Politeral

Talk:Ted Mosby Wikipedia article edited anonymously from US Senate http://t.co/N9VutTJdZ4

— congress-edits (@congressedits) August 5, 2014

If you haven’t heard, there is this amazing little bot that automatically tweets any Wikipedia edits made anonymously from Capitol Hill. It’s called @Congressedits, and you’re missing out if you’re not following it.

While Wikipedia has been busy banning anonymous entries coming from congressional IP numbers, a doozy appears to have slipped through. On the page for Navi Pillay, the United Nation’s High Commissioner on Human Rights, a 33-word revision was made saying that the commissioner had received:

"criticism for referring (sic) to Edward Snowden, the American traitor who defected to Russia, as a 'Human Rights Defender' and saying that he should not face trial for his crimes." 

Pillay had made waves earlier last month, when she said Snowden “should be seen as a human rights defender”. Arstechnica also wrote an article regarding an edit made to website Mediaite’s Wikipedia entry after running a @congressedits story:

Mediaite's Wikipedia entry was changed by someone in the House, calling the site a "sexist transphobic news and opinion blog" that "automatically assumes that someone is male without any evidence." (That change was cited by the Wikipedia admin who imposed the ban.

That’s what these people are doing with their time. If it’s not an endless circle jerk of bickering or sitting on potential bills, your congress is taking time out of their busy, busy, day to edit Wikipedia. Anonymously. They even edited the Choco Taco page.

And they say the illegal immigrants are the only ones that run, what, with their cantaloupe-sized calves and all.

Rand Paul, who was appearing at a fundraiser for Iowa Republican Steve King, showed us his track skills when a young woman approached his table asking questions of Mr. King. You need only Google “Rand Paul immigration” to see his stance. When a DREAMer comes to your table,asking hard-hitting questions about your stance and accusations of them, what do you do?

Run away. Quickly.

When attendee Erika Andiola informs King she is a DREAMer, Rand appears to choke on his sandwich before fleeing the table. It’s interesting to me that these Republicans are so outspoken with their tirades and photo-ops, complete with machine guns and kevlar vests, but when faced by the actual people they’re affecting, they run for the hills. 

Bob Cesca, Managing Editor of The Daily Banter may have just become my best friend. 

His op ed piece regarding Rick Perry and Sean Hannity being the true problem with America right now is so on point it’s frightening. To give everyone a little bit of context, I’m going to post a tweet made by Hannity in June of this year. 

With Gov Perry pic.twitter.com/oLaxlpwgp8

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity)

July 10, 2014

This picture, to me, is a sickening display of what America has become. Cesca, a middle-aged white man, is sickened as well. The reason? Just look at the photo: two white, middle-aged men wearing kevlar vests, sunglasses, and resting on a machine gun. What for? Well, to mow down all those “dangerous” immigrants of course. You know, the Central American children crossing the border. My favorite line in the article by far:

too many guys in the Perry/Hannity demographic (far-right, conservative, middle-aged, white, male) fancy themselves to be militias of one, stockpiling weapons from Dick's Sporting Goods and posting falsely-attributed Thomas Jefferson quotes on Twitter.

What you have here, is two very wealthy men out of touch with reality. They’re not affected by the border crisis on a personal level, and have, essentially, personified America’s attitude recently. We want all the illegals out, we want our guns in Chipotle, and we want our Jesus white with blue eyes. Anything else is unpatriotic. 

The sad truth is that we are doing nothing about it. Either you’re conservative and you think this is as American as apple pie, or you are against them, yet do and say nothing to sway them. You do nothing to punish them for this display of faux-masculinity. If you saw my earlier post where Russell Brand shut down Fox News’ Sean Hannity, you’d see just how out of touch Hannity really is. It proves just how out of touch we all are. I’d like to provide an example.

This past weekend I was with friends, and the topic of politics arose. Immediately, two people at the table explained that “They don’t care about politics, mainly because it’s run by rich guys and there’s no punishment for them. They do what they want and nobody can change it so why vote at all?” This is the problem right now.

The fact is you’re correct; alone, your vote does little. But, as a group, your vote is wholly important in the democratic process. For instance, the 2000 election margin of victory was said to be under 500 votes; out of six million cast. So the next time someone tells you that your vote doesn’t matter, show them this photo. This photo of two rich, white, middle-aged, out of touch men, wearing bulletproof vests on a boat near the border, leaning against a giant machine gun. I want you to think about the fact that this is how the rest of the world sees us. 

