Curmudgeonly & Skeptical

Uh oh.

Rumors are beginning to spread that Levi Johnston, who just got back together and engaged to his baby’s momma Bristol Palin, may have gotten another girl knocked up.
[...]
[little ricky’s fling-f*ck] Lanesia’s planning to do a paternity test after the baby is born. She’s extremely embarrassed she doesn’t know who the father is.

Bristol, hon...really?  Not only did he ditch you and your child and diss your entire family at every turn while playing grabass with the likes of that chronically unfunny “B-List” bozo, he “knocked up” a girl who’s apparently been passed around like a roach at a Snoop gig.

Are you REALLY, REALLY sure you want to let this hammered turd back in?

H/T the magificent Bedhead.

Did they at least TRY spackle first?

Increasing numbers of Muslim brides are having taxpayer-funded ‘virginity repair’ operations before marriage.
There were 116 hymen replacement operations carried out on the NHS between 2005 and 2009. The total for 2009 was 30, up 25 per cent from 24 in 2005.

Boldface mine, because it’s exceptionally awesome.  Coming soon to a radical-Islam-tolerant, nationalized healthcare system near you!

Really, really near.

Doctors say patients are under pressure from future husbands or relatives who insist that they should be virgins on their wedding night.
Critics, including moderate Muslim groups, have condemned the trend as a sign of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in the West.

I’ll let you fill in your own variant of “no shit, Sherlock.”

Immigration-rights protesters blocked Wilshire Boulevard in a protest over Arizona’s controversial immigration law.

About 200 demonstrators laid down on Wilshire at Highland Avenue at about 10 a.m., blocking traffic on both major streets.

The Los Angeles Police Department was on scene, but it was unclear whether officers were going to arrest the demonstrators.

“African-Americans are sort of a mongrel people.”

I gots me TWO new rifles that I ain’t shot yet, one of them never been shot at all!

The Department of Justice is ignoring a new law aimed at protecting the right of American soldiers to vote, according to two former DOJ attorneys who say states are being encouraged to use waivers to bypass the new federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.

The MOVE Act, enacted last October, ensures that servicemen and women serving overseas have ample time to get in their absentee ballots. The result of the DOJ’s alleged inaction in enforcing the act, say Eric Eversole and J. Christian Adams — both former litigation attorneys for the DOJ’s Voting Section — could be that thousands of soldiers’ ballots will arrive too late to be counted.

“It is an absolute shame that the section appears to be spending more time finding ways to avoid the MOVE Act, rather than finding ways to ensure that military voters will have their votes counted,” said Eversole, director of the Military Voter Protection Project, a new organization devoted to ensuring military voting rights. “The Voting Section seems to have forgotten that it has an obligation to enforce federal law, not to find and raise arguments for states to avoid these laws.”

Sen. John Cornyn,R-Texas – who co-sponsored MOVE – wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on July 26 saying he is concerned that the Department of Justice is allowing states to opt out of the new law.

Cornyn wrote, “If these are the positions of the DOJ, then they fly in the face of the clear statutory language, undermine the provisions in question, and jeopardize the voting rights of our men and women in uniform.”

“The voting section has taken this haphazard approach to enforcing military voting law,” said Eversole. “The voting section is asserting itself into statute to make a statute that’s not ambiguous, ambiguous. Can you imagine any other agency giving prospective defendants advice like this?”

“Everybody in Washington knows it doesn’t matter how good the law is; it comes down to who’s enforcing it,” said Adams. “This stuff should be transparent and online for the citizens of these states to comment on, the fact that it’s being done behind closed doors tells you everything you need to know about how it will affect the voters.”

Adams and Eversole separately pointed out that the DOJ’s website lacks any mention of the MOVE Act. In fact, the section on military voting includes the outdated and nonbinding 30-day recommendation for sending out ballots. There is no mention of the the current 45-day mandate.

But the DOJ’s online voting section includes a detailed section devoted to helping felons learn how get their voting rights back.

