Good morning everyone!

I hope that when and if you have the time, MB will be the place for you to catch up with friends before you leave for work or start your new day. A place to relax and take a break from serious topics and discussions during your day.

You are free to talk about anything here. Introduce your favourite news stories, videos, photos, funny stories or recipes. Think of it as your space, whether you wake up with the birds or chose to have a lay in, MB is open 24/7, from 5 am EST-2 am PST.

Please feel free to drop in anytime, you are always welcome here.

I did it again. I really like Aphex Twin. Sarah is an inspiration for my creative process.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cheers

Republican Senator Goldwater launched a bid for President of the United States against Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and Goldwater was portrayed as reactionary, too right-wing and bat-shit crazy for his fights against the New Deal, unions and liberalism.

He lost the election to Johnson by one of the largest landslides in history, taking down several Republicans with him.

Goldwater was known as a ‘libertarian’ way back when, and in the 80′s when he saw the religious right’s influence with Reagan, Goldwater predicted that there would come a day when he would be labeled a “LIBERAL.”

Then there was Republican Evan Mecham, who owned a car dealership, and he won the election for governor of Arizona in 1986 and is famous for his recollections of folks calling African American children ‘pickaninny’ meant in an affectionate way.

Governor Mecham is also known for overturning the Martin Luther King Holiday and blaming working women for high divorce rates.

Governor Mecham was impeached by the voters of Arizona in April of 1988 for obstruction of justice and misuse of government funds, which he was later acquitted.

Then there was Republican Jane Hull, who bankrupted the state of Arizona with the alt-fuel fiasco, and perhaps lesser known, was that Governor Hull launched the bid of Texas Governor George Bush Jr. for President.

Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano was elected after Hull’s reign of errors, and in her first term as governor of Arizona, Governor Napolitano balanced the budget and got the state out of debt and into the black.

Governor Napolitano even managed to setup a “rainy day” fund, which has since been raided and decimated.

To be fair, midway though Governor Napolitano’s 2nd term, she did play with the numbers and credit and did leave her successor with massive debt, since no one in power saw the collapse of the housing market, which was Arizona’s main economic source.

Arizona’s State Legislature has always been Republican majority and Governor Napolitano did work with them and they would vociferously complain about her vetoes, yet she managed to get the job done.

President Obama scooped Governor Napolitano from Arizona by offering her the job as head of Homeland Security, and there were Republicans rejoicing that Janet was gone, and others saddened that she left, and others angered because she left Arizona in such dire straits.

Jan Brewer slipped into the position of Governor, as Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, and Jan Brewer is a Republican that held the position of Secretary of State.

Governor Brewer is the fourth woman, the third consecutive woman to hold the title of governor in Arizona.

Governor Brewer, an unelected governor, has not been able to work with the Republican majority in the state’s legislature.

Following former President GW Bush’s example, the Republicans shut out the Democrats from all legislative meetings, Governor Brewer only calling on the Democrats to sign her bills when the Republican majority refused.

The Arizona Democrats refused to support the legislation, since they had no voice in forming the bills, and Governor Brewer led the Republican charge that the reason the state could not balance the budget was due to the Democrats and obstruction.

The Arizona Legislature under Governor Brewer have managed to pass some of the most liberal gun laws in the country, and once again to be fair, Vermont has similar laws.

Governor Brewer was very unpopular for being unable to work within her own Republican Party, but all that changed once Governor Brewer signed the anti-immigration SB1070 into law.

I do not need to share last night’s debate between the unelected Governor Brewer and the Democratic candidate Terry Goddard as it has gone viral on the Internet.

Due to Arizona’s ‘Clean Election Law’ voted in by voters in 1996, Governor Brewer was forced to do one debate and of course, the Republican legislature has been working hard on overturning the ‘Clean Election Law’.

Last night, the local CBS station did a story on Governor Brewer’s ties to private prisons in the state, and the money they are giving to her campaign for governor.

Governor Brewer was silent when 3 dangerous criminals escaped from a private prison in Kingman and when a woman tossed wire cutters over the fence, and then two of the escapees killed a couple from Oklahoma while they were camping New Mexico.

Governor Brewer is not happy with that expose and has pulled all her ads for governor from the local CBS channel 5 in Phoenix.

On another update of Arizona news is that the Department of Justice has issued fines against Sheriff Joe due to his non-compliance with 2 subpoenas for his records regarding a DOJ investigation into abuse of power and civil rights abuse in his jails.

I’ve researched subpoenas and what it means when a person refuses to comply and it is normal for 2 warnings to be given.

