Help us move to New Zealand by helping to find a buyer for our home at the beach in S.W. Washington state, and YOU will receive this award winning ROCKET BRAND RAY GUN:

Send prospective buyers to my CRAIGSLIST SEATTLE advertisement, or to BEACH HOME FOR SALE, or have them contact me directly at joetruck AT gmail.com, if they BUY and mention this blog post and your name (of course YOU must also let me know, you GET THIS RAY GUN!
click to watch the vid


steampunk, eh?

SOME NEWS

2 killed in Afghanistan bombing were XE (Blackwater) security contractors. See? Already good news coming out of a horrible situation.

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"..two of the four men behind the plot to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day were actually prisoners of the United States and that, under the leadership of President George W. Bush, were released into a Saudi art rehabilitation program..." GO.READ

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Dick Cheeney is a loser - get used to it, we have.

via MOJO - The Bankers on Obama's Team:

The latest round of Wall Street muckety-mucks now in charge of regulation.
— By Andy Kroll 

GO.READ

Hard to believe these scumbags making 
THIS KIND OF MONEY 
is any sort of coincidence...
I just can't help believing 
that we have been
seriously punked
by this Goldman
Sachs ultimate

insider Crew.

STOP WARS NOW! PEACE NATION IS A BETTER OPTION FOR ALL!

A former Marine re-ups 24 years after his discharge and volunteers for four consecutive combat tours. Now he’s at home fighting the war within. “Anonymous” wrote this for the Veterans Workshop, a New America Media writing project for combat veterans.

"Since Iraq, I might go several days without sleep. It's hard to function like that. When I do sleep, I often wake up after a bad dream and all I want to do is put on my gear, grab my weapon and hurt someone. On nights like that I can never fall back asleep.

I was in Iraq for almost 40 months straight, so long that all of my neighbors at home moved away. I came home with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a traumatic brain injury (TBI). What follows are some of the thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head since my return. But it’s hard to focus. TBI can do that to a person."

GO.READ.
THIS IS
WHAT
WE REAP.
WHAT
THEY
LIVE
AND
DIE

peace nation

Tug grounds on same reef as Exxon Valdez supertanker

MERRY CHRISTMAS  

TO PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND  

FROM  

CROWLEY MARITIME

I worked for this outfit (Crowley Maritime Corp.) and their various companies in the Arctic and elsewhere for 15 years.  I worked in the engineroom.  This stupid son of a bitch managed to hit the only rock within hundreds of miles.  The SAME rock (Bligh Reef) that the EXXON VALDEZ hit!  Stoopid fucks.

If you click on the picture it will become huge.  Notice the white stripe around the hull, and how close to the waterline the aft deck is.  This piece of shit is FULL of fuel.

I left this occupation after 15 years in the dead of Winter in Kodiak when it occurred to me that DEAD MEN DON'T DRINK BEER.   I called the hall in Seattle and asked for my relief to fly up so I could go home.  The guy on the phone at the union hall said "hey, you are going to fuck up your career."  I said "you don't get it - I am going to END my career - my retirement is vested." (btw- 15 years vested in the Inlandboatmen's Union don't exactly finance the good life, but I aint stuck out there on that rock, either.)

Well well...I am a Democrat from way back - receiving tiny little union disability retirement income to supplement my Social Security Disability income.  THIS YEAR, I am taking a $4.00 CUT in my Social Security over last years, and looks like my wife will lose her Washington state basic health care coverage this next year.  I am pleased to see that my pals the DEMOCRATS (remember, I have voted Democratic for over 50 years) think it important enough that the BANKERS in the crooked FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC get their $6 million bucks a year!  AINT IT GRAND TO BE THE MAJORITY IN BOTH HOUSES AND WHITE HOUSE?  YOU'D THINK WE COULD DO ANYTHIING, but that seems not to be the case.  Looks like us Democrats have never seen a good idea they couldn't blow.

