"No longer like a toad in these foul cellars will I secret the venom of hatred -- for you shall bring me love!" - Erik
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« November 2011 | Main | January 2012 » December 31, 2011 Well, ok, there's only 30 in the picture, but that's cause fnord12 and i each ate one before i got around to taking the photo. By min | December 31, 2011, 8:02 PM | My stupid life | Comments (2) | Link
Flexing - Ouch Wikipedia tells me I feel they should also add a squicky warning. I had to look away during some of joint twisting stuff. *shudder* But, you know, you should watch it all the way through. It's pretty kewl. By min | December 30, 2011, 1:25 PM | Ummm... Other?| Link Boy Loves His Zeppelin I saw this a month or so ago and meant to post it, but kept forgetting. So now that it's prolly been seen by everybody already, i'm finally getting around to it. The video (i was unable to embed it, but clicking on the image will take you to the You Tube page) is of a little boy who rejects several songs his dad plays for him, getting more and more upset, until finally his dad asks him what he wants to listen to and the boy chooses Zeppelin.  You can tell from his expressions that he knows the song well and is anticipating certain parts.
By min | December 30, 2011, 3:04 AM | Cute Things & Music| Link
Marvel Sales By fnord12 | December 29, 2011, 5:17 PM | Comics| Link
Back issues added A message for those interested in my Marvel Timeline project. I've just completed the addition of a large list of back-issues to the chronology. I started working on these back in October, and it's the amount of content added is the equivalent to me completing about year of comics. And, since these were all issues i deliberately sought out, they all have some degree of significance: first appearances, important events, or unusual storylines. You can see the list of added issues, and the reasons i bought them, here. Now on to 1985! By fnord12 | December 28, 2011, 5:40 PM | Comics| Link Damn skippy! Why can't girls get things like super hero squinkies, for example? Why's it all gotta be pink stuff? I love when she gets so upset, she starts slapping her hands on a box in frustration. Also, that she's so tiny that the box is at the proportional height at which a table surface would be for an adult. By min | December 28, 2011, 1:23 PM | Cute Things & Liberal Outrage| Link
SuperMegaSpeed Reviews New Mutants #35 - I really wasn't looking forward to an "evil nu-mutal band" plotline, and the "fight" this issue went about how you would expect, but throw in Shuma-Gorath-in-a-Box and i'm with you. This book is very good at the inter-personal stuff; the Nate/Dani/Blink conversation about atonement was both funny and good characterization. There definitely seems to be a fight going on between the artists about who is supposed to be drawing the faces on these characters. It seems in this issue the inker said "That #$#@ isn't going to draw faces again? Somehow that's my job? Fine, you want eyes? I'll give you eyes no one will miss." Sorry for the quick scans, but these are called Speed Reviews for a reason. Avengers Academy #23 - The introduction of X-23 to the team was really good, and the Lightspeed/Striker conversation/revelations was good too. Oh, and Hybrid! I am really disappointed that Sean Chen is leaving the book, especially due to 'revised budgets'. It's one thing to trim the line, quite another to lose top talent. Or maybe they're moving Chen to a higher profile book, which would be well-deserved, but at the same time it ensures that lower tier books like this will never rise to prominence, Wolverine-clone or no Wolverine-clone. Hulk #46 - I was so sure, when they announced that there was a giant portal to Rigellian space in the basement, that i was going to get my Recorder/Machine Man team-up, or at least get to see a few Big Heads, but no such luck. This was good, and i'm surprised and pleased that the book will actually have a lasting effect on Marvel's status quo with the introduction of this new country and leader. I like the analysis that the Red Hulk uses the reputation of the Hulk to get enemies to treat him like an unthinking monster while actually using tactics more fitting to the guy that used to be General Ross, but i don't feel like that's really borne out in the stories. They should do more with that. Thunderbolts #167 - I seem to be in the minority about this book again, but i don't have any complaints about the time-travel romp. I was glad to see this Victorian plotline wrap up after two issues, and i don't mind a meeting with [a] Black Knight next. The writing is great, the characters are awesome, and i'm willing to go wherever Parker wants to take us. New Avengers #19 - If you can get past the fact that it's a