Am I The News?

Between twitter, facebook, i-phones, and blogs, I think the definition of 'news' is changing.  Our traditional news sources like TV and newspapers really no longer give us 'the news.'  Those sources give us a list of events that occurred the previous day.  The real 'news' in 2012 is the public response and reaction to the events that happen.  That instant response can't be delivered by news anchors or reports until it happens.  By then, when they get it on TV, it is just another 'event' from the previous day.

We the people and how we view our ever changing world is the new 'news'.  That being said, the opinions of this blog will be quoted and expressed in tomorrows Union Leader as part of an article on the misguided efforts of the UNH administration to control its student population, and the vast implications that policies like this have.   Make sure you check it out!

#LetUsChoose

UNH Bans All Energy Drinks From Campus! Promptly Changes Their Mind

Univ. of NH backtracks on energy drink sales ban

 CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- The University of New Hampshire has backtracked on its just-announced plan to stop selling energy drinks on campus, saying it needs more time to study the idea and gather input from students.

Citing health and safety concerns, the university said Monday morning it would remove Full Throttle, Red Bull, Moxie Energy and NOS from vending machines and its seven dining halls, cafes and convenience stores starting in January. But in a statement Monday night, university President Mark Huddleston said conflicting reports about the caffeine and sugar content of some of the drinks, as well as negative student reaction, prompted him to call for a delay.

"I want to be sure we respect our students' ability to make informed choices about what they consume," he said.

If the university eventually stops selling the energy drinks, it would be going a step further than other campuses that have banned alcoholic versions. University officials said Monday they were unaware of other colleges having taken the same step, though at least one other school - Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles - has a policy of not selling energy drinks in its dining halls. It does sell them from vending machines.

Rick MacDonald, assistant director of UNH dining, said earlier Monday that the decision was in keeping with Huddleston's goal to make UNH the healthiest campus in the country by 2020.

"This is one of many steps we have taken and will take in accomplishing that goal," he said.

Energy drinks typically contain more caffeine than soft drinks, along with large amounts of sugar and additional ingredients that claim to boost mental and physical energy. While such products are legal and safe when consumed as intended, they can be unsafe when overused or mixed with alcohol, said David May, assistant vice president for business affairs.

"Just recently there was an incident on campus involving energy drinks that helped send a student to the hospital," he said.

In a statement, Red Bull emphasized that its product meets federal safety requirements. An 8.4 oz. can of Red Bull contains 80 mg of caffeine, comparable to the estimated 65 to 120 mg of caffeine in an 8 oz. cup of drip coffee. Cola soft drinks have about 35 mg per 8 oz. can.

"These drinks have a similar caffeine content as coffee and do not contain alcohol. Since it would not be right to ban the sale of soda, coffee, or tea on a college campus, it's also inappropriate and unwarranted to single out and restrict the sale of energy drinks," the company said. "We are working with the University of New Hampshire to find a resolution."

In a survey of New Hampshire college students conducted last spring, 20 percent of the UNH participants reported that they had mixed alcohol and energy drinks during the last 30 days.

"They are popular, very popular," said sophomore Tim Quinney, 19, who said he very rarely consumes energy drinks because he doesn't care for the flavor. He said students who do enjoy the drinks will be slightly inconvenienced by having to go off campus, but said overall, the decision won't have much impact.

"Though I understand the concept behind it, we're adults," he said. "I would think we'd be capable of making decisions in our own best interest."

Senior Rob Johnson said he occasionally gets a Red Bull from the school library when he needs an extra boost while studying, and he said many students do mix the drinks with alcohol. One bar near campus recently ran a $1 Red Bull and vodka promotion and ran out of Red Bull by 10 p.m., he said.

Johnson said a sales ban doesn't make sense from a health standpoint - Why scapegoat one type of food or drink? - and he said the safety concerns were baffling.

"Most students go to parties off-campus, and stopping by a convenience store to buy an energy drink, often at a lower cost, is no problem to them. The only thing that I see this new ban doing is increasing sales of energy drinks at convenience stores in Durham," he said.

The drinks are now sold on campus in single-serving cans and multipacks. According to the university, 60,000 energy drinks were sold last year, or one half of one percent of retail sales.

