Well SOMEBODY sure had a great Christmas.


Courtesy of USA Today: 

For a movie that wasn't even coming out at the beginning of the week, The Interview is ending it in style. 

 The Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy at the heart of the controversy involving Sony hackers racked up nearly $1 million on Christmas Day in 300 independent movie theaters around the country, according to Variety. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain, one of the staunchest supporters of screening the film, sold out all of its Christmas screenings in its 17 locations. 

It's a decent haul for a movie that, due to threats of terrorism, was pulled by major theater chains such as AMC and Regal. 

The Interview has also done well on video-on-demand platforms since its Wednesday release. While none of the sites has disclosed download or streaming numbers, Variety reports The Interview is the best-selling film on Google Play and YouTube Movies. And according to CNN, there were also 750,000 illegal downloads of the film on Thursday. 

"The audience reaction was fantastic — the limited release, in under 10% of the amount of theaters originally planned, featured numerous sell-outs and a first-day gross over $1 million," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony, in a statement to CNN.

You know every once in awhile you recognize that you are in the middle of a pivotal moment in history. 

And we have had a lot of them recently. The first black president. The Affordable Care Act. The Climate Change agreement with China. The reopening of diplomatic relations with Cuba. The newly released Senate torture report. I could go on.

And this is another one.

It is the first time that we have seen hackers impact a major studio, or ANY large corporation, in such a dramatic fashion.

Even yesterday there was still disagreement over who exactly hacked Sony, and there was yet another hack on online gaming platforms yesterday as well.

So while The Interview may have ultimately benefited from all of the attention and goodwill that resulted from the Sony hack, it is unlikely that this is the last time this is going to happen.

I have no idea what this ultimately means going forward, but I am willing to bet that it will result in increased security and less internet freedom down the road.


You know when it comes to mocking Sarah Palin and other conservatives, I bow to the master. Bill Maher.


That may be an oldie, but it is also a goodie.

By the way did any of you notice my gift to you yesterday?

No?

Well it was a whole day without a Sarah Palin post.

You're welcome.

Now for those who have been pestering me about my next post with information from my source, that is in the works right now.

Today I am sending off an e-mail with a list of the questions that you all suggested in a previous post.

When she responds, and after a phone call or two for clarification, I will post more information.

I don't have a timeline right now, but I expect it will be within the next week or so.


New TLC show about gay Mormon men, refusing to admit they are gay. But you know, they are.


Courtesy of HuffPo:  

"My Husband's Not Gay," a TV special about a group of Mormon men living in Salt Lake City who are attracted to other men but have chosen to marry women is headed to TLC. 

The special will follow couples Jeff and Tanya, Pret and Megan, Curtis and Tera, and a 35-year-old bachelor named Tom, according to The Wrap. 

Quotes from the trailer include "With our faith in God we believe we believe we can overcome anything," "I like to say I've chosen an alternative to an alternative lifestyle" and "I'm interested in men I'm just not interested in men."

This almost cries out for a Jeff Foxworthy like bit called "You might be gay if..."

You might be gay if....you like to nibble the batter off of your corndog before swallowing it whole.

You might be gay if...the first thing you notice when you see your beautiful totally nude wife emerge from the shower is that she's done something different with her hair color.

You might be gay if...you cannot quote any football stats but have memorized every episode of "This Old House."

And you might be gay if....you are the male half of any of these couples.

I swear leave it to religious people to convince themselves that by denying the love they so desperately seek that they are somehow making God love them more.

Just goes to show that denial is not simply a river in Egypt.


Merry Christmas everybody!


To all my IM friends, here is wishing you the all time best Christmas day imaginable.

And in honor of Bishop Shrewsbury, who hates John Lennon, here is your Christmas song of the day.

Let us hope that we all live to see a day when there is no more war, no more hatred, and no more reason not to love everybody on this planet as if they were your brother or your sister.

Because you know what, they are. 


"Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism" is now available online. If you haven't seen it...well there is really no excuse for having never seen it.


Courtesy of Raw Story:  

The film charts the rise of Fox News, outlining the marketing-based techniques that make the channel such “compelling” viewing — the “Fox News Alert,” the blurring of journalism and commentary, and the deceptive use of the chyron, i.e. the lower third of the viewing area on a typical television screen. 

