Vegas Dave

Betty Bowers Explains Traditional Marriage

2010-09-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

The title says it all. just remember these examples the next time some bible thumper starts throwing around sound bites they heard on Beck about "Traditional Marriage"

I Just Wanna Fuckin' Dance by Manchester Pride 2010

2010-08-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

With all the shit going on in my life right now, this video from Manchester Pride gave me a smile and I had to share.

Seperation of Church and State Under Fire

2010-07-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

I view with increasing alarm the current attacks on the separation of Church and State as outlined in the First Amendment to The Constitution. The spiritual leader of this movement is none other than faux historian and pathalogical liar David Barton.

Barton, who founded the right wing christian group Wallbuilders, has made a career out of presenting quotes out of context or just making shit up to attempt to prove his point. His latest screed occurred on the hilarious first episode of Glenn Beck's Beck University.

One of his tricks is to hold up the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson to prove his point claiming all the wording came from church sermons given the years prior. To deduce that Thomas Jefferson really was a closeted christian who really didn't believe in the separation of church and state flies in the face of his actual quotes on religion, the bible, and it's place in society.

Jefferson's take on religion...

"I have examined all the known superstitions of the world and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth."

In a letter to William Short, Jefferson wrote...

"Christianity...(has become) the most perverted system that ever shone on man...Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and imposters led by Paul, the first great corruptor of the teachings of Jesus."

Another Founding Father, John Adams had this to say on the subject...

"Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole cartloads of other trumpery that we find religion
encumbered with in these days?"

And...

"The doctrine of the divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity."

When John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11 clearly states "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."

Thomas Paine wrote...

"I would not dare to so dishonor my Creator God by attaching His name to that book (the Bible)."

"Among the most detesable villains in history, you could not find one worse than Moses. Here is an order, attributed to 'God' to butcher the boys, to massacre the mothers, and to debauch and rape the daughters. I would not dare so dishonor my Creator's name by (attaching) it to this filthy book (the Bible)."

"It is the duty of every true Diest to vindicate the moral justice of God against the evils of the Bible."

"Accustom a people to believe that priests and clergy can forgive sins...and you will have sins in abundance."

And; "The Christian church has set up a religion of pomp and revenue in pretend imitation of a person (Jesus) who lived a life of poverty."

Then we have James Madison and his opinion of churches...

"What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyrrany. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy."

Madison objected to state-supported chaplains in Congress and to the exemption of churches from taxation. He wrote "Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together."

Religious Right activists claim the framers never intended to separate church and state. Christian Coalition president Pat Robertson says separation is a "lie of the left." The late Jerry Falwell called it "a modern fabrication."

Thomas Jefferson's own words on the subject...

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."
--Letter to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptist Association, January 1, 1802

Perhaps most alarming, Barton also has had a relationship with the racist and anti-Semitic fringes of the far right. According to Skipp Porteous of the Massachusetts-based Institute for First Amendment Studies, Barton was listed in promotional literature as a "new and special speaker" at a 1991 summer retreat in Colorado sponsored by Scriptures for America, a far-right ministry headed by Pastor Pete Peters. Peters' organization, which is virulently anti-Semitic and racist, spreads hysteria about Jews and homosexuals and has been linked to neo-Nazi groups. (The organization distributes a booklet called Death Penalty For Homosexuals.)

Peters' church is part of the racist "Christian Identity" movement. and three members of The Order, a violent neo-Nazi organization, formerly attended Peters' small congregation in LaPorte, Cole. After members of The Order murdered Denver radio talk show host Alan Berg in the mid 1980s, critics of Peters' ministry in Colorado charged that his hate-filled sermons had spurred the assassination.

Writing in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, (then Republican) Senator Arlen Specter stated:

Probably the best refutation of Barton's argument simply is to quote his own exegesis of the First Amendment: "Today," Barton says, "we would best understand the actual context of the First Amendment by saying, 'Congress shall make no law establishing one Christian denomination as the national denomination.' " In keeping with Barton's restated First Amendment, Congress could presumably make a law establishing all Christian denominations as the national religion, and each state could pass a law establishing a particular Christian church as its official religion.

All of this pseudoscholarship would hardly be worth discussing, let alone disproving, were it not for the fact that it is taken so very seriously by so many people.

– Arlen Specter, Defending the wall: Maintaining church/state separation in America, [

Of course the former Governor Half-Baked Alaskan Sarah Palin is on the Barton road map along with countless everyday church goers who want to believe this garbage with all their faith. Pity they are getting it from such a charlatan.

For more information on our founding fathers go read "Our Founding Fathers on Christianity."

Freedom Works & D. C. Douglas

2010-05-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

D. C. Douglas famous as the recently fired voice announcer for Geico Insurance put together this hilarious PSA for Freedom Works. They are the classless bunch behind the Tea Bagger movement and others.

Check out the hilarious video on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMUVFctJ2Xw&feature=player_embedded

Don't Ask Don't Tell The Dance Video

2010-05-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

A group of soldiers in Iraq put together this dance video to poke fun of DADT. It's set to the music of Ke$ha.

And Another One Bites The Dust.......

