Here we are.

Hump Day. Again.

While presently I enjoy leisurely days, I know that my fellow morons are slaving away. Work is hard, that's why they pay us to show up. If it were fun we'd call it a hobby and show up for free.

Whether blue collar or white, men and women struggle through the work-week to make a living for what really matters: Family, Home, and Security. Things are tough and for those lucky to have a job, a free day here and there, with a few extra dollars in your pocket, it's just gravy now.

So, for all you hard-working morons and moronettes, here's to you. Thanks for keeping it running. And for those of you who are out of work and struggling to get by, hang in there. Better times will come. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:50 PM | Comments (145)
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. . . to the average person when they first undertake to practice it; it certainly was for me. Fortunately, I developed an interest in it in an era where the process of learning it is relatively cost-free compared to the days when you had to actually buy film and pay to have it processed before finding out that you really suck at it. Had I started in the age of Kodachrome, I have absolutely no doubt that I would have taken up something far less expensive as a hobby, like yacht racing or polo.

But, thanks to the advent of digital photography, if you stick your finger in front of the lens or cut off a person's head in a shot you may never have a chance to take again, you can see the results instantly, make the necessary adjustments right there on the spot and call do-over. Long gone are the days when photography was limited to a few people with endless patience, perseverance, talent and money. Virtually anyone can now afford to experiment, fail and experiment again now that "film" is essentially free and disposable.

There is a downside to the near-complete democratization of photography, of course. It's called Instagram -- the web app all the kids are crazy about these days that allows you to upload and manipulate photos of teenagers making duck-faces, adding a warm sepia tone to give them some real, retro-artistic pizzazz.

Still, the fact that photography is vastly more accessible now than it's ever been is a thing to be embraced for the simple fact that it removes a financial barrier that would otherwise discourage talented people from taking it up as a pursuit. That's not to say that photography has become cheap, by any means. Once taken up, it can become an all-consuming obsession -- the newest DSLR body, that must-have lens, lighting rigs, flashes, a good tripod, etc. When you take up photography and plunk down several hundred dollars for a camera body and two-lens kit, you'll soon discover that even though it's useful for just about any kind of photography you might need it for, it's never enough. more...

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 03:03 PM | Comments (392)
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[Update Ben: We're aware the comment section is down. We're working on it now. Dave is in the boiler room hitting things with a wrench as we speak. This should be solved in no time.] Fixt. Thanks, Pixy.

Why dogs are man's best friend (I didn't choose the music)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:56 PM | Comments (444)
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The Freshette

When it burns, there's going to be ummm...certain disruptions that 'rons are more naturally equipped to deal with. Since this will be an equal opportunity burning, 'ettes will want some high-tech tools to equalize access.

Let's face it, nobody wants the have to squat or hover with their britches down in a ummm... "fluid" situation where you might need to bolt quick.

The Freshette product line lets women have all the mobility advantages men do while doing a number 1.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:02 PM | Comments (285)
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Democrats were for raising the income floor for tax hikes before they were against it.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney issued a statement saying the president remains willing to work with Republicans to reach a bipartisan solution to the fiscal cliff and he is “hopeful” they will.

The president, however, “is not willing to accept a deal that doesn’t ask enough of the very wealthiest in taxes and instead shifts the burden to the middle class and seniors,” Carney said. “The Speaker’s ‘Plan B’ approach doesn’t meet this test because it can’t pass the Senate and therefore will not protect middle class families, and does little to address our fiscal challenges with zero spending cuts.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was also swift to reject the plan.

“It will not protect middle-class families because it cannot pass both Houses of Congress. The Senate bill is the only ‘plan B’ that can be signed into law and prevent taxes from rising by $2,200 on the average middle-class family,” Reid said in a statement. “Now is the time to show leadership, not kick the can down the road. Speaker Boehner should focus his energy on forging a large-scale deficit reduction agreement. It would be a shame if Republicans abandoned productive negotiations due to pressure from the Tea Party, as they have time and again.”

Not asking "the rich to pay enough"? Obama ran on raising the taxes of "millionaires and billionaires". Suddenly $200K-$999K makes you "a millionaire".

Boehner's plan to only raise taxes on people making a million a year can't pass the Senate? Hey Ripper Reid, it already has.

Oh and the White Houses line of bull about their not being spending cuts (as if they care about that)? More bull. Plan B leaves sequestration in place, so there are your spending cuts.

From a Republican perspective Boehner's Plan B is a pretty strong play. The GOP won't technically be voting to raise taxes (they'll just let current law, the expiration of the Bush rates, take its course) but will be protecting a lot more people from tax hikes.

From a "Let It Burn" perspective, it's a terrible idea. Anything that plays into the myth that all we need is a little tweak in revenue and some relatively minor spending cuts to pull us out of our entitlement and spending death spiral, is simply a band aid that will only make the inevitable reckoning that much worse.

