The Washington Post points out that Donald Trump is just successful version of Sarah Palin.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

From the moment Palin entered the national scene, the praise for her on the right was heavily tied to her image. After the 2008 vice-presidential debate, National Review editor Rich Lowry described her as “so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing, [sending] little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America.” In one of the earliest conservative critiques of Palin, written in September 2008, Post columnist Kathleen Parker said of her initial interest in Palin: “She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock-wearing sisterhood — a refreshing feminist of a different order who personified the modern successful working mother.” Nowhere in the piece were Palin’s conservative viewpoints referenced; her views on, say, health care or school choice, or even abortion, went unmentioned. Palin’s problem, in Parker’s view, wasn’t her beliefs but her tendency to ramble. What mattered about the governor was what she could reflect back to a hungry Republican base: an “attractive, earnest [and] confident” woman in a position of power.

And Palin said what the base was thinking. She accused Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” She praised those willing to “screw the political correctness.” She cheered the birther movement promoted by one Donald Trump. As the keynote speaker at the first-ever National Tea Party Convention in February 2010, she taunted Democrats, “How’s that hopey-changey stuff working out?” In turn, she was greeted with a standing ovation and chants of “Run, Sarah, run!”

The Post points out that Palin also attracted much criticism from Hollywood and the Left, which seemed to only make her more popular with her base.

Then of course her star faded after a number of years filled with failed reality shows, poorly selling books, and of course family brawls and brushes with the law.

But then:

Trump campaigned on the Palin model. In fact, he improved upon it. His identity was his trademark, rendering the constant shifts in policy goals and promises almost meaningless. His base saw in Trump what they wanted to see. Some saw a fighter who would stand up for them, others saw a vaunted truth-teller, and a few, truth be told, likely saw a potential white-nationalist hero. And he gave it to them: the image, the veneer, the blank slate upon which their deeply held dreams — for themselves as much as their country — could be written. His fans weren’t dissuaded by his past support for Democrats (including his 2016 opponent), or his lies, or his personal liberalism, or his crudeness, or his long history of mistreating small-business owners of the kind he claimed to champion, because his fans weren’t voting for Trump. They were voting for what Trump meant to them personally. 

In turn, his base will not leave him, because to abandon Trump would not be to abandon the current president but to leave behind deeply held beliefs of their own. His popularity is cultural, not political, resilient to the notions of truth and fiction and to Trump’s own failures. Even after his presidency, regardless of whether it ends in impeachment or in two consecutive terms in office, the image will remain undaunted.

In essence the Palin base never went away, they were just adrift waiting for the next completely unqualified politician to dog whistle in their direction and make them feel they are not the sad, pathetic human rejects that nobody wants to associate with at parties, or claim as a relative or friend.

But of course they are.

These people wanted to be heard, and Donald Trump pretended that he could hear them.

And now, well now they bear witness to the presidency that they, in their abject stupidity, helped to create.  To walk away from Donald Trump would be to admit that they were fooled, not once, but twice, by demonstrably ignorant morons who used them only for their vote.

Apparently admitting that is a choice even worse than the total destruction of the country, or perhaps even the world.

On July 4th NPR tweeted out the entire Declaration of Independence. Trump supporters took it as an attack on their president.

In Congress, July 4, 1776.

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

When in the Course of human events,

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

and to assume among the powers of the earth,

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

This goes on for tweet after tweet until the entire Declaration of Independence has been shared, which is something that NPR has been doing, in one form or another, for the last 29 years.

But those 29 years were before there was a Donald Trump in the White House.

When his supporters saw what NPR was doing they were outraged. 