2010-05-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

Anti-Gay Family Research Council co-founder George Rekers was caught coming off a plane at Miami International with a male prostitute at his side. "Lucien" and Rekers shown here leaving customs, were returning from a 10 day trip to Europe. Rekers, who also sits on the board for NARTH National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (another "the Gay can be cured" cult Bullshit group) claimed he hired the lad to carry his luggage for him. When spotted, Rekers was seen pushing his own luggage and presumably that of Lucien's as well.

Rekers co-founded the Family Research Council with right-wing anti-Gay zellot James Dobson. FRC and NARTH have so far refused to comment.

"Lucien was hired from rentboy.com (NSFW) a graphic website to rent male prostitutes. Anybody looking at the site will have no problem knowing exactly what they are selling.

It seems like the harder they yell, the more glorious the fall.

Why Are We Still Debating Ending DADT?

2010-04-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

A member of Prince Harry's regiment marries his long-term boyfriend.

Michael Steele Explains Facts Of Life

2010-03-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

Michelle Bachmann, a Few Fries Short

2010-03-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

John Aravosis over at AmericaBlog has put a new slogan to Michelle Bachmann.

That's okay. We've long accused Bachmann of being a few fries short of a Happy Meal, and we mean no disrespect to Happy Meals.

Fighting Prop. 8

2010-03-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

I will let this one speak for itself. This is a chat at a New York Times diversity event featuring Ted Boies and Theodore Olsen, the two lawyers who have championed the fight against Prop 8 before the Ninth Circuit. They were previously famous as being the two lawyers who squared off in Bush v Gore.I would embed the picture, but unfortunately the NYT's won't let me. Here is the link. Be warned, the video is really good, but 52 minutes long.

More Gibbons Follies

2010-02-23T17:18:00.000-08:00

The Governor returned from DC after the Governor's Conference and wasn't ready for questions on his traveling companion.

Why HAMP Is Destined To Fail

2010-01-08T12:40:00.000-08:00

The Presidents much vaunted HAMP program to encourage homeowners to stay in their homes and reduce the number of foreclosures is at risk of collapsing.

The program as envisioned was a way to keep the money flowing into the coffers of bankers. With a mortgage modification, banks are allowed to declare the entire amount owed as an asset on their books instead of writing down their assets if they actually had to report the current market value of the properties. Just another example of helping Wall Street at the expense of Main Street.

For decades now common wisdom had homeowners doing all they could to save their homes. It was with that idea in mind that the worst of the predatory lending occurred over the past few years. Lenders threw money at people who truly had no hope of paying it back figuring if they bundled the lousy assets with good ones to offset them, they could dilute the bad loans. In a normal environment, they could have gotten away with it. Unfortunately, greed won over common sense. The banks kept lending as fast as possible to individuals who often didn't understand what they were signing, or who were lied to because of the pages and pages of fine print that allowed the lender to hide the true cost of the loan. This isn't to say there wasn't fraud on the part of borrowers as well, because there was, but the lure of easy money was incentive for lenders even when they knew the borrower was lying.

I received an offer on one of my listings a couple of years ago for $100,000 above what I knew the property was worth. The offer was accompanied with a separate Addendum for my seller to contribute $100,000 to redecorate the property. Total fraud! The buyer stated she could get an appraisal that would meet the inflated price. This was before the crack-down on appraisers and escrow companies who were in collusion and giving each other kick-backs. Needless to say, the offer was rejected.

Wall Street in the meanwhile didn't care who received the loan or how. All it cared about was generating more mortgages which were bundled into so called "Mortgage Backed Securities", blessed with AAA ratings, guaranteed by AIG and sold to investors around the world who more often than not bundled them with other securities which were sold to other investors etc. When the Sub-Prime loans started re-setting upward after two to three years and the homeowners could no longer continue to afford their payments, the whole house of cards started to unravel. Investors holding these now shitty securities went back to the sellers of the securities. They turned around and went to AIG and the major banks who created the whole mess. AIG guaranteed over $1 trillion in toxic securities while only having a few billion to actually pay off the investors. Which brings us up to big bailout at the end of 2008.

Wall Street, not Main Street gets bailed out to the tune of several hundred billion dollars. Instead of keeping lines of credit open for small businesses, the bailed out "To Big To Fail" banks shut off the credit forcing many a small business to fail, paid out ridiculous bonuses to their executives in the face of their failure, and jacked up interest rates on consumer credit cards to 30% or more. The American public are not stupid, they see what is going on.

Here in Las Vegas, home prices fell over 50% in the past year. Condos dropped even faster. Homeowners who paid $300,000 for a home during the bubble watched as their homes value dropped to $150,000 or lower. To protect the banks, congress has refused to allow cram-downs by bankruptcy courts. That's not to say ALL mortgages are exempt from cram-down. If you happen to be lucky enough to own more than one home, the second home is eligible for cram-down in a bankruptcy. As a result, a homeowner upside down on their mortgage has four options:

1. Continue to make the payments no matter how high they go.
2. Get a loan modification from their loan servicer.
3. Short-Sale the property.
4. Walk away and allow it to be foreclosed.

Few homeowners will be able to keep up payments when they adjust up. Getting a loan modification is a major hassle. Over 40% of loan modifications made over the past year are already past due. Many homeowners who start the loan modification process drop out over the hassle the banks put them through. Many a bank employee has told homeowners they need to be behind before the bank will consider a loan mod which is not true. Homeowners who did this more often than not received a loan modification with terms that dropped their interest rate or extended the payments out, but the banks tacked on the past due up front. In some cases this resulted in a new payment higher than the original unaffordable one.

