The Vulture Lurks

Week 4 - Crown them?

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:09:00 +0000

This is an actual exchange between the Vulture and a superintelligence over at Vox Popoli:

Vulture: San Francisco vs. Rams - they are who we thought they were. SF is 3-1 in the pitiful West...playoffs here we come!

VD: If you want to crown them, then go ahead and crown their asses!

For those of you unfamiliar with the Dennis Green reference, here is the link to his epic meltdown. It's a classic. An absolute classic.

But the question bears asking: is it time to crown the 49ers NFC West champions? Look at the opposition. The Cardinals are struggling, the Seahawks are old and injured, and the Rams...?

Ah, yes, the Lambs. They could do little right yesterday, and what little they did right was usually wiped out by stupid penalties. The final score, 35-0, doesn't even BEGIN to reflect the beatdown the Niners laid on the woeful Lambs. Even with the Niners only ahead by 7 late in the 3rd quarter, I wasn't the slightest bit worried. The Rams are a horrible, horrible team. Horrible on a Biblical scale. Only Cecil B. DeMille was capable of capturing an epic FUBAR such as the Rams are right now.

Defense and special teams played an inspired game for the Niners. Patrick Willis and company were MONSTER. There were two touchdowns scored by the defense and one scored by special teams. But the offense? Dude, the offense is S-T-R-U-G-G-L-I-N-G. 90% of the offensive problems can be traced to a single source: offensive line play. Our line is just plain not getting it done. They can't run block. They can't pass block. If we hadn't blown our first round draft pick on that puto Michael Crabtree and had drafted Michael Oher instead, we might not be in this pickle.

So, how long can our defense carry us? I'm not sure. No defense is so strong that it can completely negate a poor offense (one exception: the 2000 Ravens). But I'm confident that Coach Singletary will come up with some way to overcome our weakness and get the team to where it needs to be.

The season is at the 25% completed mark. The Niners are 3-1, 3-0 in division. Unless the Cardinals can right the ship and get on a roll, or the Niners experience an epic collapse, the Niners winning the West is pretty much a foregone conclusion. How the team does in the playoffs beyond that remains to be seen.

Still, there's a level of excitement in 49er-land that I haven't felt in 7 long years.

The Echo Chamber Effect

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:25:00 +0000

One of the reasons I have concern for the future of our world is a little something known as the echo chamber effect. Briefly, this is the tendency of people to gravitate towards sources of information that will reinforce their own beliefs regarding events or topics of interest to them.

The echo chamber effect is hardly a recent phenomenon. In what perhaps may be an apocryphal quote, Pauline Kael is supposed to have said regarding the landslide victory of Richard Nixon over George McGovern in 1972, "I can't believe Nixon won. I don't know anybody who voted for him".

New media gets accused of fomenting echo chambers, but old media has them as well. Fox News is a comfortable echo chamber for people with Neocon leanings. MSNBC is a comfortable echo chamber for those who feel that King George the Dim is the cause of all the world's problems, as well as for those who think that Big Dick Cheney is the cause of said problems.

But new media - particularly blather radio and blogs - are especially susceptible to the echo chamber effect.

I started to ruminate on this subject late last week because of my recent experiences over at Caput Penitus Culus. Talk about your echo chamber!

There are basically three types of people at that site, besides the loathsome reptile who hosts it: female authoritarians who want to force their worldview on others; bigots; and the willfully stupid (yes Stamp, that would be you). Each of these archetypes enters the blog with a worldview they desperately want to reinforce. Each comes away with exactly what they wished for - EXCEPT when some "troll" like me comes along questioning certain aspects of their beliefs.

Troll. It's an interesting concept. The textbook definition of a troll is someone who shows up uninvited at your site to argue for the sake of arguing, a disruptor, an agitator. What a troll is in practice is someone who shows up at an echo chamber with a different viewpoint than that of the denizens of the site. You can tell a lot about a site and its proprietor by the tolerance shown to alternative viewpoints; at Caput Penitus Culus, FLDS Texas, and other like sites, you're likely to have your comments deleted and your access to enter comments blocked.

Partly because of my libertarian political leanings, but also because I've seen it demonstrated masterfully at Vox Popoli during the 7+ years I've been reading that blog, I think I've managed to a large extent to avoid hosting yet another echo chamber. But (and this is an important concept to grok) I can't be the judge of that; only those who read this blog and other blogs with differing viewpoints can accurately say whether I've been successful on that count or not.

Okay, what's the point, Vulture? The point is this: our nation used to have a tradition of tolerance for opposing viewpoints. Now, with the echo chamber effect, we're not inclined to hear, let alone respect, differing viewpoints. This is unhealthy intellectually, and it's unhealthy for the continuing health of a Constitutional republic.

But what do I know? According to the Caput a Palos, I'm not too bright. Then again, considering the source, I might just be an effin genius...

Michael Crabtree signs - hey, how 'bout that?

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:02:00 +0000

If you're expecting me to be all excited - jumping for joy - at the news that Michael Crabtree has finally signed, you're going to be very disappointed. Considering that I was 100% against drafting him in the first place, you can't exactly categorize his signing as a "win" for either side.

You know what gripes me? This arrogant turd signed today for essentially the same money he was offered back in August. Now he expects.......what? To be greeted by his teammates and 49ers fans as some sort of savior? Eff that!

The Niners have been on a roll up to this point, coming within 2 seconds of posting a perfect 4-0 record for the season to date. If this turd comes in and effs that up, I'll never forgive him. NEVER!!!

