We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
As we see more and more of the first type of headline over the coming years, bear in mind that the House is Republican-controlled, so be careful when pointing the finger of blame as to why these run-amok agencies aren't being slapped down.
Pic: If I'm not mistaken, that's the same poster I saw back in the 70's when Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' and George Orwell's '1984' became required reading for concerned citizens everywhere.
But we laughed and laughed. The government, watching your every single move? How absurd! Ha-ha-ha!
A Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation that would block funding to schools that prohibit children from playing with imaginary guns.
Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, says the Student Protection Act aims to stop the enforcement of policies that "punish innocent children" by cutting funds to schools that abuse "zero tolerance" weapons policies.
It probably won't get anywhere, but that's the nicest thing I've seen Congress attempt in about a decade. The entire situation has literally entered the realm of the insane.
Speaking of 'insane', it's one thing if some podunk state thousands of miles away stomps its foot and says 'screw you' to federal drug laws by legalizing marijuana.
But when it happens in the Fed's own back yard, it makes the whole system look like something out of a comic book.
Probably about three doors down from the DEA. I hear they have lunch together every day.
Women In The News!
As our female readership knows, the wise and kindly Dr. Mercury is always praising their virtues and striving to help them better their lives in the midst of a cruel, wretched, male-dominated world. Recent examples are here and here.
Long live pleasant, smart women!
I'm just that kinda guy.
Today's first Woman In The News is Kirstie Alley advocating something I'm pretty sure everyone in the universe can get behind:
For maximum efficiency, I recommend the Louisville Slugger 'Billy Martin' edition:
Keep it well oiled between uses so it doesn't develop small cracks due to humidity changes.
Next up,did you hear about the horrible incident singer Beyonce had with an unruly fan? A couple of big body guards showed up and, while a tremendous struggle ensued, that fan never had a chance. But, through it all, Beyonce kept her cool, the sign of a true professional:
And she never missed a note, even when confronted by an unruly fan.
And that, friends, is professionalism.
Bad News For Conservatives Dept
Yes, very bad news, so if you happen to know any, it might be best if they left the room for a few minutes. We wouldn't want any hurt feelings.
First off, true Conservatives like Bird Dog, Barrie, NJ, the gang over at Hot Air and PJ Media, Power Line, Ace of Spades and all the rest would like to see that evil food stamps program shut down immediately. Because, as all good Conservatives believe, the best way to deal with poor people is to starve them to death.
Sure, Planned Parenthood spends less than 3% of its budget on abortions. Sure, none of it comes from taxpayers. Sure, the right wing has been lying their ass off to you when abortion mill are the first words to drip off their venomous fingers. So what! Despite their best efforts to close it down, it appears they have failed miserably in their plan to convince America that women should not be given free medical breast exams.
Well, after all that bad news, I suppose it's only right to finish up this section with a story about a cute little kitten and the crazy antics of its owners.
And if the cute little kitten lived! isn't a happy ending, then I don't know what is.
Political News
Maria Mitchell.
You know, Maria Mitchell! Hell, everybody's heard of her. First female American professional astronomer? That's her.
Oh, and an ardent feminist, I might add. For a left-leaning site like Google, she's the cat's meow.
And here's Ms. Mitchell being celebrated by them yesterday:
It was her 195th birthday, you see. Not her 192nd, not her 200th, but her 195th. It seems a tad apparent that some libber over at Google suddenly discovered this dame and just couldn't wait to get her name in highlights.
And here's how Google has celebrated the proud American holiday Memorial Day every year since they opened:
"GOP Bill Would Block Funding To Schools That Ban Imaginary Guns"
Man, would I love to see that pass. It's just amazing the situation has gotten to this point. Like you said, some of these teachers and administrators (and helpful police) are literally acting certifiably insane by standard definition. That's assuming "unable to tell Pop-Tart from real gun" is in that category.
I don't trust them. I use Google at work, but at home, my wife and I use DuckDuckGo which doesn't collect data so they have nothing to sell and nothing they can give to ghe giverment.
Of course, the House voted the NSA bill down. It is a battle between the "elites" and the rest of us, non-partisan as they say. On the bright side, it is something Democrats and Republicans in DC can agree own.
That poster is so negative. I suggest a kinder, gentler surveillance government, "Big Bro is keeping an eye on you"
And everyone knows your big brother only abuses you, well, because he can.
I tried to feed my cat a Vegan diet but she said they tasted spoiled.
I agree with your cat, and what a terrible story that's been. Remember when the peaceful Vegans landed here in 1953 as portrayed in the documentary 'Men In Black'? Remember that famous book that was written to help them, "To Serve Vegankind"?
Who would have imagined that it would turn out to be a cookbook!
And as Chapter Three clearly stated, Vegans don't store well, a fact your cat has recently discovered.
While they're a tad more expensive, kitty might enjoy a switch to Venusians instead.
"Despite their best efforts to close it down, it appears they have failed miserably in their plan to convince America that women should not be given free medical breast exams."
Remember when News Junkie posted an "abortion mill" post here? Remember when the collective readership told him to stick it up his ass and suddenly the words "abortion mill" were removed from the post? The thing is, if these guys wanted PP to just get rid of abortions, that'd be one thing, but they want the whole place closed down -- with the result being another 5,000 cases of breast cancer every year afterward because many women wouldn't be able to afford an expensive doctor visit for their exams, or get exams often enough to head off the disease while its still in its early stages. Screw those bloggers.
And I agree with Ginny up above. We've all heard stories of unruly fans, but to see one actually grab and hold on to a female singer with a death grip like that is really unsettling. You were very brave to post such a horrible video and we can only hope the Maggie's readers are strong enough to take it.
What does breast cancer screeing have to do with parenthood planning?
Planned Parenthood by its very name suggests methods to prevent or terminate the potential of parenthood. In a culturally healthy, properly ordered society I can't think of any reason for such an organization's existance. Its very existance contributes to a culturally unhealthy and disordered society.
For what it's worth breast exams don't "prevent" cancer. We don't know how to prevent most cancers and certainly cannot prevent breast cancer. At best early discovery of a cancer increases the chances it can be excised, cured or that you can buy time before it kills you. But studies show that in the case of breast cancer the tests on women without symptoms can cause more harm then good. That is there is not statistically significant increase in curing or eliminating a cancer but there is a ten fold increase in anguish and cost for the millions incorrectly diagnosed with possible cancer. Does that mean I believe we should stop any screening? No. What I believe is first we should tell the truth about the effectiveness and then allow the individual to make a informed decision. Being told you have cancer is devastating and later after months of anguish and expense and pain to find out it was all a mistake is not exactly going to make up for it. perhaps one day medical science will have better ways to detect cancer early and actual have effective treatments (more effective treatments). But today in spite of the hype, trillions spent for research and good news spots on TV most cancers remain just as lethal or treatable as they have been for the last 50 years .
Hi Doc--thought I would help lighten your load today and post this for the MF folks. It's something to watch with your second cup of joe! Not too long--but, readers need to get past the first couple of minutes. The middle part is the scary part--but, don't forget "everyone just loves him"
And thankee kindly for your contribution, although what could be 'brighter' than the cute little kitten lived! is anybody's guess. I've got the vid queued up and will give it a spin in a bit.
Well, let's get the ugly, sordid stuff over with first.
Tracked: Aug 04, 09:40