In addition to that, the film also reviews Fox New’s coverage both of the 2000 presidential election and the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, demonstrating how the network successfully established the talking points used by those in the so-called “liberal media.”

Personally I have watched this documentary about three times now.

Typically I have to watch it incrementally because I get so pissed off I want to pick Sean Hannity up by his ankles and beat Roger Ailes to death with him.


Sarah Palin's ghostwriter finally got off her fat ass and wrote her something to say about Cuba.


The video starts off with these words:

"President Obama's recent decision to normalize relations with the oppressive communist regime in Cuba, it puts me in mind of how another president handled relations with the communists." 

And after that it is just blah, blah, Ronald Reagan, blah blah, cold war, blah blah, evil empire, blah blah.......Obama sucks.

It's almost Christmas and I have no intention of transcribing the entire seven minutes of this thing.

However the sycophants over at Breitbart were forced to transcribe a portion of her holiday babble so I will simply link to them and share some of it here for the mocking. (And don't forget every time you visit Breitbart.com an angel has its wings torn off. So think before you click.)

Let us begin: 

“I am so ashamed with what the Obama administration has done to Cuban people. I do not support it,” Palin, speaking in front of a lit candle, says in a video that will be seen on The Sarah Palin Channel. (Aww Sarah Palin is ashamed of the President. Well then you KNOW he must be doing something right.)“This Christmas eve, I intend to light a candle and put it in my window to show my solidarity with every brave Cuban fighting for freedom and every political dissident languishing in Castro’s prisons. 

“I encourage you to do the same. Let’s join together in this. Let’s show them that the light of freedom shall never be extinguished.”

Yes lighting candles. Such an effective method for overthrowing a government. 

(Actually the idea comes from a Reagan documentary that Palin pimps during this warm over serving of word salad.)

Palin contrasted Reagan’s “moral clarity” (She confused "moral clarity" with "ignorance about diplomacy.") during the Cold War against the Soviet Union with Obama’s recent appeasement on Cuba. She mentioned that Reagan knew that the Soviet Union’s economic model was “a total failure” but did not collapse only because the Soviets were able to manipulate Americans into propping it up with grain deals and technology exchanges. She blamed “naive diplomats” and “Wall Street greed” for combining to “prop up the most repressive regime in human history” that “would have crumbled so much sooner under the weight of its own incompetence if it were not for” the policies of appeasement. 

Reagan, Palin notes, had the “moral clarity” to call the Soviet Union an “evil empire” and declare that his strategy for the Cold War was simply, “we win, they lose.” (Yes and if Mikhail Gorbachev had not taken the initiative and reached out to Reagan then nothing would have changed on his watch. Reagan's so-called toughness did nothing except slow down the process by which the cold war ended.)

Palin urged viewers to contrast Reagan’s moral clarity with Obama’s decision to “spit in the face of every human rights activist in Cuba.” (Well according to Palin, the President has stopped shoving things down throats and is now spitting in the face. Is that progress?) She said Obama’s decision to reverse U.S. policy toward Cuba “enriched their oppressors and sanctioned their abuse.” (She does realize that we currently trade with a number of countries which have terrible reputations for oppressing human rights, doesn't she?) She said that “greedy crony capitalists are propping up a failing Communist regime” in Cuba, and Obama just gave the “Castro regime the hard currency and the economic boost to remain in power forever.” 

Palin said it is “ludicrous” to think that Cubans will enjoy democracy and human rights because corporations can sell products there. 

“Ask human rights activists in China how that’s working for them,” Palin said, noting that the Cuban government will pocket 92% of wages of their workers to empower the apparatus that controls them. 

She ultimately accused Obama of giving “away all of our leverage to fight for human rights” (And boy hasn't that leverage been working out well so far.) and betraying “the people who are courageously putting their lives on the line fighting for freedom.” She even said Obama was “spitting in the face of every human rights activist on the globe” before asking Americans to light candles to support the Cuban freedom fighters that the Obama administration betrayed.