re-hash, the Norman Osborn stuff is good. Avengers #20 - Same here. I enjoyed the "get the squid off Madam Hydra's head" scene. The art is a little weird and blocky, but i kind of like it. This panel looks awkward but at the same time it reminds me of Ditko's early Hulk. I was advised to read the Avengers comics in the wrong order, but looking back on this there's actually decent coordination between the two issues, with Iron Man realizing that Osborn is working with AIM after the Ultimo attack from New Avengers. I know that complimenting two books with the same writer and editor for actually fitting together in a way that makes sense is faint praise, but it's more than we've gotten in the past from some Bendis books (and i'm one of this guy's defenders!). Some words on the ads in these issues: By fnord12 | December 26, 2011, 10:18 AM | Comics | Comments (2) | Link
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - The "Santa's a Dick" Edition I'm sure everyone's familiar with this 1964 Rankin/Bass Christmas classic. It's been on TV every year since i can remember. And despite the singing, i always enjoyed watching it each December as a kid. A couple of years ago, i bought Rudolph as part of a DVD collection of other children's Christmas classics and watched it again for the first time in several years. It was during these later viewings that i realized something very obvious - Santa's a dick. In point of fact, just about everyone in Christmas Town is a dick. Well, Mrs. Donner, Rudolph's mom, is not a dick. She's just weak and ineffectual. The kind of person who willfully ignores things so that they can continue in the fantasy that everything's fine. Her reaction to Rudolph's nose? But back to Santa and his uber-douchbaggery. Rudolph's father Donner is horrified and embarrassed that his offspring would exhibit traits that deviate from the norm. What is Santa going to think! He nervously reassures Santa that his son's not a total freak and will surely grow out of it. Instead of chuckling merrily, patting Donner on the back reassuringly, and telling him that superficial physical appearances mean nothing to Santa for he loves all children, Santa reveals appearances mean everything. Thanks for stopping by to meet our new baby, Santa. Dick. Having done his duty of spreading anxiety and shame to the reindeer, Santa moves on to crushing any feelings of self-worth his elves might have. The elves are all in a tizzy to perform their newest number for Santa and Mrs. Claus. They've been practicing all year! Santa is openly impatient and makes it very obvious he's got better things to do. 
Santa Claus: Well, it needs work. I have to go. And leaves without a backwards glance. Dick. A few months later, Rudolph and Donner prepare for Rudolph's debut at the Reindeer Games. Donner, though fingerless, has managed to make a covering for Rudolph's nose. Rudolph isn't too keen about having to wear it, but his father sets him straight. Donner: There are more important things than comfort: self respect! Santa can't object to you now. How can you possibly have any self-respect if you're born with a light up nose? How? And more importantly, we can't let Santa see that nose! Santa's approval is worth any discomfort. Well, it's all for naught. His false nose falls off. Santa sees it and, Santa Claus: Donner, you should be ashamed of yourself. What a pity.  That's right, Donner. Shame on you.
 Yukon Cornelius. Wahoo! (look at those dogs!)
Rudolph returns to his parents' cave only to find it empty. Santa shows up to tell him they left to look for Rudolph months ago but never came back. Santa: I'm very worried. Wait, they've been missing for months, but Santa's done nothing to actually find them. Just how worried is he? Well, ok, let's give him a little credit. He's actually thinking about someone other than himself for a change, right? Santa: Christmas Eve is only two days off and, without your father, I'll never be able to get my sleigh off the ground. Ok, mebbe not. Dick. In the end, when Santa realizes that he needs Rudolph in order to deliver presents in the fog, he does a complete 180, lavishing Rudolph with all the approval and acceptance he's been yearning for the entire show. Suddenly, it's a "wonderful nose" and not only is Rudolph going to get a spot on Santa's sleigh team, he's going to lead it! And Santa's being totally sincere. He wouldn't lie about something like this just for his own personal gain. So, what have we learned, boys and girls? Santa is a grumpy asshole who hates anything outside of the norm and can't be bothered with the social niceties of being polite to his employees, but if he needs something from you, he isn't above pretending to be your friend. Oh, and Santa's a dick.
This movie was also full of strange, but wonderful things.
