Healthcare is the tapeworm of the American economy. When u get up to 17-18 percent and other countries have 10%, You've got 7 or 8 cents out of the dollar that we are at a disadvantage – I mean we think we are at a disadvantage and we are because we talked about the $500 billion spent on foreign oil but $500 billion is 3% of GDP. We're talking about a huge cost disadvantage versus rest of world, and we need to address it.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Buffett on GOP: This particular hole belongs to them; likens healthcare to tapeworm of American economy
Russian bill to take children from gay parents withdrawn for revision; LGBT activists suspicious of timing
From Buzzfeed:
A spokesperson for Alexei Zhuravlyov, the far right MP who tabled the bill, later confirmed the move, but said it would be resubmitted after some changes were made.
...Support for the bill in question was always less clear cut. Elena Mizulina, the sponsor of the federal propaganda law and the public face of Russia’s anti-LGBT campaign, repeatedly said she believed it would not pass.
The decision to withdraw the bill comes one month after it cleared a bureaucratic hurdle that put it on the agenda to be considered as soon as February 2014. That is the month that Russia is set to host the Winter Olympics in Sochi — something that has already pointed global attention to the country’s abysmal record on LGBT rights.
Activists welcomed the move cautiously, with some predicting that it would be brought for consideration again once the global spotlight on Russia fades after the Olympics conclude. “Are they putting on a good face before a bad game?” one asked. “Let’s not relax.”
Toyota loses $6.5m suit; Lexus airbag didn't deploy
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| Obviously this picture, taken by AKSARBENT in 2012, is not of Katharine Sprague's car, but we think whoever did this is totally amazing and we'll use any excuse to repost it. |
[Katharine M.] Sprague’s attorneys, Lynn Shumway of Phoenix and John Weis of Omaha, presented evidence that the air bag didn’t fully inflate...
Attorneys for Toyota, the manufacturer of Lexus luxury vehicles, suggested to jurors that the way Sprague was sitting in the driver’s seat — and the fact that her seat belt was not taut against her body — contributed to the extent of her injuries.
Your cat is way more near sighted than you (acuity: 20/100 to 20/200) but sees 6-8 times more in the dark and has wider vision
This photo simulates what your cat sees (bottom) vs. what you do. More interesting facts and pictures by Nicholas Lamm are here.Good to know: Walmart forbids its employees from helping you fend off attackers in their parking lots
This happened in Hartland Township, Michigan to a "temporary" employee of Walmart, which considers hirees not really hired until half a year has elapsed, during which time we assume the company's health insurance, such as it is, is not available to them.
Dallas Police drop aggravated assault charges against Bobby Bennett, mentally ill man they shot at four times, after security video shows he was standing still
He was carrying a small knife and the cops were told beforehand that Bennett, a schizophrenic off his meds, had mental problems.
Donald Trump to MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts: 'You're a wonderful guy' but you don't deserve civil marriage benefits and I know you'll do a great job hosting my Russian beauty pageant
A list of sponsors of the Miss Universe pageant is here, and except for the New York Film Academy, we've never heard of any of them.
AKSARBENT hopes sponsorship of Trump's pageant makes the New York Film Academy better known because it's nowhere on the Hollywood Reporter's 2013 list of the USA's 25 best film schools.
(Via JMG)
AKSARBENT hopes sponsorship of Trump's pageant makes the New York Film Academy better known because it's nowhere on the Hollywood Reporter's 2013 list of the USA's 25 best film schools.
(Via JMG)
Amid allegations of victim intimidation, Missouri prosecutor Robert Rice doesn't appreciate having his name 'dragged through the mud' for dropping charges against two alleged athletes/rapists
One of the girls, 14, was dropped outside her house in a tee shirt and sweatpants in 22-degree weather for 2-3 hours after the incident. A fifteen-year-old boy was charged in juvenile court for having nonconsensual sex with the 13-year-old girl. Matthew Barnett was charged with the rape of the other girl, and another 17-year-old, Jordan Zech, was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor for allegedly recording explicit cell phone video of the older girl and Barnett together, which was passed around at his school but subsequently disappeared from his phone.
Sheriff Darren White told the Star that he “felt confident the office had put together a case that would ‘absolutely’ result in prosecutions.” He said, “Within four hours, we had obtained a search warrant for the house and executed that. We had all of the suspects in custody and had audio/video confessions.” The doctor who treated Daisy the following morning called the prosecutor’s decision to drop the charges “surprising.”