This is rare, as a sheriff’s office has never refused to cooperate with a DOJ and Grand Jury investigation since Mississippi in the 1960′s.

Isn’t it amazing that Sheriff Joe is refusing to “show his papers”?

It is a given that the party out of power picks up seats in the off year election.

Why is that? The logic would seem simple. American voters have the patience and vision of a nearsighted 3 year old. Every two years after they have decided that they want a particular party to run the country, they conclude, “Where’s the unicorn I wanted?” and decide that the other party might have a better unicorn ranch…even though the very reason they elected the current party was their dissatisfaction with the delivery of unicorns by the party that was previously in power.

So, first we have to begin with the concept that no matter what the American electorate orders from the menu of Democracy, when it arrives, they always want to send it back and just get the nachos instead.

As disappointing as that principle of American Democracy may be, it creates a paradox that is inescapable.

a. If a party wants to have power, it must win elections.

b. Once a party wins an election, it is held to an unrealistic standard by an impatient public.

c. The party in power, not being able to meet unrealistic expectations is eventually viewed negatively by the public.

d. In the following election, Americans vote for the party they last voted out because, since they are not currently in power, they provide an alternative to the party in power that has failed to meet unrealistic expectations.

e. Rinse and repeat.

What is kind of depressing is that Americans seem unable to commit to long term goals, too reliant on short term gratification to solve profound issues and build long term successes. Can you imagine if the American electorate was a building contractor? Every other month it would tear down the work that had been done all month and replace all the workers because it wanted the perfect house built in a month and that didn’t happen. This is the Sisyphus School of Construction.

This paradox does however necessarily trip up all that participate in it.

The Republicans, after having handed a near Depression to Obama, have executed a Party of No campaign since he was elected. Thanks to our thriving public education system and a fair and balanced MSM , the American Public instead blames Obama and the Dems for what the GOP has wrought. So, just one and a half years after recognizing how destructive the policies of the GOP are, their bi-annual amnesia has kicked in and they’re ready to proclaim to the Party of Destruction, “Thank you sir, may I have another?”

The Republicans will win many seats in Congress, perhaps enough to take over the House. What will that mean?

Well, Michelle Bachman and Darryl Issa have boasted loudly about spending the next two years in a Clinton-style witch hunt against Obama, times 100. Joe Barton, who apologized to BP for their being asked to compensate people for ruining their lives will be in charge of energy policy. And John Boehner who declared that HCR would bring the Apocolypse will be Majority Leader in the House.

Is there a way to give the American electorate an IQ test or at the very least, a consultation with a mental health professional?

But wait, remember the cycle described above? The silver lining to the Repubs possibly taking over the House is that…they will be in power. So now the unrealistic expectations will be projected on them by the Public. In 2012 they won’t be able to run as they are this year, as the outsiders who had no control over the last two years. Uh-oh!!! Yes, they will BS about how, “If only we had all the power in DC, we could bring you the unicorns you want!” but that’s a bit more complicated than just being able to say, “Blame them, we’re not in power, nothing’s our fault!”

And as we learned from a Repub House impeaching Clinton, not to mention the 8 years of Bush and 6 years of Repub control in Congress, give them a little power and they’ll hang themselves with it.

We should work as hard as we can this year to fend off Repub control of the House but if despite all of our best efforts, they win…it could be the big motivator for Dems to get out in 2012 and re-elect Obama and a Dem majority in Congress. We may have to give up two crucial years of gridlock for at least two more years of progress but that might be the best deal we can get.

It is nearly impossible for Obama and Dems to get credit for what they prevented from happening. If we had a President McCain, I think we would have plunged into a massive depression that would have set this nation back twenty years or more from where it is today (giving tax cuts to the wealthy instead of the stimulus spending would have been the nail in the coffin). But that concept is not concrete enough for many out there to appreciate. Nor are all of the other strides Obama has made.

And don’t get me started on the Purist Dems attacking Obama, I imagine many of them smugly watching Repubs win this year, pleased at how it harms Obama’s presidency. If there was a way to give a Wedgie of Mass Discomfort to all of them, I gladly would.

Ultimately, the pendulum that passes for the mass mindset of American Voters will have a chance to swing back to sanity by 2012 and while we can’t give an inch this year, if Repubs win back the House, I think there will be a silver lining to that sulfurous cloud that could descend on DC after this November.

I did a little work today. I had a Jones to put up another video of lovely sister Sarah. So without further ado, may I present

REAL AMERICA

Click here to view the embedded video.