  Incidentally, i can't help but wonder if this whole "dentist" thing is a metaphor for "gay". I mean, Hermey's the only male elf with a lush head of blond hair and a cute, pink, rosebud mouth. The rest of the guys are bald with a line where their pie hole should be. And everybody keeps saying "dentist" with an extra dose of drama. Just saying. By min | December 22, 2011, 9:36 PM | TeeVee | Comments (2) | Link Onomatopoeia onomatopoeia [on-uh-mat-uh-pee-uh, -mah-tuh-] -n It's great to say, and it uses almost every vowel just for the ending. That's awesome! By min | December 22, 2011, 12:38 PM | Good Words| Link That must have been some pool party By fnord12 | December 22, 2011, 9:48 AM | Science | Comments (1) | Link Random Lyrics Thursday **Warning - nekkid boobies (it might also be a little soft core pornish. mostly it's just weird)** From mm1
Out on the tar plains, the glides are moving And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind Way down the lane away, living for another day And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind Sing blue silver And watching lovers part I feel you smiling And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind Sing blue silver
By min | December 22, 2011, 8:12 AM | Music| Link
Brain-Eating Amoeba Update If you thought winter would kill it, you'd be wrong. This is not a problem if you drink the water and they end up in your stomach, where they are digested. This is very much is a problem if you dribble them through your sinus system, where they seem to occasionally find their way brainward with the same efficacy they display in unlucky swimmers who accidentally inhale some protist-infested pond water while swimming. Once they wander into your brain, death is almost certain. Thankfully, nobody would actually dribble water from a pot into their nostrils, so no worries. In other gross news, if you scroll down to the bottom of the article, you'll learn that you and everybody else around you likely has about 0.14grams of poo clinging to your bottoms. Think about that next time you have friends over to sit on your couch. By min | December 21, 2011, 7:53 PM | Science| Link Hard Times Seen outside the Mexican restaurant where my company held our holiday lunch. Failed Broadway show, marriage on the reboot, no longer the top mascot now that Mickey's around... it's tough being a Spider-Man. By fnord12 | December 21, 2011, 2:06 PM | Comics| Link
 With my Peanut Butter Cup Army, I shall rule the world! By min | December 20, 2011, 10:32 PM | My stupid life| Link Apple Streusel...Tart? What defines a tart? Is it the type of pan you used? It's almost exactly the same ingredients as an apple pie. It's just not in a pie pan. What do i call it? I must know!  By min | December 20, 2011, 10:17 PM | My stupid life | Comments (1) | Link Amazon's Disintegrating USB Cable If your Kindle came with an Amazon USB cable, you have prolly experienced this: 
By min | December 20, 2011, 10:08 PM | My stupid life| Link Now It's Making My Brain Vibrate Remember i complained that i could feel my phone giving me cancer? Well, lately, i've had to make a few calls where i'm on hold, listening to the recording take me thru the automated menus, etc etc. Since i hate having the phone next to my face (cancer) when i use the phone for long periods of time, i usu put it on speakerphone during these calls. I've noticed something rather disturbing. Despite the phone being nowhere near my head, i can feel my brain vibrating whenever the auto menu robot talks, and there's a sort of vibrating pressure in my ears, too. It's weird and unpleasant. Clearly, I need to be swaddled and moved here. By min | December 20, 2011, 7:07 PM | My stupid life| Link What's Your Christmas Tree Look Like? Finally, someone figured out what to do with those stupid white fake trees.  Not exactly my choice of holiday decoration, but what the hey. Now, this is pretty kewl.  Faced with the realisation that we suddenly had room enough to put up our own Christmas tree, I was initially at a loss when considering how to decorate it. We have no ornaments and the idea of shopping for them made me drowsy. I can't remember what first brought to mind the image of a tree covered in tentacles (perhaps it's best not to ask), but as soon as I envisioned it I couldn't let go of the idea. I think the Cthulu plushy is adorable. Now i want a tree of something kewl. *pout*
By min | December 20, 2011, 6:53 PM | Cute Things| Link Remembering Balloon Friend By fnord12 | December 20, 2011, 1:19 PM | Cute Things & My stupid life | Comments (1) | Link Semantic arguments Regardless of whether or not you think it merits the word "end", it's a fact that Republicans voted to replace Medicare with a privatized program. By fnord12 | December 20, 2011, 1:10 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link