Short Selling the property where the lender agrees to accept a sale for less than the property is worth is a major headache to close. Most Short Sales take a minimum of four months to get bank approval and close. The buyer often finds another property in the meantime. The banks rarely know what the left hand and right hand are doing. As a real estate agent you may get bank okay from the Loss Mitigation Dept. for the short sale only to have the bank foreclose before the property closes. Some homeowners are under the mistaken impression that a short-sale won't affect their credit the way a foreclosure will. Unfortunately, they both count the same. The big difference is banks can go after a short-sale homeowner for a deficiency judgment for the difference between sale price and the mortgage for six years after the sale, while under a foreclosure they only have six months.

The last option of course is foreclosure. Even with a loan modification 60% of the homes in Las Vegas are up-side down. In some cases by Hundreds of Thousands of dollars. If you know you won't see the value of the home rise to the purchase price for the foreseeable future, your essentially paying rent with a tax write off. Walking away looks like a pretty good option. Recently, more and more economists are saying walk away. Now I know some of you are saying "but what about your obligation to make good on the mortgage?" Well there are two sides to that question. It comes down to banks saying do as we say not as we do. As Roger Lowenstein reports in the New York Times

John Courson, president and C.E.O. of the Mortgage Bankers Association, recently told The Wall Street Journal that homeowners who default on their mortgages should think about the “message” they will send to “their family and their kids and their friends.” Courson was implying that homeowners — record numbers of whom continue to default — have a responsibility to make good. He wasn’t referring to the people who have no choice, who can’t afford their payments. He was speaking about the rising number of folks who are voluntarily choosing not to pay.

Businesses — in particular Wall Street banks — make such calculations routinely. Morgan Stanley recently decided to stop making payments on five San Francisco office buildings. A Morgan Stanley fund purchased the buildings at the height of the boom, and their value has plunged. Nobody has said Morgan Stanley is immoral — perhaps because no one assumed it was moral to begin with. But the average American, as if sprung from some Franklinesque mythology, is supposed to honor his debts, or so says the mortgage industry as well as government officials. Former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. declared that “any homeowner who can afford his mortgage payment but chooses to walk away from an underwater property is simply a speculator — and one who is not honoring his obligation.” (Paulson presumably was not so censorious of speculation during his 32-year career at Goldman Sachs.)

The moral suasion has continued under President Obama, who has urged that homeowners follow the “responsible” course. Indeed, HUD-approved housing counselors are supposed to counsel people against foreclosure. In many cases, this means counseling people to throw away money. Brent White, a University of Arizona law professor, notes that a family who bought a three-bedroom home in Salinas, Calif., at the market top in 2006, with no down payment (then a common-enough occurrence), could theoretically have to wait 60 years to recover their equity. On the other hand, if they walked, they could rent a similar house for a pittance of their monthly mortgage.

In recent weeks we have seen banks start giving out billions for bonuses like there was nothing wrong. Well there is something wrong when the only way you can pay out bonuses is by using TARP funds to do it.

In addition, the administration has been playing up the moral obligation to pay your mortgage. There is something galling and very oily having Paulson, the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs teaching us financial morality. Also in the past week, we have learned Brad Birkenfeld, the only UBS executive charged with a crime, is going to jail. His crime, blowing the whistle on UBS and their illegal tax havens for the wealthy. You remember UBS, they are the Swiss bank that received $5 billion in bailouts from AIG. TRhe other bit of economic news had to do with then Head of the NY Fed Tim Geithner counseling AIG to hide what they were doing.

When you add it all up together, walking away IS a moral choice for many upside down homeowners. If any pundits want to rant about moral obligations, remind of what the bankers have done in the past and continue to do today. I see nothing moral in supporting a bunch of blood-sucking leaches destroy the middle class in this country. When bankers start showing the slightest morality for what they have done to the American people, you might, just might then have a leg to stand on.

Rachel Maddow Goes After Slavery & Child Labor Supporters

2009-11-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

"...you child labor endorsing, pro-slavery freaks!!"
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. Companies wanting to relax laws against products made with slave or child labor from importing to this country.

And the sad part is, most of the assholes who would allow these products in, will wrap themselves in the flag and bible to do it.

Don't Ask, Don't Give

2009-11-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

"It is not enough to look back in wonder at how far we have come; those who came before us did not strike a blow against injustice only so that we would allow injustice to fester in our time. That means removing the barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding that still exist in America." - Democratic Party Platform, 2008

John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay over at AmericaBlog have started a campaign to stop sending the DNC any money, nor any money to the President's re-election campaign.

What Pam Spaulding calls shutting off the gAyTM.

If you're like me, you have to be sick and tired of all the pandering for our votes and money, but when it comes down to the wire, zero support for our agenda.

John and Joe have a petition to sign pledging not to give any money to the national organizations until DOMA, DADT, are repealed and ENDA is passed.

Take the Pledge:
Don't Ask, Don't Give

President Obama promised to be a "fierce advocate" for LGBT Americans. But while making modest progress on a scant few issues, on the major campaign promises made to our community, the President and the Democratic party have failed to keep their commitments.

