The Nattering Nabob

http://twitter.com/ignatzz

2010-01-13T20:41:00.001-05:00

Should anybody still check this blog, I am now tweeting my little head off at http://twitter.com/ignatzz

Why are we so SURPRISED?

2009-03-20T22:29:00.002-04:00

All this outrage over AIGs bonuses. People are FURIOUS at the behaviour, the greed, the theft, and the brazenness of these corporations.

Where was it before?

June 29, 2008

Firms Owe Billions In Unpaid Payroll Taxes
By REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 1.6 million U.S. businesses owe the Internal Revenue Service more than $58 billion in unpaid taxes for Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance, a government watchdog agency said on Tuesday.

Did anybody seem to mind?

January 5, 2007:

Contractor Fraud Unchecked In Iraq
Jan. 5, 2007
by Christine Lagorio

(CBS) The U.S. has currently spent at least $437 billion on the Iraq war, according to the Congressional Research Service. An estimated $100 billion will be spent in 2007. Much of that money is going to 60,000 civilian contractors involved in reconstruction and providing services to the troops.

But recently, the Pentagon admitted it has a hard time accounting for how billions of your tax dollars are being spent and the billions that may be lost to contractor waste, fraud and abuse.

Did anybody seem to mind?

If you want to know why AIG seems completely surprised that people object to their ripping off millions from the taxpayers - it's because corporations have been doing it for YEARS. Openly. And it was considered completely OK. In fact, it was lauded and it was defended as the best way of doing business.

2009-02-23T09:51:00.000-05:00

My New Deal

2009-02-15T20:30:00.001-05:00

Some Republicans are complaining that they don't support the stimulus package, but will have to pay for it anyway.

So here's the deal:

The $787 billion stimulus works about to about $2,623 per American citizen. Yes, that's a lot of money and if you don't support the bill, I agree, you should get that back. Agreed?

Okay. I don't support the $5.7 trillion in new debt racked up by the Republicans for a war and tax cuts for the rich. That works out to $19,000 per citizen. So, the Republicans can write me a check for $16,377 and we'll call it even.

2009-02-15T14:47:00.001-05:00

2009-02-10T21:21:00.001-05:00

Ok.

This is from the Onion News Network, and must be posted.

This is NOT from the Onion

2009-01-21T19:44:00.000-05:00

Former French President Chirac hospitalised after mauling by his clinically depressed poodle

And Stand-Up Comics everywhere are looking up to the heavens and saying "Thank you."

Well, that's hitting the ground running

2009-01-21T18:53:00.002-05:00

(CBS/AP) - The Obama administration announced salary freezes for White House employees making over $100,000 a year, placed new limits on lobbyists' White House access and had aides circulate a draft executive order that would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within a year.

The new lobbying rules will not only ban aides from trying to influence the administration when they leave his staff. Those already hired will be banned from working on matters they have previously lobbied on, or to approach agencies that they once targeted.

The rules also ban lobbyists from giving gifts of any size to any member of his administration. It wasn't immediately clear whether the ban would include the traditional "previous relationships" clause, allowing gifts from friends or associates with which an employee comes in with strong ties.

This I'll believe when I see it. Bribery and graft (excuse me - "contributions") have become de facto legal on Capitol Hill. He should also use his influence to push for its end in Congress.

Quoth the Bush: "I have political capital, and I intend to spend it." It would be nice to spend it on something that's actually GOOD.

Hillary is Secretary of State

2009-01-21T18:34:00.001-05:00

Vote was 94-2.

How now, down Dow?

2009-01-21T13:18:00.000-05:00

The Dow.

Bush takes office
$10578.20

Bush leaves office:
$7949.09

George W. Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to leave office with the market lower than when he took office.

And it's a LOT lower than when he took office.

2009-01-20T10:52:00.001-05:00

"Well, Doctor, what have we got — a Republic or a Monarchy?"

"A Republic, if you can keep it." - Benjamin Franklin

I guess it's still there

2009-01-20T10:50:00.000-05:00

2009-01-20T10:48:00.001-05:00

From the Onion:

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job

November 5, 2008

WASHINGTON—African-American man Barack Obama, 47, was given the least-desirable job in the entire country Tuesday when he was elected president of the United States of America. In his new high-stress, low-reward position, Obama will be charged with such tasks as completely overhauling the nation's broken-down economy, repairing the crumbling infrastructure, and generally having to please more than 300 million Americans and cater to their every whim on a daily basis. As part of his duties, the black man will have to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind. The job comes with such intense scrutiny and so certain a guarantee of failure that only one other person even bothered applying for it. Said scholar and activist Mark L. Denton, "It just goes to show you that, in this country, a black man still can't catch a break."

Keith Olbermann - 8 years in 8 minutes

2009-01-18T10:34:00.001-05:00

Post mortem of the last eight years

2009-01-16T13:43:00.003-05:00

What really bothers me about Republicans isn't what they stand for. It's that they don't stand for ANYTHING. They have absolutely no principles and no core beliefs.

See, they sometimes actually say stuff I agree with. But then, when push comes to shove, they don't mean a word of it.

For years, they've been talking about the danger of Big Government, and how we shouldn't trust the Government. I agree totally. We shouldn't trust the Government.

But once they got into power, they threw that right out the window, didn't they?

Once Bush took office, the same people who said we shouldn't trust the Government sat supinely while the Government created "Free Speech Zones" and said that we only had First Amendment rights if we were too far away for the Government to hear what we were saying.

