RIP, Tanta.

Doris Dungey, AKA Tanta, from Calculated Risk passes away.

I knew nothing about her, but I loved her work on the Calculated Risk blog. And 47 is way, way too young to go.

Weekendish Random Ten

You know the rules. Grab your iPod (or your Zune or Zen, if you live one of those alternative lifestyles), shuffle the songs, and let the bad Led Zeppelin covers, and unfortunate BeeGees boxed sets fall where they may:

Good Mornin' Heartaches-Lightnin' Slim
And the Tide Rushes In-Moody Blues
That Voice Again-Peter Gabriel
Neurotica (Live)-King Crimson
Neon Lights-Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
All Blues-Miles Davis
American Idiot-Green Day
I Got the Feelin'-James Brown
When You're Not Around-Joe Jackson
Terminal Eyes-Al Stewart

And one more since this isn't a bad mix:
Liar-Sex Pistols

Bonus Music Video:
Electronic-Forbidden City

Time To Rethink

Not politics related, but it's time for some people out there to step away from the "Black Friday" sales and chill the fuck out.

(CNN) -- Three violent deaths in two stores marred the opening of the Christmas shopping season Friday.

In the first, a temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in a rush of thousands of early morning shoppers as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m., police said.

In the second, unrelated incident, two men were shot dead in a Toys "R" Us in Palm Desert, California, after they argued in the store, police said.

The toy company and authorities said the California shootings had nothing to do with shopping on Black Friday, which is historically one of the year's busiest shopping days.

The Wal-Mart worker, whom authorities did not identify, was 34 and lived in Queens, said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming.

"This was utter chaos as these men tried to open the door this morning," Fleming said.

There are two things I hate with unbridled passion: talking to people on the phone (blame it on several years in call center jobs); and holiday shopping crowds.

We made precisely one stop yesterday at Costco, a couple of hours after the place opened. We picked up a couple of discounted iTunes gift cards and some grocery type items we needed anyways. It was busy, but not much worse than a weekend day.

We're talking my two sons out today, mostly to look for ideas, though if we find a deal for them, we'll pick it up at the time. The bulk of my shopping will be online.

I'll gladly pay a premium not to have to deal with nasty, passive-aggressive holiday shoppers. Also, since I will be out of town for the holiday, I'll order most of it and just ship it straight to where I'll be staying.

As for the deaths above, there is no holiday gift out there worth your life, or someone else's. It's amazing this even has to be explained to people, but that's where we're at.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the Rat Family to you and your family.

May you have a safe and happy holiday.

Points at Which It's Safe to Stop Reading.

From a blogger currently featured on the front page of Arizona's Shittiest Website^TM:

I may be my mother’s dumbest daughter

Oh, but wait, there's more...

I may be my mother’s dumbest daughter, but when I heard that the big 3 automaker CEO’s went to Congress to ask for money to bail out their automobile companies in private jet planes, I laughed my a** off.

Hmm. Actually, that just made me shake my head.

If just one of those executives, say the one from GM, put a generator in an SUV and had it follow him in a Chevy Volt all the way to Washington, they would have written him a blank check on the spot.

Of course, an SUV with a generator would kind of make the Chevy Volt irrelevant...wait a second. I was giving this incoherent sentence thought, instead of realizing that this is Jamielynne's dadaist way of prove she is her mother's stupidest daughter...but I digress. Continue on, oh Missouri born airhead.

The same skewed thinking has put this country in our present position; paying millions of dollars to people who bankrupted their business, funding corporate foreign junkets for incompetent corporate executives, and enabling people without jobs, credit, or savings to get mortgages they can’t afford

Shorter JamieLynne McDumbfuck (Take Your Pick):

I have no fucking clue about economics.
or
All of those folks who bankrupted their businesses were probably Democrats anyway.
or
All of those people who borrowed money in the Bush years to buy a house were lazy (insert derogatory term for minority of your choice here), welfare queens.

If I wanted the government to ignore years of bad business decisions and give me the cash to bail out my company the last thing I would do is demonstrate that I don’t have the brains to put on a good show.

This is the point at which somebody needs to stage an intervention, and make JamieLynne step away from the keyboard until she swears never to write about economics again.

It is all well and good to say let the companies die in total ignorance of the economic consequences, without realizing that they won't die in isolation, and it won't be just the Rust Belt that suffers.

If GM, Ford, and Chrysler die, that amounts to 2 million jobs. Not only do the three automakers die, but so do whole industries that support them with steel, glass, plastics, parts, tires, radios, etc. So do aftermarket suppliers. And the dealers.

This is on top of an already shaky economy, where the Dow has already fallen as far on a percentage basis as during the Great Depression, and when the economy is already shedding jobs faster than one can keep track.

But, of course, like the conservative anti-intellectual JamieLynne whatsherface is, she's much more eager to do the thing that feels good to her little priviledged, nasty, me-first in the name of our Lord self, instead of actually devoting some serious thought to the problem, and how to create a solution that does the least to hurt the broader economy, which is, of course, the only reason an honest person would consider bailing out any company in a country in the first place.

