It’s on how much the Obama is willing to cave on healthcare.
The best line though, is “Worse than Scranton.”
Category: Video
On the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Obviously, I have opinions on the behavior of the Church, and particularly the US Conference of Bishops, but to get true clarity, you need the viewpoint of someone raised in the faith. Case in point is thhis post by Lance Mannion:
Taking orders from the priests is exactly what JFK had to promise he wouldn’t do when he ran for President.
Several Democrats, including Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pennsylvania, said they are in touch with their Catholic bishops back home. Altmire said he must have the approval of his bishop in Pittsburgh before he can vote yes.
That’s from CNN by way of Ed Brayton by way of Mike the Mad Biologist. And Altmire was talking about a health care reform bill that hadn’t been amended by Stupak-Pitts yet. He was planning to ask his bishop for permission to vote to expand health care to the poor and protect the sick from losing it.
Mr. Mannion was a devout Catholic in his youth, and lays some serious whup ass on the Church. I highly recommend that you read it.
It is remarkable the change. In 1928, Al Smith was the target of claims that a picture of him opening the Holland Tunnel was actually a “tunnel to the Pope,” and today, it appears that the Conference of Bishops is demanding a tunnel to the pope.
I would also point you to the debate on the BBC about whether or not the Catholic Church was a force for good in the world, between Ann Widdecombe and Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan on the pro side, and Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry (of Fry and Laurie, Blackadder, etc) on the other.
Hitchens is, as always, an obnoxious drunk, who delights in offending the religious, and so was not interesting, but Laurie, I think, has genuine affection for faith in general, but not the church.
There is a difference between criticizing a religion for it’s beliefs and observances, and criticizing any organization for its policies.
The Catholic Church is a hierarchical absolute monarchy, and as such, their policies, whether it be the Pope lying about the use of condoms to prevent aids, or the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops lobbying against healthcare, though not, it should be noted not saying a word on the death penalty, which is also deemed a sin, need to be viewed in the exact same context as the United States setting up Gulags and torturing people.
A condemnation of torture, and wars of choice, is no more a condemnation of Americans than a condemnation of the Church in its actions regarding AIDS, or healthcare for the poor, or the complicity of its officers of state in concealing child abuse.
The BBC vid is after break. It’s broken into 5 parts, and cycles though, and Fry is on at about 2:20 in the 3rd segment.
I Think that It’s A Joke
Atrios calls Mark Shields his Wanker of the Day for the following (video after break):
SHIELDS: We have a president of real intellectual horse power who is cool, detached and analytical and if anything you can watch the emotional side of him emerge in this whole process.
I mean…We saw it at Arlington, we saw it at Fort Hood, we saw it at Dover Air Force Base
There’s an emotional aspect, the comforter in chief as well as the commander in chief. Both roles. And I think it makes me nostalgic for those days when we had a manly man in the White House who could say, “Let’s kick some tail and ask questions afterwards” you know? That’s what we really need instead of any reflection.
(emphasis mine)
If I thought that Shields were seruious, I’d be dismissing him as a wanker too, but I think that the, “Manly man in the White House,” is the tell here. It’s a joke, and the the target here, I think is actually David Broder, who that morning wrote the following on Afghanistan (no direct link to the Kaplan Test Prep Company), “The urgent necessity is to make a decision — whether or not it is right.”
Mark Shields was calling David Broder out, in the smarmy, inside-the-Beltway subtle way….You see, if he had said it with a jacking off motion with his hand, it would have been clear, but instead, he just used an arch voice.
For Your Amusement
Pigeon Impossible, courtesy of Boing Boing.
BF Skinner, eat your heart out.
When Conservatives Have Lost Cokie Roberts
They have jumped the shark, and when Cokie Roberts, whose shtick over the last 30 years has been to criticize Democrats for being….Democrats…says that Jon Voight’s ramblings suggesting that Obama has been “programmed” are, “cringe-worthy,” it means something.
Lou Dobbs broke the conservative barrier on TV, by getting thrown off the air for being too wingnutty, a first time I think that this has happened to a major media figure.
I think that the Republicans are crossing lines that are beginning to freak out the “very serious people” inside the beltway.
Never Piss Off Jon Stewart
Because Sean Hannity gets SFO* on this.
*So f$#@ing pwn3d.†
†Owned.