 Palin also uses the President's middle name during the video which I am assuming she still considers an insult.

You know for fun I would like to ask Palin on video to point to where Cuba is on a map. Fifty bucks says she couldn't find it in ten tries.

Okay so after working on this for a couple of days, the best Palin's ghostwriter could do was to steal some tape from a Reagan documentary, string a bunch of words together that almost make Palin sound like she once read a book, and change the attack against the President from accusing him of "shoving things down our throats" to "spitting in the face" of human rights advocates.

Color me unimpressed.

But even worse than the actual words that the ghostwriter had Palin vomit forth, is the image that Palin presents in the video of a poorly bewigged mental patient, with too much lip gloss, the glow of a teleprompter reflected in her man glasses, and a hideous fur collared suit with shoulder pads left over from the eighties.

I mean is anybody even trying to make her look professional these days?

I think I probably spent more time typing this up just now, and trust me I went through it as quickly as I possibly could, then her team spent putting that whole video together.

I have half a mind to start covering Ted Cruz instead of wasting my time on Palin. I mean at least Cruz comes up with new crazy all the time instead of regurgitating the same old partially digested talking points over and over again.

You know I think it might be about time to have a glass of the Gryphen family's famous eggnog.

It's made from a recipe that my father came up with;  Six ounces of rum with three tablespoons of nog added to give it that holiday flavor. 

It doesn't really taste that good but typically I pass out part way through my second glass. So who really cares?


Sarah Palin and the "Grift that stole Christmas."


Well I already shared with you Palin's attempts to trick people into buying that crappy Christmas book of hers again, but as it turns out that is only the beginning of her attempts to sell you sub-par products.

Palin is also pimping a Fox News holiday special with Todd Starnes, who is so freaked out about the imagined "War on Christmas" that he is apparently constantly stuffing his face with comfort food to calm himself down.


As you can see the program features a who's who from the "I have never heard of these people" list. And of course Sarah Palin, who is only a handful of years away from being added to that list.

But Palin is not finished yet.

Her Facebook page also features a promo for a Christmas song by the world's worst band Madison Rising, that is SO bad you will probably want to ask Santa for a new set of eardrums.

Madison Rising. This band never ceases to amaze. Heartstrings pull and gratefulness soars while listening to this vocal Christmas card they send to our United States Military. These are special musicians blessing us with the American spirit boldly coursing through their music. Thank you, Madison Rising, for using your talent to inspire and empower. Thank you, troops, for everything. 

- Sarah Palin

Yeah apparently the "American spirit boldly coursing through their music" takes the place of any talent.

Wait, you don't believe it could be that bad?

Okay you asked for it.

Sorry you doubted me now?

And the grifting has now spread to other family members as well.

Such as older brother Chuck, who is now just outright begging for money, so that he can take pretty pictures and put together some kind of book that will never sell.

Here is Wonkette's take: 

We’ve had a lot of fun over the years laughing until we puked about how former half-term governor Sarah Palin loves to fleece rubes. (You and your family should probably check Grandma’s bank statements before you send her to the home.) But did you know grifting is an art you can learn? It’s true! Just ask Palin’s brother, Chuck Heath Jr., who has a kickstarter up for the fine and noble purpose of buying Chuck Heath Jr. some new camera equipment! 

Yeah that about sums it up. 

Hey isn't Chuck's sister like rich or something? Why the fuck doesn't he just ask her to give him money to help him get started?

Never mind I already know the answer to that one. As Todd Palin's likes to say, "What's in it for us?"

I really have only one request for Santa this year, and it is not so much a gift I would like as merely a promise to guide his sleigh right over a certain house in Wasilla when his reindeer feel the need to relieve themselves.


That soldier of misfortune in the "War on Christmas" Sarah Palin pimps her unsellable book from last year. Which now you can buy on Amazon for one penny. Update!


"Oh God, please buy this book. I have so many losers to support back at home."
Well it's that time of year again folks.

The kids are off for winter break, the tree is decorated and running up our electric bill, the holiday classics are on every channel, and Sarah Palin is bitching about the Atheists trying to murder the baby Jesus with a candy cane.

