Oz Mudflats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y_tryqenQQM

???

… as did the apostles and saints.

At least three of the apostles in the Last Supper are wearing hoodies of the day… and Christ is wearing a cape meant to be drawn over the head in the rain or cold… like a hoodie.

…

…

How do you like THEM apples Geraldo?

From the UK:

President Barack Obama was caught on microphone telling Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more flexibility after November’s election deal with contentious issues such as missile defence.

(Full article and video in link above.)

I’m not an expert on either protocol or diplomacy but I can guess that when two heads of state are talking privately with their heads together in whispers, things are going to be said which are not intended for public consumption.

I’m also pretty certain that whatever ‘arrangements’ were being transacted between the two presidents that Pres. Obama showing personal confidence in winning the upcoming election was more strategy than gaffe. It’s not like we overheard him promising to deliver weapons-grade uranium to Medvedev’s second cousin in Gramercy Park at midnight. No. He was simply strengthening his position – the U.S. position – with an ally.

I wonder how many times McCain told someone “Do this for me now because after I’m elected president…”

And besides – Pres.  Obama was probably telling the truth – he will be in a better position after the November election to come through on his promises to Russia.  When he is re-elected in November will we look back on this and think  he was simply being clairvoyant?

See? Gaffe? What gaffe?

This pretty much says it all…

Although I would have been tempted to add “…and still walking around carrying a loaded gun.”

This is a two-part clip of a video interview between Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks and Larry Pratt, executive director of the Gun Owners of America, who says that George Zimmerman’s claim of self defense in his shooting of Trayvon Martin was fact.

Part One:

Part Two:

How is this even allowed on television? There’s not one fact present in the entire ad… not one. Who thought this was a smart thing to do?

This is free speech? Really?

More at The Hill.

Geraldo Rivera of Fox News Channel is busily defending Trayvon Martin’s shooter by blaming the incident on the kid’s wearing a hoodie. Forget that is was raining and the hoodie was appropriate apparel, it was the hoodie that caused Zimmerman to shoot because you know, hoodies are only worn by bad guys. ( Hey Geraldo –  even your son is ashamed of how you and Fox are spinning this tragedy.)

I’m guessing Rivera is one of these creeps who thinks that if a woman wears a pretty dress it’s her fault for getting raped.

Shame on you.

Full story and update at Think Progress.

Really? This is the story you guys want to stick with?

A fan of Mike Huckabee I most certainly am not. But if the information in this article from the Wall Street Journal is an accurate prediction of things to come, I might even tune into the man’s radio talk show on occasion to hear what his conservative view has to offer.

It could very well be that Rush Limbaugh is about to take his rightful place among the other dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. That would be great, thanks.

An excerpt:

Starting April 9, Mr. Huckabee, a Fox News Channel commentator, will go head-to-head with Mr. Limbaugh in a syndicated radio program airing in the noon to 3 p.m. Eastern time, weekday slot.

“The Huckabee Show” will initially air on 140 stations, well short of Mr. Limbaugh’s roughly 600. But the recent drama over Mr. Limbaugh calling a Georgetown law student a “slut” for her comments about contraception insurance coverage has given Mr. Huckabee an opening. Numerous advertisers bolted from “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” and at least two stations dropped the program.

With the slogan “more conversation, less confrontation,” the syndicator behind “Huckabee,” Cumulus Media Networks, has been pitching the new show to advertisers as a less combative alternative to Mr. Limbaugh.

When my hair is all snow white I just might follow this little guy’s style 🙂

Perfect parental guidance! Always pick one or the other but never do the same one twice – keep them on their toes and guessing!

(I know just how the poor man feels!)

This belongs on a tee shirt!

Ahh – been there done that rofl!

============ UPDATE ============

With all the clever costumes worn on the day, how can you tell if a real Leprechaun has been to your St. Patty’s Day party?

Ahhh… (damn leprechauns!)

AND FINALLY… COURTESY OF THATCROWWOMAN AND IRISHGIRL:

I am a Pink fan. How I managed to miss this until just today I’ll never know. Maybe the universe knew I wasn’t ready before. But this is a powerful sentiment and speaks volumes to the achievements made by our current president – and the obstacles he’s had to face to get anything done for us at all.

What do I think of the eight year Republican Bush Administration? I think I’m glad it’s over and I hope to God we never go back.

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let’s pretend we’re just two people and
You’re not better than me.
I’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We’re not dumb and we’re not blind.
They’re all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter’s rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don’t know nothing ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You’d never take a walk with me.
Would you?

PS – Yanno… with my stupid busted arm and all… and taking all these stupid narcotics… you’d thingk SOMEONE would have taken pity on me and said something like (psst – Oz – it’s March and your Christmas banner is still up!)

No really this isn’t a joke. Well of course it’s a joke but not the kind any sane person would laugh at.

This from Jezebel.com:

Law Will Allow Employers to Fire Women for Using Whore Pills

A proposed new law in Arizona would give employers the power to request that women being prescribed birth control pills provide proof that they’re using it for non-sexual reasons. And because Arizona’s an at-will employment state, that means that bosses critical of their female employees’ sex lives could fire them as a result.

<snip>

Yesterday, a Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed Republican Debbie Lesko’s HB2625 by a vote of 6-2, which would allow an employer to request proof that a woman using insurance to buy birth control was being prescribed the birth control for reasons other than not wanting to get pregnant. It’s all about freedom, she said, echoing everyone who thinks there’s nothing ironic about claiming that a country that’s “free” allows people’s bosses to dictate what medical care is available to them through insurance. First amendment. The constitution. Rights of religious people to practice the treasured tenets of their faiths, the tenets that dictate that religious people get to tell everyone who is not of faith how they’re supposed to live, and the freedom to have that faith enforced by law.

<snip>

Click link above for full story. Or for story full of idiotic statements by truly psychotic people who want to take us back to the 1930’s.

Is there something wrong with the water in AZ? Or the air maybe? Is it just too damned hot? To steal a phrase from an anonymous commenter over at The Immoral Minority – are all Republicans these days just a tribe of cave-dwelling cousin-humpers?

My sympathies for the sane Arizonians who haven’t been infected by the loopy bug. Close your windows, have your water shipped in from California and don’t take candy from strangers!

Oh and just to be sure – if you see any big trucks with weird looking plants – don’t fall asleep!

============ UPDATE ============

From MoveOn.Org

MoveOn.org released a new national ad today, calling out Republicans for their recent nosedive into the field of women’s health and reproductive rights.

From Judd Legum – Think Progress – Mar 12, 2012

Radio-Info.com reports that Premiere Networks, which syndicates the Rush Limbaugh show, told its affiliate radio stations that they are suspending national advertising for two weeks. Rush Limbaugh is normally provided to affiliates in exchange for running several minutes of national advertisements provided by Premiere each hour. These ads are called “barter spots.” These spots are how Premiere makes its money off of Rush Limbaugh and other shows it syndicates.

But without explanation, Premiere has supended these national advertisements for two weeks. Radio-Info.com calls the move “unusual.” The development suggests that Rush Limbaugh’s incessant sexist attacks on Sandra Fluke have caused severe damage to the show.

<snip>

Earlier today, ThinkProgress exclusively reported that 140 advertisers, including dozens of major national corporations, had requested their ads no longer air on Rush Limbaugh. Lifelock and Lear Financial are among the only companies standing by Limbaugh.

Full story and copy of Premiere’s official memo here

Last week Mr. Limbaugh likened the effect of losing his advertisers to those few fries that fall out of the packet on the way home from a burger joint. I’m guessing this week it feels more like getting all the way home only to find out the fries he’d already paid for  weren’t included in the order at all.

Bummer.

Sign up to see it online here on 15 March 2012 – they ask for an email address and zip code.

This is how the GOP wants to deal with female issues – all of them…

Here’s a small flaw in the GOP’s reasoning behind creationism…

When it comes to ‘allowing’ women to make decisions about their own bodies the GOP emphatically says…

And finally, if you’ve ever wondered why the GOP need to tell so many whopping lies – just have a look at their underpants…

From Sarah Palin has a Serpent’s Heart – a link to the movie Game Change usable in Australia. Enjoy!

Thanks so much!!!

Let the president be duly warned.

 Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C., has introduced a resolution declaring that should the president use offensive military force without authorization of an act of Congress, “it is the sense of Congress” that such an act would be “an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor.”

 Specifically, Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution reserves for Congress alone the power to declare war, a restriction that has been sorely tested in recent years, including Obama’s authorization of military force in Libya.

