in full embryonic bliss mode in mommy's womb, frenziedly spanking away on his wee little blastocyst monkey -- or as known by it's latin origin embryonus spankus simianus interruptus.
The Gadfly is wholly convinced that the Texas delegation of politicos has got to be the one single clown show that would give Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus a serious run for their clown money.
Jeebus kripes almighty.
----TFG
Monday, June 17, 2013
Just One More Trip to the Well of Intolerance - Yup - That Ought to do the Trick . . .
Hmmmmm, The Gadfly ponders, . . . what's wrong with this picture? . . .
WASHINGTON -- Facing lingering tensions in his party, the chairman of the Republican National Committee urged religious conservatives Saturday to support the GOP's plans to expand.
"I would just ask you that we come together and that we pray for the future of this country," Reince Priebus said on the final day of the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference that brought several Republicans leaders together with evangelical activists.
"I'm a Christian. I'm a believer. God lives in my heart. And I'm for changing minds, not changing values," Priebus said.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/15/faith-and-freedom-coalition-conference_n_3447378.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
Yes -- because reaching out to the intolerant, bigoted, reactionary, and hateful wing of the Republican party worked out so well in the last election huh Mr. Priebus?
Jeebus.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
~~Albert Einstein
----TFG
Saturday, June 15, 2013
War Mongers Have a Bad Hair Day . . . .
Whew! Good thing President Obama followed the sage advice of the incessantly squawking war hawks on Fox News and Dick Cheney and friends and bombed Iran back in to the stone age. God knows what could have happened to America if we hadn't slaughtered a few million Iranian civilians and incinerated a people and it's culture in order to exact the regime change we wanted:
TEHRAN, Iran — Wild celebrations broke out on Tehran streets that were battlefields four years ago as reformist-backed Hasan Rowhani capped a stunning surge to claim Iran's presidency on Saturday, throwing open the political order after relentless crackdowns by hard-liners to consolidate and safeguard their grip on power.
"Long live Rowhani," tens of thousands of jubilant supporters chanted as security officials made no attempt to rein in crowds – joyous and even a bit bewildered by the scope of his victory with more than three times the votes of his nearest rival.
In his first statement after the results were announced, Rowhani said that "a new opportunity has been created ... for those who truly respect democracy, interaction and free dialogue."
But in Iran, even landslides at the ballot box do not equate to policymaking influence.
All key decisions – including nuclear efforts, defense and foreign affairs – remain solidly in the hands of the ruling clerics and their powerful protectors, the Revolutionary Guard. What Rowhani's victory does is reopen space for moderate and liberal voices that have been largely muzzled in reprisal for massive protests and clashes in 2009 over claims the vote was rigged to deny reformists the presidency.
Rowhani's supporters also viewed the election as a rebuke of uncompromising policies that have left the Islamic Republic increasingly isolated and under biting sanctions from the West over Tehran's nuclear program. The 64-year-old Rowhani is hardly a radical – having served in governments and in the highly sensitive role of nuclear negotiator – but he has taken a strong stance against the combative international policies of outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others.
"I've never been an extremist," Rowhani said on state TV shortly after the official results were announced. "I support moderation."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/15/hassan-rouhani-wins-election-iran-president_n_3446945.html
. . . . wha? what's that? Obama didn't unleash America's mighty shock and awe on the Iranians? We didn't burn their country to the ground? And the Iranian people, of their own volition, threw out the hardliners in their election and elected a moderate, more conciliatory government??
Well The Gadfly will be a suck-egg mule!!!
Imagine that! --- an American President opting for a policy of other than outright lying to your own citizenry about the necessity for war actually works! Will wonders never cease?
----TFG
**NOTE: The Gadfly fully acknowledges that the ruling clerics in Iran still wield significant power in the country's political infrastructure - which is why The Gadfly included the paragraph in the article copy which states such. However, if one knows the history of Iran, this is a big fucking deal --- this is basically a clear, convincing majority of the Iranian people sending an unambiguous message to those ruling clerics that those clerics are a dwindling minority - and that dear readers - speaks volumes in that part of the world. Bombs and missiles and death and destruction aren't always the solution to every problem, and The Gadfly does not give a flying fuckstick what Dick Cheney thinks.
----TFG
If a Shrew Shrieked in the Forest and Nobody Was Around to Hear it -- Did the Shrew Really Make a Sound? . . .
Sigh . . . . . . shrew alert . . . .sigh . . . .
This is why she appeals so much to the wingnuts. She throws out these batty, juvenile bumper snicker comments that appeal, on some pathetic, prepubescent level, to the most doltish of teabagger types. And when they hear her speak, they instantly identify with her, and it makes them feel, even if fleetingly, that they are all intellectual giants - and even more chilling than that - invincible.
