Month: May 2010

Mullen wishes Congress had waited on gay ban vote

RobotPirateNinja Uncategorized Leave a comment

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hLqnpRlOC6GXrc4Ff7_6fVDn05NQD9G181MO0
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Adm. Mike Mullen did not directly criticize a House vote on Friday that marked a step toward repealing the ban. But he said it would have been better for lawmakers to wait until the Pentagon completed its review of how to make the repeal work. That study, due in December, is based on a current survey of troops and their families.

“Ideally, I would certainly have preferred that legislation not be brought forward in terms of the change until we are completed with that review,” Mullen said.

The legislation, he noted, gives the Pentagon until year’s end to finish its study and stipulates that he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Barack Obama must certify that the military is prepared to make the change before the repeal takes effect.

There is worry among some in the military and in Congress that the House vote short-circuited the process of consulting with troops and their families.

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Uh, what? Much like a bottom, soldiers are bred to *take* orders, even if it is “stand guard next to the gay dude.”

Between this and Kagan, Obama has sewn up the gay vote for a generation. Arizona has pushed the entire Latino community to the Dems. Obama’s looking at a long time to have a chance to re-integrate the armed forces.

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And how did a generation raises by corporate marketing and war turn out?

RobotPirateNinja Uncategorized Leave a comment

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100528081434.htm
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“Many people see the current group of college students — sometimes called ‘Generation Me’ — as one of the most self-centered, narcissistic, competitive, confident and individualistic in recent history,” said Konrath, who is also affiliated with the University of Rochester Department of Psychiatry.

“It’s not surprising that this growing emphasis on the self is accompanied by a corresponding devaluation of others,” O’Brien said.

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About as well as one would expect.

Ahmadinejad Rebukes Kremlin on Sanctions

RobotPirateNinja Uncategorized 1 Comment

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/world/middleeast/27iran.html?src=mv

This is a pretty good sign that what we (and by “we” I mean the Obama administration) are making progress here. When Bush et al spit in Russia’s eye every chance they got, Russia was dead set against action. Now…not so much. Without Russia’s backing, Iran is being pushed into a very small corner.

The grand chess game continues…

FBI details surge in death threats against lawmakers

RobotPirateNinja government, sad, stupid, terror, Texas, us Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20100525/pl_politico/37726/print;_ylt=Aoof3wZr80p4TN8LPdxvX7PCw5R4;_ylu=X3oDMTBvajZzaTFyBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA–

In February 2009, a man left voice mail messages for Stabenow in several of her Michigan offices.

“We’re gonna [expletive] get you,” he said in one message. “We’re gonna get you with a lot of [expletive] bolt action. Like we did RFK; like we did MLK. We know who you are. We’ll get you.”

FBI agents tracked the calls to a 54-year-old Texas man who lived alone — and who at one time had owned a 20-gun arsenal of handguns, shotguns and rifles. According to the documents, he told officers that he was “really, really drunk” when he made the calls. He said he was just “venting” — taking out his frustrations after hearing a discussion of the Fairness Doctrine and becoming concerned that the government would attempt to abolish the radio shows of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

I call this the “Tea Party” effect. Way to make a mark on the country, folks.

UPDATE:  What’s going to be really interesting (i.e. scary) is when these nuts absolutely fail to resonate with voters at large in November.  There will be much gnashing of teeth and firing up the hoverrounds when it becomes apparent most of the sound and fury of the TP is created by the echo chamber of a small group of radicals (led by Sean, Rush, and Beck) all loudly agreeing with one another.

Rand Paul Replaces Staffers for his mistakes

RobotPirateNinja bullshit, Doh, Elections 2010, government, Poli-Fi, stupid, us Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

http://abcnews.go.com/m/screen?id=10741012

Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul said Tuesday he’s planning a campaign staff shake-up a week after a round of interviews in which he dismayed fellow Republicans by discussing his views on racial segregation.

Campaign manager David Adams, who had been a Republican blogger in Nicholasville before joining up, will remain though perhaps in a different role, Paul said.

The comedy tour continues.

UPDATE:  I find the politics of personal responsibility to be a bit lacking here.  Rand’s will be an interesting race to watch over the summer.  He is running for Jim Bunning’s old seat….

During his reelection bid, controversy erupted when Bunning described Mongiardo as looking “like one of Saddam Hussein‘s sons.”[6] Public pressure compelled him to apologize. Bunning was also criticized for his use of a teleprompter during a televised debate with Mongiardo where Bunning participated via satellite link, refusing to appear in person.[7] Bunning was further criticized for making an unsubstantiated claim that his wife had been attacked by Mongiardo’s supporters,[8] and for calling Mongiardo “limp wristed”.[6] Bunning’s mental health was also questioned during the campaign.[6]

In October, 2004 Bunning told reporters “Let me explain something: I don’t watch the national news, and I don’t read the paper. I haven’t done that for the last six weeks. I watch Fox News to get my information.”[9]

…so…yea…even Ayn Rand Paul would be an *improvement*, if you can believe it.