 In an exclusive WND column, former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo claims that Jones introduced his House Concurrent Resolution 107 in response to startling recent comments from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

 “This week it was Secretary of Defense Panetta’s declaration before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he and President Obama look not to the Congress for authorization to bomb Syria but to NATO and the United Nations,” Tancredo writes. “This led to Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., introducing an official resolution calling for impeachment should Obama take offensive action based on Panetta’s policy statement, because it would violate the Constitution.”

For those who can stomach it, Full post is here.

WND = World Net Daily.

These are the books they recommend:

The videos they want you to buy:

And finally – their stellar selection of bumper stickers:

I’m all for freedom of expression but this is rather like free speech on steroids. And correct me if I’m wrong – but isn’t the whole point of patriotism to – you know – back the elected administration even if they weren’t the candidates you personally voted for?

Makes you go hmmmm dunnit?

Click here for full story at The Daily Beast:

Mar 10, 2012

Rush Limbaugh Scandal Proves Contagious for Talk-Radio Advertisers

Ninety-eight major advertisers—including Ford and Geico—will no longer air spots on Premiere Networks’ ‘offensive’ programs. Insiders say the loss will rock right-wing talk radio…

…Premiere Networks, which distributes Limbaugh as well as a host of other right-wing talkers, sent an email out to its affiliates early Friday listing 98 large corporations that have requested their ads appear only on “programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity).”

This is big…

…There are already tangible signs that the three dozen national and local advertisers that have pulled their ads from The Rush Limbaugh Show are having a financial impact…

… For example, the ads that ran on Limbaugh’s WABC show in New York on Thursday consisted primarily of public-service announcements … When PSAs for nonprofit organizations …run in place of actual advertisements on radio, it means the show starts losing money for the local station. And make no mistake, money is the only barometer of success the industry ultimately cares about…

…But this latest controversy comes at a particularly difficult time for right-wing talk radio. They are playing to a (sometimes literally) dying demographic. Rush & Co. rate best among old, white males. They have been steadily losing women and young listeners, who are alienated by the angry, negative, obsessive approach to political conservations. Add to that the fact that women ages 24–55 are the prize advertising demographic, and you have a perfect storm emerging after Limbaugh’s Sandra Fluke comments.

So there you have it. Rush almost exclusively caters to grumpy old men. Good luck with that boy!

From Keith Olbermann’s FB Fan Page:

From Media Matters:

AS OF TODAY, 50 ADVERTISERS HAVE CANCELED THEIR ADS RUNNING DURING THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW.

• A total of 86 ads aired during WABC’s broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show today.
• 77 of those ads were public service announcements donated free of charge by the Ad Council.
• Of the nine paid spots that ran, seven were from companies that have said they have taken steps to ensure their ads no longer air during the program.
• WABC’s online feed included about 5:33 of dead air when ads would normally have run.

Don’t know about you but this is music to my ears  – Oz

============ UPDATE 1 ============

H/T Cracklin Charlie

============ UPDATE 2 ============

Petition Clear Channel to drop Limbaugh’s radio show. Goal is 500k signatures. Currently sitting at 457k.

H/T Nancy

…by pulling their ads from Clear Channel’s Rush Limbaugh radio show – proving they really do have a heart 🙂 The American Heart Association is the 46th sponsor to leave the mis-information king behind.

The daily list of Limbaugh evacuees continues to grow – click here for Media Matters coverage. It’s like watching the birth of a pilgrimage as consumers and businesses alike join hands and walk from the shadows of oppressive bigotry into the bright light of freedom and justice for all.

Corny I know but I’m feeling more optimistic now than I have since Senator Obama won the election in 2008, to lead us out of the 8-year Republican war on decency.

Sometimes nice guys do finish first – and the crooks get what’s coming to them.

…and the most idiotic part – is that none of his information (upon which he bases his insults) was true.

!. Ms. Fluke never discussed her own sex life nor did she discuss the availability of birth control for anything other than medical reasons such as the prevention of ovarian cysts.

2. Ms Fluke was not asking for taxpayer funds. She was making a case for female contraception to be provided by employee insurance carriers regardless of an employers religious ideology (religious employers are currently seeking exemption to this congressional ruling).

3. Unlike male medications which address erectile dysfunction and only last a few hours at a time, female birth control pills are taken daily, one per day, regardless of how much sexual activity is encountered.