*spit*

Carlos Garcia, right, and Orlando Arenas pick up protest posters outside Phoenix City Hall Tuesday, July 27, 2010 in Phoenix. Community members from the Puente Movement…

PUENTE IS A BRIDGE TO ALL SPIRITUAL EXPRESSIONS.
It is a spiritual movement connected to humanity through the four elements of wind, water, earth, and fire.  It is through these elements that we seek and find the spiritual awareness to work toward our own collective transformation....

Close the book.

Democrats launch ‘Republican tea party contract on America’

...Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota said Wednesday at the DNC press conference. ”We are going to be telling the story over the course of this next month and we are going to be helping Americans understand the choice that is in front of them."…

~ * ~

Arriving at my local dept. store to apply for a fishing license, we were asked for our Social Security numbers. Apparently millions of dead beat dads are applying for fishing licences so some state and federal laws were passed to locate them*. Probably those ten guys who spilled gas in California over the last 20 years.
Of course we didn’t tell the pimply faced kid behind the counter our Social Security numbers in from of the 6 people in line behind us.
We were directed to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to see if there was an “exception” to the law whereby we could bypass having to disclose that information and still be able to go fishing on Friday.
Clearly we were the fist people to ever question this. That is what upset me the most I think.
Everyone was looking at us like we were insane. It was a bit unnerving to say the least.

Here’s a little something that JR’s been carrying in his wallet FOR YEARS:

Whoever discloses, uses, or compels the disclosure of the social security number of any person in violation of the laws of the United States; shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both....

Well guess WTF…

*On March 1, 2001, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) began mandatory collection of Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from license applicants. All recreational fishing or hunting licenses, including original, replacement or renewal licenses, will require the applicant’s SSN.

Federal and state laws require WDFW to collect the SSN of license applicants. Under federal law 42 USC Chapter 7, Subchapter IV, Part D, Sec. 666(a)(13), enacted in 1996 to improve child support compliance, WDFW must collect SSNs from license applicants. This law also requires other state agencies to collect SSNs from applicants for professional and occupational licenses and drivers’ licenses, to help enforce child support laws. In response to this federal law, in October 2000 the state Department of Licensing began collecting SSNs as part of its drivers’ licensing procedures.

State legislation RCW 77.32.014 and RCW 74.20A.320, passed to enact the federal legislation, requires WDFW to suspend the recreational licenses of parents when requested by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Child Support (DCS).

DCS has statewide responsibility for enforcing child support laws, and maintaining records of parents who are in arrears on child support payments.DCS states it will work as quickly as possible to reinstate a license after the child support debt is satisfied or a payment agreement is negotiated.

In the past, WDFW was unable to comply with the SSN collection requirement for license applicants because the recreational licensing system did not have an automated, centralized database. Instead, WDFW sent letters to parents, identified by DCS, as having at least six months of past due child support payments and no repayment agreements. These letters informed parents that if they held recreational licenses, WDFW would suspend their licenses until DCS requested reinstatement.

As of March 1, 2001, a new, computerized recreational licensing system, known as the Washington Interactive Licensing Database (WILD), is scheduled to go into operation. The WILD system includes a database. The database allows WDFW to comply with the federal law requiring SSN collection as part of the licensing process.

Following are some frequently asked questions about the Social Security Number (SSN) collection requirement for recreational license applicants:

Q: When does the Social Security Number (SSN) collection requirement go into effect?

A: Collecting SSNs from applicants for fishing and hunting licenses, tags, and permits began when the automated WILD licensing system went into operation March 1, 2001. The same requirement is in effect for persons choosing to buy recreational licenses by telephone, and will also be in effect for license sales over the Internet, scheduled to begin May 1, 2001.

Q: Who has to provide their SSN?

A: All applicants for recreational licenses, tags, and stamps must provide an SSN with the following exceptions:

* Children under 15 are not required to provide a SSN.
* Applicants who are not U.S. citizens and do not have a SSN are also exempt from the requirement..

no fuera de peligro

The residents of Bell shook fingers and fists, their faces flush with vituperation, as they shouted about an unfair tax burden and the corrupt cabal that had infected their local government.