I love the fact that UNH is NOW going to check the caffeine and sugar content AFTER they already instituted the ban.  It is such a liberal progressive move to take away the peoples' freedom of choice as a knee jerk reaction to some over hyped incident.  I'm not saying this is the next prohibition, but just because 1 in 5 students had a Vodka Red Bull last April, and 1/60,000 drinks sold led to a hospital visit doesn't mean that the University has the right to take away an entire genre of products from their entire student body.

I'm sure legally they have the right, but it is just such bullshit that we as young Americans have it so instilled in us that it is the responsibility of the government to take care of us.  That shit doesn't work.  I never even heard of 4-Loco until it was made illegal.  I spent the next week trying to find a can so I can see what all the fuss is about.  It's basically the same thing with drinking, drugs, sex... anything.  People instinctively want what they can't have.  Does UNH really think that this is going to fix anything?

UNH should have instead sent out an email to students warning them of the risks of high sugar/caffiene drinks, except that UNH hadn't actually gathered any actual information, per se.  Raise awareness.  Then it is up to each one of us ADULTS, to make the decision for ourselves.  Those are our rights as individuals.  Sure, UNH has the right as an institution to also sell what they want.  That isn't my issue.  My issue is that they presented this a good solution to the non existant energy drink abuse problem.  

I think the perfect example is cigarettes vs. weed.  Cigarettes were never made illegal, but instead they spent all the resources that would have gone into enforcing an unenforceable law into spreading the information.  I never got into smoking, and I think only about 5% of my friends smoke, because 'The Truth' told me for my entire childhood that smoking will destroy me.  To this day, no one has been able to show me reliable information that weed is any more medically harmful than anything else that people consume on a daily basis.  I heard of weed when I was like 12, and all I knew is that it was illegal, but all the cool kids are doing it secretly, and the parents don't know.  Obviously that just made me more curious about it.   I know a hell of a lot more people that smoke weed.

When you start telling people what they can and can't do it is such a slippery slope that I'd rather not even put the dominoes in motion. What happens when a freshman drinks 5 captain and cokes and then crashes their car?  No more soda because it makes kids drink more alcohol?  Natural juices only for everyone!  Candy is making kids too obese for UNH to win the coveted 2020 healthiest campus competition in which only they are competing, so no more chocolate.  What, dairy is fattening?  No more pizza.  I'm telling you guys it isn't as rediculous as you think.  If you had told someone 20 years ago that they wouldn't be able to smoke in a restaurant they would have said it will never happen.  10 years ago if you told someone they wouldn't be able to talk on their cell phone while driving they would have said you were crazy.  5 years ago if you told them that institutions would stop selling soda or energy drinks for health reasons you would have said they were crazy.  

Once the precedent on these things is set, it just keeps going and going and going. It is not crazy to think that in 10 years you will only be able to buy all natural, organic food, with nothing but juices and water.  No pizza, no french fries, no chicken fingers, no condiments.  If that is the way I want to go, that is a CHOICE that I get to make. All those things would be perfectly justifiable to ban, with the same exact argument that we are now accepting for the energy drinks.  Sure it looks great on paper, but that isn't the world I want my kids to live in.  The choices we make as individuals are what makes the country great. It is the unintended consequences of these ultimatums are always overlooked by liberal left.  Just a quick example:  Every state that has put a ban on texting while driving has seen a massive increase in accidents and deaths as a result of texting while driving.  The reason is that instead of holding the phone up, and keeping the phone in your periphery, people now text with their phones in their laps so cops can't see, so they can't see the road at all.  Any idiot could have seen that coming, but no... texting=bad so we must pass a law and assume it will all work out.

I think the UNH kids that commented on the policy in the article at the end have it basically right.  All this is going to do is take profit out of the school which we the students will eventually pay in higher tuition, inconvenience students who now have to drunk drive to CAMCO to buy a fucking NOS, and it just further takes away any sense of personal responsibility from the next generation of Americans.  

#LetUsChoose

Get a Load of This Asshole

Every time I think I hate my job this makes me feel OK with my life.

Best lyric ever:  "Young man, young girl, welcome to wally world, you're gonna be a CASHIER SOME DAY!!!"

