minusmanhattan: Umbrella Sky in Águeda, Portugal. (more)
Photos by Diana Tavares.
Umbrella Sky in Portugal
Daily Archives: July 28, 2012
Stand your ground
Remember, kids: guns don’t kill people.
Florida man kills door-to-door salesman: I’ll kill anybody that steps on my property: “A man in Cape Coral, Florida on Wednesday was arrested for shooting and killing an unarmed door-to-door salesman on his property. Kenneth Bailey Roop, 52, has been charged with second-degree murder for killing 30-year-old Nicholas Rainey. A co-worker who witnessed the shooting said Rainey had knocked on Roop’s door, but received no answer. While Rainey was walking down the drive-way, Roop pulled up in his pickup truck and asked why Rainey was at his house. Rainey explained that he was selling steak and seafood. The witness said Roop then pulled out a black handgun and shot Rainey. As Rainey lay on the ground, Roop fired another bullet into the back of his head. [...] Roop has a concealed weapons permit and approximately 14 firearms.”
Remarkably, on the comment string to this article there are a few nutjobs arguing that the salesman shouldn’t have ignored three ‘no trespassing’ signs. There really are some severely screwed up people in this country. I blame the NRA and its propaganda campaign, which is specifically directed at people like this guy, “the neighborhood crazy” and his apologists. Terrified? Buy a gun. Angry? Buy a gun. Low-T? Buy a gun. In the end, it’s all very Freudian.
A moment of Christian Bale
via: ihatepeacocks
♥♥♥ this man
Christian Bale & Sibi visiting the memorial site of the Aurora, CO mass murder victims – Source: baledaily
Quote from that other guy with the huge forehead on Fox & Friends
“I think the British press better back off — and so should the officials! This guy could be president!” — The Fox And Friends’ Not Steve Doocy Guy
It must be truly frightening for childlike Brian Kilmeade to be confronted with an entire world filled with other people who don’t have to toe the usual Fox Entertainment rightwing nutjob line of Republican propaganda.
Photos: Romney in London with regular folks
Romney’s Gafftastic “World” Tour: Onward to Israel!
Daily Kos: An example of Mitt Romney’s “honesty:”
- Mitt Romney on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: We can almost speak in shorthand. We share common experiences and have a perspective and underpinning which is similar.
- Mitt Romney on how he’d handle Iran: I’d get on the phone to my friend Bibi Netanyahu and say, ‘Would it help if I said this? What would you like me to do?’
- Mitt Romney on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel’s current prime minister is not just a friend, he’s an old friend.
- Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Mitt Romney: I remember him [Romney] for sure, but I don’t think we had any particular connections, I knew him and he knew me, I suppose.
“I SUPPOSE,” Bibi shrugged, barely concealing his disdain. heh.
Kevin Drum ponders why Bibi so casually tossed Romney under the bus: “What’s interesting here isn’t that Romney appears to have exaggerated his relationship with Netanyahu. That’s a political misdemeanor. What’s interesting is that Netanyahu seems to be thoroughly uninterested in backing up Romney even a little bit. Mitt Romney? Yeah, I guess I’d recognize him if we passed on the street. He’s the one with the good hair, right? At the same time, he insists that his relationship with Obama is better than we think. This is probably just normal politics — why diss the American president in public, after all? — but it’s still an interesting juxtaposition.”
What can Romney do to earn Bibi’s favor? Maybe try going Full Metal Zionist?
TPM: World War End Times: “The Romney campaign had at time of writing on Friday sent out two separate e-mail press releases chiding the Obama administration for its “refusal to say whether Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.” [...] I suppose it’s possible the Romney campaign is so unaware of the realities of the Middle East peace process, however moribund it may be, that they’re unconcerned with just how inflammatory an American president’s expression of support for an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel would be to the Arab world. But even with the stumbles Mitt Romney has made this week on the international stage, that seems unlikely. So, accepting that Romney is aware of the significance, it seems likely he’s prepared to signal a very real, very controversial departure from decades of U.S. peacemaking policy, and put the weight of his potential presidency behind a declaration that he believes Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. That would be a very big deal.”
And here you can see Buzzfeed Politics desperately trying to stir shit up, perfectly in sync with the Romney campaign. But as Josh Marshall points out above, in 2008 after Obama said Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel, “Palestinian leaders reacted with dismay [and the Obama] campaign quickly walked things back.”
Meanwhile on the Romney plane: Balloon Juice: “The campaign team shows off their superior organizational skillz.”
Romney plane also decorated w/ Middle East map & Team USA Olympic sign. Aides had an Israeli flag to hang but nixed it—
Holly Bailey (@hollybdc) July 28, 2012
…
Alas,
Maddow Blog: “Oops: ”Mitt Romney is making a big push for the Jewish vote. In classic Romney (i.e., clueless) form, his campaign scheduled a trip to Israel on the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av.” Gershom Gorenberg added, “It seems no one on his staff checked a Jewish calendar” before scheduling his trip to Israel.”