When you're triggered by the Declaration of Independence bc you want so badly to submit to King Donald the Doll-Handed.... pic.twitter.com/aEyLEu24Qc

— Alexandra 🦅 (@AlexandraAimee) July 4, 2017

there's nothing more american than getting pissed because you think the declaration of independence is shitting on the president pic.twitter.com/gkWSTR8SIY

— Goth Ms. Frizzle (@spookperson) July 4, 2017

NPR tweeted out the entire Declaration of Independence, and wow... uh... the responses are... something. pic.twitter.com/KurdVurRgW

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) July 5, 2017

The responses to @NPR tweeting the Declaration of Independence are sort of hilarious and sad all at once 👀💯💙❤️💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/yCp6PpSuYg

— Savannah Grimm (@savvygrimm) July 5, 2017

In the voice of Jeff Foxworthy:

"If'n you think that the tweeting of the Declaration of Independence is propaganda aimed at removing your president from office, well then you might be a moronic Trump supporter."

 Keep in mind folks these idiots are actually allowed to vote.

Many American companies are bowing to pressure from Russia to give up their cyber security secrets. They do realize that Russia used stolen data to hack the election right?

Courtesy of Reuters:  

Western technology companies, including Cisco, IBM and SAP, are acceding to demands by Moscow for access to closely guarded product security secrets, at a time when Russia has been accused of a growing number of cyber attacks on the West, a Reuters investigation has found. 

Russian authorities are asking Western tech companies to allow them to review source code for security products such as firewalls, anti-virus applications and software containing encryption before permitting the products to be imported and sold in the country. The requests, which have increased since 2014, are ostensibly done to ensure foreign spy agencies have not hidden any "backdoors" that would allow them to burrow into Russian systems. 

But those inspections also provide the Russians an opportunity to find vulnerabilities in the products' source code - instructions that control the basic operations of computer equipment - current and former U.S. officials and security experts said.

U.S. officials say they have warned firms about the risks of allowing the Russians to review their products' source code, because of fears it could be used in cyber attacks. But they say they have no legal authority to stop the practice unless the technology has restricted military applications or violates U.S. sanctions.

Look I understand that businesses are concerned about their bottom line, and opening up new opportunities in new markets is very seductive, but based on what just happened in 2016 this seems incredibly naive.  

I'm sorry let me take that back because naive simply does not cover it.

Volunteering this information is FUCKING STUPID!

The Russians are clearly collecting information in order to find weaknesses in America's cyber security systems, and these companies are simply handing it over to them without a fight.

Journalist has message for Donald Trump supporters. It is obscenity laced, more than a little insulting, but ultimately one they need to hear.

Drew Magary

Courtesy of GQ:

Nothing that Trump says, no damning piece of Trump reportage, and certainly no opinion piece like this one will stop his voters from pulling the lever. Nor will anything stop Trump from being the officious, braindead goon that he is. He will never answer for his crimes, and there’s a frighteningly large portion of the electorate that will always love him for that. 

And so I’d just like to say to that portion of the electorate: Fuck you. No, seriously. Go fuck yourselves. I’m not gonna waste any more time trying to convince you that you’re about to do something you’ll regret forever. I’m not gonna show you old clips of Trump saying rotten things. I’m not gonna try to ANNIHILATE Trump by showing you records of his hypocrisy and greed. I’m not gonna link to a John Oliver clip and be like, “THIS. So much this.” Nothing’s gonna take down Trump at this point, so I’m not gonna bother. No no, this post is for ME. I am preaching to the sad little choir in my soul here. 

Because while Trump is a miserable bastard, YOU are the people who have handed him the bullhorn. YOU are the people willing to embarrass this nation and put it on the brink of economic ruin all because you wanna throw an electoral hissy fit. YOU are the people who want to revolutionize the way America does business by voting for its worst businessman, a disgusting neon pig who only makes money when he causes problems for other people instead of solving them. YOU are the thin-skinned yokels who clutch your bandoliers whenever someone hurls the mildest of slurs at you (“deplorables”), while cheering Trump on as he leaves a bonfire of truly hateful invective everywhere he goes. YOU are the people willing to overlook the fact that Trump is an unqualified, ignorant sociopath because DURRRR HILLARY IS BAD TOO DURRRR. 

