Me Talk Big Noise

Some Cartoons and Links

2012-01-26T19:52:00.002-05:00

A list of items I felt worth bookmarking this week.

9/11 Was Not an Inside Job

2012-01-22T22:32:00.000-05:00

Recently a friend of mine and sporadic co-host of my podcast,Dr. David Overbey, saw a “9/11 inside job” “documentary” and was swayed by it,not knowing that he was being sold a rather old bag of bullshit. Now I’m not saying the Bush administration isnot to blame for the disaster that 9/11 was, nor am I saying that it wasn’t allowed to happen by the craven and evilbastards that made up that bunch. Butthese wild theories of controlled demolition and missiles instead of airplanesare just that: wild theories proposedand propagated by unqualified conspiracy theorists in opposition to real worlddata and eye witness accounts. They aremalicious fiction.

I have a lot of problems with conspiracy theories, mostlythat they impugn hundreds (or even millions in the case of climate changedenial) of scientists and enormous amounts of hard data. The very idea that all the scientists, technicians, investigators, assistants,secretaries, law officers, attorneys, and everyone else involved in theexamination of 9/11 and the World Trade Center collapses are lying about not only theconclusions of all the thousands of different tests and analyses but theaccusation that they falsified data and altered evidence across the board makes me absolutely furious. The people that make these conspiracy moviesand blogs are not scientists and they are preying on the American public’signorance of how science functions to make sure they get paid to speak atconventions, their books are purchased, websites are visited, and tickets totheir movies are purchased. They areleeches and charlatans no better than the nineteenth century snake oilsalesmen. Science is a meritocracy. You don’t become the head of a scientificorganization because you bought some cameras with your mom’s credit card andmade a movie. You start learning thebasics in elementary and high school, then you learn more detail andmethodology in college, and start to put that knowledge into practice in postgraduate education and as a professional.

Scientists are not perfect and they are not immune to theinfluence of fame and money, any more than normal people are, and I would arguethat for most scientists the very idea of falsifying data or conclusions is theultimate sin. But conspiracists are all frauds to some degree. They may believe what they’re saying but whatthey believe is wrong and by a) notusing rigorous methodology to test their hypotheses and b) continuing to spreadtheir lies as if they were proven they make themselves frauds. For the most part scientists are specialistsin a particular subject or field, not general, uneducated theorists likeconspiracists. The people that makemovies like this have done nothing other than come up with a theory and thenforced facts to fit that theory. Scienceexams the facts and data and sees what that tells them, testing hypotheses withthe goal of causing them to fail if they will. Real scientists do everything they can to test how strong their theoriesare and, if they have extraordinary conclusions they actively look to otherscientists to further test these conclusions, often in the hopes that they madea mistake they couldn’t catch. That’s science. None of these movie makers/bloggers are metallurgists with a lifetime ofexperience looking at the molecular structure of materials and how they reactto conditions like occurred after the collisions and fires. None of them are experts in fluid dynamics orcombustible materials or architecture or design. But using still frames from blurry movies,tenuous logical leaps, and ominous music, they are so bold as to deny and contradictwhat these expert scientists have concluded after extensive study of the datareturned from extensive lab tests of the materials from the sites, datarecorded in black boxes, radar stations, radio logs, data from examination ofthe site itself, and data contained on entire videos, not a single frame of awindow blowing out that is then called the result of an explosive rather thanthe massively compressing air in the buildings.

The people that buy these ridiculous conspiracy theoriesdon’t seem to understand that it’s not just one guy or two or a couple dozenthat are coming to the conclusions that show what actually happened. In the case of the WTC collapses there areliterally thousands of people involved in the investigations. Thousands. Most of them are simple lab technicians who were doing the grunt work ofexamining and analysing samples of material from the sites. Hundreds were men on the ground, looking forsections of the building’s frames that were relevant to the collapses (whiledealing with the horror of the pulverized remains of thousands of their fellowcitizens). Hundreds of differentscientists in different locations were going over the data provided and testingevery possible hypothesis. They all wanted to know how such an awfulthing could have happened and, again, the idea that they all lied and continue to lie to all of us is so incrediblyinsulting to all those people that it makes me taste bile in anger. The evidence shows, plain and simple, thatthe fires weakened the structures and caused them to collapse. Building 7 got help from tons of debris onthe roof and the violence of the two big buildings coming down right next to itbut it was mostly the fire. End ofstory. The conspiracists know that it’seasy to tell people that They are “covering it up” because most people envisionone scientist in a white lab coat who has done everything and has just madeeverything up and lied to us not seeing how many people would have to beparticipating in this vast invention of fact. If the data were being falsified the people who actually did the workwould be coming out of the woodwork in droves to disclaim the results. They’re not because it didn’t happened.

I am not about to argue the myriad lies told by the 9/11nuts. It has been done in depth and atgreat length and can easily be found by Googling “9/11 debunked.” PopularMechanics has an excellent series of articles that condenses the conclusionsof scientists and, surprise surprise,they are not the wild theories of these crackpots and snake oil salesmen thatmake their living off lying to you. Impactand fire explain the WTC collapses. Ajet hit the Pentagon (there really are pictures of it going in) and a fourthjet did a nose dive after the passengers attacked the hijackers. The 9/11 conspiracists are in the same leaguewith the vaccination deniers, holocaust deniers, climate change deniers, moonlanding deniers, alien abduction promoters, chemtrails believers, big footbelievers, psychics, fluoride fear mongers, and the like and the main thingthey do is muddy the waters with their bullshit and extract money from thepockets of true believers. They distractintelligent people from what is really happening, causing them to waste theirtime and energy worrying about the wrong stuff.

There are questions about 9/11 that need to be answered, butthe ones the conspiracists harp on have been answered but by their circularlogic if you deny what they say is true you are part of the conspiracy that’scovering it up. Any proof you give tothe conspiracists and Believers will be countered by the “cover up” claimbecause there’s this conspiracy to lie to everyone in the world about what“really” happened. Again, the insult tothe investigators is just horrendous. Theincredible incompetence and arrogance embodied by the Bush administration issquarely to blame for the 9/11 disaster. They were told Al Qaeda was planning an attack like this, they even rana drill loosely based on the scenario. They had shut down Clinton’s anti-terrorism efforts, not to allow this to happen necessarily, butbecause they were a bunch of stupid assholes that had decided that anything Clinton had started must gowithout a moment’s thought to the program’s value. I have my suspicions that Cheney and Rumsfeldand the rest of the criminals that made up that administration secretly werehoping for an attack, but I’m pretty sure they never imagined the attacks wouldbe so incredibly deadly and disastrous and I don’t think they knew it was goingto happen that day. They did nothesitate on taking us into the wars they had been thirsting for for a decade ormore and immediately began destroying our rights in the name of security, thereis no doubt of this, but there is enormous doubt as to whether they planned andexecuted these attacks themselves. Bygoing that extra step the Believers negate their entire argument against thesecrooks and they all go free in the end because millions of intelligent peoplearound the world are barking up the conspiracy tree instead of the incompetencetree. The conspiracists were muddyingthe water from 9/12/2001 onwards. Ireally wonder how many of them were/are on Cheney’s payroll. There’sa conspiracy I can believe in.

Overbey used a phrase the conspiracists like to plant inpeople’s minds, that he was trying to “think for himself.” But when you are accepting weak and bogusarguments filled with logical fallacies and in complete opposition to facts youare letting the conspiracists think for you.