Then again, if he turns out to be as good as his boosters say he is.......maybe I'll accept him into the 49ers family. But ONLY if he proves himself! I'm very patient with most young players; with him, I'll boo his ass for every misstep he makes on the field. Nobody disrespects my team and gets off scot-free. Nobody.

Nobel Peace Prize? For WHAT exactly?

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:10:00 +0000

If there was ever any doubt (hint: there wasn't) that the Nobel prize committee is motivated not by events on the ground but rather by ideology, this should be proof enough.

Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision that honored the first-year U.S. president more for promise than achievement and drew both praise and skepticism around the world.

The bestowal of one of the world's top accolades on a president less than nine months in office, who has yet to score a major foreign policy success, was greeted with gasps of astonishment from journalists at the announcement in Oslo.

Here's another clue for you. When even the media is amazed at the audaciousness of the award, you've overstepped badly.

At least SOMEONE out there thinks it's all a bit much.

[C]ritics called the Nobel's committee's decision premature, given that Obama so far has made little tangible headway as he grapples with challenges ranging from the war in Afghanistan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea.

Amen to that!

This is SOOOOOOO typical of the Left-Liberal mindset. It's the INTENTIONS that count, NOT the results.

Welcome to insanity.

Wiener of the Month - September

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:11:00 +0000

In what must qualify as a stunning surprise to someone [/sarcasm], automobile sales collapsed in the month following Cash-for-Clunkers.

General Motors sold some 156,673 vehicles in September, a slump of 45% with retail sales off 46% and fleet sales dropping 43%. Car sales were down 43% and total truck sales -- light and heavy -- plummeted 47%.

40 percent plus declines in sales? Gee, who would have ever thought that would happen when you went from $10,000 off the sticker price to full sticker price? Only the buffoons in Congress, that's who.

Congratulations, Congress! You're the Wiener of the Month for September!

Wiener of the Week

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Last week I posted a story titled "Only in Columbia". It detailed the "plight" of a Left-Liberal woman subjected to the "horror" of Fox News Network. I guess Kensington didn't want to be give Columbia the title of Maryland's moonbat haven without a fight. For those of you not familiar with Kensington, it's a hoity-toity suburb of Washington, DC. It's not exactly hurting for money. Which makes this story even more annoying.

Public parks are usually the places where children go to have fun. But the town of Kensington just passed a new rule that bans kids over five years old from playgrounds during the daytime.

"It's like a sad children's story," said Joe McPherson, headmaster of the Brookewood School.

But it's no fable. The girls at Kensington's Brookewood School are banned from using a public park right across the street for recess.

[...]

The town council unanimously passed a resolution this week saying only caretakers with children five years old and younger can be in Reinhardt Park from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Since that resolution passed, Brookewood students have gone elsewhere for recess.

[...]

The town manager says students using the park for recess created maintenance issues and damage. The town council asked the school to pay $4,000 a year to help with upkeep but never heard back.

"Do a clean through trash pickup, lay mulch around the swings -- we could do that," said McPherson. "But pay $4,000? We just don't have it. We just don't have it in our budget."

Brookewood's headmaster tells ABC 7 News it's a public park for all to use but Kensington's mayor disagrees. By phone he said the park is for taxpaying citizens -- not abuse by a private non-profit school.

Okay, if you're from Kensington, I'll try to explain the asshattery of your town's actions as slowly as I can.

The park is a PUBLIC park.
The children attending the school have parents who, presumably, live in Kensington.
Those parents pay property taxes to Kensington.
Much of the money from those property taxes goes towards the failing public schools in Kensington.
The rest goes towards....wait for it...things like park maintenance.

Epic fail, Kensington. Epic.

Congratulations, Kensington! You're the Wiener of the Week.

Week 5 - queue Ned Beatty

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Mountain Man: I'm gonna make you squeal like a pig. Weeeeeeee!
Bobby: Weee!
Mountain Man: Weeeeeeee!
Bobby: Weee!

Substitute "Falcons" for "Mountain Man" and "49ers" for "Bobby", and you get a full, complete understanding of what happened yesterday afternoon at Candlestink Park.

Oh. My. God.

After a game like that, there are just two related questions to ask: Are the Falcons that good? Or are the 49ers that bad?

Shaun Hill played his worst game as a 49er. He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Nate Clemons is back in my doghouse after making Roddy White look like the second coming of Jerry Rice. Dre Bly is in my doghouse for this little sequence:

Bly intercepts Matt Ryan pass at about the SF 10 yard line.
Bly heads down the sideline - 20, 25, 30, 35...
At about the 30 or 35 yard line he starts showboating like Deion Sanders.
At about the 40 yard line he is tackled and stripped of the ball by Ryan - a quarterback.
Atlanta recovers the ball.
Did I mention the Niners were behind 35-10 at the time?

He may never leave my dog house; in a post-game interview, Bly said this:

"Dre's going to be Dre'," Bly said. "When I make plays, and I've made a lot, I express myself."

Yeah. He actually said that. Coach Singletary needs to tear this guy a new one.

Speaking of Coach S, this wasn't his finest game, either. The team blew through its first half timeouts by early in the 2nd quarter, so they weren't able to challenge the Delanie Walker krumble (kick-off fumble) that lead to an Atlanta touchdown to make it 28-10. While we're on the subject of the krumble, WTF? WHY was a tight end returning the kickoff in the first place?

Two 49ers played well. Patrick Willis (of course) with 12 tackles was the lone bright spot on defense. And Josh Morgan had a very good game, with 4 catches for 78 yards, including a 61-yard catch-and-run that took the Niners down to the 3 yard line and led to their only touchdown of the day.

