ZombieChatter.com

Wow… I thought this kind of stuff only happened in movies and on television. One hottie for 4 older guys over 45. This is still a pretty unfair trade. This is one super hot Russian spy. My imagination is running wild.

” Chapman to Be Traded for Four U.S. Spies

Did we at least get her number? Britain’s Telegraph says that the “hottie spy,” Anna Chapman, will be returned to Moscow Thursday as part of a spy swap between the United States and Russia. Russian media is saying that the “special arrangement” will not be officially announced. Unfortunately, the United States won’t be getting any “hotties” in exchange—all four of the prisoners we’re set to receive back are men over the age of 45. In addition to Igor Sutyagin, an arms-control and nuclear expert who was convicted of giving info about Russia’s nuclear subs to the CIA in 2004, the United States will receive Sergei Skripal, a retired Russian colonel accused of working for MI6; and Alexander Zaporozhsky and Alexander Sypachev, two more former colonels accused of passing info to the CIA. Bloomberg says the exchange could go down in London.”

(read full article here)

The passing of the major health care reform bill really has me thinking about where the US currently is, and where it is heading.  Perhaps since the baseball season is right around the corner the image of Don Mattingly and his era of the New York Yankees kept creeping into my mind.

It seems like the US is further continuing down the road of adopting a heavily social agenda similar to our current and former allies of Europe.  No longer is the US being viewed on the world stage as a world power.  It is drifting towards mediocrity and exorbitant debt levels.  Instead of working towards the American Dream, the new dream appears to be having the government provide everything and then working to pay them back.

But is there a parallel between Obama and Mattingly?  Mattingly was the best player for the Yankees, but during a time when the historic franchise was at one of its lowest points.  Could this be the time when the US officially plummets from significant world “relevance” and just becomes another nation?

I hope not.  But if it is, hopefully our political Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter are on their way.

I’m guessing there are many people here that are happy about this.

I wasn’t shocked to hear about a governor stepping down…but I was surprised that it was Alaska’s.  Consider that an insight into SC politics.

More: Us of Common Sense.com – Palin’s Political Career Should Be Over

Recently the citizens of Oklahoma were ask to vote on which rock song they felt should be the state song. The Flaming Lips song “Do You Realize” was voted for by the majority (capturing over 50% of the votes gaining over 10k votes in all) of the citizens of Oklahoma to be that state song.

After the citizen’s voted it was up to the politicians in the state House of Representatives to approve the song. It passed through the Senate at a 46-0 vote only to be derailed once it hit the House of Representatives when 48 voted for the song, 39 against it, and 14 were absent for the vote. So what do some politicians have against the song or the Flaming Lips?

Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City specifically spoke adamantly about his vehemant stance against the song and the band. He was quoted saying the band has a history of obscene language after the city named an alley after them several years back.

All is not lost though for the band or the song as the Governor of the state Brad Henry (D)plans to use his executive power to name the song the “State Rock Song”.  Henry said he will honor the vote of the people, and added that the Flaming Lips are a truly iconic rock ‘n’ roll band and are proud ambassadors of their home state.

Nicely done Govenator! My first question when i saw this was who was the competition? It is not like there has been a musical revolution in Oklahoma’s thriving rock scene. Evidently the other bands in the competition were: All American Rejects, The Call, & Leon Russell.

Personally this is one of my all time favorite songs by anyone. For some reason this song has always resonated with me. I’m sure the folks of Oklahoma have better things to concern themselves with, but this is something they wanted to do for the State and leave it to Politicians to get all excited about a State Song while idly making hasty decisions on much more important matters.

Please Enjoy the Music:

I wonder what the Georgia State rock song would be? Mastodon’s Blood & Thunder right? Probably not. I would assume a REM song but i’m not sure which one.

Perhaps the public perception of the Republican Party…or conservatives…is wrong. 

Yesterday there were hundreds of “Tea Parties” across the nation in an effort to raise awareness of government excess and call for economic responsibility (in fact, approximately 3,000 people attended the party here in Columbia, SC).  While the orchestrators of these events like to say that they were bi-partisan events for republicans, democrats, libertarians and independents, let’s just go ahead and assume that 98% of the people that went to these things were Republicans.