Alan Miller

1.22.2012

Two Misplaced Posts

2012-01-17T19:42:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure how this happened but these two short pieces ended up on my art blog and I never noticed. Here they are, in their rightful place:

November 24, 2011
Bat Shit Crazy Report: Bachmann Leaves Me Speechless

November 20,2011
Bat Shit Crazy Report: She's Baaaack!!!

Birther queen Orly Taitz is back and she's as batshit crazy as ever. Yes, having her law license revoked and being fined for wasting the time of California courts means nothing to this lunatic. She filed a suit to have President Obama removed from the ballot in New Hampshire which was summarily and unanimously thrown out by the Ballot Law Commission.

A Couple of Political Cartoons

2011-12-28T14:52:00.000-05:00

Batshit Crazy Report: Victoria Jackson

2011-12-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

So former Saturday Night Live star Victoria Jackson has been a bit of a wingnut for years but she's now jumped completely into the Batshit Crazy club. Apparently she is privy to highly classified information we're not because she hosts a web talk show. Since I have a podcast talk show, why wasn't I invited? I can tell you why: because I'm not batshit crazy. Jackson has entered the self reinforcing circle jerk of BELIEVERS like the 9/11-wasn't-airplanes folks or the vaccine deniers or climate change deniers or even holocaust deniers. She and her bunch of mentally challenged bigots are convinced Muslims are taking over the country... but they're doing it secretly. That's why there's no proof, see. But since "[v]ery few people in America are informed and educated as [she is]" we just can't see the landslide of Sharia law and "extremist" Muslims in our government. Hey, Victoria it's because of lack of existence, not because you're a secret genius. I've come to realize that when wingnuts shout "extremist" the only extremists are the shouters. Any and all environmentalists are "extremist" just as all Muslims are "extremist" but try to tell them (easily proven) that the biggest internal terrorist threat we face is from Christian extremists and you are a dangerous extremist of some sort. Suggest that we conserve energy to combat the biggest threat to our national security, according to the Department of Defense and you're an extremist but actively act in direct opposition to conservation by driving an SUV, heating your house to 80°F in winter, or building a pipeline to carry crude from the dirtiest and most environmentally source of oil on the planet and you're a patriot. Apparently for Victoria Jackson you need to be a religious (and racial) bigot as well as a complete pig to be a true patriot. How you go from SNL to drooling web talk show moron is beyond me but congratulations, Victoria on your entrance into the Batshit Crazy Club!

Newt's New Ad (With Some Animation Help)

2011-12-20T12:43:00.002-05:00

Actual Audio: Newt's New Campaign Ad from scottbateman on Vimeo.

BLR Rand Paul

2011-12-08T23:35:00.001-05:00

'RON PAUL' - A Bad Lip Reading SoundBite - watch more funny videos

War On Xmas Bullshit Continues

2011-11-28T17:35:00.001-05:00

So I signed on to Facebook a few days back and found a "War on Christmas" statement the wingnuts are passing around. As a non-Christian I was slightly offended even though I know this is a Fox News invented pile of shit and the girl that posted it is kind of stupid. Still I decided to pull her strings. I got "unfriended." Just before that I copied the exchange (and missed expanding a couple of the posts to my chagrin). Here it is with last names and Facebook links removed:

Tiffany W_____

WHAT A CROCK OF CRAP.....We can't say Merry Christmas now we have to say Happy Holidays. We can't callit a Christmas tree, it's now called a Holidaytree? Because it might offend someone. If you don't ike our "Customs"and it offends you so much then GO HOME. I will help you pack. They are calledcustoms and we have our traditions If you... agree with this...please post thisas your status!! I AM A PROUD AMERICAN CITIZEN... MERRY CHRISTMAS Do you havewhat it takes to repost this? I sure do !!

Bonnie LW_____ MERRY CHRISTMAS ♥

18 hours ago · Like · 2

William P_______awesome! stealing it!

18 hours ago · Like · 2

Alan MillerI prefer to be nice to people that don't share myreligion. Last I looked "Christian" is nowhere in the definition ofwhat it takes to be American.

14 hours ago · Like

TiffanyW_____

As an American born in the U.S.A. I was brought up with theconstitutional rights of this country. Freedom of speech and religion. I wasalso brought up on certain values and traditions. The fact that the Obamaadministration has declared t...See More

14 hours ago · Like

Alan MillerIt's my country too, and my Jewish friends, and others.

14 hours ago · Like

TiffanyW_____ Yes it is and we have had a "ChritsmasTree" and said "Merry Christmas" for years and years and now allof a sudden "people" seem to have a big problem about it. They needto get off their high horse and just let it be like it always was. It was neverhurting anyone before, why now all of a sudden?! How would you and all aotherJewish people feel if "they" decided to change Hanukkah in someway?

3 hours ago · Like · 2

Alan MillerYou watch too much Fox News. There is no "War onChristmas." It's complete bullshit. What I hate about this "leave mycountry" hatred you're espousing is that it is utterly counter to anythingJesus taught. He taught love, tolerance, and forgiveness. Try reading this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan

Parable of the Good Samaritan - Wikipedia, the freeencyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org

The parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable told by Jesusand is mentioned in only one of the Canonicalgospels. According to the Gospel of Luke (10:25-37) a traveller (who may or maynot be Jewish[1]) is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First apriest and then a Levite come by,...

3 hours ago · Like ·

Bonnie LW_____ MADE IN AMERICA ♥

about an hour ago · Like

TiffanyWright Hey we all have a right to say what the hellwe want! Last i checked its still a free country "thought it sure dontseem like it" If you don't like what I have to say then keep your noseyass off my page or better yet remove me from your friends list. The truth hurtsget over it!

about an hour ago · Like · 1

TiffanyW_____ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_controversy

Christmascontroversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org

Christmas controversy refers to controversy or disagreementsurrounding the celebration or acknowledgment ofthe Christmas holiday in government, media, advertising and various secularenvironments. In the past, Christmas-related controversy was mainly restrictedto concerns of a public focus on sec...

about an hour ago · Like

LoriB_______ K_____ I couldnt agree with you more Tiffany Wright!!!!!!Well said

21 minutes ago · Like

Alan MillerYes yes. This is a manufactured controversy played upby Fox News and its bunch of blathering idiots. Nobody gives a sh!# whether yousay Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday. Which one you use shows whether or notyou care about other people that believe differently from you. You obviouslyhate people that aren't "Christian." I'd say by hating them youyourself are not a Christian.

20 minutes ago · Like

Alan Miller

In the Good Samaritan the "Holy" people werewalking past the suffering man, but it was a non-holy Samaritan that stoppedand helped. Jesus's message was you don't have to be religious to be good andbeing religious does not mean you aren't...See More

19 minutes ago · Like

LoriB_______ K_____ Im a Christian and PROUD of it!!

19 minutes ago · Like

Alan MillerDo you hate non-Christians?

17 minutes ago · Like

Alan MillerI don't even know why I bother trying to reason withfundamentalists like you. You've barely read three words I've written.

16 minutes ago · Like

LoriB_______ K_____ I dont know who you are but youseem like a Jack ASS!!!!!!!

15 minutes ago · Like · 1

Alan MillerThe whole "War on Christmas" is a load ofcrap. You can say whatever the hell you want and display whatever you want inyour house and in your yard. If a bank decides that it doesn't wan to to offendtheir non-Christian customers that simply sounds smart to me but to you it'sWAR. What nonsense.