Meanwhile the Republicans continue to block anything and everything and whine about not being included.  Fuck those Republicans - every goddamned one of them.

"BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD" my aching ass...

As a matter of fact, Mr OBAMA, you DID promise

PLEASE HELP US GET THIS AD ON TV

Click HERE for the biggest, fattest Wall Street lies list for 2009:

I hope President Obama is getting a piece of this.  He is going to need the money when he is out of work!

SIGN THE FIREDOGLAKE PETITION TO KILL HORRIBLE HEALTH CARE BILL. BELOW ARE REASONS WHY AND LINKS:

The Senate's health care bill must be killed.
It is an ungodly mess of errors, loopholes, and massive giveaways. When the American people find out what's actually in this bill, they will revolt. Congress and President Obama have no choice but to do better for health care than this bill.

Sign the petition: the Senate health care bill must be killed.  

How bad is the bill? 

Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations -- whether you want to or not
1. If you refuse to buy the insurance,  you'll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS
2. After being forced to pay thousands in premiums for junk insurance, you can still be on the hook for up to $11,900 a year in out-of-pocket medical expenses.
3. Massive restriction on a woman's right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court
4. Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-ays
   

Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won't see any benefits -- like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions -- until 2014 when the program begins.

Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others Grants monopolies to to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market. No reimportation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of 4 will rise an average of $1000 a year -- meaning in 10 years, you family's insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now. I could go on, but it should be clear: this is not reform.  This is a con job. Sign our petition: kill the Senate bill. Make no mistake, we need health care reform.  But the Senate's idea of reform is a disaster, and will make things far worse than they are today. We will continue to fight for real health care reform.  Now, we must kill this fake reform. Thanks for all you do. Jane Hamsher Firedoglake

Dean hopes health bill can be fixed after Senate vote (vid)

Dean hopes health bill can be fixed after Senate vote

Dr. Howard Dean did not allow NBC's David Gregory 

to corner him into advising other Democrats to vote no.

He wouldn't vote for the Senate's current health insurance reform bill, but he isn't giving up on the process. After the Senate passes their bill, Dean hopes that provisions in the House's version of the bill can be combined with the Senate bill to create major health care reform.

"I would certainly not vote for this bill if this were the final product, but the House bill is quite a good bill. This bill has improved over the last couple of weeks. I would let this thing go to conference committee and let's see if we can fix it some more," Dean told Gregory Sunday.

Asked how to improve the bill, Dean immediately responded that cost controls need to apply to hospitals. He then added, "We really do need some kind of a public option. At least allow the states to have a real public option."

Asked if he advises Democrats to vote no, Dean insisted the bill could still be fixed. "If they can make it work without a public option, I'm all ears. I don't think that's possible."

"The bottom line is in an unseemly scramble for votes that have nothing to do with long-range public policy we have really essentially cut out the idea that Americans will have a choice of a different kind of insurance system," Dean said. "The same kind of insurance system that people over 65 have, the same kind of insurance that veterans have, a lot of us would have liked to have that system."

VID HERE

This Health Care Reform Bill IS WHAT PRESIDENT OBAMA WANTED FROM DAY ONE. Do NOT let the Republicans OR the White House bullshit you. If they had WANTED a PROGRESSIVE BILL, they could have made it happen

When Republicans sell out to big industries we understand, that is just how they are.  

When DEMOCRATS no longer represent ordinary hard-working Americans, THAT is news.

WATCH the great journalist BILL MOYERS' interview with Matt Taibbi and Robert Kuttner HERE

the MAJORITY leader had called for Senators to limit their remarks to 10 minutes in order to get through discussions to the voting...

Senator Franken stops Liebermannnnnn from running over
and sparks dissent among the liars(70% in):
 
Then the senile McCain starts running HIS mouth...

NOTHING quite as much fun as
PISSING OFF BIG-MOUTH REPUBLICANS. 
TALK ABOUT CHEAP ENTERTAINMENT!