Personally, I wasn’t really a fan of the “tea parties.”  Not that I’m opposed to people protesting, gathering, and voicing their minds; but the actual verbiage “tea party” seemed odd as the historical context didn’t register with me as appropriate for this movement. 

But, with the media coverage that insued leading up, during, and after these events, I think everyone can agree on one thing:  Republicans aren’t as anti-homosexual or anti-porn industry as most people make them out to be.

After all, can you think of any other group that has done more to promote “tea bagging” in this great nation?  I can’t.  And now “tea bagging” isn’t necessarily something to be embarrassed about, or even talk about.  After all, they’ve mentioned it so much on the news lately that the shock of the phrase is losing it’s chuckle effect a bit.

So let’s take a minute to thank Republicans for raising awareness on “tea bagging.”  And let’s all look forward to the upcoming Forth of July events revisiting this topic.  Surely they won’t be made fun of for the “July 4th Double Penetration Party For No Taxation Without Equal Reach-Around Featuring Entertainment By Dirty Sanchez and the Snow Ballers With Special Guest Speaker Dick Armey,” will they?

It’s time to promote bi-partisanship today. There’s no way around it, but our government is incompetent. You don’t have to look hard to see that there’s a big commotion going on about the AIG bonuses. And let’s take this issue as exhibit number 1 on why our government is incompetent, and why the US government is supposed to move slowly and not rush to act on every issue of the day.

I’m not going to get into whether or not you think the AIG bonuses were a good thing, or if you think they should be paid back, or if you agree with the new proposed legislation to tax these, and other potential bonuses at a 90% tax rate. In fact, I’d ask that you leave your comments on these out of the comment thread, because this issue is much bigger than these petty amounts (compared to the amounts currently being spent by government, and compared to the total amounts we’ve already spent).

But the issue rests in the fact that we were told that we must ask swiftly and boldly to send a message to the world and our economy. We could not wait to really sift through what we needed to do, or get bogged down in the details. We needed a big number, we needed people to give money to, and we needed to try and repair the economy.

But, what we, as Americans, assumed, was that the people drafting these bills knew what they were doing, and that the people who were voting on them actually knew what they contained. And, folks, we were wrong!

How do I know? Almost every politician you see that’s clamoring about these bonuses cast their vote towards making them possible. They drafted and passed TARP, they drafted and passed the big stimulus bill, and they drafted and passed the omnibus spending bill.

But, they didn’t read them! They didn’t realize that the money they were spending didn’t have adequate provisions to guide how the money would be spent. They didn’t realize that they set up a system that removed the knowledge of where the money went and how it would be spent or accounted for from the public (i.e. no one knows exactly who’s getting all this money, why, and how they’re spending it!!).

There’s a nifty little provision in the stimulus bill that says all bonuses approved prior to Feb should be paid to people in firms getting TARP/stimulus money. Yup, it’s in there. It’s in the bill they voted for and passed. Yet, no one remembers this? Did they not read it? Heck, even the guy that WROTE THE DAMN AMENDMENT didn’t even remember doing it until questioned about it.

So outrage be outrage. It’s all either fake since they knew what they were doing, or incompetence since they didn’t even pay attention to what they were doing.

And, folks, this isn’t a Republican or Democrat thing, either. This mess started with Bush, and continues with Obama. Blame Bush and his congress for starting this, and Obama and his congress for keeping it going. NONE OF THESE PEOPLE paid any attention to it.

In the age of “do it fast, make a big splash” politics, we’ve lost the idea of due diligence. The concept that you look closely at what you’re about to do before you actually do it. To say that we had no idea that these bonuses existed is to say that we didn’t due our due diligence when deciding we were going to get our government in bed with AIG. These bonuses were set up over a year ago.

Folks, our government is supposed to act slowly, in a series of checks and balances. It’s not supposed to react to every flash-in-the-pan issue as it arrives. By taking its time, it can fully assess the situation, and act accordingly. Not in haste, but in a manner that is thought-through and will hopefully actually address the issue. We have departed from this, and it has become blatantly apparent over the past 9 months. We’re acting so fast that we’re not adequately defining these bills as soundly as we should. We’re not doing our homework as a government, and it’s showing.