Okay, the Niners are 3-2. When I predicted before the season started that the Niners would go 9-7 and win the division, I had them at 2-3 at this point. So...they're one game better than I thought they would be. Still, there are plenty of tough games left on the schedule. Indianapolis. Chicago. Green Bay. Arizona. Philadelphia. And don't forget teams capable of upsetting the Niners: Houston, Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Seattle. If the Niners play the way they did the first 4 games, 9-7 is still possible and will, in all likelihood, win the division. If they play like yesterday.....welcome to yet ANOTHER losing season - our 7th straight.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Think Pink! Race for the Cure

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:06:00 +0000

Once again I will be running in the Race for the Cure, a 5k run scheduled for this Saturday. This year the race is sponsored by the Hurwitz Breast Cancer Fund. If you are interested in making a donation, click here.

Last year I almost missed the race due to a hip injury just weeks before. This year the opposite is true; I think I've overtrained. I've had a serious case of "heavy legs" the past two weeks. Hopefully, the break between last night's run and Saturday will be just the tonic for that.

Okay, enough about me. Let's talk breast cancer, shall we? Or, for that matter, cancer in general. Anything any of us can do to push for a cure for cancer, prior to the One-World Socialist Utopia Dystopia of "free" government health care making medical advancements a pipe dream, is of the utmost urgency.

Okay, here's the "over/under".

Target time: 26 minutes
Target finish (all): top 1/3
Target finish (over 50): top 10

Wish me luck!

BTW, I just had a frightening visual image of a vulture trying to run. It's not a pretty sight...

5k Fail

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Murphy's Law is an SOB. Saturday I got handed my tuckus by ole' Murphy. Big time.

I went into Saturday apprehensive but confident. I had three goals in mind: a time of 26 minutes, finishing in the top 1/3 overall, and finishing in the top 10 for over-50 runners.

Goals suck.

I failed magnificently on all three counts. Why? I wasn't prepared for the kind of weather we encountered on Saturday. This wasn't mid-October weather. This was early-December weather. It was 41 degrees and raining. I got about a quarter mile into the race and realized that I was having an exercise-triggered asthma attack, something I almost never experience, but something that, had I been thinking, I would have planned for, since cold damp air is a major factor in exercise-triggered asthma. Because I was operating with about 1/2 capacity lungs, I never had a prayer. I actually had to stop and WALK about 6 or 7 times during the course of the race (oh the humiliation!).

I ended up with a time of 32:17 -- 3 minutes slower than last year. I finished approximately 75th out of 181 (nice turnout! -- there were only about 75 runners total last year). And it was a fast field, too -- the winning time was 16:43!

Okay, so I learned some important things for next year.

Running outside is WAAAAY harder than running on a treadmill, no matter how hard you think you're pushing yourself. I need to have at least 2-3 outdoor runs prior to the race.
Be prepared! Have an inhaler handy, especially in cold weather.
Don't set grandiose goals on your very public blog. ;)

See Vulture. See Vulture blush. See Vulture embarrassed like a mo-fo.

One last thing, a shout out to Vulture's mother, a breast cancer survivor. Your little boy was thinking about you while on the course (that is, when he wasn't thinking about how much it sucks to have 1/2 lung capacity). Stay well.

Swine flu scare tactics

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0000

I'm old, so I remember the 1976 swine flu "pandemic". What pandemic, you ask? Exactly.

In the Fall of 1976, as a college freshman, I remember all the buzz around campus about the pandemic of swine flu and how "important" it was for all of us to get immunized. So, like a good little sheeple, I got in line and got my shot at the health center.

Later it was revealed that the "pandemic" consisted 0f 200 cases of swine flu in the US that resulted in one (yes, you read that correctly - ONE) fatality. Contrast that statistic with 500 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) caused by the vaccine, resulting in 25 fatalities. In other words, you were 2.5 time more likely to become seriously ill and 25 times more likely to die from the vaccine than you were from the flu.

But Vulture! This year's flu is MUCH more dangerous than the 1976 flu! And the vaccine is MUCH safer. Really?

60 minutes tried selling that angle on Sunday. First they downplayed H1N1, then they sold it hard.

It turns out, in many respects, that the 2009 H1N1 virus is no worse than the everyday flu.

While 99 percent of the people who get it suffer just a few miserable days at home, it is also true that for something less than one percent, H1N1 can be fatal.

The reporter then spent several minutes highlighting the case of ONE individual - a 15-year-old from Arkansas - who is currently hospitalized in critical condition as a result of the H1N1 virus. Yawn.

Don't get me wrong - I feel badly for the kid and pray for his recovery - but ONE example. Seriously?

Then they had the audacity to compare 2009 H1N1 with the deadly flu of 1918!

Palese compared the new virus to viruses that he keeps frozen from decades ago. And he has found 2009 H1N1 is a relative of the 1918 virus that killed 50 million people worldwide.

At least they had the decency to add this.

The 1918 flu was in a class by itself; the 2009 version isn't nearly as lethal.

Yeah. No kidding.

Then we got a lot of "important" people with titles spewing fear.

Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat is the CDC's chief health officer in the war on H1N1. When 60 Minutes first met her two weeks ago, she showed us the virus was widespread in 27 states. When we saw her again last Thursday, things had changed.

"We think the virus is virtually everywhere in the country. Quite a lot of illness, hospitalizations, and deaths," she explained.

Deaths? While it's true that over 600 people have died in the US, that's 600 people out of a population of about 350 million. And there have been 25 reported deaths from the H1N1 vaccine. As if that weren't enough, GBS is STILL cropping up as a side effect of the new, "safe" vaccine!

