Richie Wireman's multi-year project about my former favorite block of Lexington (and it's destruction to make way for Dudley's Invisible Unicorn Park) is showing tonight at Bellini's Ballroom tonight during Gallery Hop from 5:30 to 9:30.
Read Schankula's ACE piece about it here.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Must-see exhibit tonight in Lexington
Steve Beshear is getting stuff done!
And by getting stuff done, I mean firing people for trying to stop illegal mining.
Yea.
The former head of Kentucky’s mine permit division, who was fired last week by Gov. Steve Beshear, said Tuesday that he had been trying to block what he called illegal mining permit practices.So it appears to me that Gov. Beshear cares about two things. Gambling, and letting King Coal do whatever they want.
Ron Mills said he refused to issue about a half-dozen mine permits requested over the last year, chiefly by the politically connected Alliance Resource Partners of Tulsa, Okla., because they did not comply with federal and state mining law.
Coal companies are required to provide documentation showing they have a legal right to enter and disturb all of the areas they will mine, Mills said. Instead, the Beshear administration issued permits to coal companies that demonstrate the right to enter and mine as little as two-thirds of the land in question, he said.
“I refused to sign those applications,” Mills said. “I thought they were illegal. There was no support for them under the law.”
However, Mills said, after a debate within the Beshear administration that involved the governor’s office, Natural Resources Commissioner Carl Campbell signed the permits over Mills’ objections
Mills said that he was given no official reason for his firing on Friday — as a non-merit appointee, he served at the governor’s pleasure — but colleagues told him that Alliance lobbied the governor’s office for his removal.
I imagine Steve would wet himself if King Coal wanted to build a casino on top of a MTR site...
(but whatever you do, Steve, don't focus on this) Share on Facebook
Where is Putin's head?
Alaska, doncha know? Don't let those evil media libruls tell you otherwise, because Sarah Barracuda kept us safe from their Commie attack during her less than half-term up there.
Get all of your Going Rogue hilarity here.
Rand Paul: lying flip flopper
It seems that Rand Paul, now finding himself ahead in the polls, is going to go conservative by scrubbing his "kooky" positions from the internet tubes.
Facing heat from Grayson about his Guantanamo stance (which he shared with his father), it appears that he is now scrubbing his past positions and taking the Neanderthal view that New Yorkers should not be able to try, convict and executive the pyscho fuckers who attacked their city. Gitmo is now AOK, dontcha know?
I can't wait till all of the Paul Stoners to realize that he won't advocate legalizing pot, or withdrawing all of our troops, either.
Just another fetus fetisher that wants to eliminate Medicare, Medicaid, public schools, Social Security, and let his Magic Unicorn Hoof solve all of our messy complicated problems.
Yes, we can "read" (through the lines)...
(h/t Jake)
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Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Onion interviews a Rand Paul supporter
And he made us all proud:
Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To BeShare on Facebook
Spurred by an administration he believes to be guilty of numerous transgressions, self-described American patriot Kyle Mortensen, 47, is a vehement defender of ideas he seems to think are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and principles that brave men have fought and died for solely in his head.
"Our very way of life is under siege," said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination. "It's time for true Americans to stand up and protect the values that make us who we are."
*****
"Right there in the preamble, the authors make their priorities clear: 'one nation under God,'" said Mortensen, attributing to the Constitution a line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which itself did not include any reference to a deity until 1954. "Well, there's a reason they put that right at the top."
*****
Mortensen said his admiration for the loose assemblage of vague half-notions he calls the Constitution has only grown over time. He believes that each detail he has pulled from thin air—from prohibitions on sodomy and flag-burning, to mandatory crackdowns on immigrants, to the right of citizens not to have their hard-earned income confiscated in the form of taxes—has contributed to making it the best framework for governance "since the Ten Commandments."
"And let's not forget that when the Constitution was ratified it brought freedom to every single American," Mortensen said.
Mortensen's passion for safeguarding the elaborate fantasy world in which his conception of the Constitution resides is greatly respected by his likeminded friends and relatives, many of whom have been known to repeat his unfounded assertions verbatim when angered. Still, some friends and family members remain critical.
