Video: What is Romney Laughing About?

Terrifying a prep school student by holding him down and forcibly cutting his hair, tying a sick dog to the roof of his car for a 12-hour trip, closing factories and putting hardworking Americans out of a job — what in the hell does Mitt Romney find so damn funny about any of these deplorable things? MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow ably delves into the details below, and they’re not pretty. (Sorry for the ad at the beginning, but it’s embedded in the video.)

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Posted in 2012 Election, Bizarre But Real, Christopublicans, Conservatives, Corruption, Idiots, Media, Religion, Teabaggers, Video, Wingnuts, WTF? | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Today’s Music: The Beatles, “Get Back” (1969)

With in-studio shots at Apple and Billy Preston on the keys.

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Today’s Quotes and Video: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Has Learned Nothing from the 2008 Crash…

…and isn’t likely to, since he seems to exist in an atmosphere entirely consisting of his own onerous emissions and is clueless to the self-made failures supported by taxpayer bailout money he bafflingly thinks ‘The Street’ deserves, without pesky regulation. For those who like to complain about unworthy welfare recipients, one need look no further than the executive suites of Wall Street and, just like any degenerate gambler in Las Vegas, especially one who has Uncle Sucker supplying the chips for his next binge, the unhinged Wall Street gang will keep shooting craps until the gov’t forces them to stop, regardless of the dire consequences to themselves or our economy. It’s that simple. Read the first quote: Jamie Dimon is as shamelessly self-serving and unintentionally hilarious as Mitt Romney.

“It’s so unfair to talk about Wall Street and ethics…The people that we deal with a lot on Wall Street are some of the most ethical people I know.”
— Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, as quoted by AlterNet.org.

“Only now JPMorgan Chase gets hit with losses like these. Once again it looks like men and women who think they are smarter and slicker than the rest of us and always a step or two ahead of the game, are playing casino as much as they ever did.
“You have to know Dimon is the guy always standing up and acting insulted at the notion of more regulation, even after what happened after all the dumb, freewheeling, Vegas years of Bush and Cheney. Dimon is the one always saying that the economic recovery in America has been slowed by too much regulation, and likes to go around calling any Democrat who talks about more federal regulation of banks like his as being ‘anti-business.’ “ […]
“Dimon is another money guy who knows everything, but whose company has learned nothing. One of the guys whose companies keep finding different ways to bet the house, but somehow never lose theirs. Even when they lose their shirts.”
— Mike Lupica, “Jamie Dimon points fingers for JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion loss, but who thinks anything has changed on Wall Street?” NY Daily News, May 14, 2012.

“The public opprobrium directed at Wall Street throughout 2008 and 2009 met with no satisfactory reformist result. The white-collar perps responsible for plunging American society into the abyss were rewarded for their malfeasance and walked away as rich and powerful as ever. Jamie Dimon personifies the hubris of these self-anointed ‘Masters of the Universe’ and his pathetic attempts to spin his way out of the current CDS boondoggle is another glaring reminder of the wider lack of accountability.” […]
“Men like Jamie Dimon (or Edward Conard of Bain Capital, who was recently profiled in the New York Times Magazine cheerleading for greater inequality in America), deserve nothing but our scorn and ridicule. The unfortunate fact is, as things stand today people like Jamie Dimon (or Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks across the pond) are simply too rich and connected to be held accountable. They’re out of touch with the social reality they’ve helped create. The suffering of others is simply not on their radar. They’re unbalanced people; money motivated, greed obsessed.
“That leaves us with Occupy Wall Street and the building of a mass movement as the only viable option of steering the nation off the course of permanent high unemployment, low wages, weak labor unions, and a shredded social safety net. With a little luck and a few more blow-ups on Wall Street we might be able to generate the political will to finally break up the financial behemoths and put the nation on a course that takes into consideration the human needs of the 99 percent.”
— Joseph Palermo, “JP Morgan’s Loss Could Be America’s Gain,” LA Progressive, May 13, 2012.

“This is one of the fundamental flaws of our financial system that seems to be unfixable — we create a class of wealthy traders that uses money from depositors and people other than themselves – to make bets with massive unknown unknowns.
“If those bets just happen to pay off, the traders get their multi-million dollar bonuses. And if those bets lose money, the traders are not forced to pay back those bonuses. They merely shuffle off to another gambling parlor.”
— Peter Cohan, “Dimon Principle: Open Mouth, Insert $2 Billion Foot,” Forbes, May 11, 2012.

Video of of the slippery Dimon ‘hedging his bets’ on Meet the Press:

Posted in 1 Percent, 2012 Election, 99 Percent, Bizarre But Real, Conservatives, Corporations, Corruption, Democrats, Economy, Idiots, OWS Movement, Politics, Quotes, Republicans, Teabaggers, Wall Street, Wingnuts, WTF? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trayvon Martin Target Hoodie: Life Imitates Cartoon Art?

Sick: Unknown “Entrepreneur” is Selling Trayvon Martin Shooting Targets

By Kristen Gwynne
AlterNet
May 11, 2012

Racists who supported, and even celebrated, the killing of Trayvon Martin now have the opportunity to shoot the teenager themselves. According to Tampa’s WTSP, an “unidentified entrepreneur,” or scumbag, is selling shooting targets of a hoodie with a bag of skittles in the pocket (and iced tea at hand). In case you forgot the “skittles and iced tea” chants accompanying marches demanding justice for Trayvon, he had gone to the store to pick up the candy, and he never came home.

The so-called entrepreneur said sales were great, but even gun owners reportedly express more disgust than interest in the target.

Read the rest here.