If you haven’t heard, the Ebola virus has resurfaced and the resulting outbreak in West Africa has become one of the deadliest in history. So far, the toll is more than 500 dead, hundreds more infected, killing 79% of those infected in previous outbreaks.

seventy-nine percent. That’s a lot folks. 

It’s 2014 though, and you’re certain there must be medical intervention that lessens the threat right? You’re 100% correct; there is. Why then are so many people in Africa dying from this? 

There’s not enough money in it for the pharmaceutical companies.

Vox touched on the issue that is primed to become a major one in the coming weeks. There is little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs to combat the virus because it only surfaces every so often, and even then, it surfaces in poor areas. Vox interviewed Daniel Bausch, a Tulane professor specializing in Ebola and diseases like it. He shed some light on the issue at hand:

“Part of that is economics. These outbreaks affect the poorest communities on the planet. Although they do create incredible upheaval, they are relatively rare events. So if you look at the interest of pharmaceutical companies, there is not huge enthusiasm to take an Ebola drug through phase one, two, and three of a trial and make an Ebola vaccine that maybe a few tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people will use.”

On paper it may not make sense. 500 people is not a huge number, all considering, and it is often not very widespread. Except for now it’s American doctors treating the disease that have contracted it, being brought to Atlanta where the CDC can hopefully treat them. The issue with something overseas is that there are airplanes that make the world a lot smaller, and Ebola is now close to home. I’d urge the pharmaceutical company to begin development, but until there is enough money in it for them, it’s just not foreseeable.

(photo source: www.kremlin.ru)

What do you tell a country that has remained your largest ally amidst global scrutiny and given you half a billion dollars just in the past month or so alone? Well, If you’re Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, you advise the U.S. “not to ever second guess me again”

“not to ever second guess me again”

You’re f*cking kidding right? As an American citizen, I can confidently tell you we will second guess every thing you do until this feces-laden hurricane of death blows over. Huffington Post brought us this latest gem from PM Netanyahu in wake of a proposed 72-hour cease-fire that ended only two hours after it began. Listen, I’m going to delve into this thing being as un-biased as I can. Although, I would like to bring up a few head scratchers that have gotten my attention over the past day or so.

Did Hamas really, truly, agree that they would cease the violence, while still allowing Israel to destroy their tunnel system? I know what the media is reporting, but I have a hard time believing this term was clearly laid out.

The alleged capture of a young IDF Lieutenant by Hamas forces has been labeled a “kidnapping” by various media outlets. Can there be kidnapping in a war? Would it not be a captured POW, regardless of a cease-fire? These sides have been fighting for years, I doubt gentlemanly gestures are to be expected.

Normally I’m not one prone to describing an important issue in short-order, but this post describes some of the myths regarding this recent military conflict. Even if you disagree with it, it’s worth a read to open up your mind and get people discussing this a little more. 

Another quote from the Huff Post article invoked aggravation:

Netanyahu added that he now "expected" the U.S. and other countries to fully support Israel's offensive in Gaza, according to those familiar with the call.

Wow Netty, really? So you now expect us to blindly support your offensive? 

The arrogance is strong with this one.

How about this: we stay out of what you’re doing altogether, focus our money on domestic issues, and you can continue bombing children terrorists on your own dime? Sound good?

(photo source: Gage Skidmore)

Michele Bachmann is just lobbing softballs at this point. She is the political equivalent of Kanye West, putting her foot so far in her mouth I think she believes it’s where it belongs.

Not that I’m disagreeing with her.

On Thursday, UPI reported that Bachmann believed Obama had a dastardly plan for the migrant children fleeing Central America: medical experimentation.

Yes, that’s right. She thinks President Obama wants the immigrant children in order to conduct medical experiments on them. Let’s have a look at a few of her colorful quotes:

"We have 400,000 foster children in this country, and now President Obama is trying to bring all of those foreign nationals, the illegal aliens, to the country and he has said that he will put them in the foster care system. Well, I will tell you from personal experience, we don't have enough foster parents now in the country for the kids in America. We certainly don't have enough foster parents for all of the illegal aliens that the president is trying to bring in right now."

Ok, I see your concern. Foster homes are already overwhelmed. Go on…

"That's more kids that you can see how -- we can't imagine doing this, but if you have a hospital and they are going to get millions of dollars in government grants if they can conduct medical research on somebody, and a ward of the state can't say 'no,'" she said. "A little kid can't say 'no' if they're a ward of the state. So here you could have this institution getting millions of dollars from our government to do medical experimentation and a kid can't even say 'no.' It's sick."