"Dad's great, but listening to all that talk radio has put some weird ideas into his head," said daughter Samantha, a freshman at Reed College in Portland, OR. "He believes the Constitution allows the government to torture people and ban gay marriage, yet he doesn't even know that it guarantees universal health care."
Mortensen told reporters that he'll fight until the bitter end for what he roughly supposes the Constitution to be. He acknowledged, however, that it might already be too late to win the battle.
"The freedoms our Founding Fathers spilled their blood for are vanishing before our eyes," Mortensen said. "In under a year, a fascist, socialist regime has turned a proud democracy into a totalitarian state that will soon control every facet of American life."
This Rand is your Rand
Remember this hilarity?
She's back, and I have no clue what it is...
Deficits, and stuff, yo.
New PPP Poll: Majority of Republicans are retarded
Don't yell at me, it's a real poll:
The new national poll from Public Policy Polling (D) has an astonishing number about paranoia among the GOP base: Republicans do not think President Obama actually won the 2008 election -- instead, ACORN stole it.This seems totally reasonable:
*********
The poll asked this question: "Do you think that Barack Obama legitimately won the Presidential election last year, or do you think that ACORN stole it for him?" The overall top-line is legitimately won 62%, ACORN stole it 26%.
Among Republicans, however, only 27% say Obama actually won the race, with 52% -- an outright majority -- saying that ACORN stole it, and 21% are undecided. Among McCain voters, the breakdown is 31%-49%-20%. By comparison, independents weigh in at 72%-18%-10%, and Democrats are 86%-9%-4%.
In order to believe that Obama wasn't the true winner of the 2008 election, one would have to think that ACORN (and perhaps other groups) stuffed ballots to the tune of over 9.5 million votes, Obama's national margin.None of this matters, of course, because he was ineligible to run in the first place, being a Muslin Terrahist from Kenya.
While these Republicans don't have much chance to overturn the ACORN-stolen election, remember they can still pray for his death. Share on Facebook
Dan Mongiardo wants all of your uterus
Remember all those Mongiardo trolls who were yelling at me for suggesting that Dan Mongiardo isn't pro-choice? Yea, well...
Case closed.
Dan Mongiardo wants to make abortion illegal.
Fear and Snoring at the Newberry campaign "kick off"
Apparently, Jim Newberry's first announcement that he is running for re-election as Lexington Mayor wasn't enough, as his special friends decided to throw a party for him in the posh Thoroughbred Room at the Civic Center last night.
My first thought as I walked into the room was that I was the only dude that wasn't wearing a suit and didn't have white hair. This is Jim's crowd.
And what a crowd it was! Particularly since the smallish room was 2/3 empty:
Schankula got there a little earlier, and was met by Newberry's right hand Shaye Rabold. Shaye said that she saw Schankula and I on the FB event list, and asked if we were going to "heckle" him. He said of course not, and Shaye said that blogging was heckling too. Charming. (Shaye has a lot of hatred bottled up in her).
On a related note, we were in an empty corner watching the whole sad affair last night, with a security guard standing next to us watching us the entire time. Which is fun. Because we be dangerous, yo.
Newberry's campaign co-chair was the first to speak. She proceeded to ramble for 15 minutes and put half of the geriatric old money crowd to sleep. At one point she asked them, "What does this city need?", which was met by silence. She asked again "what does this city need?!". Somebody in the front said "Jim Newberry?". "Yes, Jim Newberry!". You could feel the excitement radiating through the room.
She also said that Jim Newberry brought "character and integrity" back to government, and that Newberry is who can be "trusted to bring government and business leaders together". Yes, I would say that Jim can be "trusted" to do that, indeed.
She also gave a shout out to some of the big wigs in the house. Including Mr. Alan Stein (whose wife absolutely can't stand Newberry) and Councilmember Doug Martin. Nice to see you supporting such an upstanding "can-do" "positive" candidate, Doug. Heh. I was disappointed that the Webbs decided not to show up (Woodford was on the FB event), but was glad to see their lawyer Darby Turner there to cheer Newberry on. As well as my favoritest Mongiardo staffer. Double heh.