But no one expects Boehner, or any elected leader, to be a Let It Burn guy. They are just trying to kick the can down the road long enough for someone else to be in the hot seat when it all comes down.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:36 AM | Comments (508)
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One of the more irritating things that spews from the mouths of foolish, overpaid and undereducated celebrity chefs and their touts in the MBM is the unchallenged assumption that eating local is in all respects better: for the planet, for our health, for our refractory periods (look it upÂ…and yes, it is sexual), for our foreign policy, and dozens of other feel-good reasons that are suspiciously light on, you know, icky data. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:44 AM | Comments (330)
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This had been widely rumored and Vickers had, at one time, been seen as a potential candidate for CIA director. Now he's a potential candidate for criminal prosecution.

The case involved a determination by investigators of the Pentagon’s inspector general’s office that Vickers provided the makers of the film “Zero Dark Thirty” with the restricted name of a U.S. Special Operations Command officer who helped plan the May 2, 2011, raid on bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan, one official said.

The identities of special forces personnel can be classified in certain circumstances and making them public is against the law, according to experts.

Vickers, a former Army special forces operator and onetime CIA paramilitary officer, is the top intelligence adviser to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and oversees the PentagonÂ’s vast intelligence operations. HeÂ’s been frequently mentioned as a candidate to replace retired Army Gen. David Petraeus as CIA director.

So far DOJ hasn't brought charges. I'm not holding my breath, though.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:08 AM | Comments (201)
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I was introduced to this link by one of the cobloggers I believe. Or it may have been in the headlines or part of an actual post.

Searching the blog's archives really isn't my strong suit though, and I simply wouldn't be doing it right if this weren't a duplicate post.

Written in 2007 by Marko Kloss, aka "The Munchkin Wrangler", (said munchkins apparently being "Iron Man and Cardboard Lass"), this essay distills in a few short paragraphs a very powerful argument against gun-control laws.

An excerpt:

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, thatÂ’s it...

... People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and thatÂ’s the exact opposite of a civilized society.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:00 AM | Comments (377)
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As I noted in the morning post, President Obama and Speaker Boehner seemed a lot closer on a deal yesterday. Apparently Boehner doesn't think they're close enough. As I write this, he's briefing the House Republicans on his intent to go through with a 'Plan B' budget:

Boehner will make the argument to House Republicans that tax rates will go up on everyone come Jan. 1. “The question for us is real simple: How do we stop as many of those rate hikes as possible?” Boehner plans to tell House Republicans.

“For weeks, Senate Republicans — and a growing number of you — have been pushing for us to pivot to a ‘Plan B,’” he will say. “I think there’s a better way. But the White House just can’t seem to bring itself to agree to a “balanced” approach, and time is running short. Taxes are going up on everyone on Jan. 1. They’re baked into current law. And we have to stop whatever tax rate increases we can. In the absence of an alternative, as of this morning, a ‘modified Plan B’ is the plan.”

As I understand it, the plan is to allow the tax rate hikes to go through for those earners making more than $1 million a year. The budget portion of the bill would apparently avert sequestration, but I'm not clear what at what funding level. Updated [11:11AM]: The sequestration cuts would not be addressed in the Plan B bill. It's just to take the tax cuts issue off the table and then walk away if Obama cannot come to a cliff deal.

House Republicans are saying that a vote will be scheduled for later this week.

I have no doubt that the House Republicans will go through with this, if they have to. But Plan B has to be viewed additionally as an attempt to put more pressure on Obama to start advancing some reasonable concessions. The entire fiscal cliff debate has been an exercise in Obama goal shifting thus far. Obama just raised the tax hike proposal to those making $400,000 a year, abandoning his prior stance at $250,000. Now we know he can budge, it's time to push harder.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:27 AM | Comments (229)
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The Senate is rushing through a Sandy relief package, but, as is usually the case with "emergency" bills, they're larding it up with pet projects that aren't related to the Sandy disaster. Senator Kyl is not impressed:

“At $60 billion? In this time when we’re trying to solve the deficit problem? Can I verbalize that stinky look on my face?” Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Friday. “I can’t predict what my colleagues will do. But that’s an awful big bite to swallow when the amount of money that’s set aside for this is about $5 billion and they’re asking for $60 billion.”

The Club for Growth announced yesterday that they would score a vote for the Sandy package negatively in their end-of-year scorecard, which will hopefully make Republican members think twice about supporting it.

Of course, Democrats started moaning that Sandy relief is needed immediately, with no time to debate silly things like $150 million in fisheries disaster recovery in Alaska, Mississippi, and American Samoa; $56.8 million for charting the debris from last year's Japanese tsunami; $41 million for eight military bases including Guantanamo Bay; $100 million for the federal Head Start day care program; $188 million for new Amtrak lines (not repair, whole new lines); and $4 million for the Kennedy Space Center.

So, what's the rush? FEMA still has $5 billion in disaster relief funds that are expected to last until March.

Update: Senate GOP launches #ShadySandySpending. Lotta spending I missed. Check it out. Retweet.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:28 AM | Comments (188)
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