(Please note most insurance carriers cover at least partial cost of Viagra and the religious groups seeking exemption from covering female contraception have no problem covering erectile dysfunction medications for their male employees.)

Knowing this, Mr. Limbaugh launched this three-day assault on Ms. Fluke – (deliberately?) mispronouncing her name at every turn – a huge insult for someone of Mr. Limbaugh’s age and level of social education. Are we to believe that none of his producers bothered to correct him? Is his staff that stupid? Of course not. The personal slight was purposeful and well-aimed.

From think Progress:

============ UPDATE ============

Ahhh… insight!

Clear Channel’s Directors Give Big to Romney, Who Won’t Criticize Limbaugh

Think Progress has running list.

What’s interesting is how Newt Gingrich (in a show of support?) has made public his instructions to his SuperPAC administration to increase their ad buys on Rush’s show – even though as  a candidate he shouldn’t legally have any control over the PAC distribution of funds at all. hmmm…

UPDATE:

Media Matters has the number at 45 with an interesting breakdown of commercials aired during Limbaugh’s program on March 6th. Good read.

Also at Media Matters Bill Press does a 9+ minute segment interviewing the creator of STOPRUSH.org – great interview! The creator (Angelo Carusone) was responsible for the effort called stop beck dot org. Interesting.

Also at Media Matters:

Limbaugh Launched 46 Personal Attacks On Fluke; He Apologized For Two Words

Rush Limbaugh has “sincerely apologize[d]” for using the words “slut” and “prostitute” to describe Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke on two separate days and claimed that he “did not mean a personal attack” on her. These statements fail to account for the other 44 times that Limbaugh personally insulted Fluke over the course of three days.

Scroll down the article to read all 46 insults listed in full and in chronological order.

With 11 sponsors and two radio spots down, Rush Limbaugh’s proverbial ship is taking on water at a rapid pace.That’s good news for the rest of us.

Emailed Update & Link from the Daily Kos includes this:

[click image to enlarge]

Click link above for full article and access to petition.

Sarah’s FB post ostracizing Pres. Obama for his phone call to Ms. Fluke was regrettable. Considering the pounding given David Letterman over a late night joke aimed at her eldest daughter, one would have expected her to flash a bit more maternal towards Ms. Fluke. Surely this is a sign her opinions are crafted for her and that she’s handsomely compensated for her lunatic diatribes.

From Todd to Rice to McCain to Ailes, clearly there’s always been someone’s hand up the bumpit puppet’s ass.

============ UPDATE ============

2 Excellent reads at the Daily Beast – click headlines for links…

The GOP’s Rush Limbaugh Problem Deepens After His ‘Slut’ Attack

Whatever the damage to the nation’s top radio talker, he has put a face on the argument that President Obama’s party has been mounting for months—that Republicans are waging a “war on women.” In calling Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” merely because she testified to Congress in favor of insurance coverage for birth control, Limbaugh has given the Democrats an indelible image to make their case.

Despite Sandra Fluke Apology, Rush Limbaugh Advertisers Sign Off

I’ve wanted badly to weigh in on the Limbaugh faux-apology, but for the past 24 hours my arm and hand have been painfully swollen and I’m no longer taking the killer pain meds, so even sitting at my desk is a chore. This, then, is just a short rant, sans links or accurate quotes (I’m pretty sure you’ve all read the apology anyway) but I’m too angry to not say anything at all…

The shock-jock shield Mr. Limbaugh cowers behind can only proffer so much cover. He didn’t make a slip of the tongue when calling this young lady a slut and a prostitute on a single episode of his radio show – he flailed a verbal attack on her three days running, each attack escalating in vitriol above the previous one. His war on Ms. Fluke was calculated, pre-meditated and sincere in its premise that women do not deserve healthcare that covers the reproductive system – and the irony? This was never an issue concerning taxpayers in the first place.

The mere fact that this out-dated ferret of a man believes a woman needs to take birth control pills ‘solely for having sex’ and in the same way men require the use of Viagra (each dose only good for 4 hours) spotlights his total lack of education, low intelligence and complete disregard for the well-being of all females, everywhere.

The apology is as fake as his erections and as epic a fail as his failed marriages and I pray Ms. Fluke sues him into pauperdom.