You know what? No, she’s not. She’s fine. I lived through one Clinton, and I can live through another. My reasons for hating Trump are better than your reasons for hating Hillary. Show me all the arguments against her you like. You guys don’t give a shit about facts and research when it comes to Trump, so I’m not gonna give a shit about whatever clumsy meme you cook up to explain why she did Benghazi. Nope. Sorry. Fuck your arguments, and fuck you. Trump has shown no respect for anyone, so I don’t see why you deserve any either. Whatever mildly frustrating centrist liberal bureaucracy that Hillary presides over will be fine compared to the spray tan mushroom cloud that would arise all because YOU thought Trump was such a brave, un-PC dickhead to everyone within shouting distance.

There is more, quite a bit more actually, but I will let you go over to GQ, give them the clicks, and read it yourself.

And I really think you should because it is very cathartic to do so.

And also because this guy is absolutely right.

Donald Trump's candidacy is indeed the fault of the least educated, most racist, most mindnumbingly gullible bunch of idiots in the entire country.

And once this election is over, and Trump is forever defined as the loser we all know him to be, we need to get very, very serious about improving education in this country, and possible getting all of those brain cell killing reality show, like the Apprentice, off of our TVs.

Because we really need to make sure this never happens again.

Donald Trump essentially says that a vote for the Jill Stein of the Green Party is a lost vote for Hillary.

Go ahead, throw your vote away. 

Courtesy of The Hill:

Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would be happy if people voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein for president because it would draw votes away from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. 

During a rally in Toledo, Ohio, Trump appeared to dismiss candidates outside of the two major parties. 

“I think a vote for Stein would be good — that’s the Green Party,” he said. “Because I figure anyone voting for Stein is gonna be for Hillary. So I think vote for Stein is fine.”

Gee if even Donald Trump understands that a vote for a third party candidate like Jill Stein only helps him in the long run you would think all of these idiots who are so angry that Hillary Clinton  won the nomination that they cannot bring themselves to vote for the Democrat might figure that out as well.

I mean the guy is a fucking idiot, and he gets it.

So the Oregon standoff ends with a whimper and not with a bang bang.

Courtesy of Oregon Live:

The four remaining occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge surrendered Thursday morning, bringing an end to the standoff on its 41st day. 

 Jeff Banta, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson and David Fry were taken into FBI custody. Fry was the last to surrender, finally emerging after an extended phone dialogue with supporters who tried for over an hour after the others left to get him to walk out. 

FBI agents in armored vehicles had moved in Wednesday night on the four still at the refuge, hemming them into their camp and insisting they put down their guns and surrender.

And for those who thought these Rambo wannabes were going to go out in a blaze of glory, this is how that went down this morning: 

Three of the four walked out to waiting F.B.I. agents over the course of a few minutes after 9:30 a.m., but the fourth, David Fry, at first said he would not. 

In an extraordinary, hourslong negotiation with supporters and F.B.I. agent, with thousands of people listening to the conversation on a live stream online, he aired a wide range of grievances, said he was suicidal, and said repeatedly that his choice was “liberty or death.” Ultimately he gave himself up without a fight.

I swear that after spending much of the morning listening to the livestream that I have lost just about as many brain cells as I do listening to a Sarah Palin speech.

In fact these are clearly her kind of people.

Not only did they have no clear idea of what they were "fighting" for, but they seemed to believe that they were participating in some kind of eternal struggle between good and evil, often claiming that only God could determine how the whole thing would end.

At one point a female on the phone with the protesters warned them that Satan was directing the actions of the federal agents and that they needed to resist giving in to trickery.

The protesters themselves kept talking about seeing religious signs in flashlight beams, firelight, and weather patterns. And no I'm NOT making that up. 

On Twitter there were plenty of accusations that liberals were hoping for a massacre, but at least in my case I am very glad that everybody, on both sides, survived this encounter.

And if I were working with the FBI I would suggest that these people receive some kind of psychiatric help, because batshit crazy is not a strong enough term to describe some the of crap they were saying.

