Monkeyfister

Ohhh.. this is going to be a wasp's nests of ugliness for a long while.

via Think Progress

At a press conference moments ago, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, commanding general of the Army's III Corps and Fort Hood, revealed that contrary to initial media reports, the suspected shooter in the Ft. Hood murders is not dead. The suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is reportedly "in stable condition" and his death is "not imminent." The female first responder who shot Hasan is also alive. Cone further reported that, while he's not ruling out terrorism as possible motive for the shootings, the "evidence does not suggest" it was an act of terrorism.

More details at the link.

He served on a Department Of Homeland Security Task Force called, "Thinking Anew—Security Priorities for the Next Administration" :
This Link (online PDF)

He seemed to be "Fast Tracked" for success. What made him go so horribly wrong?

Oooohhhhh..... This is one shiny, shiny Soccer Ball. It's going to eclipse a LOT of other big news, tomorrow. Keep your eyes open for Unemployment numbers, and other big news that will receive less attention than it should.



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Labels: Afghanistan, Iraq, Military Readiness, OMFG, War Costs

This sucks. At least we know, now.

via AFP

Vets in the US state of Iowa said Wednesday that a household cat had tested positive for swine flu -- the first known case in the world of the new pandemic strain spreading to the feline population.

The domestic shorthair, a 13-year-old castrated male, apparently caught A(H1N1) off its owners -- two of the three members of the family had previously contracted the deadly virus.

"This is the first cat that we are aware of with the pandemic H1N1," said Brett Sponseller, an assistant professor of veterinarian microbiology who helped treat the pet at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
...

"This was a big deal and everyone involved understood that," said Sponseller, adding that the owners had since recovered and that the cat had been given extra fluids and antibiotics and was "doing very well."

More at the link.


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Labels: Cats, H1N1 Swine Flu, Pets

No... For real.

No-- really for real.

via Boing Boing

Cory Doctorow says:

The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to "national security" concerns, has leaked. It's bad. It says:

* * That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.

* * That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.

* * That the whole world must adopt US-style "notice-and-takedown" rules that require ISPs to remove any material that is accused -- again, without evidence or trial -- of infringing copyright. This has proved a disaster in the US and other countries, where it provides an easy means of censoring material, just by accusing it of infringing copyright.

* * Mandatory prohibitions on breaking DRM, even if doing so for a lawful purpose (e.g., to make a work available to disabled people; for archival preservation; because you own the copyrighted work that is locked up with DRM)

It is that bad. All it will take to spark the fire that Glenn Beck has been fueling.

Bad Copyright Treaty. BAD!!!


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Labels: Bad Copyright Treaty

The BIG GAME is going to happen on December 12th. If you live in Philadelphia, you're going to get the BIG PICTURE of what I do. When you see the Bus Graphics, Taxi Signs, and Bus Stop Banners... That's me.

On Game Day, Pattison at 11th Avenue is going to be a full-out Navy extravaganza... WAY bigger and better than last year.

EXCITING!

I may end up traveling to Philly for Load-In/Game Day/Load-Out. Perhaps if I do, I can meet-up with some good Philly Bloggers/readers. I'll NEED the relief.

Where's the TEH AWESOME place to get BIG, GIANT Party Trays in Philly?


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Labels: My Life As It Is, US Navy

Words bounced off obstinate stupidity, brainless stupidity, breathtaking, appalling stupidity. Against the blank gaze, words are useless.

From: "Dust Of Dreams;" Book 9 of The Malazan Book Of The Fallen, by Steven Erikson


Words fail against Teabaggers for close to the same reasons.


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Labels: Malazan Book Of The Fallen

Ratigan is saying EXACTLY what needs to be said over, and over, and louder, and louder, and more and more until Tim Geithner is forced out, and Paul Volcker is put in as his replacement.

via HuffPo

A year ago it was revealed to the American people that our banking system was a legalized Ponzi scheme in which bank and insurance CEOs paid themselves billions of dollars in personal compensation to lend and insure assets with money they didn’t have to customers who couldn’t pay back the loans.

In those dark days between the fall of Lehman Brothers and before the presidential election, we were often carried through that time by the small glimmer of hope in that at least we would soon have a new leader who would hopefully fix this mess and punish those responsible.

