How They Really Feel about Palin

Mike Murphy, former McCain advisor: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all like how you want to (inaudible) this race. You know, just run it up. And it’s not gonna work.

Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter: It’s over.

Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

NBC’s Chuck Todd: Don’t you think the Palin pick was insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too (inaudible)

Noonan: I saw Kay this morning.

Murphy: They’re all bummed out.

Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political [B.S.] about narratives and (inaudible) the picture.

Murphy: I totally agree.

Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that because that’s not where they live and it’s not what they’re good at and they blow it.

Murphy: You know what’s really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical.

Todd: And as you called it, gimmicky.

 

Four more years! Four more years!

 

Why I’m voting Republican

 

TSA inspector breaks airplanes by climbing on them using instruments as handholds

A TSA inspector decided to get a closer look at some American Eagle jets at O’Hare, so he climbed up on them, using a fragile, vital instrument (the Total Air Temperature probes) as handholds. He damaged the craft so badly that the regular maintenance crew grounded them — and if they hadn’t noticed, the lives of everyone on-board could have been endangered. Remember, folks, the “S” in TSA stands for “Security.”

Citing sources within the aviation industry, ABC News reports an overzealous TSA employee attempted to gain access to the parked aircraft by climbing up the fuselage… reportedly using the Total Air Temperature (TAT) probes mounted to the planes’ noses as handholds.

“The brilliant employees used an instrument located just below the cockpit window that is critical to the operation of the onboard computers,” one pilot wrote on an American Eagle internet forum. “They decided this instrument, the TAT probe, would be adequate to use as a ladder.”

Commuter Flights Grounded Thanks To Bumbling TSA Inspector

(via MeFi)

(Via Boing Boing.)

 

New Republican slogan

 

Let Us Pray

 

Air Force defies Congress, spends anti-terrorism money on “comfort capsules” with “aesthetically pleasing wall treatments/coverings”

From the WashPo:

The Air Force’s top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on “comfort capsules” to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world … Air Force documents spell out how each of the capsules is to be “aesthetically pleasing and furnished to reflect the rank of the senior leaders using the capsule,” with beds, a couch, a table, a 37-inch flat-screen monitor with stereo speakers, and a full-length mirror.’ Congress told the USAF twice that they could not spend the money on this frivolous project, but they did it anyway…

Changing the seat color and pockets alone was estimated in a March 12 internal document to cost at least $68,240… Air Force documents about the SLICC, dated June 8, 2006, emphasize the need to install “aesthetically pleasing wall treatments/coverings” — in addition to the monitor, footrests and a DVD player. The beds, according to one document, must be able to support a man with “no more than 50% compression of the mattress material.” The seats are to swivel such that “the longitudinal axis of the seat is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft” regardless of where the capsules are facing, the document specified…

The e-mails state that McMahon ordered that the seats be re-covered, and one e-mail complains that the contractor “would not swap out the brown seat belts for replacement blue seat belts.” The changes delayed the project by months and added to its cost.

Link

Source: Boing Boing - Air Force defies Congress, spends anti-terrorism money on “comfort capsules” with “aesthetically pleasing wall treatments/coverings”.

 

Yes we can…

 

Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, See No Evil

 

Senate Approves Bill to Broaden Wiretap Powers

The Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a major expansion of the government’s surveillance powers. The measure, approved by a vote of 69 to 28 gives Bush what he deemed essential: legal immunity for the phone companies that cooperated in the National Security Agency wiretapping program he approved after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Senator John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, was campaigning in Ohio and did not vote, though he has consistently supported the immunity plan.

Support from key Democrats, including Senator Barack Obama, ensured passage of the measure.

NYTimes.com

 

A muskrat burrowed through the levee

The tragic Midwest Flooding has captured America’s attention (at least for now) largely because mainstream media has covered the story. The cable and broadcast networks have brought the flooding into our living rooms, while the print media have written a steady stream of articles about the cresting Mississippi River and the overtopping or failure of over 20 levees. For all the coverage, there has been scant rigorous analysis of how tens of thousands of Americans find themselves in the same boat as Hurricane Katrina victims.

Now we learn that the Army Corps has its own public relations firm to train the Generals and Colonels in how to lie to the American taxpayer. Corps press officer Kevin Quinn has boasted of the skillful message management of S&C Advertising & Public Relations.