90 Protesters Don't Know Why They are Protesting.... Still Get Arrested

Protests targeting the financial sector escalated on Saturday as more than 90 people were arrested as they marched through Manhattan.
The so-called “Occupy Wall Street” movement has entered its second week and has drawn hundreds of activists to protest in front of the New York Stock Exchange and other commercial centres of the city.
On Saturday, skirmishes with the police erupted as a group of several hundred attempted to march to the UN building without a permit. Protest organisers said at least 96 people were arrested, with at least five being sprayed with mace by police.
The demonstrations began September 17 when several hundred people gathered in Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street. Organised through social media, the protests continued through the week, with a smaller number of people demonstrating each morning as traders and financial workers made their way to work.
Police presence has remained heavy throughout the week, and police said most of Saturday’s arrests were for disorderly conduct and blocking traffic. There was one arrest for assault on a police officer.
Scenes of the protests posted on YouTube showed hundreds of people swarming the streets near Union Square as police worked to move protesters back onto the sidewalk. Some videos captured police shoving protesters to the ground, fencing them off and using pepper spray on a group of women.
Activists representing a broad array of causes have joined the demonstrations. In recent days signs protesting against capital punishment, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the tax code have been seen on the marches.
“End Corporate Personhood,” read one placard, referring to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s recent assertion that “corporations are people”.
Protesters said their goal was not simply to halt trading or disrupt business in the financial sector.
“It’s more complicated than that,” said Patrick Bruner, a spokesman for the protesters. “The idea is that we’re starting a real conversation, a conversation that has not existed. There’s a real misuse of wealth and power and we’re talking about it.”
But even supporters of the demonstrations said the movement lacks a coherent voice.
“The protests should have a clearer message,” said one commenter from Australia on the Occupy Wall Street website. “A lot of people are being confused as to what the protests are all about.”
The demonstrations have so far failed to disrupt work on Wall Street, but protesters said they would continue into next week. “We’re not going anywhere,” said Mr Bruner.

#GetAJob
Hey assholes, if you really want 'to start a conversation' why don't you get some balls and have your protests at 7AM on a Monday instead of 3PM on a Saturday.  Who gives a shit if there are a few hundred assholes with camera phones on Wall Street on the weekend.  That's like Rosa Parks locking down the front seat on an empty bus.  You know why?  Because the tens of thousands of people that actually have a place to be would trample you on their way to jobs, where they earn money to support their families.  I don't know what the fuck occupying Wall Street has to do with capital punishment or the war in Iraq. 

You want to see how real protesters protest?  Look at some Cairo footage where you have to avoid getting your head lapped off by some hooded savage on camel back, or smashed in the face with a brick.   Those are protesters.  What you see in New York are a bunch of college kids that think they have the whole world figured out, who took the bus in from North Jersey with their friends, with the sole purpose of trying to get some poor New York City cop to snap on them in a moment of weekness while their douchebag friend records it going, 'you're on camera man, this is against the constition, we have freedom of speech,' so that he can be viral for 6 hours and cost the cop his pension.  That's all this is about, but for some reason the media has to pretend to take this shit seriously instead of calling a spade a spade.  Protesting against 'the man' is just what's in this season I guess.  All the hipsters are doing it.  I hope next year the trend is more towards fucking getting jobs and not costing tax payers millions more in police expenses because your marching about some shit you can't even explain.

I'm not even sure how this relates, but it comes to mind.  Courtest of Opie and Anthony, M-F 6-10AM on Sirius 197 XM 105.

@opieradio
@anthonycumia

Chilean Guy Absolutely Crushes Eddie Vedder (Must See)

No words to explain my reaction to this.  This guy just crushes every note all the way through.  Granted he loses points for difficulty, since even Americans can't understand the words to the song, but I can't tell the difference in the vocals.

So I guess this show, Mi Nombre Es, is like half impressions half karaoke.  I looked at some other clips on youtube and there is this one chick doing Amy Winehouse' Rehab while she drinks and smokes on stage.  Not the most original idea, but it's better than X-Factor.  I'd love to see some creepy old guy nail 'Thriller' while molesting a kid, or some teen girl belting out 'Party in the USA' while taking bong rips and sexting pictures of her tits.