When the Government said that they didn't have to respond to subpoenaes; that they didn't have to answer questions; that they should be allowed to operate in total secrecy and that what they did was none of the American Peoples' business - the people who once said we shouldn't trust the Government went along like docile sheep, and verbally attacked any American who had the nerve to say that we shouldn't trust the Government.

When Bush tried to invest absolutely authority in himself with absurd legal mumbo-jumbo called the "Doctrine of the Unitary Executive," the same people who said that we shouldn't trust the Government said that we must place TOTAL trust in the Government, or we were traitors.

The people who said we shouldn't trust the Government tried to stack the Government top-to-toe with partisan hacks who would do nothing but obey orders like automatons, and who would ask no questions and never differ.

The people who said we shouldn't trust the Government tried to prevent the citizens of the United States from having any say in the Government.

In the next four years, any time Republicans complain about the Government having too much authority, they should be laughed at and ridiculed as the hypocrites that they are.

When the rubber hit the road; when it counted; when it actually might have cost them something, the Republican Party turned out to not believe ANY of the stuff they claimed to believe.

They are the biggest lovers of Big Government and the greatest promoters of Absolute Government Authority in this nation. And they should not be allowed to pretend otherwise.

How the hell do they justify their actions of the last eight years? How can they justify trying to hand over all authority to a SINGLE human being? How can they justify trying to strip the American People of having any say over their own nation? How can they justify trying to turn America into an Authoritarian Regime - a nation in which the Bureaucracy has absolute power and the people have none?

Are they just going to pretend that it didn't happen?

How must it feel to have gutted all your principles for the sake of a failed, unfinished, childish human being like George W. Bush?

I am still alive, you know

2009-01-16T08:45:00.001-05:00

2008-12-31T17:04:00.000-05:00

Pardon? What pardon?

2008-12-26T09:11:00.002-05:00

Bush pardoned a guy named Robert Toussie, and then took it back (can you IMAGINE how much that sucks if you're Robert Toussie?) See, Toussie's father had contributed to the Republican party, and Bush thought there might be the appearance of impropriety.

So, in Bush world, pardon a guy who is related to someone who contributed to your party has the appearance of impropriety - but pardoning your own Vice-President's chief of staff doesn't?

Oh, yeah - that makes LOADS of sense.

2008-12-25T07:36:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

Warm out there.

2008-12-24T18:21:00.001-05:00

2008-12-24T18:16:00.001-05:00

2008-12-23T08:54:00.002-05:00

"History will note that the point of the Constitution is that the ends don't always justify the means -- and that nowhere in the document can be found the phrase 'so what?'" - Eugene Robinson

We have our allies back

2008-12-23T08:46:00.003-05:00

I will never, until the day I die, understand why the Bushies thought it was a good idea for America to antagonize her allies. But they pursued antagonism as though it was part of a grand master strategy. "Look how clever we are - we've pissed Europe off! Isn't that GREAT?" And that's the sort of thing where the people doing it don't seem to just have wrong opinions: they seem flat insane.

But this is an example of WHY it's actually a good thing to have some friends in the world.

Guantanamo prisoners may head to Europe
Several countries consider taking detainees after Bush leaves White House

European nations have begun intensive discussions both within and among their governments on whether to resettle detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a significant overture to the incoming Obama administration, according to senior European officials and U.S. diplomats.

The willingness to consider accepting prisoners who cannot be returned to their home countries, because of fears they may be tortured there, represents a major change in attitude on the part of European governments. Repeated requests from the Bush administration that European allies accept some Guantanamo Bay detainees received only refusals.

The Bush administration "produced the problem," Karsten Voigt, coordinator of German-American cooperation at the German Foreign Ministry, said in a telephone interview. "With Obama, the difference is that he tries to solve it."

It's time to bury laissez faire

2008-12-22T23:16:00.002-05:00

Thus spake Arianna:

The collapse of Communism as a political system sounded the death knell for Marxism as an ideology. But while laissez-faire capitalism has been a monumental failure in practice, and soundly defeated at the polls, the ideology is still alive and kicking.

The only place you can find an American Marxist these days is teaching a college linguistic theory class. But you can find all manner of free market fundamentalists still on the Senate floor or in Governor's mansions or showing up on TV trying to peddle the deregulation snake oil.

If a politician announced he was running on a platform of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" he would be laughed off the stage. That is also the correct response to anyone who continues to make the case that markets do best when left alone.

It's time to drive the final nail into the coffin of laissez-faire capitalism by treating it like the discredited ideology it inarguably is.

In a comprehensive piece on what led to the mortgage crisis and the subsequent financial meltdown, the New York Times shows how the Bush administration's devotion to unregulated markets was a primary cause of our economy to ruin. But the otherwise fascinating piece puts too much focus on the "mistakes" the Bush team made by not paying attention to the warning signs popping up all around them.

"There is no question we did not recognize the severity of the problems," claimed Al Hubbard, Bush's former chief economic adviser. "Had we, we would have attacked them."

But the mistake wasn't in not recognizing the "severity of the problems" -- the mistake was the ideology that led to the problems. Communism didn't fail because Soviet leaders didn't execute it well enough. Same with free market fundamentalism. In fact, Bush and his team did a bang-up job executing a defective theory. The problem wasn't just the bathwater; the baby itself is rotten to the core.

Cokie wins!

2008-12-22T20:40:00.002-05:00

She no doubt deserved it, but I think I preferred Chris Matthews finding it very troubling that Obama ordered orange juice.