The Kansas City Star's account of the above news conference by Rice includes the following:
Rice’s account of the witnesses’ cooperation differs from that of Melinda Coleman, mother of one alleged victim, who contended in a story in The Star on Sunday and other media appearances this week that she had willingly spoken with authorities until Rice dropped the two most serious felony charges in March 2012, two months after he’d filed them.Barnett is now a student at the University of Central Missouri. Before he made his twitter account private, Reporter Arnett found this retweet:
Rice declined to give the date of the deposition or to clarify whether the witnesses’ invocation of their Fifth Amendment rights occurred before the felony charges were dropped.
Coleman says, she went to Rice’s office and recorded a taped statement declaring that she and her daughter would invoke their Fifth Amendment rights not to testify. The reason, she told The Star, was that she didn’t want to put her daughter through the anguish of reliving the incident with only a misdemeanor charge at stake. She says she changed her mind a day later.
If her name begins with A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, she wants the D.Following the heavy lifting of the Kansas City Star, Anonymous is now piling on.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Utah Boy Scout Leader who vandalized geologic treasure in Goblin Valley State Park shamelessly
claims it was 'all about saving lives'
AKSARBENT earlier post about this is here, and examines an interesting dictum of the Scout's "Leave No Trace" policy. Meanwhile, Fred Hayes, of Utah Parks and Recreation, isn't buying the excuse.
Neither is Jeff Rasmussen of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation, who says that in 20 years he's never heard of a child being injured by a falling rock in the park.
Neither is Jeff Rasmussen of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation, who says that in 20 years he's never heard of a child being injured by a falling rock in the park.
NBC's Pete Williams explains today's N.J. Supreme Court decision paving way for state to become 14th to allow marriage equality
Today's unanimous decision by the N.J. supreme court decreed that since the state allows only civil unions, same sex couples in the state are discriminated against because they cannot get those federal benefits that the U.S. Supreme Court last summer said they were entitled to in the Edie Windsor case.
Utah boy scout leaders demonstrate why organization only allows heterosexuals to be role models
From the Salt Lake City Tribune's description of the now-viral YouTube video it reposted, before the fence posts who made it eventually figured out they probably should remove the incriminating evidence from Facebook:
Obviously this stunt violated the well-known Boy Scout imperative to "Leave No Trace."
While researching this post, AKSARBENT discovered (in Principle #3, of the preceding Leave No Trace link, which starts with an sweet anecdote from Nebraska's own Loren Eisley) that the Boy Scouts have an exhaustively specific policy about absolutely everything, even spreading human waste to distribute the salt in pee to discourage attracting animals. To whit:
Related: Over 400 million Boy Scout Handbooks (the directive above is for Scout Leader training) have been published; the last three editions (10, 11 & 12) were written by Robert Birkby, a native of Sidney, Iowa, who also authored the BSA Fieldbook (4th edition) and the Eagle Scouts Centennial History. He supports inclusion of gay scouts.
Three men, tagged as Dave Hall, Glenn Taylor and Dylan Taylor, push over large rock boulders in Goblin Valley, Utah in this video posted to Hall's Facebook page. They claim they are preventing a safety hazard, but the activity in the video is likely illegal. Utah state parks authorities are investigating, and the three are facing felony charges.JoeMyGod adds that the formations in Goblin Valley State Park date to the [late] Jurassic period, about 160 million years ago. The rock formation these goobers wrecked is said to be about 20 million years old.
Obviously this stunt violated the well-known Boy Scout imperative to "Leave No Trace."
While researching this post, AKSARBENT discovered (in Principle #3, of the preceding Leave No Trace link, which starts with an sweet anecdote from Nebraska's own Loren Eisley) that the Boy Scouts have an exhaustively specific policy about absolutely everything, even spreading human waste to distribute the salt in pee to discourage attracting animals. To whit:
It is easy for men to properly dispose of urine. While urinating, we write our name in cursive to spread the urine.Here at AKSARBENT we worry about how the Boy Scouts are addressing the fact that a lot of text-mad modern kids don't know how to write in cursive. Is this taught too? If so, what props are used by the Scout Leaders in so doing?
Related: Over 400 million Boy Scout Handbooks (the directive above is for Scout Leader training) have been published; the last three editions (10, 11 & 12) were written by Robert Birkby, a native of Sidney, Iowa, who also authored the BSA Fieldbook (4th edition) and the Eagle Scouts Centennial History. He supports inclusion of gay scouts.
