Ring In The New...

From Album 5

Happy 2015...

Happily Ever After?

From Album 5

Well, could've been worse...for him.

Not Exactly White Tie and Tails Optional

From Album 5

More like white hood and sheet. And rather embarrassing ... even for a ranking GOPer...

OK, One For The Season

From Album 5

My theory on just why his cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry.

Happy Holidays.

Holiday Truce

From Album 5

Guess I'll cut my ISP a bit of (temporary) slack. Speaking of, posting will likely be sporadic for the next few days. Have a happy winter solstice season...

"Free Market Solutions"

From Album 5

Oh yeah -- just what we need: a utility wants to essentially meter the sun. Good going, ALEC.

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album 5

Stephen Colbert edition.

Have a good weekend.

Long Overdue

From Album 5

Even my conservative dad thought the Cuban policy was wrong...

Onward Christian Torture Apologists

From Album3

Link...

Oh, Almost Forgot This From Last Week

From Album4

Rick Perry manages to make Dubya almost look smart...well, on a pretty steeply curved scale:

“Running for the presidency’s not an IQ test...”

Sadly, that's not entirely untrue.

Dick

From Album 5

Link.

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album 5

Apres le deluge edition...good that California got some wet weather, but quenching one's thirst with a fire hose can have negative side effects...and this is yet another example of the fact that climate change may not directly cause this event, but climate change means events like this will become far more common...and do we really want that?

Have a good weekend.

Wheeee....

From Album3

Another fine mess...

What's Wrong With This Picture?

From Album 5

OK, I think I know: it's got the wrong backdrop. There -- fixed it.

From Album 5

Still "vacationing," if doing long overdue landscaping/yard work counts as vacation. And I'll admit that Cassidy, Ernst, and Vitter aren't quite as depressing as the torture report, but that's a hell of a grading scale.

Back tomorrow

Taking A Day Off

Back tomorrow. Again, thanks to everyone who stops by...

Monday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album4

Well, more of a working vacation for me -- lots of projects need to get done...so many that I've already kind of triaged and put stuff off for after the new year - but in the interim, here's one of Tigger relaxing in the sun.

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album 5

Too offset a pretty blah week, here's another astronomy themed shot...Tigger in the Atacama desert with the Magellanic Clouds.

Note: might take a few days off next week...chores here at the house, plus a bit of rest is always good.

Have a nice weekend.

A Few Bricks Short...

From Album4

Ted Nugent yells at cloud...

It Was Thirty Years Ago Today...

From Album 5

When the residents of Bhopal, India learned all about private sector efficiency...

Full Circle

From Album 5

Lather, rinse, repeat -- they're only for low taxes on RICH people...

So, Were They "Thugs," Too? Or Just Crispus Attucks?

From Album 5

And for that matter, what about the Sons of Liberty, stealing and looting? Something else for Joe Scarborough to think about...the British soldiers were tried -- and for the most part, acquitted -- after a fair trial in open court.

No, Michael Brown was not Crispus Attucks or a Son of Liberty...but the rights they demanded in perpetuity for all of us, even alleged shoplifters, were denied to him, and a troublingly large number of people who happen to be African American.

Well, Guess It's About Time For Another War On Christmas

From Album 5

Sigh...otherwise, I've got nothing today, and I think I'll take the next two days off as well as the weekend. Not that it's much work, but every once in a while it's not bad to recharge the batteries, and maybe knock out some overdue chores. Hope your own war on Christmas goes well, and here's to Santa...and his elves...making it home...by Christmas.

Well...There's Your Problem

From Album 5

Postmodern...post policy...Movement Conservatism in 36 Tweets...sigh.

He's Baaaaack

From Album 5

Giuliani reminds us all why he's considered such an annoying dick...

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album 5

Maglev train edition. Sure would be nice to have one...

Have a good weekend.

So, How Will The Wingnuts Respond?

From Album 5

Watching the speech...not much to say, though it sounds reasonable enough. But, on the flip side, I'm sure the white hot ball of rage -- emphasis on white -- will be in full force...

Welcome To The New Rat Race

From Album 5

Where you can run further and faster than ever...but still not get any reward.

David Broder's Shade Would Be Proud

From Album 5

He may have shaken loose his mortal coil, but High Broderism is in full force at his former haunt.

Welcome To Bizarro-World

From Album 5

A couple of fine examples today...though, it's not like we haven't been down this road before.

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album 5

Tigger visits a comet this week.

Have a good weekend.

How's This For A Fix?

From Album4

Dr. Roberts at their service...

Cue Up The Over-The-Top Histrionics...

From Album 5

Yep, the same folks who conjured up Death Panels are full of well rehearsed indignation over some careless remarks by Jonathan Gruber, who played a key role in designing Obamacare...remarks, by the way, rendered moot by the SCOTUS decision affirming the law, since this particular tempest in a teapot is over whether the individual mandate is a tax. Duh. But the hissy fit at this point is as ritualized as Kabuki or a tea ceremony...well, provided it gains some traction. If not, then down the memory hole it goes, replaced by a different faux outrage...

Veteran's Day

From Album 5

A sincere thanks.

Back tomorrow.

