esrosedotblog

The witch is dead.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia dies

He was a hateful man. Filled with personal animus and venom Scalia was an enemy of progressives but took it up another notch with his blatant homophobia. Never missing the nasty aside or biased opinion.

So, OK.

That opens the door.

There seems to be some doubt that the GOP in the Senate would confirm an Obama appointee before the next general election.

Well, that is the fucking point isn't it.

I normally do not make judgements about public figures who state their beliefs in a reasonable way. But Scalia was anything but reasonable.

Our country is better off with his loss.

And if that seems too harsh, then fuck you too.

Labels: evil bastards, republican whack jobs, world class assholes.

I like this from today's NYTimes.

North Korea Loses Its Link to the Internet: While perhaps a coincidence, the failure, which lasted about 10 hours, began after President Obama said the U.S. would respond to an act of "cybervandalism" against Sony Pictures.

I hope that fat little motherfucker got all crazy because he couldn't get his on line porn fix.

And his haircut sucks too.

I give a lot of room to a lot of terrible people but this one just reeks. He even looks despicable.

I know. Looks do not matter. I pose one question. "To whom"?

I have a lifelong belief that people look as they are inside and if you are observant, you can see a whole lot by looking.

Here, he wows the ladies.

Labels: evil bastards

The New York Times wants Obama to prosecute Dick Cheney for the torture thing.

Appoint Prosecutor to Investigate Cheney

Well, they want a special prosecutor.

I have to say that I am right there on this.

This fucking bastard got away with literal murder from his half powerful seat.

I am a long time Cheney hater as readers of this blog may know.

There is no redeeming quality.

He is a bastard through and through.

I think it is interesting that since he and the Bushies left the White House I have not gotten vehement about anything that the other Party does.

It was the total villainy of these motherfuckers, Cheney and his gang, that inflamed me. And still does.

I guess you can tell.

Labels: bushies, cheney, evil bastards

PAPA!

The fucking pope resigned. Good riddance.

Old and frail. Sure. But since when was that a reason.

Most of them are too old to even understand the world they got old in. It passed them by.

This guy was worse than most.

Even if you get by the absurdity of having some big daddy running things with "moral authority" as they do, this one was audaciously and conspicuously conservative.

Could they do worse? Maybe not. He hit the bottom. Although once he almost said it was ok to use a condom but then they pulled him back from the precipice.

A ray of light that was quickly extinguished.

A guy at the gym said that maybe they would pick Dolan, the NYC cardinal. That he would be much better. I just gave him a look and said that they all hated me equally. Of course that is not true. But mostly. And anyone who doesn't hold the line on "the gays", never mind all the rest of it, will be shown the door.

To even discuss this goes against the grain for me.

The pope is nothing to me and, really, nothing to a lot of other people in the world. Even catholics.

I will not rehearse the ancient lines against the church and its arrogant bullshit.

Let this one go. Let the other one come in. Live your life. Let them go. Anachronisms.

Labels: evil bastards, religion

CAPTIVE STATE

I haven't had a good Facebook rant for awhile.

Here is a good starter.

Leaving Facebook

I was not surprised to see recently that Mark Zuckerberg has retained control of FB as many others invested in his enterprise.

No board can overrule him, no stockholders have any say in his decisions unless he chooses to allow it.

It is, in short, an authoritarian state.

This is no surprise of course. FB has always been the Zuck's fifedom and will continue to be so even if on a huge scale.

Why is this wrong?

Well, lots of reasons enumerated more capably in this article. But for one thing that I know personally, it is most blameworthy.

Some of my friends, real ones, not the FB kind, don't look for conspiracy and con jobs in American commerce. At least not this kind. Somehow the wonders of the internet miracle seem to transcend people's skepticism and ability to think.

There is no doubt that many people, my friends included, find affiliation, revived relationships and many other fun and serious things from FB. They do not see the cost to their privacy or their innocence.

FB is notoriously hard to leave. John did it but got emails and shit for a long while about it. Fortunately he didn't have a lot of friended people. He went on for a crass commercial reason himself and wasn't interested in the social aspect. But it was hell to get off.