Pierce O’Donnell Public Justice Blog

 

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

 

Monsanto Owns Your Food

The controversial Monsanto company owns over 11,000 patents on (genetically engineered) crops. This corporation actually owns almost all the food you are eating. A short video about them is posted here.

Via HaHa

 

What a waste

Happy 4th of July.

 

Intel says ‘no’ to Vista upgrade

Intel has decided that for its own employees, Windows Vista just won’t cut the mustard. According to the New York Times, “Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista.”

Ouch. Intel’s IT staff arrived at their decision after a lengthy cost-benefit analysis.

Intel has 80,000 employees worldwide, and could be seen as a bellwether for large companies still on the fence about upgrading to Vista. Since Microsoft has been a tight partner with Intel for years, it remains to be seen what kind of pressure Intel will get from top Microsoft management.

Source: The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) - Intel says ‘no’ to Vista upgrade.

 

McCain debt and bankruptcy protections

Presidential candidate John McCain and his wife Cindy reported piling up debt on a charge card between $10,000 and $15,000. His wife’s solo charge card has between $100,000 and $250,000 in debt to American Express.

The Hill

Related:

John McCain opposed bankruptcy protections for families “who were only in bankruptcy because of medical expenses they couldn’t pay.”

PolitiFact.org

 

Man at homes laughs at TV show, ends up getting pepper sprayed by cops

Chris Cocker, 36-year-old man from Blackburn England, was watching a comedy show at home. He laughed so hard he fell off his sofa. His neighbor in the apartment below heard the thud and called the police. When the police came to Cocker’s door, he refused to let them in. Cocker tried to shut to door, but the officer stuck his foot in the door and pepper sprayed Cocker.

After being sprayed with pepper spray, Mr Cocker was put into a police van and taken to a police station where he said he was stripped naked and spent a night in the cells.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said officers used a pepper spray as “reasonable force” for their own protection after they feared for their safety when he became aggressive.

The BBC has a video. Link (via Arbroath)

Source: Boing Boing - Man at homes laughs at TV show, ends up getting pepper sprayed by cops.

 

Clinton vs. the Truth-O-Meter

As the pundits and politicos dissect the campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who went from being untouchable front-runner to second-place finisher, there will be plenty of explanations.

She underestimated the fundraising prowess of Sen. Barack Obama, she bet too much on Clinton administration loyalties, and she failed to prepare for a long race.

But the arc of Clinton’s campaign can also be traced in her rise and fall on the simple scale of truthfulness.

Via PolitiFact.com

 

Hypocrite GOP House Leader Boehner wants wiretapping protection — but only for himself

The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Tim Jones sez, “If you’ve been following the fight to hold phone companies accountable for illegal wiretapping, you probably thought the level of hypocrisy on display in the Republican leadership couldn’t get any more blatant. Well, you thought wrong.

Politico reports today that Republican Leader John Boehner has been fighting hard for his own right to protection from illegal wiretapping, even though he’s simultaneously trying to to deny ordinary Americans the same rights. Oh, and he’s earned himself $1.1 million in the process.”

When ordinary Americans were being wiretapped, Boehner’s attacked them and their right to privacy, claiming “I believe (phone companies) deserve immunity” from the law. But when Boehner himself was being wiretapped, he had no hesitation to claim his own right to privacy, claiming “no one is above the law.”

When ordinary Americans are victimized, Boehner’s taken every opportunity to caricature their representatives at EFF and ACLU as “unscrupulous trial lawyers” who are “trying to find a way to get into the pockets of the American companies.” But when Boehner himself is the victim, suddenly defense attorneys don’t seem so unscrupulous to him, and he has no problem employing his own litigators to receive a $1.1 million reward.

Link

Source: Boing Boing - Hypocrite GOP House Leader Boehner wants wiretapping protection — but only for himself.

 

Flying RC penis violates chessmaster’s airspace

A speech by famed chess player Garry Kasparov was interrupted Saturday by a remote controlled flying penis. Since many of you are at work or school we’ll leave all the pictures, videos, and tasteless jokes after the break.

Source: hack a day - Flying RC penis violates chessmaster’s airspace.