There has been little, if any, pressure from the White House for votes on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The administration continues to send mixed signals on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT). And we've been told not to expect the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to even be considered until President Obama's second term. In the last two weeks alone, we were angered that the Obama administration continued to defend DOMA in the courts -- last June, the administration's lawyers even compared loving gay relationships to incest and pedophilia -- and we were saddened that the White House and the Democratic party refused to help us defeat anti-gay ballot initiatives in Maine and Washington state. LGBT Americans, our families, and our friends kept our promise at the ballot box, we now expect President Obama to keep his in the White House.

So please join me along with Daily Kos, FireDogLake, Dan Savage, Michelangelo Signorile, Andy Towle, Pam Spaulding, Paul Sousa, and many others in pledging no donations to the national party until our agenda gets a fair hearing and vote.

It's time to stop being taken for granted when it comes to money, and no support to ending our status as second class citizens for being LGBT.

Please sign the petition.

Dan Savaged On The Impact Of Religion On His Upbringing

2009-10-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

Vicious And Ugly

2009-10-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

Republican Congressman Steve Buyer(IN-4) is calling the media "vicious and ugly" for questioning his "non-profit" Frontier Foundation. Seems the congressman's foundation has received over $880,000 in six years from lobbyists with business before the congressman's various committees, but has only paid out about $10,500 in grants including $4,500 to a charity run by a DC lobbyist, and $1,450 to the NRA. All this from a foundation allegedly set up to provide scholarships. Rachel Maddow has more...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I guess golf outings are no fun when you have to pay for them out of your own foundation!

In addition to ably serving on the Committee on Veterans Affairs, Congressman Buyer serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee in the Subcommittee on Health, and the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Let's see, health and big telco, wonder where the money came from? Now if he'll only get caught with his zipper down letting me add him to the Hall of Shame.

Glenn Beck Exposed

2009-10-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

The truth comes out. Beck's heart tugging crying jags have been exposed as Vick's Vapor Rub induced BULLSHIT!

I did see a bumper sticker today I loved. "Raise America's IQ, Turn Off Fox".

Guess that says everything about Beck and Fox.

More Foreclosure Revolts

2009-09-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

As the foreclosure freight train continues on its path, more and more homeowners are discovering they have options.

For way too long, banks have had the upper hand in calling the shots, but now savvy homeowners are calling them out and in more and more cases, are winning.

Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi recently wrote in his blog about one company, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, that holds over half the mortgages in the country. They lost an important decision in front of the Kansas Supreme Court that ruled MERS had no legal standing to foreclose on properties in that state. The ruling came down because MERS could not provide certified documentation of their right to have anything to do with individual mortgages. No documentation, no right to foreclose.

A landmark ruling in a recent Kansas Supreme Court case may have given millions of distressed homeowners the legal wedge they need to avoid foreclosure. In Landmark National Bank v. Kesler, 2009 Kan. LEXIS 834, the Kansas Supreme Court held that a nominee company called MERS has no right or standing to bring an action for foreclosure. MERS is an acronym for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, a private company that registers mortgages electronically and tracks changes in ownership. The significance of the holding is that if MERS has no standing to foreclose, then nobody has standing to foreclose – on 60 million mortgages. That is the number of American mortgages currently reported to be held by MERS. Over half of all new U.S. residential mortgage loans are registered with MERS and recorded in its name. Holdings of the Kansas Supreme Court are not binding on the rest of the country, but they are dicta of which other courts take note; and the reasoning behind the decision is sound.

via Landmark Decision: Massive Relief for Homeowners and Trouble for the Banks.

The ruling states in part...

“By statute, assignment of the mortgage carries with it the assignment of the debt. . . . Indeed, in the event that a mortgage loan somehow separates interests of the note and the deed of trust, with the deed of trust lying with some independent entity, the mortgage may become unenforceable. The practical effect of splitting the deed of trust from the promissory note is to make it impossible for the holder of the note to foreclose, unless the holder of the deed of trust is the agent of the holder of the note. Without the agency relationship, the person holding only the note lacks the power to foreclose in the event of default. The person holding only the deed of trust will never experience default because only the holder of the note is entitled to payment of the underlying obligation. The mortgage loan becomes ineffectual when the note holder did not also hold the deed of trust.” [Citations omitted; emphasis added.]

Matt Taibbi is currently working on this story for his next Rolling Stone article. While the court decision applies strictly to Kansas, it sets precedence for other courts in other states grappling with the same problems.

If you or any one you know is facing foreclosure, all is not lost. Many Americans have been able to stop foreclosure of their property, and some have walked away with clear title.

What If You Had A Fire And Nobody Came?

2009-09-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

What if your homes fire insurance was handled like your health insurance. Instead of today's socialist system where local government provides fire protection as a public service, suppose you had to subscribe to a fire insurance plan with a for-profit company. How would that company treat you to maximize its profits?

XYZ Fire Service Customer Support: (recorded message) "Thank you for calling XYZ Fire Service. If this is a fire emergency, please press one, if this is a medical emergency, please press two."

Caller/Subscriber: (presses one)

XYZ: "Thank you, please wait why we connect you."