15 minutes ago · Like

Alan MillerFollowing the lead of Jesus, I see. Loving strangers,accepting differences in others, and all that.

14 minutes ago · Like

Alan MillerI'm a jack ass because I don't hate everyone thatdoesn't believe like me. Sure, if that's your definition, I'll take it. But I'mpretty sure Jesus would be appalled by all of you haters.

13 minutes ago · Like

LoriB_______ K_____ My opinion I dont hate anyone! Ijust dont agree with the way Jews are end of it!!!!!!!!!! Everytime a jew cometo my door trying totalktome they get run off or the door shut in there face Idont want to hear the crap they have to say I know whats right

11 minutes ago · Like

Alan MillerYou do know that Jews don't evangelize, right? Ifyou've talked to a Jew about their religion it's been because you started theconversation. Muslims also don't evangelize so the same stands true. The onlypeople that go door to door annoying the crap out of people are Christians ofone sort or another like Baptist, Mormon, Jehova's Witnesses, and Church of Christ.

3 minutes ago · Like

Alan MillerIf you want to force people to leave their home here inAmericabecause they're not Christian, how is that not hate?

3 minutes ago · Like

Cartoons & Videos Nov. 10 - 15

2011-11-26T16:53:00.001-05:00

Check out the week's article links at the MOpod blog.

A Message to All Police Officers From Occupy Wall Street from CollapseNet.com on Vimeo.

And last, a fabulous graphic comparison of the Occupy movement with Teabaggers that is too big to fit the blog format.

Links!

2011-11-03T19:04:00.000-04:00

Marijuana Cures Cancer!!! ...and our government has known about it since the seventies.

That's right, even a Koch funded study finds that the climate is changing as fast as scientists have been saying it is."A single winter storm does nothing to disprove that the planet is getting warmer, but that doesn't stop scientifically illiterate pundits from hi-fiving and telling nonsensical jokes about Al Gore every time it snows. ""Richard Muller, a physicist at University of California, Berkeley, announced the results of new research from the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project affirming that the planet is getting warmer and confirming the accuracy of several other existing global temperature recorOh yeah, feel that sweet liberal bias... oh wait...ABC Still Fumbling Green Car Story | Media Matters for America ds... One-quarter of the $600,000 to do the research came from the Charles Koch Foundation"

Oh yeah, feel that sweet liberal bias... oh wait... ABC Still Fumbling Green Car Story | Media Matters for America

In case you weren't paying attention, Pat Buchanan is still a horrible piece of shit.

"Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis, a technocratic Massachusetts governor who takes his bearings from ‘data’ … Has conservatism come so far, surmounting so many obstacles, to settle, at a moment of economic crisis, for THIS?" - George Will"Not data?!!!Yes, data. Conservatives don’t like Romney in part because he lets facts and events influence his views."Who would want a President that pays attention to reality? Not Republicans, apparently.

Hey, what's wrong with violating Federal laws for your boss?

Iraq War Vet Hospitalized with Fractured Skull After Being Shot by Police at Occupy Oakland Protest

No! There's not endemic racism in the GOP?!? That's can't be! That whole "Southern Strategy" thing is a liberal myth, right?

"NASA experienced two suspicious events with the Terra spacecraft in the summer and fall of 2008." - Of course with the new GOP (aka Teabaggers) we will soon have no functioning satellites of any kind and our life will be so much more exciting as we'll have no way to track hurricanes or other severe weather.

Some Objects for You

2011-11-03T18:57:00.001-04:00

Let's Define Entitlements

2011-09-13T11:26:00.003-04:00

Bat Shit Crazy Update

2011-08-08T10:52:00.000-04:00

Santorum

2011-08-04T00:57:00.000-04:00

Simply because it helps to keep this as the number one Google result when searching for "Santorum" I'm linking to Dan Savage's site which defines the meaninng of the word "Santorum." Here's a good piece about this site, definition, and feud.

Incitement to Murder?

2011-06-16T21:57:00.000-04:00

BOORTZ: You know what? I, for one, am tired of putting up with this crap. And you want to know why I moved out of Atlanta and only spend a couple of weeks a year in this town? That's one of the reasons. Carjackings, violence, people getting shot. It's ridiculous. This city harbors an urban culture of violence. And I want you to look around. You drive into the city. The railroad overpass is on the downtown connector covered with graffiti. And that-- That is just an advertisement for everybody coming into this town that we really don't give a damn about those who would screw up our quality of life around here. We really just don't care. We don't care enough to paint over graffiti on the overpasses that come into our city, advertising welcome to Atlanta, here's some of our finest graffiti, from some of our finest urban thugs and their little gang signs. And pick up the paper tomorrow morning. Read about all the carjackings. Read about the innocent people shot for the pure de-hell of it.

This town is starting to look like a garbage heap. And we got too damn many urban thugs, yo, ruining the quality of life for everybody. And I'll tell you what it's gonna take. You people, you are - you need to have a gun. You need to have training. You need to know how to use that gun. You need to get a permit to carry that gun. And you do in fact need to carry that gun and we need to see some dead thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta. We need to see the next guy that tries to carjack you shot dead right where he stands. We need more dead thugs in this city. And let their -- let their mommas -- let their mommas say, "He was a good boy. He just fell in with the good crowd." And then lock her ass up.

So what exactly does it take to convict someone of incitement to murder in this country? If this doesn't qualify as a broadcaster telling his audience to kill people, what the fuck does?

And racist? How dare you even think it? He's a Republican, they get away with condoning murder and prejudice...

Possibly Worst Campaign Ad Ever

2011-06-16T21:48:00.002-04:00

Michele Bachmann to Run For President? Break out the Champagne!

2011-03-29T18:11:00.000-04:00

Reagan's Ghost

2011-03-26T11:53:00.000-04:00

Sleeping Air Traffic Controllers and Union Busting

2011-03-25T17:54:00.000-04:00

It is ironic that it was at Reagan National Airport that a non-union, swing shift air traffic controller fell asleep at the controls. Ironic because if Reagan hadn't been a union busting asshole there probably would have been two people in that tower that night and they probably would have been working consistent shifts so they wouldn't be so sleepy as to not be awakened by the radio, ringing telephones, or warning noises from the control systems. The GOP "fuck the workers" attitude pays off again with results that anyone but conservatives could see coming from a mile away. "Do more with less," generally means "work like a slave, bitch and then take the blame when you fail" and our air transportation system is an example of how incredibly stupid this ideal is. Since traffic is "slow" at night there is only one person directing traffic, apparently under such low staff conditions that there isn't anyone else at the airport that the FAA could call to check on the lone controller. Meanwhile we're dumping billions of dollars into bullshit passenger and luggage screening systems and machinery manned by overworked assholes that hate what they're doing and miss actual danger about 90% of the time, making the entire process of flying an unpleasant invasion of privacy and paranoid over reaction. But thanks to Reagan you can rest assured the people directing air traffic have no means of bargaining for better working hours or more pay. The person making sure when your flight takes off there isn't another plane in its way or that when it lands it is aimed at the runway and not a tall building may have health problems that aren't covered by his insurance because he and others with the same job can't organize to bargain for better coverage or he or she might even be losing their home because of low pay and might think directing the plane you're on into a hillside would show "them."

