Category: Video

We Now Have a Video of a Teabagger Spitting on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.)

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People Who Don’t Read the Constitution

So much for all the Teabaggers, as well as Sean Hannity, denying that it ever happened.

Someone does not understand congressional immunity:

…shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their attendance at the Session of their Respective Houses, and in going to and from the same, and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

(emphasis mine)

A congressman in that position could have pulled out a gun and shot the protesters dead,* and shot them dead, because they are immune from almost all prosecution.

Doubtless any member of the House or Senate who did this would be expelled in short order, but prosecution would be complex, to say the least.

*Take my legal advice with a grain of salt, I’m an engineer, not a lawyer, dammit!†
†I LOVE IT when I get to go all Doctor McCoy!!!

Stiglitz on the Economy

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Depressing … True … But Depressing

The Nobel Prize winning economist has been in opposition to the general economic/political religion consensus that efficient markets will save us all.

This is rather lengthy, 1:06:10, but this is clear and relatively easily understood talk on why the great crash occurred, and what needs to be done.

It is a blistering indictment of both the financial regime, and the state of affairs in economics as an academic institution.

The man is brilliant, and he understands how the conventional wisdom is wrong, and so, he will never get a phone call from the Obama administration.

Barack Obama Signs Senate Healthcare Bill

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Is it an end?


Or is it a beginning?†


Joe Biden says, “It’s a fucking big deal.”

I think that it is clear that there is a lot more that needs to be done, and I am reasonably sure that Barack Obama won’t do much.

I think that he has to create the appearance of support on the side-car, because otherwise, he will have the every Democrat in House of Representatives out for payback, but beyond that, I think that he has his paper to sign, and he won’t do much beyond this.

His strategy, as it has been in finance reform, has been to buy off the market malefactors, and so I think that attempts to further improve the system, whether it is Grayson’s Medicare buy in, or Kucinich’s elimination of ERISA preemption will likely be opposed.

Of course, it will be sold as the, “time not being right,” much as he has done with the repeal of DADT, the ENDA, the EFCA, etc.

I would note that my predictive record sucks, and perhaps he will surprise me.

If this is all that Obama will do with healthcare, than we have just seen him make his own flight suit speech, but if he supports further improvements, then, as the fucking* Vice President of the United States accidentally said into a live microphone, “This is a big fucking deal.”

BTW, one of my predictions is coming true: when I said that the preening narcisists in the Senate would find a way to make the bill worse, for the same reason that a dog marks his territory, I was right, case in point, Jim Baucus claiming that there would have to be minor changes to the bill to accommodate Senate rules:

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus told reporters today that there may be “one or two” changes to the health care reconciliation bill, meaning it could be sent back to the House for another vote.

“Anything is possible. We’ve constructed this thing so well … maybe one or two but they’re so minor they’re almost not even worth mentioning,” Baucus said.

Any changes to the bill, even minor, will send it back to the House for another vote there before it can go to the president’s desk.

But it seems that either he got the face time on camera that he wanted, or someone threatened to disembowel him with a rusty spoon:

Late update: But Conrad now says he’s confident there won’t be changes.

“We’ve found additional precedent that supports our view that nothing is Byrd-able,” he said, referring to the Byrd rule on which legislation may be passed under reconciliation.

Kudos to whoever put a horse’s head in his bed.

*I consider myself to be a fairly profane writer, though mu rule is to %$# out my swear words, but fuck it, if the Vice President can drop the F-bomb today, than so can I.
†Yes, this T-shirt is for sale from Zazzle.com.

I Must Condemn Matthew Yglesias in the Strongest Possible Terms

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This is just evil

Simply put, while I understand and appreciate his desire tosay, “In your face,” to Republicans, who have now appeared to lose the vote, this over-steps the basic bounds of humanity.

Seriously man, you use the music of ABBA to chastise Republicans?

You do know that doing so is but one step away from napalming baby kittens!

Baby Kittens, do you hear me, Napalming Baby Kittens!!!!

You’ve done enough! Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you NO sense of DECENCY?

Noose Tightening on Ensign

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Part 1
Part 2

The scandal now has the department issuing subpoenas to, “have been issued to at least six Sas Vegas businesses,” as well as to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSCC).

As to the businesses, we are looking at what may be an actual bribery case:

One of those companies was eCommLink, formerly run by Jack Williams, a man who claimed to have invented the gift card.

Senator Ensign’s then-Chief of Staff John Lopez welcomed the opportunity to help a Nevada company. But sources say Ensign’s office quickly seized on the opportunity to get something in return.

Sources close to the situation say Ensign’s office warned eCommLink and others about pending prepaid card regulation and that donations and support could make those troublesome rules go away.

So, basically the story is as follows: John Ensign sleeps with the wife of a longtime friend and aide, he then gets his parents to pay his friend off, and throws illegal (there is supposed to be a waiting period) lobbying work to his ex-friend in order to keep things quiet, only it appears that there was some more run of the mill corruption, that Ensign, as head of the NRSCC, may have used his position to extort campaign donations.

The mainstream media has studiously avoided covering it, the Washington Post has yet to publish a stand alone story on the scandal yet, for example, but thankfully Rachael Maddow has been all over this, as the two videos (7:33 & 6:35) show.

Your JSF Update

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Just the landing


The short take off & vertical landing & cheesy music.


F136 at full reheat using JSF nozzle

The aircraft appears to have performed well in this maneuver, though it was conducted at a lighter weight than would be used in combat.

They will be taking the weight up to around 5,000 lbs of fuel and weapons as they expand the envelope.

From the video, there is no evidence of problems with things like spalling the tarmac, but this is at Pax River, and the airfield there is rather robust.

Of course, this technical success does not make the program any better run, as shown by the latest Pentagon price estimates which show the cost of the plane increasing by 90%, to $135 million each, up from the original $69 million ( inflation adjusted, it was $50m in 2001 dollars) promised in 2001.

Additionally, because of cost and weight issues, the F-35 will be eliminating fire extinguishers and “shutoff fuses for engine fueldraulics lines,” which will increase vulnerability to ground fire, and make the aircraft more vulnerable to things like light AAA and small arms fire, which makes it less attractive to operate in a close air support.

All in all, this reminds me of the death throws of the Naval F-111B, where they were literally pulling glass off the gauges and replacing it with plastic, in an attempt to get the weight low enough to make a carrier landing feasible.

Finally, the GE/Rolls-Royce F136 alternate engine has hit full thrust in reheat (paid subscription required) on the test stand, and results indicate a thrust margin above that of P&W’s F135:

With all the improvements in place, DiLibero says Engine 006 test results so far indicate performance and durability is exceeding design expectations and turbine inlet temperatures are cooler than planned. “So that’s more margin for durability, or power,” he adds. GE/Rolls-Royce declines to comment on the top thrust levels achieved in maximum afterburner, but the team previously said it anticipated an estimated 5% margin over the F-35’s baseline Pratt & Whitney F135 powerplant.

“Both engine developers are working to the same specifications, and our customer has made it clear it is not in anybody’s interests to be over. However, we’re on firm ground by saying we have margin,” says F136 marketing manager Tim Morison. GE/Rolls-Royce says the additional thrust may be particularly valuable for increasing weapons bring-back capability and hover performance for the F-35B Stovl version. “We think the three-stage low-pressure turbine is what drives the margin in Stovl,” Morison says.

Considering the cost increases that appear to be in the pipe for the F135, as well as the ongoing issues with bringback weight with the STOVL version, it does seem to me that continued development of the F136 is prudent.