Mazda's 2011 spider problem now plaguing Toyota; 870,00 2012/2013 Camrys, Venzas and Avalons recalled
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| 2013 Toyota Camry |
In 2011 Mazda 6's were recalled because of a similar problem in that car's gasoline ventilation tube. Fix: a cap of fine mesh.
Stephen Fry tells Russia's leading homophobe, Vitaly Milonov, architect of country's 'gay propaganda' law, that he lives in a fantasy world
The episode is part of Fry's BBC2 series, Stephen Fry: Out There, in which Fry ventures out beyond accepting western urban centers into the wider, more antigay world; a sort of travelogue of international homophobia, except for his chummy visit to Elton John in Georgia.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Sarah Palin's GOP pal, Steve Lonegan, who gay-baited opponent Cory Booker, loses NJ senate race
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| Lonegan, Palin at New Egypt Speedway rally. Photo via New Jersey Watchdog |
While mayor of Bogota, N.J. (pop. 8261), Lonegan got national attention when he tried to get English made the town's official language. He also baited Cory Booker, directly and indirectly, during the campaign:
”I don’t like going out in the middle of the night, or any time of the day, for a manicure and pedicure. It was described as his peculiar fetish . . .I have a more peculiar fetish. I like a good Scotch and a cigar. That’s my fetish but we’ll just compare the two.”Booker, 44, is the son of IBM's first two black executives and the former mayor of New Jersey's largest city, Newark. He will have to stand for reelection next November to keep his seat after yesterday's special election.
 |
| Lonegan, with wife, during concession speech |
Shortly thereafter, a photo emerged of the words "Leader not Tweeter," written on one of Palin's hands.
Palin, cynically twisting the opening words of a Buffalo Springfield song, said: "Something big is happening here. And it’s exactly clear — it’s called momentum."
Lonegan lost by 11 points.
Dutch man explains why he'll never return to the USA
Niels Gerson Lohman's treatment at the hands of the U.S. Border Patrol when he tried to take the train from Montreal into New York State is an appalling chronicle of the behavior of ignorant, power-drunk martinets whose xenophobia has the force of law. Read the full account here.
Time's list of politicians who voted against the shutdown shutdown
The list is interactive; if you go to the website (here) you can hover the cursor over the usual suspects in your state who voted to send the U.S. into an abyss of economic chaos and view their names. It also allows you to slice and dice, as all good databases do.
Here's a business ruined by the shutdown stunt
of Lee Terry, Adrian Smith and Jeff Fortenberry
After remarks regarding his congressional paycheck that were so stunningly arrogant they went viral, a chastened Rep. Lee Terry announced that he would not "accept" any more government remuneration until the shutdown (that he helped engineer) was over — a completely meaningless gesture, since Congress is paid monthly. His personal cash flow won't be interrupted.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that Terry is having a terrific fundraising quarter:
It was the biggest war chest Terry has amassed at this point in an election cycle — 13 months before the next election — since he first won his seat in Congress in 1998... Terry's campaign released his initial fundraising numbers Wednesday. In the third quarter of this year, Terry raised $389,000 and had $558,000 in the bank.Even without third party, dark money GOP help, that should pay for lots of attack ads against Pete Festersen.
In comparison, in the third quarter of 2011, Terry held a $320,000 war chest.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Portland Trailblazers put their support of marriage equality in writing — on their website
The Trail Blazers, true to their name, are the first NBA franchise to endorse marriage equality and the first team in the the four largest professional sports in the U.S. to do so. Link is here.
Rep. Steve "What, me worry?" King, doesn't think looming default is a problem
Contrary to financial expert poseur and grandstanding Rep. Steve King (R-Fantasy Island), whose business background involved operating bulldozers, people with actual financial expertise are appalled at his and his party's brinkmanship. To whit:
“We’ve never gotten to the point where the United States government has operated without the ability to borrow. It’s very dangerous. It’s reckless, because the reality is, there are no good choices if we run out of borrowing capacity and we run out of cash. ... I’m telling that you that on 17th we run out of our ability to borrow, and Congress is playing with fire.” — Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“The debt ceiling makes no sense anyway. If you’re going to spend more than you take in you’re always going to have to be raising it. What makes sense is looking at the appropriations, looking at revenue sources and that sort of thing. ... It makes absolutely no sense to let it be used as a lever for other things. ... To tie it to something about whether you break the promises of the United States government to people all over the world as well as its own citizens just makes no sense. It should be banned as a weapon. It should be like nuclear bombs, basically too horrible to use.” — Billionaire investor Warren Buffet in Fortune.