They have people by the psychological and sociological nuts. And so on.

But at the base, I have never liked the Zucker and I never trusted him in the beginning. Not only does he have "shifty" eyes and a con man's shit eating grin, I have a predisposition to be wary of anything like this.

This is where being a near pathological introvert is a big help.

I cannot imagine digging up the past or friending people I hardly know or putting my personal life out there.

For those who have drunk the Kool-Aid, good luck with that. Keep your eyes on the shit eating grin.

Labels: evil bastards, internet

NOTEWORTHY

Basque Separatists Declare Halt to Violence

I was about 25 when this started. It has been on my mind most of my life. Not because I am a Basque. More because it was the first terrorism, other than the IRA, that I was aware of and began to follow.

It is not, of course, the first terrorism. That was somewhere in the "Old Testament". Before. Why do we think it is new? For awhile even declared a war on it. That is over.

The world is changing in some areas. The IRA laid down their arms. Others too. It is a model for going forward. Some actual muslim extremists have retired from the field. History shows that it is an unproductive tool. A plaything for madmen who do not really believe in the cause as much as their on sociopathology.

The Basques were picturesque for awhile. Romantic. But then they got too lethal to too many innocents and their cause became banal and was blanked out by the revulsion at their actions.

And so on. History repeats itself.

I saw the pictures of Moammar as well. Just now. Now doubt. It is him. Dead as a doornail. I was going to show it here and then thought not.

Labels: evil bastards

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

I have been fascinated by this guy for a long time. A class act devoted to evil purpose.

He had a set of costumes that would do any old time Hollywood studio proud. They don't keep the costumes any more. I bet some of them went to Moammar.

The desert robes were great too. When it comes to dictator chic he rules. Ruled.

By all accounts he was an evil bastard and it cost many lives to get him out. Sad but true.

The latest in a long line of African potentates who soaked the poor and kept all of it for himself. Actually not that different from all the other flim flammers in the world.

Labels: evil bastards

ONCE A SHIT, ALWAYS A SHIT

Well, we all know that Giuliani is a bastard.

Triple that.

Gay couple claims Giuliani ignoring pledge to marry them

I remember this. It was a good thing when he did it. Stayed at a gay couples house for six months. Said some nice things.

Now? Nuh uh.

Rudy is Rudy. Rudy first, all others last.

This was, at the time, the one thing that I thought was good about him. Now. No. Not good.

Labels: evil bastards, gay marriage, republican whack jobs

DINO

I have never been a fan of Evan Bayh, a Democrat in Name Only.

And an asshole to boot. To take the ad hominem approach.

He never disappointed to score a point off Obama or to play politics with serious issues. I don't expect down the line adherence to Democratic Party orthodoxy like the GOoPers do of theirs, but Evan is a challenge.

Now, just before he disappears into the lobbying maelstrom, this:

Evan Bayh and a Never Ending Series of Disappointments

Bayh has not only flipped into lobbying from his vaunted aspiration to teach but has gone to the very devil itself, the US Chamber of Commerce. He will work with Andy Card, the Bush guy, to spin their shit into shinola.

I won't even put up his fucking picture. A weasel. A rat. Can he be both? If possible, Bayh would do it.

For sure a DINO.

Labels: Democrats, evil bastards

PLANS

Labels: evil bastards, republican whack jobs

COMING TO A TOWN NEAR ME

The moguls of the GOP and tea baggers are coming to Rancho Mirage in January.

Just down the road a piece.

Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead

They want to get their shit together to continue the war against Obama. Quietly.

Not that there is anything wrong with that now that SCOTUS has given the green light to corporate donors who do not have to reveal their name or the amounts given.

It is free skate for all the moneyed interests. Foreign money too.

But that is a side issue.

The big thing is that these Koch brothers are now into some light. They are going to be hounded by reporters. Exposés.

There is plenty to report.

Covert Operations

appeared in The New Yorker in August.

These guys hate sunlight and air.

Labels: evil bastards

STILL THE BIG DICK

Labels: criminal morons, evil bastards, republican whack jobs

I TOLD YOU SO updated--link to Weill's Wikipedia listing

I have been a long time customer of CItigroup, particularly the Smith Barney division.