Yet in the past 9 months, not only has the administration not fixed anything, they have made things much worse for anyone who isn’t a Wall Street banker. Therefore, we are past the point where anyone in power still gets the benefit of the doubt and the process of taking back our country for all citizens must begin now.

This is why I think we must ask if U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is still the right person for the job. It has become clear recently that back in his previous role as New York Federal Reserve Governor, he unnecessarily gave billions of dollars of US tax money to banks and insurance companies with few strings attached. And it is now becoming clear that his lack of meaningful action is helping many of these same banks steal more by legalizing their most economically dangerous, socially destructive and self-enriching practices.

Yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Secretary Geithner again endorsed House bank reform legislation that would allow, by my calculations, as much as 80%, or $475 trillion, of the bank’s $600 trillion in crooked insurance schemes to still be held in secret. It was and is the secret risks held in this very market that led to our collapse in the first place and continue to pose massive future risk to the global economy.

He also continued to employ the bankers’ favorite, and most ludicrous, lie : that the taxpayer must somehow continue to pay executives at companies like AIG ungodly sums of money under the threat that if we don’t, somehow the taxpayer will never make their money back. Well let me tell you something, the taxpayer and our nation, will never get back the lost wealth taken under these false circumstances and this colossal breach of fiduciary duty. The idea that we must somehow perpetuate this system with our tax money and the future wealth of our children goes against the very American ideal of failure, adaptation and innovation, not to mention of our democracy.

Also last week, the Treasury Secretary endorsed a piece of legislation that instead of stopping a select few companies from profiting from the implicit taxpayer-guarantee of Too Big Too Fail seeks to officially condone it. If the most prized skill in our society economically is a competition to see who can lend and insure the most money without consequences, you have doomed our nation’s people to lose everything in the world’s largest ever betting parlor; and that is precisely the system this Treasury Secretary — Tim Geithner — is seeking to legalize in America today.

However, the smoking gun for Secretary Geithner comes from a recent Bloomberg FOIA disclosure regarding events from last November. It was then that New York Federal Reserve Governor Tim Geithner decided to deliver 100 cents on the dollar, in secret no less, to pay off the counter parties to the world’s largest (and still un-investigated) insurance fraud — AIG. This full payoff with taxpayer dollars was carried out by Geithner after AIG’s bank customers, such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale, had already previously agreed to taking as little as 40 cents on the dollar. Even after the GM autoworkers, bondholders and vendors all received a government-enforced haircut on their contracts, he still had the audacity to claim the “sanctity of contracts” in the dealings with these companies like AIG.

None of us were in the rooms when these decisions were made, so I don’t pretend to know if Mr. Geithner was the one lone, sane voice of reason fighting against mysterious forces or the primary proponent. However, I fail to see the reasoning for why we continue to rely on those who were in the room when these horrendous decisions took place to be the same people that we choose to deal with their aftermath. There are just certain situations that are not suited for continuity. The best analogy I can think of is that it would be like asking Al Cowlings to spearhead the Nicole Brown Simpson murder investigation under the premise that he knows the layout and the “players” best.

The fact is that there are people who understand all of the intricacies of finance and policy as well as Secretary Geithner, but whose allegiances to the taxpayer are much clearer. People like Elizabeth Warren, Neil Barofsky, Rob Johnson, and Senator Maria Cantwell just to name a few.

To stop the theft from continuing, it requires that the most basic rules of capitalism be applied to our banks and that our future national wealth be safeguarded by the US Government. The current custodian of America’s wealth, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, is not doing a good job of either. The time for corrective action is now.

More at the link.


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Labels: Tim Fucking Geithner

Perfectly within the margin of error.



via The Big Picture

Confidence! New Budget approved! FDIC is FLUSH, again!

No, no. Just kidding. That really IS a serious trendline. Those Alt-A Option ARMs are just getting to that peak hump we talked about a few months ago. Commercial Real Estate is falling with an anchor and a piano around it's throat. There are very real pitfalls written into the next few 3-8 months.