I cannot understand the logic behind running something as complicated as our air transport system on a shoe-string budget when a single failure can easily result in the deaths of hundreds of people. Our pilots are quitting in droves as their workload far exceeds safety while their pay plummets to the level of school teachers from that of surgeons while wall street bankers that hold nothing but someone else's money in their control walk away from disaster after disaster extremely rich men. And that's exactly how Reagan wanted it. He wanted the rich to get richer and everyone else to work hard and die young, and the GOP is carrying on his tradition.

Of course it's going to be that poor guy in the control tower that's going to get fucked the worst in all this. How dare he be unable to stay awake after being jerked from daytime to nighttime duty, pulling 12 hour shifts day after day, and barely making a middle class living! Doesn't he know he needs to pay for the tax cuts for billionaires our "President" just allowed through. Fuck air traffic controllers. They're not very important to those with private jets.

Darn That Progressive Fantasy

2011-03-15T16:30:00.000-04:00

Huckabee's Dog Whistle

2011-03-09T13:46:00.002-05:00

Nothing Will Get Any Better

2011-03-09T10:36:00.000-05:00

Toonsday

2011-03-01T19:32:00.000-05:00

Video Time!

2011-02-26T17:59:00.001-05:00

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: Tila Tequila from Between Two Ferns

Thurstoonday

2011-02-17T18:47:00.001-05:00

Wednestoons

2011-02-16T14:39:00.000-05:00

Cartoonsday

2011-02-15T17:38:00.000-05:00

"Homeland Security"? How about Gun Control?

2011-02-13T12:39:00.002-05:00

George W. Bush Back in the News

2011-02-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

The Free Abortion Ride is Over

2011-02-05T18:06:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Rape Victim Abortion Funding

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog</a>

The Daily Show on Facebook

A Response to the Response to the Response...

2011-01-28T17:26:00.000-05:00

Bat Shit Crazy Report - Bachmann's SOTU "Rebuttal"

2011-01-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

Jehova's Witness Explained in Under Three Minutes!

2011-01-18T18:07:00.002-05:00

Fuck Second Amendment Rights, Give Me Back the Fourth Amendment!

2011-01-16T22:40:00.000-05:00

This kind of thing happens all the time. Cops burst into a house, guns drawn, fuck with everyone in the house, tear shit up, and then realize they've got the wrong place. I want my country back:

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Assasination Attempt Cartoons

2011-01-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

The Repugnicunts Strike Again

2010-12-10T14:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, This is Really How They See the World

2010-12-09T22:35:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Kentucky

2010-12-08T18:38:00.000-05:00

Yep, Kentucky's government is offering $40 million in tax breaks to a "Noah's Ark Museum" to bookend with the Creationist "Museum." The horror.

Bernie Sanders is a Good Man

2010-12-03T22:06:00.001-05:00

Some Cartoons from the Last Week

2010-11-30T16:36:00.002-05:00

So Rand Paul as Senator of Kentucky Makes Sense?

2010-11-10T09:12:00.000-05:00

Where She Lands, Nobody Knows!

2010-11-09T08:49:00.000-05:00

But I'm pretty sure we all lost:

Teabag Psycho

2010-10-30T12:14:00.002-04:00

Leaky Wiki

2010-10-30T11:57:00.000-04:00

Who The Law Protects

2010-10-30T11:43:00.000-04:00

No Choice Election Choices

2010-10-30T11:38:00.000-04:00

And Thus The Goose Stepping Begins

2010-10-27T10:55:00.000-04:00

Excellent analysis of the current situation and its relationship to fascist movements here.

"Democracy" in Modern America

2010-10-26T18:26:00.000-04:00

True Colors: Tea Baggers Assault Move On Activist

2010-10-26T12:15:00.002-04:00

Denial, It's the Republican Way.

2010-10-26T12:11:00.000-04:00

Elephant in Fox Clothing

2010-10-26T10:59:00.000-04:00

Why?

2010-10-19T19:39:00.000-04:00

Dear Mr. Conway,

I am a life long Democrat and progressive. My first reaction to your "Why?" ad is to want to vote for Rand Paul to punish you for airing it. I agree with absolute separation of church and state, feel "faith based initiatives" are bad for Democracy, feel religious institutes should be taxed heavily, and think religions are hoaxes meant to fleece the weak of mind. If I didn't know Paul was a lunatic I would pull the lever for him simply to punish you for this religious bigotry. There is a very good chance I won't vote for you regardless because of this senseless ad. I am an atheist and I vote and I tend to loath voting for pretentious Bible thumpers like you. Being a Christian does not make you a good person, and being a self-righteous, fear mongering Christian makes you an asshole.

Sincerely,
Alan Miller
Louisville, Kentucky

A Letter to Bill Maher

2010-10-13T16:34:00.000-04:00

10/13/2010

Dear Bill Maher,

I’ll start by sucking up and saying what a big fan I am, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes you screw up or are shockingly ignorant on a subject but you’re fighting the good fight and unlike your counterparts on basic cable channels, you admit to mistakes. A tiny mistake from last Friday’s show was the pronunciation of the county with the asshole firemen. It’s oh-buy-un (phonetically obaiyun). I think you said ohbeeon or something.

Just so you know, I grew up in Western Kentucky just north of there and it is a bigger shithole than you can possibly imagine. You’ve heard of the Bible Belt? This is the puss leaking from the penis just behind the belt. It is a horrible place full of mean, hateful people that are truly the worst on earth. You haven’t seen hate until you’ve lived amongst the Church of Christ and Baptist motherfuckers that make up the population there. Horrible, evil, haters to the core, most of them were delighted to hear about this man’s house burning to the ground and would’ve been delighted if his children had been killed as well. They would have felt it was just.

But that’s not what I’m writing about. I was really disappointed that you let P.J. O’Rourke and S.E. Cupp get away with one of the stupidest Republican tropes out there: “The government can’t create jobs.” This is utter and complete horseshit. Here’s how you counter that statement:

1. During the New Deal the government put most of America to work. Those weren’t jobs?

2. The people that are re-building all our roads and bridges aren’t working at jobs?

3. When the government gives people jobs they spend money because they have money.

4. That money being spent means people sell things meaning they have to buy things to sell meaning they have to hire people to sell the things and make the things and that stimulates the economy and creates more jobs.

5. The best way to make sure that government money moves straight into the economy is to give it to the poorest first because they’re going to spend it immediately. I’m poor. I assure you this is true.

Republicans’ problem with this is the money is going to the bottom instead of the top, and they prefer to be trickled on than raised up. That’s why they vote against their best interests (mention What’s the Matter with Kansas next time they disagree with you on that one), it’s because they believe they are better than everyone else even though they are dirt poor and getting poorer. We live in a country of idiots that function according to belief rather than reality.

There’s also the simple fact that what pulled us out of the Great Depression more than any other thing is that our government took complete and absolute control of the entire economy for four years and put everybody to work with good paying jobs with great benefits while forcing conservation and economy. When our boys came home from war they came home to fat bank accounts, free education, and health care for life and that combined with the New Deal is why we had the greatest economy, best educated citizenry, and best health in the world up until the Republicans managed to end it all.

“You can’t raise taxes during a recession” is bullshit. “Tax cuts create jobs” is bullshit. “Democratic spending caused the recession” is bullshit. “The government can’t do it better (or cheaper)” is bullshit. We have proof in recent history against all these but the Republicans keep on stating them as if they were laws of nature and they need to be called on it every time. Maybe next time you have two conservatives on, haul out that little list and point out to them how each and every one has no basis in fact. The Republican economic world view is just as H.W. Bush called it: Voodoo economics. In other words it is a religion, a belief system, not a science. It is pure fantasy and history proves it again and again and again.

