Dad sends along this picture of Guesly, which I’m reasonably sure counts as cruelty to animals:
I’ve been told no humans or animals were hurt while making this.
John Cole started Balloon Juice early in 2002. Those who have followed along know that this has been quite the journey.
by John Cole| 66 Comments
This post is in: Dog Blogging, Open Threads
Dad sends along this picture of Guesly, which I’m reasonably sure counts as cruelty to animals:
I’ve been told no humans or animals were hurt while making this.
by John Cole| 50 Comments
This post is in: Democratic Stupidity
This makes no sense to me:
As Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens continues to weigh a possible retirement, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday that he thinks President Obama’s choice of a successor could trigger a Republican filibuster in the Senate.
“I think the gridlock in the Senate might well produce a filibuster which would tie up the Senate about a Supreme Court nominee,” Specter, D-Pa., said on Fox News Sunday.
Specter, a former Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that if Stevens waited a year, there would be a greater chance for consensus among senators.
I can’t think of one single advantage to waiting a year for Stevens to retire. The chances for gridlock are even greater next year, because the Democrats are going to lose seats, and the Republicans are going to think the appropriate response to picking up seats is more obstruction. I have no idea what Specter is thinking.
by John Cole| 29 Comments
This post is in: Military, War on Terror aka GSAVE®
There is no other explanation that I can think of:
NATO acknowledged Sunday that its troops killed five Afghans in a botched nighttime raid in February — after initially saying the civilians may have been victims of an “honor killing.”
Even though civilian casualties at the hands of NATO troops have fallen off in recent months, such incidents have strained relationship between Afghanistan and the Western nations that make up the International Security Assistance Force.
At the time of the February 12 incident, NATO said its troops went to a compound in the village of Khatabeh in the Paktia province, believing it to be a militant hideout.
A firefight ensued and several insurgents died, NATO said at the time.
When soldiers entered the compound, they found the bodies of two men and two women who had been shot “execution-style,” a senior U.S. military official said then.
“It has the earmarks of a traditional honor killing,” the official said, adding that the women were found bound and gagged.
How else does this story change so radically?
This post is in: Open Threads
Just got back from dinner at the folks:
I’m glad they all get along so well.
This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Our Failed Media Experiment
Why do we have to keep pretending that the lack of bipartisanship is the fault of Obama and the Democrats, when the Republicans are threatening the filibuster of a SCOTUS nominee who has NOT YET BEEN NAMED?
Won’t Someone Please Think of David Broder?Post + Comments (124)
by John Cole| 66 Comments
This post is in: Bring on the Brawndo!, Clown Shoes, General Stupidity, Wingnut Event Horizon
I’m sure you will all be surprised to learn this, but apparently the doctor who is turning away patients if they support Obama has no idea what is in the bill and no clue what he is talking about, but he is firmly against it:
Cassell: Hospice cuts in 2012…Does the government want people to die slowly?
Colmes: Do you really think the government wants people dead?
Cassell: Well I think that they’re cutting all supportive care, like nursing homes, ambulance services…
Colmes: What to you mean they’re cutting nursing homes?
Cassell: They’re cutting nursing home reimbursements
Colmes: Isn’t what they’re cutting under the Medicare plan what was really double dipping; they were getting credits and they were getting to deduct them at the same time.
Cassell: Well you know, I can’t tell you exactly what the deal is.
Colmes: If you can’t tell us exactly what the deal is, why are you opposing it and fighting against it?
Cassell: I’m not the guy who wrote the plan.
Colmes: But if you don’t know what the deal is why are you speaking out against something you don’t know what the deal is?
Cassell: What I get online, just like any other American. What I’m supposed to understand about the bill should be available to me.
Colmes: It is; it’s been online for a long time; it’s also been all over the media…
We all know where this is going next, don’t we? The guy intentionally made a big scene, he got the attention he wanted, now has been given an open mic to expose himself as a clown, so you do know what is coming next, don’t you?
This guy will be the next great conservative martyr by the end of next week. National Review or the glibertarians will have gushing pieces about him, one of the “Big” websites will have a breathless all-caps piece stating “MEDIA TRYING TO DESTROY BRAVE INDIVIDUAL WHO SPOKE OUT AGAINST OBAMACARE.” He’ll be on Hannity discussing how his life was ruined for just trying to speak truth to power and now people no longer come to him for treatment and on and on.
Move over Princess Jesus Boobies and Joe the Plumber, there’s a new kid in town.
by John Cole| 68 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Free Markets Solve Everything
This NY Times piece has me scratching my head:
In a major victory for environmental advocates, New York State has ruled that outmoded cooling technology at the Indian Point nuclear power plant kills so many Hudson River fish, and consumes and contaminates so much water, that it violates the federal Clean Water Act.
The decision is a blow to the plant’s owner, the Entergy Corporation, which now faces the prospect of having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build stadium-size cooling towers, or risk that Indian Point’s two operating reactors — which supply 30 percent of the electricity used by New York City and Westchester County — could be forced to shut down.
Why is that a victory for environmentalists? If you have to turn it into a winners v. losers piece instead of just reporting that the state has ruled against the Indian Point nuclear plant, shouldn’t the accurate way to look at this be not a victory for environmentalists, but a victory for everyone who lives, breathes, eats, and drinks water? When the government shuts down polluters, it is a victory for all of us. That is why we band together, have government, and have rules and regulations to protect our water and natural resources.
This is one area I have never understood Republicans or libertarians. Left alone, these people are POISONING YOU. The government is trying to stop that, or at least slow it down. They are slowing down the rate that companies pour toxins into the water you and your kids drink. You’d think that would upset them. I understand the need for jobs and electricity, I really do. I understand that is important. But not being poisoned and not having cancer are also important.