Financial Times

Carl Icahn is a busy man. On the same day he agreed a restructuring plan with constantly-on-the-verge-of-bankruptcy CIT, he told Bloomberg’s Tom Keene he quite concurred with Wilbur Ross’ earlier assessment of the outlook for commercial real estate in the US, and that he was puzzled by the current valuations of real estate investment trusts.

Ross’ assessment, for the record, was overwhelmingly bearish: he expects a “huge” crash in the market.

As Bloomberg reported:

“All of the components of real estate value are going in the wrong direction simultaneously,” said Ross, one of nine money managers participating in a government program to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets. “Occupancy rates are going down. Rent rates are going down and the capitalization rate — the return that investors are demanding to buy a property — are going up.”

…Ross, the 71-year-old chairman and chief executive officer of WL Ross & Co. LLC, said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio that he would use “extreme caution” before putting money into commercial real estate, especially office space, because properties are losing tenants.

You can also tune in to the audio clip.

This is a long-haul crisis, folks, and we're not yet to the hump. The next leg down is going to be brutal.

Monday Trading is going to be an ugly mess.



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Labels: Bank Failures, Collapse, Commercial Real Estate, Epic Fail

So, I bought the Battlestar Galactica spin-off DVDs-- "Caprica" pilot, and "The Plot," which purported to be the background Cylon PLAN for the destruction of the Human race. They arrived in the mail yesterday. I watched them today. Both simply fail miserably by way of wretched, horrible, ass-sucking, typical cable/network mediocrity.

I expected better. WAY better.

I was REALLY hoping that "The Plan" was going to be an edge-of-the-seat BSG-style THRILLER, chock full of awesome insights, and new revelations.

You mean to tell me that the GREAT CYLON CENTRAL BRAIN decided to go with (Cylon #1) Cavil's not quite fully though-out Plan? You've got to be kidding me. THAT was the whole plan? One would expect a higher plan, with higher organization, with the elimination of possible 'free radicals' early in the exposition of such a plan. If this was the plan, it is no wonder that the Humans survived, and as a result, "The Plan," as a movie, simply sucked... I kept falling asleep. If it was really supposed to be a story of how the crafty minds of Adama and his select crew managed to outwit the Machines, but it wasn't that at all. It didn't even effectively show how flaws of PROGRAMMING failed "The Plan." It barely demonstrates the futile Human idiom that "Love Conquers All," that I THINK "the Plan" was supposed to show. It simply SUCKS. Paychecks for the entire parting crew! Thanks for coming back! Looking forward to the Galactica Reunion Holiday Show! GACK!

Now, I thought "Caprica" was going to be "different," because they had years to plan it, and not the worst possible bastard child of a "Dynasty," "The Sopranos" and "every crappy 'Legal Team' prime-time soap opera" three-way. Needless to say, I was wrong. I paid the money for both movies. They are in my garbage bin right now.

With "Caprica," the whole idea of setting the show so far BEFORE the creation of the Cylons makes it not-special, and eliminates the existential threat from "the Other." If it began in the months before Cylon War #1, there would be some GRAVITAS behind the decisions of these Uber-Rich Lawyers, Power Brokers and Mafia elite.

Seeing the Cylon servants responding to their human masters behind their backs would be MENACING, and REALLY push viewership. Perhaps they figured out how to communicate via an inter-Cylon intraweb, perhaps they are free to gather in their "off-time," and we could get glimpses of how they plotted to kill their Human overlords... and then the explosion of the first Cylon War, which could last another couple seasons. THAT would make for at least four strong seasons of viewing-- build-up, war, resolution. But this "Caprica" bullshit? Nothing. There are at least three other TV shows doing the same thing without spaceships in the establishing shots. They are ALL the fucking same: Blahblah Wealthy Lawyers, Blahblah Mafia, Blahblah Family Dynasty, BLAHBLAHBLAH Political power mongering... Blahblahfuckingblah. I saw it all in the late 80's. SOMETHING NEW PLEASE!!!!

Familial/Tribal power struggles in futureworld... BlahBlahBlah... OH, We're SPECIAL because we discuss the ethics of robotics, this or whatever... who really cares? I saw that in "Bladerunner." In the end, as a result of the useless time-setting, the consequences of their decisions really only effect that family/group. Revenge attacks are BORING!!! SOPRANOS/DYNASTY/DALLAS/LAW AND ORDER of the FUTURE!!!