Not convinced? How about this: they're still using Thimerosal as a preservative for this vaccine. Thimerosal is a mercury-based additive thought by many to be a leading cause of Autism.

So, if you want to be a sheeple, by all means rush out and get vaccinated. Just don't look for me in line. To paraphrase The Who, I won't get fooled again.

Wiener of the Week

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Last week the WotW took a bye week, just like my 49ers. So this week one would presume that WotW will really take on something important. After all, a bye week is supposed to leave one refreshed and ready to take on the world, no?

Hopefully this item won't disappoint.

A bill making the rounds on Capitol Hill marries two feel-good propositions -- tax cuts and pet ownership -- to generate a novel idea: A tax break of up to $3,500 per person for pet care expenses.
[...]
The measure even has a snappy acronym: the HAPPY Act, as in Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years.

Are. You. Effing. Kidding. Me?

For those of you unfamiliar with the political term "pandering", this is Exhibit A. Seriously? A pet care deduction? We're running trillion dollar deficits, our health care system is under attack, and you want to introduce a tax break for Fido?

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter-R(INO)-MI, you're the Wiener of the Week.

Week 7 - the almost comeback

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:46:00 +0000

As Maxwell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much!" What else can you say when you come from three touchdowns behind, only to lose by 3 lousy points? Such was Sunday's 49ers loss to the Texans yesterday, by a 24-21 score.

It was certainly a tale of two halfs. The first half was all Texans. The Texans scored all three of their touchdowns in the first half. One was set up on a muffed punt by the usually sure-handed Arnaz Battle. The other scores were just a case of the Niners being outmatched by a seemingly superior team.

Shaun Hill struggled for the second consecutive week; yes, the offensive line is, well, offensive, but he seemed to make things worse by panicking when the heat was on.

Mike Singletary, true to his nature, decided to shake things up for the second half. Alex Smith trotted on the field for the Niners first possession, and all momentum swung from the Texans to the 49ers from that point forward. Smith was AMAZING! He looked the part of an NFL quarterback for the first time in his 5 year career. He had that same look that Joe Montana used to get when he was about to do something miraculous. And he brought it - big time. 15-22, 206 yards, and 3 touchdowns, all to Vernon Davis. His one pick was a desperation 4th down throw with time winding down.

The offensive heroes were Smith, Davis, and *ahem* Michael Crabtree, who appears to be, one game into his NFL career, the real deal. I may yet end up eating the words I wrote on draft day regarding the drafting of a wide receiver with the number one pick. For now, Crabtree remains "on my list".

The defensive heroes were Patrick Willis (same as every week) and Justin Smith, who had a MONSTER game. Playing as a 3-4 defensive end (which is pretty much like playing as a tackle), Smith had 10 tackles (that's a LINEBACKER number, folks!), 2 for a loss.

Dre Bly and that overpaid turd Nate Clemons remain "on my list"; Clemons for tackling like a girl on the second Texans touchdown, and Bly on general principle.

One question remains to be answered this week as the team prepares to get sacrificed to the Colts (this just in: the Colts are GOOD). The question is: who's the quarterback? Shaun Hill is my boy, but let's face it, his last two games have been putrid. And Alex Smith was positively amazing yesterday. I've never been one of the Smith naysayers; I thought back in '07 that he had a chance to be a decent quarterback. We'll see.

In the mean time, the Cardinals have defied my preseason prediction that they would return to playing losing football in the Cardinal tradition. The Niners slipped to second place in the Division with yesterday's loss and the Cardinal victory over the suddenly vulnerable Giants.

I still think the 49ers can go 9-7 and push the Cardinals for the Division. But it got a whole lot harder yesterday. A WHOLE lot harder.

Update:

It's official - Coach Singletary named Alex Smith as starter for Sunday's game at Indy.

They're just not that smart

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:42:00 +0000

One of the traits of committed leftists is a sneering sense of their own superiority. They are so convinced that they and their ilk are the smartest people in the room - always! The atheists among them like to refer to themselves as "Brights", an obvious slam at believers, whom they would have you believe are a bunch of knuckle-draggers who aren't smart enough to have abandoned a belief in an "invisible friend in the sky".

Yet twice in the past two weeks, news anchors from Left-leaning Cable News ratings disaster CNN placed dead last at Celebrity Jeopardy. You can't make this stuff up.

CNN should consider banning its anchors from appearing on "Celebrity Jeopardy" after the humiliating defeats of Wolf Blitzer and Soledad O'Brien. Wolf was blitzed last month, coming in last with minus-$4,600, behind comic Andy Richter, a past winner who racked up $68,000 for charity. "Desperate Housewives" star Dana Delany came in second. This month, it was O'Brien's turn against NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Michael McKean, of "Spinal Tap," "Laverne & Shirley" and "Saturday Night Live." McKean, a previous winner, ended with $24,800, followed by Abdul Jabbar with $8,800 and O'Brien with $6,200. A CNN insider defended the journalists: "They are reporters, not trivia experts. And the buzzer is complicated. It's not activated until Alex [Trebek] finishes the last syllable of the question. If you hit the button too soon, nothing happens."

Oooh...I wouldn't have gone there. "The buzzer is complicated"? Are you kidding? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out after about the first, maybe second time that you're early that you need to be more patient and time your button push better. And many of the questions on Jeopardy are NOT trivia; questions frequently address historical issues that I would prefer that the folks who read my news were aware of.

Okay, Vulture! We know what this is about -- you rock at Jeopardy. You know the answers to about 85% of the questions. You're just trying to show off -- to make yourself look superior to CNN anchors.