Having already been caught shaking her flat ass for a ride out to oblivion, Palin has now shifted her focus to selling some of those books that nobody seemed to want last year.

Toward that end Palin has created a few videos and posted them on her own Sarah Palin Channel, because of course THAT is where to go for that as yet untapped market. (Okay there might be a flaw in this plan.)

In this video Palin describes how great Christmas is, and what assholes Atheists are for trying to take it away from people, while also discussing the recipes contained within including moose chili (WTF?), blueberry pie, and of course the extremely complicated to prepare Rice Krispie treats.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

Former half-term Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, spoke of recipes and family holiday get-togethers while noting that her viewers shouldn’t let “a few angry atheists with attorneys” get in the way of celebrating the birth of Christ. 

“Oh, I am so excited for people to get to read this Christmas book, while protecting the heart of Christmas and not allowing the Scrooges out there to take Christ out of Christmas, or to erode any of the tradition we celebrate during the Christmas season,” she explained. “It’s called ‘Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas’.” 

She continued to discuss “what we believe in at this time of year,” before returning, once again, to her book. 

“What we believe in is freedom of expressing our faith and what our beliefs are, not allowing just a few angry atheists with attorneys perhaps to tell us that we can’t celebrate the birth of Christ the way that we would like to,” she said. “And it’s not an in-your-face political lecture, it’s a fun book that incorporates the solution to the challenge that is the war on Christmas that we see taking place right now.” 

Palin went on to say that she believes the book will “hopefully will spark some inspiration in other people to allow them, no matter what faith anyone is, allow them some Christmas joy to spread.” 

She also promises that the book features her recipe for her moose chili (“I’m kind famous for my moose chili”) as well as rice krispie treats and blue-berry pies, saying her family has to “compete” with native Alaskan bears to harvest the berries first.

Raw Story goes on to point out that those who actually want to buy this ridiculous book can get a used one on Amazon for a penny.  (Still overpriced in my opinion.)

If you watch the video you will see a shot of Palin getting some frozen meat out of her dented freezer while holding a sleeping Trig, who suddenly comes to life and starts squirming after he realizes who is holding him.

The entire video has Palin using that fake syrupy voice of her's. But if you think that is bad then you have to see this one where she talks about sending John McCain a Christmas card.

Transcript courtesy of Wonkette:  

Yes, John McCain does get a Christmas card, and he gets a note of appreciation for recognizing that there was someone way up in the Last Frontier who had a desire to serve this country. I still appreciate John McCain for that, and I thank him for that. Yeah, John McCain’s on my Christmas card list, heck yeah. 

Okay did that sound really creepy to anybody else?

Wonkette features another video where Palin brags that the only thing she ever gets Todd for Christmas is a fifty dollar gas card and that it is enough to make him happy. (Oh yeah, Todd looks like a happy guy doesn't he?)

Damn I have to imagine that the idiots that actually paid the subscription fee for the Sarah Palin Channel are kicking themselves right about now.

Not only is there rarely any content, but when there is it is trying to sell them books that they already bought a long time ago.

I can hardly wait to find out how far she sinks in the Alexa ratings this next year.

Update: Apparently Palin also sent out a tweet yesterday giving the Duck Dynasty disphits a much more appropriate name.

The tweet has now been fixed, but not before those pesky liberals too the screen shot above.


Colorado state representative Gordon Klingenschmitt claims that people don't need no stinking Obamacare. Not when they have God as their heavenly physician.



Courtesy of Right Wing Watch:

Gordon Klingenschmitt is excited about a recent Fox News poll that claims that 58 percent of Americans want to repeal Obamacare, declaring on his "Pray In Jesus Name" program recently that people ought to be relying on God for their healthcare. 

Citing a passage from Exodus 15, Klingenschmitt asserted that God will protect people from disease so long as they obey His commands and said that Americans "ought to look to the Lord for our healthcare." 

"I personally prefer to look to almighty God as my healer and not to the government as a substitute god or substitute healer," he said, before praying that this nation would "repent of worshiping President Obama as if he is a god." 

Here is the video:

You know it sounds to me that God was only promising not to bring the same plagues upon his people that he unleashed on the Egyptians.

