World News Korner

Courtesy of the BBC:

The unrestricted use of fossil fuels should be phased out by 2100, if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, a UN-backed expert panel says.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says in a stark report that most of the world's electricity can - and must - be produced from low-carbon sources by 2050.

If not, the world faces "severe, pervasive and irreversible" damage.

The UN said inaction would cost "much more" than taking the necessary action.

"Science has spoken," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. "There is no ambiguity in their message. Leaders must act. Time is not on our side.

I can see the conservative response now: "Oh, well that gives us a free pass for at least three more decades."

I feel that the only way that we as Americans will have any hope of meeting this timetable is to never elect another Republican again. Of course that seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Source

Finally something that describes me to a "T."

I need a t-shirt with this on it.

Source

Courtesy of Raw Story:

A42-year-old Maryland man accused of threatening to kill President Barack Obama and first lady Michele Obama in an explicit email strewn with racist remarks was in custody on Sunday, the United States Secret Service said.

Christopher Perkins O’Brien, of Annapolis, was arrested on Thursday and charged with making a violent threat against the president and threatening bodily harm against the presidential family in an email sent to the White House website on Oct. 16, according to court documents.

O’Brien was also charged with using interstate communications to make the threats, the documents said.

In the email, Obama is called “stupid” and a racial slur for his handling of ISIS, beheadings in the United States and of the Ebola outbreak before he is threatened with physical violence.

“I … hope to reach out to slash Michele’s throat… You?? I will make a point to behead you, then throw your head into the nearest body of water, as I drive off into Maryland,” O’Brien is accused of writing, according to charging documents first reported by The Baltimore Sun.

O’Brien was convicted in 2007 of manslaughter in the strangulation death of a 32-year-old female friend, the paper has reported. He served part of a 10-year sentence for the crime, which was later reduced to involuntary manslaughter.

Secret Service arrested O’Brien on suspicion of the recent death threats after tracing the email to his Annapolis home, the agency said.

Yeah okay I think when a person living in Maryland, who once served time for killing somebody, claims that he is going to cut the President's head off and assassinate the First Lady, THAT seems to me a credible threat.

I was also beginning to wonder if the Secret Service even knew how to do their jobs anymore.

It dawned on that perhaps we ought to fire the whole lot of them and try to hire that magnificent Canadian Sergeant at Arms who stopped that gunman at Parliament last week.

By the way I for one am getting damn sick and tired of hearing about all of these threats against the President. Don't they realize that if they were ever successful that he would rise up like Obi Wan Kenobi and be more powerful than ever?

If they think Ronald Reagan was deified, this would make the Reagan adulation look comparable to receiving the employee of the month designation at Burger King.

There would be Obama Day, Obama Lane, the Obama Towers, stuffed Obamas, Obama pins, Obama PJs, and a flood of Obama love that would sweep the nation.

The man is MUCH more beloved than these trigger happy lunatics realize, and rather than end his agenda, they would send it into hyper drive.

But even still we need the President alive and in one piece, and continuing to prove to Democrats that even if it seems that EVERYBODY is out to get you that you can still do your damn job, and make them eat shit every time you out maneuver them.

THAT is this President's legacy.

Source

"Too often parents have no choice but to put their kids in cheaper daycare, that maybe doesn't have the kinds of programming that makes a big difference in a child's development. And sometime there may just not be any slots, or the best programs may be too far away. And sometimes someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to stay home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as a result. And that's not a choice want Americans to make."

Clearly the President was talking about the problems facing two income families who are faced with problems finding quality childcare. It was NOT directed at families where the male earns an income which allows his wife to be a stay-at-home mother.

However THAT is exactly how it is being purposefully misinterpreted by the Right Wing professional outrage machine. And right now the conservatives smell blood in the water and the sharks are beginning to circle.

And if there is any hint of weakness on the President's part, you know who will soon come sniffing around for a taste.

And gee the headline of her Facebook post starts off so reasonably:

Obama Declares Stay-at-Home Moms Aren't Worth a Hill of Beans; Says It's a Choice 'We Don't Want Americans to Make’

I will spare you the entire thing as I think you can already imagine how ugly and fact free it will be.

However here are a few moosenuggets for your perusal:

On behalf of former and current stay-at-homers, including my girlfriends who still get together to bake cookies for the bake sale (see photos in my kitchen above), and volunteer to coach kids ball teams, and man the church's food bank, and entertain latchkey kids, and all that other obnoxiously "housewifey" stuff, the President needs to be spanked.