Political Wire: “On the eve of Mitt Romney’s trip to Israel, a new Gallup poll finds 68% of Jewish Americans support President Obama for re-eelction, while 25% support Mitt Romney.”
Naturally, Buzzfeed Politics found some Jewish men in Israel who would happily judge a second Obama term based solely on Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Yep. Naturally. The President’s a secret Muslim, unless we need to bring up Rev. Wright from the 2008 playbook.
But you know what? I welcome more discussion about BOTH candidates’ religions and theological beliefs. I think we should know a little more about Mormonism and how it’s shaped the Mitt Romney we’ve come to know and shake our heads about today. Maybe Mitt’s visit to Israel is the perfect opportunity to finally open that discussion.
London Olympics: “an opening ceremony for the 99 percent”
The CSMonitor observes that the Opening Ceremony of last night’s London Olympics seemed to be “an opening ceremony for the 99 percent:”
It is more than a little bit presumptuous to imagine that Mr. Boyle was sending coded political messages to American voters who can’t hear the words “universal” and “health care” in the same sentence without invoking the Commerce Clause. But that doesn’t mean Boyle didn’t have a message.
He insisted that message was not political, but rather a reflection of the values that British society holds dear and emanates to the world.
“One of the reasons we put the NHS in the show is that everyone is aware of how important the NHS is to everybody in this country,” he said at a press conference earlier in the day. ”One of the core values of our society is that it doesn’t matter who you are, you will get treated the same in terms of health care.”
[...] Is that political? That is in the eye of the beholder.
But it is hard to escape at least some small sense of advocacy in Boyle’s second act, particularly after a cigar-chomping elite let loose the gluttony of unchecked industry on the idyllic English countryside in the first act. This was, it seemed, an opening ceremony for the 99 percent.
In some respects, that gave it a poignancy beyond opening ceremonies of Olympic past – Boyle actually had a cutting message, whatever you thought of it.
If one day Obamacare does for Americans what the NHS does for the British, we’d be overjoyed to celebrate it with light-up beds and dancing nurses and doctors too. Imagine the idea of ”it doesn’t matter who you are, you will get treated the same in terms of health care” not being radicalized by one political party which decided, long ago, that protecting the financial interests of corporate insurance (and the overcompensated CEOs in charge of it) is their first priority.
In a truly “Christian” society, outlandish profits for insurance companies in exchange for only some being able to afford health care would be out of the question. I’m glad to see other industrialized nations chose to be humane. It gives me hope that maybe someday we will too.
Nothing much, hanging out. What are you doing?
via: bunnyfood
It’s official: Sarah Palin is “America’s Top Dickhead”
callmeclinton: ”It’s hard to be amused by someone so hateful. ’I’m not saying that everyone should boycott chick-fil-a for gay marriage but for her to purposely post a picture of her there and say “to support a great business” is disrespectful, unnecessary and she looks like a fucking prick.’”
A pox on Palin and her constant in-your-face hate and rage smiles. Instead of calling her “Governor” (as if she completed that job!), she should be given a new title:
Princess Dickhead of the Far North
Our Lady of Perpetual Dickheadedness
Lady Dickhead of Methville
Honorable Dickhead of the Windswept Tundra
The Honorable Dickhead of Freedumb
Dickhead of Quitterville, Esq.
Miss Dickhead for ‘Merica
The Former Half-term Dickhead of Quit
Also, too:
via: quickhits
I don’t know why anyone would eat chicken soaked in pickle juice anyway. It sounds terrible.
Update: And, seriously, this outfit!
via: sarahpalish
London Olympics: a cheer for our athletes
Marie ANNtoinette Romney: five of her most ridiculously offensive quotes
Let’s not forget that Marie ANNtoinette is traveling with her husband, Mitt the Twit, on his failing Foreign Diplomacy Bona Fides Tour — or that she has a super expensive tax deduction competing in the London Olympics. May the odds of her horse winning “Fancy Horse Dancing for the Super Rich” be ever in her favor.
Below Alternet has a roundup of only five of the most ridiculously offensive things Ann has said, with much needed commentary on Rafalca, that Olympic horse of hers. I’ve added images to a couple of the quotes:
5 Most Ridiculously Offensive Quotes From Ann Romney
1. What, Me Rich?
“We can be poor in spirit, and I don’t even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing,” said Ann Romney to Fox News. “It can be here today and gone tomorrow.”
Hmm. Interesting indeed, considering that her husband is worth about $200 million. If elected, he would be among the richest presidents ever to occupy the White House, topping both the Roosevelts and the Bushes , who were no slouches. In fact, he’s wealthier than the last eight presidents combined.