Caller: (listening to bad elevator music while call gets re-routed to call center in Mumbai, India.)

XYZ: (recorded message) "We're sorry, due to the unexpected high volume of calls, please stand by for the next available operator."

Caller: (listens to more bad elevator music while watching flames spread. 30 seconds later....)

XYZ: "XYZ Insurance, how can I help you?"

Caller: "My house is on fire and I need help now."

XYZ: "Yes sir, can I have your account number please?"

Caller: "My account number, my house is burning to the ground."

XYZ: "I understand sir, but I need to confirm you're a valid XYZ subscriber."

Caller: "Very well, it's 123-XXX-XXXXX-XXXX."

XYZ: "Thank you sir, now where did the fire start?"

Caller: "In my kitchen, are you sending fire trucks yet?"

XYZ: "One moment sir. Did you say it started in the kitchen? Was this a stove fire?"

Caller: "Yes, my wife was cooking dinner when it started. It spread into the exhaust duct and into the attic."

XYZ: "Sir, XYZ Insurance considers stove fires to be consumer negligence. We also consider the fire in the duct work to be caused by a pre-existing condition, namely grease, and as a result we must rescind your policy at this time."

Caller: "What do you mean rescind? I've been paying you for over 15 years without a claim."

XYZ: "I do apologize sir, but if you check the fine print in your subscription contract, it's all spelled out there. If you feel you are being treated badly, here's our 800 number to register a complaint. 1-800-XXX-XXXX."

The house is now completely engulfed in flames.

Caller: "I can't believe you're cancelling my insurance just when I need it."

XYZ: XYZ deeply regrets your loss, but that is our policy. If there is nothing else, thank you for being a loyal XYZ Fire Insurance customer for all these years."

Caller: "Bastards!" (as he watches his home turn into ash.)

The next time someone you know has been brain-washed by FOX (Faux News Channel) into railing against socialism, ask them how they would like to be the caller in our little story. Sound far fetched? This is exactly how the health insurance companies treat their customers.

If all else fails, suggest they visit the one country with no taxes, no government regulation, no government paid for infrastructure, and no limits on what a person can do. Welcome to the Libertarian paradise of Somalia. Armed street gangs, Warlords, Pirates, and no central government. The Cato Institute must be so proud.

Personally, I believe in socialism for the common good. I want our children schooled. I want fire and police protection. Government regulation is good when it cleans the air and water, let's you eat safe food. Goes after charlatans and rip-off artists. All government services are inherently socialism. Consider the alternative.

Taking Dad Shopping

2009-09-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

From our Friend Jody in Chandler Arizona.

I took my dad to the mall the other day to buy some new shoes (he is 84). We decided to grab a bite at the food court. I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The teenager had spiked hair in all different colours; green, red, orange and blue. My dad kept staring at him. The teenager would look and find him staring every time. When the teenager had enough, he sarcastically asked: “What’s the matter old man, never done anything wild in your life?” Knowing my Dad, I quickly swallowed my food so that I would not choke on his response; knowing that he would have a good one. And in classic style he did not bat an eye in his response: “Got stoned once and fucked a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my son.”

Meet The Stupids

2009-09-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Check out Ed Naha's great article on the stupidity in out current political discourse.

A portly man outside a Town Hall meeting carries a sign reading "Abolish federal government." A middle-aged banshee screams "Nazi" at a pro-health care reform Israeli emigre. Tap dancing Tom DeLay, caught up in the thrall of his own voice on national TV, demands that Obama show the world his "gift certificate." Rep. Michele Bachmann says that prayer and fasting will defeat health care reform.

Meet the Stupids circa 2009, folks, a familiar perfect storm of the flimflammers and the flimflammed, united as one to make nonsensical noise. I say "familiar" because, no matter how aberrated the recent spate of AstroTurf antics may seem, they are as American as apple pie. In fact, they are based on two of this country's founding principals: paranoia and righteous stupidity.

And my favorite....

It has nothing to do with health care reform.

It has everything to do with fear of change, fear of a Black president and the perceived loss of power. The fact that most of the people protesting are powerless doesn't matter. They are being bankrolled and directed by those who have power, members of the GOP and big business.

Let's concentrate on the protestors for a moment. Most of them wouldn't know Socialism from Botulism. Their worldview is in Braille. Yet, there they are carrying signs decrying "Obama's Nazi health care plan" and offering "Send Obama Home To Kenya" and "Black National Socialism Is Not Utopia."

(Note: Normally, I would shield the names of these folks and refer to them by the generically nonjudgmental term "fucktard A" or "fucktard B." However, these idiots have worked so long and hard for their fifteen minutes of fame; let's ridicule them by name.)

It's way past time to call out these idiots for what they are, ignorant, self righteous bigots, who can't tell the constitution from a Superman comic book. Do yourself a favor and read the whole article.

The Dick Cheney Revisionist History Tour...

2009-09-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

The Dick Cheney Revisionist Tour continues with his softball interview last Sunday on the Faux News Channel. Chris Wallace's questions were so soft, he might as well have been throwing Sta-Puf Marshmallows at him.