The elected officials, meanwhile, sat passively, like children being scolded, which only infuriated the crowd even more.  ... the crowd and the council were nearly all Latino, with half the residents shouting in Spanish.

...the tiny political class took advantage of the residents’ lack of civic engagement to create a slop-filled public trough for elites while cutting services and laying off workers.

.... “My city is more corrupt than your city!” a T-shirt read.

...For Democrats facing a surly electorate this fall, the danger is that California voters have come to believe the Golden State is one giant Bell.

Meanwhile, a year agooooooweebidooweebidooweebidooooooo

President Barack Obama listens to Elisabeth Hasselbeck during his guest appearance on ABC’s television show “The View”.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

and wash your dang hands before ya talk to me, willya?!?

Trend?

Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from “surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities.” Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.

“Individual rights”

How ya like them manzanas?

“We will act decisively in order to protect our citizens and will actively promote that those guilty of these vicious attacks are brought to justice expeditiously. We are working hand-in-hand with local authorities on all levels,” said Consul General of Mexico in New York, Ruben Beltran…

Five men attacked the 40-year-old Mexican man Friday night as he was walking home after a soccer game ... a construction worker who has called the United States his home for the last five years… being investigated as a hate crime.

...this latest incident has promoted the Mexican Consulate to post personnel in Staten Island until further notice. This move is an effort to safeguard the rights of individuals and effectively assist and provide information to the Mexican residents of this area.

Dang....  I wants me a gubbmint like that!  Jumping in to protect my rights even if I were to go to live illegally in some other country… Too bad I’m a US citizen and a raaaacist who “fears and hates everyone different from me.” at least that’s what I’ve been told... So I don’t deserve it.  *frowny face*

Meanwhile, I went to see a rather up-scale hand surgeon today*.  I was the only English speaker in the waiting room.  Yes, including the reception staff who were ESL.  Pleasant.  Professional.  Nice.  But clearly preferred to chat with the Mexican nationáles as I waited for 45 mins. feeling very much the outsider.  Which I wouldn’t have ‘cept for Teh Looks…

*naah—absolutely minor dealio.  No worries.

Even with Natalie Portman on board, only Darren Aronofsky’s got the chops to make a psychological thriller about the world of ballet that would interest us, and now “Black Swan” has been chosen to open the 2010 Venice International Film Festival.

“Black Swan” stars Portman and Mila Kunis as rival ballet dancers under the direction of Vincent Cassel. The cast also includes Winona Ryder, Sebastian Stan and Barbara Hershey.

Interest in this film spiked last August when a review of the script mentioned “ecstasy-induced hungry aggressive angry sex” between Portman and Kunis was cited by /Film.

*hic*

Apologies for the slow updating....but you all are keeping me too busy to catch up! I am overwhelmed as usual and can’t seem to find the words anymore to tell you how awesome you all are and how much I love you. Your generosity and those kind e-mails have nearly rendered me speechless. I know.

We’re about $600 away from last year’s total BUT...there have been a few non blog related donations that actually put us OVER last year’s gift by about $150.

So I’m a little conflicted as to where I should go from here....
We have plenty of time until we need to get this to the ball co-ordinators so I’m kinda hoping WE can at least match what we raised last year ( $1800 ).
If there’s anyone out there who hasn’t contributed yet but would like to, I’m going to post a bleg here and there and see what we can do.

I’ll keep you posted.

get out yer dots

Hillary!  Running for Teh iWonL∅st’s second term?!?!  What could possibly give you such a cuh-rayzee idea?

Glenburn, where the Clintons are said to be staying over the [Chelsea-wedding] weekend. Glenburn is the Rhinebeck home of Eric and Andrea Colombel. Andrea Colombel is the daughter of billionaire financier and longtime Clinton supporter George Soros.

