SNL VP Debate

Sarah Palin's Witch Doctor

Potentially the next president of the United States, being exorcised by a witch doctor.

I wonder how this video would be perceived if it were Obama in the video receiving an exorcism.

Say It Ain't So Joe

Having watched the debate last night, I decided to take a look for the facts this morning. Given the obvious bias of this blog, I've decided to only include Palin's lies and deliberate distortions here in the blog. But if you want 'fair and balanced' you can read the source article here.

I will say this. Palin was not the train wreck I had hoped she would be. But that said, can she spare us the good ole local gal bullshit? She is not a good ole hockey mom, she is the Governor of Alaska. She is not from some blue collar working class family, they are millionaires.

Back in the day the Bush administration hijacked the Christian right to gain power. Today the McCain ticket is trying to play the role of maverick working class heroes. But if you are a millionaire with this kind of political power (like having so much power you refuse to testify for Troopergate), you are simply not just another working class family. So stop trying to insult the intelligence of the country.

Anyway, here are the facts:

PALIN: Said of Democratic presidential candidate Obama: "94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction."

THE FACTS: The dubious count includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.

PALIN: Criticized Obama's "plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program" for health care, and added: "I don't think it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the Feds."

THE FACTS: Wrong on several counts. Obama's plan does not provide for universal coverage, only mandates insurance for children and doesn't turn the system over to the government. Most people would still get private insurance through their work. Obama proposes that the government subsidize the cost of health coverage for millions who have trouble affording it and he'd set up an exchange to negotiate prices and benefits with private insurers — with one option being a government-run plan.

PALIN: "Two years ago, remember, it was John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. He sounded that warning bell."

THE FACTS: Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska led an effort in 2005 to tighten regulation on the mortgage underwriters — McCain joined as a co-sponsor a year later. The legislation was never taken up by the full Senate, then under Republican control.

PALIN: Said the United States has reduced its troop level in Iraq to a number below where it was when the troop increase began in early 2007.

THE FACTS: Not correct. The Pentagon says there are currently 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 17,000 more than there were before the 2007 military buildup began.

PALIN: Said natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets."

THE FACTS: Not quite. Construction is at least six years away. So far the state has only awarded a license to Trans Canada Corp., that comes with $500 million in seed money in exchange for commitments toward a lengthy and costly process to getting a federal certificate. At an August news conference after the state Legislature approved the license, Palin said, "It's not a done deal."

PALIN: "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year."

BIDEN: "The charge is absolutely not true. Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes."

THE FACTS: The vote was on a nonbinding budget resolution that assumed that President Bush's tax cuts would expire, as scheduled, in 2011. If that actually happened, it could mean higher taxes for people making as little as about $42,000. But Obama is proposing tax increases only on the wealthy, and would cut taxes for most others.

PALIN: Said a McCain-Palin administration "will support Israel," including "building our embassy ... in Jerusalem."

THE FACTS: Moving the U.S. Embassy from its present location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a perennial promise of presidential candidates courting the Jewish-American vote. In fact, moving the embassy is actually required by U.S. law. But successive administrations of both parties, including George W. Bush's, have made the same pledge only to find that the realities of Middle East peacemaking have forced them to invoke a waiver to delay it. Jerusalem is claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinians and Israel's occupation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. The city's status is one of the key issues of disagreement in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Come on Kids: DO IT NOW

Ah celebrities. Gotta love 'em.

Asshole Alert

Regular readers of my blog will know that I do like to do my civic duty of pointing out assholes when I see one. Pictured behind the impressive podium, is the Governor of Kentucky Steve Beshear.

In what can only be described as douchebaggery at its finest, this prick decided to file a lawsuit against 141 online gambling companies, with the intention of seizing their domain names and preventing all Americans from accessing these sites. You know, rather like they do in China.

Thankfully the Kentucky judge who heard this case rejected his stupidity and told him that there would have to be a lot more compelling evidence to render such a verdict.

Beshear said that online gambling sites were, "leeches on our communities" and hurt Kentucky's horse gambling industry.

So just to be clear, this man supports horses being bred for racing. Animals (that are not killed for being too slow) forced to race while being whipped by a tiny jockey, for our entertainment and for the purpose of gambling. And after a few years, these animals are sold to meat factories in Mexico who slaughter them by cutting through their spine with a machete. The meat is then exported to countries around the world who eat horse meat.