Herman Cain Will be the Next President.... No Really, I'm Serious.

I know people typically don't pay attention to straw polls, but I think what happened yesterday is huge.  The more I look at the big picture, the more I can see Herman Cain actually winning the nomination and the presidency.

Lets start with the specifics of the Florida P5 Straw Poll.  The people that vote in the straw poll are Florida Republican Delegates, basically made up of the shakers and movers for the Republicans in Florida.  The Florida Straw Poll has been around since 1979, and has accurately selected the Republican Nominee 100% of the time, and also has a history of finding the candidate that no one is expecting (eg. Reagan) that becomes the eventual winner.  Think of it like the electoral college, where the bigger states have more votes.  Florida sends a ton of delegates to the Republican convention, so winning the Florida primary is 80% of the battle.  If he can build on this love affair with Florida Republicans, he has a huge advantage.  Romney has been campaigning there for 5 years and got about 1/3 of Cain's support.

Looking at his policies relative to the public opinion, I see big time potential.

Cain on Taxes:  He is in favor of basically abolishing the IRS and replacing it with his 9-9-9 tax plan.  The 9-9-9 plan says you have a flat business profit tax of 9%, down from somewhere around 30% for some companies; a 9% national sales tax up from 0%, just like the sales state tax); and a 9% personal income tax for everyone down from around 30% for most people.  That's it.  No other taxes.  Plain. Simple. Effective.  No more IRS, no more forms, no more loop holes.  It's completely fair as everyone pays the same percentage across the board.  The rich make and spend more so will pay more in sales tax and income tax.  I've always supported something more like a 25% national sales tax with no income tax or business profit tax at all (eg. Ron Paul), but this is close enough.  This isn't as extreme as what the hard tea party people are asking for, but it's much better than the status quo and the business world will love it.  Additionally, which the vast majority of Americans will get massive tax cuts through this, as they aren't effected by by business profits tax, while exchanging 20% savings on all the money they earn, for a 9% increase on money they spend.  That's a great deal for everyone.

Cain on Social Security:  He is also in favor of privatizing social security with the Chilean model.  Since the current system will be out of money is 30 years with absolutely no hope of being improved without radical change, we NEED to get this program away from government right away.  Basically he wants people to save all the money they pay into Social Security, and instead let them invest it themselves in low risk options.  This eliminates any chance of the system running out of money and leaving the taxpayer to make up the difference.

This site does a good job of explaining the specifics. 

"Here's how they do social security in Chile according to Cato.org. Workers are given the choice as to whether they would like to stay in a pay-as-you-go plan (like we have in the U.S.) or a new system in which they can put their entire payroll tax into a retirement account. That way, they can benefit from compound interest.

93% of Chilean's elect to participate in the new system. It's run by 15 private companies.

Here's how the country's former Secretary of Labor, Jose Pinera explains what has happened:

We guaranteed benefits for the elderly -- we told those people who had already retired that they had nothing to fear from this reform. We also told people entering the labor force for the first time that they had to go to the new system.

Today, all workers in Chile are capitalists, because their money is invested in the stock market. And they also understand that if government tomorrow were to create the conditions for inflation, they would be damaged because some of the money is also invested in bonds -- around 60%. So the whole working population of Chile has a vested interest in sound economic policies and a pro-market, pro-private-enterprise environment.

Not only that, but the savings rate in Chile went up from 10% to 27% of GNP. There's no payroll tax, and with full employment and that great savings rate, the economy has blossomed.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-chilean-model-herman-cain-was-talking-about-at-last-nights-gop-debate-2011-9#ixzz1YyQABeIk

Cain on Foreign Policy:  All I've heard him say on foreign policy is that that has no idea what the Palestinians and Israelis are mad about.  Since that's the issue causing literally every problem in the world, I'd like him to shore up his position before I give him any more consideration.  If he came out and said, "After looking at the right problem (his go-to phrase), I've concluded that 98% of violence in the world is a result of us giving money, guns, and technology to all the countries to fight the wars, so we'll just stop giving any money or support to anyone," I'd put on my blackface and go the next Cain rally.  I'm not that optomistic

Cain on Social Issues:   

"Life begins at conception" (AKA bye bye abortions)

"We are based on biblical values" (I hate the whole God in Government thing)

"No special privileges for gays; bring back don't ask don't tell". (He will not get a Barney Frank endorsement)

From me:  I don't know if I'm in the majority or minority here, but I really don't give a shit about social issues for the most part.  My opinion is the government shouldn't be able to tell us what to do, so anyone that pushes their social opinions at all is too 'big government' for me.  I like Cain because he focuses on taxes, jobs, and budgets, which is what the government should be doing.  If want to blow a guy, Herman Cain isn't going to stop me.  (I don't want that, FYI).