Also keep in mind that the ONLY reason these idiots were able to hold off the police for so long is because they had access to high powered weapons. And of course it didn't hurt that they were white.

Federal grand jury indicts Ammon Bundy and nine others involved in Oregon standoff.

Wait, indicted? Who said anything about getting indicted?

Courtesy of KOIN: 

A federal grand jury has indicted the leader of the armed standoff at an Oregon wildlife refuge and his followers. 

Federal prosecutor Geoff Barrow says the indictment involves the 11 people arrested so far “and others,” perhaps a reference to the four holdouts still occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. 

The indictment was sealed Wednesday afternoon, but Barrow says it would be made public within 24 hours.

Here is who has been arrested so far: 

The FBI arrested Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Brian Cavalier, Shawna Cox, Ryan Payne, Joseph O’Shaughnessy, Peter Santilli, Duane Ehmer, Jason Patrick and Dylan Anderson on probable cause. Six were arrested during a traffic stop along Hwy 395, others arrested at or near the refuge. 

Arizona resident Jon Ritzheimer was also arrested in connection to the occupation but remains in custody in Arizona.

So I guess now we will see if these yahoos really have the courage of their convictions, or if they simply thought that the federal government was going to be too intimidated by their awesome facial hair and Brokeback Mountain cosplay to actually arrest them.

Personally I think that loudmouth Ritzheimer will be the first to crack the minute he hears the door slam on his prison cell.

Oh yeah, he's going to crack. In fact I bet he's been giving up his pals for over a week now.

Feds plan to cut off power to the bird sanctuary in Oregon taken over by the militia members. Apparently it's "flat ass cold" up there.

Source

Courtesy of the Guardian:  

Federal authorities are planning to cut off the power of the wildlife refuge in Oregon that has been taken over by militia, exposing the armed occupiers to sub-zero temperatures in an effort to flush them out. 

Armed militants will begin their third day at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a remote federal outpost in eastern Oregon, on Tuesday, and have vowed to remain for months in protest over the treatment of two local cattle ranchers. 

A federal government official told the Guardian that authorities were planning on Monday to cut the power at the refuge. 

“It’s in the middle of nowhere,” said the official, who is based in Washington, DC, and has knowledge of the planned response to the militia. “And it’s flat-ass cold up there.” 

The official, who asked not to be named, said they were not privy to the FBI’s plan of action. However, they said the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which is leading the crisis management reaction to the occupation in liaison with the FBI, planned to cut the power to the building where the militiamen are spending their nights.

Yeah let's see how long these "tough guys" last with their ass cheeks freezing together.

And we know they are not prepared because they have already had to beg for donations of food and warm clothing.

And they are losing support as well.

They have already been abandoned by their religious leaders:

If Ammon Bundy and other Mormons involved in taking over a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon believe their religion is backing them, they should reconsider. 

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "strongly condemn the armed seizure of the facility," spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a news release Monday, "and are deeply troubled by the reports that those who have seized the facility suggest that they are doing so based on scriptural principles." 

The release further states that "this armed occupation can in no way be justified on a scriptural basis."

That's gotta sting.

And if that were not bad enough the group has angered the birding community:

Just a friendly warning from the birding and wildlife photography community to the Oregon terrorists. We are watching your every move, and we have been watching you for a long time. And yes absolutely you are domestic terrorists of the worst kind, and the truth about your decades of constant poaching of protected wildlife around Malheur and other wildlife refuges, national parks, national forests and BLM lands has been well-documented. For years those of us who are wildlife photographers, birdwatchers and carers of wildlife, have been documenting the activities of you poachers and criminals around many of our nation's wildlife refuges. With our powerful cameras, and ability to move unseen in the wilderness, we have found and documented your illegal hunts, your illegal traps and all sorts of illicit activities, and are constantly feeding that information to law enforcement, and we have finally got many of you poachers on the run and into jails. And I for one am a westerner sick to death of you welfare queens and cheats living off of BLM land, illegally gutting our wilderness and our wildlife. Malheur, Hart Mountain, Klamath Marsh, Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite etc etc, they all belong to us, we the American people, and no small group of armed thugs is going to destroy the great wildlife and national park system that our great Republican President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir put in place over a century ago. Wildlife photographers and wildlife/bird watchers now number some 40 million people in the USA, and feed many rural western economies with our tourism dollars, and we will not stand for your sedition.