Not at all.

You see, according to the Caput a Palos, I'm not that bright. So...if I'm a bit on the dim side and can answer 85% of REGULAR Jeopardy questions (not the obviously dumbed-down questions they save up for the celebrities), you'd think that smug assclown Wolf Blitzer might at least, I don't know, finish in the black.

The truth is that Left-leaning people are little more than herd animals, following behind the closest thing to an Alpha dog that the Left is able to produce. They all say the same things. Worse, they all THINK the same things. And their knowledge of things outside of their insular little world is wanting.

Remember that the next time Mr. Blitzer anxiously reports that Sarah Palin has been identified as being "not too bright". And he will. One true thing you can always count on from the Left -- they have absolutely NO sense of irony.

A shout out to yodaddy on his birthday

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:22:00 +0000

I just received a note from a fellow by the name of Dirt. It reads:

yodaddy,

I'd like to wish you a Happy Birthday. It's a privilege to send birthday wishes to the one person on Earth older than I.

--Dirt

Happy Birthday, yodaddy! You're living proof that only the good die young. *smile*

(Children like me are why tigers eat their young)

Have a great birthday and plan on having several more, please!

What goes around, comes around

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Next to chowing down on a dead horse, there's nothing a Vulture loves more than schadenfreude. Understand, I don't enjoy the suffering of good people. No, my schadenfreude emanates from just-desserts served piping hot to stone-cold jerks who desperately need it.

David Letterman desperately needed it.

You're probably thinking, "Vulture! This is old news! Everyone knows about Mr. Letterman and his peccadilloes by now!" Of course that would be true. But everyone might not know about this.

A former writer for David Letterman said she quit his NBC talk show in part because of alleged sexual favoritism and a hostile work environment.

Nell Scovell, writing for Vanity Fair online Tuesday, said she had no intention of filing a lawsuit and wasn't seeking revenge.

"I wanted to shine a light on gender inequality in that particular workplace," Scovell, who went on to a successful Hollywood career, said in a telephone interview.

This. Is. Awesome!

Think about it. Mr. I'm-so-much-hipper-than-everyone-else I'm-so-much-better-than-everyone-else I-support-every-liberal-cause-known-to-mankind smarmy greaseball smirking Letterman (his actual name: no wonder he goes by David) didn't just get caught with his pants down. No, Mr. Superiority Complex got caught breaking one of the cardinal rules of Liberaldom: thou shalt not create a hostile work environment!

Think back with me to the 1980's when the wave of "hostile workplace" lawsuits hit the fan. All you had to do was tell a dirty joke or tell a coworker that she looked nice and you were a target. Smug self-important asshats like Letterman were all over that stuff, pretentiously looking down their noses in condescension at the poor bastards whose lives were ruined as a result of those lawsuits.

And now Mr. Ultra-Liberal is shown for the phony he really is. He never believed in that crap! He just mouthed the words in accordance with the Liberal tradition of groupspeak. Then he went out and tried to shag as many of his own subordinates as he possibly could in the ensuing years.
Hypocrite!

Let's hope that there's no end to Mr. Letterman's suffering for the foreseeable future. It's put me in such a great mood!

Wiener of the Week

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:47:00 +0000

What's in the water in Columbia, SC? First the Governor, and now this.

Newly-released video from a Columbia police cruiser's dashboard camera shows a former Republican legislator and state attorney being stopped by police after he was caught in a cemetery with a teenage strip club employee on his lunch break this week.

The video shows Roland Corning, 66, being stopped Monday afternoon by five officers under the overpass where I-126 becomes Elmwood Avenue. Corning was pulled over after an officer spotted him in an area police say is known for sex and drug use.

Corning had an 18-year-old employee of the Platinum Plus Gentleman's Club in his vehicle at the time. After speaking to officers for a few minutes, Corning steps out of the car and allows officers to search his SUV. Officers found sex toys and a bottle containing Viagra that Corning says were there "just in case."

"Hey, I've got an idea. I'll pick up a stripper, some 'toys', and some 'V'. Then I'll head over to the cemetery for some fun and games."

Boys and girls, this is what happens when the little head does the thinking.

Roland Corning, you're the Wiener of the Week.

Week 8 - moral victories don't count in the standings

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:59:00 +0000

For the second week in a row the 49ers played just well enough to lose. However, I count this game as a complete moral victory for the Niners. After all, they came T-H-I-S C-L-O-S-E to beating one of the top three teams in the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts 18-14 victory brought their record up to a perfect 7-0. The 49ers are the first team to provide any sort of challenge to the mighty Colts, who won their previous four games by an average of 24 points, since Week 2.

But moral victories don't count in the standings. It's still a loss. Thankfully, the Cardinals played down to their potential in crapping the bed against Carolina by a score of 34-21 (message to yodaddy: "Ha Ha!"). That leaves us still one game back with an easier opponent (Tennessee) coming to town next Sunday.

Alex Smith played a very good game. He threw one interception, but it was on a ball tipped by the receiver, whom it hit right in the hands (*cough* Michael Crabtree *cough*). It wasn't the only time Smith was let down by his receivers; Vernon Davis would have had a first down catch in the first quarter if he had bothered to drag his effing foot, and certain Hall of Fame WR Isaac Bruce dropped a ball that hit him right in the hands.

Frank Gore has gone from a poor man's Emmitt Smith in 2007 to a poor man's Barry Sanders in 2009. He broke a run of 64 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, but his other 12 carries netted only 27 yards. You take away his touchdown runs of 79, 78, and 64 yards, and he's having a poor year.