If JamieLynne isn't her mother's dumbest daughter, it certainly isn't for lack of effort

From the Department of You Can't Make This Shit Up.

Can someone explain this phenomenon to me?

Eight teenagers have been sentenced to time in jail by a court in Israel for carrying out a series of neo-Nazi attacks that shocked the nation.

The eight, aged from 16 to 19, were found guilty of attacking religious Jews, gays and drug addicts, and the desecration of a synagogue.

The group, immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union, were sentenced to between one and seven years in jail.

Israel was founded in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust in which millions died.

One of those convicted was the grandson of a Holocaust survivor.

OK. I'm not a simpleton here. If I recall correctly, 6,000,000 Jews died in the Holocaust at the hands of, hold on, still wrapping my head around this, oh, that's right, Nazis.

By definition of the Nazis, anybody with a Jewish ancestor going back to great-grandparents was by their definition, Jewish, and therefore was subject to a one-way trip to Treblinka, or Auschwitz, or any of the other Nazi dens of evil, these morons are Jewish by origin, if not practicing religion.

And they are here, um, wait a minute, I'm having trouble handling this one, persecuting Jews? How does that work?

There was widespread revulsion in Israel when the existence of the neo-Nazi gang was revealed after their arrests in 2007.

Gee, you think?

If someone could explain this one to me, please help. Thanks.

30 Years Ago Tonight

The worst two hours of television in history aired. Just thought you should know...

And for the masochists who really wish to endure the two hour horror that was the Star Wars Holiday Special, here you go.

There's a reason it has never been aired again, and that George Lucas has said he'd like to track down every copy of it and destroy them. Don't say that you weren't warned.

Friday Random Ten

You know the rules, grab your IPod (or Zune, or Zen, if you swing that way), Hit the Shuffle, and let the much regretted Bananarama Greatest Hits compilations and Wang Chung cover bands fall where they may (and no skipping):

You Should Have Never Opened That Door-The Ramones
Lucifer-Alan Parsons Project
The Battle of Hoth-John Williams, Empire Strikes Back Soundtrack
Pegasus-Bear McCreary, Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Soundtrack
A Slow Song (Live)-Joe Jackson
Shake off the Ghosts-Simple Minds
Changes-David Bowie
On the Border-Al Stewart
Blush Response-Vangelis, Blade Runner Soundtrack
Piccadilliy Palare-Morrissey

Turning It Up To 11:
Belfast Child-Simple Minds

Bonus Video:
Klaus Nomi-Total Eclipse (From Urrgh: A Music War)

Black Hole...

more animals

Pictures of one or more of my own cats to come tomorrow.

A Parable for 2008

Once upon a time there was a horse, who along with a man, shared a dangerous enemy, a wolf.

Seeking a solution to the danger, the horse approached the man with a deal. "You may put a bridle and saddle on me if you will help me by hunting and killing a wolf." To the man, aware of the dangers of the wolf, this seemed like a good offer, and so the man agreed.

After saddling the horse, the man mounted it, armed with sword and bow. After a short hunt, the man on horseback caught and quickly slew the wolf.

Happy at being freed of the menace of the wolf, the horse said. "Thank you for your help in slaying the wolf. You may now remove my bridle and saddle."

"Remove your bridle and saddle?", the man laughed. "The hell you say. Giddy up, Dobbin." The man then spurred the horse on to return homeward.

What to do about the southern United States, that states that once formed the Confederacy, the states that invented the term of Southern Democrats, has been a vexing problem for this country for 232 years. The text of the Declaration of Independence was altered to appease the region, as Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner himself, was asked to delete a reference to the slave trade in order to avoid offending southern sensibilities by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams.

The Constitution, as originally written, of course, attempted to deal with the North's population preponderance in the union (and by definition, in the House of Representatives) by counting slaves as 3/5 of a citizen for census reasons.

The country of course, ultimate fighting a long and bloody civil war over the issue. But the problem didn't stop there. The Democrats came back to power briefly in the late 19th Century by appealing once again, to Southern Democrats. Eventually, of course, the Republican party defeated that coalition, and might have continued to, were it not for the Great Depression, and the utterly ineffective Hoover response to it.

FDR came to power in 1932, buoyed by an uneasy coalition of the working urban poor, the fundamentalist South, and impoverished farmers. It was a coalition that enabled FDR to win four terms, with Truman riding it into the Presidency upon FDR's death.

Ultimately, however, the country, and the Democratic Party could no longer ignore the elephant in the room, the country's original sin of racism. Changes in the 1948 Democratic platform, while modest, led to southern Democrats putting up their own champion, Strom Thurmond, and FDR's old Democratic coalition, while limping to reelection in 1948, came apart in the 1950's.

JFK's magic won election in 1960, and there was even a faint echo of FDR's coalition in Johnson's landslide against Goldwater. However, the passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act destroyed the 100+ year old alignment of the Democratic Party with conservative, fundamentalist (and by extension racist and chauvinist) majorities in the South. By 1968, Nixon was openly courting these voters across the country, and would ensure Republican success, at least in Presidential elections, for the next 40 years.