Ann Romney’s favorite fancy dressage horse, Rafalca, costs more to feed and shelter than your whole family. How wealthy does that make you feel?
2. It’s Great That Some Women Don’t Have a Choice
Back in April, Ann Romney spoke to the Connecticut Republican Party’s Prescott Bush Awards Dinner in Stamford, where she waxed personal on the rigors of raising kids while Mitt was off destroying jobs.
Mrs. Romney said she likes to see what women are up to on the campaign trail, asking “Why are you here? What made you come out of your house today to this event? And what do you think about the future?”
Not all women have the luxury of staying at home, she conceded: “I love the fact that there are women out there who don’t have a choice and they must go to work and they still have to raise the kids. Thank goodness that we value those people too. And sometimes life isn’t easy for any of us.”
If you’re one those people, you can wrap yourself in Ann Romney love while you ponder why her horse gets a $77,000 tax credit when your kid gets $1,000.
3. College, Wall Street-Style
When newlyweds Ann and Mitt Romney were living together while attending Brigham Young, things were pretty swell. “We were happy, studying hard,” Romney said in an infamous Boston Globe interview back in 1994 , when Mittens was running for the senate. “Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time,” she explained.
How awesome is that?!? The stock came courtesy of Mitt’s papa, who had invested Mitt’s “birthday money” every year. Ann looks back fondly on this time as a period when she and Mitt were really roughing it. For realz.
4. Unzip Mitt
In an interview with a Baltimore radio station, Ann Romney pressed the audience to believe that despite her husband’s stiff demeanor and penchant for human and canine bullying, Mitt was really full of chuckles. She opined that “we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out.”
Stiff or not stiff? We’re not sure we want to unzip Mr. Romney to find out.
5. Enough of You People
You people. You’re always asking annoying questions and daring to insinuate that there’s something wrong with all those Romney tax havens and offshore accounts.
Why don’t you stick to clipping coupons or whatever it is you people do to stay busy?
In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America “ that quickly went viral, Mrs. Romney got huffy when asked why American voters would not be vouchsafed a look at.
Can you imagine this person as First Lady to “us people” — in her mind the coarse, unwashed, plebeian hordes? It would seem the worst part about being FLOTUS, for Ann, would be the commoners she’d be forced to interact with daily.
Romney campaign on all the negative press in the UK: Americans don’t care
Okay, sure. That must be why Romney’s trying to establish some foreign policy cred for himself by visiting three foreign countries BECAUSE AMERICANS DON’T CARE.
via: shockedkoala
Mitt Romney is the Teapublicans’ choice for Leader of the Free World. What else do you need to know about them?
Foreign diplomacy: Michelle Obama vs. Mitt Romney
image: nomoretexasgovernorsforpresident
London 2012 Olympics: Are you watching Mitt? Michelle Obama gives a fun masterclass in diplomacy – Evening Standard: “As a lesson in good natured statesmanship – if not to say simple manners – it was a masterclass. For Michelle Obama cast aside stuffy protocol to join in the fun and games to celebrate today’s opening of the Olympic games with more than 1,000 children. The First Lady met the children – most of them from U.S. military families – in the grounds of Winfield House, the official residence of the U.S. ambassador in London. She was joined by David Beckham and Olympic gold-medal sprinter Carl Lewis who signed autographs. She said: “I’m so excited,” after jogging to the stage as a marching band played the University of Florida fight song. “I am thrilled to be here on London for the 2012 Olympic games. I am proud to be leading the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony.””
Mitt Romney’s Olympics visit to London: ‘What a car crash… worse than Sarah Palin’ | Mail Online: “Top political figures in Britain have been queuing up to criticise Mitt Romney after he kicked off his first foreign tour by publicly questioning whether London would be able to run the Olympics smoothly. The most high-profile humiliation came when thousands of Brits jeered him after London’s Mayor Boris Johnson mocked him at a concert to mark the end of the Olympic Torch relay. However, behind the scenes officials were even more scathing about the Republican presidential hopeful, describing his visit as a ‘car crash’ and comparing him unfavourably to Sarah Palin. Another official who met with the former Governor of Massachusetts said he was ‘apparently devoid of charm, warmth, humour or sincerity’.”
First Lady Michelle Obama cheers on Team USA (via: chiakigrl)
I love our FLOTUS.
Queen Elizabeth II at the Olympics meme
The Queen seemed hilariously indifferent (a little angry?) at the Opening Ceremony last night. A meme was born.
via: apsies
via: newjerseykeepmybones
via: savagemike
via: huskerlaw
via: zombisexual
via: deadcrackerstorage
via: firefighterkg91
via: theyipster
via: pricklylegs
via: annepackrat
via: i-ship
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