That is all.

(On edit: I have included a helpful diagram of the hardware architecture operating the 'Terrible Thing' and its resident rabid Brain Hamster.)

Breitbart: This woman is a racist!  See!  I have a heavily doctored video!  She used her position as a fed in the USDA to discriminate against white people!

Wingnut Noise Machine:  ALERT!  ALERT!  UPPITY BLACK PERSON ADMITS TO HATING WHITEY!

The Media:  Ooooh!  Quick, let's panic like a pack of four year olds upon seeing their first really big spider.  She is!  She is!  She weally is a wacist!  Fire her ass.

The Administration:  Aaaaaaaaaah!  Fire her!  Fire her now!  Quickly!  She's toxic and Glenn Beck is gonna do a story on her.  Panic!

Responsible people: Like hell.  Look at the rest of the video.  First of all, this was like 30 years ago; secondly, she was working for a non-profit organization, not the government, and thirdly, Sherrod's anecdote was all about her realizing she had the wrong attitude, that she should stand for ALL poor people, regardless of their color or origin.

The Media:  Er, um…  No way we were snookered that badly.  Must be something wrong with her.

The Administration:  Uh oh.  Activate ostrich mode!

Wingnut Noise Machine:  ALERT!  Those white people she helped — they're fakes!  They don't exist!

Responsible people:  Afraid she's not a racist, and those farmers are totally legit.  Oh, and by the way — her father was murdered by racist bigots during the civil rights era.

The Media and the Administration:  Oh crap.  We gotta make this right.

Breitbart:  No no — it wasn't about HER.  I was pointing out the racism of the entire NAACP.  See, they were hooting and hollering at her anecdote like a bunch of… well, you know.

Wingnut Noise Machine:  ALERT!  NAACP — are they total racists?  Also, did they collude with the Obama Administration to destroy this woman's career?  It would be irresponsible not to speculate…for hours and hours.

Responsible people:  Give Sherrod her damned job back.  Better still, make it a promotion.  And we want to hear some apologies.  After this ridiculous lynching, there better be a POTUS call, too.

The Media and the Administration (scuffing the dirt):  All right…  Sorry.

Sherrod is interviewed.  She's kinda p.o'd at having been railroaded like she was and for no good reason than the perfidy of the bigots and the cowardice of her supposed employers and friends.  She rightly calls Breitbart on his shit, correctly identifies him as a racist and as someone who'd probably like to see African Americans reduced to slavery again.

Wingnut Noise Machine:  ALERT!  Sherrod must apologize abjectly to Breitbart!  She's evil again!  Black woman disrespecting white guy who nearly got away with ruining her career!  Release the hounds!

(* = Turtle may be covered in oil and tar, on fire, and/or toxically poisoned into sterility. BP makes no claims, implied or otherwise, that oily flaming turtles will actually ‘clean your engine as you drive’ or improve your gas mileage.  In any case, turtle bits have a high probability of clogging fuel lines and voiding engine warranties, but don’t let that stop you. Damage to karma is incidental, intangible and cannot be proven in a court of law.  BP is a proud sponsor of NASCAR, global warming, and the next season of American Idol.  Please pray for the turtles and stay the hell away from Gulf coast public beaches.  Or else.

Thank you, and remember: “BP loves the Earth…like a wife-beating psychopath. Now don’t you go makin’ BP mad!“)

Courtesy Attaturk on Firedoglake:

As the oil gusher that began in early Spring continues to spew into the start of Summer I suppose I could come up with something creative and novel. But instead I’ll just note yet another lie from BP.

• A BP estimate made after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon noted that as much as 100,000 barrels per day could leak into the ocean if the blowout preventer and wellhead were removed, a higher worst-case scenario than previously reported.

Which leads to the question of what were they lying about before?  (more at the link)

via Another lie another dollar | Firedoglake.

Remember when, at the very beginning, they tried to claim the leak was only 1000 barrels a day?  Then 5000.  Then ten.  Then 20-30k.  Then 40k.  Then 60k (at which point BP’s CEO Tony Haworth skedaddled off to his yacht races).  The illustration with the FDL post by Sandy Sanders seems exceedingly appropriate.