She really does remind The Gadfly of the infamous 1978 Saturday Night Live skit called "The Thing That Wouldn't Leave," with the late, great John Belushi playing this loathsome, obnoxious character who has long, long outlived his welcome in friend's homes and his interminable existence in their lives basically drives said friends into a maddened frenzy.
Needless to say -- The Gadfly just wishes that this awful woman would spare us all her lamentable presence and once and for all just fucking go away . . . . far, far, away . . . .
----TFG
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) criticized President Barack Obama while speaking at the annual meeting of the Faith and Freedom Coalition Saturday, saying the United States should not intervene in Syria while he's in office.
“Until we have a commander in chief who knows what he is doing... let Allah sort it out!” Palin told the conservative crowd, according to The Hill.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/15/sarah-palin-syria_n_3447212.html
This is why she appeals so much to the wingnuts. She throws out these batty, juvenile bumper snicker comments that appeal, on some pathetic, prepubescent level, to the most doltish of teabagger types. And when they hear her speak, they instantly identify with her, and it makes them feel, even if fleetingly, that they are all intellectual giants - and even more chilling than that - invincible.
She really does remind The Gadfly of the infamous 1978 Saturday Night Live skit called "The Thing That Wouldn't Leave," with the late, great John Belushi playing this loathsome, obnoxious character who has long, long outlived his welcome in friend's homes and his interminable existence in their lives basically drives said friends into a maddened frenzy.
Needless to say -- The Gadfly just wishes that this awful woman would spare us all her lamentable presence and once and for all just fucking go away . . . . far, far, away . . . .
Girl, don't go away mad
Girl, just go away
Girl, just go away
Girl, don't go away mad
Girl, just go away yeah, yeah
Girl, don't go away mad
Girl, just go away, Yeah
Now I said girl, don't go away mad
Girl, just go away
Now I said girl, don't go away mad
Girl, just go away, yeah
Girl, don't go away mad
Girl, just go away...
----TFG
Shrew Alert! Shrew Alert!! . . .
Shrew Alert ! ! !
Queen Nanooky of The Great White North emerges from her IKEA bought igloo to remind us all that she is still one of the stupidest and most grating fucking people in American politics:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sarah-palin-slams-orwellian-us-government/2013/06/15/670b59ec-d5f6-11e2-ab72-3f0d51ec1628_video.html
And one other thing -- The Gadfly is certain beyond question that Caribou Barbie has nary an iota of cognitive understanding of the messaging behind George Orwell's writings, much less ever picked up and held in her ogress hands an authentic Orwell novel. She truly is pushing the limits of what little remains of her intellectual credibility by so cavalierly employing the word "Orwellian" in public discourse.
----TFG
Queen Nanooky of The Great White North emerges from her IKEA bought igloo to remind us all that she is still one of the stupidest and most grating fucking people in American politics:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sarah-palin-slams-orwellian-us-government/2013/06/15/670b59ec-d5f6-11e2-ab72-3f0d51ec1628_video.html
And one other thing -- The Gadfly is certain beyond question that Caribou Barbie has nary an iota of cognitive understanding of the messaging behind George Orwell's writings, much less ever picked up and held in her ogress hands an authentic Orwell novel. She truly is pushing the limits of what little remains of her intellectual credibility by so cavalierly employing the word "Orwellian" in public discourse.
----TFG
When The Scales of Justice are in Dire Need of Re-calibration . . .
Maybe the solution is to give them even more taxpayer money to gamble with? . . .
Bank of America employees regularly lied to homeowners seeking loan modifications, denied their applications for made-up reasons, and were rewarded for sending homeowners to foreclosure, according to sworn statements by former bank employees.
The employee statements were filed late last week in federal court in Boston as part of a multi-state class action suit brought on behalf of homeowners who sought to avoid foreclosure through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) but say they had their cases botched by Bank of America.
Sometimes, homeowners were simply denied en masse in a procedure called a “blitz,”said William Wilson, Jr., who worked as an underwriter and manager from 2010 until 2012. As part of the modification applications, homeowners were required to send in documents with their financial information. About twice a month, Wilson said, the bank ordered that all files with documentation 60 or more days old simply be denied. “During a blitz, a single team would decline between 600 and 1,500 modification files at a time,” he said in the sworn declaration. To justify the denials, employees produced fictitious reasons, for instance saying the homeowner had not sent in the required documents, when in actuality, they had.
Anxious homeowners calling in for an update on their application were frequently told that their applications were “under review” when, in fact, nothing had been done in months, or the application had already been denied, four former employees said.