Anthony Beatty was next, telling us that Jim Newberry eats at Fazoli's just like us common rabble do. He also said that once you get to know Jim Newberry, you "learn to trust him and respect him". Yes, certain folks can certainly "trust" him.
He closed with the line of the night, saying that Newberry "is turning Lexington into the Athens of the West". Because it is old and in ruins, I suppose.
Then, it was time for the rock star to make his entrance. A familiar song blasted through the speakers. In fact, it was this song from this familiar video you might have seen before:
I think it's nice of Mr. Newberry to embrace it. The streets have no name, and South Limestone has no cars or businesses that aren't going under. Fancy.
The two news station staffers next to us shared "God, this is cheesy..."
Newberry bragged about his fancy accomplishments, which include:
Lexington is more civil. Minus the graffiti.
Lexington is cleaner, because our prisoners are now put to work cleaning our city for free. He's also been able to cut jobs and income in the city, so we are on the road to freedom, liberty, and spotless streets.
Lexington is "greener". And if by "greener", he meant "Lexington has the worst carbon footprint of any city in America", than he was correct. He recycles paper in his office, though, so it's all cool.
Newberry pushed his geriatric groupies further into their slumber, until he mentioned the dribble-drive offense, the only time of the night that the old folks got their jiggy on. Kentucky B-b-basketball. Leach Leach Leach Leach!
He said how much greater Lexington has become over the last 3 years, and warned that some will seek to "govern out of fear", but not "can-do", "Webb-friendly", "cleaning-chain-gang" Jim.
He said that Lexington's future will have "Dynamic Urban Living". Which is code word for "Dudley's Magic Unicorn Tower will be built!", I'm guessing. The "CP" word was not mentioned, of course. And the Horsey Games will make everything awesome, and the fancy foreigners will buy all of our stuff and shower us with their gold. Right after we lose money on it.
Jim ended his speech, and the 2/3 empty room showered him with applause. I considered asking him some snarky questions, but after witnessing this sad display, I decided to take some pity on the poor guy. He'd been through enough.
Anyway, I'll see you at the next campaign kick off, which should be QUITE a doozy, I assure you.
Liveblog: HCFA "Is it time to lift the Travel Ban to Cuba?"
10:18 - Starting a little late (why does the wireless always fail at the exact moment you need it?!?)
10:20 - Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is much more pleasant than expected. She thinks that there should be no change in policy until there is regime change... how well has that been working out so far?
10:23 - Engle takes the mic... apparently history is more important than the here & now
10:26 - Engle support supports Obama's endeavors, but calls for conditionality before lifting the travel ban (One more vote for Team Ileana)
10:27 - Mr. Mack goes directly after Orbitz for their initiative to OPENCUBA.ORG
10:30 - The first skirmish on the HCFA - Berman cuts Mack off...
10:31 - Delahunt takes the mic... he's definitely not on Team Ileana - Delahunt calls the Travel Ban a sanction on American freedoms (and "outrageous")
10:29 - WOW... Mack just called lifting the travel ban as a "bailout for Castro"... way to use linked messaged!
10:32 - Mr. Smith of NJ takes the mic - another person on Team Ileana - calls for lift of ban when Cuba does a 180.
10:34 - Ms. Watson is the most open minded person so far... Opening statements are interesting and focusing much more on "gulags" than one could ever imagine.
10:35 - for the first time we hear about political prisoners in China and the cozy relationship with the US
10:35 - Yoani's name is mentioned for the first time (Cuban blogger who is repeatedly harrassed by the Cuban "security forces")... looking forward to hearing more about her!
10:41 - Mr. Faleomaveaga (American Samoa) says this issue is about America, not Cuba!
10:42 - Oh lawd... It's Joe Wilson sounding like he is reading a 3rd grade book report... someone should take a public speaking class.10:46 - Ms. Woosley asks how many non-democratic countries Americans can travel to (hint: EVERY ONE of them, minus Cuba)
10:48 - Barbara Lee talks about President Obama in red China this week and the global community... and our democratic right to travel to Cuba.
10:50 - Shelley Berkeley (NV-01) plugs travel to Las Vegas instead of Cuba (but does not mention the $14,000 she took from special interest hard-liner PAC money).
10:51 - Rep. Meeks from NY says this is an issue about American freedom!