Shop at Wal-Mart, get your credit slashed.

2008-12-22T14:37:00.002-05:00

This guy got his credit limit cut despite a perfect payment record because American Express didn't like where he shopped.

See, OTHER people who had bought things there had bad credit histories. Doesn't that make LOADS of sense?

And Republicans kiss the asses of these credit companies, swear that they can do no wrong, and think we should hand them our national sovereignty, and let THEM make the rules for US.

We live in VERY hard times

2008-12-22T12:47:00.002-05:00

Last week, Beetle Bailey had a mention of the horrors of war.

This week, Archie takes on the bad economy.

How can I put this?

When ARCHIE starts taking on social issues - we are in deep shit.

If you say so, Dick

2008-12-22T11:25:00.003-05:00

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday vigorously defended the White House’s use of broad executive powers during the last eight years, saying he believed that historians would ultimately look favorably on the Bush administration’s efforts to keep the nation safe.

The frightening thing isn't that the poor failure is hoping that Future Historians will declare that shit smells like flowers, the frightening thing is that he flat out claims that there is no limit to Executive Power during wartime.

And, of course, we no longer need Congress to declare war. We've fought the last FOUR wars without Congress declaring one of them.

So all a President has to do is go to war - unilaterally - and he instantly assumes the powers of a dictator, according to Cheney.

That's frightening. And it's frightening that we actually had such a fascist as our Number Two (no pun intended) for eight years.

Caroline Kennedy is a celebrity

2008-12-22T11:20:00.003-05:00

So say the New York Republicans:

Caroline Kennedy, who has placed her name in contention as a replacement for Sen. Hillary Clinton, was slammed by New York Republicans who view her as a "celebrity" without the qualifications necessary to function in Congress.

1) I hope Paterson doesn't pick her for a Senator. She really DOESN'T have the qualifications, and just has her name.

2) I have NO PATIENCE with people who chose Sarah Palin as a Vice-Presidential candidate saying somebody ELSE is unqualified and just a celebrity.

Beetle Bailey is bit dark today.

2008-12-18T08:57:00.001-05:00

Of all strips.

o-KAY, then

2008-12-17T09:16:00.002-05:00

Unlike Bush's usual incoherent babble, this time he actually said what he meant to say:

"I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system," Bush told CNN television, saying he had made the decision "to make sure the economy doesn't collapse."

Bush's comments reflect an extraordinary departure from his longtime advocacy for an unfettered free market, as his administration has orchestrated unprecedented government intervention in the face of a dire financial crisis.

"I am sorry we're having to do it," Bush said.

But Bush said government action was necessary to ease the effects of the crisis, offering perhaps his most dire assessment yet of the country's economy.

"I feel a sense of obligation to my successor to make sure there is not a, you know, a huge economic crisis. Look, we're in a crisis now. I mean, this is -- we're in a huge recession, but I don't want to make it even worse."

Notice that there isn't even a HINT that maybe those "free-market principles" were simply WRONG in the first place. Faith-based ideology can't be wrong. Corporatism is Bush's actual religion, and there are few things stupider than treating an economic idea as a religion.

Phat Tacks

2008-12-16T10:08:00.002-05:00

This is making me dislike Paterson, too:

Governor Paterson proposes 'Obesity Tax,' a tax on non-diet sodas

ALBANY - A can of Coke could soon cost New Yorkers more than just calories.

Gov. Paterson, as part of a $121 billion budget to be unveiled Tuesday, will propose an "obesity tax" of about 15% on nondiet drinks.

This means a Diet Coke might sell for a $1 - even as the same size bottle of its calorie-rich alter ego would go for $1.15.

Aside from the fact that I'm generally opposed to "sin taxes" enyway, this is just STUPID. Doesn't Paterson realize that some people are skinny? What, is a skinny guy supposed to drink diet soda or get charged more? What about people who struggle to keep their weight up? They get penalized? Obesity is a problem, but is NOT something where one size fits all.

Carolin Kennedy wants to be a Senator

2008-12-16T09:46:00.002-05:00

Personally, I'm not sure what to think New York State Governor Paterson: so far he seems like a non-entity. But I'll probably be judging him on this nonsense. Sorry, Caroline: your father was great; your uncle was great. You need a bit more that just a last name to be a Senator, though. At least, I hope so.

Obama won

2008-12-16T09:29:00.002-05:00

Seriously: today it's official. The electoral college - that bizarre shadowy group that does the voting for us about whom we know nothing - actually voted yesterday.

It will actually become Officially Official on January 6th, when Congress experiences an Epiphany and actually counts the votes.

And then it will become Officially Officially Official on January 20th at the inauguration.

What fun.

Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead

2008-12-13T10:32:00.001-05:00

From Michael Moore:

Friends,

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.

Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.

But instead, the Senate said, we'll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That's right. After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers -- billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever -- the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.

We have a little more than a month to go of this madness. As I sit here in Michigan today, tens of thousands of hard working, honest, decent Americans do not believe they can make it to January 20th. The malaise here is astounding. Why must they suffer because of the mistakes of every CEO from Roger Smith to Rick Wagoner? Make management and the boards of directors and the shareholders pay for this.

Of course that is heresy to the 31 Republicans who decided to blame the poor, miserable autoworkers for this mess. And our wonderful media complied with their spin on the morning news shows: "UAW Refuses to Give Concessions Killing Auto Bailout Bill." In fact the UAW has given concession after concession, reduced their benefits, agreed to get rid of the Jobs Bank and agreed to make it harder for their retirees to live from week to week. Yes! That's what we need to do! It's the Jobs Bank and the old people who have led the nation to economic ruin!