LT Joe Staley hurt his knee on the first play from scrimmage. Since he is the best offensive lineman on the team, I thought it was a sign of impending doom. But Barry Sims came in and played great. In fact, the whole line played a ton better than they had in the previous weeks. Now I'm starting to wonder if Shaun Hill wasn't at fault for a lot of the sacks the O-line gave up.

The defense played GREAT. Oh, sure, Peyton Manning threw for over 340 yards, but you expect that. The important thing was keeping him out of the end zone (the only Colts touchdown scored on a HB option pass) and keeping him off of the field -- I couldn't count the number of times the Colts went 3-and-out.

Patrick Willis had a great game (naturally). But the defensive star of the game was Dashon Goldson, who had 10 tackles from his Safety position and seemed to always be in the right place. CB Shawntae Spencer also played a great game, as did the front three, which registered 3 sacks.

Michael Crabtree had a strange game. Two turnovers were his fault (the Smith interception, and a fumble later in the game). He also managed to run a 12-yard route on 3rd-and-14. But he's making plays; he looked GREAT on a 28-yard strike from Alex Smith during the touchdown drive at the end of the 2nd quarter.

The Niners aren't out of the hunt for the West just yet. They need to win the next two, against Tennessee and Chicago, or it probably won't happen. We shall see. We shall see.

Wiener of the Month - October

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Team Elephant has been WotM before. Team Elephant will, no doubt, be the WotM again. And again.

The elitist snobs currently at the helm of the party just don't get it. We the people want a Congress and President that respect and abide by the Constitution of the United States. We do NOT want "Democrat Lite", which is what they insist on force feeding us.

In a New York House special election, a nobody running under the banner of the Conservative party nearly beat a well-funded liberal who was, in fact, endorsed by Team Elephant's own candidate!

Democrat Bill Owens has captured the special election for a New York congressional seat that became a fight over the identity of the Republican Party.

Owens defeated Conservative Doug Hoffman and Republican Dierdre Scozzafava (skoh-zuh-FAH'-vuh) in the heavily Republican 23rd congressional District in rural northern New York. Scozzafava abruptly withdrew Saturday and supported Owens.

Hoffman has conceded the race.

With 88 percent of the precincts reporting, Owens had 49 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Hoffman. Scozzafava had 6 percent.

Hoffman got 46% of the vote in spite of the fact the the Team Elephant elite essentially sabotaged his campaign!

Remember last Fall, when I was excoriated for refusing to vote for McCain? What I told you then, I'll repeat now. If you keep holding your nose and voting for whatever disgraceful human being the Team Elephant elite foists upon you, you'll continue to get candidates that require that you hold your nose when you vote for them.

I applaud the run of Mr. Hoffman. I hope that Team Elephant gets the message, but I don't think they will. The right message is that we want conservative candidates from them. The message they'll probably come away with is that they have to work harder to shut up those stupid conservatives in flyover country.

Team Elephant, you're the Wiener of the Month for October.

Attempted balance

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:23:00 +0000

In a post last week, I excoriated the Left for their penchant for GroupThink. I certainly stand behind what I wrote. But it did get me thinking. Well, that and the Team Elephant leadership and their BS "big tent" (read: "Donkey Lite") electoral philosophy.

GroupThink isn't limited to Leftists. Life-long Republicans are just as guilty. "What?!?!?!?", you say. "Not ME!!!" Really? Answer honestly, dear Republican. Have you ever said or thought:

A vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for the Democrat.
A vote for a third-party candidate is a wasted vote.
It doesn't matter who the candidate is, I vote for the guy with the 'R' after his name.
Our nation's well-being can only be assured by Republicans.
A RINO (i.e. John McCommie, Olympia Dukakis) is STILL better than a Democrat.
The Republican party has the REAL interests of America at heart.
Oh, he just says that stuff during the election to get moderate votes - he doesn't really BELIEVE those things; after all, he's a Republican.

If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, you need to take a little quiet time to think things through. Because Team Elephant is led by individuals that are every bit as venal as those from Team Donkey and Team Elephant's record on ethics is every bit as tawdry as that of the Donkeys.

The fact is that every one of the statements in the bullet points is demonstrably false. A vote for a third-party candidate? It's an absolute DUTY for individuals in this country to vote their conscience and to vote for candidates -- regardless of party -- who reflect their beliefs. The only wasted vote is a vote for some despicable assclown for the sole reason that they have an 'R' after their name. If you have to hold your nose in order to vote for a candidate (i.e. John McCommie) then YOU'VE wasted your vote, NOT the individual who voted third-party.

RINOs have made much of the road to serfdom under a Fascist economic system possible. RINOs have made the abuses of the Education Department possible. RINOs -- particularly NeoCons -- made King George the Dim's Eternal War possible.

The bullet point that you need to rethink more than any other is this one: "Oh, he just says that stuff during the election to get moderate votes - he doesn't really BELIEVE those things; after all, he's a Republican."

It was THAT little gem of illogic that got King George the Dim elected.

On Profanity

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:59:00 +0000

Let's face it: the Vulture is a potty mouth. Big time. It drives Deadeye bonkers. She thinks it reflects poorly on the kind of person I really am.

Personally, I've never understood what the big deal is with "bad" words. I tend to think of spoken profanities as the equivalent of punctuation in written communication. But Deadeye, my mother, and my in-laws completely disagree. They think it's a terrible thing to use profanity. *shrug*

It's not like I'm proud of my filthy mouth. It has been cause for embarrassment for me for many years. And it's certainly NOT a good representation of my Christian faith. The same mouth I use to praise my Lord I use to call Stamp a **********. Not good.