Mr. Obama, you have let the Republicans and their allies strip out what they didn't like in our health care reform bill. SURPRISE!

THEY STILL HATE IT.

NOW is the time to make this what it needs to be and RAM IT down the obstructionists throats till it hangs out their stinkies.

NOW is the time to make this what it needs to be.

Olbermann: RUINED SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL UNSUPPORTABLE ->

Mr. President, you failed to lead.
Mr. President, you look like you are pwned by big insurance.
Mr. President, this health care bill is a SHAM.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

HELP STOP CASINO CAPITALISM (again)

Financial derivatives are extremely complicated financial instruments used to speculate on the future value of an asset. In other words, Wall Street uses derivatives to gamble. It was this kind of gambling that led to the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and brought the U.S. financial system to its knees.

But after everything we have been through, very little has been done to change the system. The $590 trillion - yes trillion - derivatives market is still largely unregulated, opaque, and poses an enormous risk to our financial future.

This is "casino capitalism," and the first step to reform is to treat derivatives trading for what it is - gambling. That is why I have introduced legislation to allow state gaming authorities to regulate derivatives markets.

Please sign the petition and show your support for regulating derivatives markets.

This is not a new concept. Until 2000, this is exactly how derivative trading was regulated. At that time Congress granted an exemption from gaming laws for derivative markets and opened the door for the irresponsible speculation that nearly destroyed the U.S. financial system. My bill would repeal this exemption and help avoid repeating our past mistakes.

This is going to be an uphill battle. Derivatives regulation may be one of the most complicated issues Congress must tackle to restore true stability to our financial system. Wall Street has some of the most highly paid and highly skilled lobbyists on Capitol Hill. They will continue to exploit the complexity and simply say, "this is impossible for you to understand, just let us self-regulate." This is exactly what happened last week in the House of Representatives, when lobbyists successfully inserted several terrifying loopholes in the House financial reform bill.

The only way we can overcome this massive opposition is with massive popular support -- and that starts with you. Financial reform is making its way to the Senate floor. Now is the time to regulate and now is the time for you to make your voice heard.

Please sign the petition today.

Thank you,

Maria Cantwell

via

Why Is the World Bank Subsidizing Dirty Coal Power?

Why Is the World Bank Subsidizing Dirty Coal Power?  


In Bolivia, Water and Ice Tell of Climate Change 


Retracting Glacier Impacts Economic Outlook in the Tropical Andes

• 
  
  
  

Kucinich to Introduce Resolution to Stop 'Criminal Enterprise' in Afghanistan Will call for 'War Powers Resolution' in House to help 'End the War'...

 
UPDATE 12/14/09: For those who are interested, you can sign a petition opposing the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, right here.

GOT AN OPINION ABOUT SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN'S TRAITOROUS WAYS?

GOT AN OPINION ABOUT SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN'S TRAITOROUS WAYS? Call...Call...Call...Write...Write...Write!
Tell your friends too.
http://lieberman.senate.gov/contact/
Washington:
706 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4041 Voice
(202) 224-9750 Fax
For TTY Call 711
Connecticut: 
One Constitution Plaza 7th Floor
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 549-8463 Voice
(800) 225-5605 In CT
For TTY Call 711

info via comments at 

THE POLITICAL CARNIVAL

While 84% of scientists say the earth is warming as a result of human activity, just 56% of Americans say scientists generally agree on the issue.

An overwhelming number of scientists (84%) say the earth is warming because of human activity, while just 4% of scientists say there is no solid evidence the earth is warming. Yet only 56% of Americans say that scientists agree that global warming is real and man-made. More than a third (35%) say scientists have not reached a consensus on climate change. The public's perception of where the scientific community stands on climate change is tied to their own opinions on the issue.
GO.READ 
There ARE no 'opinions' on climate change.  It is real.  It is now.
Mr. Natural
To learn more truth of what is going on in Copenhagen GO HERE

FOR THE SARAH PALIN, BOSS LIMBAUGH, GLENN BECK, WINGNUT, RIGHT TO LIFE WAR IS GREAT CROWD

Mr. Obama, why in the world do you refuse to allow full investigation into Dick Cheney's corruption of our country?