But even doing all that wasn't enough to satisfy the bastard Republicans. These Senate vampires wanted blood. Blue collar blood. You see, they weren't opposed to the bailout because they believed in the free market or capitalism. No, they were opposed to the bailout because they're opposed to workers making a decent wage. In their rage, they were driven to destroy the backbone of this country, not because the UAW hadn't given back enough, but because the UAW hadn't given up.

It appears that the sitting President has been looking for a way to end his reign by one magnanimous act, just like a warlord on his feast day. He will put his finger in the dyke, and the fragile mess of an auto industry will eke through the next few months.

That will give the Senate enough time to demand that the bankers and investment sharks who've already swiped nearly half of the $700 billion gift a chance to make the offer of cutting their pay.

Fat chance.

Yours,
Michael Moore

Unfit to serve

2008-12-12T14:21:00.002-05:00

The Illinois Attorney General is requesting that the Illinois Supreme Court declare Blago-whatever-the rest-of that-unpronouncable-name-is "unfit to serve," which would strip him of his powers, and prevent him from appointing a Senator.

Good. GET HIM OUT.

What a totally repulsive asshole.

2008-12-12T13:23:00.000-05:00

Quote

2008-12-10T21:58:00.000-05:00

"An Obama job approval rating of 79 percent -- that's the sort of rating you see when the public rallies around a leader after a national disaster. To many Americans, the Bush administration was a national disaster." - Bill Schneider

Ask Obama a question

2008-12-10T14:35:00.002-05:00

President-elect Obama has set up a webpage where anyone can ask a question. It is currently for the transition team, and will be extended to the administration. In addition, there is a way for users to RATE the questions. I doubt he'll answer every one - he'd never do anything else - but it would seem to be difficult for him to NOT answer questions that have a high rating.

It seems to be a rather daring thing to do, and speaks well of openness and self-confidence. Can you IMAGINE Bush - who needed EVERYTHING scripted - doing this?

Here's to transparency.

Obama: The Blagman should resign

2008-12-10T14:29:00.001-05:00

Good. Now say it louder.

2008-12-10T14:28:00.001-05:00

2008-12-10T08:54:00.001-05:00

Blago

2008-12-09T13:57:00.001-05:00

Here's some information from a kos diary that's very interesting:

The governor, accused of seeking cash for the political appointment of Obama's Senate replacement, is not a close associate of the President-elect. Indeed, in the affidavit, Blagojevich called Obama a "motherfucker" for wanting him to appoint an official that the governor either did not like or wouldn't receive money from. Local news reports, meanwhile, suggest that it was Obama chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel who blew the whistle on the governor.

Read the whole thing.

Good riddance. And the liberal media.

2008-12-09T13:13:00.004-05:00

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges on Tuesday, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat President-elect Barack Obama, federal prosecutors said.

While Obama has long distanced himself from the governor -- who has been under investigation on other issues for months -- Blagojevich's arrest was likely to be an embarrassment to the president-elect, who takes office on January 20

In the first place - how the HELL could this moron think he wouldn't get caught? I mean, you can't try to sell a SENATE SEAT and just tell two of your friends. There must be dozens of people you have to let know about it. So how the hell could he expect to keep it a secret? Good Riddance, Corrupt-And-Stupid.

And notice this: "While Obama has long distanced himself from the governor...Blagojevich's arrest was likely to be an embarrassment to the president-elect."

If he's "long distanced" himself from the guy, why would it be an embarrassment for him?

Because the right-wing will try to MAKE it one, and the "liberal media" will repeat whatever the right-wing says, maybe?

Why am I not surprised?

2008-12-08T15:42:00.002-05:00

To find out that the Chairman of the South Carolina GOP belonged to a racist club?

And mind you, the guy is campaigning for leadership of the WHOLE GOP:

State GOP chairman Katon Dawson, who is campaigning to lead the national Republican Party organization, has resigned a 12-year membership in a whites-only Columbia country club.

Dawson said last week his continued membership at Forest Lake Club could become a distraction to his efforts to help win elections for Republicans in South Carolina.

He resigned Monday as The State pursued an article on his membership in the club and his role in an internal push to admit African-Americans as members.

The nearly 80-year-old Forest Lake Club — whose deed has a whites-only restriction — has no black members, said four club members. They asked not to be identified because the club does not discuss its membership.

He JUST RESIGNED because he thought it would make his push to lead the GOP problematic. He SAYS he's been opposing it since August - four months ago. He's been a member for 12 years.

"Whites only" clubs?

Seriously - those still exist?

2008-12-08T15:39:00.001-05:00

2008-12-06T13:21:00.003-05:00

Obama is promising to roll out the most extensive public works projects since Eisenhower. Roads, bridges, schools, internet, and increasing energy efficiency. And create jobs while doing it.

That isn't an idea whose time has come; it's an idea that's LONG overdue.

The buck stops where?

2008-12-05T08:58:00.001-05:00

From Salon.

Scratching the poll itch

2008-12-04T08:41:00.002-05:00

BTW, when you hear the incessant whining from the usual suspects over Obama's cabinet picks, you can always just point out that 75% seem to approve.

The remaining ones, no doubt, are largely made up of nutjobs who STILL think Bush did a good job.