I watched Overtime as well and here’s a thing that occurred to me years ago about President Carter’s time in office. The GOP hated Carter with a loathing that may exceed that which they have for Obama and were almost as obstructionist as today’s Congress. The oil supply was cut off right after he got elected (probably with strong encouragement from GOP leaders). The real nail in his coffin was the failed rescue mission in Iran. Who planned this operation? The CIA. Who gave the intel that it was safe to fly those helicopters? The CIA. Who was the head of the CIA? George H.W. Bush. What did Nixon say about Bush? “He’ll do anything we tell him.” Worth thinking about.

Thanks for your time. Please quit fucking up.

Love,

Alan Miller

US Chamber of Commerce

2010-10-10T17:13:00.001-04:00

Many people are under the impression that the Chamber of Commerce is some kind of benign business association, maybe even a governmental branch, that helps boost small businesses. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Chamber is, in fact, a rabid right-wing fund raising machine that cares only for profits and nothing else. They are against labor, health care reform, and regulation of any kind. They are against people and for corporate profit. This avid celebration of greed with the regal sounding name demonstrates how typical it is in the world of the "conservatives" by really not caring where their money comes from or how it was made. Most recently it turns out the CoC is channeling large sums of foreign money into our political system. Much to my surprise the Obama administration is actually making a fuss about this. Why can't they get outraged over the unprecedented use of the filibuster against Obama's agenda?

David Axelrod has managed to do something with this the GOP are masters of: He's flipped their accusations back at themselves by saying, "You need to prove you're not doing this." Amazing. Is our Democrats learning? Now they need to throw the results of their "free trade" like the massive loss of jobs, the number of us that have been pushed out of the middle class and it's rapidly shrinking size (shrinking into "lower class" and poverty) back in their faces.

Links:

Obama aide asks chamber to open its books
Axelrod: U.S. Chamber Using Foreign Cash To Fund GOP Campaigns
Rove, Gillespie Slam Obama for Spreading 'Baseless Lie' Over Foreign Contributions
"U.S." Chamber of Commerce campaign stash awash in foreign cash: Frisch
Senator wants Chamber investigated

Morality

2010-10-03T11:52:00.000-04:00

Mitch McConnell's Tortured Syntax

2010-10-03T11:27:00.000-04:00

NPR Begins the Slide to Irrelevance

2010-10-02T17:09:00.000-04:00

Current.org, a trade magazine for public media has an article about NPR in which they spout a marketing study as some kind of scientific theory. The strength of my disdain for the entire marketing industry is difficult to express. I decided to point out to the author and NPR how fucked up stupid this idea is with the following letter:

Cc: NPR ombudsman

re: http://www.current.org/audience/aud1017npr-opportunities.shtml

Dear Karen Everhart,
I'll be up front and tell you that I think "marketing" is generally a complete and utter fraud run by shallow, simple fools that believe in what they're doing while it drains dry the businesses it advises and our society in general. This "study" is marketing research and in my mind is about as plausible as Scientology.
That being said, there is one enormous problem with the idea NPR can "expand" its audience by becoming more "accessible" (read: by dumbing itself down): As NPR attempts to lighten its content it will lose the people that already listen to NPR. The television news networks did this same thing in the late 70's to "capture the youth demographic" and the result was that the people that watched the news quit watching it because it was more flash and chattiness, cute pandas and celebrity gossip than news. None of the kids started watching it because it was the NEWS. So viewership continues slowly to decline. All sorts of attempts have been made to place blame on societal changes, different age groups, etc. but the fact is the people that don't listen to NPR aren't going to start but those that do listen to NPR may very well stop listening as the programming gets reduced to stupidity. A perfect example of this is the flagship talk show Talk of the Nation. This show has been dropped by stations around the country since it was broken up into multiple short segments around 2001 by the current host to "keep it moving." Well, the reason people listened to the show was to hear long, serious discussions with experts about complicated issues. You can't have that when your programming is designed to "keep it moving" and "give it energy." As a result I know I quit listening to TOTN a few years ago and it was removed from my local NPR's lineup without so much as a whimper of protest from local listeners. They had to keep Science Friday or the listeners would have stormed the station with pitchforks and torches. Why? Because Science Friday tackles difficult questions without dumbing it down and isn't afraid to bump the next subject if the host senses they have really started to make headway in explaining the topic.
I've sensed for years that NPR was heading down the road of listening to marketing professionals and focus groups rather than trying to report the news as thoroughly as possible. This study and your cheerleading coverage of it I'm sure will be more nails in the coffin of one of the few reliable news sources we still have in this country.
Sincerely,
Alan Miller

Worst Political Speech Ever

2010-09-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

This "speech" remains just as awful at the end as it begins. What makes my head spin is he claims to have a master's degree in communication!

Koran Burning = Cross Burning as Mosque Arson = Church Bombing

2010-09-09T09:03:00.000-04:00

Religion is Like a Penis

2010-09-07T18:29:00.002-04:00

Blackwater Is Back... Again and Again and Again...

2010-09-06T12:09:00.002-04:00

Lobbyists

2010-09-02T09:33:00.002-04:00

Shhhhh, So Very Quiet (cont'd)

2010-08-26T20:52:00.000-04:00

The posts have been few and far between of late, and I apologize for that. I have been posting blurbs to the MOpod blog regularly but I really feel I should write at least one long piece a week for this blog (after all, that's what it's here for) rather than only posting cartoons and links, and I've barely done that of late. This is summer and when you work on houses this is when you can work a lot so you do, because during the winter monthly income can hit $0. I do have the tiny excuse that I'm writing a fairly long piece about outsourcing that I'm going to try to sell. Perhaps a few bits of that article will be excerpted here. But things are still going on in the world and dammit, you deserve my opinion on these things. In the meantime, please check out the podcast I do with my friend Dr. David Overbey every week (except for the occasional week or two in the summer) as well as the blog for the podcast. If I have time later tonight I will dump a bunch of links and videos.

your editor,
Alan

Louisville Cops SUCK

2010-08-11T16:06:00.000-04:00

Here's a letter sent to LMPD today after being stopped yet again on Monday:

To whom it may concern (and at this point I doubt that is anyone on the police force):

I own a house on the edge of Smoketown and have for almost a decade. In the last few months I have been stopped TWICE by bullying cops demanding I show them my ID. They have had no reason to stop me other than I am white and driving a work van. I am sick and tired of this treatment. Both times I was spoken to in that condescending tone of voice that says, "I know you're a criminal and I caught you." This last time (Monday 8-19-2010) I was getting some tools out of my garage and the two steroid pumped thugs in LMPD uniforms you've put on the street approached me and DEMANDED I show them my ID. In case you people haven't heard, this is not East Germany and you are not the STASI. You are not wardens and I am not a prisoner. You have no right to demand an ID of a citizen who has done NOTHING. I am contacting the ACLU about this and am considering a lawsuit. YOU MUST STOP THIS CRAP.