Ted Talk

From Album4

Sorry to recycle another picture, but it fits, as old Tailgunner Ted tweets a fine example of how even assholes are bigger in Texas. Of course, the fact that Cruz is on the internet, as opposed to, say, a private, free enterprise, non-government developed entity, perhaps using the Xmodem protocol, speaks volumes: the founding fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor for their principles...Ted Cruz won't even give up his Twitter Feed.

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album4

OK, am a little busy here, and this (posted previously) fits with yesterday's post about how hard it is out there for a plutocrat, the poor things (hmm, ironic there, I guess). Fine art edition.

Have a good weekend.

Oh, Bless His Heart...

From Album 5

If you're wondering what the 1 percent of the 1 percent are worrying about...

The Newly Hatched Majority Leader

From Album 5

Well, first, it sure is rich to watch old Mitch complain about the dysfunctionality of the Senate...sort of like watching a serial arsonist carp about how everything's always going up in flames...that said, I think this post from Ed Kilgore is also worth considering in light of yesterday's results: working class, blue collar voters aren't dumb, but neither are they poring over the details of a political campaign. What they do see is that things haven't noticeably improved for them, with or without Obamacare...and given the, ahem, ease with which the hatred firehose can be turned up full blast...

Meanwhile, Democrats showed their usual spinelessness in fleeing from their own agenda if not the President himself, while the very large effort over the last six years to bring Wall Street and the financial elites back from the brink has been ignored...or ridiculed (McConnell called Dodd-Frank "Obamacare for the financial markets").

I understand the very strong desire on the part of Obama personally and the Democrats generally to be the grown ups in the room...but...sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. If nothing else, try...and lose because of McConnell's obstructionist tactics...and then call him out on it. Additionally, if you're going to get smeared with the "socialist" label, do some socialist things: like trying to bail out the general public in the same way you bailed out the banks. You might STILL get stymied, and blamed...but at least you tried.

Alan Grayson was spot on when he said (paraphrasing) one party is wholly owned by the elites, and the other is mostly owned...but where does that leave the rest of us?

It's Here

From Album4

Election Day...over here, did my civic duty and then took care of chores (we have a day off...and that should be the case for everyone). Anyway, at this point I don't even know if I'll watch returns...ok, maybe, but probably with the sound down. So it goes. Anyway, back tomorrow...

Backbone

From Album 5

OK, Landrieu may not win tomorrow, and she's never been my favorite bestest Senator evah, but good that she won't back down from an obvious point and just one of the latest examples of the hissy fit as wingnut SOP. And they'll keep doing it as long as the librul press corpse [sic] pretends it's news...sadly.

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album 5

Happy Halloween from New Orleans edition. Well, there in spirit if not physically...

Have a good weekend.

Davy Jones' Oily Locker

From Album3

Out of sight, out of mind...and without "definitive proof," out of luck, if it has long term negative consequences...and it will.

Who Will Be Called Upon To Save Them?

From Album 5

Oh, they sure do pine for a daddy hero, and have decided Jeb is good enough...though Charles Pierce and Steve M. demonstrate pretty clearly how wishful and idiotic that sentiment actually is.

Meanwhile, underscoring the virtually non-existent attention span of yer average winger, Fox "News" contributor Keith Ablow channels his inner Dubya in naively asserting that, hey, we can make everything hunky dory just by engaging in our own version of "jihad," which sounds suspiciously like Bush's, um, vision (for lack of a better term) of a decade ago, but on steroids...because one, that worked out so well the last time, and two, hey, who cares about the cost in lives and money?

Jeeez.

The More Things Change...An Ongoing Series

From Album 5

So, what do they do if you manage to overcome the obstacles they've set up? Well, they set up more obstacles...then they try to pretend it wasn't part of the plan all along...

He's Not A Doctor

From Album 5

But he'll play one on TV...if he gets to be a bully, too.

I forget where I saw this -- sorry for not being able to credit/link -- but the same wingers who reject global warming because "[they're] not a scientist" sure don't mind releasing their inner authoritarian/bullying tendencies while expecting us to defer to their...expertise...

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album 5

Frank Mankiewicz edition.

Have a good weekend.

Gun Nut

From Album 5

That'd be Joni Ernst, candidate for United States Senator from Iowa, who stands no worse than even odds to win.

And to be perfectly clear about this -- again -- I really don't care what kind and how many firearms someone owns or wants to own. People getting shot -- dead -- is what I object to. And I also think it's puerile and smug to talk about how much you like to fondle them.

Shorter Chris Christie

From Album 5

It's not the votes that count, it's who counts the votes.

A Heartbeat Away...

From Album 5

OK, a little tired today, and the (recycled) picture is Mr. not Ms. Palin, but...

Jeebus...

So, What Do The Initials Stand For Again?

From Album 5

It was "just a few tons a year," right? Ollie North probably thought it was a "neat idea." Oh, and the sliming of Gary Webb continues...

Friday Cat Blogging With Photoshop

From Album 5

To follow up from yesterday, more fangate...sigh. I don't know what's more bizarro-world -- that it was even an issue, or that the "choices" are Crist versus Scott...and closer to home, Landrieu versus Cassidy.

History will judge harshly...but fairly.

Have a good weekend.