Number one I think most of her "girlfriends" are on the SarahPAC payroll, and number two waht kind of person suggests that the President of the United States should be "spanked?"

It seems you'd shackle us by your snobbish shunning of one traditional lifestyle choice while taking advantage of power to manifest your liberal view by manipulating public opinion and resources to diminish moms who put career on hold to raise a family. You are really messed up. And you're so 1960's.

Now she is talking about "shackles?"

You really are stuck in a contorted kind of '60s feminism where you obviously don't trust women to make their own decisions, so you're frustrated.

And now she is suggesting that the President is "frustrated?" Anybody else picking up on a theme here?

Now, I'm sure your star struck female minions in the media will writhe and wiggle in defense of you on this, they always do, even though you just marginalized a most valuable sector of American society while having the gall to admit that, for you, it's only all about the money.

"Female minions" will "writhe and wiggle?" Well so much more subtlety.

And then Palin goes for the jugular.

Perhaps you never witnessed the benefits a "full-time mom" provides a family, a community, our schools, our nation, but you're a big boy now so figure it out yourself without me lecturing you on the beauty of a homemaker. Suffice it to say "stay-at-home moms" make the world go 'round.

- Sarah Palin

Okay now that was just uncalled for. Suggesting that the President does not appreciate stay-at-home mothers because his worked out of the home is a low blow even for Palin.

I understand that it undermines Sarah Palin, and the conservatives, sense of outrage to recognize that the President was NOT suggesting that he did not want mothers to stay at home with their children, but the fact is that what he was saying is that he did not want either parent to be forced out of work due to poor childcare choices.

The President was making his speech at the Rhode Island College in Providence, and the topic was "Women and the Economy." I think THAT audience had little difficulty understanding that the President was discussing ways in which the government could assist parents and help them to compete financially with their counterparts at work who do not have to worry about also meeting the needs of their children.

Sadly that is a sophisticated message which rings hollow in the ears of the ignorant.

Source

"The one I feel sorry for is Obama. Sixty three straight months of economic expansion, a depression averted, a deficit reduced by two thirds, a health care law that's workign and lowering costs, two women on the Supreme Court, Bin Laden's dead, Stock Market at record heights, an unemployment rate that dropped from 10.2 to 5.9. If you are a Fox News viewer, trying to do the math, that's less. Gas prices are less, is it really that hard of a record to get behind?"

You know I have been asking that question over and over again myself.

Once again the Democrats have allowed the conservatives to define reality in the political sphere is despite all facts to the contrary, this President has been deemed political poison.

So if indeed Democrats lose big this election cycle, they do not get to blame the President for what he did. They need to blame themselves for their cowardice in not defending and applauding what he did.

Source

Courtesy of Think Progress:

The GOP is trying to convince Iowa voters on Facebook that their neighbors will know if they voted Republican.

Screenshots of Facebook ads, promoted by the official Facebook page of the Republican National Committee feature an ominous message: “NOTICE: All Voting Is Public.” The ad tell voters that “In a few months, Iowa will release the list of individual who voted in this election.” Most troublingly, the ad includes an arial view of a neighborhood with checkmarks indicating that “These People Voted GOP.”

It is true that voter participation in elections in public information. But how a someone voted, including what party they voted for, is not. The secret ballot has long been considered a hallmark of American democracy.

Interesting tactic don't you think?

Made even more so by the fact that something similar was being done up here in Alaska, only with letters instead of Facebook posts.

Similar tactics are also being used in Kentucky:

In a move that Democrats are lambasting as a voter suppression tactic, Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign and its GOP allies are distributing a mailer to Kentucky voters with the title "ELECTION VIOLATION NOTICE."

It warns of "a possible fraud" and reads, "You are at risk of acting on fraudulent information." It says it's paid for by the Republican Party of Kentucky and authorized by the McConnell Senate Committee '14.

The mailer is ultimately a rather creative attack on Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, telling the voter that she is feeding them "fraudulent information" and "blatant lies solely to deceive Kentucky voters" about McConnell and her own candidacy.

Clearly these are yet more attempts to suppress the vote by Republicans who realize that the fewer people voting means a better chance for their candidates.

Just another reason to make damn sure that you all get out and vote.