But my biggest sense of shear anger must be directed at his hypocritical comments aimed at the Democrats when he had the unmitigated gall to claim this was a frivolous issue that detracted from the real problems facing congress and the country. For months and months his ‘Grand Old Party’ has flooded congressional floors with anti-abortion, personhood issues which have flatlined all progress on countless other issues facing our injured nation, are far more invasive on women’s rights and would legalize far deeper reaches by the government into a woman’s womb.

To say now, through the issue of not wanting insurance companies to be responsible towards women regarding birth control is in direct contradiction of his political beliefs that the government, his government, should have absolute dictatorshipl over the female reproductive system.

Pick a side you feckless prick – either a woman has the right to control her own body or she doesn’t – but you and your Nazi-publican cronies can’t have it both ways.

Sieg Heil! Mien Kampf…

Nancy Pelosi begins by thanking the media for organising video coverage of this hearing – after Republican Leadership denied her access to the actual senate forum. What a disgrace. Republicans are crossing a dangerous line and I so hope 2012 election results will reflect real America.

Full story plus video here

and here.

She the People has the best report here.

============ UPDATE ============

Hardball airs Limbaugh’s reaction to hearing of the president’s call to Ms. Fluke.

And of course Rachel Maddow has the most complete coverage of the story in  it’s entirety

Think Progress is tracking the sponsors leaving the Limbaugh radio show, has an excellent article on the economic benefits of easy-access contraception and a show of support page for standing with Sandra Fluke that anyone can sign.

Here’s hoping this young ladies experience open’s the hearts and minds of many more American voters to the real danger of the Republican quest to diminish women”s rights.

============ Facebook Link ============

As of this posting, this FB page dedicated to boycotting Rush Limbaugh’s radio show has been up for 20 hours, has more than 6,000 likes, and the combined sections of the page have hundreds of shares and comments. I’s absolutely phenomenal how this vile creature has solidified the nation. The old adage of ‘all we need to unite is a common enemy’ is more true today than ever.

Maybe we should be thanking him, after all.

Thanks to the links provided in the previous post I was able to get this ‘report’ emailed to me. It is supposed to represent a copy of Arpaio’s full report on the results of his 6 month investigation into the legality of Pres. Obama’s birth certificate. It does not. It is simply more of the same unsubstantiated dribble spouted by teabaggers and conspirators alike to cover the fact that we still have citizen’s who are outraged over a black man living in the White House..

I fail to see how this ragtag handful of retired ‘law enforcement’ personnel and their lawyers were given access to private records in a state where none had jurisdiction. Arpaio’s Cold Case Posse may be thought of as an official entity in the state of Arizona, but Pres. Obama’s birth records are housed in Hawaii.

To argue that the birth certificate proffered to the public was nothing more than a computer-generated copy (and therefore a forgery) is beyond ridiculous. Of course the record was computer-generated. All copies of birth and death records are computer-generated. No one ever gets to handle originals – not even the person whose name appears on the record itself. Imagine the chaos that would follow the wrong person getting his or her hands on an original birth certificate.

If this is what Arpaio is basing his case on, then the copy of my birth certificate, acquired from county records in San Francisco prior to my travelling to Australia is also a computer-generated forgery. And so is yours and yours and…

[click each to enlarge]

…

…

H/T GinaMOB.

So there’s this huge conversation at c4p in the comments of this post about Romney – well an arguement really, between people who are still trying to decipher their queen bee’s instructions (issued the day she pulled the plug on their dream of voting her into the WH) regarding the 2012 election and those who insist they already know.

It boils over into a moderator’s defense of backing Romney against those who think backing Romney will simply guarantee an Obama win should Romney win the primary. The word ‘fraud’ is tossed around, an impassioned debate over the true definition of ‘conservative’ ensues and then this:

First, I am incredibly impressed at the success of Pres. Obama’s Operation Fake Citizen. Really, when you take into account the number of people who must have been employed (and must still be employed) to pull off a conspiracy of this magnitude is just inspiring! And then have the fake birth certificate publicly sanctioned by a credible hospital and its full administration is no less then breath-taking! But wait there’s more! The icing on the cake (drum-roll please) is to then be declared an official and true US citizen by the whole of the congress itself – well honestly – the man has earned his title, no?

Second – and the reason I’m typing one-handed through the discomfort of typing at all… the Arpaio report! I’d forgotten all about it and here’s this nutjob delightedly stating it’s going public this week!

If anyone has/gets leads/links please oh please drop me a note in comments – I’ve been dying to see how the flaming loons spin this one 🙂