THIS IS A BARRICADE

This is a barricade. It may be our only recourse should the election fall in the favor of McCain/Palin due to fraud. corruption, vote rigging, voter intimidation, racism, or any other chicanery that prevents an honest count. Early warning signs of Republicans generating a smokescreen to cover their own varied malfeasance came today in the form of orchestrated accusations against an urban voter registration group called Acorn leveled by not only McCain and Palin, but also poison pushers like Michelle Malkin. Click for more (Pic from Valerie)

THE PARABLE OF THE MONKEYS

“We’re a goddamned political parable?”

The following came from Doug the Bass. It was written by his buddy Armen. I’m not sure I wholly agree with it, but it does make a point.

“Once upon a time, in a place overrun with monkeys, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, they became harder to catch, so the villagers stopped their effort. The man then announced that he would now pay $20 for each one. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. But soon the supply diminished even further and they were ever harder to catch, so people started going back to their farms and forgot about monkey catching. The man increased his price to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so sparse that it was an effort to even see a monkey, much less catch one. The man now announced that he would buy monkeys for $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on his behalf. While the man was away the assistant told the villagers, 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has bought. I will sell them to you at $35 each and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.' The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys. They never saw the man nor his assistant again, and once again there were monkeys everywhere.
Now you have a better understanding of the Bush financial bailout.”

The secret words is Nuts

WOULD YOU BELIEVE...

…this is James Bond, Daniel Dravot, Captain Marko Ramius, William of Baskerville, Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, Jimmy Malone, and Indiana Jones’ dad?

Pic lifted from Tom Sutpen

THE WHALES NEED YOUR HELP

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) needs your immediate help to turn back the U.S. Navy's latest assault on whales off the coast of California. Last year, the California Coastal Commission ruled that the Navy must follow common-sense safety measures while using high-intensity sonar off southern California. The Navy refused to comply with those recommendations, even after two subsequent court orders. Now, the Navy is asking the Commission for an even more expansive use of sonar in the area. Tell the Commission to reject the Navy's request, unless it commits to simple safety measures to protect marine life. Getting the Navy to stop injuring and killing marine mammals is a formidable goal, one that could take years to achieve. By making your voice heard, you are helping the NRDC move one step closer toward the day when whales will be safe from dangerous high-powered sonar systems.

To read more and act simply click here.

AND SO DOES DOC40

Just like PBS, politicians, and the non-surreal political blogs, Doc40 is holding a fundraiser. Times are hard and we’re putting out the begging bowl with the message that all contributions will be gratefully received and help to generate highly levels of cynicism and craziness. PayPal donations to byron4d@msn.com is one way to express appreciation in these hard times.

The secret word is Thanks

IN THE WAKE OF THE DEBATE...

...I found this on BuzzFlash

“Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi’s depiction of Sarah Palin at the GOP Convention as “Gidget addressing the Reichstag” is becoming more apt by the minute. Palin's attacks against Obama incited of verbal violence at a rally in Clearwater, Fla., when a Republican voter in the crowd shouted, “Kill him,” in reference to Barack Obama. At the same rally, the crowd singled out an African American on a news crew, shouting a racial epithet and yelling at him, "Sit down, boy.”

This BuzzFlash story crystalized a thought that was gnawing at me through the whole of the debate. Barack Obama articulated his vision for the nation, while McCain sniped and snipped and outright lied, and never summoned the courage to call Obama a “terrorist” to his face, but, meanwhile, the word was a mantra for the unbelievable Palin as she harranged the baying mobs at her increasingly ugly mass rallies, whipping up the bigots with all the responsibility of a drunk with a Glock, and totally risking the unleashing of the dark and disturbed Travis Bickle that lurks in the heart of America. The McCain campain will do anything to win. They do not have the scruples to hold office.

THIS JUST IN...

From our pal Faux Smoke,
(This email arrived hot on the heels of the debate, and is raw and uncut.)
"Feel free to post this or share it with whom you'd wish.. I figure it is important that people know the truth, even if it was about the most brief of lies that took place during this most recent debate.

This son of a bitch tried to insinuate that he had done something good on behalf of the American people in regards to a DOD & USAF tanker bid... when the truth is, John McCain had actually tried to take American based contract jobs & work for the USAF & send them over seas...

John McCain wanted to sent the contract over to Airbus [a European aerospace company] where the DOD & Air force would get a worse product for more money [an incomplete product at that, one the USAF would have to put together themselves… even though nobody knew how they would manage to put it together themselves, McCain insisted that this was the plan to go with] instead of contracting to Boeing [an American company, that regularly does fair & equitable contracts with the US gov. such as a little thing most folks know as Air Force One] and getting the best product for the least cost [which, the money from would be going directly back into the American market & some of it would technically go back to the American government as tax revenue]...

My local state senator, Patty Murray, went to fight McCain's proposal & exposed what is now called the "tanker scandal" by most that followed it... Employees of Boeing, all across the country, like my father, rallied against that proposal McCain is trying to claim was doing something good for us...

John McCain is a fucking liar, he didn't do anything for the American people, he was vested in the interests of foreign lobbyists & was going to give away not only American jobs & tax dollars to over-seas companies, though, he was going to do military contract business with a non-American company for the first time in our country's history...

This contract was cancelled by the Pentagon in the face of an oncoming scandal, to be re-evaluated at a later date… go figure, McCain proposed something so fucked up it had to be cancelled all together, yet, not only that, though, he tried to say that he had done something good in the process. This story was local & had a direct concern to friends & family... it might have only been a brief moment that McCain commented on the issue, though, that brief moment was a horrendous lie of monumental proportions.