How it all comes together:  The reason I think Cain will win this whole thing is the following.  He's radical enough on entitlement support to get the tea party, he's moderate enough in his tax reform to get the independents, he's black enough to get the blacks, and he's charismatic enough to get the 90% of Americans who vote for whoever has the best witty one-liners and Martin Luther King quotes.

Asshole Lawyer/Yankee Fan Serves Sox Starter 3 Hours before First Pitch

Boston Red Sox Pitcher Served Papers in Child Support Case Before Game

 

BOSTON –  Hours before taking the mound for the reeling Red Sox against the Orioles Tuesday night at Fenway Park, pitcher Erik Bedard was served with papers in a child support case, The Post has learned.

Bedard was served with papers from Massachusetts Probate and Family Court at Fenway Park at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The papers were served by lifelong Yankees fan Tom Cabral, who was acting on behalf of Bedard’s ex-girlfriend Courtney Roberts.

“The Red Sox were very cooperative,” Cabral told The Post. “They asked me if I could serve these tomorrow because he was starting tonight. My position was, my client wants it served today, and that’s what I have to do.”

Cabral didn’t bother to hide the fact he is a Yankees fan. In fact, he proudly wore a Yankees shirt while he served Bedard the papers.

“When I walked in I was like, I’m a Yankees fan, but I’m not trying to (give you a hard time),” Cabral said. “I told him that and said, sorry, I’ve got to do this. But he said it was no problem. I handed him the copies of all the documents and he signed them.

“(The Red Sox) legal department was joking with me about it … they were saying, ‘That’s why you’re so adamant about doing it today … you’re a Yankees fan.’"

 more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/09/21/boston-red-sox-pitcher-served-papers-in-child-support-case-before-game/#ixzz1Yasu5ebn 



I'm a Yankee fan, and when I saw the headline I was pumped that something shitty happened to the Red Sox.  I was a little pissed when I found out that it was Bedard and not Beckett or Lester, but it was better than nothing.  I thought it was awesome that Bedard's x went out of her way to hire a Yankee fan to make it hurt a little worse.  But then, something crazy happened. 

My hatred for assholes overcame my love of the Yankees.  This douchebag puts on a Yankees shirt to walk into Fenway to serve him, on, coincidentally, the 1 out of 5 days where he actually has to do something.  Not even that, but then he says something along the lines of, "I'm not trying to give you a hard time."  Really asshole?  You're trying to make this as painless as possible for the guy, which is why you went out of your way to do this on game day, while wearing a shirt that might as well say, 'Fuck You!" If you're going to do the worlds scummiest job, at least don't be the biggest cockroach in the shitheap.  


Also, the closing line about how he was just hangin out with the Red Sox legal team having an awesome time is clearly the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard.  I'm sure the Red Sox staff was just giddy about having their starter mentally devastated 3 hours before first pitch when they're up by two games in the wildcard.  I think that just sounded better in the article than, "The entire time everyone was calling me the worlds biggest piece of shit with no sense of guy code or respect for the game of baseball.  Bedard called me a cuckhold and threw the contract on the floor, and then two security guards escorted me back to my Buick."


P.S.  How big of a bitch is Bedard's baby mamma to hire this guy as her lawyer.  See picture below.


She's the second on in from the left (I think.. not legally responsible if it isn't).  Kinda looks like psycho.

"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations – entangling alliances with none." --- Except Wikileaks Just Released 251,000 Diplomatic Secrets and Everyone is Scared Shitless

WikiLeaks puts all its US cables online, unredacted

By Andy McSmith

Saturday, 3 September 2011

WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange was at the centre of another political storm yesterday after more than 251,000 US diplomatic cables were published in their original form on the internet for anyone to read.