Yeah forget the Feds, THESE guys mean business!

I am seriously trying to decide which is my favorites sitcom, the Palin-Meyer kerfuffle, or this three ring circus in Oregon.

Oh hell, I'll sit and enjoy both of them.

Fox News panel decides that we should just do away with public schools. Just "liberal crap" anyway.

Kennedy

Courtesy of The New Civil Rights Movement:  

Discussing the news that an Oklahoma lawmaker is trying to ban AP U.S. History courses and replace them with classes that teach from a selection of religious sermons, the Ten Commandments, and several Ronald Reagan speeches, Fox News' "Outnumbered" on Thursday went off on America's entire public schools system. 

"There really shouldn't be public schools, should there?," suggested co-host Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, opening the segment. "I mean we should really go to a system where parents of every stripe have a choice, have a say in the kind of education their kids get because, when we have centralized, bureaucratic education doctrines and dogmas like this, that's exactly what happens." 

Later in the segment, co-host Andrea Tantaros said America should just "abolish the Department of Education." 

She then went off on "government bureaucracy, and Washington, D.C. dictating what kids should be taught." 

Kids, Tantaros exclaimed, are "not even getting the basic education because they're getting a bunch of this meaningless liberal crap, every day."

What a plan.

First Fox News is trying to get rid of competing newscasters who report facts, and now they want to do away with schools altogether so that Americans will stay ignorant enough to actually watch their cable "news" channel. 

I have seen a lot of blatant attacks on educators and the public school system, that Oklahoma story being one of them, but this kind of talk is simply unconscionable.

What do these idiots think happens to this country if our children's education is done away with, or is tailored for them by parents who may have fundamentalist religious beliefs, control issues, or are too ignorant to recognize the benefits of a well rounded education?

By the way I think the term "liberal crap" is Fox News speak for "facts that will make students too smart to believe our bullshit."

I am not even going to comment.

In a Facebook post Palin claims that she received this image from her mom, which of course brings up all kinds of questions about parenting in my mind:

Ha! Believe it or not I received this from... my mom! 

Gee that is hard to believe.

I will leave this one for all of you.

I am too busy fighting my gag reflex to type any more..

For those wondering why President Obama is pushing for a free college education for Americans.

Do you really have to ask?

I mean just that bottom placard alone.

Indian police investigating guru who convinced 400 of his followers to undergo castration.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Courtesy of Business Insider:  

Indian police said they are investigating a popular self-styled godman for allegedly encouraging 400 followers to undergo castrations at his ashram so they could get closer to god. 

The country's top crime fighting agency has registered a case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, known as the "guru in bling" for his penchant for garish clothes and jewellery, over the operations in the country's north. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement late Wednesday Rahim is being investigated for criminal intimidation and causing grievous bodily hurt, saying 400 castrations were allegedly carried out. 

The guru, who heads the Dera Sacha Sauda organisation based in Haryana state, is already facing trial for conspiracy over the murder of a journalist in 2002 along with claims of sexually exploiting female followers. 

The latest case was filed after one of his devotees, Hans Raj Chauhan, lodged a complaint in court alleging he was manipulated into having the "painful" operation at the ashram. 

"They were told that only those who get castrated will be able to meet god," Chauhan's lawyer, Navkiran Singh, told AFP on Thursday. 

I usually consider myself to be a person of great compassion, but I have to admit that I am having a hard time feeling sorry for these men.

He quite literally convinced these guys to take themselves out of competition so that he could bang all of the females. And they went for it hook, line, and now decapitated sinker.

If you put faith before logic, you open yourself up to manipulation by others. Simple as that. 

Sarah Palin for President in 2016? Who are these people?

Man was that painful to watch.

Well they do both wear wigs I guess.

Okay so there is apparently a renewed push by.....somebody for Palin to run in 2016.

It is endorsed by something called the PoliticalEarthquake.PAC.

This is how this PAC describes themselves: 

Sarah Palin’s Earthquake is a grassroots organization with members from all walks of life, fully committed to supporting Sarah Palin if she chooses to run for President of the United States in 2016. 

She is one voice willing to stand up and speak out, and one can become a million strong heard round the world. Never underestimate the power of the people! Our nation has come under attack, threatening the very core of what America stands for – “…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Our time has come… but who is willing to fight for us? 

We believe there is such a one who espouses the values and principles we are desperately fighting to defend. Someone who truly understands what it means to be an American and one whose life has been devoted to this cause. We have found this individual…. we believe in this individual…. and we are willing to do whatever it takes to elect Governor Sarah Palin our Commander in Chief.

So as you can clearly see these people are out of their fucking minds. 

While I may, if pressured, be willing to entertain the possibility that Palin will run for some kind of office, most likely nowhere near Alaska, just to keep the money rolling into her coffers, there is NO way this woman would EVER subject herself to the kind of scrutiny that would come her way as a result of running for President of the United States.

People keep asking me how much longer this can go on. But since these people are impervious to common sense, family scandal, or the obvious truth that their idol is now hawking her rapidly deteriorating wares on reality cable shows and internet only fake TV channels then the answer depends on how long these elderly, mentally deficient people can manage to stave off the sweet embrace of death.

So what do you think, four or five more years perhaps?

Where Senator Al Franken tries to explain to Ted Cruz what Net Neutrality means.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) struggled on Sunday to explain to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) why he had been wrong to assert that net neutrality was “Obamacare for the Internet,” and that it would stifle innovation. 

But Franken told CNN’s Candy Crowley that Cruz had the concept of net neutrality “completely wrong.” 

“CNN’s website, [and] a blogger in Duluth, Minnesota travels at the same speed… The New York Times, their website travels the same speed,” Franken pointed out. “That’s the way that it’s been from the beginning. And we want to keep it that way.” 

“He has it completely wrong, he just doesn’t understand what this issue is,” the Minnesota Democrat said of Cruz. “We’ve had net neutrality the entire history of the Internet.” 

Franken observed that “Obamacare was government program that fixed something, that changed things. This is about reclassifying something so it stays the same. This would keep things exactly the same as they’ve been.”

Now I think of Al Franken as a national treasure. He is one of the smartest guys in politics right now, though to be honest that is kind of a low bar.

And when it comes to explaining things he is perhaps one of the very best. Perhaps even better than the "Explainer in Chief" himself, Bill Clinton.

But I can guarantee you that this is not going to change the mind of Ted Cruz one little bit.

And I will even give Cruz credit by saying that he actually DOES understand that what he said is ignorant and wrong.

However he also realizes that his target audience are a bunch of simple minded nose picking morons, who believe that the only thing the internet is good for is finding naked pictures of girls that remind them of their first cousins so that they can touch themselves.

So they will believe without question whatever ridiculous lie that Ted Cruz tells them. 

Conservatives launch "Reaganbook" because Facebook is full of too many damn liberals.

Courtesy of TPM:  

The president of conservative pro-family group Faith2Action last weekend announced the pre-launch of ReaganBook, a social networking site described as "the Facebook for patriots," according to Right Wing Watch. 

Faith2Action President Janet Porter told attendees at the Ohio Liberty Coalition's "Reload 4 Liberty" event that Facebook has been censoring people like anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera. 

Porter lamented that "while tomorrow Facebook employees are gathering to go march at the gay pride parade in San Francisco," they are censoring people with "unpopular opinions." 

She then described ReaganBook as a social network that tears down walls like President Reagan. 

