1893 - Elisha Gray patented a machine called the telautograph. It automatically signed autographs to documents.
1984 - Space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart made the first untethered space walk.
COINCIDENCE? I think NOT!
“It is, I think, an error to believe that there is any need of religion to make life seem worth living.”
-- Sinclair Lewis
FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY:
a) BREAKING NEWS! Florida loses famous The Ineffably Stupid Award!
In its never ending quest to earn the title of the most ineffably stupid state in the Union, Florida showed why it has a lock on second place, this time by forgetting about the District of Columbia. Because of the majorities it held for more than a decade, and having the presidency for the last eight yrs, the southern regional party still known as the GOP, continues to have a strangling grip over much of agencies, organizations, and federal institutions that call DC their home. Probably the most obvious display of "teh stupid" (the Church's new motto) is exemplified by GOP senators such as Tom Coburn, John Kyl, and the two men who came in second and third in a recent IQ test against the Everready bunny wabbit, Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning.
It would be nice for someone to get a copy of these four idiots' speeches over the last few days and come up with a video collage of their finest moments.
Anyway, it looks like the stimulus package will pass despite and in spite of this collection of aged, semi- conscious, ultra-conservative dolts. As improbable as it seems, it looks like the Democrats managed to avoid grasping defeat from the jaws of victory.
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b) FIASCO
Tom Ricks deserves a medal of honor. At the very least, his 2006 devastating critique of VP Cheney's and Secdef Rumsfeld's invasion of Iraq should be required reading, probably by every high school junior or senior. (Do kids still read in high school?) The tone his book takes starts off at the very beginning, with the following dedication:
"For the war dead"
With loads of resource material, he outlines the decision making process, the decisions themselves, and the horrific results that followed. What is worst of all is how many times real experts, from the military, State, even from knowledgeable people who populate our Constitution's Article I branch of government, all offered consistent, accurate, and well-honed expert advice, only to have it rejected or worse. When Condi Rice goes on the air petulantly claiming, "Who could have known . . .?" Ricks' book is an indictment against them all.
The list of cretins, vagabonds, criminally inept, and devious crooks is long. The short list is easy: Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Gen. Franks, Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, Paul Bremer, Condi Rice, and Scooter Libby, who along with Chalabi, spoon-fed the New York Times' Judy Miller with lies and spin. (which she swallowed whole, then still on her knees, wiping her lips, begging, "Please sir, may I have some more?")
A decade from now, military and social scholars will review the IraqNam quagmire and come to the conclusion that this was the worst possible war, started for the worst possible reasons, run in the worst possible way, the the worst possible people. Lucky for us, Mr. Ricks has already done a great deal of research. 3 years after publication, it is worth reading it and looking back at the jetsam and flotsam that decorate our nation. To put things in real perspective, the American Reconstruction plan that passed yesterday will cost less in terms of money, blood, injured and death, but especially money, than the IraqNam fiasco. Had we simply contained Saddam, and used the funds wasted in Iraq on America, we would not be in our current economic mess.
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c) The SEC - Our very own walking, talking, bunch of toothless zombies.
If I had one wish that would be granted, it would be to see into those tiny, almost invisible minds of the SEC execs during the polite, understated questioning by a curious congressman. Or better yet, some substantive answers. It hurts so much you want to laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Are prison sentences possible for "teh stupids?" In any case, the entire SEC needs a flushing with industrial strength fire hoses. Start at the top, keep heading down until they find someone who really does the job they were hired to do. If that should be a file clerk, fine. But everyone else should go.
FROM WHERE did these SEC lawyers and accountants spawn? Regency University? Liberty University? Oral Roberts? Is that where they learned to practice faith based audits and investigations?
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d) More TARP Stimulus Stories $2000 an hour hookers? Using TARP as contraception, no doubt.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
A partial client list:
* a vice president of NBC Universal (owned by General Electric)
* the part owner of a Major League Baseball team who "loves Kelsey"
* the CEO of one of the country's largest private equity firms who met "Cameron" at the Peninsula Hotel
* a major New York real estate developer who, according to the list, "will come to the door wearing women's panties"
* a partner at the Wall Street law firm Cravath Swaine Moore "looking for a party girl to come fully equipped" and spent a total of $20,000
* an investment banker from Lehman Brothers who saw "Kelsey and Keely together" and later saw "Aria and Skyler at the same time"
* an investment banker at JP Morgan Securities who "loves Brooke" and spent $41,600
* an investment banker at Goldman Sachs who "only wanted all-American girls" and spent $27,000
* a managing director from Merrill Lynch who saw "Lana" using the name "Nataly"
* a managing director from Deutsche Bank "who called about seeing Nataly again"
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e) Kellogg's
When olympic gold medalist Phelps was caught on video doing bong hits, Kellogg's decided to cut ties with the young kid. The response has been swift and angry.
Kellogg's has been forced to add a special site to deal with the complaints and messages of support for Phelps.
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SNEED WATCH! She made it! A WHOLE week without crowing about her secret love, Sarah Palin!
Of course, Sneed has posted no gossip columns in the Chicago Suntimes for a whole week, too.
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"There was never a good war or a bad peace."
Benjamin Franklin