No attempt was made to redact the cables to protect whistleblowers or other innocent people named in them, provoking fears that some lives could be endangered.

The cables were published in batches, sorted by country, including 34,687 relating to Iraq, 29,431 from China, 19,714 from Afghanistan, 13,209 from Pakistan and 6,732 from Cuba.

Their appearance was announced on Twitter, with messages encouraging followers to read the cables and share what they find. One WikiLeaks tweet declared that it was "shining a light on 45 years of US 'diplomacy'."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wikileaks-puts-all-its-us-cables-online-unredacted-2348388.html

It sucks that U.S foreign diplomacy has turned into a season of god damn Big Brother, except real people are getting screwed, there's no Big Jeff to keep shit from hitting the fan, and when we finally do get voted off there's going to no Julie Chen or jury house.  

Do you know how much better the entire world would be if the U.S just minded their own business?  I have all the support in the world for the troops, because the troops have one job: Carry out whatever mission it is that they are given and they do an amazing job.  The problem I have is with the mission itself.  What is the mission anyway?  

Basically it seems like U.S Foreign Policy is to have as much influence on anything that happens anywhere whether it has any bearing on Americans or not.  Oh, I forgot the best part.  The American taxpayer gets to pay for the entire thing.  

In my Live Free or Die world, there wouldn't be any U.S troops anywhere in the world except in the United States.  We wouldn't have allies, enemies, puppet governments, espionage, CIA, or anything. The only reason for all this bullshit is that we run around the world like middle schoolers, talking shit behind everyone's back, telling everyone they are our best friends, then we give the Taliban a shitload of weapons to fight the Russians, then we give the Afghan's a shitload of weapons to fight the Taliban, then we give the Pakistani's a shitload of weapons to fight the Afghans, then we give the Egyptians shitloads of weapons to fight the other Egyptians, then they use them to attack Israel, and we give Israel a shitload of weapons to fight everyone.  Then in the end we act like we're shocked that everyone in the world is fighting, and we prance around like a bunch peace keepers dealing with rabid apes that can't be controlled. 

Almost every war/conflict/act of terror is being carried out with U.S weapons, U.S money, and being propogated by U.S assets.  This isn't a conspiracy theory, its just how things happen.  Friends become enemies, enemies become friends, super powers become third world countries, dictators fall... and so on.  Things are always changing.  That is why Thomas Jefferson gave us the piece of wisdom in the title above.  NO ALLIANCES.  If we didn't have alliances we wouldn't have enemies.  Sure it may seem like a good idea at certain times to support a side that temporarily seems to have our values and interests at heart, but that is never long lasting and the blowback of our actions is always 10 times worse than the benefit.   

I think the proof is in the pudding.  No one knows the effects of our interventionism better than the U.S troops themselves.  The only mainstream politician to agree with my stance is a certain principled Congressman and presidential candidate named Ron Paul.  One of the most under reported fundraising stats out there is that Ron Paul ALWAYS gets more military donations than all the other candidates combined.  It's amazing that he has the support of so many true patriots that put their lives on the line for this crazy mission every day, yet the other candidates have the audacity to call this foreign policy unpatriotic. 

Ok, enough ranting this morning.  I'm sure I'll continue some other time. 

More Than Neo-Nazi Crackpots

People are quick to scoff at "The Tea Party" as a bunch of maniacs who believe that Obama was born in a foreign country and that global warming isn't happening. That's simply not true.

I for one totally believe that Obama was born in America. I'm just not entirely sure he has an actual soul. When he came in as president, he pretended to be a black guy who loved playing basketball & hated golf. Now he's a Hitler mustache away from being post-retirement Michael Jordan.

Furthermore, global warming is totally happening. Al Gore told me so. Yes, I sat through "An Interminable Truth" and actually bought into some of the science of it. I feel that we, as people, are partially responsible for creating a large mess of this world. But you know what? I think THE WORLD will be okay. People, on the other hand, are screwed. Particularly those who live near the oceans, which will overflow from melting ice caps...or get struck with Category 7.5 Killer Hurricanes...or fall plum out into the ocean due to earthquakes caused by the crust getting too hot (in which case, let cool for 5 minutes before eating).