One of the "officers" had the balls to tell me he was trying to protect me. This is utter BS. They were trying to get a cheap and easy drug bust, plain and simple. My crime? Being white in Smoketown. If you wanted to protect me you would have foot patrols keeping an eye on the teenage boys with nothing to do in the neighborhood, not a couple of pumped up assholes harassing any white working man that ventures into the area. If you were interested in protecting me it wouldn't have taken FORTY MINUTES for a car to show up after three school skipping teen boys stuck a damned GUN in my face. White trash buying crack has never given me any trouble but it sure does help you to suck money from the Federal tit. Maybe if you pulled some of the cops slowly patrolling the rich neighborhoods and had them slowly patrol the crime ridden areas you might actually do something about crime, but your mission is to make the rich people that donate money to politicians feel safe, not actually fight crime.

If I get stopped like this again I am going to demand to be arrested or left alone. If I'm arrested I will sue the living you know what out of the city. I am not a criminal and I WILL NOT BE TREATED LIKE ONE.

Sincerely,

Alan Miller

GOP Proves They Are Assholes

2010-08-09T12:16:00.000-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

I Give Up - 9/11 Responders Bill

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

The End Times Are Near!!!

2010-08-09T12:13:00.001-04:00

BP Ends Meeting When Someone Brings in Some "Missing" Oil

2010-08-09T12:12:00.000-04:00

Not surprisingly, at a public meeting BP shuts off the mics when a fisherman pulls out a bag of oil he got out of the marshes a few miles away after BP claims there is no oil.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Loved By Cancer Cells

2010-08-09T12:08:00.002-04:00

A recent study has found that pancreatic cancer cells metabolize fructose (the cheap, corn based sweetener found in just about every refined American food) more easily than sucrose disproving the "all sugars are the same" claims of Big Corn. Yet another reason to drink Mexican Coca-Cola, other than the fact that the corn sweetener tastes like crap.

Israel is a Racist Nation

2010-07-31T11:57:00.000-04:00

An Arab man is facing eighteen months in prison after two years of house arrest for having consensual sex with a Jewish woman who thought he was also a Jew. Someone explain to me why we continue to support this bigoted, racist, apartheid nation.

BBC Friday Comedy Podcast Quotes

2010-07-26T23:19:00.000-04:00

You should listen to this podcast because it's funny and it's not from America and it'll make you smarter.

"Being thrown out of the tea party for being a racist is like being thrown out of the conservative party for drinking Pimms."

"When Shakespeare invented words it was on purpose."

If He Only Had a Pulse...

2010-07-24T18:50:00.001-04:00

So There Are No Fish in the Ocean?

2010-07-21T13:12:00.000-04:00

Over 500 penguins have washed up dead on the shores of Brazil recently as well as some turtles and a porpoise. The cause of death appears to be starvation. These penguins usually feed over a wide area and should be finding huge amounts of food. I have this horrible feeling this is another sign of the death of life in the oceans of the world. In 1808 the passenger pigeon numbered in the billions and there were many millions of bison. By the end of that century there were no passenger pigeons and only a few thousand bison hiding in Yellowstone. Yes we can obliterate all life in the oceans because we're foolish enough to believe we can't.

Maybe sealife isn't going extinct in the Atlantic and this is a hiccup, but the chance of extinction in the Gulf of Mexico is very high:
"World killing event."
Turtles and crabs may become extinct in the Gulf.
Brown pelicans, just removed from endangered species list, threatened.
Here's seven more.
Too early to say if it's the worst disaster in history or not, but it's up there.

Nuclear Energy = Fool's Gold

2010-07-19T19:34:00.000-04:00

There are many arguments in favor of nuclear energy. None of them holds up to scrutiny.

"It's carbon neutral." This is the closest to a true statement but it isn't true. Tons of oil and coal will be burnt in the extraction, refinement, and transportation of nuclear fuel. Compared with your average fossil fuel burning power plant it isn't much but I don't think I'm splitting hairs by pointing out that nuclear energy is not carbon neutral.

"It's cheap." Someone please point to a nuclear plant that hasn't over-run projected costs by billions of dollars or has actually lowered anyone's electric bill. I'll wait.

"It's safe." or "Technology and design has improved to such a degree that a failure is impossible." To that I'd like start by saying, "See BP." All technology has a chance of failure. This chance is almost always much greater than those designing and building the technology think it is. The safest cars' accelerator pedals stick, skyscrapers designed to withstand an airplane collision collapse after a collision and an intense fire, deep water drilling rigs claiming to have no chance of an accident explode and kill the Gulf of Mexico, two space shuttles fall to the earth in flames. Anything made by humans will fail eventually. And as recent events have shown us when a "low possibility" event occurs in a very complex situation, the result is usually a catastrophe many times greater than any "plausible" worst case scenario accepted before the event.

The very idea that we believe we can store radioactive waste for over 100,000 years while it decays to a safe state is astonishing. The same people that built Three Mile Island or Chernobyl are going to build the chambers where we house the waste from nuclear reactors. We can't even get short term storage right, apparently. Tritium has been leaking from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant for some time and it will probably end up in the drinking water of New York. We can't keep very good track of the deadliest poison known to man, plutonium, which has a half life of 24,000 years. As far as humanity is concerned the life span of plutonium or any other slowly decaying radioactive material is infinite. We will not be here 100,000 years from now. Some other form of us or some other creature will have taken our place long before the poison ceases to be deadly. Cultures and societies will rise and fall violently and to think we can guard this horrendous danger against those future persons is laughable. An oil spill, no matter how immense, is finite. For the human race, the radioactive material we are making today will last beyond forever.

Bat Shit Crazy Report: A Cartoon by Steve Sack

2010-07-18T21:10:00.000-04:00

Success In Afghanistan According to Patraeus (This Modern World)

2010-07-15T20:52:00.000-04:00

Another Glimmer of Hope: Court Tells FCC Its Rules are Stupid

2010-07-15T20:49:00.001-04:00

Though you still can't play George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" routine on the radio, you won't get the living shit sued out of you if someone accidentally curses or if one bad word slips by the censors.

We now hold that the FCC’s policy violates the First Amendment because it is unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here.

Thank fucking god. The very idea that the FCC could levy a half a million dollar fine against a broadcaster because someone said "shit" is just beyond insanity. I want my country back, and my country is one that is progressing and improving, not regressing and devolving.

The Fag Hater Doth Protest Too Loudly

2010-07-15T20:42:00.000-04:00

BP Claims Oil Flow Stopped

2010-07-15T20:38:00.000-04:00

As of 2:25pm CST BP claims the oil gushing from the Deep Horizon disaster has been slowed almost to zero. Supposedly the new arrangement will allow for them to siphon off all the oil being released (as of today that is $76 per barrel and it is estimated 60,000 barrels per day so that's around $4.5 million per day of income to offset the billions of damage) if the well is fractured and they have to relieve pressure while they complete the relief wells. If the pressure goes up and stays there they will seal the well for now. The well will not be completely contained until the relief wells are finished and the well is filled with concrete. Let's just hope it's not Haliburton that is in charge of the cement this time.

Glimmer of Hope? D.C. Agrees to Mass Arrest Settlement

2010-07-15T20:24:00.000-04:00

The District of Columbia has settled a decade long class action lawsuit over the illegal mass arrest and detainment of peaceful protesters. The fact is this will make no difference in New York or Los Angeles, or Chicago until similar suits have sat in courts for a decade or more. It is shameful that the people we hire for cops have no time for serving the public because they believe the public is a bunch of prisoners they have to beat.

