Forget Christie in 2016

For the Wingnuts are never going to let Secaucus Fats live this down:

Interviewed Tuesday on NBC, [New Jersey Governor Chris] Christie described Obama's response as "outstanding," and he told CNN that the president had been "incredibly supportive and helpful to our state."

"This is much more important than any election," Christie told CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight."

Obama has "been outstanding to deal with on this and I look forward to seeing him tomorrow so he can see for himself what this hurricane has done to my state," Christie said Tuesday night.

And this:

"I spoke to the president three times yesterday," Christie said on CNN's "Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien." "He has been incredibly supportive and helpful to our state and not once did he bring up the election. If he's not bringing it up, you can be sure that people in New Jersey are not worried about that primarily if one of the guys running isn't."

Christie is focused on what is best for his state right now. But you know that the GOP's Taliban will never forget that Christie wasn't doing everything he could in order to make Obama look bad and score some cheap political points for Myth Romney.

Could Mitt Romney Be Any More Despicable; Superstorm Sandy Edition

Hard to imagine that Mittens could be any more of a sleazeball, but he keeps digging deeper and deeper.

Like holding a canned goods drive that hinders the Red Cross's disaster relief efforts.

Here's a thought: "Despicable Mitt" might be the next Pixar movie.

Sharia Law

You can find no shortage of politicians and pundits in this country who get oh, so upset at the concept of Sharia law.

But then, a lot of those very same politicians* and pundits will start blathering on about how the Ten Commandments is superior to the Constitution and we should run this country by the will of the Almighty, as set down in the Bible (modified, of course, so that bacon is still on the menu). They are completely blind to the point that they are, in essence, advocating for Christian Sharia law. They all love them some "G-d's Law", they just differ with the Islamicists on which book is the applicable one.

Or they are not. Huckabee is smart enough to know that is exactly what he is doing, pandering to the know-nothings for whom critical thinking and book larnin' are just too hard.

I'm not so sure about the other guys. They probably are not that self-aware.
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* Mike Huckabee comes to mind. So does Legitimate Rape Guy, Rape-babies Guy and that Ten Commmanderments judge in Alabama.

Myth Romney-- Poppa Pander Bear?

Apparently Mittens has his surrogates going to moderate groups and saying, in effect: "Pay no attention to what Mitt told the Wingnuts about overturning Rove v. Wade. He has no intention of trying to do that."

So which is it, Mittens? Are you the ardent pro-lifer that you spent months reassuring your base that you said that you were, or are you going to stab them in the back in order to pander for votes from those who are pro-choice?*

Why should anyone believe a word that he says? Hell, even Romney doesn't believe what he says. He can't keep track of his lies anymore.

Romney is betting the farm that the American voters are a bunch of ignoramuses who can't remember what Romney said last week, let alone during the primary season.
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* Yes I know that the Borowitz Report is supposed to be humor.  In this case, it is no less true.

Drone Safety

There is Yet Again Another Test on how unmanned aircraft can be safely integrated into the national airspace.

I have a simnple way to bring that about: If the drone crashes, the drone's pilot dies, just as though they had been flying a real airplane. A designated team just drags the drone pilot out back and caps him (or her). No investigation, no board of inquiry, a simple "if A, then B" process, where "A" = "crash" and "B" = "summary execution".

To my mind, any plan for integrating drones into the national airspace that does not cause the drones' drivers to have the same skin in the game as the rest of us is deficient. And if the drone drivers don't like that they would now share the same risk of dying as the rest of us, then they can go find another line of work.

Stop Pretending You Care About Other People and Vote for Romney

So sayeth Joss Whedon:



Tip: Watch to the very end.

This one will probably fry a few circuits amongst the Libertarian/Wingnut fans of Serenity and Firefly.

Sandy

If you are in the path of the storm, good luck to you.

If you are in a low-lying coastal area (NY, NJ, DE, CR, RI, MA) and you haven't bugged out, then you may be a few bricks short of a full hod. Not only is Hurricane Sandy blowing up a storm surge, but there is a full moon today, which means that high tides would normally be higher before the storm surge is added on. Some clowns are staying behind to "experience the storm"-- well, it's their funeral. And this time around, that's not just a colloquialism. Going up against a hurricane is like bringing a plate of pasta to an artillery bombardment.

The replica of the HMS Bounty is likely going to be lost.

A lot of the shelters that have been set up to evacuate people have finally broken the code: People won't abandon their pets. So they've set up pens and crates for the animals to stay in (and where their owners/staff can visit them).

(Oh, and if you're a Tigers fan, it sucks to be you.)

UPDATE: The ship sank, two crewmen are missing.

Argo

Argo does not suck.

Sure there are a few things that were probably added to increase dramatic tension. Some facts were consolidated to make the story fit into a two-hour movie. But overall, it was an adult-grade movie with adult-level themes.

And by "adult", I don't mean porno. It is a spy thriller with one half-assed chase scene (that is only a minute or two long), no superhuman spies and no gunfights. For it really did happen.

 

(Credit)

Using Frank W. James's metric, I give it a five out of six.

Caturday; All's Right With the World Edition

Jake was snoozing this morning on his heated cat bed.

Do the World a Favor and Don't Eat at Arby's

Because Arby's has one of those stupid corporate safety policies that translate into "if something bad happens, it's your fault and if you survive, we'll fire you."

FAIRBORN [OH] — An assistant manager at an Arby’s, who slipped out of a drive-thru window to get away from an armed robber who invaded the store early Friday, has been fired.

They fired her because having another woman in the store with her would have been a magic talisman against getting robbed. Of course, if that night manager had a handgun and had popped the goblin a few times, you just know that Arby's would have fired her for that.

See, Arby's knows that they can always find someone else to work for shitty-ass pay, but defending against a lawsuit-- that's real money to them.

(H/T)