3:37 PM yesterday
PCM commented on Insurance Commission Insists That Majority of WA Indv. Insurance Exchange Plans Will Cover Abortion.
@2 (michaelp): In Washington, "the State Legislator" is a euphemism for "Microsoft."
May 21
PCM commented on Senate Democrats Fuck Over Bi-National Gay Couples....
It's not just a reach-around to Republicans -- it's also a big fuck-you from pro-war, pro-torture, pro-police-state Democrats to Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald, who exposes their perfidy unrelentingly and who will remain exiled with his Brazilian partner until marriage equality is fully recognized and implemented in US immigration law.
But I nonetheless accept the Dems' stated rationale as plausible. They can't permit anything to possibly get in the way of bringing in more cheap H1-B workers to drive down high-tech wages and working conditions. And the more, the merrier. After all, here is Washington State we'll be subsidizing resident tuition for any of them and their familiy members who care to pursue the higher public education we can no longer afford.
But I nonetheless accept the Dems' stated rationale as plausible. They can't permit anything to possibly get in the way of bringing in more cheap H1-B workers to drive down high-tech wages and working conditions. And the more, the merrier. After all, here is Washington State we'll be subsidizing resident tuition for any of them and their familiy members who care to pursue the higher public education we can no longer afford.
May 20
PCM commented on The Real Scandal Is That Apple Wasn't Cheating.
So, if I've got Obama's modus operandi right, his nominee for Director of Internal Revenue will be Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer ... right?
May 18
PCM commented on Where Was Bobby Jindal When the Grand Jury Refusers Were in Prison?.
@2 (sgt. doom): Yup, I think I read about the ICIJ-prompted tax-evasion investigation in the Guardian but didn't catch any US news site headlines about it. And if memory serves, even in the Guardian article US participation was only mentioned in passing.
Following up on your day-before/day-after analytical framework, I noticed that Harry Reid started jiggling the filibuster-reform keys in front of Democratic voters -- yet again -- not long after the AP scandal broke, and that Obama hinted that he might support it this time. Mmm-HMM. Sure. Anything you say, Harry and Barry...
Following up on your day-before/day-after analytical framework, I noticed that Harry Reid started jiggling the filibuster-reform keys in front of Democratic voters -- yet again -- not long after the AP scandal broke, and that Obama hinted that he might support it this time. Mmm-HMM. Sure. Anything you say, Harry and Barry...
May 18
PCM commented on This Is What You Get, Liberals: Obama's Surveillance Scandal.
The AP surveillance scandal is just the tip of the iceberg, and it only got establishment media attention because establishment media was the target. Apart from his tepid, belated, carefully calculated decision to support gay equality, Obama is not progressive; he's not liberal; he's not even a Democrat. He's the Democratic Party's Philippe Pétain. If, by some miracle, he were impeached and convicted -- over this or anything else; I don't really care -- I'd be thrilled to see Biden take his place. Biden may be no FDR or LBJ, but I'm pretty sure he'd put up a bigger fight for worker rights, social insurance, public transit, and the environment than Obama has.
May 18
PCM commented on In the UK, Amazon Is a Welfare Queen.
@12 (PCM): Oops-a-daisy! That would be Amazon.co.uk. And since I'm bothering to post a follow-up comment, I might as well include this link in it, since virtually no one in local media bothered to cover the story:
http://www.microsofttaxdodge.com/
And yes, I checked the legislative history, and Ed Murray, Frank Chopp, and Jamie Pedersen all voted for it.
http://www.microsofttaxdodge.com/
And yes, I checked the legislative history, and Ed Murray, Frank Chopp, and Jamie Pedersen all voted for it.
May 18
PCM commented on In the UK, Amazon Is a Welfare Queen.
At least the UK is going after Amazon.uk for using Luxembourg as a tax haven. Here in Washington, Democratic legislators fell all over each other in the rush to retroactively validate Microsoft's use of Nevada as one -- and at a time when the state budget was in a crisis worse than the UK's. Yeah, I'm lookin' at you, Ed, Frank, and Jamie.