10:52 - Rep. Scott says that we are at a stalemate and "doing nothing keeps us where we are"... smart guy - sounds like he plays chess (and Ileana plays checkers)
10:54 - Here comes Sheila Jackson Lee - she's so great! - the last of the committee members to make statements before the witness' speak...
10:56 - Finally... THE PANEL OF WITNESS'... bios, bios, bios...
General Barry R. McCaffrey, USA, Retired
President
BR McCaffrey Associates, LLC
Ambassador James Cason
Former Chief of Mission
U.S. Interests Section, Havana, Cuba
Ms. Miriam Leiva
Independent Journalist and Founder, Ladies in White
Mr. Ignacio Sosa
Executive Board Member
Friends of Caritas Cubana
Ms. Berta Antunez
Sister of Former Political Prisoner Jorge Luis Garcia Perez ("Antunez")
Pro-democracy Activist
Mr. Philip Peters
Vice President
Lexington Institute
10:58 - listening to bios and reading my email... statements on Cuba are flying all over the place - but Health Care & TARP will likely steal all the headlines...
11:00 - General McCaffrey takes the mic - he penned on OpEd in the Miami Herald about reforming the Cuban quagmire... I'll try to get that link for folks soon.
11:02 - General McCaffrey calls for an immediate end to the Travel Ban (and the embargo) b/c it is a failed policy, counter-productive for US interests and Cuba is NOT a threat to US national security
11:04 - Ambassador Cason is trying to pick apart the pro-reform arguments... not shocking from a Bush appointee!
11:07 - Ambassador Cason says Americans don't speak Spanish well enough to talk about democracy with the average Cuban... and other matters of idiocy.
11:08 - link for the McCaffrey oped is dead in Miami, but it apparently ran int he Cleveland Plain-Dealer as well.
11:11 - Miriam Leiva (founder of Ladies in White) speaks to the committee directly from Havana, on video conference! FANCY... and asks the Congress to immediately lift the travel ban - as this will help the situation for everyday citizens (she knows better than anyone!)
11:15 - Miriam Leiva talks about people-to-people diplomacy... the huevos on this lady are REALLY impressive!
11:18 - Miriam is still talking... about life in Cuba, the repressive nature of the Cuban regime and the need for more interaction with Americans in order to force change in their country.
11:21 - Ignacio Sosa - proud republican Cuban American - is calling for an immediate lift of the Travel Ban... because of American rights & Cuban needs - again talking about bloggers in Cuba... I suspect there will be more about Yoani soon.
11:27 - I LOVE IGNACIO SOSA! He really did PLEAD for lifting the travel ban AND smacked down Amb. Cason with facts on how many Americans speak spanish as their first language (ZING!)
11:29 - Berta Antunez is now hablando - this American understands well, but is waiting for translations...
11:31 - Berta mentions Yoani Sanchez (Cuban blogger) again, talks about the paranoia of the Cuban regime and the perception of the weakness of the democratic global community... and relations with Chavez as a result.
11:33 - This lady is going straight after the Cuban regime - and calling them blatant racists
11:35 - This is the 2nd Cuban freedom fighter and the 2nd relative of political prisoners to speak... and their messages are diametrically opposed.
11:40 - Still listening to Berta Antunez and reading yesterday's Human Rights Watch report, which calls for lifting the Travel Ban & ending the embargo
11:42 - BREAK FOR VOTES... everyone keep their seats - we will be back in 20... but knowing Congress time, that might be...
12:13 - AND WE'RE BACK! ... Phil Peters, fellow blogger at the CubanTriangle & VP of the Lexington Institute, takes the mic.
12:16 - Mr. Peters has already uploaded his statement on Cuban Triangle... and he calls the current policy an "embargo on American influence"!
12:20 - MAN... this guy really knows his business - pulling out names and facts like it's his job... and with everyone evoking the name Yoani Sanchez, Mr. Peters points out that Yoani supports full US travel to Cuba
12:22 - Statements are over - questions begin... first question - What does YOANI say?
12:24 - WHAT?!?!?!?! Yoani wrote a statement specifically for this hearing! See says that US citizen travel is EXACTLY what Cuba needs in order for much needed reform on the island!
