Retards Inc.

retards

The caption says it all…

Seriously now, fess up…who here watches this channel and why? 

Posted in Words | 7 Comments

Too Funny!

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I had to share this

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Iraq Vet Mutilates Wife

He had said he was having trouble controlling his anger and didn’t like his wife going out and partying, said Michael Collins, a nurse and case manager at Madigan Army Medical Center.  A day before his wife was found dead in the couple’s kitchen, Bare told his rear detachment commander Capt. Mickey Traugutt that he was taking a new prescription that made it hard to get up and that he had missed a treatment.

Get ready America, the war’s not over when these guys leave Iraq.  Typical of youngsters who sign up while suffering from a mental disorder commonly known as ‘outrageous stupidity’.  Marry a woman who, like yourself, just entered legal adulthood, then take off for a 9 month horrorshow in Iraq.  Thinking you’re coming home to someone who sincerely loves you, and is prepared and willing to do what it takes to ease your transition back into ordinary life, only to find a childish primadonna who’s grown used to the easy life.

From what I’ve seen first hand, it’s not uncommon to return home and find out that ‘Miss Thang’ has already spent a good chunk of your combat pay, run up debt on the credit cards, gained 100 pounds…and somehow managed to get pregnant even though you were 3,000 miles away.  Following a deployment to Bosnia, I was inundated with enough stories of this sort of thing to be convinced that marriage and deployments don’t mix.  The worst cases though, by far, involved spouses and husbands spaning the 17-23 year old demographic. 

Most of us wouldn’t put up with such nonsense, but the majority of soldiers try to tough it out, usually after meeting with the unit chaplin.  Think about it though, if you’re disabled and then become divorced, those alimony payments aren’t very appealing!  It’s the little things though, that over time just eat away at a man in this position.  Like how she’s had a full kitchen and commisary at her disposal the entire time you were deployed, yet the only dishes she knows how to prepare are microwave Easy Mac n’ Cheese and scrambled eggs. 

This particular maniac was bothered by how often she went out drinking at night.  Combine this with a smart mouth and probably a man on the side, it can trigger something within this wounded, emotionally disturbed, 19 year old, “battle hardened” trained killer…like, memories of a time not long past when someone running their mouth could be easily silenced in a number of different ways. 

The lesson to take out of this though, for any young man who’s in love and thinking about a career in the military…war is hell, but marriage can be even worse! 

Posted in Military, Words | 1 Comment

Faking Your Own Death

I was contemplating this today for whatever reason…something like this has to be handled just right, or you’re not getting a dime of that insurance money.  Best to involve a boat Continue reading

Posted in Words | 50 Comments

Bush’s First Veto

Could it be a bill littered with bacon, earmarks like this country has never seen before?  No…Bush has pledged to veto any kind of legislation that would prevent control over the management and security of US ports to the United Arab Emarites.  Makes sense…after all, the House speaker and Senate Majority Leader have said publicly that they oppose the deal.  Better to stand up for who really matters and make these chumps understand that when the King makes a deal, it stays made!

History, facts…it should be obvious to everyone at this point that Bush has no time for either.  Continue reading

Posted in Words | 19 Comments

Health Care in the Wild, Predators Versus the Herd

This universe in a bottle painted red, white and blue is comfortable.  Broken limbs, skulls and spirits number less inside than outside, belly full more often than pained empty, ecstatic glee over nothing in particular widespread from sea to shining sea.  Nonetheless, a naked trip to the hospital can sometimes kill this outlook, as sickness is fixed at a cost known to many as the black hole that sucked up their house and everything in it.  Liquidated, these inhabitants of the bottle learn to take the unwavering pride all around in stride, perhaps they also decide one day to finish the job the medical bills started, a civic responsibility for the sake of everyone else in the bottle, those of us who still have futures worthy of hope and a stomach for the kool-aid, to disappear quietly, back into the earth, so the rest of us can get back to whatever it is we’re smiling about at a given moment.  A herd being a herd, doing what herds do, with a touch of bottle colored magic dust to take the edge off.     