“We’re tearing down walls of tyranny and censorship," she said.

Seriously?

Funny I thought Facebook was open to all people regardless of age, sex, religion, or political affiliations.

But I guess if they don't allow homophobic hatemongers to say vile things, then they are a little too oppressive for these people.

So Sarah Palin has her own internet TV channel, the Right Wing has its own radio channels, the Republicans have a whole cable news channel spreading propaganda, the conservatives even have their own version of Wikipedia, and still that is not enough for them?

I think this might be the internet version of the American Civil War. But instead of fighting over land and owning slaves, they are battling over facts and keeping liberals the hell off of their internet lawns.

Just a question.

You know the thing about bulletproof vests is that they will not protect you if the bullet misses them. As dead Ammosexual learns the hard way.

Suspect Mark-Anthony Sandang Ramiro

Courtesy of WBALTV:  

A 30-year-old man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a victim who was wearing a bulletproof vest and bragging he was about to take a "deuce deuce in the chest" in video recorded by a third person at the scene, according to court documents. 

Police said Mark-Anthony Sandang Ramiro was arrested and charged in the shooting death of Darnell Mitchell, 28, during an incident in Ramiro's basement at 2208 Cedley Street in south Baltimore on Wednesday. 

Police said the incident was filmed as Mitchell, who had been wearing a ballistics vest, was shot one time by Ramiro. The victim suffered a gunshot wound above the vest. 

According to court documents, police were called when Mitchell walked into the Shock Trauma with Ramiro around 4 a.m. Wednesday. Despite medical efforts, police said Mitchell was pronounced dead at 4:07 p.m. 

After getting a search warrant and processing the scene, police said they discovered a Cannon E07 digital camera with video on it of the shooting. 

In that video, Mitchell was bragging that he was about to take a “deuce deuce in the chest” -- a shot from a .22-caliber bullet -- before Ramiro, who is seen standing in front of Mitchell, discharged the handgun one time, striking Mitchell just above the vest, according to charging documents. 

The documents said Mitchell collapsed onto the floor and Ramiro dropped the gun. Ramiro and the person taking the video helped the victim, and then the video ended, according to court documents. 

You know you live disrespecting the power of the gun you die with suddenly new respect for the power of the gun.

This so-called "gun culture" is chock full of people who treat guns like they are simply accouterments or tools to be used to shoot in the air for celebration, or to open a locked door after losing the key, or to whip out to suddenly give the impression that they are a man. 

The facts are that these are deadly weapons designed and manufactured to end a life, and unless the individual with access to one does not treat it with great care and respect for its life ending power, the person whose life it ends will be either themselves or somebody they care about.

I wonder how this guy tested his bike helmet? Did he ride his bike into a brick wall at full speed?

Video shows Open Carry advocates confused by negative response from restaurant patrons.

Courtesy of Mother Jones:

Two videos posted on YouTube on May 19 by the San Antonio chapter of Open Carry Texas—since removed from public view but obtained by Mother Jones—show its armed members being refused service at both restaurants. The two companies have not made official statements on open carry but have since indicated that they are reviewing their policies. From the nervous and angry reactions of some patrons to comments from some of the gun activists themselves, it's not difficult to see why these spectacles haven't been winning many people over. 

When a young woman approaches the group in Chili's and expresses her dismay, a guy with an assault rifle strapped across his back offers her a flyer. "Um actually, there's children here," she replies, "and you're a dumbass." As she walks away one member of the group comments mockingly, "Yes, I'm a dumbass," and then says of her, "must be Moms Demand Action," referring to the national gun reform group. 

In the Sonic video, as the thwarted gun group lingers in an adjacent parking lot, one member says: "I just wish I had my kids in there when that one dumb chick come up and started rattin' her mouth."

Personally I think these inbred morons should keep right on showing up at restaurants with those long guns and their bellies hanging over their belts. 

They might literally do more to usher in stricter gun control laws, than the recent mass shootings have managed to do.