12:28 - After going to Havana via videoconference, Ileana has the mic for 5 minutes... she is setting up an attack on Gen. Barry McCaffrey (Ret.)
12:30 - SPARKS FLY!!! General McCaffrey is going back at her - JUGULAR TO JUGULAR
12:33 - This is out of control - Ileana shows no respect to the General and the General is holding ground and pushing back hard!! Calls Ileana's argument "silly"
12:34 - Delahunt gets his 5 minutes - starts his time by saying that Gen. McCaffrey is "a great American hero"... the room breaks into applause!
12:35 - Rep. Delahunt is reading from a letter signed by 7 or 8 Generals that say the current policy is COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE for US National Interests... wow!
12:36 - Going back after Amb. Cason's crazy comment that Americans don't speak Spanish well enough to make a difference - according to the US Census Bureau, 34.5 million Americans speak Spanish as a first language!
12:39 - Jeff Flake gets 5 minutes... he's "setting the record straight" on motives of US citizens... saying it is not all about "sex, sand and drugs" (said by Amb. Cason) and that rationale is offensive - noting religious work as a major reason that US citizens skirt the Travel Ban and visit the island.
12:40 - Amb. Cason invokes Lech Walensa & Havel... Flake puts him back to the Q and asks how isolation and a travel blockade has actually helped foster democracy... Amb. Cason has no answer and ... circular arguments...
12:43 - Flake & Phil Peters make it clear that H.R.874 does not compel anyone to do anything... but it does provide for freedom for Americans.
12:45 - Rep. Sires of NJ is going on about who speaks Spanish in the school he used to teach in... sounds like someone is killing time!
12:47 - This is CRAZY! Ignacio Sosa is trying to get Rep. Sires to focus on Cuba, not the NJ population who don't speak as much Spanish as they claim on a Census form.
12:48 - Phil Peters is SCHOOLING Sires on trickle down economics in Cuba!
12:50 - Rep. Mack of FL gets his 5 minutes... he says the US should restrict citizen travel to Iran and Sudan
12:51 - Rep. Mack questions race issues (Rep. Whitey McWhiterson might not understand that racism is real... and bad.)
12:54 - Mack gives Amb. Cason the mic... and Cason wastes time
12:56 - Rep. Woosley says that opponents of reform are "playing an old record" and are not looking for a 21 century solution, as they are stuck in the 20th century - Phil Peters & Gen. McCaffrey both talk about overwhelming support for reform - Gen. McCaffrey says that Castro is stuck in 1959, the US government is stuck in 1961, the US people & the Cuban people want to be in the 21st century
12:58 - Rep. Woosley changes the discussion to AGRICULTURAL SALES and asks Miriam Leiva what's the what - long story short, Cuba buys the majority of their food from the US and would need a lot more... which is obviously beneficial to the US economy!
1:03 - Rep. Manzullo says blah, blah, blah about hotel workers in North Korea... but you won't hear him talking about hard-line PAC donations to his campaign coffers!
1:05 - Rep. Barbara Lee recaps historic civil rights struggle (racially based) in the US... and states that no nation help it's citizens from visiting the US as a result... much more about race relations...
1:09 - Ileana corrects the translator and Rep. Lee puts her in her place in regards to the plight of minorities in 21st century America!
1:14 - Mr. Smith of NJ is asking Gen. McCaffrey if he has ever asked specific questions of Fidel Castro... and is asking question after question after question, but not allowing anyone to repsond.... that man is out of control!
1:19 - Mr. Faleomavaego goes back to national security - Gen. McCaffrey dispels the myth that Cuba of 2009 is the same as Cuba of 1963.
1:24 - Committee recess' again for 2 votes and back in 15... longest hearing ever - passions remain HIGH!!!
1:51 - Longest 15 ever... Back for 45 more - Mr. Meeks of NY is opening his 5 minutes by recognizing that this is an emotional issue for many, and does a direct follow up with OFTEN WHERE EMOTIONS START, LOGIC STOPS!
1:56 - after minutes of Mr. Meeks trying to ask Ms. Antunez if she is in favor of Cuban Americans visiting Cuba (as is able by an Obama executive order), she answers with one word - NO!