American life prompts periodical sadness and comfort depending on whether I’m watching television, playing with my kids, reading the newspaper or hanging the stars and stripes outside the front door in the morning.  Riddled with give and take, the process of becoming numb to whatever type of suffering the cycle serves up can often do more harm than good as it festers, much like the way stress ignored over time can result in a brain tumour for the right person.  So folks like me face a natural challenge, deciding whether to choose optimism and blinders or optimism and a bullhorn.  The herd shuns the sound, calls it noise, taking it to mean I hate the bottle, that I’m someone who’ll always blame the bottle first, when nothing could be further from the truth. 

Am I proud to be an American?  Yes, but some days not as much as others, like when I read about a middle class family, working, paying taxes, obeying the law, thrust into bankruptcy because an uninsured child of theirs was diagnosed with leukaemia.  Continue reading

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UAE Guarding Our Ports

I’m sure everyone’s aware of the fact that a company from the United Arab Emirates has been awarded a contract to guard some of our nations most vulnerable ports.  Aside from the fact that 9/11 money was funneled through that country, it does seem odd that we’d outsource homeland security work as critical as port security. 

All kinds of things can be moved into the country in canisters, to include: drugs, weapons, human beings, stolen merchandise and dangerous chemicals.  Checks are done randomly by port security, and like all things in life, a bribe to the right person can ensure a safe delivery of just about anything. 

Does anyone think that the Arabs are above aiding criminal activity?  With that in mind, what exactally takes place on the continent of Africa or in the Middle East that convinces our high-level leaders to award a contract like this to one of those governments?  Who owed who a favor, and for what? 

Here’s what Chertoff, our Homeland Security Chief in President Bush’s Cabinet, had to say about it:

The discussions are classified. I can’t get into the specifics here…As far as my agency is concerned, port security really rests principally with the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection.

So hey, it’s out of our hands, and people like you and I need to just trust that everyone involved knows what they’re doing.  To me, his words here sound a lot to me like what was being said after Katrina hit.  I’m not buying it.  Neither should anyone else.  President Bush can nix this deal if he wanted to, but unfortunately for us, the motivations and decisionmaking process of our elected leaders has been ‘none of yer business’ since these people took over.

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Open Thread – Drop it like it’s hot

Auntie Erinn (Heather’s sister) is here for the weekend.  It’s a whole new experience having people over to stay now as opposed to the past five years of apartment living.  Not being regulated to one room where everyone will fit comfortably is pretty sweet. 

Two helicopters crashed in Africa during a training mission…pay attention to the news and you’ll notice that this happens often.  CSPAN had a house debate over death benefits a while back, and a Republican I named in a piece back in the day argued that when this happens, the spouse doesn’t deserve the same as when it happens in a warzone.  I disagree. 

Cheney was on FoxNews talking about how he has the authority to declassify information, which in a free country should result in a press release.  How this administration goes about it though is to tell a friendly reporter, who then prints the information and attributes it to ‘unnamed sources’.  Why is that?  Think about the runup to the Iraq War…

7% of red light district employees in Amsterdam have HIV according to an article I read yesterday.  Something about Amsterdam’s red light district as opposed to others in Europe is it’s spread out all over the place as opposed to congregated in one area.  I’d bet that the bunny ranch near Right Thinker has a 0% HIV rate. 

Catholics in Massachusetts, the organization that condoned widespread sexual abuse of children for decades, has come out saying that same sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to adopt.  It’s obvious to me that the church does more good than harm, but on this particular topic they’ve got zero credibility. 

The only appeal a high school reunion has for me is the fact that they might have free booze.  Since I’d have to drive two hours to get there

 

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Hagel in 2008!

The discussion topic of ‘what makes a moderate’ over on Sonicrusk got me to thinking about the various Republicans I admire.  It’s a list that grows larger or shorter depending on what I happen to witness on CSPAN in a given week.  Some I’ll love one week hate the next, but for the most part they’re people I’ve come to respect quite a bit.    They’re the ones who sound the least like Ken Mehlman I suppose.  The ones who don’t approach every piece of legislation like an industry lobbyist, and don’t get up on the House or Senate floor to create a sound byte, but instead to engage in honest political debate.  Using this standard, I’d rather see Trent Lott running the show than Bill Frist, and a military veteran or ‘elder statesman’ will always make more sense to me than hollow shills like Rick Santorum or James Inhofe.   

There is one though that beats out all the rest in my mind, and in fact is someone I would vote for in the 2008 presidential campaign if Republicans were smart enough to nominate him.  Chuck Hagel from Nebraska.  Above and beyond his history and accomplishments, his military service, his honesty, his belief that a person’s religion is their own business…it’s the idea that government can be run well if the right leaders step up and get it done!    ‘Competent Governance’ is the phrase that Hagel believes in 100%, yet a concept that Republicans have been running and governing the opposite for well over a decade now.   Continue reading

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Invasion by Remote Control

by Right Thinker  

In World War 2 American forces had to employ nuclear weapons and physically invade the islands of Japan to take control of the government, industry, media and the population. American armed forces fought for four long, hard years tooth and nail across the expanse of the Pacific Ocean to reach their goal, making many stops along the way. The Philippines was a big hurdle as was Okinawa but the point of this story is that we had a finite military force that had to actually go to their destinations and win a fight.

Now look at Islam. The majority of Muslims are seen as poor, backwards, uneducated 3rd worlders trapped in the deserts of the Middle East. And why should they leave? As reports of freedoms and democratic principles being VOLUNTARILY surrendered, I find myself awe struck but the power of fear, terror and intimidation that is the core export of Islam.

Without ever leaving the Middles East, Muslims have brought to their knees some of the most powerful Democracies in the world. The message to the world is abuse Christians, Jews, whoever, but don’t you dare say anything the least bit disrespectful of Islam. And the world obeys.

The left falls all over themselves, they can’t self-sensor fast enough to appease the Islamic “invaders” who haven’t physically invaded. College newspapers and world-class newspapers alike treat Islam like it was their own children while beating the dead horse of a few Catholic priests pedophiles. Web sites are being shut down all over the world, not in China, Russia, Cuba or Venezuela but in places like Sweden, which HAD the honor of having the world’s 9th freest press. We are talking about Canada, Malaysia, the U.N., the entire E.U., Poland, Ukraine and a disgusting form of self censorship here in the U.S.

Americans are expected to find a tank with a statue of the Virgin Mary submerged in a mixture of urine, blood and feces as an example of modern art but a cartoon of an Arab standing quiet and resolute with the caption Mohammad is suddenly an international incident.

Let me ask you who are putting Islam on a pedestal while kicking Christianity and Judaism while they are down: When did Sharia become the law of the land? When did free speech become a vehicle to protect and promote Islam?

Posted in History, Religion | 25 Comments

What has happened to America’s Jesus?

I found this to be a great read.  The writer traveled to see family in Italy, and cites the differences between how Jesus is used here in America as opposed to overseas.  I’ve written on the topic numerous times, here’s a link to ‘Born Again Christianity’s Jihad on America’.  The following is an excerpt from that essay:

Did Jesus live to inspire future marketability of his name for the benefit of false prophets seeking power, or did he live to inspire us to love one another. If everyone in the world were to convert tomorrow, what would the next step be? What’s the first thing Jesus would want us to do if the entire world woke up tomorrow and said a prayer in his name? The answer to this question isn’t represented in the political agenda of the religious-right. His first goal would not be for us to judge a specific group of people who live among us. We need to consider what that first thing would be, and make that priority number one. Until a step in this direction is taken, born again Christianity will continue along it’s current destructively militant path.

Now a portion of the editorial I read today:

They say Jesus is “pro life,” but he doesn’t seem to have a problem with the death penalty. And he thinks stem cell research – something that would save lives – is no different from murdering babies. They say he’s the embodiment of kindness, love, decency and compassion. But he hates gays, lesbians and Muslims. And he’s not too crazy about Buddhists, Hindus and the rest. Jews? He can put up with them if he has to.

The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka claims to speak for Jesus and goes around the country talking about how ” AIDS cures fags.” Pat Robertson says it would be a good idea if the United States killed the president of Venezuela. It would be a lot cheaper than starting another war.

All week I went over that stuff in my head and decided not to mention any of it to the family.

It would make America look ridiculous.

Source

Posted in Religion | 21 Comments

Oops…

Armstrong said she was watching from a car while Cheney, Whittington and another hunter got out of the vehicle to shoot at a covey of quail.

Whittington shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass, while Cheney and the third hunter walked to another spot and discovered a second covey.

Whittington “came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn’t signal them or indicate to them or announce himself,” Armstrong said.

“The vice president didn’t see him,” she continued. “The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good.”

So they drive around until they find some quail to shoot at?  Hunters can do their thing, I’ve got no problem with it for the most part.  One thing I do expect though, is that the hunters aren’t sitting in a heated SUV until they spot something to shoot at. 

Incidentally, when Cheney goes fishing, I hear he uses dynamite instead of a pole. 

Source Article

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Nothing to Say

Not true, but the difference between a blue and a white sky has a way of taking it’s toll on my motivation.  Politics are driving me nuts – this new budget is an abomination.  Tax cuts for the richest American earners are being cut at the same time as college loans.  The Iraq War has put us into an enormous amount of debt, and sacrifice is being demanded of the poor, while the rich are given more. 

Morally bankrupt…this period of American history is led by a man whose voters value ‘family values’, yet for millions of families across the nation, life is tougher now than it was in 1998. 

Everyone’s forgotten about 9/11…wait, Bush mentioned that several times in his State of the Union speech, yet mentioned Katrina only once.  

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I Applaud Brokeback Mountain

This movie should win every single Oscar it’s nominated for.  I’m probably never going to see it, but I’m behind it 100%.  High time we provided the cowboy hat wearing public with some sort of motivation to finally feel as stupid as they all look. 

I understand the dynamic where you want to wear what the people singing on TV wear.  Most of us grew out of it, but to some it’s a lifelong neurosis.  Halloween on-demand, don’t even have to push a button or anything, some take to it like a crackhead to a pipe, feeling cool the whole time.

Enough’s enough already.  We need to get these people straightened out.   

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How About These Idiots?

Cartoon Protests Deadly in Afghanistan

Talk about uptight!  Those preachers got inside the heads of millions, and they’re not leaving anytime soon by the looks of it.  Now nobody in the world’s allowed to make fun of these idiots for fear they might destroy their own countries?  How does that work?  I mean, they do blow themselves up and are daft enough to believe they’ve got a reward coming to them in the afterlife.  Clearly, these people need cable TV and as many copies of Animal House we can possibly airlift in.

Caddyshack and Chapelle Show too.

How can we get these people to lighten up?  I say we teach them how to laugh.  You replace one daily prayer time with a 3 Stooges episode.  BAM!  Peace in the Middle East.

Posted in Religion, Words | 15 Comments

Senate Oversight Committee Hearing on Warrantless Wiretaps

Continue reading

Posted in History, Words | 7 Comments

Kurt Cobain

Not someone I’d expect spent a lot of time watching football…I’ve had a good feeling thinking he’s paying attention today.

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Terrorism = Organized Crime

I’ve made this connection in the past, and have written about it here many times.  The idea being, bombs won’t accomplish as much as solid case-work and efficient investigations.  In Iraq today, the insurgents receive funding from the country’s oil industry.  Corruption and intimidation are used in pretty much the same way American organized crime sydicates operate. 