July 29, 2002: A New York Times article quotes Vice President Dick Cheney about corporate fraud: "The American people can be certain that the government will fully investigate and prosecute any wrongdoers". Cheney says the reform measure will "protect investors, bring more accountability to corporations and toughen controls of the accounting industry"

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE DOCUMENTING THE INCREDIBLY CRIMINAL TIMELINE AND EVENTS OF DICK CHENEY AND HALIBURTON.


THIS COUNTRY IS CROOKED AS A DOG'S HIND LEG, THANKS IN NO SMALL PART TO RICHARD B. CHENEY AND GEORGE W.T.F. BUSH, AND THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION REFUSES TO INVESTIGATE.  WHY DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT IS?  HM?

Hard-Rock Mining Threatens Alaskan Wilderness

Foreign mining companies, including Mitsubishi, Rio Tinto and Anglo American, are eyeing low-grade gold and copper deposits on pristine land in the Bristol Bay watershed in an area known as Pebble. A Bush-era management plan could open up more than 1 million acres of public land in the region to mining. The only way to extract this ore is through destructive and pollution-producing hard-rock mining.

A study of mines similar to the proposed Pebble mine showed that 85 percent of them polluted nearby waters. At Pebble, a proposed open-pit mine would be 2 miles wide (enough to line up nine of the world's longest cruise ships end-to-end) and 2,000 feet deep (enough to engulf the Empire State Building). As proposed, the mine would generate more than 9 billion tons of waste held behind a series of massive earthen dams -- all of them taller than China's Three Gorges Dam and located just 20 miles from an active fault line.

THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS EVEN BEING DISCUSSED, ESPECIALLY FOR AN AREA LIKE THIS IS TOTALLY MIND BOGGLING.  When I was young and strong I spent a bit of time working in areas near here and this needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Some areas are just so important as parts of this garden planet that they need to be protected from short term profit taking.

You can help put a stop to this horrendous folly by clicking here or on the title above. 

Thank you,

Mr. Natural

Wash. Rep. Baird says he will not seek re-election

By MATTHEW DALY ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER WASHINGTON -- Democratic Rep. Brian Baird says he will not seek re-election next year. Baird, in his sixth term representing Southwest Washington, said his job as congressman has been the highest honor and greatest responsibility of his life. Since first announcing his plans to run for Congress in 1995, Baird said, he has done his utmost to work hard, tell the truth, listen, and do what was right for the nation. In a statement released Wednesday, the 53-year-old lawmakers said he expects to serve the remainder of his term in Congress. AND SO THE WORK BEGINS TO FIND A NEW MORE PROGRESSIVE CONGRESSMAN TO REPRESENT THE 3RD DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON STATE (WHICH WE WERE GOING TO DO ANYWAY, IN SPIT OF WHAT MR. BAIRD SEEMS TO THINK)

"we need to remind ourselves that all of those derivative products that should have been outlawed are still legal":

Did you see that headline above?  SAY IT AINT SO!

"The fantasy finance instruments that crashed the system in the first place are being traded again so as to pay us back for bailing them out..."

Take your blood pressure pill, and have a look at this shit... 

If you are angry enough to learn more and then DO something if it is only writing letters and emails (personally, I like the freeway bloggers style), get hold of THE LOOTING OF AMERICA from a bookstore or your library...(again with the blood pressure pill)

OH! DID I SAY FUCK THE REPUBLICANS? WHY, YES I DID - FUCK RAHM EMANUEL WHERE IT HURTS WHILE YOU ARE AT IT:

OBAMA FAIL

The Senate is cutting a deal to kill the public option by giving the President the "trigger" that his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has been fighting for since he took office.