On Saturday, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and spoke to tens of thousands of blindingly white, patriotically obese, special needs Walmart shoppers, claiming to speak for God and urging a return to the halcyon days of religious domination of our democracy which brought America such historic hits as morally justifiable slavery, the slaughter of “heathen” Native Americans, Manifest Destiny, women as second class citizens without the right to vote, prohibition and its resulting in the explosion of organized crime and teens having lots of oral and anal sex in order to honor their Promise Rings.

As a result, as Monty Python once sang, God got quite irate. So, as He is nowadays accustomed to venting his wrath, He blogged the following and asked me to post it for Him:

GOD’S BLOG – 8-31-2010

Let me begin by saying that neither Glenn Beck nor Sarah Palin speak for me. The tip offs are, I never use chalkboards, I don’t drop the last letter of “ing” words to be folksy and lastly, I usually make sense.

Being omnipresent, I couldn’t help but watch these two and their colleagues give their speeches on Saturday at the site and on the day of my dear friend’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Though I don’t see anything wrong with the way I’ve made male dogs mark territory as their own, it is a bit off putting when people use dogs as role models for that trait (wish they copied the unconditional love and loyalty stuff instead).

What can be a little frustrating about being all-knowing is that you never get to say, “What the hell is wrong with that guy?!”, you already know. I do see all living things as my children but some days, your kids can really drive you nuts, you know what I’m talking about?

Glenn claimed that his rally was about returning honor, going back to Me and less overtly, returning power in America to White Christians. That’s like urging people to come together to build and paint a majestic cross just so you can set fire to it.

Believe me, I don’t have an inferiority complex. I’m not stomping around Heaven, upset that people aren’t ruling more countries in my name. In fact, that’s exactly what would get me upset, have you seen what happens in most countries when people declare I chose them to be the leader (my lawyers did send George Bush a Cease and Desist).

Earth is for you folks to take care of and figure out how to run. I’ve totally delegated all executive decisions to all of you, I just want to be invited to the company picnics.

Glenn Beck also urged people to sublimate themselves to me, to get on their knees and make sure their children saw them doing so. I guess the best way to do that would be to get in front of the tv and pray…though I’d guess the kids would just crane their heads around to keep killing people in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

I think this could send the wrong message. First, kids may think that their parents are praying to the tv, that I am in the tv or that Tivo is God (which it is in some households).

Second, I think kids should see that strong moral beliefs are what make their parents stand up and become leaders in their own lives. Impressing subservience is like wiring a weakness into oneself or one’s kids that less principled folks than yours truly can then use to manipulate them to further unprincipled greed and lusts.

Which brings me back to Glenn Beck. He spoke of restoring honor…and did so by dishonoring one of the most honored Americans, Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement he did so much for. Next time, I assume that Glenn will want to campaign on protecting endangered species by hunting them.

So, we can put aside this clearly illegitimate claim as the purpose of this rally, along with a reverence for me because love and respect and power for all races and religions is my thing. Also, despite the claims in their prospectuses and press releases, I am not a wholly owned subsidiary of FreedomWorks, Fox News or the GOP.

I just wish such wolves wouldn’t use me as their sheep’s clothing. The ironic thing is that in order to be so comfortable in using me to promote a self-serving agenda, such people would have to not believe in me (they clearly have no fear that they’ll ever have to face me for their transgressions).

So my suggestion is, the more you hear someone use me or their love of me to justify their actions and schemes that benefit themselves personally, the more of an atheist they probably are.

And BTW, some of my best friends are Atheists (I tell them that whether or not they believe in me, I believe in them and they’ll usually buy me a drink anyway, nice folks) so that’s not a bad thing but it does lend a bit of perspective to these situations.

Satan plays the same game as Glenn but as a practical joke, after a while, he always blurts out, “Just joking! I’m not really speaking for God and there is no barbecue tonight!”

Too bad Glenn doesn’t even display the decency of Satan. Still, it will be hilarious in a number of years, when Satan gets the chance to pull that on Glenn! Man, will he freak!

I want to thank everyone for their warm welcome. I was over at the Huffpo under the cover of my new moniker. Apparently the IP address banning department isn’t being paid enough to do their job. So I decided to have some fun with a new identity and poke at the caged animals with my intellectual stick. Intellectual: now there’s a subjective term. Okay, I’m busted – you caught me. Yes – I admit it: I am going for blood and it’s purely a personal and emotional crusade that has nothing to do with intellect. Well, the Huffpo has nothing to do with intellect either; so it’s a good match I think.