Officials compare the insurgents’ ability to infiltrate and steal oil, sabotage pipelines, with the mafia.  This article I’m posting (first in a while) is a fantastic read for anyone interested in Iraq. 

Oil Graft Fuels the Insurgency, Iraq and U.S. Say

Continue reading

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Health Savings Accounts

Employers and the uninsured are feeling the squeeze of skyrocketing medical costs, so the answer is what?  Do we look into why the cost of treatment here in America is more expensive than anywhere in Europe?  Perhaps we can allow the government to import cheaper drugs?  What’s the answer?

The President’s answer is to shift responsibility from employers onto individuals, and ultimately onto the government through tax cuts for out of pocket costs.  Will this reduce the cost of a procedure or a pill?  No.  That’s not the idea at play with savings accounts or the new prescription drug plan.  With both, the federal government is creating situations that please insurers, bankers, health providers and drug makers, at the expense of everyone else, to include itself. Continue reading

Posted in Words | 23 Comments

Democrats Pick “Who?” to Respond to the SOTU?

Who the hell comes up with this?  Tom Kaine…governor from a Mason-Dixon line state, talking super slow, looking ridiculous on the wide-lens shot of what I figured must have been the ladies parlor of some church nearby.  I hate it when the Democratic Party shits a cheese-ball like this.  John Murtha, his points ring true and he doesn’t look like a ‘Ken doll’.  He speaks in front of a PODIUM!  Imagine that, all ‘official looking’ and dignified. 

This is what I know.  There are Karen Hughes clones all over politics, from the local level on up.  Some take up the cause by chance, being married to a politician or in the right place at the right time.  Some simply have a character flaw that draws them to a job like ‘director of bullshit, drapes and wardrobe’.  Worse than that though, is the clown who allows this to be done to them. 

It’s a simple concept.  Sit the person down, or have them stand in front of a podium.  Speak clearly, and try not to look like you’re hawking jewlery on home shopping at 3AM. 

Posted in Words | 14 Comments

Ode to a Pharmacist

You’re out there somewhere, looking in the mirror at yourself in that smart white smock, head full of usefull knowledge, and a certificate on the wall representing precisely why you’re making more money than the person stocking shelves.  When it comes to introducing chemicals to human body (this side of Haight-Asbury) you’re the person to see, you’re the one who can tell a patient why the combination of pill A and pill B made them leaky. 

It’s time to get real about this.  Do you go to the pharmacy for advice on what’s the best path to heaven, or do you go there for medicine?  Is everyone THIS important now, that the system can just break down for the sake of these peoples’ feelings?  Christ, Allah, Elvis…I don’t care who you’re worshiping.  When you punch out, you can be whatever kind of an asshole you want to be, preach to whoever wants to listen.  When you’re on the clock, you’re a pharmacist. 

Would you rather be a garbage man or a preacher?  Or do you like being a pharmacist? 

Posted in Religion, Words | 28 Comments

Susan Brynne

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She’s beautiful Right!  How’s little Susan and her momma doing?

A Daughter is Born

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Super Bowl XIVVIXXXI!

Oh, I can taste the calories right now, sweet meaty sticky non-vegitabily mouth stuffin’ goodness, with plenty of calories in bowls that you can dip into the calories in other bowls before admitting them to the exclusive stomach fiesta inside all of us, the same one saying over and over in a pre-diabetic stupor “more booze…more booze”.

The Seahawks and Steelers are both about to engage in a series of rituals only Don King could truly appreciate. Indeed, an offensive lineman took to the ‘media/party blitz’ so well that he never even played in the game, but I’m sure he’s still alive somewhere, unless of course, he isn’t…on that note, the burning question in my mind is whether or not Pittsburgh will finally get real about Cowher when he loses it yet again. His team is favored going in, and in spite of past post-season failures where his crew went in embarassingly over confident, it’s most likely gone to his head already.

Ben Rothlisberger is the best player he’s got, and with him behind center, they can beat anybody on any given day. That said, Seattle’s rush defense may force him to play like Brady. They stuffed everyone they’ve faced with the front seven, and that’s the basic factor most likely to determine the outcome on Sunday. Is Seattle tough enough to stop the run? In spite of my East Coast locale, the only two things I like about the Steelers are Ward and Ben…their fans deserve nothing less than a crushing defeat, and I expect that will be the outcome.

Posted in Words | 7 Comments

New NBC Poll

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Looks like our President has his work cut out for him.

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New Orleans’ Finest!

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Russell Batiste Jr, Brian Stoltz, George Porter Jr, Art Neville
The Funky Meters Continue reading

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Spreading Freedom and Democracy

America has led the way, and the rest of the world is falling in line. Because of our brilliant, resolute, might-makes-right brand of leadership, elections are taking place, and Democracy is finally fixing all of the Middle East’s problems. And to think that for the last few millennia, nobody realized it was just that easy.

More satisfying than the elections taking place though, is knowing how grateful they all are for what we’ve provided them at gunpoint. So grateful in fact, that Palestinians elected Hamas to run their government!

Oh, can you feel the warm glow of Democracy at work? It feels so good. I’ve got to say, our efforts are definitely making a difference in the Middle East, and anyone who says otherwise hates the troops. It’s that simple.

Do you hate the troops? Alright then. Terrorists may be the elected leaders of choice in Palestine, but that’s alright. Who cares anyway? Really…why the head scratching? Do you hate the troops?

FREEDOM IS ON THE MARCH!

Posted in Words | 30 Comments

A Daughter is Born!

I’m overjoyed to announce that our dear friend Right Thinker’s wife has given birth to their first child, a daughter!

Message from Right: Susan Brynne was born 11:21 a.m. PST 6lbs. 14oz. and 20 inches.  Working on the photos :- )

Can’t wait to see them!

Posted in Words | 4 Comments

I’m currently seeding…

1. String Cheese Incident 10/10/03 Orpheum Theater, Boston MA (FLAC-Audio)

2. String Cheese Incident 10/11/03 Orpheum Theater, Boston MA (FLAC-Audio)

3. (Standup) Jerry Seinfeld 1-13-05 Topeka, KS (FLAC-Audio)

4.  (Standup) Bill Cosby 10-5-04 (FLAC-Audio)

5. Grateful Dead 4/17/72 Denmark (Set I – DVD-Video)

6. Phish 12/31/99 Big Cypress – Afternoon Set (DVD-Video)

If you don’t already have a bitTorrent program on your PC, download it at:

www.utorrent.com

Also, check out the stash at www.thetradersden.org

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Chris Penn – RIP

pennchris

This picture is Chris playing ‘Nice Guy Eddie’ in Resevoir Dogs, my favorite character of his.  ‘Overshaddowed by his brother Sean’ is a line you’ll see in many articles on his death, but those writers don’t know what they’re talking about.  Here are a list of my Chris Penn favorites. 

At Close Range, All the Right Moves, True Romance, Rumble Fish, The Funeral

Posted in Words | 3 Comments

Study: Army Stretched to Breaking Point

This picture is too funny! 

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Army troops from Fort Riley, Kan., listen to President Bush deliver a speech about the war on terror during the Landon Lecture at Kansas State University Monday, Jan. 23, 2006 in Manhattan, Kan.. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

WASHINGTON – Stretched by frequent troop rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has become a “thin green line” that could snap unless relief comes soon, according to a study for the Pentagon.Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who wrote the report under a Pentagon contract, concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency. He also suggested that the Pentagon’s decision, announced in December, to begin reducing the force in Iraq this year was driven in part by a realization that the Army was overextended. Continue reading

Posted in Military | 5 Comments