Substantive debate The debate on SOPA rages on: Rep. Jackson-Lee admonished King in front of the committee, asking for him to apologize and saying she had "not heard of his ability multitask before," but that his tweet was "offensive." After a 20-minute period of bickering, Jackson-Lee was persuaded by colleagues to strike her use of the word "offensive" from the record. By fnord12 | December 16, 2011, 12:04 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link Buy Louis CK Louis CK (who is awesome, btw) filmed a show at the Beacon Theater and made it available online for $5, DRM-free. I really hope people keep buying it a lot, so I can have shitloads of money, but at this point I think we can safely say that the experiment really worked. If anybody stole it, it wasn't many of you. Pretty much everybody bought it. And so now we all get to know that about people and stuff. I'm really glad I put this out here this way and I'll certainly do it again. Thus proving all those SOPA proponents wrong. Fnord12 and i bought it and watched it last night. We laughed. If you like to laugh, you should buy this video, too. By min | December 16, 2011, 10:08 AM | Liberal Outrage & TeeVee| Link Gold Guns Girls by Metric
All the gold and the guns in the world
Couldn't get you off I remember when we were gambling to win Is it ever gonna be enough? All the lace and the skin in the shop I remember when we were gambling to win I remember when we were gambling to win Is it ever gonna be enough? Ooh, ooh (Is it ever gonna be enough?) By min | December 16, 2011, 9:32 AM | Music| Link
Good argument but it's all about who owns the congressmen Matthew Yglesias takes on the anti-SOPA and Protect IPO argument from an economic angle: Obviously the people who own copyrights would like to make more money. But should we care? Are we worried that movie stars aren't getting paid enough? They seem to get paid plenty. New albums are released. People write books. There are plenty of shows to watch on television. There's lots of great new video games and other kinds of software to use. Nor is there any reason to believe that perfect copyright enforcement is a desirable public policy goal. Perfect enforcement would imply massive deadweight loss. In the absence of serious evidence that the public is suffering from some kind of content drought, I think we have ample reason to oppose new strong IP rules even without any of these other concerns. By "other concerns" he means things like free speech. I do think he glosses over the effect that music piracy has had on actual artists. But i don't think passing a law that prevents people from singing along with their favorite song on YouTube helps with that, either. By fnord12 | December 15, 2011, 2:53 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link The clean plate club Ta-Nehisi Coates touches on a subject that's been somewhat controversial in the SuperMegaHousehold in the past. For the first couple of nights, I looked at all these rich white people like they'd lost their mind. To my mind they were being wasteful and unappreciative. I was not out the projects but I had--like most of us--come up in a house where you are told to finish your food. By the third night, I started to feel weird. I began to believe that by finishing my dinner and plowing through dessert I was committing a faux pas. No one said any such thing to me. But I just felt like I was sticking out. The next night I came to dinner and only ate half, I nibbled at dessert. I sipped the coffee. By my final dinner, not only had I joined the culture of withholding, I actually felt full and marveled at the fact that I'd ever been any other way. This was in the span of a week. It was about then that I started to notice that I may well have been the only overweight person in the entire town. Culture is a set of practices which people adopt to make sense of their environment. I was raised in a house where the memory of going hungry had not faded. I never went hungry, but I was raised around people who'd grown up with that. Moreover, all of my friends and relatives were raised the same way. Everyone I knew for the formative years of my life was raised in the culture of "Finish Your plate." And given the environment our parents had come up in, it made perfect sense. By fnord12 | December 15, 2011, 12:56 PM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (1) | Link Dragon Age II I guess it's a testament to something that we played it all the way through, but: I know. Gripe, gripe gripe. And it's all old news at this point; we're always behind on our games. Next up, for winter vacation: Tactical RPGs! Enchanted Arms and/or Record of Agarest War. By fnord12 | December 15, 2011, 10:47 AM | Video Games | Comments (2) | Link
The cost of a comic book I've been meaning to do this for a while, but i was reminded of it when i was putting up some images of covers and corner boxes on my timeline project yesterday. Above is the cost of a Marvel comic book, from 1962 to 2012, expressed in 2012 dollars. I ignored anniversary issues and similar things when looking at prices. And when there were multiple versions, i went with the lower-cost newsstand version. All prices reflect a "regular" comic book and exclude prestige format books. The exception is for 2011 and 2012, where i went with the higher priced $3.99 books, deliberately, because the reason i'm doing this is because of all the fuss that came about when Marvel raised the price for half (roughly) of their line last year. I used this inflation calculator to adjust for inflation, and you can click here (text file) to see the "raw" data. I don't have any great insights, but a couple of observations (some based on the raw data): Anyway, i don't think this "proves" anything. The increase to $3.99 isn't as egregious as many people say it is, but it's also true that comic prices are trending upwards. By fnord12 | December 14, 2011, 4:53 PM | Comics| Link
I Need to Upgrade My RAM In my brain. Do you ever walk to another room and then, when you get there, you can't remember what the hell you are there to do? That happens to me all of the time. Now i know why. It's cause of those goddamned doorways. Sometimes it happens when all i've done is shift my visual focus from one thing on my desk to another. I think mebbe my brain is broke. Does anyone have a spare they can give me? By min | December 13, 2011, 10:25 PM | Science| Link
SuperMegaSpeed Reviews X-Club #1 - I haven't read the issues where he was first introduced, but i've been enjoying Dr. Nemesis whenever he's popped up in random books that i'm reading, so between that and the fact that this series seemed like it was going to have a super-science focus, min and i thought we would give it a try. So far, i'm not so sure. First, i think Simon Spurrier is writing Nemesis way over-the-top, at least compared to what i've read of the character so far. While he's clearly both smart and arrogant, he's been much more down to earth in past appearances. Here, it's like Spurrier is trying to cram in as much Grant Morrison/Warren Ellis-esque dialogue as possible into his mouth. I may change my mind and decide that i actually like it, but i'm a little unsure so far. Beyond that (and doing my best to get past the fact that the friggin Danger Room is now a walking, talking character in the Marvel Universe), my main disappointment is that i've read the first issue of a five issue mini and i have no idea what the plot of the series is going to be. Sure, the X-Men are launching a "space elevator" and that's good super-science fun, but then there's the whole Atlantean mutation attack that just seems like a distraction from the main plot. Based on the opening flashback scene with the Invaders i realize that it probably is the main plot, but it's introduced haphazardly and doesn't seem to have anything to do with the space elevator that most of the issue focuses on, and there's nothing that really establishes the "X-Club" as a distinct group or why they'd be the ones that have to deal with this attack. I don't know. I'm probably rambling. We'll see where it goes, and what min thinks. And min, this is already a limited series so you're allowed to like it without fear of it getting canceled. Villains for Hire #1 - This was better than the .1 issue. I guess we'll learn why Misty is using villains instead of heroes against Purple Man's team. And i'd like to know why the Purple Man, whose mind control powers allow him to have anything he wants just by asking for it, would bother setting up a criminal empire, but that probably won't be addressed and it's probably not Abnett and Lanning's responsibility to do so. Avenging Spider-Man #2 - This continues to be great. Running a bit long, maybe? I'd like to see these stories kept short and with frequent new team-up guests. But this was fun and funny all the way through. Hulk #45 - Some cool plotting in this book. I guess we're not going to have a Machine Man/Recorder meeting like i requested since the Rigellians aren't playing an active role in this story, and that's ok. I really like this version of Machine Man, but what happened to the Nextwave-inspired one from Ms. Marvel? Did we ever see his personality revert to this one? Maybe that was secretly X-52? By the way, i liked the art in all the above stories. No real complaints. Omac #4 - Of course, none of those artists were Keith Giffen. Enjoying this. Bio-gaters! By fnord12 | December 11, 2011, 5:46 PM | Comics | Comments (3) | Link Stan Lee's Sci-Fi Sexploitation For my Marvel Timeline project, i only include entries that i own physical copies of, but i recently had occasion to download Savage Tales #1 (May 71), first appearance of the Man-Thing, so i could compare some things with his second appearance in Astonishing Tales #12-13. Also included in that issue was a story i had been interested in for a while: "The Fury of the Femizons" by Stan Lee with art by John Romita Sr. Since i'll probably never get this issue due to the cost (Savage Tales #1 runs for $41 at mycomicshop.com, and this story was only reprinted once, in Savage Tales #3, of all places, which sells for $22), and since it takes place in the future and doesn't really belong in my chronology project anyway, i thought i would review it here. Stan Lee imagines the 23rd century, which is ruled by "vicious voluptuaries". Lyra, sister to the queen, wins a death-duel and is rewarded with a male slave. Lyra professes loyalty to the three S's of the United Sister Alliance... ...but she's secretly feeling like something's missing from her life. When her latest male slave, Mogon, discovers her secret collection of forbidden "brain tapes", he learns the history of Lyra's world. Since men kept screwing things up, women have taken over and are hunting the remaining men down like beasts. The women are birthed via "sperm vials". Lyra and the Queen were birthed of the same sperm vial, and that's why they're sisters. Lyra develops a romance with her slave, and also participates in a secret revolution to bring equal rights to men. However, her sister and the manipulative adviser Syrani become suspicious of her, and to allay suspicions she is forced to run Mogon through. The story ends with Lyra longing for the males of old. This alternate future is brought into Marvel Universe continuity with Fantastic Four #151, when we learn that Thundra, who had been around since Fantastic Four #129... ...is from this Femizon world (unlike Lyra, Thundra is 100% sold on the Femizon's Credo when she first arrives). It's actually a surprisingly restrained story, considering that Stan Lee wrote it. And compared to Fantastic Four #151, for example, which introduces Thundra's ridiculous male counterpart, Mahkizmo, from a different, opposite alternative future. By fnord12 | December 11, 2011, 4:45 PM | Comics | Comments (2) | Link
How did you think it would end? By fnord12 | December 10, 2011, 3:55 PM | Comics| Link
SuperMegaSpeed Reviews Herc #10 - They're canceling THIS? Really? Forget the fact that it starts off with street mimes with electrical outlet face-masks, goes immediately into Baba Yaga's chicken hut rampaging through Brooklyn, and then gets right to the Kingpin punching out Zeus. The important part is that we're finally past all the Event stuff and we've got a nicely paced story with great dialogue. OK, look, i'm not necessarily invested in Hercules specifically, so let's compromise. Get Pak and Van Lente on something else pronto. Something high profile that won't get canceled. Maybe next year: the Avengers, now that the internet won't have Bendis to kick around any more? And in the meantime, how about Fantastic Four? Thunderbolts #166 - You know that expression, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"? You ever notice how it's actually easier to do the opposite? If i were editor and you had said to me, "How about if we do a story where Mr. Hyde goes back in time and becomes Jack the Ripper?" i'd probably call you crazy and tell you to have the Thunderbolts fight Roughhouse and Bloodsport instead, but this just shows you that i'd be wrong. By fnord12 | December 8, 2011, 11:28 PM | Comics | Comments (1) | Link Death Report "Double sugar, double cream" is dead. By fnord12 | December 8, 2011, 12:49 PM | TeeVee | Comments (1) | Link
The junk mail must go through USPS continues to struggle (via Balloon Juice): The announcement is just the latest sign of a sad and increasingly dire fact: the Postal Service is in shambles. This past fiscal year, it lost a mere $5.1 billion. In 2012, it's facing a record $14.1 billion shortfall and possible bankruptcy. In order to turn a profit, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe says the agency needs to cut $20 billion from its annual budget by 2015. That's almost a third of its yearly costs. Although total mail volume stayed relatively steady until 2006, it has dropped an astonishing 20 percent in the past five years. More important, first-class mail, the Postal Service's biggest moneymaker, has fallen 25 percent during the past decade. That's a huge problem for its bottom line. The agency now delivers far more "standard mail" -- what most of us call junk mail -- than first-class mail. According to Businessweek, it takes three pieces of junk to equal the earnings from a single stamped first-class envelope. J. Crew catalogs and pizza menus alone won't pay the bills. I really don't understand why they don't eliminate the standard/bulk rate and charge first class rates for the garbage that companies send to us every day. Either the increased revenue will make the Post Office solvent again, or it will reduce the amount of garbage that winds up in our recycling bins. Sure, in that second scenario the Post Office will have to cut back on their workforce but that's happening anyway and as much as i don't want anyone to lose their job i don't think it's in the interests of the country to keep people employed just to deliver junk mail. I think they'll eventually scale back to three or four days a week for regular delivery and a new focus on package delivery. They'll have to. But we shouldn't forget that a large part of the Post Office's problems are due to this: At the very end of that year, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under PAEA, USPS was forced to "prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years in an astonishing ten-year time span" - meaning that it had to put aside billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits of employees it hasn't even hired yet, something "that no other government or private corporation is required to do." By fnord12 | December 7, 2011, 9:13 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link
By min | December 1, 2011, 5:17 PM | Cute Things| Link Sometimes i just link to Glenn Greenwald, part 2. This is following up on min's post below. Just some choice quotes from Greenwald: Indeed, it seems clear that they are doing this precisely out of fear that the justifications they have long given for the War no longer exist and there is therefore a risk Americans will clamor for its end. This is Congress declaring: the War is more vibrant than ever and must be expanded further. Every GOP Senator (except Rand Paul and Mark Kirk) voted against the Udall amendment, while just enough Democrats - 16 in total -- joined the GOP to ensure passage of Levin/McCain. That includes such progressive stalwarts as Debbie Stabenow, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jeanne Shaheen and its lead sponsor, Carl Levin. But, with a few exceptions, the objections raised by the White House are not grounded in substantive problems with these powers, but rather in the argument that such matters are for the Executive Branch, not the Congress, to decide. In other words, the White House's objections are grounded in broad theories of Executive Power. They are not arguing: it is wrong to deny accused Terrorists a trial. Instead they insist: whether an accused Terrorist is put in military detention rather than civilian custody is for the President alone to decide. By fnord12 | December 1, 2011, 5:15 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link Sometimes i just link to Glenn Greenwald, part 1. Link. You've probably heard by now about the high school girl who tweeted something negative about Kansas Governor Brownback and then the Governor creepily complained about it, with the girl getting sent to the principal to try to force her to apologize. The Governor eventually backed away from the request, blaming overeager staff, but no staff were fired so i'm not too impressed with that. I am impressed with the girl's mom, who said: Wow. That's great. But then there's Washington Post's Ruth Marcus (accurately described in the comments at the link above as, "the epitome of the Beltway Centrist Democrat, who sometimes serves as the "liberal" counterpoint to people like David Brooks, the conservative, on the PBS Newshour, where she sits next to him and agrees with nearly everything he says."). Marcus says: Also, that smartphone? The one you posed with, proudly displaying the tweet in which you announced that Brownback "sucked" and added the lovely hashtag #heblowsalot? Turned off until you learn to use it responsibly. Of course, Sullivan has a First Amendment right to express her views -- although not unlimited. The Constitution does not grant teenagers the fundamental right to have a cellphone or use foul language on it. The parental role is to inculcate values of respect for authority - even those you disagree with - and the importance of civil discourse. It's not to stand up for your little darling no matter how much she mouths off. Kansas Mom really gives you some hope that we're not falling apart as a country, but when you realize that it's nitwits like Ruth Marcus who get to write for our national newspapers and appear on the talk shows, i worry that it's not enough. By fnord12 | December 1, 2011, 4:55 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link Mebbe That's Just How They Roll in PA Remember those foreign students Hershey tricked into working in their little sweatshop? I thought, "Hershey's a Dick!". Today, I found out Amazon's got a literal sweatshop in Lehigh, PA. Mebbe it's just the way things are in Pennsylvania. If you run a factory, you're expected to be a douche. An emergency room doctor in June called federal regulators to report an "unsafe environment" after he treated several Amazon warehouse workers for heat-related problems. The doctor's report was echoed by warehouse workers who also complained to regulators, including a security guard who reported seeing pregnant employees suffering in the heat. That's right. They arranged for paramedics in anticipation of the inevitable heat stroke victims. It's not a war. You shouldn't have to set up a triage outside your building for your employees. Reading further, you find out OSHA was called in, and they did a whole lot of nothing. OSHA issued recommendations to Amazon Aug. 18 about how it could improve its heat-stress management plan and closed its inspection. So, basically, they wrote a letter and gave a bunch of suggestions to Amazon on what they ought to do to improve the situation in the warehouse, but they don't actually enforce anything. And from what I read in the article, it doesn't sound like they actually go back and check on things. They seem to rely on letters sent by the warehouse manager letting OSHA know what actions they've taken. I understand this is what OSHA's become. They have no power. They aren't encouraged to really do anything to ensure the health and safety of workers. They're just pushing paper until they become a casualty of the "smaller government" advocates (it'll prolly be a Democrat trying to win over conservatives). I just think it's sad that they're so useless. Stupid Amazon. Don't they know i have Christmas shopping to do? Why do they have to piss me off now? I should say "more", actually. Their Kindle DRM bullshit is annoying to say the least. By min | December 1, 2011, 2:52 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link |
Mrs. Claus has this vaguely Eastern European accent and is dressed a bit like a governess, with her hair pulled back in a tight bun, so she's kinda threatening and not the loving matronly figure you might have come to associate with Mrs. Claus. She spends the entire movie pushing food on Santa.
She's obsessed with feeding him. Woman, what is your problem?