I've heard it said that the use of profanity reveals a dearth of vocabulary. Yeah? So how many non-profaners do you know who use words like "dearth"? I'll put my vocabulary (in TWO languages, thank you) up against that of any non-swearer anytime.

The reason I bring up the subject is that it turns out that there is actual benefit from using profanity.

Cut your finger? Hurt your leg? Start swearing. It might lessen the pain.

Researchers from the school of psychology at Britain's Keele University have found swearing can make you feel better as it can have a "pain-lessening effect," according to a study published in the journal NeuroReport.

Colleagues Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston, set out to establish if there was any link between swearing and physical pain.

"Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon," says Stephens.

"It taps into emotional brain centers and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists."

Their study involved 64 volunteers who were each asked to put their hand in a tub of ice water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice.

They then repeated the experiment using a more commonplace word that they would use to describe a table.

The researchers found the volunteers were able to keep their hands in the ice water for a longer when swearing, establishing a link between swearing and an increase in pain tolerance.

Stephens said it was not clear how or why this link existed but it could be because swearing may increase aggression.

"What is clear is that swearing triggers not only an emotional response, but a physical one too, which may explain why the centuries-old practice of cursing developed and still persists today," he said.

Ha! See? I'm not a potty-mouthed loser! I'm an expert in pain management! So there!

Wiener of the Week

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:23:00 +0000

You might notice that I haven't made a show of opining about the debacle that is Health Care "Reform". I've thought about it, but considered it redundant. After all, anyone who's ever read this blog knows how I feel about governmental intrusions into the lives of the American people.

But if, perchance, you're new around here or, God forbid, actually SUPPORT the government's attempted takeover of 1/7 of the American economy, to be run as a Fascist cooperative, you'll be enlightened when you read this post.

This week's Wiener is the person who may someday have the award named after her, she's received it so many times. I give you ChairTool Pelosi and her $15,000 "free" health care.

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.
[...]
Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates.
[...]
According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

$15,000 is a small price to pay for trading in the Cadillac of health care for what will soon become the same nightmare of waiting and rationing that the British and Canadians now endure. Not to mention that we will be handing over to government lackeys the power of life and death over us once we reach a certain age or if we contract a disease whose treatment cost is deemed excessive.

Now THERE is "change you can believe in" [/sarcasm].

Nancy "Air Force 3" Pelosi, you're the Wiener of the Week.

Week 9 - will the real Alex Smith please stand up?

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Yesterday's 34-27 loss to the Titans (the f'ing Titans, for crying out loud!!!) was just plain ugly. U-G-L-Y. After playing quite well for 3 quarters, resulting in a 20-17 lead, a meltdown of Biblical magnitude resulted in a 34-20 deficit. A late garbage touchdown made the score respectable, but a loss is still a loss.

The prime architect of the meltdown was Alex Smith. He played quite well for 3 quarters. Then, in the fourth quarter when the Niners sorely needed him to display leadership, he became Interception Man.

The Titans scored a touchdown to make it 24-20. Smith throws an awful-looking interception (his second of the day; the first was a tipped ball). The defense stiffens and holds the Titans to a field goal, so the Niners can still drive down the field and tie the game. Then Smith throws an even worse interception, a Pick-6. It's 34-20 and all hope is lost. NOW Smith decides to start playing like an NFL quarterback, leading a nice drive for the garbage time touchdown.

His numbers were good if you throw out the 3 picks and a fumble: he was 29-45 for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns. It's the four turnovers, particularly the final two, that killed us.

So who is Alex Smith? Is he the guy who led an awesome drive to put the Niners ahead 17-10 at the half? Or is he the choke machine who threw the two gawd-awful picks late?

Frank Gore had a nice game: 83 yards rushing, 75 yards receiving, and 1 touchdown. Vernon Davis was a monster: 10 catches for 102 yards. Jason Hill, who hadn't been getting a lot of playing time, caught two touchdown passes.

On defense, Patrick Willis (of course) played a monster game. Also playing quite well were Aubrayo Franklin and Parys Haralson, who had 2 tackles for a loss each. But the defense never really got any pressure on Vince Young without blitzing. It was a disappointing effort. And -- not that it's anything to be ashamed of, with him being the NFL's leading rusher and all -- the defense allowed Chris Johnson to rush for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns.

I think it's safe to say that, at 3-5, the team's chances of making the playoffs are now on life support. Nonetheless, the schedule is kind the rest of the way; only Philadelphia and Arizona are playoff-caliber teams among the Niners' remaining games.

Four weeks ago I was ready to "crown their ass". Last night I was ready to throw in the towel. It's going to take a memorable coaching effort from Mike Singletary to turn around this 4 game losing streak and right the ship.

Political Correctness kills

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:14:00 +0000

Reading this, I don't know how you can come to any other conclusion than that the people who were killed or wounded at Ft. Hood were victims of Political Correctness run amok.

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.

According to the officials, the Army was informed of Hasan's contact, but it is unclear what, if anything, the Army did in response.

The Army was informed. And did nothing.

Nothing.

How could they?!?!?

Easy. Major Hasan is part of a protected minority.

An officer who took action against him would imperil any chance of future career advancement. So his superiors sat on the information. Rather than deal with him, they shuttled him from Walter Reed out to Texas, where he could be some other officer's problem.

Instead he became the problem for 13 dead and 38 wounded people. People who would still be alive and whole today had the Army had the balls to do the right thing instead of the PC thing.