And who did they THINK he was going to appoint? A bunch of Illinois State Senators? Can you IMAGINE the screaming?

All the World's a Court

2008-12-04T08:26:00.003-05:00

1998, Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute which founded the International Criminal Court (ICC), establishing an International Court to deal with acts genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

In 2002, Bush "unsigned" it.

Currently, almost every nation in Europe belongs to the ICC. We don't.

Our company in refusing to join? China, Russia and India. Good folks, eh?

Roger Cohen thinks that getting back in should be a top priority for the Obama administration.

Of the many issues that have soured relations between Europe and the United States under the Bush administration, few have been as poisonous as America’s refusal to join the world’s first permanent war crimes court here. The snub has been seen as a symbol of U.S. contempt for the rule of law....

Only by aligning America again with international law can the damage inflicted on America’s image and appeal by the Bush administration be undone.

Bush is moving to the city

2008-12-03T22:32:00.000-05:00

The AP says the first lady’s press secretary confirmed Wednesday that the couple are purchasing a home in Dallas.

We always knew that the Crawford "ranch" was phony PR. This just confirms it.

O Freedom

2008-12-03T17:42:00.001-05:00

Odetta died.

When teenage kid from Hibbing, Minnesota named Robert Zimmerman heard Odetta sing Buked and Scorned - he sold his electric guitar and bought an acoustic.

This is cool

2008-12-03T14:28:00.002-05:00

World's oldest living animal discovered after he is pictured in 1900 photograph

As a photograph it looks fairly unremarkable - a tortoise nibbles at the grass in front of a Boer War prisoner and guard.

But the pictures helps to mark the reptile as the oldest animal on the planet.

Jonathan, the tortoise, is believed to be 176-years-old and was about 70 at the time the black and white picture was taken.

He was photographed during the Boer War around 1900, and his life has spanned eight British monarchs from George IV to Elizabeth II, and 50 prime ministers.

It was taken on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, where Jonathan still lives today, along with five other tortoises David, Speedy, Emma, Fredricka and Myrtle, in a plantation.

This rare picture of a Boer war prisoner snapped on the remote island of St Helena, has shed light on one of the planets oldest living inhabitants Photo: BNPS.CO.UK

Jonathan, the tortoise, still alive today Photo: BNPS.CO.UK

The previous oldest tortoise was widely thought to be Harriet, a giant Galapagos Land tortoise, who died in 2005 aged 175 in Australia.

Despite his old age, locals say he still has the energy to regularly mate with the three younger females.

A spokesman for the island's tourist board said Jonathan is owned by the St Helena government and lives in the specially built plantation on the governor's land.

He said: "Jonathan is the sole survivor of three tortoises that arrived on St Helena Island in 1882.

"He was already mature when he arrived and was at least 50-years-old.

"Therefore his minimum age is 176-years-old. He is the oldest inhabitant on St Helena and is claimed to be the oldest living tortoise in the world.

"He lives in the grounds of Plantation House which is the governor's residence with five other tortoises who are much younger than him.

"Apparently he remained nameless for the most part of his residence in St Helena until he was named by Governor Sir Spencer Davis in the 1930s.

"He feeds on the grass of the main paddock.

"Jonathan is still very active despite his age and adores attention, he is a real poser.

"He seems to be sightless in one eye, but does not let that slow him down."

It is thought Jonathan, from the species Testudinipae cytodira, was brought to St Helena from the Seychelles as a mature adult in 1882.

His remarkable existance has come to light after the photograph was discovered as part of a collection of Boer War images taken by a man named L.A. Innes who had a studio in the British overseas territory's capital Jamestown.

The pictures were recently sold at auction for #4,000 by Andrew Smith and Son auctioneers near Winchester, Hants.

Further investigation by the auctioneers revealed the tortoise in the picture was Jonathan who was still alive.

St Helena has a population of more than 4,200. Its greatest claim to fame came when Napoleon was exiled there in 1815.

He was held prisoner there until his death in 1821 and is buried there.

Another tortoise, Timothy, who was a ship's mascot in the Crimean War, died at his home at Powderham Castle, near Exeter, Devon, in 2004, aged 160. The castle's Rose Garden had been his home since 1935.

2008-12-03T08:59:00.001-05:00

Desperate for a legacy

2008-12-02T20:27:00.003-05:00

Even if it means phonying up the facts

"The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq," Bush said. "I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess."

Awww. He wishes the intelligence had been different.

He cherry picked to get a pre-determined result.

Remember? Joe Wilson and Scott Ritter told us that there were NO WMDs. So Bush exposed Wilson's wife as a CIA agent and invented discredited claims of pedophilia to attack Ritter.

Ain't it nice?

2008-12-01T13:25:00.002-05:00

Hillary Clinton. Robert Gates. Janet Napolitano. Three picks. None of them cronies. None of them Yes People. None of them ideologues. Yes, I'm a bit leerry of Gates, but it may have been smart not to change horses in mid-stream during a war, so I'll withhold judgment. But Obama is obviously willing to appoint people who DISAGREE with him, as long as they are smart, pragmatic, experienced and are willing to place country before party.

That's a BIG change.

And in the neocons-gone-insane department...

2008-12-01T10:42:00.002-05:00

Bill Kristol thinks torturers should get the medal of freedom.

I hope Bill Kristol keeps getting a forum, just so people keep being made aware, again and again, of just how bonkers these people are.