Remember if the Republicans don't want you to do it, you KNOW it must be a good idea.

Source

Courtesy of TPM:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) came to the defense of his former running mate, Sarah Palin, on Friday, more than a month after she and her family were involved in a drunken, bloody altercation at a house party in Alaska.

During an interview with Phoenix television station KTVK, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee said he wasn't excusing the brawl but went on to blast the media's coverage of it.

"I think these family affairs are -- I don't know much of the details about it," McCain told the TV station. "Things happen in people's families and I'm not excusing it, I'm not condemning it."

"I just know that the kind of coverage that this got, in my view, is in keeping with the kind of coverage the liberals have accorded to Sarah Palin for a number of years, which in my view, is biased and unfair and sometimes unacceptable," McCain told KTVK.

Actually I agree with McCain that this coverage is in keeping with how the media has covered up for this lying grifter and her family. If they had ever done their jobs properly she would have disappeared from the public eye years ago.

And speaking of doing their jobs properly I think that every time John McCain is questioned by reporters, the very first question that he should be asked is why he hates America so much that he cursed it with this vile woman and her clan of hillbilly misfits. Followed up with the question of how he can look himself in the mirror to shave without cutting his own throat.

Liberal media my ass.

Source

Courtesy of the Washington Post:

A retired U.S. Marine who fought in Afghanistan returned home to Florida on Saturday after spending eight months in a Mexican jail for crossing the border with loaded guns, a case that led U.S. politicians to bring intense pressure on Mexico to release him.

Family spokesman Jon Franks said the private plane carrying Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, his mother and supporters — including former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — landed at a South Florida airport about 6 a.m. Tahmooressi was freed Friday night and was reunited with his mother, Jill, and then boarded the flight to Florida in San Diego.

Tahmooressi, 26, has said he took a wrong turn on a California freeway that funneled him into a Tijuana port of entry with no way to turn back, and that he had no intention of illegally bringing guns into Mexico. His detention brought calls for his freedom from U.S. politicians, veterans groups and social media campaigns. A U.S. congressional committee held a hearing on the case.

In Mexico, possession of weapons restricted for use by the Army is a federal crime, and the country has been tightening up its border checks to stop the flow of U.S. weapons that have been used by drug cartels.

In his order Friday, the Mexican judge did not make a determination on the illegal arms charges against Tahmooressi but freed him because of his mental state, according to a Mexican official who had knowledge of the ruling but was not authorized to give his name. Tahmooressi suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, treatment for which Franks said would be the first order of business now that he is back in the U.S.

As I am sure everybody is aware the Right Wing had been making this a cause celebre for months and even Sarah Palin and Brancy had posted about it several times.

Personally I have been more than a little skeptical at this guy's story, especially since on the day of his arrest he had already crossed into Mexico on foot, checked into a hotel, checked out hours later, walked back across the border to his truck, and then tried to drive it across the border into Mexico where the guns were found under a mattress. (Source.)

Look maybe the guy has all kinds of problems and is not responsible for his actions, however I am also noticing that this PTSD diagnosis is starting to crop up a lot in order to explain all kinds of erratic behaviors. ("Track stop cussing.")

However there is also the strong possibility that this guy really did deserve to face a little Mexican justice, and that he was saved solely for political reasons, and so that certain powerful people could save face.

Update: Well you knew it was coming.

From Queen of Attention Seeking's Facebook page:

What wonderful news that Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi will be free on U.S. soil—finally!—after being imprisoned in Mexico for the past eight months. It's been such a bizarre situation and so disappointing as we hear reports that the White House never did fight for our Marine's freedom. If true, then President Obama once again broke that sacred commitment to never leave an American behind. If I'm wrong on this, I'll be more than happy to acknowledge the President's efforts to see an honored vet set free. Prayers and well wishes go out to Sgt. Tahmooressi and all who have been so dedicated to his plight, especially Andrew's joy-filled mother today. I had the honor of speaking with her a few months ago and have admired her commitment in seeking justice for her son. She’s fought doggedly for Andrew's release; her efforts paid off. Great volunteer organizations worked so hard for this outcome, and FOX News’ Greta Van Susteren kept this important story of seemingly obvious injustice in the news even when few others reported on it. I hope the press will keep pursuing truth in the matter, in the name of justice for all. The best of everything, Andrew! Find peace and fulfillment in this new chapter of life!