Which include water to blood, a butt load of frogs, gnats or lice, swarms of flies, sick cattle, boils, thunder and hail, locusts, darkness, and death of your firstborn.

Nowhere does it claim that you will be healed of cancer, heart disease, kidney failure, or any of the actual sicknesses that modern man faces today.

So WTF is this guy even talking about?

And don't even get me started on the fact that since the Egyptians never had Jews as slaves in the first place that this entire story is based on pure unadulterated horseshit.

Good job Colorado. 


Pat Robertson believes that gays will soon die out because they cannot reproduce. Not sure what is more troubling, his understanding of sexuality or of history.


Courtesy of New Now Next:  

The 700 Club televangelist took a call recently from woman complaining that her church forbids dating or marriage—that even showing interest in the opposite sex is a “sin.” 

Robertson told the woman to “run” from her church before everyone dies out. 

“You know, those who are homosexual will die out because they don’t reproduce. You have to have heterosexual sex to reproduce,” he opined. “Same thing with that church— it’s doomed, it’s going to die out because it’s the most nonsensical thing I’ve heard in a long time.”

While I agree with Robertson that this woman needs to leave her church immediately (Actually leaving ALL churches might not be a bad plan), his contention that homosexuality will die out because they cannot produce offspring together is truly ignorant.

As just about everybody EXCEPT Pat Robertson already knows straight parents produce gay children and have been doing so since the beginning of time.

In fact if Robertson were to open a book that does not begin with the words "In the beginning.." he might realize that teh gays have existed well before the establishment of Christianity, Judaism, or even monotheism.

In fact they are the one constant that ties ALL societies, ethnicities, and past civilizations together.

Suggesting that gay folks will soon die out is like suggesting that Pat Robertson will soon start saying things that are not incredibly stupid.

Not gonna happen.


President Obama on Sony's decision to pull "The Interview" from its Christmas release: "Yes, I think they made a mistake." Update!


Courtesy of NBC News:  

President Barack Obama said Friday that Sony Pictures Entertainment "made a mistake" by nixing the release of a comedic film after the company was hacked and received cyber threats. 

"Sony's a corporation. It suffered significant damage. There were threats against some of its employees," he said "I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake." 

In a year-end press conference, Obama said that he wishes Sony had spoken to him before deciding to back down on the film "The Interview," which depicted a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "I would have told them 'Do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks,'" he said. "That's not who we are," he said. 

"That's not what America's about."

I agree with the President's remarks 100%.

Just like I did with George Clooney yesterday. 

By the way the Sony executives are none too thrilled that the President talked about them yesterday.

It must be noted that George R. R. Martin, author of the incredible Game of Thrones books, has offered to show The Interview in his own theater in Sante Fe, Mexico.

He also had this to say: 

"The level of corporate cowardice here astonishes me. It's a good thing these guys weren't around when Charlie Chaplin made THE GREAT DICTATOR. If Kim Jong-Un scares them, Adolf Hitler would have had them shitting in their smallclothes."

Well stated.

Update: It looks like Sony is rethinking their position in response to the President's remarks: 

Sony Pictures Entertainment has said it still wants to release its film The Interview which mocks the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and it is considering alternative platforms. 

The remarks come after President Obama said the film company made a mistake by cancelling the movie's release.

That is somewhat different than what they were saying before. 

Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler magazine, is also jumping into the fray with a porn parody of The Interview: 

“If Kim Jong-un and his henchmen were upset before, wait till they see the movie we’re going to make,” Flynt said. “I’ve spent a lifetime fighting for the First Amendment, and no foreign dictator is going to take away my right to free speech.”

I guess when you've already taken a bullet, a little hacking seems quaint by comparison. 


Last night's musical Colbert Report send off. Might need a hankie.


Ah man that was so good.

I ma going to really, really, really, miss this show.

As a bonus here is Stephen Colbert and President Obama backstage at George Washington University last week practicing this song together.


Michelle Bachmann claims that she defeated her liberal foes using "evidence based arguments." Wait, what?


Courtesy of Raw Story:

Bachmann told World Net Daily, which referred to her as a “GOP legend” in the headline, that she had become a media target because she had basically outsmarted her liberal foes. 