2:00 - Rep. Burton is talking about the Soviet Union... welcome to 2009 buddy!
2:03 - Sheila Jackson-Lee is on the mic - Sound on HCFA is running 2 tracks on top of each other - makes things very interesting, but hard to follow.
2:10 - Reloaded - Sheila Jackson-Lee tells Ms. Antunez to take help when it is offered, which it is now in lifting the Travel Ban.
2:12 - Ileana Ros-Lehtinen thanks all the pro-travel folks for showing up & wearing their stickers & also to all the former political prisoners who came and recognizing that they fall into both camps!
2:14 - HEARING ADJOURNED!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
10am EST liveblogging of the HCFA hearing on "Is it Time to Lift the Travel Ban to Cuba?"
Dear readers,
Tomorrow morning I will be liveblogging the much anticipated full, open HCFA hearing on "Is it Time to Lift the Travel Ban to Cuba?"... and I am pretty excited about it - it is GUARANTEED to be full of fireworks from all kinds of interesting characters.
For those of us in the KY-06, who feel so far removed from Cuba, why do we care?
Well, there are 4 simple answers to that one:
1 - Cuba is the only country in the world from which our government restricts our travel - that is a restriction of our rights as Americans.
2 - US citizen travel to Cuba would greatly increase the amount of agricultural sales needed to feed the influx of tourists - and the best, most reliable place to acquire those goods are right here in the heartland of America (i.e. it is very good for the US economy, but locally and nationally).
3 - Cuban dissidents would be greatly aided by more Americans on the island - don't believe me? Then you should read this Human Rights Watch report that was released today!
4 - Because BEN CHANDLER BLATANTLY SOLD OUT THE AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS OF THE KY-06 FOR $18,000 IN SPECIAL INTEREST, HARD-LINER PAC DONATIONS (after loosing to a better funded Fletcher, he now only cares about campaign contributions and free international travel) and now Chandler says there will be no policy change until there is regime change... How does it feel to get PAID to carry someone else's antiquated policy when you are supposed to get PAID to represent the best interests of YOU DISTRICT! How well did that work for the past 47 years Rep. Bought Chandler?!?
See you at 10am... I'm bringing popcorn!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The funnest race in America just got more fun
Meet Gurley L. Martin, the newest candidate in the 2010 US Senate race from Kentucky:
FRANKFORT — Gurley L. Martin, who will turn 86 on Nov. 27, plopped down $500 Monday in the secretary of state’s office to file as a Republican candidate in next year’s U.S. Senate race.That is just adorable. but are you too old, Gurley?
Martin, a World War II veteran from Owensboro, is the 11th Kentuckian and sixth Republican to enter the race.
Asked the condition of his health, Martin said, “I’m here, aren’t I? My health is wonderful. Every day is a thrill.”And what is the focus of your campaign?
In a news release, Martin said he will not be running against anyone. He said the real trouble-maker in the world is Satan.Let's just start the debates. Right now. Immediately. Share on Facebook
Monday, November 16, 2009
Love To Me Is So Unreal
I know I've publicly been against the trappings of romance in the past, but this man has done up and melted this cold feminist heart:
No Bitch-Ass-Ness: You'll Get No Money From Me, Mr. Conway
(Don't know what the hell I'm talking about? Urban up.)
After much anguish, Harry Reid made sure that the public option was in the Senate bill. Give to Harry Reid.
60 House Democrats asked for permission to vote against the House Bill, 20 more than the number that would make the bill fail. The bill passed. Give to Speaker Pelosi and her whip, James Clyburn.
The DCCC delivered not one, but two special elections that we had no goddamn reason to win in Bill Owens and Scott Murphy. They both voted for the House Bill. Give to the DCCC.
The 2010 cycle is going to be bad for Democrats. Anybody who's saying otherwise is underestimating a Republican party that is actively making the atmosphere so bad that nobody will turn out-- except for their partisans. We will have more needs, not wants, not seats we can maybe get, or competitive Dems in deep red territory, but actual pressing important holy-fuck-where-is-the-calvary needs. So until he earns it, not one fucking dime for Jack Conway.
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