Miiind Bleeeeach arrrrgh

grab yer bucket

Al Franken has now been a *cough*gag* Senator longer than Teh iWon ever was.

It seems like a sweet sentiment – an e-mail message from a loving wife expressing a charming and fun way to wish her husband a happy 49th birthday by having thousands of people sign an electronic birthday card.
But in Washington, D.C., nothing is that simple. The wife, in this case, is first lady Michelle Obama, and the message is being sent out by the Democratic Party to people on its list nationwide.
Clicking on the link—“Will you wish Barack a happy birthday with me?” – sends you to “MyBarackObama.com,” the Organizing for America Web site, which describes itself as “a project of the Democratic National Committee.”…

~ * ~
...But typing in your name, address and E-mail, and hitting “Sign the Card” takes you directly to another page—a donation page, which states:

“Thank you for standing alongside us, with the President. Now can you make a donation to help us take on the year ahead?”—and a disclaimer that funds would not go to political candidates. ..

It is a place of questionable taste, and unquestioning sleaze. But the Costa del Sol’s glitziest resort of Marbella is the surprise holiday choice of Michelle Obama and at least one of her daughters, Sasha, who are due to arrive on 4 August. Locals hope that Barack Obama, who celebrates his 49th birthday on the first day of their stay, might make a last-minute appearance.

Marbella, home of graft, tack and ostentation, is everything the Spanish costas should not be. Overbuilt and brashly flaunting its wealth, it epitomises the wanton destruction of Spain’s coastline. So what else can America’s first family expect?

Hotels The Obamas will enjoy the luxury of the Villa Padierna on the outskirts of town. With its Tuscan palace architecture, spa complex, views across the Mediterranean and reputation as one of the world’s best resort hotels, a price of up to €3,600 (£3,000) a night keeps the riff-raff away…

Reducing unemployment and cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf may top Barack Obama’s to-do list, but he hasn’t forgotten about the importance of teaching his daughters about money. In an interview last week with ABC News, the president said he and Michelle have started teaching first daughters Sasha and Malia about savings and interest. He also suggested that the girls may soon be old enough to earn their own money through babysitting gigs…

They waited for hours, eventually lining up around the block from the Sacred Heart Community Center to register their children to receive a free backpack for school.
So many parents turned out that organizers began turning people away after signing up a record 1,648 students for the annual “Pack-A-Back” program.
When the first organizers arrived at 7:30 a.m. at the First Street facility, they found a pair of mothers who told them they had arrived a couple of hours after midnight.
Organizers had expected a big crowd given the economy. They brought in an extra 110 to 120 volunteers to supplement the normal group of up to 200 volunteers to help with the registration. But the turnout taxed even the increased volunteer force.
“This is not only unprecedented, but frightening, to see that level of need,” said Sacred Heart executive director Poncho Guevara.

The makeup of the crowd, too, was far from familiar. Guevara estimated about 25 percent of those seeking registrations were new not only to the drive, but to his organization entirely, indicating that they faced a new level of economic pressure....

Painting on Canvas 5x7 kids in school

As an artist I have learned that sometimes you must give some pieces away just to gain the exposure you need. And what we give always comes back.!

What the heck do we call what we’re trying to do?
We need a buzzword or catch phrase.

I’ve been thinking about this a bit harder recently. Conservatism and Teapartyism are about returning to founding principles, about bringing a prodigal America home to her loving and nurturing family. Therefore, the term “revolution” is not really appropriate. Neither is “reformation.” Revolutions are not aimed at reestablishing social, economic, and political principles that have somehow been corrupted over time; and the Reformation did not seek to reestablish the state religion of the Roman empire. No, neither term really works in the conservative/tea-party context, since they imply that you can’t go home again, and you don’t really want to, because home sucked.