Better:
If we knew that by the end of Season 1, there would be an enormous Cylon revolt, and come Season 2, these pampered, shitty Humans would be forced out of their wealthy positions and estates, and would be fighting for their lives in the wilds of Caprica and beyond, while they deal with the moral/ethical results of their decisions, there would be something to grab me. This is simply set TOO EARLY for any of that. As a result it is nothing new. Just Elite vs. Mobsters vs. Politician-- same ol' same ol'. DULL. Jumped-the shark before it even began. Spaceships in the establishing shots just doesn't stir me any more. I've seen enough pretty spaceship establishing shots in the sucky Star Wars Prequels, thank you. I am immune to the spectacle of that... I really turned off by the Producers' idea that THAT will be all that it takes to make me tune off of "CSI Wherever #x" to "Caprica." Who the fuck ARE these people, and WHY the fuck do they have well-paid positions hatching this unimaginative crap?

I REALLY do not give a frak about the fates and foibles of wealthy, pampered, elite, corrupted, fictional families, fighting for MORE pampertude, wealth, and eliteness-- no matter when or where the story is set, or how pretty the actors are, or how much skin they show. It is why I unplugged from my cable company back in 2003. It's BORING. BAD Production values-- those spaceship establishing shots are HORRIBLY fake. BAD writing. Just BAD, BAD TV!!! Not worth the time or money investment. Period. SYFY needs to fire the LOT.

After wasting $30 on these two pieces of shit, I guess it's time to close the book on "Galactica," and enjoy the memories of a very fine, if short-lived, series.

"Caprica" won't last two seasons if it survives its first. NBC, or some other, will come out with something like "Dallas 2055," HBO-- "Soparanos 2100," and SYFY will be scrambling for "Caprica" plot-lines worth a shit that don't exist because they fraked up on the time-setting. Nowhere to go? No Cylon uprising? Extinction!

The suckitude of those Production decisions just boggles me as a Production Designer. To write FAIL into a major series debut (long overdue because of the Union Writers' Strike last year) is simply astounding. Obviously, the decisions were made in the ABSENCE of the Union Writers. We'll ALL feel the effects of the Production Assholes' decisions this year. It is becoming direly obvious with the few decent shows that I care to watch.

The whole deterioration of the Galactica franchise really makes me sad. As a Production Designer, I think I can envision at least three possible and viable spin-offs, but this group of disconnected, over-wealthy Producer idiots decided on the ONE that was guaranteed to simply suck (characters to which THEY can relate!). Dudes-- it's only cool to YOUR DISCONNECTED, RICH-ASSED SELVES. You FAILED!

Battlestar Galactica was certainly fun while it lasted. For sure! Sorry that it devolved into this useless, trite, crap.

I'm looking forward to HBO's production of George R. R. Martin's, "A Song Of Ice And Fire" series. The casting is spectacular, and the Production Team is top notch. As it is, I'm just going to bide my time with "Heroes," and "Flash Forward," and hope for better TV in the future... even as they are going the way of Print News Media.

Maybe someone will pick up Stephen Erikson's incredibly excellent, "Malazan Book Of The Fallen" series.

Gosh, I wish TV would stop sucking and failing the American Public on so many levels. I just wish they'd stop sucking. it'd be awesome if today's outstanding exceptions were the baseline norm for programming. I hold no hope for that... ever.


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Labels: Television Shows

David Rees, PLEASE come back to cartooning the angst of American Politics... PLEASE????

I am SURE that hawking Merlot is cathartic to you at this time in your life, but for gawds' sake man-- your cartoon art and prose was cathartic to the rest of us. Your presence is sorely missed.

This is really a poor substitute for "Get Your War On":

Dear David,
- what wine goes with burritos?

Red wine from Mexico. NEXT!

- what wine says “I am classy but not pretentious but not too girly but I know how to party but not too much” to your guests?

Are you kidding? Could the answer be “Merlot” any harder??? MERLOT MERLOT MERLOT. Next!

- can you have guests over just for wine (i.e. no dinner)?

Umm … only if you want everyone to love you and think you’re the greatest genius of all time! Next!