Cheney has every right to be worried about Attorney General Eric Holder's inquiry into abuses by CIA officials green-lighted by the Bush/Cheney White House on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. Currently, Holder's investigation is focused on the small fry who "Were Just Following Orders", but expect that to change real soon. Holder can target all the low hanging fruit he wants, but when push comes to shove, all roads still lead to the Vice Presidents Office through John Yoo and David Addington.

Once the Justice Department decides to prosecute, there isn't a defense lawyer around that won't be willing to drag the higher ups into the case. Once that happens, Holder will have no choice but to start looking there as well. Any attempts to suppress the testimony of those who authorized this debacle will rightly be seen as a miscarriage of justice by the American people.

Unlike his daughter Liz who will go on any network to spout the Cheney family fibs, Dick Cheney is a coward with no balls who will only go on FOX knowing he'll get to say his talking points unchallenged. And why shouldn't he. Every other network will run excerpts from his interview putting out the talking points he wants to make. I'm reminded of the old adage that if you repeat a lie enough times, people will start to believe it.

If you want to see how a real reporter interviews a hostile subject, check out Rachel Maddow's interview of a very uncomfortable Tom Ridge earlier this week on her MSNBC show.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Imagine how different our public discourse would be if a politician knew they would be called out on their lies instead of given a free ride by most of what calls itself the mainstream media.

Rants On A Theme

2009-07-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV3) recent vote in committee against the health care bill worming it's way through congress points to an issue that keeps rearing it's ugly head.

The issue is taxing the wealthy 5% to help pay for services to the 95% of the rest of the country. Too often over the last 8 1/2 years we've been told increasing taxes on the wealthy would be bad for the economy. For some reason this argument never takes into account the negative aspect of falling wages and benefits to the rest of us. The engine of a prosperous middle class is what truly drives the economy.

The two largest tax cuts enacted during Bush 43 were the Estate Tax and the Capital Gains Tax.

In 2001 when the Estate Tax was lowered the deductible was $675,000 with a maximum tax rate of 55%. Today the tax stands at $3,500,000 deductible with a 45% maximum rate. Next year it disappears altogether, and in 2011 it returns with a $5,000,000 deductible and a 35% maximum rate. The argument used during the debate in 2001 was the need to protect small family farms. It makes a great sound-bite, but nobody spouting this nonsense (read republican/blue dogs)could point to a single family farm lost due to the tax. The real recipient of this change was the Walton family of Walmart fame who stood to save billions (that's billion with a big "B")from the drop in rates.

The most insidious tax cut was for Capital Gains. The long-term rate was lowered in 2003 to 15% for corporations and 5% for individuals. Now understand, capital gains is the profit on investments. The Capital Gains tax is the only tax paid on this income. Capital Gains represent income from investments such as stocks, bonds, increased property values, etc. In 2011, the top rate reverts to 20%.

Warren Buffet, who was one of the biggest winners of the tax cut, commented at the time that he didn't need the cut and his secretary now paid a higher percentage on her income taxes for her $60,000 a year income than he did on his investments.

There are safeguards in place to protect homeowners from paying out long-term capital gains on the increased value of their primary residence at the time of sale. Why investments should be taxed lower than regular income is the issue here. If I work for a living, my maximum tax rate is over 35 percent. If I kick back and live off my investments, my maximum rate is 5 percent as an individual. The only people truly benefiting from this rate drop are the wealthy.

The combined drop in tax revenue over 10 years from these two taxes is estimated to exceed $1 trillion dollars. Or, about what universal health care would cost this country over 10 years.

It's time to stop making excuses for why we can't fix the major problems this country faces because of money, and go where the money is.

Where Were You 40 Years Ago Today?

2009-07-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Check out the great interactive web-site We Choose The Moon for more interesting vids from the Apollo 11 moon mission.

Pennsylvania Congressman Takes The Lead on Ending DADT

2009-07-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-Penn)stepped up to the plate to take the lead on overturning Don't Ask, Don't Tell today. The former war vet turned congressman has spoken out against DADT for years. Now with him taking the lead, congress will finally have to face the issue.

Vet Voice has more details.

"It is vital to our national security," Murphy said last week in his first interview since taking over the lead on the so-called Military Readiness Enhancement Act. "We have troops that are fighting in two wars ... and we need every qualified able-bodied individual who is able to serve."

The legislation, which has 150 co-sponsors in the House, would repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which Congress approved in September 1993 and bars the military from discriminating on the basis of a service member's sexual orientation. More than 13,000 military personnel have been discharged for being gay since the law was enacted.

In Murphy, 35, Democratic leadership in the House has an aggressive two-term lawmaker who in 2006 was the first Iraq war veteran elected to Congress. A former prosecutor and West Point professor, Murphy was a captain in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.

He said he anticipates a drawn-out battle to rally enough support to bring the bill to the floor. The legislation, first introduced in 2005, has never made it out of committee.

"This is going to take months and months, but change is going to happen," Murphy said.

Check out the new web site for Congressman Murphy's effort: LetThemServe.com

Chevrolet Cleans Up In Gay Commercial

2009-07-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

Check out the Chevy ad for the new Camaro complete with Go-Go Boys

Senator Al Franken

2009-07-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

Matt Taibbi: The Great American Bubble Machine

2009-07-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

Check out Matt Taibbi's great article in the latest Rolling Stone. He very effectively breaks down who the major players are that created the economic crisis we are in today, and also shows how the same companies have been doing it to us for decades. The major player in all of this is Goldman Sachs.