Da fuh?

Seriously though, what? So, because these children are not legal adults, the hospital system is going to conduct medical research on them? I’ve heard my share of slippery slope fallacies, but you good Madam have surprised even me. I'd expound upon this, but is there anything I can really say that you're not already thinking? Molly, please help to explain our feelings at the moment?

Guys, it’s OK. Everything is going to be all right. The Russian space agency has re-established contact with their sex lizards.

If you were watching John Oliver last week, you may have been witness to a potential disaster in the making: the lost contact of a Photon-M4 satellite by the Russians. This wasn’t just any Photon-M4 satellite though… this was a special satellite. 

This was a sexual satellite.

Because the Russians are focusing on the real problems facing us today, they sent a gaggle of geckos into space to see how they knocked boots in anti-gravity. Then the satellite went rogue and the Russians lost contact. 

Before Bruce Willis could assemble a crack rescue team, the satellite established connection with the f*ck lizards and all was right in the world. We are now left to wonder what caused the disconnect in the first place.

(photo source: Gage Skidmore)

The GOP and climate change have a very Hollywood relationship. Sometimes they’re on, and other times they’re bashing each other on Facebook. Think Progress brought us news on Wednesday of Paul Ryan (think of him as an Old Testament Ryan Gosling) discussing climate change.

And it’s really, really, good stuff.

While speaking at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington, Ryan explained how the federal government and all its regulatory schemes couldn’t do anything about climate change. He further explained that climate regulations end up making the U.S. economy less competitive. He goes on to explain how this is all an excuse by President Obama to raise taxes. You're right Paul! Along with other foolish things like Social Security, Disability, and a VA Benefits package you thoughtfully ignored before taking your well-deserved vacation.

I’d like to highlight a quote from Reddit user gth829c 

So according to skeptics, climate change is simultaneously happening, not happening, a lie, permanent, not man-made, and too late to fix the damage done. K.

This perfectly describes it folks. If a political party could be any more bipolar it would be trying to rationally explain why it doesn’t need its medication. Guys, get your story straight. Please? It’s not that I don’t understand you backtracking; denying climate change is ludicrous. I’m just asking if the fine folks over at the GOP stop changing stances like they’re teenagers trying to “find themselves”

(photo source: Causes.com)

A story I’d like to touch on concerns women’s rights, which I have been writing about lately. Janay Palmer, now Janay Rice, was assaulted at a casino in February by her NFL fiancee-turned-husband Ray Rice. Janay didn’t solve a disease or promote women’s suffrage, but she has begun to represent a very real issue in today’s society.

Domestic Violence.

On February 15th, 2014, Rice and Palmer were at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. While the security footage has not been released in its entirety, what we do see is Rice dragging his fiancee unconscious out of an elevator. A subsequent media circus ensued, as they tend to do, and a few things have happened that highlight the need for change. Most importantly, how domestic violence is punished within sports organizations. Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, suspended Riced two games and a total of $529,000. A drop in the bucket for a league star like Ray Rice. 

This is wrong.

As if the NFL already doesn’t have enough PR issues, this ruling completely undermines the kind of violence portrayed by one of its ambassadors. Goodell did say, however, the hearing he had with Rice allowed him to view the security footage in greater length to see more of the event, and a recent apology by Janay Rice does question her role in the ordeal as some indicate she may have struck Rice first.

This is what we know:

There was a physical altercation

Video footage shows Rice dragging Palmer out of a casino elevator

Both parties were charged, although the charge on Palmer was subsequently dropped

If there is one positive thing to come of this, and it can hardly be called positive given the circumstances, is that it has begun a national dialogue. ESPN, The View, and most national news stations have covered the story, and the outrage is refreshing. People are appalled.

That is good. We need to be appalled. Mostly at Rice, then at the NFL, finally, if the reports are accurate, Ms. Palmer as well.

I’m not victim-blaming. I really want you to understand that is not my intention. On The View recently, Whoopi Goldberg discussed the situation and issued a plea to all women: Don’t hit someone, anyone, and expect not to get hit back. Many are going to disagree with her and myself on the legitimacy of her argument. Many will say that men are stronger than women, bigger than women, and must be aware of their anger more so than a woman. What I’m saying is that this mind frame can only hurt women’s rights.

I know. Let me explain.