Over the years, I had a front row seat to the carnival wrought on the company by Sanford (Sandy) Weill, the founder and maker of the company and now, one of the founders and makers of the economic collapse.

I don't know what caught my attention many years ago. It was quite early. About the time that he wed the Travelers with the Salomon.

It might be the fond self regard, the arrogant empire builder who gloats in his victories, the anti-regulation stances, his reputation as the man who smashed Glass-Steagall, the Depression-era legislation that contained core financial regulations. The repeal allowed for the creation of Citi and helped feed the Wall Street boom.

Or maybe it was the sly look. The panache.

I saw a bullshit artist.

But a very good one.

Soon Salomon gobbled up my broker, Smith Barney.

I watched and commented frequently to my Smith Barney friends who even, from time to time, forwarded my diatribes to management. Or said that they did.

The company grew and grew. It took in Citibank and became Citigroup. Wow. More more more.

And then he was out. Gone but not forgotten. Still connected but not heeded. His decisions about his successors were as bad as many of his structural ones. They shut him out.

How do you spell hubris?

Sandy Weill was not only a pirate but an incompetent one.

He walked the plank.

This profile in todays NYT helps give some dimension to the enormous damage that Weill and his ilk perpetrated. And will never pay for it beyond their own financial losses. Half of a billion dollars is how much?

And, of course, the damage to his infinite self regard which will never be seriously dented. He is still pointing the finger.

What a shit.

Citi’s Creator, Alone With His Regrets.

Labels: evil bastards, finance

PEAR MARKET COLLAPSES

Every other day I have two pears for lunch.

I prefer the D'Anjou. You buy it green. It takes a few days to mature. When it is soft to the press of your thumb it is ready to eat.

I will go for other types if I have to. The red D'anjou is nice but overly sweet. It doesn't keep as well.

Then there is the Bartlett. Doesn't keep at all. Bruises too easily.

The Bosc? Good for the fall. Good in a pinch. These are ready when the stem end gets wrinkly.

I went to the market Friday and there were no pears at all. The only good news, sort of, is that the Bartlett harvest is expected in the next few weeks.

So, I broke down and went to Ralphs (Kroger). They still had some. I bought eight D'anjous. That, plus the ones I have will, last ten days.

What happened?

Trouble with the immigrant picking crews. They were hindered from coming across.

I knew this would happen. I remember reading about it.

It is those goddam Minutemen and other militant border guardians.

The bushers too. Clamping down on workers.

It is so misguided. Pears, my pears, rot on the tree because these bastards won't pursue a reasonable documented worker program.

I won't see any of them going out to pick this year's crop.

Shortsighted jingoistic bastards.

So now, it will be soft fruit. Plums, peaches. That is OK but not the same and I want my pears.

Labels: agriculture, evil bastards, republican whack jobs

HERE IT IS

I figured that when Cheney was doing all his ranting a month or so ago that it was defensive.

Well, here we are.

Cheney Is Linked to C.I.A. Concealment of Terror Program

This is not really new. The blogs have had it the last week. But when the Times gets ahold of it, it has been confirmed with some heavy supporting data.

"They" say, and have been saying all of this week that the project was an assassination team that only reported to Big Dick. Outside the CIA management and oversight loop.

Hired killers. Sounds like Dick Cheney to me!

Steve Benen, the Political Animal adds this in his posting about this article:

Postscript: As for the recent "debate" about Speaker Pelosi's not-so-scandalous suggestion that the CIA is not always forthcoming with lawmakers, Republicans can send their apologies to Office of the Speaker, H-232, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC 20515.

Labels: evil bastards, republican whack jobs

DECONSTRUCTING THE MEMORIAL

Gail Collins does a good job that I had stepped away from.

Michael, A Foreign Affair

Here is a sample. I would not have said this because I did not know it.

Still, it was a little peculiar hearing Brooke Shields’s weepy testimony about her deep friendship with Jackson given the fact that she told reporters that the last time she saw him was at Elizabeth Taylor’s eighth wedding in 1991. And while Representative Jackson Lee correctly pointed out that Jackson was acquitted of all charges in that child molestation trial, nobody really wants their memorial service dotted with comments like “People are innocent until proven otherwise!”