Shoveling trillions of dollars into "too big to fail" insurance companies is not the change I voted for. The failure to establish a public option to control medical costs and increase competition is President Obama's failure alone.

Sign our petition to President Obama: the triggered public option is your failure, and it's up to you to fix it. Click here to sign:
Using taxpayer dollars to increase private health insurance profits is not the change I voted for.

FUCK REPUBLICANS - LYING SONSABITCHES AND THEIR "MODERATE" DEMOCRATIC ALLIES. FUCK EM ALL.

It's evening here, and COLD.  The sun's rays are getting pretty long and I have been out taking care of business around the place for another freezing night.
I come in the house to warm my old bones and what the fuck do you think I see?  Some goddamned weasel Republican running his mouth about how the "majority leader made a big mistake not including Republicans in the meeting".

I am thinking FUCK YOU REPUBLICANS, you and your whole party of NO and the horses you motherfuckers rode in on!

Remember the Tech Bubble?  The Investment Banks Bubble?  How about the goddamned REAL ESTATE BUBBLE?  Does any of this ring a bell?  EVERY FUCKING BUBBLE THAT WE LOSE MONEY ON, SOME WALL STREET PUKE AND A CROOKED POLITICIANS MAKE A TON OF MONEY ON.

So...we remember that Clinton (not much of a Democrat, that asshole) presided over the tech bubble.  None of his doing, just pure dumb-ass good luck for slick willy.  Just like now you had Wall Street ponzi scheme assholes advertising like crazy on television for you to "invest with us, we're nice".  Same shit now.
Tech bubble burst.  I only lost about 2 grand-my own fault for gambling on AOL/TIME WARNER.

Alrighty then:  Next you got your INVEST WITH US, WE'RE NICE AND TRUSTWORTHY fukken ponzi scheme.  Those WALL STREET ASSHOLES are the same bunch who pumped tech full of fat and grease, then got out the old Jabsco pump and switched to the REAL ESTATE market.  The did a jim-dandy job of fleecing a LOT OF OTHERWISE NORMAL people out of a LOT OF REAL MONEY.  During that real estate run-up, a fucking SHACK here in my neighborhood would sell for 200 grand.

So, we got our nice little 3 bedroom 2 bath, built-in hot tub in the back porch which has all clear acrylic roof, 150x150 property with greenhouse ,potting shed, BIG WORKSHOP, and lock up storage for only 189.

Thanks to the REPUBLICAN ASSHOLES and the Clintonistas I can't give my fukken house away, which I will NOT do because I put every stick on this property and know what it costs to put something like this together, AND it is paid for.

So, don't be telling ME the Democrats made a mistake by not inviting the republicans into a meeting AGAIN just to have them run their mealy mouths about whatever the lie-du-jour is.

The Senate starts debating health care next week. But if it passes without a public option, there's only one person to blame: Harry Reid.

The Senate starts debating health care next week.  But if it passes without a public option, there's only one person to blame: Harry Reid.

As the majority leader of the Senate, the power to pass a public option is squarely in Reid's hands. Will Reid let three or four corrupt Senators owned by the insurance industry hold the public option hostage?  Or will he use the reconciliation process to allow a simple majority vote on a public option?

The choice is Reid's and Reid's alone.  Let's make sure he knows it.

Sign our petition to Harry Reid: Get lobbyist-owned Democrats in line, or use reconciliation to pass a public option.

Click here to sign: 

Tell Harry Reid to get the Democrats to gather up their balls and get this thing done!  Publicly funded health care insurance for everyone is what the American public is demanding.  Nothing less will do!

The Colbert Report's funny take on the logic of Fox TV's Glenn Beck.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Better Know a Made-Up District - Connecticut's 42nd
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

DICK CHEENEY & G.W.T.F. BUSH DITHERING IN A CAR - a 'what if' production: