Blackwater in Iraq: terrorizing civilians, striking women with their humvees, winning hearts and minds — and recording it all on video for lulz! The sheer joy these twisted Hessian mercenaries take in causing chaos in a country to which we reputedly brought freedom and democracy is fucking disgusting. They’ll never do any prison time, but I hope they burn in hell.
Submitted without comment.
“Trans-V.” SO BRAVE! Okay, that’s my comment. Also, I hope this dude never has sexual intercourse ever again. Also, I hope his wife spermjacks him and makes him pay child support for the rest of his life. Also, I hope authorities discover child pornography on his hard drive. Also, I hope he burns in hell.
(via)
BOYCOTT THE COLOR PINK!
Seriously, though, this woman is not doing her shitty, right-wing, faux-breast cancer awareness group any favors with this re-tweet:
You know who’s really concerned about women’s health issues? Republicans.
Let’s talk music with a guy who only follows that of the classical variety, shall we?
5. Music: Popular music has been in a Retromania sludge since the digital innovations of the early 90s, but classical contemporary music continues to show vitality and it is even establishing some foothold in the concert hall and in nightclubs too. Jazz has plenty of niche innovation, but it’s not moving forward with new, central ideas which command the attention of the field.
Back when I was in college and actually gave a shit about this sort of thing, I wrote a 30 page paper about how all the olds complaining about the youngs’ music were, essentially, assholes. If I still gave a shit about this sort of thing I might go looking for the paper and pull out some choice excerpts. Suffice it to say, I’m pretty content to just leave this here:
Hey, Tyler Cowen. Your outright dismissal of of many wonderful pop music innovations from the 1990s to the present is rather disappointing, bro.
(Sad part is that the above excerpt comes from a post which is generally pretty good viz. all the worry about aesthetic innovation being dead. The “pop music is the devil” stuff, even when couched in the context of an ostensibly academic criticism — perhaps especially then — always rubs me the wrong way, though. Cowen should probably stick to economics.)
Topic: FOREIGN POLICY
I am going to regret this.
7:59 PM: Wolf Blitzer is lying to his audience on CNN.com. He’s saying that it hasn’t gone live yet, but it has. GOTCHA!
8:02 PM: This is a fucking joke. CNN takes its cues from, like, Survivor or some shit. Each candidate has his name read with inspiring music in the background, a little back story. (Oh, but they didn’t give back story for Huntsman or Santorum. Scandal!)
8:04 PM: Wolf Blitzer – “TWEET THIS SHIT, FACEBOOK THIS SHIT, GET THE WORD OUT, YO, THIS DEBATE’S GONNA BE ILL!”
8:06 PM: We do the national anthem before debates in this country. That’s how you know our candidates are serious.
8:09 PM: Rick Perry – “I’m married, btw. I know we’re talking about national security, but hey I’m asking for your vote.”
8:10 PM: Mitt Romney – “Yeah, I’m campaigning in the general already.”
8:11 PM: Herman Cain – “Yeah, something!”
8:11 PM: Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann – “My relatives were veterans, Happy Thanksgiving, peace, love, and rock and roll.”
8:12 PM: Why’s everyone talking about wives? Anyway, Huntsman’s going to trounce in this debate if he ever gets a question.
8:13 PM: Wolf Blitzer just called Ed Meese “honorable.”
8:13 PM: Ed Meese proceeds to ask leading question about how wonderful the Patriot Act is. Question goes to Newt Gingrich, who brings up “nuclear weapon” scenario in defending Patriot Act. “WE’LL BE IN DANGER FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!” Quote. Jesus. Strengthen the Patriot Act? Jesus. “Ive spent years studying this stuff”??? Jesus. Newt Gingrich is a clown.
8:16 PM: Ron Paul gets applause, not votes.
8:17 PM: Bachmann is with the American people AND the Constitution, okay? Let’s not forget that, people!
8:18 PM: Bachmann – “Today we deal with wireless functions.” “The underwear bomber.” “We don’t give Miranda warnings to terrorists.” Applause.
8:20 PM: Perry wants to privatize the TSA to get rid of the unions. Yes.