The Blame Game

2010-07-03T09:59:00.000-04:00

Senator Robert Byrd's Speech Opposing Iraq War

2010-07-01T19:09:00.000-04:00

NASA Timelapse of Oil Spill

2010-06-28T21:13:00.002-04:00

The Bat Shit Crazy Report: Ever Expanding Insanity on the Right

2010-06-26T18:10:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Talking Points Memo I have two additions to the Bat Shit Crazy Club!

Let's start with a nutjob who has grazed the BSC radar before, Representative Sue Myrick (R-NC). She who has seen terrorists amongst Muslim interns and convenience store clerks. Her firm entrance into the BSC Club comes with her assertion, based on... well... based on the fact the idea floated through her BSC head, maybe?... anyway, she has decided that Hezbollah is invading our country from Mexico. Seriously.

Next up is Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) who has "discovered" a conspiracy by terrorists to use the 14th Amendment to allow them to sneak women into the U.S. in order to have babies that will be raised as arch terrorists. I am not making this shit up, people. I'm guessing this is a "logical" extension of the "Obama born in Kenya" lunacy.

Energy Independence - A Daily Show History of Empty Rhetoric

2010-06-18T21:31:00.000-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

An Energy-Independent Future

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Letter to NPR about Fox Correspondents on Their Staff

2010-06-16T17:27:00.001-04:00

[updated 6/17/2010]

I'm sure I join a loud chorus of listeners that are sick of your correspondents that also work for Fox News. You need to completely purge your organization of these contaminated, damaged anti-journalists. Fox News is not a news organization and you should not allow anyone to be employed by NPR and Fox simultaneously. You don't have correspondents that are in the employ of the RNC's PR office, do you? There is no difference except the RNC might lie less.

On today's ATC, Fox employee Mora Liasson in a typical Fox-style meaningless aside commented that the President was "reading from a teleprompter." This is unnecessary information and serves only one function: To belittle the President of this country. Do you know what a Dixie dog whistle is? Well saying Obama was reading from a teleprompter is a wingnut dog whistle and you should be ashamed you let it on the air. Every single President since Carter has used teleprompters constantly. GWB always had one though he obviously had trouble reading it. The only people that make note of this President's use of a teleprompter are people that hate him and are out to end his career. You seriously need to check your editors and producers about this kind of crap, or is NPR more worried about getting teabaggers to listen to ATC than in presenting the news in a truly fair and balanced manner?

[response from NPR 6/17/2010]

Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:46 PM

Subject: Re: Right Wing Fox News Language  â€“ Message ID:26967

Response to Message #26967:

Dear Alan,

Thank you for contacting the Ombudsman. We appreciate your feedback on NPR National Political Correspondent Mara Liasson who also appears on Fox New.

It is not uncommon for NPR reporters to appear on other networks, such as CNN and PBS. Ombudsman Alicia Shepard wrote a column on this issue. NPR continually evaluates what its reporters say, how they present their work, and whether that crosses an ethical line, and NPR staff is held to a strict code of ethics and practices. These standards are in place to protect and support the integrity, impartiality and conduct of journalists.

When recently asked, Senior VP of News Ellen Weiss confirmed that NPR is continually evaluating how appearances on other news outlets may or may not undermine the NPR journalist’s reputation as an impartial source of information.

Again, thank you for bringing your observations and thoughts regarding language used in Mara Liasson's report on All Things Considered to our attention. We appreciate you taking time to write.

Best,
Alexandria Neason
Office of the Ombudsman
NPR

[My response]

Please let it be known that I think any correspondent with a link to Fox News is damaged merchandise and should not be allowed airtime on NPR. With no problem I can find you 10 qualified individuals in New Orleans that can do her job without throwing in disguised insults against our President in the process. Anyone that is associated with Fox News is contaminated by their fascist leadership and should not be allowed a voice on National Public Radio.

Also you did not address her noting the President was reading from a teleprompter. This is unacceptable on every level, especially that of journalistic behavior. It is a BS partisan slur and you damn well know it whether it is stated specifically in your code of ethics (which it isn't) or not.

You may not watch Fox News (what sane person can?) but this teleprompter nonsense has been one stick in the continuous drumbeat of opposition to our President, along with the birther nonsense and more recently the "he's not angry enough/he's too angry" blather that you have also stooped to covering. When will NPR have the balls to say enough is enough? Fox News is a propaganda wing of the GOP and to say it is other is to lie to oneself.

6 Weeks Later...

2010-06-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

The Horror.

2010-06-13T10:47:00.002-04:00

Letter About Regulation's Impact on the Poor to Congressman John Yarmuth

2010-06-09T17:50:00.000-04:00

6/9/2010

Congressman John Yarmuth
435 Cannon House Office Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5401   FAX 202-225-5776

re: EPA’s RPP rule and governmental responsibility to inform the public

Dear Congressman Yarmuth,
      As a man who at least appears to be interested in the plight of the poor in this country I’d like to bring a recent EPA regulation to your attention. Let me say first that I am no opponent of the EPA and consider myself to be an environmentalist and occasional activist. I am also in favor of lead abatement but would like to express a worry I have about the RRP rule and government’s general attitude towards the poor.
      The new RRP rule contains maximum penalties per day of over $37,000 for non-compliance. I don’t have the time to read the entire regulation and though I worked as a typist for a major law review while in college, reading legalese is not an easy or enjoyable task. Imagine that task laid on the average painter. You may have met one at some point, you know, didn’t graduate from high school, literally scraping by? These rules require that a painting (or any other) contractor go through an 8 hour certification course that, if I’m not mistaken, requires a bit of math to be able to work on any building built before 1978. Has anyone at the EPA actually met a painter? How do they expect that old black man down the street that paints houses with his brain damaged son and an ex-con that can’t get any other work to a) know anything about this new rule and b) to be able to afford the $250+ per worker and actually be able to pass certification?
      Let me start with a. Despite my education and experience I had no idea that starting 5/22/2010 I could be in legal and financial jeopardy if I painted a house built before 1978 until a chance statement from a real estate agent of one of my clients. I found out by accident. Does the government believe that ordinary people have legal advisors? As an artist and musician contracting to be able to afford to make art and music my income is probably the same as the hypothetical painter above and I can’t even afford to get someone else to do my taxes, much less keep an attorney on retainer to inform me of changes to federal regulations that criminalize my livelihood.   I expect my government to inform me of minor details like this. I’m a licensed contractor, you’d think my representative or city hall or someone could send me a postcard telling me that to continue to work on homes built before 1978 (I haven’t worked on anything newer than 1950 in years) I have to get certified for lead abatement or risk enormous fines. Or how about at least requiring postings at places that sell paint and hardware? Is it wrong to expect part of the job of government to be educating people that if they do the same thing they did last year they could be bankrupted?
      Now to b. Passing certification will be no problem for me (though $250 out of my pocket always hurts) as I already know most of what I need to know and I have a bit of mathematics and test taking skill.[1] But for many people that can barely get by, both the cost and the difficulty will be too great a hurdle to clear. There is, as always, little or no consideration of the least amongst us when these decisions are made and the largest burden falls on their shoulders. When you make $500/week for six months of the year painting houses, $250 is a huge amount of money.[2] These EPA regulations have put an awful lot of poor, defenseless people in the position of being unwitting criminals. Was there ever a thought of these people or how to help them deal with this? I’m pretty sure there wasn’t. For some reason when people envision “contractors” it’s some middle class man with thirty uniformed workers under him wearing a hard hat and driving a brand new truck when in fact the majority of us are doing this hard, dirty, underpaid work because there is nothing else they can do. Most of these people are the kind of people we as a country continue to fail every single day.
      Perhaps I’ve been walking around in a haze since this bill passed in 2008 and just missed all the signs, e-mails, postcards, etc. that were put in my face and I just didn’t see them. I wonder how many of the hundreds of thousands of small contractors in this country know nothing about this rule. Perhaps you could have a member of your staff find out for me how much the EPA budgeted for enforcement of this rule as opposed to how much they budgeted for informing and aiding the contractors it affects.