]]> http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind/?feed=rss2&p=1505 0 http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind/?p=1487 http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind/?p=1487#comments Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:33:39 +0000 Becca http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind/?p=1487 Continue reading →]]>

BP CEO Tony Hayward has faced fresh criticism for taking time off to go sailing with his son instead of dealing with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The White House said the move was one of a “long line of PR gaffes and mistakes” by Mr Hayward.

Environmental groups said the Isle of Wight outing was “insulting” to those affected by the environmental disaster

via BBC News – BP CEO Tony Hayward criticised for yacht trip.

Actually the word I would have used to describe this arrogant boorishness would be, “Unsurprising.”

I’m also pretty sure lots of people all over the web are busy Photoshopping Hayward’s face onto pictures of Thurston Howell the Third.

For the blog, I already have a much better template I’ve been using for another purpose… just have to figure out if I can transfer the database and do the WordPress upgrade at the same time.  (Probably can, just may be tricky.  I’m halfway considering tossing the blog archives and starting over fresh.)

As for the website… gawd, I can’t believe I left that Frontpage-based thing up for so long.  For that, I’m going to go to a Java/ActionScript/XML template derived site that should look really slick once I get it put together.  It’s not only gorgeous, it should also be far easier to maintain and modify.

(I know – the iPad doesn’t support Java, which means my website won’t work on their browsers.  This is my own personal frack you to the Apple/Jobs behemoth.  No one company should have the power to declare another company’s product and a worldwide industry standard to be obsolete.)

Anyway, in the meantime, there may be outages and disappearances as I get things moved and fixed up.  Likely the blog will be operational first, then the website.

Loved it!

If you’re a Darkover fan, it ties up many of the loose threads near the end of the Second Age (The Heritage of Hastur, Sharra’s Exile).  Even if you’re not familiar with Darkover or even into fantasy/SF genre novels, Hastur Lord is still a thought-provoking and provocative take on themes of paternalistic morality, religious intolerance, and evolving social mores.  Highly recommended.

FDL Action » White House ‘Official’ Bad Mouths Labor Leader For Expecting Obama To Keep His Promises
Looking back at Obama’s campaign health care plan, it is shocking how many promises he broke without a fight. Obama promised:

* A new national health exchange open to all Americans
* A new public plan available to all Americans to compete with private insurance
* An employer mandate to provide health insurance
* A minimum medical loss ratio for insurance companies
* To allow people to import cheaper drugs from Canada or Europe
* To repeal the ban that prevents the government from directly negotiating with drug companies

Note none of these promise are part of the Senate Finance Committee bill. Obama has made no effort to fight for the inclusion of some of these (public option, employer mandate, minimum medical loss ratio) and months ago even made secret deals vowing to actively work to kill drug re-importation and direct drug price negotiation.

During the election Obama actively campaigned against two policies. One was the individual mandate favored by Hillary Clinton (and the health insurance industry) and the other was a tax on employer-provided health insurance which was also supported by John McCain. These two issues are now part of the Baucus bill. Since taking office, Obama has spent dramatically more time and political capital fighting hard to include these two provisions that he opposed than he has spent trying to include top progressive/labor union priorities that he supported, like the public option.

(emphasis mine)  Hey, nobody likes being lied to.

Anthrax detector can spot H1N1 virus | KRQE News 13 New Mexico
A device developed during post-9/11 anthrax scares can quickly and simply detect the H1N1 swine flu virus, according to University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories scientists.

In recent years, UNM scientists have modified the device to instantaneously test for other viruses such as HIV and hepatitis A and B.

This is just one of the many reasons why we need to spend more on science and research.

Membership in the bar is a privilege burdened with conditions. [A lawyer is] received into that ancient fellowship for something more than private gain. He [becomes] an officer of the court, and, like the court itself, an instrument or agency to advance the ends of justice

(h/t stef on Daily Kos)

It’s a pretty long post, but well worth the read.  Judge Land’s order is a judicial smack-down of the finest kind.  He methodically, with ample references to established law and legal precedent, exposes to the entire world the embarrassment that is Orly Taitz trying to pretend she knows how to practice law like a big girl.

This is gonna get very expensive for her, and I predict an expedited disbarment from the California Bar Association.  I’m still holding 4:1 odds she’ll lose her license by the end of the year, or 1st quarter next year at the latest.