We Can Have Scotch and Water on the Moon
Click for full size
LCROSS
Image of Plume at +20 after impact
Near-infrared spectrometer data. Yellow areas indicate the water absorption bands
Data from the ultraviolet/visible spectrometer
And we only need to bring the Scotch, because the LCROSS impact data indicates water on moon, and not just water on the moon, but lots of water on the moon.
It appears that we are talking gallons of water in an area the size of a football field, which is by earth standards pretty f$#@ing dry, but is actually enough to be “mined” as a resource.
This is interesting not just because it makes the possibility of a habitation there more interesting, but it also raises the question as to the source of the water.
The usual suspects here are comets, the solar wind, or some hitherto unknown lunar process.
VIDEO: Japan TV profiles Shinshin stealth fighter – The DEW Line
Click for full size
The trust vectoring system in the video resembles that of the X-31
Stephen Trijble came across this video of Japans for developing their own stealthy fighter.
It appears to be similar to the F-22 in configuration, and it looks like they are looking for stealth and supercruise, though the slab sides on the side of the fuselage (at about 0:25) look to my very untrained eye to be an issue, and given that it is much smaller than the F-22, to my eye less than 1/2 the weight, I’m not sure how much it would be able to carry internally.
It also looks like they have a 3-D thrust vectoring system on the the video (2:30)is very similar to that of the X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability test bed (shown in bottom picture).
It’s a wicked neat video, and the translation, while sometimes clumsy, is sufficient.
Stewart and Colbert on Dobbs
The perfect thing for a Friday evening.
Props to Stephen for the Highlander call out:
Hannity Admits that He is Jon Stewart’s Bitch
It appears that Jon Stewart is a super-being who is capable of doing things that violate the basic laws of this world, because he just forced Sean Hannity to admit that they were lying with the videos that he posted. (earlier post on this)
Sparta!!!!!!
H/t Pressing Issues
[Title changed after publication when I came up with a better one]
[Youtube taken down, replaced with a new one. Fox is apparently going after liberals who post clips from Fox with takedown notices.]
It’s Called Journalism, and It is the Sole Province of Jon Stewart
God Bless the Onion
Damn, He Can Give a Speech
Obama at Ft. Hood.
Kos Owns Tom Tancredo
Markos “Kos” Moulitsas slaps down Tom Tancredo.
When Tancredo claims that all the veterans hate the VA, and would much rather have vouchers, Kos responds, “I’m a veteran, I did not get a deferment because I was too depressed to fight in a war that I supported in Vietnam.”
Tancredo stormed off the set when Kos was not forthcoming with an apology.
Awww….Kos hurt his widdle feewings….Poor Tom Tancredo….He had to go off and cry.
It starts at about 2:50 in the video.
H/t What Would Jack Do for the vid.
William Shatner Reads Levi Johnston’s Tweets
I really have nothing to add to this. It is simply brilliant.
Jon Stewart is a F%$#ing Genius, Glenn Beck Edition
Simply devastating.
He’s not criticizing Glenn Beck, he’s doing Glenn Beck almost as well as Glenn Beck.
Really Stupid Product
Jon Stewart on Election Coverage
Have I mentioned lately that Jon Stewart is a F%$#ing Genius?
John Oliver: At that point, it will be clear that I’m changing the tone of my voice, to try and give the appearance of balance and genuine thought.
Jon Stewart: John, let me ask you then, will you be backing that up with genuine thought.
John Oliver: No, John. I’m not going to do that.
God Bless The Onion
Seriously.
These folks are geniuses.
Warning: an “F-bomb” in the video.
The subject today: Victim In Fatal Car Accident Tragically Not Glenn Beck.
Well, I was Wrong on This One
The Republicans did release an alternative healthcare reform plan. (230 page PDF)
I had said that they wouldn’t because it would be so awful that it would drive fence-sitters the other way.
It appears that I was right on the 2nd part though, it looks to be te suck. Main features:
- Removes state jurisdiction from insurance companies. (Freeing the market, don’t you know).
- Whacks malpractice claims with little or no savings. (Lack of savings has been proven in around a dozen states now.)
- Assigns pre-existing conditions to very high risk pools, and does not require insurers to cover them.
- Does not prohibit rescission, the cancellation of insurance when you get sick.
- Allows employers to form groups to buy insurance, but allows insurance companies to exclude companies with workforces that are too sick, or too old.
Alan Grayson ha the summary weeks ago:
If you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: die quickly. That’s right. The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick.