For my Homies on Thanksgiving

Not comfortable with the inky aura of very low wages and employee intimidation at the hands of its managers and CEOs, WalMart decided that the next best thing to paying its employees nothing was to get its employees who aren't starving to kick in a little extra somethin-somethin for Turkey Day.

For My Homies

Debunking More Neocon Outrage

Granted, this is a bit dated by now (I see articles, email them to myself, save then promptly forget about them.  Sue me), however, it is a poignant reminder regarding the right-wing outrage not too long ago, ginned up mostly by Rush Limbaugh and his infamous "slut" remarks over Sandra Fluke.

Fact Checking "free" Birth Control

And the thing is?  They still believe it today as strongly as they believed it then.  They are very good at never letting go a controversy of their own creation.

They Are Just Like US!

See folks, even the rich got it tough these days.  They are having a hard time putting all of their kids through near $40,000/year private schools.  They jokingly refer to their Porsches as "Volkswagens" (although, technically...).  The $17 large for doggie upkeep is getting a little too heavy.  And, by the sweet love of Moses, some of them even have to wash dishes by hand!  The horror, the horror:

No Bonus Check, No Trip To The Maldives This Year

And all because some are having their bonus checks cut or completely removed.  We really need to get together and help these poor rich people out.

A Case for Guns

Let me be absolutely clear on this; I have zero problem with people owning guns.  I do not own one, but I do like shooting them.  In fact, I might even pick me up an AR15 when I get back to the States (fuck AK47s); AR15s are W way more fun!

What I do not and can not agree with is how political gun ownership has become in our country and how polarizing an issue it is.  And while I do not always find agreement with the the pro gun lobby, as well, I do not always find agreement with the gun control lobby.  However, after reading about this jewel heist (I always love reading about jewel and art heists; just seems so glamorous and something I wish I could pull off ala Thomas Crowne), I find myself definitively on the side of pro guns and their argument that if more people were armed, there's be less crime.

Or Why I am in Favor of Guns

I mean, there were two, back to back, in which the robbers were armed and the guards were not.  And this quote from a non-profit director in Switzerland can be filed right alongside equally puzzling logic from the pro-gun crowd:

"Given that civilian possession of weapons is much less available, they're unlikely to have weapons because they're unlikely to be facing people with weapons."

I get it, I understand that this is Europe where not everyone is as trigger happy as those in the US, but being assigned to guard millions of dollars worth of jewels, and especially after there was a robbery just a little while ago and especially more so when the hotel and the area seem to have a penchant for having jewels stolen, it just seems to me, in my perhaps rather pedestrian world view, that had one guard at least had a handgun, perhaps things might have turned out different.

Still Making His Case For A Number One Douche Bag Status

Not content to rest on his laurels, or his penis, Anthony Weiner decided to to get tough with a man twenty years his senior, using tough guy bar speak:

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/aarp-calls-weiners-grandpa-language-at-forum-unfortunate-95292.html

I understand that Weiner did a lot of good politically, and I also know full well the expression, "He's an asshole, but he's our asshole."  But I think that Senor Weiner should seriously consider golf.  In Rwanda.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy!

Some say that life imitates art while others claim that art imitates life.  What happens when stupidity decides to double down?

Running for a seat in public office in the east Australian city of Brisbane, Stephanie Bannister was One Nation's candidate.  One Nation is virulently anti-immigration and clearly has deep-rooted issues with Islam.

In an interview with local media that she later claimed was edited to make her "look the fool" (sound familiar?), Bannister claimed the following: Islam is a country; referred to the Koran as the "Haran"; Judaism is predicated on the words of Jesus Christ; food prepared Al Halal (the Arabic version of Kosher) is being used to fund terrorism; she has been charged with putting stickers which proclaim the latter on food in markets.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/10/one-nation-s-stephanie-banister-withdraws-from-race-after-islam-comments

The question here, much like the question of why the GOP foisted Palin onto McCain, is why did One Nation pick Bannister?  I mean, really?  She was it?  Were they at a meeting and when asked who wanted to try and have a go at the seat, she was the only one who raised her hand?  She isn't all that charismatic, she clearly is not the sharpest tool in the shed and she is under criminal investigation.

Actually, in light of the above, Palin was a brilliant tactical decision.

Anthony Weiner: Making His Case For A Number One Douche Bag Status

?Illegitimi non carborundum" should be the new Weiner campaign slogan.  Regardless of how many women he's sexted pictures of his penis to, regardless of being forced to resign from Congress in disgrace, regardless of the shame and humiliation he rains on his wife, Anthony Weiner has vowed to press on, stating emphatically that: "Quit isn't the way we roll' in NYC"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/07/30/weiner-new-york-mayor-resign-sexting/2601211/

He reminds me of the people portrayed in Bud Light's "Real Men of Genius" commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETrWZsYYJOQ

The Stolen Kingdom Has Its Revenge

While it is well known that many US cities will scoop of their homeless and bus them out of town, sort of like a combination between "Soylent Green" and the trains that the Nazis loaded Jews onto, Hawaii, the 50th state, has introduced a new policy regarding its homeless population: a one=way ticket to the mainland:

Hawaii Offers Homeless One-Way Tickets

That's right folks; LAX, SFO, OAK; you name it, soon not only will you be battling taxis, buses, the screeching whistles of airport police, now you will also have to do battle with a swarm of shuffling vagrants blinking at the sun, their pockets filled with small bags of complimentary pretzels and honey roasted peanuts.  Wait in line for your baggage, load aunt May into the SUV and give a homeless person a ride to the nearest park.

Good times!

Thanks Hawaii!

Sears/Kmart overseas labor practices: Like!

In this article I discovered from Business Insider, apparently, over the years, Chinese who have been forced into labor camps where such things as Halloween decorations are made, have been secretly stashing letters begging for help into boxes of those products.  Subsisting on around $1.50/month and miserable living conditions some of these "criminals of the state" have managed to squirrel away letters of despair and tragedy.  Reading the story I suppose, considering what you think or know about China, one might shrug their shoulders or be horrified.  I was a little of both.  However, what really caught my eye was at the end of the article.  Sears Holdings, owner of Kmart, apparently did an internal investigation and when asked by The New York Times to comment on the investigation, informed the Times that there was "no violations of company rules that bar the use of forced labor."  In the words of the Church Lady, "Isn't that special?"