Ken Cuccinelli Ben Buccinelli For Virginia Governor
The future of Virginia's economy starts in our schools. No one wants to see their child wind up in a dead-end, low-paying job like teaching.
(Via JMG)
Does the environment even exist? If so, then how come I can't see it? These so-called scientists talk as if global warming were every bit as real as the man in the sky who controls the entire universe.
(Via JMG)
Does the environment even exist? If so, then how come I can't see it? These so-called scientists talk as if global warming were every bit as real as the man in the sky who controls the entire universe.
Culture: we just found out there is a website devoted to shirtless baritones
The video below is nearly ten years old, but we don't care — AKSARBENT ain't never seen it. The website is here. The piece is Pearl Fishers and features William Burden and Nathan Gunn.
It was written by Georges Bizet, whose "other" opera, Carmen, was a flop before achieving world-wide success and a place in the front row of the pantheon of immortal operas, by which time, unfortunately, Bizet had expired.
BTW, kids, the difference between a tenor and a baritone is the difference between, respectively, Pavarotti and (yowsah!) Robert Goulet.
It was written by Georges Bizet, whose "other" opera, Carmen, was a flop before achieving world-wide success and a place in the front row of the pantheon of immortal operas, by which time, unfortunately, Bizet had expired.
BTW, kids, the difference between a tenor and a baritone is the difference between, respectively, Pavarotti and (yowsah!) Robert Goulet.
New revival of Sondheim's Company makes Bobby gay and replaces Elaine Stritch, Patti Lupone with a man
What a great excuse to post this superlative performance of Patti Lupone singing "Ladies Who Lunch." A Better Midler without doubt, and Bette probably ate her heart out over this cover which mops the floor with her own, of the same song.
Stritch originated the Stephen Sondheim character, and Lupone also played Joanne in a New York Philharmonic concert production. The old Bobby (portrayed above by Neil Patrick Harris) was straight, with commitment issues and multiple girlfriends. New Bobby is gay, with commitment issues and multiple boyfriends, or, as they say in France, (actually as Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, as an epigram in the January 1849 issue of his journal Les Guêpes): plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
Joanne's replacement is Tony winner ("Cabaret") Alan Cumming.
(Via Towleroad)
Stritch originated the Stephen Sondheim character, and Lupone also played Joanne in a New York Philharmonic concert production. The old Bobby (portrayed above by Neil Patrick Harris) was straight, with commitment issues and multiple girlfriends. New Bobby is gay, with commitment issues and multiple boyfriends, or, as they say in France, (actually as Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, as an epigram in the January 1849 issue of his journal Les Guêpes): plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
Joanne's replacement is Tony winner ("Cabaret") Alan Cumming.
(Via Towleroad)
2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees announced
Five of the 16 nominees below will be inducted:
KISS, Nirvana, Chic, Hall and Oats, the Replacements, the Meters, Linda Ronstadt, Cat Stevens, N.W.A., Yes, Peter Gabriel, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Deep Purple, LL Cool J, Link Wray, and the ZombiesVia CNN:
Voting will be open to fans. Beginning continues through December 10, people can cast ballots at the Rock Hall, Rolling Stone and USA Today. Visit www.rockhall.com/vote, www.rollingstone.com and www.usatoday.com to cast ballots. The top five vote-getters will be listed on a "fans' ballot" that will be tallied along with the other ballots for the Class of 2014. The inductees are chosen by a secret ballot of 600 voters, a group that includes previous inductees, music industry veterans, historians and critics.
Thanks for nothing: Nebraska Democrats assail Rep. Fortenberry for fake 'compassionate conservatism'
but ignore his attack on gay couples
Curiously missing from the Nebraska Democrats' litany of objections to Fortenberry's usual go-along-get-along assent to GOP outrageousness was their loud silence on Fortenberry's recent attack on gay couples, which you may read about in detail here.
In a nutshell, Fortenberry cosponsored a bill, MARFA, that is so beyond the pale that even Lee Terry and Adrian Smith walked away from it, a development that Nebraska Democrats evidently did not deem worthy of mention — unless, of course, the brazen attack on LGBT couples is something that the party, which aggressively solicits gay donations, just failed to notice.