“I took them on, and their agenda, and I went to the heart of whatever it was they wanted to advance, and tried to take it apart through evidence-based arguments, and they don’t like that,” Bachmann said. “When the left argues, they argue from emotionalism.” 
  
“That’s the best way to defeat them, by the way — defeat them with evidence and defeat them with their false premises, and I did that,” she said.

“The Republican Party always gets a bad rap because there are not as many women that are in elective office, but it’s a tough business,” Bachmann said. “It is public humiliation, public ridicule, constant criticism when you’re in public office – if you take on the left.”

Yeah, I don't think the ridiculing had anything to do with her gender.


Let's revisit some of Michelle Bachmann's "evidenced-based arguments" shall we?

These are courtesy of the Daily Kos:

Accusing members of Congress of being "anti-American:

The news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would, I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they are pro-America or anti-America. 

Claiming that the Obama Administration was going to be forcing Americans to attend re-education camps:

The real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums. 

Claiming that actor John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa, when instead it was serial killer John Wayne Gacy:

What I want them to know is just like John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa, that's the spirit that I have too. It's really about not being ashamed of America. It's embracing America. 

Terrifying parents by relaying an unsubstantiated story from an anti-vaxxer:

There’s a woman who came up crying to me tonight after the debate. She said her daughter was given [the HPV] vaccine. She told me her daughter suffered mental retardation as a result. There are very dangerous consequences. 

Claiming that earthquakes and hurricanes are messages from God about reining in big government:

I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending.

There are more, in fact the Daily Kos lists 40 altogether, but I think we get the point. 

That my friends is the kind of "logic" that Michelle Bachmann used to "defeat" us.

Gosh, I guess we never had a chance.


Sarah Palin's new promo for the second season of Amazing America has to be seen to be believed.


Courtesy of the Hitchhiking Harpy's Facebook page:

All roads lead to this Amazing hot new promo. Amazing America returns Thursday, January 15th at 9pm. Hop in for the ride. Exclusively on Sportsman Channel.

That's it? After three days of silence, that's it?

Gosh I'm so disappointed.

No venom laced post about Obama renewing diplomatic relations with Cuba. No ripping out her hair over his protection of Bristol Bay from environmental rapists. Not even a passive aggressive smackdown of Sony for bowing to North Korean hackers.

Nope all we get is this pseudo sexual MILFy rendition of the start of every other slasher/porn movie ever made.

By the way did anybody else notice that the video was vaguely familiar?

Oh yeah, Sarah Palin and Shania Twain. Like that's an appropriate comparison.


Rage inducing video of the day. Girlfriend of man shot to death in an Ohio Wal-Mart threatened with jail for not admitting that she knew he had a gun before entering the store. He did not.


Courtesy of The Guardian:  

Police aggressively questioned the tearful girlfriend of a young black man they had just shot dead as he held a BB gun in an Ohio supermarket – accusing her of lying, threatening her with jail, and suggesting that she was high on drugs. 

Tasha Thomas was reduced to swearing on the lives of her relatives that John Crawford III had not been carrying a firearm when they entered the Walmart in Beavercreek, near Dayton, to buy crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars on the evening of 5 August. 

“You lie to me and you might be on your way to jail,” detective Rodney Curd told Thomas, as she wept and repeatedly offered to take a lie-detector test. After more than an hour and a half of questioning and statement-taking, Curd finally told Thomas that Crawford, 22, had died. “As a result of his actions, he is gone,” said the detective, as she slumped in her chair and cried. 

For the record John Crawford III was NOT armed when he entered that Wal-Mart. 

He only had a BB gun in his possession when he was shot.

This poor woman was on the phone with him when the police opened fire on him.
A 94-minute police video recording, released to the Guardian by the office of Mike DeWine, the Ohio attorney general, in response to a public records request, shows Thomas, 26, being interviewed by Curd after she was driven from Walmart to the Beavercreek police department. Curd later told investigators he had not yet been told Crawford only had a BB gun that had been on sale at the store. 