Which, of course, is nothing.

How is Black Friday not a sign of the end of civilization as we know it?

It is like watching a road show version of the Jerry Springer Show.

Look if you find yourself in handcuffs after fighting with a woman over a 25 inch flat screen TV you may want to reevaluate your damn life.The cost of the TV may be dramatically reduced but your dignity should have a higher price tag.

The other day at my Mom's house I had a couple of female relatives tell me they were heading over to stand in line and take advantage of the Black Friday sales.

I told them they did not have to bother, and that I would gladly hold up a flaming hoop for them to jump through right there in the living room. I also filled them in on why they should avoid shopping at Wal-Mart.

But it did no good, these are my relatives who get all of their information from Facebook, and refuse to read my posts because there are "too many words." (Yeah there's simply no helping some people.)

Let me just say that I have three flat screen televisions in my home, of varying sizes, and that I did NOT ONCE stand outside in the cold for six hours, nor bitchslap a fellow consumer, in order to get my hands on any of them.  Perhaps I am simply not a good example of the American capitalist, but I think I would feel some sense of shame if I had injured another human being or froze my testicles off in order to watch reruns of "How I Met Your Mother" on a slightly larger screen.

Fundamentalists believe that Bill Nye "The Science Guy" does not understand science. It's in his damn name! Update!

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Australian “young Earth” creationist pastor Ken Ham said on Facebook Tuesday that Bill Nye “The Science Guy” does not “understand science correctly” because Nye does not believe in a literal interpretation of the Biblical book Genesis. 

“Bill Nye still doesn’t understand the difference between historical science and observational science–so he may be known as ‘Bill Nye the science guy’–but he doesn’t understand science correctly,” Ham wrote about a discussion between Nye and Bill Maher on Maher’s HBO show “Real Time with Bill Maher” in which both men mocked creationists. 

P.Z. Meyers wrote of Ken Ham and “historical science” that the philosophy possesses “that delightful combination of arrogant pretense in which the Bible-walloper gets to pretend he understands better than scientists, and simultaneously allows them to deny every scientific observation, ever.” 

According to “historical science” creationists, no science is valid that you did not personally witness, so-called “observational science.” They say that in order for evolution to be real, someone had to witness one species physically transforming into another. It’s not enough for the fossil record to show that bacteria evolved into a different kind of bacteria or fish evolved into different types of fish. To a creationist, this is false because “the bacteria are still bacteria and the fish are still fish.” Therefore, only God can affect real change.

So to be clear, these individuals who believe in an invisible sky fairy, based on NO evidence whatsoever,  feel it is perfectly reasonable to demand that science ONLY be done by observation.

Seriously is it possible to become physically ill from irony overload?

Perhaps it is unknown to these morons that Copernicus determined that the earth rotated around the sun, and not the other way around as suggested by the Bible, using mathematical equations NOT simply observation.

The same use of mathematics has been used to determine the existence of planetary bodies long before they were observed by more powerful telescopes, not to mention how it is used to determine the age of artifacts and human and animal fossils.

I assume, using Mr. Ham's logic, that the police could NEVER solve a murder without having the great fortune of locating an eyewitness. Just imagine how many cases would remain unsolved if that were the criteria.

And remember THESE are individuals who base their entire belief system on an ancient book with reams of contradictory stories, and whose authors and contributors they have never met, and indeed are, for most part, entirely unknown. 

It would be a great joy to me if there ever came a time when religious people decided to apply the same strict guidelines to what they would or would not accept as true, as those that they seem to demand from science.

How long do we think that Christianity, or Islam, or even Judaism would survive after that?

Update: You know it suddenly dawned on me that this might be a great place to link to a set of graphics entitled Putting Time in  Perspective.

It illustrates just how much time has passed since the universe was calculated to have started , and compares that to other increments of time. It is really quite fascinating and once you look at it, and study it, the argument made by young earth Creationists seems even more ridiculous.

If you can imagine such a thing.