2008-12-01T10:40:00.000-05:00

Holy crap, it's Hillary

2008-12-01T10:37:00.002-05:00

I was waiting for the rumor to turn out to be just a rumor. But:

To make it possible for his wife to become the top U.S. diplomat, the officials said, former President Clinton agreed:

-to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation since its inception in 1997 and all contributors going forward.

-to refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference.

-to cease holding CGI meetings overseas.

-to volunteer to step away from day-to-day management of the foundation while his wife is secretary of state.

-to submit his speaking schedule to review by the State Department and White House counsel.

-to submit any new sources of income to a similar ethical review.

For the Big Dog to agree to all that, getting the job must have been very important to both him and Hillary. They're supposed to announce Obama's appointments officially within the next half an hour.

There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

2008-11-23T22:04:00.002-05:00

No one as Irish as Barack Obama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

You don't believe me, I hear you say
But Barack's as Irish, as was JFK
His granddaddy's daddy came from Moneygall
A small Irish village, well known to you all

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

He's as Irish as bacon and cabbage and stew
He's Hawaiian he's Kenyan American too
He's in the white house, He took his chance
Now let's see Barack do Riverdance

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

From Kerry and cork to old Donegal
Let's hear it for Barack from old moneygall
From the lakes of Killarney to old Connemara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara T
here's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
From the old blarney stone to the great hill of Tara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

2008 the white house is green,
their cheering in Mayo and in Skibereen.
The Irish in Kenya, and in Yokahama,
Are cheering for President Barack O'Bama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

The Hockey Moms gone, and so is McCain
They are cheering in Texas and in Borrisokane,
In Moneygall town, the greatest of drama,
for our Famous president Barack O'Bama

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

The great Stephen Neill, a great man of God,
He proved that Barack was from the Auld Sod
They came by bus and they came by car,
to celebrate Barack in Ollie Hayes's Bar

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

2008-11-19T11:07:00.001-05:00

Bush's last gasp: Let's poison the parks.

2008-11-19T09:45:00.004-05:00

Is ruining things sort of like scratching an itch for Bush? Here the man is about out of office, and he won't stop.

You know what will be novel? Having an Environmental Protection Agency that think its job is to protect the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas, even though half of the EPA's 10 regional administrators formally dissented from the decision and four others criticized the move in writing.

Documents obtained by The Washington Post show that the administration's push to weaken Clean Air Act protections for "Class 1 areas" nationwide has sparked fierce resistance from senior agency officials. All but two of the regional administrators objecting to the proposed rule are political appointees.

The proposal would change the practice of measuring pollution levels near national parks, which is currently done over three-hour and 24-hour increments to capture emission spikes during periods of peak energy demand; instead, the levels would be averaged over a year. Under this system, spikes in pollution would no longer violate the law.

His defenders STILL don't get why people are so furious with George W. Bush. Well, here's a hint:

He filled the Environmental Protection Agency with friends of his who were hostile to the idea of protecting the environment.

See, it would be really hard to shut the agency down, which is what he wanted to do. So he just filled it with people who were hostile to its actual mission. Same effect without the trouble.

How is it possible not to realize how frigging insulting that is?

It's the worker's fault

2008-11-18T21:24:00.002-05:00

You've probably heard people claim that the auto companies' woes are the fault of the unions.

Well, what do they actually make?

This is from a 2006 article:

"The average Ford worker makes $50,000 a year without overtime. "

Well, gee, THAT'S certainly living high off the hog. I can't IMAGINE why a guy with a family making 50 grand a year isn't willing to take a pay cut - when his CEO makes 28 million in four months.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Struggling Ford Motor Co., which posted a record $12.7 billion net loss in 2006, gave its new CEO Alan Mulally $28 million for four months on the job, according to the company's proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday.

But remember everybody - the guy making 50 grand? It's HIS fault. The Republicans say so.

Cheney indicted

2008-11-18T20:38:00.002-05:00

Really.

McALLEN, Texas — A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.

What's really fun is that Bush will forced to pardon them BEFORE a finding of guilt or innocence is issued.

Remember: Daddy Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger and other member of his staff on Christmas Day before leaving office. And poor Junior wanted so bad to NOT be like the old man.

Like father, like son.

The lobbyist from hell.

2008-11-17T19:47:00.005-05:00

Holy crap.

Gilbert Genn is a lobbyist. A Democratic lobbyist. He's also thoroughly insane.

This guy was leaving his house to go walk his dog and the next thing you know a deer attacked him. A buck. Stabbed him in the crotch with his antlers. Repeatedly. OPENED A WOUND. In the groin.

So you know what he did, right?

He closed the wound with a paper binder clip and went lobbying. Met with the Speaker of the Maryland House.

"There was no way I could miss this meeting," Genn said.

Uh, yeah, I guess not. Obviously, a meeting with the Pope has nothing on a meeting with the Speaker of the Maryland House.

"Not to get too partisan, but I'm convinced it was a Republican deer, because it happened right where we had our Obama sign. And all the deer could do was attack, attack, attack. So it had to be a Republican deer."

He did get himself to a hospital AFTER the meeting. What a pansy, eh?

I suppose it's a good thing that he's a Democrat, since it's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in. But a guy who thinks a lobbying meeting is more important than his dick should probably be checked out. Quickly.

I mean, what the hell is he? The Democrats' G. Gordon Liddy?

On regulation and deregulation

2008-11-17T14:02:00.000-05:00

The real question is: "Who makes the rules?"

The idea that you can somehow have banks and corporations just moving money and goods around WITHOUT rules is a foolish pipe dream: won't happen, can't happen. So who makes the rules?