Let’s say the reports are true and Janay hit Ray first, and he retaliated; clearly he retaliated much too aggressively as she was knocked unconscious. But Let’s say she did hit first. Why is he not in his right to answer her blow with one of his own? On The View, Jenny McCarthy said that a man should only react with violence when he feels his “life is in jeopardy”. I’m not even going to delve into the absurdity that is Jenny McCarthy, but I disagree with her comment. Firstly, I believe someone can act with violence when their health is in jeopardy. If someone is beating you up, please, defend yourself if you can. Secondly, I believe that the “man” should be taken out of the equation entirely and replaced with “anyone”. Forget this bullshit about men and women. Let me make it clear.

NOBODY SHOULD HIT ANYBODY FOR ANY REASON.

Violence solves nothing. In self defense terms, I understand using violence to protect health and life, but in an argument neither a man nor a woman should ever engage in violent activity. When women begin to say a woman can hit a man and not vice versa because of strength, you undermine your equality and all we are working towards. Should he have knocked her out? Of effin’ course not. It’s inexcusable, and the NFL should be ashamed of their so-called “punishment”. What I am saying is that the culture of a woman being fragile and a man being tough is sexist and needs to be erased. 

I’m not saying Mrs. Rice “had it coming”, or that she even struck Mr. Rice first; we don’t know. All I know is, the media is beginning to draw a line in the sand with men on one side and women on the other, and it needs to be stopped. It doesn't work in politics and it shouldn't work with society. Hateful people such as Rush Limbaugh and Jenny McCarthy have no place in a debate as important as this and need to be deafened. 

I challenge you all to have this conversation with a friend or loved one. The worst thing to happen to an injustice is silence. We need to join our efforts and right the wrongs, regardless of which sex is committing it.

If you, or anyone you know suffers from domestic violence please, please, let someone know. It could mean life or death for someone.

Links: 

The View video segment

Rush Limbaugh’s response

TMZ video of altercation

(photo source: Aero Icarus via Flickr)

It goes without saying that Malaysia Airlines has had its fair share of problems this year, but it is worth noting that neither tragedy could be attributed to the airline itself. One plane, which is still missing, is thought to have been hijacked, while the other is now believed to have been shot down by Russian separatists.

If you were worried about ticket sales for the Asian Airline company you’re right: Bankruptcy is a possible option. If the company does hope to look forward and succeed in the future, they’ll need brilliant ideas to overcome shitty circumstances. After all, the local restaurant near me, Osama’s Place, didn’t fare well after 9/11 and they had amazing food. So I hear, I’m not big on Middle-Eastern cuisine. 

What does a flailing airline to do when faced with two global tragedies? Well, if you’re Malaysia Airlines commercial director Hugh Dunleavy, the answer is radical:

Change your name.

Yep. A name change will make prospective fliers forget that 588 people died on their planes this year. So far. 

Mr. Dunleavy (via: Mirror) had this to say regarding the process:

"Our majority shareholder, the Malaysian Government, has already started a process of assessing the future shape of our business and that process will now be speeded up as a result of MH17."

Rebranding? How in the world do you rebrand this airline? Well, luckily for the Malaysian Government, I’ve put my copyrighting pen to the pad and came up with a few names:

“Safer than Malaysia Airlines”

“No, not that Malaysia Airlines”

“Happy, fly fly fun plane”

Also in his interview with The Telegraph, he spoke on the airline’s culpability in wake of the recent tragedies:

Mr Dunleavy went on to say individual airlines could not be expected to make decisions on which volatile regions are secure to fly over.

No, you are 100% expected to make decisions on which volatile regions to fly over. If my taxi decides to take the Gaza Strip Turnpike to Tel-Aviv, you better believe I’m not going to be happy with him, regardless of if he received a warning from Israel.

SaintPetersBlog provides us a quote from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, in which he voiced his opinion on Republican opponent Rick Scott’s past quote regarding climate change. When he was asked in May whether or not he thinks man-made climate change is real or significant, Scott replied:

“I’m not a scientist.”

Uh huh, we know Rick. Our question is why do you and your cronies pretend you know what you’re talking about when you attack it? A boy can dream though, right?

During a Florida State University presentation on greenhouse gases and rising sea levels Crist took a shot at his conservative adversary by telling the crowd:

“I’m not a scientist either, but I can use my brain, and I can talk to one.”

Boom goes the dynamite Voldemort Rick Scott. Hope you have some anti-bacterial ointment for that sick burn player.

Time will tell if this election will become a war of words but we… who am I kidding, it’s an election, of course it will be vile and full of degenerates. Florida is no different. Actually, Florida pretty much invented it. Come November, voters all over the country will have a difficult, difficult, choice to make.