- Sarah Palin

"I'm so glad he's free (Look at me! Look at me!). Too bad the President left him in that Mexican jail to rot. (Look at me! Look at me!) But hey if I'm wrong about that I will totally (Never) apologize. (Well are you looking at me yet or what?)

Source

I have said it before, but I will say it again, there is really NOTHING you can tell an impressionable child more terrifying than that they are constantly being watched and judged, and if they do the wrong thing they will suffer eternal punishment.

There is no horror movie scenario that even comes close.

Source

Kenny Pick mentions IM a few times in the beginning of the show, and a few times in the middle, but for most of you I think you will be most interested in his revisiting "Thonghazi" and Carol Costello's remarks starting around the 3:28:36 mark.

So many of you probably noticed that the internet feed for the show went off somewhere around the halfway point. (They first mention it around an hour and thirty eight minutes into the broadcast.)

Strangely enough that was right around the time that they noticed they had a visitor from Wasilla, though I would not want to jump to any conclusions.

However I will say that apparently this program had never had anything like this happen to it before, and they were incredibly puzzled as to why it was happening now.

Yep another coinkydink.

Source

The Alaska Dispatch published an article yesterday ostensibly about Bill Walker and how Palin's recent endorsement has hurt his candidacy in the minds of many Alaskans. (I hate to say I told you so, but....)

However buried within the article was this previously unknown little tidbit:

Palin’s endorsement, announced Oct. 22, prompted the Alaska Federation of Republican Women, representing 600 women across the state, to publicize a letter comparing Walker to Palin.

The organization had supported Palin during her bid for governor in 2006, even raising about $100,000 for her campaign, said president Rhonda Boyles. But Palin turned her back on the Republican Party.

“She wasn’t very principled in how she dealt with the Republican Party,” Boyles said. “She went on that ticket but she was never part of the Republican establishment and in fact worked against that.”

When Palin left office, she had about $100,000 in her bank account that she could have given to a political entity such as the Republican women’s group. Instead, she gave it to the Mat-Su hospital where she gave birth to Trigg, Boyles said.

Say what?

And here I thought I knew just about everything about Sarah Palin, Mat-Su, and the "birth" of Trig.

So just for a moment let's try and think of a logical reason for Sarah Palin, who is notoriously stingy with money, to give $100,000 to a hospital instead of shoring up her political clout in a state, and with a political party, that was now quite upset with her.

And what is more HOW does she justify giving political donations to a non-political entity like a hospital anyhow?

Yeah, I think something smells a little fishy here.

Source

“Hey Louisiana, Bibles and guns brought us here, and Bibles and guns will keep us here. Zach Dasher believes in both, that’s why I’m voting for him.”

So to be clear the most important criteria in Robertson's eyes is that this guy is a religious zealot who is willing to shoot people.

Alrighty.

It might also help that Zach Dasher is a cousin who is just as wingnutty as the reset of the Duck disphist clan. (After all he actually claimed that the Sandy Hook shootings were the result of Atheism.)

And just in case this were not enough to convince the people of Louisiana that they should vote for anybody BUT this guy, Sarah Palin comes in to seal the deal.

Courtesy of the Wasilla Wendigo's Facebook page:

Louisiana is fortunate this election season to have bold, fresh, strong conservatives running for office. You hear me tout the warrior Col. Rob Maness for U.S. Senate, and here's their great U.S. House candidate, Zach Dasher!

Congress needs next-generation commonsense conservatives who will fight to restore the blessings of liberty and never waver on Constitutional principles. Zach is so good about reminding Louisianans that our rights are endowed by our Creator, not a bunch of politicians in D.C., and we're blessed when we courageously stand on that foundation. In fact, his whole family believes it and lives it; here's his uncle, the Duck Commander Phil Robertson, sharing Zach's attributes in this video!

Louisiana, please get to the polls and send this man with smarts, a solid foundation, and quality character to clean up Washington. You deserve the best and Zach Dasher's your man on Tuesday! -

Sarah Palin

"Send this man with smarts, a solid foundation, and quality character to clean up Washington."

Yeah Dasher has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from a Christian University, and spent most of his life fundraising and working in various ministries before becoming a pharmaceutical rep, a job that does not often attract people of "quality character."

According to the most recent poll numbers I could find on this 5th District race in Louisiana, Dasher is coming in dead last with only 7% of the votes in a very crowded field.