Here's what the Human Rights Campaign thinks of Fortenberry's bill (emphasis added):
The purpose of the legislation introduced today is simply to let federal employees, contractors and grantees refuse to do their jobs or fulfill the terms of their taxpayer-funded contracts because they have a particular religious view about certain lawfully-married couples – and then to sue the federal government for damages if they don’t get their way. For example, if passed, the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act would permit a federal worker processing tax returns, approving visa applications or reviewing Social Security applications to walk away from their responsibilities whenever a same-sex couple's paperwork appeared on his or her desk. It would also allow a federally-funded homeless shelter or substance abuse treatment program to turn away LGBT people. Despite the cosponsors claims, there is no evidence that federal programs have or would discriminate against individuals because of their religious beliefs about marriage. Protections against discrimination based on religious belief are explicitly and robustly provided under the First Amendment and federal nondiscrimination statutes.
PBS airs Superheroes, interviews Northstar writer, artist, screenwriter about evolution of gay character
Also: Sean Hayes tricks Matt Lauer into complementing him on how he looks in his shorts; Israel's Bert and Ernie now have a baby.
Last night, PBS aired, in three installments, Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, hosted and narrated by Liev Schreiber (who looks better in jeans and a sport coat than he did in a dress in this movie).
Installment three, A Superhero Can Be Anyone, looked at gay X-Man Northstar's development. It, and the other two segments, can be viewed online until Oct. 29th.
Jemenez: It says a lot about the success of the X-men that anyone can read into it whatever they want to. You can find in the X-Men the metaphor that you're seeking because it's all about difference.
Claremont: I'm a Mormon. The X-Men speak to me. I'm black. I'm Asian. I'm an immigrant. I'm gay. They speak to me.
Jemenez: The X-Men is the most amazing metaphor I find for young gay people because in that book they are constantly targeted for being different. For no other crime than being born. Wow. It's all about, I think, glorifying that difference, no matter what the world around you says. No matter how much they hate you.
Miller: When Northstar was first created in 1983, as a member of Alpha Flight, his sexuality wasn't an issue that was on the table. Over the last 30 years, comic books have dealt more frankly with sexuality than they did back in 1983. So if you're looking for, "How did the books evolve to the point where Northstar could go from being a very fast superhero who was part of the Canadian superteam to the X-Man who is homosexual and getting married in 2013?" the answer is that culture evolved to make it possible for that event to be depicted in the comics.
Unless you're a comix nerd you might be surprised at how many gay comic characters there now are:
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| X-Men: from allusions of difference to outing. Top: Have you tried not being a mutant? |
Installment three, A Superhero Can Be Anyone, looked at gay X-Man Northstar's development. It, and the other two segments, can be viewed online until Oct. 29th.Jemenez: It says a lot about the success of the X-men that anyone can read into it whatever they want to. You can find in the X-Men the metaphor that you're seeking because it's all about difference.
Claremont: I'm a Mormon. The X-Men speak to me. I'm black. I'm Asian. I'm an immigrant. I'm gay. They speak to me.
Unless you're a comix nerd you might be surprised at how many gay comic characters there now are:
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Here's Bold Nebraska's new barn — built across path of Keystone XL pipeline
Meghan Hammond explains why Bold Nebraska sponsored the building of an alternative energy barn directly in the path of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
More argle-bargle from 'gift to satire' and new friend of minorities, Bradlee Dean: Obama administration looking to eradicate the Hispanic and the Negro race
Progressive Omaha World-Herald courageously ushers its straight readers into brave new world of the 1970s
The flag of the The Omaha World-Herald, October 15, 2013, now brought to you by Berkshire-Hathaway founder Warren Buffet:
From today's comprehensive guide:
DUDE, WHERE'S MY HUG?
You'll see men of all ages hug, but it tends to be more common among younger guys.
Younger generations, such as guys in their 20s, grew up during an era of less homophobia.
They know you can hug and still be a man.
Compare and contrast: New York Times, September 5, 2013:
From today's comprehensive guide:DUDE, WHERE'S MY HUG?
You'll see men of all ages hug, but it tends to be more common among younger guys.
Younger generations, such as guys in their 20s, grew up during an era of less homophobia.
They know you can hug and still be a man.
Compare and contrast: New York Times, September 5, 2013:
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