The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.

Any attempt to construct a narrative around all the former Goldmanites in influential positions quickly becomes an absurd and pointless exercise, like trying to make a list of everything. What you need to know is the big picture: If America is circling the drain, Goldman Sachs has found a way to be that drain — an extremely unfortunate loophole in the system of Western democratic capitalism, which never foresaw that in a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy.

They achieve this using the same playbook over and over again. The formula is relatively simple: Goldman positions itself in the middle of a speculative bubble, selling investments they know are crap. Then they hoover up vast sums from the middle and lower floors of society with the aid of a crippled and corrupt state that allows it to rewrite the rules in exchange for the relative pennies the bank throws at political patronage. Finally, when it all goes bust, leaving millions of ordinary citizens broke and starving, they begin the entire process over again, riding in to rescue us all by lending us back our own money at interest, selling themselves as men above greed, just a bunch of really smart guys keeping the wheels greased. They've been pulling this same stunt over and over since the 1920s — and now they're preparing to do it again, creating what may be the biggest and most audacious bubble yet.

See Taibbi discuss Goldman Sachs' big scam.

Colin Powell Calls For Ending Don't Ask Don't Tell

2009-07-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

Former Secretary of State Collin Powell called for a review of Don't Ask Don't Tell on CNN's "State of The Union" Sunday show. Getting Colin Powell to step out on this issue is important based on his participation during the Clinton administration when the law was crafted.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday that the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy he helped craft should be revisited, but he would not go so far as to call for a full repeal of the compromise.

"The policy and the law that came about in 1993 I think was correct for the time," Powell said in an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union." "Sixteen years have now gone by, and I think a lot has changed with respect to attitudes within our country. And therefore, I think this is a policy and a law that should be reviewed."

John Stewart Responds to Glenn Beck and His Bat-Shit Crazy Guest

2009-07-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

Last night's Daily Show, John Stewart responded to Glenn Beck and his crazy guest who called for Bin Laden to launch an attack on the US to gain sympathy for their Gestapo ideas for America.

SCHEUER: The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States....only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them.

STEWART: What the fuck is that? And by the way, here's the fascinating thing about our culture. My guess is that you didn't hear me say "fuck." Because the Federal government is protecting you and your children's ears from that type of profanity. While, Santa's evil twin gets to, uhh...gets to nonchalantly proposes the needless slaughter of Americans to further his national security plan. But, obviously, in this country, everyone's entitled to their dope-pinion.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Osama bin Laden Needs to Attack America

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Jason Jones in Iran

Clark County Nevada Turns 100 Today!

2009-07-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 100th Anniversary of the splitting of Lincoln County to create Clark County.

Clark County was named for William Andrews Clark, a mining and railroad magnate who gave Las Vegas its start when he established a maintenance stop for his San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad.

Another Clark also played a key role, Hall-Patton said. Pioche businessman Edward Clark worked behind the scenes to make the county split possible. His reward was an appointment as Clark County's first treasurer.

The new county's population, counted officially for the first time during the 1910 census, stood at 3,321 souls.

That's about 600 more than the current enrollment at Clark High School and 27 fewer than the number of guest rooms at Caesars Palace.

Hall-Patton said Clark County's two largest communities a century ago were Searchlight and Goodsprings, and its two largest employers were mines and ranches.

And The Race Is On

2009-07-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

Former North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon (R) announced his entry into the Republican primary to challenge Jim Gibbons in 2010.

Let the games begin!

GOP Whining Obama Won't Talk To Them Anymore

2009-07-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

The GOP Leadership in Congress led by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) are now whining Obama won't talk to them anymore. Where do these assholes get off? All the talk of bi-partisanship early on followed by total Repug refusal to vote for anything Obama suggested even to the point of demanding changes in legislation and then not voting for the bills.

Somebody call the Waaaaaahbulance

Glenn Beck Agrees, We Need Another Al Qaeda Attack

2009-07-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Faux News Channel's Glenn Beck agrees with a former CIA analyst that America needs another attack...

This is what FNC considers Fair and Balanced news reporting.

Air New Zealand Employees Have Nothing to Hide

2009-06-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

Check out this hilarious new ad from Air New Zealand. The employees pictured are not wearing clothes, but have their uniforms PAINTED on.

Another Republican Bites the Dust

2009-06-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

So another holier than thou Republican gets caught with his zipper down. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford admits today to an affair with a woman from Argentina.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

One has to ask how much longer can the Republican Party continue to denigrate Gays for wanting to marry while party leaders keep getting caught with their zipper down.

Last week it was Senator John Ensign (R-NV), this week it's Sanford. We're starting a new feature today called Republican Zipper Hall of Shame to document all the marital abuses. The first two names are going to be Sanford and Ensign with Honorable Mention to Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, David Vitter, and our personal favorite Larry "Wide Stance" Larry Craig.

Insurance Companies Cancelling Sick Patients

2009-06-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

This important viral video needs to get out as soon as possible to the whole country. Please pass it around and let the country understand what assholes we have running our insurance companies. Watch these insurance execs squirm and evade as they are questioned. There is something reptilian and oily about their responses. From Nancy Pelosi's Youtube page.....

