Saturday Morning Awesome: UK politico rips EU president

There is a trend happening in the Saturday Morning Awesome (SMA) -- that of badassery.

Nigel Farage (click HERE for the Wiki on him) was fined £2700 by the parliament for making the speech below. I have no idea if his accusations are correct, or if he's doing anything more than browbeating the EU president. But it's awesome. And Farage, in this moment at least, is a badass the likes of which I'd love to see in U.S. politics.

Ps: I am blatantly ripping this genius find from Faith in Honest Doubt's pages. Rock on Dale.



You go Nigel, you go,

Bp

My new favorite internet article -- ever: Lady Gaga, The Illuminati Puppet

This is why the internet rules. If there is 'something' out there in the public consciousness -- The Internet will grab it and turn it into something you never ever expected in a million years.

Here is an EXPOSE of Lada Gaga and her occult/illuminati connection from Vigilant Citizen. It's my new favorite thing.

I'm pretty sure we need a corollary to the Internet Rule 34 -- adding, 'and conspiracy connections made of it.'

Enjoy life,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

R.I.P. health care reform

Great video that captures a bit of information, and a lot of emotion (that I share) about the current B.S. that's making its way through congress about health care. Is the host being helpful? No -- but I can relate to where he's coming from:



Bp

[via Faith in Honest Doubt, whose post is worth reading]

Saturday Morning Awesome -- Area Man Passionate Defender of What He Imagines Constitution to Be

This awesomeness brought to you by The Onion:

ESCONDIDO, CA—Spurred by an administration he believes to be guilty of numerous transgressions, self-described American patriot Kyle Mortensen, 47, is a vehement defender of ideas he seems to think are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and principles that brave men have fought and died for solely in his head.

"Our very way of life is under siege," said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination. "It's time for true Americans to stand up and protect the values that make us who we are."

According to Mortensen—an otherwise mild-mannered husband, father, and small-business owner—the most serious threat to his fanciful version of the 222-year-old Constitution is the attempt by far-left "traitors" to strip it of its religious foundation.

"Right there in the preamble, the authors make their priorities clear: 'one nation under God,'" said Mortensen, attributing to the Constitution a line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which itself did not include any reference to a deity until 1954. "Well, there's a reason they put that right at the top."

"Men like Madison and Jefferson were moved by the ideals of Christianity, and wanted the United States to reflect those values as a Christian nation," continued Mortensen, referring to the "Father of the Constitution," James Madison, considered by many historians to be an atheist, and Thomas Jefferson, an Enlightenment-era thinker who rejected the divinity of Christ and was in France at the time the document was written. "The words on the page speak for themselves."

According to sources who have read the nation's charter, the U.S. Constitution and its 27 amendments do not contain the word "God" or "Christ."

Mortensen said his admiration for the loose assemblage of vague half-notions he calls the Constitution has only grown over time. He believes that each detail he has pulled from thin air—from prohibitions on sodomy and flag-burning, to mandatory crackdowns on immigrants, to the right of citizens not to have their hard-earned income confiscated in the form of taxes—has contributed to making it the best framework for governance "since the Ten Commandments."

"And let's not forget that when the Constitution was ratified it brought freedom to every single American," Mortensen said.

Mortensen's passion for safeguarding the elaborate fantasy world in which his conception of the Constitution resides is greatly respected by his likeminded friends and relatives, many of whom have been known to repeat his unfounded assertions verbatim when angered. Still, some friends and family members remain critical.

"Dad's great, but listening to all that talk radio has put some weird ideas into his head," said daughter Samantha, a freshman at Reed College in Portland, OR. "He believes the Constitution allows the government to torture people and ban gay marriage, yet he doesn't even know that it guarantees universal health care."

Mortensen told reporters that he'll fight until the bitter end for what he roughly supposes the Constitution to be. He acknowledged, however, that it might already be too late to win the battle.

"The freedoms our Founding Fathers spilled their blood for are vanishing before our eyes," Mortensen said. "In under a year, a fascist, socialist regime has turned a proud democracy into a totalitarian state that will soon control every facet of American life."

"Don't just take my word for it," Mortensen added. "Try reading a newspaper or watching the news sometime."

Enjoy the Onion in all its glory,

Bp

[image and text via, of course, The Onion]

Polish Yeti caught on film

I think it's been too long since we've had a good sighting of a Yeti, or Sasquatch in the news. It seemed they were popping up all the time in my childhood (when I was planning to be a Cryptozoologist for a 'living'), I miss them. Hell, it was enough in the public consciousness that the 6-million dollar man fought him.

I thought I'd remedy the situation by posting this video filmed recently in Poland. Here is an excerpt from the Austrian times article.

Piotr Kowalski, 27, from Warsaw was on a walking holiday in the Tatra mountains in Poland when he saw a mountain goat on one of the slopes. As he started filming, his attention was suddenly grabbed by the Yeti creature emerging from behind some rocks.