PC kills. It's time to cut the BS and let reason rule the day. An Army officer trying to contact al Queda should be brought up on charges of treason - NOW! Said officer should NOT be treated with kid gloves simply because the anti-American tools at CAIR will be offended. Lives depend on it.

Hey, Army! It's time to stop the madness. No more protected minorities. Every soldier is a unique individual and should be judged as an individual, NOT by their group identity. STOP IT! Stop endangering the innocent out of fear of fringe identity groups. Show the courage at the top that our troops show in executing their duties in the field.

You owe it to the troops under your command. You owe it to the American people. And you owe it to the survivors of Thursday's attack.

On Hypocricy

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Apparently, only people with actual religious views and non-Liberal beliefs can be hypocrites. Let me explain.

I've been sitting here watching HLN (CNN Headline News) owing to the fact that (a) there's nothing else of interest on TV right now, (b) the changer is on the other end of the couch, and (c) I'm too lazy to reach for it.

I was watching the news, but the news morphed into Showbiz Tonight, a gawd-awful celebration of celebrities, their affairs, their drug problems, their journeys out of the closet, etc. And yes, I said celebration. Okay, maybe they don't CELEBRATE the drug problems, but they're sure happy to celebrate a celebrity's 18th "successful" completion of rehab.

Today, however, the subject is hypocrisy. Specifically, the hypocrisy of Carrie Prejean. Ms. Prejean is accused of hypocrisy because she pretends to a position as a Young Conservative Woman Role Model, but it turns out she made a sex tape. A sex tape! Oh, dear!

Understand, I have little use for Ms. Prejean. I'm not at all impressed with her as self-appointed voice for young conservative women. She talks a good game, but she has so many skeletons in her closet that she's useless as a role model.

Nonetheless, the over-the-top slamfest by HLN is grating. In extreme.

Returning to the premise of this post, that only people with actual religious views and non-Liberal beliefs can be hypocrites, I feel like my head is going to explode as I watch this. You want hypocrisy? Let's start with:

NOW supporting Bill Clinton throughout his impeachment for having relations with a subordinate, but demanding action against David Letterman for essentially the same offense.
The outcry over Larry Craig trolling for gay sex; contrast it with the muted reaction to Barney Frank's live-in lover hosting a gay brothel and dealing drugs in Mr. Frank's own residence.
The media running wall-to-wall stories on Governor Mark Sanford's shameful affair while barely mentioning PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE and Breck Girl John Edwards fathering a child with a mistress while his wife was fighting cancer!
Lastly, in their rush to see 1/6 of the US economy subsumed into the ravenous maw of the federal government, no one (except Camille Paglia) is decrying the fact that Congress is exempting itself from the draconian nightmare of collectivism being forced down the throats of the American people.

One could go on and on (and you know the Vulture LOVES to go on and on). But why? None dare call it hypocrisy when it benefits the coming One World Socialist Utopia or those who are working towards it. Apparently everyone is a hypocrite EXCEPT Big Media (the BM for short) and true-believer collectivists.

The irony of THAT hypocrisy is completely lost on hypocrites inclined to sling the "hypocrite" label at others.

NFL 2009 - the halfway mark

mfullmer88@netscape.net (Vulture) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:34:00 +0000

We've reached the midpoint of the NFL season. So, since Toes just LOVES it when I write about football, and yodaddy just LOVES it when I write about the Niners, I'll annoy two of my regulars with one post.

I think it's safe to say that my preseason predictions were a little, uh, off. Here is the breakdown.

NFC
Division/WC	Prediction	Actual
East	Eagles 11-5	Cowboys 6-2
North	Vikings 11-5	Vikings 7-1
South	Saints 10-6	Saints 8-0
West	49ers 9-7	Cardinals 5-3
Wild Card	Giants 11-5	Eagles 5-3
Wild Card	Bears 10-6	Falcons 5-3
AFC
Division/WC	Prediction	Actual
East	Patriots 13-3	Patriots 6-2
North	Steelers 11-5	Bengals 6-2
South	Colts 12-4	Colts 8-0
West	Chargers 11-5	Broncos 6-2
Wild Card	Ravens 11-5	Steelers 6-2
Wild Card	Titans 11-5	Chargers 5-3

As you can see, not TOO bad...but there are holes. I was right in picking the Colts to unseat the Titans, and the Vikings and Saints to rise to the top of their divisions. But the Titans, Ravens, and Bears? Oy!

Can the 49ers still rally to win the West? That depends on which Arizona Cardinals team shows up for the second half of the season; the one that crapped the bed against the Panthers, or the one that wiped the floor with the Bears. I can realistically see the 49ers winning 6 of their remaining 8 games; there are only two legitimate playoff teams left in their schedule (the Eagles and Cardinals).

I picked the Giants to win the NFC. I'm amending that posthaste. Either the Vikings of the Saints will win the NFC. No one else is even close to their level.

Dallas will NOT win the East. No team coached by Wade Phillips will ever win squat. The Giants are my pick to win the East, since the Eagles can't seem to beat pushover teams like the Raiders.

The Bengals are the real deal, but they'll be a Wild Card. The Steelers look invincible.

The Broncos are starting to come back to earth. As flawed as the Chargers are, I believe they'll pass the Broncos and win the West.

The Patriots (my preseason pick for AFC and Super Bowl Champions) are rounding into form and playing quite well. The Colts are undefeated, but they're hardly a super team; they'll lose soon enough, and won't have enough to win the AFC. I stand by my pick of the Pats to win the AFC, barring a surge by the Steelers.

The season is half way over (*sniff*). There is much great football left to play. Let's hope the Niners can overcome the Michael Crabtree curse and rise to the top.