- can you serve red and white wine together (in the same glass)?

Yes, this can be done. It’s called “Sex on the Beach.”

- if one of your guests asks “what kind of wine is this,” what should you say?

You should say, “It’s the wine you’re drinking, and isn’t it lovely?”

- is it true that red wine causes nightmares?

Only if you’ve been raised by a coven of maniacs who convince you it’s literally the blood of a crucified man-god. (KIDDING!)

I hope it shames you into returning to cartooning to know that Barbara Bush would be proud of what you're doing with your Beautiful Mind. Could you at least do Stoopid Wine Blogging in Clip-Art Cartoon form? it's good to know that your soul is healing, but your cartoons really helped thousands of people to keep their grip on sanity in this insane, jumped-the-shark world in which we live.


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Labels: David Rees, Get Your War On

I made the decision to ditch TV back in 2003, and I've not regretted it since. It was an unnecessary expense, and I've used the money (and time) saved in more productive ways. But, sometimes, a good show manages to get produced, and shines. "Battlestar Galactica" and "Heroes" are examples (IMHO) of very-fine production values and talent.

I have a friend who got into "Lost," and for a while, several of us would get together to watch it. But, then I moved, and I lost track of the show, which I enjoyed. So, I downloaded all five seasons recently, and watched them back-to-back, a couple of episodes per night. It really is a hell of a story.

I like the environmental conditioning the producers laid out from the beginning. The sense that linear time is out-of-whack from the minute the show starts to the final credits. The dialogue and decisions made are a bit on the aggravating side, but the plot lines are deep, and heavy enough to stay engaged.

So, after a month of watching the show, thoroughly addicted, I am really looking forward to the final season, which I expected to start some time about now. Alas, ABC is saying it will be late January 2010, to which I say, "WTF???"

So, what's worth viewing until then?


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Labels: Television Shows

Be sure to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed.


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Labels: Time

Tonight will be a fun night for Memphis area radio listeners. You can stream the live show via the internet, by following the link.

via WKNO-FM, 91.9, Memphis

Chatterbox Audio Theater will take to the WKNO airwaves this Halloween evening from for a LIVE two-hour performance.

Tune in to WKNO 91.1 or WKNP 90.1 October 31 from 7:00 to 9:00pm (CST) as Chatterbox's actors, musicians, and sound effects artists perform an anthology of seven stories designed to spark imaginations and chill spines all across the Mid-South.

Last year's show was really good. These stories are not necessarily for kids. I'll admit that several of last year's stories scared the hell out of me. You can hear last year's show at the Chatterbox Audio Theater link.

UPDATE: I thought it was great! Well-done Chatterbox Theater! And WKNO's sound engineers are geniuses.

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Labels: Hallowe'en

It's Hallowe'en Night, and time for a double feature...

"Rocky Horror Picture Show"



"Forbidden Planet"



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Labels: Hallowe'en

In the mood!




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I think we'll get some good mileage out of this one.




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Labels: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Lieberman)

Another busy day for the FDIC...

via FDIC

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with U.S. Bank, NA, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, to assume all of the deposits and essentially all of the assets of nine failed banks. ...

The nine banks involved in today's transaction are: Bank USA, National Association, Phoenix, Arizona; California National Bank, Los Angeles, California; San Diego National Bank, San Diego, California; Pacific National Bank, San Francisco, California; Park National Bank, Chicago, Illinois; Community Bank of Lemont, Lemont, Illinois; North Houston Bank, Houston, Texas; Madisonville State Bank, Madisonville, Texas; and Citizens National Bank, Teague, Texas. As of September 30, 2009, the banks had combined assets of $19.4 billion and deposits of $15.4 billion.

The nine banks had 153 offices...

The FDIC estimates that the cost of the nine banks to the DIF will be a combined $2.5 billion. U.S. Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. The failure of the nine banks brings the nation's total number this year to 115.

Not a good trend.


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Labels: Bank Failure Friday

Machinarium has won several Independent Game Design awards, and is a real treat to play. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have been enjoying it. You can play the first three screens for free online, and download the full game for only $20. It really is a feast for the eyes, and the puzzles are as fun as they are (increasingly) complex.




Thanks, Kevin!


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Labels: Time Waster