Well, we've seen that recently, haven't we? In the absence of government regulation, the rules are written by the lenders and banks. So you have the rules being written and re-written by people who are actually in the middle of playing the game.

And what do you wind up with? You wind up with rules where the lenders are almost completely unaccountable for their own risk. But they spread that risk to everybody else. They make the profit. YOU take their risk for them. Because they wrote the rules.

And that's what you get if you take the authority to regulate away from regulatory bodies. You still get regulation. But you get regulation where the consumer is the only one bound by any rules.

Iraq votes for us to leave

2008-11-16T15:35:00.002-05:00

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi Cabinet on Sunday approved a security pact that would set the terms for U.S. troops in Iraq.

The agreement sets June 30, 2009, as the deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from all Iraqi cities and towns, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

The date for all troops to leave Iraq will be December 31, 2011, he said.

These dates are "set and fixed" and are "not subject to the circumstances on the ground," he said.

This resolution isn't passed: it now goes to the Iraqi Parliament, which will very likely pass it.

A timetable. Not subject to circumstances on the ground.

This should not only accelerate President Obama's move to withdraw from Iraq - it will make it very hard for the right-wingers to oppose it.

2008-11-16T10:28:00.000-05:00

The Moose Stops Here

We're chumps, too.

2008-11-14T21:13:00.005-05:00

You have probably heard that AIG - after being bailed out by the taxpayer - gave $503 million dollars in bonuses to their executives.

Elijah Cummings (D-Has Spine) tore into Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and "bailout czar" Neel Kashkari and called him a chump (well, he asked if he was one, but it was a rhetorical question):

"I’m just wondering how you feel about an AIG giving $503 million worth of bonuses on the one hand, and accepting $154 billion from hard-working taxpayers. You know, because I’m trying to make sure you get it. What really bothers me is all these other people who are lined up. They say, well, is Kashkari a chump?

"I wouldn’t want to be asking my friend for some money to stay afloat....Then my friend, who can barely afford to go to McDonald’s sees me in a restaurant costing $150 a meal. There’s absolutely something wrong with that picture!" exclaimed Cummings.

Watch it. The look on Kashkari's face is priceless:

The freaky thing is that they DON'T get it. They see absolutely nothing wrong with holding up the taxpayers with tales of financial woe, and then taking $100-million-dollar bonus with the money.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?

2008-11-14T19:33:00.001-05:00

They say Obama has offered it to her.

That one, she might actually be interested in.

And BOY would it piss off the right-wingers.

A petition

2008-11-14T16:04:00.000-05:00

Dear Sarah Palin, please shut up already.

Republican Governors dis Gidget

2008-11-14T15:23:00.001-05:00

The Republican Governors Association announced its new leadership at the recent meeting.

Guess who they didn't pick?

Get Lieberman out.

2008-11-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

You know why I hate Democrats? Because they really ARE spineless. Unfortunately, the jerk-offs probably won't kick Lieberman out, because they suffer severely from battered wife syndrome.

But here's Rachel Maddow on why they should:

For the sad pathetic people suffering from election withdrawal

2008-11-13T09:39:00.005-05:00

There are still three races to be decided, and in the Alaskan Senate race, it looks like Ted Stevens - convicted felon and the moron who called the internet a "series of tubes" - is going to lose.

But how screwed up is Alaska? First they said that Stevens won by a tiny margin - but then it turned out that they hadn't counted more than 30% of the votes. 90,000 of them - uncounted.

Somebody should tell Alaska that their "hey-we're-really-an-independent-third-world-country" act gets old in a hurry.

Obama on religion

2008-11-13T08:56:00.002-05:00

Beliefnet has just published the full transcript of President-Elect Obama's 2004 interview on the subject.

Pictures, pictures, pictures

2008-11-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

Here are some great pictures of the new President-Elect by photojournalist Callie Shell. Click on the bottom to keep seeing more of them.

Uhhh...Sarah?

2008-11-12T09:08:00.002-05:00

The election is over.

The time to do media interviews was BEFORE the election.

Exit, stage right.

2008-11-11T08:20:00.000-05:00

Dean is stepping down

2008-11-10T19:24:00.001-05:00

Sic transit governor mundi, and all that.

Remember when some people said that Howard Dean was doing a TERRIBLE job as head of the DNC as though it was an established fact?

Remember when some people said that the 50-state strategy was silly, and the Democrats would be better off ignoring whole regions of the country to focus on a few swing states? Do you hear anybody say that anymore?

The Democrats have done nothing but win since he's been in charge, and you'll still hear some idiots say he's done a bad job, because they don't like this thing or that thing. Ignoring little details like the fact that he's WON.

Well, he always said he'd only serve one term. Sorry to see him go. I hope whoever takes his place was paying attention.

Good job, Governor Dean.

YEEEEAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!

Why I'm glad I don't live in Jersey

2008-11-10T11:51:00.002-05:00

Because their politicians LITERALLY piss on the citizens.

A drunken Jersey City councilman was arrested for urinating on a crowd of concertgoers from the balcony of a Washington nightclub, police and club sources said Saturday.

Councilman Steven Lipski was caught relieving himself onto several revelers at the 9:30 Club during a concert by a Grateful Dead tribute band Friday night, club sources said.

Usually, they just do that to us figuratively.

Nice Touch

2008-11-10T08:57:00.001-05:00

The Obama campaign has released an organizational chart of the Government.