8:22 PM: Perry calls Obama’s intelligence-gathering a failure, forgets that Obama, you know, got bin Laden.
8:23 PM: Santorum just said that Abe Lincoln ran all over civil rights? PLZ TELL ME I DID NOT HEAR THAT RIGHT. “Obviously Muslims would be someone you’d look at.” NO, I HEARD IT RIGHT, AND IT JUST GOT APPLAUSE.
8:25 PM: Let’s get our Muslim-bashing on with Herman Cain.
8:31 PM: “Pakistan as a nation is kind of like, too nuclear to fail.” – Michele Bachmann, the 21st Century’s incidental Mark Twain.
8:35 PM: Romney asserts that introducing Suharto to the Indonesians led them toward “modernity” and that we should do the same with Pakistan. Holy fucking shit, what a nutter.
8:38 PM: “We’ve already thrown a bunch of money down the hole that is the the Afghan war, might as well throw some more.” – Mitt Romney
8:41 PM: “We’re gonna kill people in your country whether you want us to or not.” -Newt Gingrich. Applause.
8:42 PM: I don’t even know what Rick Santorum is talking about. One thing’s for sure, though, Al Qaeda will be on our shores shortly.
8:45 PM: Went to the bathroom, came back. CNN apparently cannot persuade an advertiser to spend good money on the intermission.
8:47 PM: That was an awkward moment.
8:49 PM: How are we going to help Israel wage war on Iran, guys?
8:50 PM: And Ron Paul sinks his candidacy by rambling about Israel. Gets applause anyway. Paultards. *shakes head*
8:51 PM: Cain assures us that he knows that Iran is mountainous.
8:52 PM: I can’t believe I live in a country where this is the opposition party. Furthermore, I can’t believe it’s the most powerful country in the world.
8:53 PM: Why does Wolf Blitzer give Newt Gingrich deference with his, “I know you studied this”-es? Does Newt Gingrich take care of his dog during the week, or something? #justwondering
8:55 PM: You just want to throttle these people. What the fuck are you talking about the president has been steadfastly against energy independence? You dumbshits don’t even believe in science? Jesus gives us all we need. And holy fuck did Michele Bachmann get all Biblical right there.
8:56 PM: AND NOW, TO PROMOTE A VOICE THAT’S NEVER BEEN HEARD BEFORE… PAUL WOLFOWITZ!
9:00 PM: The answer to the question, btw, is, “FUCK YES WE CAN AFFORD FOREIGN AID, IT’S A RAINDROP IN THE OCEAN THAT IS OUR BUDGET AND IT HELPS PEOPLE,” not, “I’m not sure we can afford it, because our troops and our military,” or Ron Paul freaking out.
9:02 PM: Romney isn’t good on foreign policy, huh?
9:03 PM: Newt Gingrich – “DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!!!” Applause, of course. The crowd is Heritage Foundation and AEI people.
9:09 PM: Rick Perry’s been the Commander-in-Chief of the 20+ thousand National Guardsmen of Texas, y’all.
9:11 PM: If I could shoot myself in the face and wake up tomorrow and be fine — like, if that were a real possibility and there was no pain or anything — I would do that right now.
9:13 PM: And… the guy asking the question doesn’t know the difference between a deficit and a debt. Or, deliberately confuses them in the question knowing that no one will call him on it. Hmm.
9:15 PM: Strangely, in the context of balancing the budget, Republicans never mention revenues. Neither do moderators. It’s all cuts, never, “Hey, guys, we’re Congress, let’s just raise taxes on rich people and everything will be all hunky-dory!” Wolf Blitzer is hosting some pretty shameful shit. Maybe this is why nobody takes his network seriously?
9:24 PM: The Iranians run the Mexican drug cartels, Rick Perry? Wha??
9:25 PM: Ron Paul shows his true colors. End the war on drugs, and cancel the welfare state. This is your candidate, Paultards.
9:29 PM: More nonsense from Rick Santorum. Yawn.
9:33 PM: ILLEGALS! GAHHH!
9:34 PM: Isn’t illegal immigration a domestic issue anyway, guys? Can we not beat up on Mexicans just once in our national discourse? Just once? PLZZZ?