Today, the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing entitled "Terminations of Individual Health Policies by Insurance Companies." The hearing examined the practice of "post-claims underwriting," which occurs when insurance companies cancel individual health insurance policies after providers submit claims for medical services rendered.

The Committee conducted an investigation into the
practice of health insurance rescission, and the results were alarming. Over the past five years, almost 20,000 individual insurance policyholders have had their policies rescinded by the three insurance companies who testified today: Assurant, UnitedHealth Group, and WellPoint.

Remember, please pass this video around. Let's show the world what kind of creatures are running the single most costly industry to the average American, medical insurance. The only way to get to single payer health care, is to force congress to act. If this video doesn't piss some people off, I don't know what would.

Senator John "Family Values" Ensign Announces Affair

2009-06-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

Our very own Senator John Ensign (R-NV) today acknowledged and affair with another woman.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This would be the same John Ensign who called for Larry Craig to resign over his alleged hijinks's in a Minneapolis airport. And the same John Ensign who called for Bill Clinton to resign over the Monica Lewinsky affair.

But it should, at the very least, re-open the longstanding debate over how much attention should be paid to a politician's personal life. And when it comes to this topic, Ensign's own record of denouncing the affairs and misconducts of other pols could come back to haunt him.

Nothing like another Republican hypocrite.

The Senator found Bill's actions to be embarrassing....

During the height of the scandal surrounding Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, the Nevada Republican denounced the president's conduct as "an embarrassing moment for the country."

'I think we have to feel very sad for the American people and Hillary and Chelsea,' he said.

Weeks later, Ensign would call on Clinton to resign. "I came to that conclusion recently, and frankly it's because of what he put his whole Cabinet through and what he has put the country through," he was quoted saying at the time. "He has no credibility left," he added.

It goes without saying Ensign is a big supporter of the Defense of Marriage Act and voted for the Marriage Amendment.

Needless to say, the Senator has no intentions of resigning, even with his doe-eyed wife Darlene standing by his side.

AMA Weighs In On Public Healthcare

2009-06-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Surprise, surprise, the American Medical Association has come out against public financed healthcare.

"Today's New York Times story creates a false impression about the AMA's position on a public plan option in health care reform legislation. The AMA opposes any public plan that forces physicians to participate, expands the fiscally-challenged Medicare program or pays Medicare rates, but the AMA is willing to consider other variations of the public plan that are currently under discussion in Congress. This includes a federally chartered co-op health plan or a level playing field option for all plans. The AMA is working to achieve meaningful health reform this year and is ready to stand behind legislation that includes coverage options that work for patients and physicians."

I wonder if they will pull out the old Ronald Reagan record railing against "Socialized Medicine" again? My favorite part is where he talks about medicine being the precursor down the road to socialism.

Our old friend Fred Willard provides the solution to our healthcare woes...

Common Sense Doctor w/ Fred Willard from Fred Willard

I think even the insurance companies would approve.

Obama and Don't Ask, Don't Tell

2009-06-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

With the Supreme Court refusing to hear the appeal of the decision to uphold DADT, one has to ask what ever happened to Barack "Fierce Advocate" Obama?

Apparently, we are fair weather friends when he needs votes, and a bother when he doesn't.

Candidate Obama came out strongly against DADT while running for President, but President Obama gives lip service and nothing else.

The biggest slap in the face to the LGBT Community that has been advocating for a change, is the Obama White House sending a lawyer to the Supreme Court to support the current policy. WTF!

I for one refuse to be treated with this much contempt. It's high time the Obama administration jumped on the same band-wagon as the rest of the country. Recent polls show the American public is ready to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. When will Obama show leadership on this issue?

Current polling shows where America is at in their support for repealing DADT that has cost us over 13,000 highly trained military personel since it's passage in the Clinton administration.

69% of all Americans
58% of Republicans
58% of Conservatives
60% of Church Goers

Gallup Poll May 7-13

Rachael Maddow said it best on her show last night

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Failure by President Obama to meaningfully address this issue may become NMNS (no money, no support) in 2010. It takes more than votes to win elections.

Hillarious Bud Light Commercial

2009-06-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

Crazy commercial for Bud Light including porn. Check it out.

Parachute Pants Are Back

2009-06-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

A group of gold parachute-pant wearing dancers take over a clothing store on Sunset Blvd dancing to MC Hammer's Can't Touch This.

Gay Best Friends

2009-06-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

That's Soooo Gay! What's with the obsession on sitcoms these days for "The Gay Best Friend?"

Gay Penguins Raise Chick

2009-06-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

A pair of Gay male penguins have been raising a chick from an abandoned egg they incubated in a zoo in Germany. Story here.

And, So It Begins

2009-06-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just like the title says, I'm now starting my first blog. Those of you who know me personally, know I love to rant.

Over the next couple of weeks, expect to see many changes to this blog. There are many features I can't wait to introduce you to.

The one thing I promise is plenty of ranting and raving about Las Vegas, Nevada, and American politics and the lying liars who we elect to represent out interests. As you know, I don't have any problem with calling them out. Now in addition to letters to the editor and letters to politicians, I will be posting my opinions for all to see.

So be sure to check out my new blog on a regular basis for fun, frivolity, rants, and raves.