So how does this relate to the parable above? For 40 years, the real base of the GOP, the CEOs, the hereditary rich, white power structure that has been the real base of the GOP since the 1850's, despairing of ever becoming a majority party again, cast about for an ally that could provide them with the manpower, the numbers, to win elections again.

Looking about for such a group, they fell upon the religious right. It was a convenient marriage. The religious right had no love for women's rights, the rights of minorities, labor unions, gays and lesbians, or any of the other groups which gravitated toward the Democratic Party in the 1960's and 1970's.

The GOP willingly co-opted the Religious Right, offering them the bridle and saddle. The trouble is, new members of coalitions, and particularly energized members, expect results. When the relatively moderate, pro-business GOP of the 1960's and 70's didn't deliver for them on abortion, or rolling back civil rights, or the rights of women in the workplace, they decided to take over. They mounted the horse. They began to run for office, and fund raise. And they began to win, first in primaries, and then more frequently, in general elections.

By the 1990's and the first decade of this century, the GOP had become an organ of the religious right (as well as the neocons, but that is a subject for another post).

Now, the pro-business right didn't really mind wearing the saddle, because the Religious Right was doing a tremendous job at slaying the Democratic wolf. Eventually, of course, the saddle began to chafe. Then in 2006, the wolf took a good bite out of the man and horse. Finally, this year, 2008, the wolf gravely wounded both.

So now, the pro-business right has found a new enemy, the very people they once courted. They realize that nobody in the 60-70% of the country that isn't a fundamentalist, a CEO, or a neocon finds their party unappealing. And it's not as though the business interests can really become Democrats. The scales have fallen from their eyes, and they realize that the kooks have taken over their party.

They don't like it, and they will do something about it. The result, what we're seeing in editorials, and in the pushback against Sarah Palin, is likely to be civil war, and a long time in exile as a minority party.

Who will win this fight in the GOP? It's hard to see anybody winning but Democrats in the short-term. In the long term? I suspect the rich base that owns the GOP will regain control of much of their party back. And the fundamentalists will crawl back under the rocks, much as they did after the demise of Huey Long in the 1930s.

And then, perhaps, the political process in the country will grow healthy again. Or not. Either way, it will be interesting, it will be bloody, and it will translate into a lot of lost elections for the GOP. Stay tuned.

Two Minute Arizona's Worst NewspaperTM

Reading Arizona's most widely circulated birdcage liner so you don't have to.

Shorter Doug "Gramps" MacEachern: Differences of opinion should be tolerated, but not if they're too diferent, then...they'd better... HEY! You kids get off my (expletive deleted) lawn or I'll tell you another pointless anecdote. Damn whippersnappers.

Shorter Dan Nowicki: If not for running a shitty campaign, choosing a shitty running mate, being a shitty candidate, and having no clue what to do about the biggest issue of the campaign, my BFF John McCain might have won. And monkeys may still fly out of my butt. Any second now. Just watch.

Shorter Robert Robb Like every good fake libertarian, I dislike gay marriage, abortion, and medical marijuana laws. And public attitudes on them will never change, because after all, the electorate is frozen in amber. Oh wait, they're not? Damn. So much for that talking point.

Lack of Perspective (or Drama Queens, Get the F*ck Out)

OK, fellow travellers on the Left. Let's talk about a few facts.

On November 6, returning to work after a well deserved day off, I had the opportunity to speak with several coworkers who are fellow Obama supporters and Democrats.

My first two sentences were this:

1. Now the real work begins.
2. Be prepared for Obama to break your heart.

Let's talk about both of those for a minute.

Now the real work begins.

FDR was widely considered one of our more progressive Presidents. He didn't run for reelection that way in 1932. Truth is, on a lot of policies, he ran by offering to out-Hoover Hoover.

Then, when in office, his first attempts at economic policy were so tepid they almost led to his undoing.

Let's relate that to the present day. There are still a lot of god-awful, corporate Democrats out there. Last I checked, totally useless gits like the Nelsons, Joe Lieberman and the Salazars are still in the House and Senate. There are still going to be somewhere between 43-40 Republican assholes like Jon Kyl in the Senate and even more GOoPer neanderthals in the House.

If we don't fight for it, we're going to get more of the same bullshit we've seen in the last 16 years. Corporate giveaways, brain-dead, one-sided "free" trade deals. Be prepared to ride your Congressmen (or women) and Senators like a jockey flogging a horse on the way to the Winner's Circle at the Kentucky Derby.

If you don't pester your Congressmen and Senators when Obama's trying to push something important through the SenateCongress, you didn't win a damn thing last Tuesday. It's that simple.

Obama will break your heart.

Here's the truth. During his first 100 days in office, Barack Obama will do something, or not do something, that is going to drive you up a fucking wall. He won't prioritize something that is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER. Or he will prioritize something you couldn't give a shit about.

All Presidents do. Now mind you, he won't probably crush your spirit like Bush did. Who could? But he will do something that will bother you.

Here's a secret. There's only one person that will absolutely agree with every sacred cow, my way or the highway, policy position that is important to you. Trouble is, you weren't running for President.

As for the stupid highlighted here, all I can say is people ought to be a whole lot smarter than this.