"I saw this huge ape-like form hiding behind the rocks. When I saw it it was like being struck by a thunderbolt," he told the daily Superexpress.

"Coming from Warsaw, I never really believed the local stories of a wild mountain ape-man roaming the slopes. But, now I do."

Enjoy childhood nostalgia,

Bp

[photo via Austrian Times, article via Blame it on the Voices, and Nothing to do with Arborath]

Haha, a horrible joke of a video

Right?

... RIGHT?

Le Taser iRobot PackBot Explorer
Uploaded by npesblog. - Watch the latest news videos.

Sighing with you,

Bp

[via Blogtown]

Blackwater/Xe -- just sitting here with my mouth open

I never knew this angle on the infamous mercenary outfit Blackwater (now known as Xe) -- specifically the religious angle.

Take it away Keith.



Holy crap,

Bp

[via the Cynical C blog]

Saturday Morning Awesome: Sheep conspiracy theorist

[fixed image, sorry bout that]




Enjoy your day,

Bp

[totally unattributed photo, sorry]

National Do Not Call Registry -- Register Your Cell Phone Now

There is an email circulating that claims all our cell phone numbers are about to be distributed to telemarketers. This doesn't appear to be true. But the rest of the email is true -- it gives information on the National Do Not Call registry. Below is the information to get your phones put on that list:

Call this number: 888-382-1222 with the phone that you want on the list and register on the National Do Not Call registry.

Or you can go to the National Do Not Call Registry to register multiple numbers at once. I think I'll be doing both... you know, just to be safe.

Enjoy opting out,

Bp

[via Richard and T.]

The Daily Show -- Jason Jones in Iran

A little direct interaction with these people that are 'completely cut off from the Western world' as is so often stated in the Media.

Really? Apparently not.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Jason Jones: Behind the Veil - Ayatollah You So
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

Enjoy ground-truthing cultural assertions,

Bp

[via Bruce of Playwrite Inc.]

Gonzales's Advice to Bush on How to Avoid War Crimes

Isn't that a heart-warming picture there? What a smile, I tell ya.

Here is a Truthout.org piece about Gonzales and the Bush administration and torture. It's not heart-warming.

On January 25, 2002, then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales advised George W. Bush in a memo to deny al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners protections under the Geneva Conventions because doing so would "substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act" and "provide a solid defense to any future prosecution."

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Federal Employee Sacked for Reporting Illegal Cougar Kills

Here is an article from the journal Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) about an upcoming whistleblower case in Nevada. Gary Strader, a professional hunter for U.S. Wildlife Services, had is position "de-funded" after he reported his agency co-workers had killed up to 5 Cougars from government aircraft and then filed false paperwork to cover up the act. Only the heads of the animals were taken, apparently for trophies.

This will be a good sample case for how the Obama administration deals with whistleblowers in the government.

(nothing to enjoy here)

Bp

[article originally found through Truthout.org, photo credit and explanation also at Truthout]

Obama and "Prolonged Detention"

Ok, dammit, here is the straw. Camel's back is broken. Obama is talking about detention without trial. Not only not closing Guantanamo, but keeping it working in the same way it is now -- for holding SUSPECTS WITHOUT TRIAL. Indefinite detention -- no charges, no rights, for "preventative detention."

Get that phrase in your head -- "preventative detention." Meaning someone, somewhere, in the government has decided that you MAY commit a crime, IN THE FUTURE, so they're going to lock you up now. For as long as they want, without a trial.

Do the math on that. The real math.

God damn it.

Here is an excellent post at Pearls Before Swine about the speech in which this came out and the ramifications. There are lots of sources cited at the bottom for your perusal and investigation. And below is the Rachel Maddow clip talking about this as well.



Now we have to fight the Obama administration for basic human rights in our own country.

Here is the link to USA.Gov's "contact your government" page. I knew we'd have to be on top of this administration, but I didn't know it would be over issues this dire. Dammit.

Bp

[via Dani, of Dani Boynton Photography]

The most probable Colony Collapse Disorder culprit yet

So that last post I made about a possible CCD agent is on pretty thin ice, it turns out. This pesticide, however (imidacloprid) looks very seriously like a possible cause. In this Salon.com article, they present some pretty compelling information.

Bayer CropScience, the producer of both imidacloprid and another suspect pesticide clothianidin, doesn't want you to think this, however. They've got big money on the association between CCD and their products just going away.

Although I can't say that case connecting these pesticides and CCD is waterproof, it sure deserves a WHOLE LOT of attention.

Enjoy possibly finding the solution to a problem with one of our most important agricultural animals,

Bp

[image credit in linked article]

British Member of Parliament spots undercover cops inciting riot at G20 conference

The G20 met in London last month. This, as always, incited protests. Something funny was going on -- as folks in the protest noticed a couple of gents throwing things and yelling at other people to do the same. They turned out to be plainclothes police. Some snippets from the Guardian.uk article --

This from an eye-witness: "He [one of the alleged officers] was egging protesters on. It was very noticeable," Amos said. "Then suddenly a protester seemed to identify him as a policeman and turned on him. He ­legged it towards the police line, flashed some ID and they just let him through, no questions asked."