And look at that camera angle. The look into heaven. The pin spot! Green backlight.

It turns out that the expected "great outpouring" of grief didn't quite materialize. It was big enough to be alarming to those of us who don't understand this kind of shit but not nearly as big as Diana or Reagan.

In LA, there were no "people in the streets" rending their garments. A T-shirt vendor with a thousand shirt inventory sold only 100. Tough times.

I know. I am keeping this alive. That is my part in it.

It is not going to go away anytime soon so I think I will hang onto it awhile longer.

It has limited satisfaction, though. Mockery can be a challenging and creative business but, here, it is fairly easy. Fish in a barrel.

Labels: cults, culture, evil bastards

SWEARING OFF

I know. I just can't leave the whole Jackson circus go.

But I am taking the pledge.

The posting below is the very last one I am going to do.

At least until there is some new really grotesque occurrence to pique my ire.

Labels: culture, evil bastards

JACKSON MADE WISE CAREER MOVE

They took it down already (LA is like that) but the LATimes had an article this morning about how the Jackson estate will benefit from his death. It will reinvigorate sale of his albums and the rights to products and all will more than cover his enormous debt.

In fact, the debt may have already been superceded by the revenue which is coming in from musical rights. He is having a resurgent career.

The other day I read that SEG who was going to manage the London concerts is sure that they will make a handsome profit from the event even though it will not be held. It turns out that a lot of people who put down money for tickets will not be returning them but, rather, will be holding on to them as souvenirs. In addition, depending on the findings of the coroner, there will be a return of some losses in the form of insurance. They are hoping, of course, that he is not found to be a technical suicide although it would appear that he is effectively a virtual one from the use of very dangerous, illicit drugs. The law is murky on this.

So, all in all, this has turned out to be a very good thing for Jacko.

On other fronts, for those of who are concerned that the affairs of MJ be carried out in good taste, here are three articles to make up for the one that the LATimes tore down.

It turns out that the judge ruled that Katherine Jackson cannot manage the estate. Wow. What would Michael think about that? His Mom. Well, he apparently thought about it enough to make sure that she didn't get her hands on it in 2002.

I mentioned the other day that I was concerned about the corpse. Where is it? When will we get a better picture than that blurry thing some EMT guy took.

You can read about the burial plans here. I am concerned that by this time the nose and all may have deteriorated. Will there be an open casket? Where will he lie in state? I think that the Capitol Rotunda is booked. I don't know how long he "keep" do you? I read somewhere that he will be in a casket of the same design that James Brown used. Don't they copyright that shit?

On a related front, the whole story on what he will wear in his casket can be found here.

I am sure that it will be in as good taste as were all his other fine costumes. No one has apparently discovered whether the pet monkey will be interred with him or not.

Labels: culture, evil bastards

DON'T LOOK UNDER THE ROCK

I am almost over the Jacko thing but this op-ed by Bob Herbert gives a larger context. It's pretty good.

Behind the Facade

Labels: culture, evil bastards

WEIRDNESS ALERT

Not only do we have the ongoing griefathon over Michael J. and the soulmate search by Mark S. but we had the wandering, incomprehensible resignation of Sarah P.

Is it the full moon?

No. More like 3/4 but it is waxing so we are in for more of this.

I really liked Gail Collin's coverage of Sarah's spectacle.

Sarah's Straight Talk.

Mad, mad, mad.

John holds out for the possibility that this is some sort of canny ploy on Palin's part to co-opt the GOoPer hierarchy who won't let her into the tent anymore now that she is off the grid in Alaska and bleeding scandals and more embarrassments.

I doubt it.

It is probably some kind of ploy but not in the kind of world we live in.

I love the Collins piece though. Almost as much as the Stranger pieces cited below.

In the meantime, pass around the popcorn. We are headed for more weird days as Jacko gets a tribute (when and where are they going to bury him?), the Sanfords take a vacation together, and Palin retires to her lake home with Todd and the dysfunctional family all around her.

It should be a freak fest.

Labels: evil bastards, politics, republican whack jobs