What is it that we’re really trying to do, then? Whine and bemoan the state of American affairs? Sit around and bad-mouth those we blame? (Well, okay, kind of; but nah, not really.) Basically, we’re trying to reestablish previously proven principles which were tested by history and adjusted by experience — principles under the discipline and protection of the U.S. Constitution*. That document still exists, but it obviously provides neither discipline nor protection any more. Government ignores it with impunity, but nothing happens.

History really has no examples of a successful Conservative reestablishment (hmm, maybe that’s the word I’m looking for). All we’ve had were short, limited, and ultimately unsuccessful revolts (e.g. Reagan and Gingrich). So, rather than finding a politically themed buzzword, let’s try a biological one.

America is like a body racked with tumors, poisoned by assassins, and crawling with parasites of every description.
Treatments have been to bleed her with lancets and leeches,
to dance around fires with rattles and charms,
to exorcise evil demons like injustice or Gaia’s displeasure, and
to berate her for bad diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and weight.
Some prescribe a return to clean air, pure water, and organic vegetarian fare.
Some advocate we go back to living in harmony with Nature as the paleo-utopian noble savage did.
Some prescribe the surgical removal of America’s flawed limbs and organs and replacing them with more-enlightened designs — a kind of cyborg society.
Some invite us to their exotic foreign clinics where (even though their cures have never been successful, and others haven’t been tried, and most aren’t even fully baked) a cure is inevitable! Trust them, they’re doctors; and, hey, they have lots of celebrity testimonials.
Some just advocate magic pills which, even if you don’t believe they exist, would certainly be developed if only we were to put the right doctors in charge and give them all the resources they needed.
Under these quacks, America will die despite these “cures” or because of them.

*sigh* I was hoping for some brilliantly insightful medical term for a conservative/tea-party buzzword, but I just can’t think of any.
Oh, wait, maybe ... Reestablishing regularity — Enemas of the state !

Okay, I know. FAIL! *bzzt*
Mebbe you gotchyou a better guldanged buzzword or catch phrase?

Bend farther jackass… now say “Uncle”

Welcome Weasel Zippers and Michelle Malkin (aka Doug Powers) readers!

Former first lady Nancy Reagan joined Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley on Tuesday for a ceremonial signing of a bill making it Ronald Reagan Day every Feb. 6 in California.

Reagan’s 100th birthday is Feb. 6.

The governor says Ronald Reagan Day will allow schools to teach about Reagan and be a day in which Californians can remember his legacy.

Schwarzenegger told the audience, “Ronald Reagan is my hero.”

So long suckers!…

A municipal manager in California who makes nearly $800,000 a year working for a small, poor city could draw pension payments exceeding $30 million in retirement, according to an activist who has been calling for an overhaul of the state’s public pension system.

That would put Robert Rizzo, chief administrative officer for the city of Bell in Los Angeles County, far ahead of other retired public workers in the state, said Marcia Fritz, who heads the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility.

“This guy will be our first seven-figure retiree,” said Fritz, whose group has played a leading role in publicizing the issue of California’s public pension liabilities.

At age 62, when Rizzo could also begin receiving Social Security payments, his annual pension would rise to $976,771, topping $1 million two years later. If he lives to age 83, his annual payout would rise to $1.48 million.

“I don’t think there is anything illegal ... The system allows this,” Fritz said. “It’s all by the book.”

Fritz noted it is not unusual for retired firefighters in California to get bigger pensions than those paid top U.S. military officers who retire much later after many more years in uniform.

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect, delivering a last-minute victory to opponents of the crackdown.
The overall law will still take effect Thursday, but without the provisions that angered opponents — including sections that required officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws.
The judge also put on hold parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times…

Mortgage loan originators will have to be fingerprinted and sign up to a central registry to do business in future, according to final rules issued on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve and other regulators…

JR asks:
But what if you’re an illegal alien mortgage broker?

it is strong in Teh CARB

The State of California wants to do away with the clips that let you fill up your car without holding the nozzle. The recommendation is going out to gas stations after there have been 10 fuel spills statewide link to the clips.

So, now ya gotta jam your gas cap under the pump handle again....