The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Health Insurance Racket

2009-11-10T13:22:00.008-05:00

Brave New Films has put together a great series called Sick For Profit. It is really informative. But, a caution is in order here. If you have any heart in your body, this is going to infuriate you.From Brave New Films

Leaving Lehman, exposing Wall Street

2009-11-10T12:42:00.015-05:00

This series was put together by The Real News Network and documents the sordid actions of Lehman Brothers up to their collapse and subsequent sale. One of the themes that seems to emerge to my mind is that this is a warning that all of the remaining players, like Goldman Sachs, are still engaged in the same sort of bullshit. And from the sounds of it, Barney Frank is not going to do a damn thing

Honduras: two mysterious murders, this time from the other side

2009-11-10T10:42:00.009-05:00

By Sabina BeckerThe bodies of Enzo Micheletti and Samir Gavarrete, found near Tegucigalpa, Honduras.Strange news, via Aporrea: A nephew of the de facto president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, and a colonel of the armed forces were shot dead in two separate instances, presumably by common criminals, according to the National Police. Both corpses were found in advanced states of decomposition.

Our Internet, Not Theirs

2009-11-10T10:23:00.008-05:00

One of these days, enough people in the United States are going to realize that neoliberal capitalism was the biggest con job ever worked on so many people for the benefit of so few. The train has long since left the station for reining corporate United States in and we are in grave danger of becoming a country governed by corporation. The sub-plot of "Robocop" doesn't look so ridiculous anymore.

Barack Obama Is Doing My Job; Why America Needs Him to Do His

2009-11-10T09:42:00.009-05:00

Arianna Huffington has a few words of wisdom (Well, OK, maybe more than a few. Nevertheless, they are dead on correct.) for President Obama. The President is not an op-ed writer, he is not a cheerleader, he is not an observer in the politics of our country, he is the President; the person who is supposed to lead our country in the direction that he thinks best and comports to the sharing of his

Tuesday Morning Chuckle

2009-11-10T09:24:00.008-05:00

I take every opportunity that passes in my general vicinity that makes me smile to grab it and share. I grew up with these cartoons and I can still chuckle at them. At least it starts the day on a brighter note than the news out there. Enjoy!From YouTube

Amazonians make movies also

2009-10-29T13:24:00.014-04:00

El Perro del HortelanoTired of watching stupid white people make jackasses of themselves talking about those "poor Indians" living in the Amazon and who they ought to just grown up and learn to be white?Well, a new Peruvian film floating around the internet, titled "El Perro del Hortelano", takes on the the drive to exploit the Amazon's oil reserves (the film was made where there is the current

The next Bagua?

2009-10-29T13:19:00.003-04:00

Map of Hunt Oils plans to "explore", i.e. destroy, another indigenous territoryIf you thought the government of Alan Garcia and his petrol buddies had learned their lesson after the Bagau massacre you will be sadly mistaken.Despite Amazon indigenous groups proven willingness to die in order to protect their ancestral territories from corporate destruction, Hunt Oil is ignoring demands by FENAMAD

Rep. Alan Grayson Grills Republican Congressman On Constitutionality Of Anti-ACORN Crusade

2009-10-29T13:06:00.005-04:00

One of the right’s loudest crusades has been their effort to undermine the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN). Following the release of a series of videos showing a handful of ACORN employees behaving inappropriately, conservatives in Congress have done everything they can to single out ACORN for being stripped of all federal funding (while engaging in apparent opposition

Police brutality against indigenous Mapuches in Chile

2009-10-29T13:00:00.006-04:00

Shocking video, showing the carabineros kicking a young indigenous man in the head. Story by Aporrea: Before the doors of the Commissary of Ercilla in Wallmapu, the press recorded a brutal beating by military police (carabineros) of a young Mapuche, Carlos Curiñao, a beating which stopped only when other police shouted that the press was there and they were being recorded. The youth was at

OMG, they really think Michael Moore was serious!

2009-10-29T12:32:00.012-04:00

By Sabina BeckerTeh Stoopid! It BURNS!!!Well, this is par for the course at El Luniversal, since they never fact-check a goddamned thing they write anyway (and neither does the AP, which inhabits the same building.) They also have no sense of humor, and their hatred for all things Chavecito would blind them to what the rest of us can see is an obvious joke.But really, Eva Golinger, I expected

CNN Latinos Series Leaves Out Anti-Immigration Zealot Dobbs

2009-10-29T12:29:00.003-04:00

WASHINGTON – CNN will broadcast a series about the Hispanic presence in the United States which, despite the complaints of Latino groups around the country, omits the anti-immigrant drive of one of the network’s own stars, commentator Lou Dobbs.Dobbs, who does not hesitate to make comments opposing illegal immigration and demands that the country’s borders be sealed, is the target of a campaign

Dang, I'm GOOD.

