Two State Solution

State Senator Joseph E. Robach, a Republican who represents part of Rochester, has proposed legislation that would allow each of New York State’s 62 counties to hold a referendum in 2010 to ask voters this question: “Do you support the division of New York into two separate states?”

How might that play out?

Laws of Virginia

hacked from TPMWire: State Delegate James Edmunds (R) is upset about a state law that prohibits possession of "any wild bird or wild animal or the carcass or any part thereof, except as specifically permitted by law."

Virginia, February 1, 2010:

• Edmunds wanted to hang a pair of deer antlers is his office
• Edmunds discovered that the antlers were considered contraband by the state.
• Edmunds introduces a bill that would exclude "possession of shed antlers" from this law.
• Edmunds bill pass into law, 95-1.
• Edmonds hangs his shed antlers in his state house office, declares victory over the repression of shed antlers.
  

The Long DeLay

Some months ago, in an undoubtedly perverse state of mind, a trigger set off a query: what ever happened to that fuckwad Tom DeLay? That question alone makes me think, hope, that such a question would trigger in a beery pub poli-chat. I hope this is the case, because I'd rather not discover that I'm secretly wondering about the fate of Tom DeLay alone, and not without inebriation and a bar full of drunken yowlers yowling about those "fucking Republicans! What the fuck is wrong with those guys?" greasing the slide toward wondering about the fate of Tom DeLay.

Last most of us heard, DeLay was indicted in a campaign money-laundering scam -- running corporate cash through the RNC and shunting it back to DeLay's state-based TRMPAC. He scrapped and howled -- partisan witchhunt! cried the witch. Then he resigned. Fox jacked around with him for awhile, but even they finally realized that Tom DeLay needed to be on teevee less.

But still, what happened? Especially, whatever happened to that indictment? Well, some months have passed, the erstwhile bout of DeLay delirium remains just that, and what pops onto the screen at the TPM wire:

State high court backs money laundering indictments in DeLay case.

Asked, and answered, with judicious lag time.

Sadly, the case is not actually about Tom DeLay, but two co-conspirators, similarly indicted.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals today upheld the money laundering indictments against James Ellis and John Colyandro in a political ethics case tied to former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

DeLay was not directly involved in the appeal, but his trial had been postponed while the indictments against Colyandro and Ellis were on appeal. All three men have been indicted on charges of illegally laundering corporate money through the Republican National Committee in exchange for individual contributions to help Republican state House candidates in the 2002 elections.

So, Tom DeLay is still awaiting trial on state money laundering charges. The indictment was filed, Oct 3, 2005.

And this is funny, here's the kind of legal thinking seen in the lower courts of Texas, the kind of thinking that just might help out Tom DeLay.

Judge Sharon Keller said the lower appeals court had "Inappropriately" over-stepped its bounds in a habeus corpus hearing by determining the money laundering law violated Ellis and Colyandro's First Amendment rights of free speech.

"Lower appeals," as in, hairy knuckles dragging on the ground lower. Presumably, buying off judges is also protected under the first amendment. It really is still the wild freaking west out there to some people.

To gain the world and forfeit your soul

Reading along about how those damnable oil companies "fought off new safety rules" just prior to the big explosion in the Gulf. Yeah, shocking.

I'm not going to go off on a rant about what a bunch of stupid fucking dipshits the oil companies are, but this little clip ought to give everyone a very clear idea about what a bunch of stupid fucking dipshits the oil companies are.

Calling the new rules, they always call new rules designed to rein in at least one of their many foul behavioural vectors, an "unnecessary burden," Oilies conspired to defeat any new safety regulations regarding off shore drilling. One is loathe to wonder, new rules? what would they do? The oilies have been breaking actual rules and laws for decades, and nothing seemed to happen; just as in the mining industry. Of course, production overrode it all:

"there is tremendous pressure to put production first."

First, and only. Or so the clever ones thought.

How's that "production first" priority working out?

Now that production has been put first, there are 11 dead guys and a very fucking expensive rig at the bottom of the fucking Gulf. And, if there is justice in the world, a blizzard of lawsuits will unleash upon your thick, stupid heads, and the insurance companies will fight you fucks forever. Hopefully, your stock plummets amid a legalistic quagmire that will ultimately doom your existence. By all that is proper and just, the load of managers in charge who brought about the carnage ought to be facing manslaughter charges.

I know ... dreams.

Do you jackasses not remember shop class? Safety first. Remember? The reason for "safety first" was that you could get seriously fucked up. Except, when you never turn the lathe, you don't really appreciate what the goddamned thing could do to you.

No, of course they don't remember. They cannot remember. They never took shop class. But if they had, they would have been the ones who got other guys wounded in shop class.

Lurking in the back scenes ... guess who? Halliburton. Yeah. Fucking up the well cap. Which, of course, blew. Proud to be American, those Halliburton guys. Oh yeah, forgot. They shipped out to Dubai. Not so proud then. Ha! my bad.

things are so bright ...

So, I'm readin' over there at the Beeb, how the Chinese are taking to western luxury brands -- big time -- they want all the fancy do-dads. With the burnishing prospect of tens of millions of Chinese consumers soaking up the glories of the West, the "tanned and relaxed" director of global communications for Rolls Royce, Richard Carter, seemed pleased at the development of a Chinese taste for status and luxury.

"The Chinese have taken to Western luxury brands in a very satisfactory fashion. They understand the notion of luxury - and not just in motor cars: watches, yachts, aeroplanes and so on. We are doing very well here."

Yes, this is just what the earth needs.

Focksnooze Science and Technology: 99.9% pure

Who can but laugh at what Fox News pumps out as "Science and Technology"? "Has Noah's Ark been found on a Turkish Mountaintop?" Cutting edge stuff, to be sure, right up there with nanobots. Naturally, the Catholic News Agency latched on hard.

Readers are informed that "Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers" have found Noah's Ark -- for real this time! Not like the last time some dumb-ass jag-off said he found a fictional artifact that had somehow transmogrified itself into real world matter.

And just what the fuck is an "evangelical explorer," anyway? Some glassy eyed dipshit wandering the earth lookin' for shit that ain't there? Funding streams largely unknown.

This new "evangelical explorer" crowd even managed to use "carbon dating" -- real sciencey stuff -- to show that the wood is 4800 years old! Well, by god! That's exactly when the flood is supposed to have happened, according to the Bible. Therefore ... . You see how it all makes sense.

The entire tone of the article is simply amazing, and not just in the sense that they present Noah's Ark and its surrounding fable as unquestionable fact, "It's not 100 percent that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it." There is no question as to whether there is or was an ark, but only whether this pile of beams is it.

So, there you go! Despite zero evidence that such a monstrous, devastating event occurred a mere 4800 years ago, a flood filled the world, and dumped a small boat that supposedly housed two of every living land creature on the planet -- except for those dag-blasted dinosaurs, thank goodness -- several thousand feet above current sea level on the gentle, cradling slopes of Urartu. Carbon dating proves it!

Of course, I cannot help but wonder what those Egyptians were doing building all those pyramids when the world was under water? Clearly, they had no idea what was going on.

The invidious one

“PowerPoint makes us stupid.”
                  -- Gen. James N. Mattis
                     Joint Forces commander
                     U.S. Marine Corps

Apart from all the other built-in stupid, you mean?