Employees were rewarded for denying applications and referring customers to foreclosure, according to the statements. Gordon said collectors “who placed ten or more accounts into foreclosure in a given month received a $500 bonus.” Other rewards included gift cards to retail stores or restaurants, said Gordon and Theresa Terrelonge, who worked as a collector from 2009 until 2010.http://www.propublica.org/article/bank-of-america-lied-to-homeowners-and-rewarded-foreclosures
Until this country's government and justice department (and The Gadfly does not give a rat's ass which political party is in charge) begins aggressively arresting, putting on trial, and upon conviction - imprisoning for life some of these crooked, thieving, criminal bankers and Wall Street suits for their crimes, The Gadfly does not want to hear, from anyone, a single solitary fucking word about the purported crimes of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
These white collar criminals, sitting in the boardrooms of B of A, Goldman Sachs, AIG, Citibank and others, brought the whole goddamn world economy to it's knees by their knowingly corrupt actions, and by virtue of such, weakened America's infrastructure security infinitely more than Snowden's unsurprising confirmation of government spying on it's own citizens on a grand scale, which anyone who has been paying attention since 9/11 was already wholly fucking aware of.
This story really lights a white hot flame under The Gadfly's pasty white buttocks as he and his family had their own hideous and infuriating experience with Bank of America and their extended crime family. The Gadfly is still dealing with the fallout from that experience to this day, and quite likely will continue to be haunted by it for some years to come.
So yeah - hunt down Edward Snowden, extradite him, put him on trial for treason, then jail him for life. And when you're all done and feeling smugly righteous about it, come ask The Gadfly his opinion about the whole feckless affair --- but exercise caution --- don't be surprised if the reply you get does not affirm your myopic view that justice was served and the nation is truly better off for it.
----TFG
Friday, June 14, 2013
Apparently Donald Trump Was Unavailable for Consultation . . .
Jeebus . . .
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/14/bachmann-king-gohmert-glenn-beck_n_3441935.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
Now -- The Gadfly will obligingly confess that he himself is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and will further concede that he has a known penchant for dressing himself unintentionally funny and confusing his own acerbic wit for humor, however, seeing the Three Stooges of the GOP caucus running to Glenn "Still on that LSD trip from 1994" Beck begging for salvation, offers comfortable optimism to The Gadfly that his own piquant inanities pale in comparison to those of these law making (Ack!!) public "leaders."
The best analogy The Gadfly can proffer for the mirthful sight of Curly Gohmert, Larry Bachmann and Moe King asking Glenn Beck for help on a public policy issue is that of an individual who, for god knows whatever reason, finds themselves on fire and is running around madly begging for someone for assistance by asking to be doused with a barrel of kerosene. It is unhinged insanity in all of it's exquisite and macabre glory.
----TFG
Concerned that their side was "losing badly" on immigration reform, a trio of congressional hardliners appeared on Glenn Beck's Blaze TV program on Thursday to ask him to help their cause.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), appearing alongside Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), suggested that there was a visibility issue surrounding the ongoing debate over a reform package.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/14/bachmann-king-gohmert-glenn-beck_n_3441935.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
Now -- The Gadfly will obligingly confess that he himself is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and will further concede that he has a known penchant for dressing himself unintentionally funny and confusing his own acerbic wit for humor, however, seeing the Three Stooges of the GOP caucus running to Glenn "Still on that LSD trip from 1994" Beck begging for salvation, offers comfortable optimism to The Gadfly that his own piquant inanities pale in comparison to those of these law making (Ack!!) public "leaders."
The best analogy The Gadfly can proffer for the mirthful sight of Curly Gohmert, Larry Bachmann and Moe King asking Glenn Beck for help on a public policy issue is that of an individual who, for god knows whatever reason, finds themselves on fire and is running around madly begging for someone for assistance by asking to be doused with a barrel of kerosene. It is unhinged insanity in all of it's exquisite and macabre glory.
----TFG
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
What's Left to Corrupt??
**NOTE: The Gadfly is immersed in intensive 40+ hour training for his career schooling this week, so lighter than normal posting.
So . . . to tide you millions of dear readers over in the interim . . .
The Gadfly has asked the question an uncounted number of times previously, but will do so again as he has yet to receive a definitive answer -- "are there any honest capitalists left in this fucking world any more?"
Observe:
And if news that life insurance companies are playing three card monte with people's investments in life insurance policies isn't enough to raise your hackles - here's another story that complements that one quite nicely:
The mortgage industry turned out to be a lugubrious house of cards.
Wall Street is a den of lying thieves and slithering reptilians.