Here’s what the sick bastard was selling:

And here’s a satire I did that was posted on May 2nd:

My God, I hope I didn’t inspire this anonymous monster.

Posted in Bizarre But Real, Cartoon, Conservatives, Humor, Idiots, Republicans, Teabaggers, Wingnuts, WTF? | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Video: Bass Player Extraordinaire Donald “Duck” Dunn Dead at 70

Here’s an excerpt from an AP report this morning; no cause of death has yet been cited:

Bass player Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn dies in Tokyo at 70

By Nekesha Mumbi Moody
Associated Press
May 14, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald “Duck” Dunn, the bassist who helped create the gritty Memphis soul sound at Stax Records in the 1960s as part of the legendary group Booker T. and the MGs and contributed to such classics as “In the Midnight Hour,” ”Hold On I’m Coming” and “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,” died Sunday at 70.

Dunn, whose legacy as one of the most respected session musicians in the business also included work with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s Blues Brothers as well as with Levon Helm, Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, died while on tour in Tokyo.

News of his death was posted on the Facebook site of his friend and fellow musician Steve Cropper, who was on the same tour. Cropper said Dunn died in his sleep.

Read the rest here.

And from American Blues Scene:

Legendary Blues bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn passes away in Tokyo

By Casebeer
American Blues Scene
May 13, 2012

Donald “Duck” Dunn, bass player and songwriter and a member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame band Booker T. and the MGs and the Blues Brothers band, has passed away. Dunn had been in Tokyo performing.

Fellow musician Steve Cropper made the announcement via a post on his Facebook Page. Cropper reported that Dunn had died in his sleep. “Today I lost my best friend, the World has lost the best guy and bass player to ever live. Duck Dunn died in his sleep Sunday morning May 13 in Tokyo Japan after finishing 2 shows at the Blue Note Night Club.”

The last venue that Dunn played in Japan was the Tokyo Blue Note and a spokeswoman, Miho Harasawa confirmed he died alone early Sunday but had no further details. The Blue Note show calendar shows a 3 night run for the STAX Show featuring Steve Cropper and Dunn.

Read the rest here.

A short two-minute video of his career in music.

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Today’s Music: Donald “Duck” Dunn and Steve Cropper, “Green Onions” Live

R.I.P., Donald “Duck” Dunn. Although bassman ‘Duck’ didn’t play on the original Booker T and the MGs 1962 hit record of this tune, here he is playing it live.

Another live version of the same tune:

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Video: Wilted Flowers Mother’s Day Message from Romney’s PAC

More misleading slag from Romney’s nasty PAC ‘Restore Our Future’ which apparently seeks to resurrect every terrible idea the Junior Bush Administration ever tried and then add Mr. Mitt’s batty economic formula, which is akin to fertilizing a bad tree with Super-Gro to provide an even larger variety of rotten fruit. As Mitt and Ann Romney and their palace guard well know, Hilary Rosen’s comment was deadly accurate, when not extracted from context for political effect — Ann Romney has never had the experience of working outside the home (or having to), and, particularly, raising children at the same time. As the best political columnist in the country, Charles P. Pierce, put it:

“I’m a little tired of Annie’s medical misfortunes being used cheaply as a way to make her a lyric from a Loretta Lynn tune. Not to be altogether crude about it but, if she hadn’t been married to somebody worth $280 million, she might well be dead by now. As it happens, I know people who have multiple sclerosis, and many of them couldn’t afford even the most ‘reasonably’ priced therapies until Mitt Romney and a Democratic legislature pushed through the health-care reform that he now refuses to acknowledge, and that he has promised to deny to the rest of the country. If you’re looking for solidarity with these people, Annie, you might very well be in the wrong place. And of course, hubby chimes in with another attack of verbal flopsweat:

“This effort to describe Republicans as being anything other than extraordinarily pro-women, pro-opportunity for women of America, pro working moms, pro working women, that kind of effort is missing the mark.”

“And, down along gender gap, Ma slaughters a chicken for dinner and wonders what the Sam Hill is up with these citified goobers anyway.”
— Charles P. Pierce, “Happy Mother’s Day with a PAC o’ Lies,” Esquire, May 10, 2012.

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Happy Mother’s Day 2012

Posted in 2012 Election, Cartoon, Christopublicans, Collagatorial, Health Care, Humor, Republicans | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Today’s Quotes: On Mothers

“The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”
Honore de Balzac

“God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.”
Jewish Proverb

“My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch.”
Jack Nicholson

“Not all mothers are wonderful mothers. Mine used to leave me in the car while she shopped when I was little — and point out the keys were in the ignition.”
Anthony Clifton

“The day you become a separate individual is the day you realize your mother is a human being with the same flaws and weaknesses as all of us have. The day you become an adult is the day you love her in spite of that.”
Dr. Jess Richana

“A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after.”
Peter De Vries

“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.”
— Sophia Loren

“Woman in the home has not yet lost her dignity, in spite of Mother’s Day, with its offensive implication that our love needs an annual nudging, like our enthusiasm for the battle of Bunker Hill.”
— John Erskine

“Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children.”
— Sam Levenson

“It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn’t.”
Barbara Kingsolver

“Growing up, my mother was always my best friend — which made high school a really humiliating experience. ‘What’s our next class, Jan?’
Janice Greenly

“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.”
— Oscar Wilde, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” (1895).

“Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children.”
Marilyn Penland

“If you have even one balled-up kleenex or paper towel in any of your pockets, l’m gonna take you to the home today.”
— Kathy Griffin, kidding about her mother Maggie.

“There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.”
Chinese Proverb

“A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.”
Author Unknown

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Weird Mother’s Day Pix

[Note: I’ll probably put some others up later today.]

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