Which means that Palin is backing two sure losers in Louisiana. Rob Maness and this Duck dipshit cousin with the gay porn name.

I wonder if when the very last of her credibility dies it will let out a little scream?

Source

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

An initial review of Alaska National Guard-related documents released by the state Friday in response to a media lawsuit shows the Parnell administration received more complaints about the guard than have so far been reported.

But so many words and paragraphs among the 596 pages of emails and attached documents were redacted by state lawyers and the administration that the significance of some of the correspondence was difficult to discern.

The attorney general’s office made the document dump Friday afternoon in response to a court order in a public records lawsuit brought by Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Public Media. The news organizations sued the state after records requests going back to May were denied or ignored by the governor’s office.

I have only had a little while to go through the e-mails and correspondence, but it is pretty clear that most of what could damage Sean Parnell has been redacted, much like those Sarah Palin e-mails from years ago.

However the one thing that is crystal clear is just how long this problem existed in the Alaska National Guard, and the fact that nothing was really ever done to stop it up until the media started to report on it.

It will take days, if not weeks to go through the entire document dump, and the Alaska Dispatch is asking or help from its readers, so if any of you have the time....

Remember we only have this weekend to find any smoking guns to use against Parnell before Tuesday's election. But hey, no pressure.

Source

Courtesy of New Scientist:

The way your brain reacts to a single disgusting image can be used to predict whether you lean to the left or the right politically.

A number of studies have probed the emotions of people along the political spectrum, and found that disgust in particular is tightly linked to political orientation. People who are highly sensitive to disgusting images – of bodily waste, gore or animal remains – are more likely to sit on the political right and show concern for what they see as bodily and spiritual purity, so tend to oppose abortion and gay marriage, for example.

A team led by Read Montague, a neuroscientist at Virginia Tech in Roanoke, recruited 83 volunteers and performed fMRI brain scans on them as they looked at a series of 80 images that were either pleasant, disgusting, threatening or neutral. Participants then rated the images for their emotional impact and completed a series of questionnaires that assessed whether they were liberal, moderate or conservative.

The brain-imaging results were then fed to a learning algorithm which compared the whole-brain responses of liberals and conservatives when looking at disgusting images versus neutral ones.

For both political groups, the algorithm was able to pick out distinct patterns of brain activity triggered by the disgusting images. And even though liberals and conservatives consciously reported similar emotional reactions to the images, the specific brain regions involved and their patterns of activation differed consistently between the two groups – so much so that they represented a neural signature of political leaning, the team concludes.

Well now, that explains a lot.

Possibly including how the conservatives can see this picture...

...and think future President, while most Liberals see it and think where are the Vice cops when you need them?

Personally I am fine with gross images, but of course I have had a lot of exposure to them over the years.

Oh God, I may have spoken too soon.

Source

Courtesy of 10 On Your Side:

A teacher at Camden County High School is under investigation for allegedly making racist comments in a classroom.

“It is very disturbing,” said parent Kimberley Ashcraft.

Ashcraft told 10 On Your Side the disturbing incident happened a couple weeks ago. Her daughter told her about the conversation with math teacher Cynthia Ramsey.

“That’s when she conveyed to me that Mrs. Ramsey had indicated that if she only had 10 days to live that she would kill all black people,” Ashcraft told WAVY.com.

Ashcraft’s daughter was in Ramsey’s classroom eating lunch. Ashcraft said there were several others students around when Ramsey allegedly made the racist remarks.

“I was completely shocked,” Ashcraft said. “I asked her again, ‘are you sure that was what you heard?’ I could not have imagined a teacher saying that.”

School officials began an investigation, and even the Camden County Sheriff’s Office was called in to help. The sheriff told 10 On Your Side several of the students told the same story. Ramsey was placed on suspension with pay, and after a couple days was back in the classroom.

Look I usually am all about supporting teachers, but if this is true the teacher not only promoted racist ideas but also murder.

If I was a parent at this school I would instruct my child to stay far away from this teacher, and put quite a lot of time into trying to get her fired.



Source

Of course I disagree with all of that about Bill Walker, as well as any description of Sean Parnell as being competent, but the part about Palin's need to be seen with a winner is certainly spot on.

Which once again begs the question, just WHY has she still not endorsed her former AG Dan Sullivan?

(H/T to my friend Syrin.)

Source