Curd promptly asked Thomas whether she and Crawford had criminal records. Already tearful and breathless, Thomas explained that she may have had some traffic offences and had been arrested for petty theft as a juvenile. 

The detective then became increasingly aggressive and banged on the table between them with his hand. “Tell me where he got the gun from,” Curd repeated. Thomas insisted Crawford had been carrying only a white plastic grocery bag when they arrived at Walmart to buy the ingredients to make s’mores at a family cook-out. 

Asked one of several times whether Crawford owned a gun, Thomas said: “Not that I know.” 

Curd told her: “Don’t tell me ‘not that you know’, because that’s the first thing I realise somebody’s not telling me the truth”. 

He later repeated: “You need to tell me the truth” and “You need to be truthful.” 

I have to question the fact that his officer claims that he did not know the murdered man only had a BB gun on him. Either he is lying to save face, or else he should never have been in that room interrogating this poor woman with no knowledge of what actually took place.

To me it appears that Detective Curd is trying to get her to say hEr boyfriend was armed in order to provide an excuse for officers to have executed him in that fashion.

When she fails to do so his anger is apparent.

Personally I am disgusted by this.


Samuel L. Jackson issues a challenge to his fellow celebrities to sing out against "racist police."


Courtesy of The Free Thought Project:  

In a bold move, heavyweight actor Samuel L. Jackson has issued a call to action, similar to that of the ice bucket challenge, but for police. 

Saturday, on his facebook page, Jackson offers to “all [the] celebrities that poured ice water on [their] head, a chance to do something else.” 

Jackson challenges celebrities to sing the “We ain’t gonna stop, till people are free” song. 

The song starts off with a reference to Eric Garner’s last words. 

I can hear my neighbor cryin’ ‘I can’t breathe’ 
Now I’m in the struggle and I can’t leave. 
Callin’ out the violence of the racist police. 
We ain’t gonna stop, till people are free. 
We ain’t gonna stop, till people are free. 

Jackson then ends the 47 second challenge asking celebrities to “come on, sing it out.” 

I don;t know if the police can ignore this.

After all that IS Nick Fury. 


Wonkette once again dives into the serpent pit that is the Sarah Palin Channel. (I wonder what anti-venom they use over there?)


Wonkette provided part of a transcript, but I fleshed it out because apparently I am just that much of a glutton for punishment.

Here it is: 

Hey friends! Y’know, back in the 1990s, Bill Clinton said that he wanted abortion to be safe, legal, and rare. Well, things really have changed since then, this is so unfortunate now — it appears as if Democrats, most Democrats, they want abortion to be safe, legal, and…celebrated? Mmmm. 

Feminists, lately, who are in favor of abortion, they’re encouraging women to write or speak publicly and glowingly about how great having an abortion is, how great it was for them and their careers. My goodness, I find this really, really sad. It's dark. It's tragic in itself. Mmm, very sad.

In the past, even those in favor of abortion knew that it's a tragic event, not something to be celebrated like a rite of passage.

Look I know from personal experience how difficult it is when you find yourself in less than idill (sic) circumstances and you are pregnant. (Yep, it's called the Wite-Out solution.)

I know the strain it can have on you. On your family, On your career. So I can sympathize with women who find themselves in THAT situation. I know what she's going through.

But I also know that you will never regret choosing life. (You KNOW that? What, do you have crystal balls or something?)

In the sunset of your life, when you look back on all your choices that you made, and all of the things that you have accomplished you will never regret giving life to your children. I promise you they'll be your greatest joy. (And boy we all know how much a Sarah Palin promise is worth, don't we kids?)

I've never met anyone at their end of their life regrets having their kids. (What, is she hanging out in old folk's homes and critical care units these days?) But I have heard of many people who regret snuffing the life out of their child. (Okay for the record, abortion does not entail choking a baby to death.)

You know a final not for these would be feminists. They're not real feminists, They're not pro-women when they're celebrating women snuffing the life out of , say the youngest sisters in our society. (Wait, what?)


Little baby girl in the womb even. 