So four legs good, online bad? WTF?

With all the issues going on in America right now, the economic melt down, the endless war in Iraq, poverty, personal bankruptcy, lack of health care, and the widening gap between rich and poor, this guy wants to focus on this? Kentucky has no other issues that need his attention? I don't think so.

If you think that this cretin is barking up the wrong tree, please join the 1,200 or so Poker Player's Alliance members who have already told this idiot what they think of his stupid lawsuit. You can read more about it, and send him an email letter of complaint by checking out the story here.

Consider too joining the Poker Player's Alliance, which is now free.

Hot Terminator (Possible Spoilers)

I really enjoy Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It's a great show. Although some critics have been disappointed with the story line. But there is no denying that Summer Glau is the cutest Terminator so far!

What I've been disappointed with so far in season two is they have to keep messing with the cute Terminator (Cameron), and I hope this won't be an ongoing theme. At the end of last season they had her blown up with a car bomb. Then she goes crazy and reverts back to her default program to kill John Conner. This week sees her spacing out and assuming the identity of a human she terminated, the human who formed the basis for her design as a Terminator.

I like her when she is helping the Conner family, and kicking ass. That's always amusing. I just hope the writers are not going to over labor the obvious point that she is a trained killer and death machine, and could at any moment flip out and kill all the other main characters. I know writers love to play games like that, but I don't like it.

It rather reminds me of the original Doctor Who series when the Doctor had two different things that helped him out. One was a robot dog called K9, and the other was a sonic screwdriver. I guess you could count the TARDIS as a third thing that helped the Doctor.

Well during Tom Baker's time as the forth Doctor, there was always trouble with K9. He'd leave him to guard the TARDIS, or he's be malfunctioning in some way. The problem was that K9 had some kind of laser weapon in his nose and so could fix a bunch of tricky situations by stunning people. But I guess the writers thought that made everything too easy for the Doctor, and so had to figure out ways of getting him out of episodes.

The same was true of the sonic screwdriver, to the point where Tom Baker's replacement; the fifth Doctor Peter Davidson, had the sonic screwdriver destroyed by his arch enemy The Master.

And don't even get me started on how many times the TARDIS has been stolen, incapacitated, lost or otherwise made inaccessible for the duration of a story line!

It all brings me back to the cute Terminator. I'd rather the writers use her for good, helpful things. Rather than finding reasons to make her malfuction in one way or the other. And is it too much to ask that she be naked more often? It's the least she could do after her friends caused Judgement Day.

Goodbye WaMu

When I first moved to America, I had to start my credit from scratch. It's not easy to obtain credit without a verifiable domestic credit history, but after some searching I finally found a credit card company willing to trust me. That company was Providian.

Everything went just fine for a few years, but ultimately they couldn't compete with any of the major companies like MBNA, Discover, Bank of America, and even Chase. So I paid it off and left the account dormant.

Eventually I got a letter from Washington Mutual (WaMu) who informed me that they had bought out Providian and now my deal was with them.

They sent me some ugly ass card, much like the one above, and told me it was business as usual.

I called them one time and asked them why their card was so ugly. They told me that was all that was available. I asked them why their interest rate was nearly double all my other cards. They told me it was company policy.

So with no incentive to use the card, I continued to leave it dormant until WaMu wrote me to tell me that my business was no longer required. They canceled my card and terminated my relationship with them.

With customer service like this, it is of little surprise that they just went tits up, so to speak.

If there is one good thing that might come out of this financial collapse, perhaps the weak companies with poor customer service will be swallowed up by quality companies that understand that if you treat people like crap, they will have a hard time investing in your company.

So goodbye WaMu. Thanks for your shitty service, your ugly card, and your inferior products. I'm glad you got bought out. I'm sure the millions of dollars handed out among the useless executives will teach them a valuable lesson in customer service and running a successful business.

No Gas

I went to three gas stations here in East Tennessee yesterday. One had no gas at all. Two of them had regular only. My BMW takes premium.

I have 145 miles to empty, although that figure could be less around town.

I just don't get it. With the obscene profits the gas companies have been making, you'd think they would have a plan in place to ensure that people had access to gas.

It's bad enough being raped at the pump every time you fill up. But even worse to be told you can't have any.

I'm beginning to miss the good old days of $4 a gallon.