The Constitution is on top.

2008-11-10T08:56:00.002-05:00

It's simple

2008-11-09T22:06:00.001-05:00

If Harry Reid decides that Joe Lieberman should remain a committee chairman, Harry Reid must go.

Enough is enough. What the hell does Lieberman have to do? Spit on Obama?

I've always liked Al Gore, but one of his worst decisions was in choosing that clown as a running mate.

My, my, my

2008-11-08T13:11:00.001-05:00

The White House Butler

Michelle Bachmann sucks up

2008-11-07T17:46:00.004-05:00

Oh, holy crap.

'After suggesting that Barack Obama had anti-American views in an exchange three weeks ago with MSNBC host Chris Matthews, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told Politico Thursday that she was "extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year." She called his victory "a tremendous signal we sent."

A signal WE sent? Funny - I dont' recall Michelle Bachmann favoring the sending of any such signal.

I suggest that Congress investigate Michelle Bachmann to make sure she doesn't harbor any anti-American views.

2008-11-07T13:35:00.001-05:00

Rahmbo

2008-11-06T13:50:00.001-05:00

Rahm Emanuel has accepted the job of Obama's Chief of Staff.

You will note that the right-wing smearers have tried to paint Obama as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. And he just appointed as his chief of staff a Jew who was a civilian volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Proposition 8, California

2008-11-06T12:45:00.001-05:00

You have probably heard that Proposition 8 - a ban on same-sex marriage which eliminates California's newly declared right of same-sex couple to marry - will probably pass in California. It hasn't been certified yet, and some votes have yet to be counted, but it will probably pass. Some groups that are reliable Democratic voters are still on the other side of this particular issue. So, in the midst of celebration, some folks who would otherwise be elated are feeling rather mournful.

I tend to write very little about same-sex marriage. I'm not sure if I've ever written about it before at all, actually. But there's a reason for that: I have absolutely no worries about the subject whatsoever. Same-sex marriage is an inevitability. Guaranteed.

If not this year, next year. Or the year after that. But it's inevitable. Gay people will NOT go back into the closet. Within a few years, same-sex marriage will be the law in the West and the Northeast. And then the rest of the states, one at a time, in fairly rapid succession.

Economic issues swing back and forth like a pendulum. But - as long as we have a democracy - civil rights issues can go in one direction only - forward. Same-sex civil rights is a rather large change, and progress has been EXTREMELY rapid. Yes, I understand that for people on the other side of the line who are still waiting to be acknowledged as legitimate it hasn't been rapid enough. But by the normal standards of such things, it's been VERY fast. Most members of the younger generation don't even UNDERSTAND homophobia - its a closed book to them. And those young people will just get older, and soon run society.

Proposition 8 was one step backwards. It may actually be ovetturned by a court anyway, but even if it isn't, it will still be succeeded by two steps forward. Guaranteed.

Patience. It's coming. And it can't be stopped.

Self-respect

2008-11-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

Roger Cohen absolutely nails it.

Beyond Iraq, beyond the economy, beyond health care, there was something even more fundamental at stake in this U.S. election won by Barack Obama: the self-respect of the American people.

From the Onion

2008-11-05T21:32:00.000-05:00

Heh.

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job

Krugman

2008-11-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

The Monster Years

Last night wasn’t just a victory for tolerance; it wasn’t just a mandate for progressive change; it was also, I hope, the end of the monster years.

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.

And in our national discourse, we pretended that these monsters were reasonable, respectable people. To point out that the monsters were, in fact, monsters, was “shrill.”

Four years ago it seemed as if the monsters would dominate American politics for a long time to come. But for now, at least, they’ve been banished to the wilderness.

Whence that wince? (A stirring song)

2008-11-05T17:49:00.000-05:00

Quoth I, "My wench, O whence that wince?"
She blushed and said, "O, sir,
My daddy isn't stirrin' since
My momma's been in stir."
- Walt Kelly

More Good news that you may not have been aware of

2008-11-05T13:48:00.002-05:00

Proposition 2 passed in California.

The proposition will prohibit the confinement of certain farm animals in structures or cages that do not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. The measure will phase out California’s use of battery cages for layers, veal crates, and sow gestation crates.

Unfortunately, it won't take effect until 2015 (I suppose to give farms time to replace their equipment). But it's something.

Palin greeted McCain's staff wearing only a towel

2008-11-05T13:00:00.001-05:00

Holy crap.

At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys' club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said.

The rest of the article makes Palin look like even more of a loose cannon and nutjob than I already thought she was.

Mandate

2008-11-05T09:28:00.001-05:00

In 2004 Bush got 286 electoral votes. Kerry got 251.

The Republicans claimed that that was a "mandate."

Somehow, I doubt that they'll say that this time around.

Last Bush bash (maybe)

2008-11-05T09:23:00.002-05:00

Bush called Obama last night and said this:

"You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations and go enjoy yourself."

"Go enjoy yourself"?

Does that explain George W. Bush's whole approach to the Presidency, or what?

Georgie, assuming that you don't get indicted...

go enjoy yourself.

No Republicans in New England

2008-11-05T09:00:00.001-05:00

Last night, Chris Shays conceded defeat in the House of Representatives.

That means that there is not one single Republican Congressmen in New England.

That's astounding.

2008-11-05T08:32:00.002-05:00

YES,
WE
DID

From FOX News:

2008-11-04T23:09:00.001-05:00

I guess if FOX news is willing to admit it, it must be real.