No a real feminist is someone who fights for women to have real choices. (She does realize it's called the "pro-choice" movement right?) And that means having the choice to keep your child and pursue a career. Or give life to your child and allow another family to raise that child and then pursue your career. (Actually Planned Parenthood supports all of these choices as well. So her idea of having MORE choices is to do away with one of the choices offered by the pro-choice movement. Yeah okay.)

Having children is really a part of so many women's lives obviously. (But not ALL women's lives. Or does she simply not get that?) And in this day and age with the amazing technology we have that transcends the old office structure, right in the corporate world or in the big or small business world, women shouldn't have to sacrifice her career to raise a child.

You may take a break, if you will, to spend that valuable time with a child but you don't have to sacrifice your career and never go back in order to give life to a child.

Building a culture of life which America needs. A culture of life where we respect the sanctity of  innocent life. It means encouraging a world where career women can raise their children. It's something that everyone, from both sides of the political aisle, should get behind.

Mmm, and I hope and pray that America will.
 
God hearing Palin condemning women for making choices concerning their own bodies is like  hearing Mike Huckabee or Chris Christie telling somebody that they should not be taking that second helping of pie.

P.S. For those wondering just what in the hell Palin is blabbering about I think this might help to explain it.

P.P.S. For those who are wondering the post you are waiting for will publish at 6:15 AM Alaska time, or 10:15 EST time depending where you live.


Tea Partiers hold rally outside of White House. Talk soon turns to lynching.


On Wednesday a group of Tea Party enthusiasts gathered outside the White House to protest immigration reform. And then thinks got just a touch racist.

Courtesy of Right Wing Watch:  

“Hang the traitor!” 

“Hang the lying Kenyan traitor!” 

“We’ve got rope.” 

“Plenty of trees in the front yard, wouldn’t be the first one hung on one of them trees.” 

“Whatever happened to those good ol’ days?” 

“Don’t snap his neck, you watch him choke to death.” 

“He’s just biding his time until Satan takes him home to where he belongs.” 

Gosh isn't it great that we live in a country where just about any toothless inbred dipshit can stand outside the home of the President of the United States and discuss exactly how they would hang him from a tree?

I simply cannot imagine why people keep insisting that the Tea Party is racist. Can you?


Former St. Louis police officer: Darren Wilson processed his own evidence after shooting Michael Brown. #Fergusonisnotover.


Courtesy of 3 Chics Politico: 

Redditt Hudson a former police officer with St Louis County police says Darren Wilson processed his own evidence. Reddit also says he was in the room when Ferguson police chief Tom Jackson told them, Darren Wilson had no knowledge of Michael Brown being involved in a store robbery before the encounter with Wilson.

Hudson also wrote a rather incredible piece for  the Washington Post about how being a cop taught him about racism within law enforcement.

I think Chris Hayes is one of the last television hosts still digging into Ferguson, for which I admire him greatly.

It seems since the Eric Garner situation hit the front pages, with incriminating video and everything, that the shooting of Michael Brown has been permanently pushed to the side.

And that is too bad, because in my opinion there is still much to learn about the Ferguson case, and it will never be uncovered now that most news outlets have moved on to the next hot story.

However Michael Brown remains dead, Darren Wilson remains free, and justice remains unserved. 


NBC reporter asks Rick Perry if he is "smart enough to be President of the United States." Best question ever!


Courtesy of Real Clear Politics:  

GOV. RICK PERRY: I think over the course of the last two years, people, you know, they realize that what they saw in 2011 is certainly not the person they're looking at in 2013, 2014, 2015. 

KASIE HUNT, MSNBC: And are you smart enough to be president of the United States?" 

PERRY: I think the standpoint of life's experiences. Running for the presidency is not an IQ test. It is a test of an individual's resolve. It's a test of an individual's philosophy. It is a test of an individual's life's experiences. And I think Americans are really ready for a leader that will give them a great hope about the future.

Yeah but she asked a question, and he never answered it.

You know a smarter person might have been able to do that. 

And no, running for the presidency is NOT an IQ test. But as Sarah Palin learned to her great consternation IQ does in fact play a significant role in preparing a candidate to answer reporters' questions.

And she also demonstrated that wearing glasses is not enough to project an air of intelligence.



 

Public News Network Copyright © 2010 LKart Theme is Designed by Lasantha