Here is MP Tom Brake's statement: "When I was in the middle of the crowd, two people came over to me and said, 'There are people over there who we believe are policemen and who have been encouraging the crowd to throw things at the police,'" Brake said. But when the crowd became suspicious of the men and accused them of being police officers, the pair approached the police line and passed through after showing some form of identification."

Brake, a member of the influential home affairs select committee, will raise the allegations when he gives evidence before parliament's joint committee on human rights on Tuesday.

Cue X-files music.

Enjoy the conspiracy,

Bp


[Originally found at Boing Boing, photo credit in linked article]

Odds of dying in a terrorist attack

When the need for fear is great, the propaganda is strong, I tell you. Nearly the most dangerous thing you could possibly do in this country is get into a car (or worse yet eat a greasy meal), and yet we are asked to give up civil liberties, fight wars on two fronts, go into massive debt, and torture innocents to "protect us" against the this supposed emergency.

It reminds me of the odds of shark attack.

Please, people.

The below list is from The Eyewash Station. You can view stats directly here at the NSC.

You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack

You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack

You are six times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack

You are eight times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack

You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane

You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack

You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack

You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack

You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack

You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack

You are nine times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack

You are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist

Enjoy putting things back in perspective,

Bp

[image via Wiki Commons]

The Virile Vampire strikes again: Putin photographed being KGB'ish

I haven't updated you on the virile-ness of Putin lately, so I will continue my Virile Vampire series with a photograph of Putin in his KGB days posing as a tourist for one of Reagan's visits to Russia.

How awesome is that?



Enjoy the complex chemistry that is the Virile Vampire,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Public Acceptance of Evolution, by Country

You have to keep going down the list if you are looking for some place close to home,

Bp

[via Blame it on the Voices]

A couple attacks on small family farms -- H.R. 875 and S. 425

Again we are faced with good sounding legislation that just grows government in ways that allow them to be the strong arm of big money. For a quickie video on both H.R. 875 and S. 425 -- click here.

H.R. 875, the Food Safety and Modernization Act stinks to high heaven.

Let's just start out with who introduced it -- Rep. DeLauro D, Conn. Her husband works for Monsanto. If there ever was an evil corporate giant, Monsanto is it.

Another big stinker is Senate Bill 425, the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act. This one is sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D, Ohio. And again, there is noise of Monsanto connections with this politician (according to the World Net Daily article).

The bills call for the creation of government agencies which will be up in the business of even the smallest food producers -- legislating and prosecuting over details like what pesticides are or aren't used, what animals are fed, and how to medicate animals. This is all jumping off of the scare from the peanuts in Texas, mark my words. Some of the fines proposed are draconian -- up to 1$ million dollars per offence. Small farmers are concerned about both these bills.

I'd love to see the Conservative "anti big government" folks jump on these bills, but I'm not expecting any action from them. I'm not expecting much of any push back from Washington at all unless folks make a huge stink -- big money is behind this so it's business as usual. We have two weeks to voice our concerns.

Notice that it's two Demublicrats that are introducing these bills -- "the-one party-as-two-party" system is in full force here. Whomever happens to be in power is beholden to the same interests, which is why I'm neither a Republican nor a Democrat. On the grand majority of issues, especially ones I'm most concerned about, there is no difference.

If you want to read more, check out this write up on World Net Daily.

Here is the USA.gov website where you can get information to contact your representatives in Government, from the President down. Each hand written letter has the impact of thousands of emails and phone calls. But emails and phone calls are still better than nothing.

Enjoy the intartubes' ability to rally awareness and resistance against yet another attempt by big money to control their competition -- US,

Bp

Stewart Vs. Cramer -- Unedited

In case you have been living under a rock (I was, I didn't find out until after the fact) -- the Daily Show has had a momentous event. It's definitely the best interview I've ever seen on the Daily Show, and if you are a media analyst or sociologist, it may be the best television you will see (or have seen) in years.

To be clear, what makes it great isn't even necessarily explicit in the interview, it is the whole situation that made the interview necessary, who is doing it, and why. It's a contextual media whiplash that deserves serious attention.

Stewart had Jim Cramer on his show, host of the CNBC show Mad Money. Cramer came on (to his credit, I must say) after the Daily Show had been lambasting him and his recently-horrible financial advice, to the point where the MSM (main stream media) started saying there was a feud between them. It became a media circus, apparently.

There is so much I could say, but really -- you should just watch this if you haven't yet. If you've only seen the T.V. version, these uncensored videos may be of renewed interest to you as well. I'm very curious to hear your reactions too, if ya'll feel like sharing.

Below is the first of three videos showing the uncensored, unedited interview. [HERE is part two, and HERE is part 3] You have to get to the 2nd and 3rd part to get to the good stuff.



Enjoy a comedy show living up to the term "the 4th estate,"

Bp