9:37 PM: Still on illegal immigrants. Newt Gingrich basically says that if you’ve gamed the system for 25 years, you’re cool to be here. If you’re a more recent illegal immigrant, we deport you. “Right guys?”
9:40 PM: We’re taking another break, apparently. I was hoping this would be over soon.
9:44 PM: Oh, wow. They gave David Addington a question, too. Cool!
9:46 PM: Rick Perry doesn’t seem to understand that there’s a revolution going on right now in Syria. At least, he didn’t mention it.
9:48 PM: Huntsman is auditioning for 2016.
9:50 PM: If this shit isn’t over in 10 minutes, well… I am.
9:51 PM: “Economy so strong! Military so strong! Very nice!” – Mitt Romney
9:54 PM: Jesus Christ, I can’t believe I’ve spent two hours watching this shit.
9:56 PM: Something about Latin America being responsible for 9/11? I don’t know, I guess it’s time to “modernize” them or something.
9:57 PM: My God, these people are insane.
9:58 PM: That’s all. You’re welcome. You’ll excuse me if I turn off the post-game recap, won’t you?
Just, uh, they aren’t going to pay you for your work. No big deal!
Britain’s young unemployed are being sent to work for supermarkets and budget stores for up to two months for no pay and no guarantee of a job, the Guardian can reveal.
Under the government’s work experience programme young jobseekers are exempted from national minimum wage laws for up to eight weeks and are being offered placements in Tesco, Poundland, Argos, Sainsbury’s and a multitude of other big name businesses.
The Department for Work and Pensions says that if jobseekers “express an interest” in an offer of work experience they must continue to work without pay, after a one-week cooling-off period, or face having their benefits docked.
This is wonderful. Free labor for companies that…what? Say maybe they’ll offer you a job at the end of your two month stint with them? Capitalism is the greatest!
In truth, this reminds me of a mutant version of the great American unpaid internship, in which upper-middle class college graduates live off their parents for months at a time while they hobnob with snazzy folks at snazzy offices in the city and do all the networking they’ll need to secure themselves a real job when the internship ends. Those who can’t afford this game, because they have to get real jobs to afford crazy stuff like food, are at a permanent disadvantage, since things like “eating” generally rank higher on their list of priorities than “making connections with Very Important People.”
Except in the British case, there isn’t even the carrot of making important connections to dangle. Instead it’s dandelion greens and a tumbleweed.
As Atrios said before I stole this link from him, there’s nothing wrong with makework programs in principle — they get people off their asses and out doing things other than pounding pavement and trawling Craigslist. Generally, they pay you money. But this particular British experiment is abhorrent and dehumanizing. It should be the opposite of social policy. Unpaid internships should be, too, while we’re at it. So how about we pay people an honest wage for a day’s work instead of using the excuse of a lousy economy to enslave them, however temporarily?
Steve M. on the clearing of Zuccotti Park:
I’d also add that the removal of OWS and other Occupy encampments is justified on the basis of their real or perceived effect on the community — cost to local businesses (a special obsession of the New York Post), noise, crime, and so on. But isn’t that precisely what we’re not supposed to consider when dealing with Wall Street itself? The dominant Randians and semi-Randians in our government don’t want us to intercede to minimize the social impact of the financialization of our economy and the casinoization of finance. We’re not supposed to care, for instance, whether communities are being destroyed by an epidemic of foreclosures caused by financial recklessness; the current president can’t or won’t do anything effective about foreclosures and the man most people think will run against him thinks the foreclosure crisis should just play itself out. There’s community impact, but it’s created by billionaires, not drum circles, so in this case we’re not supposed to intervene. And that’s the society we live in.
It seems as though the NYC chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild obtained a temporary restraining order against the NYPD and the protesters will be let back in. Everyone’s property has been destroyed though, so it might take a while to get back on its feet, if it ever recovers.Try to make it go away by conducting a police raid under the cover of darkness! Oh, and enforce a media blackout of the event, too, because that’s what democracy looks like!
Bloomberg is a clown.
This is why we’re all going to die.
Because people like these are granted more respect in our national discourse than people pointing out that, you know, Wall Street isn’t really looking out for the little guy.
Stolen from M. Bouffant.