2009-10-29T12:22:00.008-04:00

By Sabina BeckerRemember how I predicted the Paliness was headed for the remainder bin even before her book is due out?Well, it's already underway: Former governor Sarah Palin completed her memoir in four months. She knew what she wanted to say, apparently, and had Lynn Vincent, a senior writer for the Christian publication World Magazine, bang it out. The book is due November 17 and is

You're Nuts!

2009-10-29T12:15:00.004-04:00

I haven't used a lot of Keith Olbermann, because at times I though he was a little over the top and preachy. Lately, I have come to appreciate his sense of humor, which I find to be very dry and razor sharp, probably too sharp, but in these times, there's no such thing. Anyway, this one caught my attention because it is so dead on!Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the

More fun with Wikileaks: British Nazis also get popped

2009-10-29T12:04:00.006-04:00

By Sabina BeckerHey, y'know, I could almost like this Wikileaks thing (anti-Chavecito stupidities aside, of course). Sometimes they actually end up doing the public a useful service: A detailed membership list of the British National party containing names, addresses and telephone numbers was published on the internet this morning. The list, which contains thousands of names, was published on

Stupid Sex Tricks: Take two of these and don't call me, EVER.

2009-10-28T17:29:00.003-04:00

By Sabina BeckerSrsly, that list of side effects is even funnier than a 4-hour Viagra boner.From News of the RestlessThis is what I mean about 'Bina. You never know what she will find next.

Ted Turner Would Fire Lou Dobbs

2009-10-28T17:14:00.003-04:00

I always thought Ted Turner was an arrogant jackass, and maybe he still is, but on this point he and I occupy the same space and time. Basta Dobbs!From PBS

The Rock Obama

2009-10-28T17:06:00.003-04:00

SNL does some really good stuff, but after the Sarah Palin thing, this is the best. I just wish that sometimes we would see The Rock Obama.From NBC

AMERICA IS DOOOOMED!

2009-10-28T16:58:00.004-04:00

With any luck at all, this guy will be the end of Faux News and Roger Ailes. We can only hope that he drags Rupert down with him. He is such a buffoon that it is going to become increasingly obvious to even the truly center-right that this guy and the rest of Faux News is nutso. Hurry. Please.From Mox News

Music for a Sunday: Memories of a Cold War gone by

2009-10-28T16:50:00.004-04:00

By Sabina BeckerThis one's a bit dated now (and kind of overly sanitized if you've ever seen The Day After, which came out around the same time and scared the bejesus out of me), but it's still effective, for all that; the "meltdown" of the home movie at the end always chokes me up. One commenter at the YouTube site writes, "Looking at Chernobyl it's almost a premonition." It is...and it's more

Health care reform: Saving American lives

2009-10-28T16:40:00.005-04:00

This is an excellent primer on what is wrong with our healthcare system and health insurance system from the perspective of a son trying to take care of an aging father who suffered a significant medical problem. This details the trials and tribulations they have undergone in the las 4 months, the indignities, the pain, the humiliation. As Keith Olbermann notes, his father and he are in a much

Rape-Nuts

2009-10-28T16:30:00.004-04:00

Jon Stewart absolutely disembowels the Republicans who first tried to block a vote on Sen. Al Franken's amendment that says that any defense contractor that has a binding arbitration clause for its employees cannot receive defense contracts. When that didn't work, then they voted against it.The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cRape-Nutswww.thedailyshow.comDaily ShowFull

Markos on The Ed Show: I’m tired of excuses from Harry Reid

2009-10-28T16:23:00.005-04:00

More talk from people outside the beltway of turning up the pressure to have Harry Reid replaced as Majority Leader. People are beginning to realize that he has the leadership ability of wilted lettuce leaves.From Daily Kos

Rachel Maddow confronts Tim Phillips

2009-10-28T15:44:00.009-04:00

I had to put this on. The wingnuts can scream all they want to, they will never have as much class in their entire body as this woman does in her little toenail. She rips Tim Phillips a new asshole and does it with such civility that he winds up bleeding all over her pretty studio floor and doesn't even realize he's been cut. Watch:Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the

Cow vs Locomotive: The Future of Michael Steele, Bovine Obstructionist, Caught on Video

2009-10-28T15:32:00.006-04:00

By M.S. Bellows, Jr.Can't resist putting this up before the meme slips away in favor of Balloon Boy:Yesterday RNC chairman Michael Steele said he wants to be the "cow" on the "tracks" that stops the Democrats' healthcare reform train. To which I say: knock yourself out, Michael! What up!(Disclaimer: yes, animals were harmed during the making of this snark. However, we're not the ones who harmed