The crux of the Tea Party is something everybody from every party can agree on: The government is totally screwing us over. It's just a matter of how big a dildo we believe they're using. Personally, I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!

Obama Plans Speech Exactly During Republican Debate, Republicans are Assholes because Obama is Black?

 

Wolffe: Opposition To Obama Speech Possibly Based On Skin Color

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/08/31/wolffe_opposition_to_obama_speech_possibly_based_on_skin_color.html

"The interesting question is: What is it about this president that has stripped away the veneer of respect that normally accompanies the Office of the President? Why do Republicans think this president is unpresidential and should dare to request this kind of thing? It strikes me that it could be the economic times, it could be that he won so big in 2008 or it could be, let's face it, the color of his skin. This is an extraordinary reaction to a normal sequence of events," MSNBC contributor Richard Wolffe said on "The Last Word."

Sorry guys.  I couldn't link the video yet, but it's at the link above.  

Are you kidding me MSNBC?  I'm sure it was a complete coincidence that Obama's secretary must have scheduled the biggest speech of his presidency during the exact 2 hour period where his competitors are laying out why he is a shitty president and why they are a better choice.  Must be administrative oversight.  

We already saw Obama pull this 'Give a big speech during my enemy's 15 seconds of fame' manuveur out of his playbook when he killed Bin Laden during the Apprentice Finale.  Fool us once, shame on us Obama.  Not this time!  

Seriously, could you imagine how ripshit EVERYONE at MSNBC would be if Obama announced a speech and then a month before his speech Republicans announced a debate for the same time.  Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would have a field day.  

Also, Jay Carney (Obama's spokesperson) came out and said, 'The president is too focused on jobs right now to worry about the republican debate schedule.'  Is anyone seriously buying that for a second?  The guys plays more golf than Tiger Woods, takes more vacations than Paris Hilton, does more fundraising than the Mafia.  He didn't have .5 seconds to ask if maybe there is something going on that day? 

Lady Writes the Word 'Boom' at an Airport, Everyone Reacts Completely Rationally

Danisa Landaeta Charged In Airport Bomb Hoax

Danisa Landaeta, a 30-year-old Miami woman, has been arrested for drawing a picture of a bomb and writing the word "BOOM" on her friend's bag as a joke, the Miami Herald reports.

Landaeta drew the misguided picture on the suitcase of a friend who was traveling from Miami to Venezuela on Tuesday. The friend was checking into a Santa Barbara Airlines flight and turned in the luggage when she noticed the drawing, the arrest affidavit reads, according to Local10.com.

Miami-Dade police spokesman Det. Roy Rutland told CBS that the incident occurred around 3pm on Tuesday. Three concourses were evacuated and driving areas around another were closed off as a precaution, airport spokesman Greg Chin told CBS. A K-9 unit was also brought in.

Landaeta confessed and has been charged with the planting of a hoax bomb and criminal mischief and is being held on $12,500 bond, CBS Miami reports. NBC Miami adds that Landaeta is still in a local jail.

The incident cost roughly $1,000, according to the New York Daily News.

This seems completely reasonable.  You see a hand drawn picture of a bomb on a suitcase and evacuate 3 concourses and driving areas and bring in a dog.  

The whole 'bomb threat' thing always got me.  I always feel like that if there is ever a written threat or phone threat of anything, it's definitely not going to happen.  I imagine the whole process of planning, getting materials, building a bomb, finding a way through security, finding a target and all that is quite a bit of work.  Not to mention the fact that the hypothetical bomber probably doesn't want to get caught. It seems silly that despite all the effort, he would draw attention to himself by drawing his big plan on his luggage.  Has anyone of these 'threats' ever lead to anything even close to serious?

Growing up in a post-Columbine educational system, I always thought the adults making decisions were half-retarded whenever some kid would come to the lunch table and be like, 'Hey, some kid wrote that he put has grenade in his lunch box, on the wall in the handicapped stall, so now they're sending everyone home.


Also, did you see the official charge???  'Planting a hoax bomb'.  I don't think anyone can argue that drawing a bomb on your plane luggage is dumb and in poor taste, but the fact that ANYONE thinks that a picture of a bomb drawn by a crackhead Britney Spears look-alike represents any kind of increased chance of an actual bomb is ridiculous to me. 