Here's a link of dated comments & responses from my governor, Patty Murray, on the tanker bid, dating back to 2001... http://murray.senate.gov/tankers/tankers_news.cfm

A link about McCain's involvement...
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/06/mccain_hit_on_t.html
& A link about McCain's advisors having lobbied on the side of the EADS side of the deal: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/11/business/lobby.php

McCain lied about this, he is corrupt to the pit of his terrible soul & the man doesn't give a flying fuck about the American people, most especially the working class in this country."

McCAIN AFTER DARK

While waiting with less than eager anticipation for today’s presidential debate, my mind wandered to the not unfamiliar combination of sex and trivia. When the story surfaced how, in Rio de Janeiro, way back in 1957, the young John McCain while had a torrid affair with former beauty queen and dancer Maria Gracinda Teixeira de Jesus, it didn’t mean much beyond peripheral election fluff when it quoted Maria as recalling McCain as "tasty, loving and romantic." Maybe someone in the McCain campaign thought it would make their candidate seem like a real red-blooded American boy, but, being of a perverse mindset, I couldn’t help but think about McCain’s taste in ex-beauty queens, and his general use of women in his career. We all know about how he dumped his first wife for the fabulously wealthy Stepford Cindy, and we have seen how he now parades the inexplicable Palin around, more like some third proxy spouse rather than a genuine running mate, in order to draw curious (and going-on-rabid) crowds. I may be a little crazy, but my only conclusion is that McCain, perhaps subconsciously, is not running for president at all, but for Patriarch of the United States, and the last thing we need, as the American Empire declines and falls, is a another bloody patriarch (Click for the whole tale of Maria.)

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR LYING THROUGH YOUR TEETH AND NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS

And still on the subject of sex, it has already been mentioned, here and elsewhere, that the Palin aura of weirdness has included the faintest whiff of sado masochism. I noticed yesterday (the aforementioned perverse mindset) that, in news footage of the monstrous and mendacious Alaskan, getting on and off her private jet, had now adopted the kind of high-heeled dom boots once notably favored by Condoleezza Rice. This probably would not have signified if I hadn’t just been exposed to the hot and bothered fever fantasies of Palin-lusting neocons like Rick Lowry of Fox News and The National Review who gushed, “I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." Will we survive this election with a single psychological button un-pushed?

The secret word is Worm

FOR THOSE WHO DON'T READ COMMENTS

In yesterday’s Doc40 comments, Slothman gave us a link to a scary and important story about polar methane emissions.

IN THE CURRENT NEWS CLIMATE THERE’S SOMETHING VERY COMFORTING ABOUT A SIMPLE STONER SCHOOLGIRL SCANDAL

While America tanks, the economy continues in desperate freefall, and Fannie Mae forecloses on the Akron, Ohio, home of Addie Polk, causing the ninety year-old woman to shoot herself, the insane McCain campaign attempts to distract us by trying to link Barack Obama with Al Qaeda on account of his middle name, and Palin supporters scream “Terrorist!” and “Kill Him” at the mention of his name. Thus it came as momentary relief when aeswiren sent us the following, noting in passing that teaching assistants were a great deal more hip in his day…

GIRL FED SCHOOL STAFF HASH CAKES

"Two teaching assistants at a school in Leeds were taken to hospital after eating cannabis in "hash cakes" given to them by a pupil.
The schoolgirl was suspended from Wortley High School after she took the cakes to school on 10 September.
A spokesman for Leeds City Council said the girl had since been moved to a different school. No police action was taken over the matter.
Leeds City Council said neither staff members made formal complaints.
The council spokesman added: "Wortley High School does not condone drugs and was disappointed this incident took place.
"The school works hard to educate its pupils about the dangers and implications of drug abuse and will not tolerate any behaviour of this kind."

The secret word is Keating and the secret number is 5

HE’S NOT A DRUG LORD, HE’S MY BROTHER

Aeswiren also sent a more serious drug story from Truthout that claims Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghani President and Bush puppet Hamid Karzai, is major player in his country’s heroin trade. Click for the lowdown.

THE ADVENTURES OF MARILYN (Part c-1-22)

In which Marilyn, although know for her unpunctuality, lives to adventure yet another-day. Ramp-amping her super-wiles in the Room-With-Chequered-Wallpaper, she easily distracts and overpowers a slack-faced Bob-Dobbs simulacra, sent by the Pink Boys to restrain her from serving the invertebrate-satisfaction of Mr. Squid. The simulacra foolishly betrays himself by leaving his dark-hat in plain-sight on the smooth-couch. And also neglecting to bring his briar-pipe. What him worry? The rare-aphides all cry, “Return to the time-stream.” And Marilyn obliges as they knew she would.

THEY DON'T STAGE SHOWS LIKE THIS ANY MORE #7

You had better believe it!

GO TO JAIL. DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT $200

Karma tests out?

I WORRY ABOUT THE PENTAGON

I mean, what infantile general decided he wanted his boys to have Batman outfits? And how the hell much did this fantasy cost us? Gizmodo reports…

"This Gryphon Single-Man Flying Wing is a parachute system whose 4.9-foot Delta wing has two jet engines on board that can carry a paratrooper 110 miles on a half gallon of jet fuel. The device will be tested in an third quarter of next year. The mission starts when the brave soul wearing this birdman outfit takes a flying leap out of an airplane at 33,000 feet—hopefully equipped with warm clothes and oxygen—and flies the jet wing wherever he's going until he gets to an altitude of about a mile. At that point, somehow our intrepid hero sheds his wing and opens a parachute, letting that wing dangle below him as he floats to the ground."

The secret word is Budget

Mr. Squid says, “It’s Sunday. Where the hell are The Adventures of Marilyn?”