May 16
PCM commented on It's Spring! Who's Ready for Street Harassment?.
Or! Or! You could reply, "Thank you! I'm getting the rest of my sex-change surgery in a couple of weeks. I hope it's as successful! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go home and shave my back." [No offense intended to transsexuals. It's just fun to contemplate the mind-fuck it would inflict on most of the apes who engage in this crude behavior. I'm guessing only a very small minority of them are into chicks with dicks.]
I'd like to second earlier comments about southern Europe. A much higher percentage of men over there glom onto unescorted women like flies on shit and are reluctant to take no for an answer. I had female friends over there who couldn't stand going out alone -- and they grew up with it and knew how to tell harassers to piss off, without hesitation or remorse. Just because you know how to swat mosquitoes before they bite doesn't mean you enjoy being surrounded by them. (And on the flip side of that, you have French women like former prime minister Édith Cresson who publicly said that English men are gay -- apparently because they didn't all try to hump her leg the moment she entered the room at a state function. Incessant harassment, it would seem, has raised the aggressiveness bar for what constitutes welcome expressions of appreciation and interest.)
Final remark: Cienna's story reminded me of a Sarah Silverman monologue I saw a while back, which went something like this: I went to the liquor store the other day, and there was this homeless guy next to the door, and as I was going inside, he said, "I want some pussy!" At first I was shocked -- and furious! -- but then I stopped and thought to myself, "Wait a minute. Maybe when this guy was growing up, his parents didn't give him ... any pussy." Well, maybe you had to hear her tell it. It was a funny joke, but it's not very funny when it happens in real life.
More...
I'd like to second earlier comments about southern Europe. A much higher percentage of men over there glom onto unescorted women like flies on shit and are reluctant to take no for an answer. I had female friends over there who couldn't stand going out alone -- and they grew up with it and knew how to tell harassers to piss off, without hesitation or remorse. Just because you know how to swat mosquitoes before they bite doesn't mean you enjoy being surrounded by them. (And on the flip side of that, you have French women like former prime minister Édith Cresson who publicly said that English men are gay -- apparently because they didn't all try to hump her leg the moment she entered the room at a state function. Incessant harassment, it would seem, has raised the aggressiveness bar for what constitutes welcome expressions of appreciation and interest.)
Final remark: Cienna's story reminded me of a Sarah Silverman monologue I saw a while back, which went something like this: I went to the liquor store the other day, and there was this homeless guy next to the door, and as I was going inside, he said, "I want some pussy!" At first I was shocked -- and furious! -- but then I stopped and thought to myself, "Wait a minute. Maybe when this guy was growing up, his parents didn't give him ... any pussy." Well, maybe you had to hear her tell it. It was a funny joke, but it's not very funny when it happens in real life.
May 1
PCM commented on What's Wrong with the Plan B Compromise?.
A couple of things:
(1) It's the US Food and Drug Administration, not the Federal Drug Administration.
(2) The proposed régime is in violation of Judge Korman's order, which mandated *no* age restrictions. It's not a "compromise"; it's contempt of court.
(1) It's the US Food and Drug Administration, not the Federal Drug Administration.
(2) The proposed régime is in violation of Judge Korman's order, which mandated *no* age restrictions. It's not a "compromise"; it's contempt of court.
Apr 29
PCM commented on Obama at the 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Does anyone have links to clips that do not include Obama? I held out some hope for him in 2008, but I literally can't stand to look at him anymore, let alone listen to him talk. Waiting until 51% of the electorate opposed anti-gay discrimination and then gingerly getting on the bandwagon (after timorously testing the waters) isn't enough wedge-issue window dressing to cover up who he's really been working for from the moment he won the primary. Put another way, "What @17 (Falcor) and @20 (Corydon) said."
But seriously, I really would like links to clips from the 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner that do not include Obama. I need the laughs.
But seriously, I really would like links to clips from the 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner that do not include Obama. I need the laughs.
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