Not Now Vermont.... We're Busy

Guard choppers from Illinois to assist Vermont recovery effort

Outside assistance from other state's National Guard units is needed because the Vermont National Guard's helicopter fleet is deployed on a mission in Iraq.

Eight helicopters on loan from the Illinois National Guard were expected to arrive Tuesday night in Vermont to help the Vermont National Guard deliver food, medicine, water and other supplies to 13 Vermont towns cut off from the rest of the state in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene.

The outside helicopter support is needed because all six of the Vermont Guard’s Black Hawk helicopters are still in Iraq, where they and 55 Vermont soldiers are wrapping up a yearlong hospital transport mission, said Lt. Lloyd Goodrow, spokesman for the Vermont Guard.

The eight helicopters being sent in include six massive, double-bladed Chinook choppers and two smaller Black Hawk helicopters, said Vermont Guard Capt. Doran Metzger.

The New Hampshire National Guard sent over two of its Black Hawk helicopters on Monday. The two were used to transport Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, Gov. Peter Shumlin, Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., on a survey of flood-damaged areas in the state.

Peter Coffey, deputy director for operations and logistics for the state’s Emergency Management Division, said the papers requesting the Illinois assistance were approved Tuesday afternoon, and the eight helicopters were en route to Vermont.

Goodrow said the Vermont soldiers in Iraq are on their way home and should be back in the state late this week or early next week. The six helicopters, however, will need to undergo an extensive maintenance check to remove desert sand and grit from their machinery before they are cleared for use back in the state.

Goodrow said that process could take a month to complete. One of the Vermont Guard’s missions in the aftermath of the Irene-related devastation is to get supplies to residents in about a dozen stranded cut-off towns.

That is being done via very small deliveries being carried out by the Guard’s two Lakota and two Kiowa helicopters, which are much smaller than Black Hawks and Chinooks.

Metzger said he was on one of the Lakota flights Tuesday and managed to deliver two boxes of MREs, or ready-to-eat meals, to Rochester one of the towns with no road access to the outside. Each box contained 24 of the meals. Rochester has about 1,100 residents.

Goodrow said the Guard continued to make deliveries to stranded isolated towns during the day.

"We’d be in a very different scenario if they were here," Goodrow said, referring to the Vermont Guard’s Black Hawk helicopters now in Iraq. Goodrow said the Guard has both a federal and a state mission and, thanks to the help from Illinois and New Hampshire, expects to be able to perform both functions.

"Our primary federal mission is a combat mission in Iraq that is saving lives," he said. "And we are able to reach out across state lines at home to allow us to do both our state and federal missions." 

This is so symbolic of what's going on in so many ways.  First of all, it shows how strung out we are in this country.  Don't even get me started on why the hell the Vermont National Guard's anything is anywhere besides Vermont for EXACTLY this kind of thing.  The way the National Guard is being currently used is EXACTLY the way they weren't meant to be used by the founding fathers.  The National Guard is intended to protect each individual state from invasion or disaster, and answer to the Governor and State Congress.  In typical U.S fashion, over the past 100 years there has been law after law after law passed all strengthening the power of the federal government, while taking away and authority and influence from the states.  Currently, the STATE NATIONAL GUARD, is under the full authority of the Federal Government, on the opposite side of the globe of the state it is supposed to be guarding.  HOW THE HELL DOES THIS STUFF HAPPEN?

Anyway, you notice that Vermont didn't have 1 of their 8 helicopters, or 5 out of 10, of 10 out of 25 in Iraq.  IT HAS ALL THEIR HELICOPTERS IN IRAQ.  Every single one.  I think it's time to wake up an realize that this fantasy that we have that our towns and states and federal agencies have all these resources in reserves in case something bad happens is a childish dream.  I think we are wiped out.  We are stretched too thin at every level, running the country paycheck to paycheck, with our assets and revenues grossly mismanaged at every level.  

I'm sure those citizens of Vermont that haven't seen food or water in a week didn't think this was going to be the return on their investment when they give up 30% of their paycheck every week that is supposed to go toward their defense and well-being.

Welcome to America