The big banks and financial services outfits are basically being run like offshore casinos.
And now news that life insurance policies and foreign exchange rates, as reported above, apparently are being used as gambling chit by the moneyed elites as well.
It appears that the once grandiose inviolability of America's economic infrastructure is all just one big, fat fucking illusion folks.
Nobody knows what the core truth of anything actually is any more. And if by some miracle of reality-based inward reflection, the masses at long last ever come to the collective realization that the elites have come full circle from the days of the uber-ambitious, gilded-age industrialists to the long aimed-for culmination of completing their looting of the national treasury and are ready to retire to their foreign and offshore tax havens permanently, it will have been at least one generation too late. For the final chapter of America's dying empire will already have been ghost written in advance by that point, and The Great American Experiment will simply be waiting on the final act of commissioning the historians of the future to conclude the documenting of the nation's pending transformation from world's greatest representative democracy to the world's most prolific third-world banana republic.
And yet some of The Gadfly's detractors still wonder why he has such a cynical and negative view of his country - to which The Gadfly has a stock, albeit demoralized answer --- the country and what it is supposed to stand for is fine, it's the people who are running it and the sheep who fail to see or willfully ignore what is happening around and to them who are fucked.
----TFG
So . . . to tide you millions of dear readers over in the interim . . .
The Gadfly has asked the question an uncounted number of times previously, but will do so again as he has yet to receive a definitive answer -- "are there any honest capitalists left in this fucking world any more?"
Observe:
New York State regulators are calling for a nationwide moratorium on transactions that life insurers are using to alter their books by billions of dollars, saying that the deals put policyholders at risk and could lead to another taxpayer bailout.
Insurers’ use of the secretive transactions has become widespread, nearly doubling over the last five years. The deals now affect life insurance policies worth trillions of dollars, according to an analysis done for The New York Times by SNL Financial, a research and data firm.
These complex private deals allow the companies to describe themselves as richer and stronger than they otherwise could in their communications with regulators, stockholders, the ratings agencies and customers, who often rely on ratings to buy insurance.
Benjamin M. Lawsky, New York’s superintendent of financial services, said that life insurers based in New York had alone burnished their books by $48 billion, using what he called “shadow insurance,” according to an investigation conducted by his department. He issued a report about the investigation late Tuesday.http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/insurers-inflating-books-new-york-regulator-says/?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig
And if news that life insurance companies are playing three card monte with people's investments in life insurance policies isn't enough to raise your hackles - here's another story that complements that one quite nicely:
Traders at some of the world’s biggest banks manipulated benchmark foreign-exchange rates used to set the value of trillions of dollars of investments, according to five dealers with knowledge of the practice.
Employees have been front-running client orders and rigging WM/Reuters rates by pushing through trades before and during the 60-second windows when the benchmarks are set, said the current and former traders, who requested anonymity because the practice is controversial. Dealers colluded with counterparts to boost chances of moving the rates, said two of the people, who worked in the industry for a total of more than 20 years.
The behavior occurred daily in the spot foreign-exchange market and has been going on for at least a decade, affecting the value of funds and derivatives, the two traders said. The Financial Conduct Authority, Britain’s markets supervisor, is considering opening a probe into potential manipulation of the rates, according to a person briefed on the matter.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-11/traders-said-to-rig-currency-rates-to-profit-off-clients.html
The mortgage industry turned out to be a lugubrious house of cards.
Wall Street is a den of lying thieves and slithering reptilians.
The big banks and financial services outfits are basically being run like offshore casinos.
And now news that life insurance policies and foreign exchange rates, as reported above, apparently are being used as gambling chit by the moneyed elites as well.
It appears that the once grandiose inviolability of America's economic infrastructure is all just one big, fat fucking illusion folks.
Nobody knows what the core truth of anything actually is any more. And if by some miracle of reality-based inward reflection, the masses at long last ever come to the collective realization that the elites have come full circle from the days of the uber-ambitious, gilded-age industrialists to the long aimed-for culmination of completing their looting of the national treasury and are ready to retire to their foreign and offshore tax havens permanently, it will have been at least one generation too late. For the final chapter of America's dying empire will already have been ghost written in advance by that point, and The Great American Experiment will simply be waiting on the final act of commissioning the historians of the future to conclude the documenting of the nation's pending transformation from world's greatest representative democracy to the world's most prolific third-world banana republic.
And yet some of The Gadfly's detractors still wonder why he has such a cynical and negative view of his country - to which The Gadfly has a stock, albeit demoralized answer --- the country and what it is supposed to stand for is fine, it's the people who are running it and the sheep who fail to see or willfully ignore what is happening around and to them who are fucked.
----TFG
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