My recipe for fun includes writing little post of pure random gibberish. I learned back in 2008 when I was antagonizing posters at our local newspaper, that I could write a few random words and get the Kool aid crowd worked up pretty good. You’d be surprised at how condescending and insulting people can be – wait – I forgot my audience here – sorry – I guess I ought to rephrase that. You know how condescending and insulting people can be (better) but when you exceed their threshold of rudimentary English skills and insult their pathetically minimal understanding of syntax and grammar, you can get a very fiery response. I demonstrated my most basic technique to a co-worker during the presidential elections. My method was quick and simple:

1. go to the web-page that has the infamous gibberish generator
2. cut and paste a trolls very own words into the generator
3. generate the gibberish
4. cut and paste the result into a comment box
5. post
6. check back later and enjoy

What I am doing over at the Huffpo isn’t so lowbrow as that. I am doing what is more like poetry – random yet fluid word association in rhythmic patterns. I guess it takes some effort to do it that way but I reviewed the results of last nights guerrilla posting and discovered that some mawd there didn’t appreciate my sense of humor. One of my carefully constructed post had been deleted. This only goes to prove one thing and that would be that Huffpo mawds are capricious and vain. Further proof that the site has been overrun by right wing Christian extremists. Seriously, gibberish is apolitical and -  – - -it’s gibberish. Are these people offended by nonsense? God, now there’s a double standard! Again more proof that the Huffpo is being run by right wing Christian extremists. Hey, not that I have anything against right wing Christian extremists. (insert tasteless humor about lions).

Cheers – and I’ll be baaaaaaack

Quwhellyicquid here. Some of you may have met me over at the Huffpo. Apparently some mawd didn’t like my snark so I got canned.

Hell, I had a great fan to comment ratio going too: 700 comments and 103 fans. Ef it anyway. It seemed obvious that the Huffpo had sold out

to the right wing MSM right? Like how stupid is it to put up an article about Dickhead Cheney being in the hospital and not let anyone post even a passive comment about how happy that made them feel.

Seriously, the sooner that war criminal goes to hell the better. However, all of the sappy posts that the mawds let through were “I’m praying for a speedy recovery” or some other bullocks like that.

Like this was the Huffpo, and I thought it was against the insanity of the right wing – and here they are having a little Cheney love fest going on. Purely nauseating.

Anyway, I’ll just my news from the BBC unless someone can suggest a better source. Until then, I’ll just have to deposit my snark here unless otherwise told to do otherwise.

Cheers

My neighbor asked me if I watched Glenn Beck. I told him I didn’t because I don’t have cable or satellite TV. Lucky for me he didn’t ask me if I wanted to come over to his house to watch Glenn Beck. If you really think about it, why would anybody want to listen to a mountebank? So today, Beck and Osarah bin Palin are in Washington at their “Restoring Honor” rally. Just whose honor are they restoring? It isn’t mine. I never lost my honor.

Do they mean “National Honor?” Did the nation lose its honor when Barack Obama was elected president? Please. Mr. Beck and Mrs. Palin are a few years late and a few dollars short. This nation lost its honor when voters allowed a B movie actor who rehearsed as the governor of California to become its president in 1980.

Now, Ronald Reagan was an honorable man. He just surrounded himself with dishonorable people who advised him how to redistribute wealth. Now, isn’t that what Mr. Beck and Mrs. Palin are against? The redistribution of wealth? Of course they’re against it. I’m against it too. It’s just that I’m against the reverse Robin Hood redistribution ideas of the Republican Party. Take from the poor and working middle class and give to the top 2% of income earners. So has President Obama surrounded himself with dishonorable people advising him how to redistribute wealth? Of course not. He is surrounding himself with mostly honorable people advising him how to deal with the worst economic recession in 75 years.

There will always be boom and bust cycles in free market capitalistic economics. That’s a good thing because flat line means you’re dead. That’s what happened in the old Soviet Union. But in order to promote the general welfare (it says so in the US constitution) the government has a duty to the people, not to the corporatocracy, to moderate the boom and bust cycles of free market capitalistic economics. How does the government do that? It’s called regulations, Mr. Beck and Mrs. Palin.

She’s on holiday in Italy, and whilst in Amalfi, just “happened” to run into an old friend and his wife. Guess who?

Unexpected encounters: in Amalfi, running into Newt Gingrich and his wife (even invited him to blog about his new book)

What’s the old Rod Stewart song say – every picture tells a story? She’s even asked him to blog. Huffington Post takes a sharp turn to the Right, with the man who likens Muslims to Nazis.

I feel vindicated.