Sincerely,
Alan Miller

[1] I am an artist and musician that does contracting to afford making art and music. I have a B.A. from Tulane.

[2] But then again, allowing utility companies to add on flat fees is a disproportionate burden (like if the Louisville Water Co. were to add .25 per 1000 gallons to the cost of water they would probably get more money for repairing our water system but instead they hit everyone with an extra $56/mo so the million gallon a month manufacturing plant pays $56/mo towards this just like me that uses around 1000 gallons a year), just as flat fees for all governmental services is a disproportionate tax on the poor, etc. seems to be the way American government works these days. And how American business works as well between the virtual use of slave labor for production outside the country to our usurous credit system for that matter.

Fucking Booming

2010-06-01T16:58:00.000-04:00

When Will We Condemn Israel?

2010-06-01T10:06:00.000-04:00

Can we expect our government to at least protest Israel's attack on an unarmed aid flotilla sailing to Gaza and murder of activists on board? Of course not. We always support apartheid, xenophobic, fascist murderers, just look at Reagan and South Africa.

39 Pictures From the Gulf

2010-05-27T09:41:00.000-04:00

Pictures.

Live Feed of Oil Spill

2010-05-26T18:42:00.000-04:00

Rand Paul Steps Into the Spotlight

2010-05-25T15:51:00.000-04:00

BP, Oil Flow, Lies, and Videotape

2010-05-22T20:35:00.000-04:00

Steve Wereley, an engineering professor at Purdue University has released estimates of the oil flow from the BP well in the Gulf that are at least ten times what both BP and the US Government have been saying. We must know how much oil is entering the over mile deep water column in that area if we're going to try to mitigate this disaster and if we're going to force BP to pay every penny it owes the people of the Gulf Coast, the Caribbean, and the world.

Bat Shit Crazy, Meet Bat Shit Crazy

2010-05-18T18:38:00.000-04:00

why

Orly Taitz is running for Secretary of State of California?!?

Alabama's Gubernatorial Race: Who's The Better Creationist?

2010-05-18T10:18:00.002-04:00

Will it turn out more people in Alabama believe in a superstitious, stone age creation myth than understand science?

Dan Fanelli Knows What a Terrorist Looks Like

2010-05-13T09:30:00.000-04:00

This is not a parody. This is an actual ad by Alan Grayson's (D-FL) opponent.

video: Gulf Spill Update from the Times-Picayune

2010-05-06T23:09:00.000-04:00

Oil spill video: T-P reporter update

Spill Baby Spill

2010-05-05T20:55:00.001-04:00

Gulf Coast Oil Spill and Our Old Friends Halliburton

2010-05-03T23:18:00.000-04:00

See this full set of pictures here.

When obtaining the license to build this enormous oil well that reached over a mile down into the water to drill, baby drill, BP said the chances of an explosion or catastrophic accident was next to zero. Aren't these same people making the same claims about nuclear power plants?

Oh, and a little tidbit about this that brings a nostalgic image of the evil Dick Cheney to the mind's eye: Haliburton was the company that did the cementing, a process of injecting cement to line the well cap and the walls of the well to contain the highly explosive gases. Haliburton's cementing is also implicated as the cause of the gigantic Timor oil well blowout last year.

cross posted to the mopod blog

Me Talk Big Noise

Some Cartoons and Links

9/11 Was Not an Inside Job

Two Misplaced Posts

A Couple of Political Cartoons

Batshit Crazy Report: Victoria Jackson

Newt's New Ad (With Some Animation Help)

BLR Rand Paul

War On Xmas Bullshit Continues

Tiffany W_____

Cartoons & Videos Nov. 10 - 15

Links!

Some Objects for You

Let's Define Entitlements

Bat Shit Crazy Update

Santorum

Incitement to Murder?

Possibly Worst Campaign Ad Ever

Michele Bachmann to Run For President? Break out the Champagne!

Reagan's Ghost

Sleeping Air Traffic Controllers and Union Busting

Darn That Progressive Fantasy

Huckabee's Dog Whistle

Nothing Will Get Any Better

Toonsday

Video Time!

Thurstoonday

Wednestoons

Cartoonsday

"Homeland Security"? How about Gun Control?

George W. Bush Back in the News

The Free Abortion Ride is Over

A Response to the Response to the Response...

Bat Shit Crazy Report - Bachmann's SOTU "Rebuttal"

Jehova's Witness Explained in Under Three Minutes!

Fuck Second Amendment Rights, Give Me Back the Fourth Amendment!

Assasination Attempt Cartoons

The Repugnicunts Strike Again

Yes, This is Really How They See the World

Welcome to Kentucky

Bernie Sanders is a Good Man

Some Cartoons from the Last Week

So Rand Paul as Senator of Kentucky Makes Sense?

Where She Lands, Nobody Knows!

Teabag Psycho

Leaky Wiki

Who The Law Protects

No Choice Election Choices

And Thus The Goose Stepping Begins

"Democracy" in Modern America

True Colors: Tea Baggers Assault Move On Activist

Denial, It's the Republican Way.

Elephant in Fox Clothing

Why?

A Letter to Bill Maher

US Chamber of Commerce

Obama aide asks chamber to open its booksAxelrod: U.S. Chamber Using Foreign Cash To Fund GOP CampaignsRove, Gillespie Slam Obama for Spreading 'Baseless Lie' Over Foreign Contributions"U.S." Chamber of Commerce campaign stash awash in foreign cash: FrischSenator wants Chamber investigated

Morality

Mitch McConnell's Tortured Syntax

NPR Begins the Slide to Irrelevance

Worst Political Speech Ever

Koran Burning = Cross Burning as Mosque Arson = Church Bombing

Religion is Like a Penis

Blackwater Is Back... Again and Again and Again...

Lobbyists

Shhhhh, So Very Quiet (cont'd)

Louisville Cops SUCK

GOP Proves They Are Assholes

The End Times Are Near!!!

BP Ends Meeting When Someone Brings in Some "Missing" Oil

High Fructose Corn Syrup Loved By Cancer Cells

Israel is a Racist Nation

BBC Friday Comedy Podcast Quotes

"When Shakespeare invented words it was on purpose."

If He Only Had a Pulse...

So There Are No Fish in the Ocean?

Nuclear Energy = Fool's Gold

Bat Shit Crazy Report: A Cartoon by Steve Sack

Success In Afghanistan According to Patraeus (This Modern World)

Another Glimmer of Hope: Court Tells FCC Its Rules are Stupid

Obama aide asks chamber to open its books
Axelrod: U.S. Chamber Using Foreign Cash To Fund GOP Campaigns
Rove, Gillespie Slam Obama for Spreading 'Baseless Lie' Over Foreign Contributions
"U.S." Chamber of Commerce campaign stash awash in foreign cash: Frisch
Senator wants Chamber investigated