So ignore the hype. See through the bull sh*t. If you beleive that these guys are actually upset about what’s going on, you can only conclude that they’re incompetent at their jobs, and don’t pay any attention to the laws they right and vote for. The only other alternative is that they’re lying to our faces. Which is an issue we should definitely address next time we vote. Either way, it’s not a good day to be an American.

California is flat broke for many reasons, but one state assembler Tom Ammiano thinks the answer may be in the states biggest cash crop: Marijuana! He is pushing forward efforts to introduce a bill that would decriminalize marijuana and allow the state to collect a tax on it’s sale. Their would be a $50 dollar levy on every ounce sold and that is where the state’s profit would come from.

Pot currently accounts for about $14 billion dollars in annual sales in California the first state to legalize medical marijuana for use back in 1996. Consider this the next largest agricultural commodity is milk and cream netting about 7.3 billion. You could be high as a kite and still see that marijuana almost doubles that figure!

Similar to how we discussed folks in Georgia looking to gain profits from extra sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday, California is hoping Marijuana sales will be more then just a small increase.

Ammiano hopes that California might be the table setters for other states. As he duly noted often California is the trend setter for policies throughout the country.

Another individual on Ammiano’s side is retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray. He is know as a supporter of legalization and he estimates the drug’s legalization would also result in a savings on money spent arresting, prosecuting, and imprisoning marijuana users.

Of course if it was all tasty nugs then this would have been in place a long time ago. There of course are detractors that like John Lovell who is adamantly against the drugs legalization. When asked his opinion he was quoted as saying:  “We have enough problems with alcohol and abuse of pharmaceutical products: do we really need to add yet another mind-altering substance to the array?” He believes that once it is readily available to all there will be an increase in it’s usage and feels this would be harmful to society as a hole.

Joel W. Hay, professor of Pharmaceutical Economics at USC also sees issues decriminalizing the drug:

“Marijuana is a drug that clouds people’s judgment. It affects their ability to concentrate and react and it certainly has impacts on third parties.”  ”It’s one more drug that will add to the toll on society. All we have to do is look at the two legalized drugs, tobacco and alcohol, and look at the carnage that they’ve caused. [Marijuana] is a dangerous drug and it causes bad outcomes for both the people who use it and for the people who are in their way at work or other activities.” He adds: “There are probably some responsible people who can handle marijuana but there are lots of people who can’t, and it has an enormous negative impact on them, their family and loved ones.”

Will legalizing pot usher in the dawn of the Zombie Apocalypse with everyone becoming mindless pot zombies? Smoking on the job and marketing specialist thinking that a great campaign would be to send a bag of Munchies to everyone in the country as part of their product promotion?

I personally do not see how it is any worse then alcohol. All this nonsense about well some people can’t handle it and some people might use it on the job etc. I got news for you some people can’t handle alcohol and there ain’t nothing you are going to do to stop them from drinking. It is a personal choice. Lets let people choose how to live their lives.

When you infringe on the privacy or safety of others that needs to be regulated. I understand society can not be a free for all, but pot seems to be one thing individuals should be able to handle on their own.

The money made on taxes is one thing, but the needless law enforcement usage and tax dollars saved on simple possession charges is also a great benefit. As you can tell I think this would be a good thing, but I have my doubts our country is ready. Who knows though I did not think we were ready for an African American president and I was pleasantly surprised. Sometimes it takes crisis to cause change.

For me it is simple:

Legalize It.

So do you have an opinion?

Many of you may have noticed there has been a lot of discussion recently about abolishing the blue laws that prevent Sunday alcohol sales in the five states that still partake in this medieval practice: Georgia, Connecticut, Texas, Alabama and Minnesota. Many of the lawmakers in these states have been quick to point out how these states could use a shot in the arm from any revenue they can. In fact if you were to go to these states and poll the voting population the vast majority of them would tell you they are in favor of being able to get into the Spirits on Sunday.

So if the lawmakers want it and the people want who is standing in the way?

Well none other then GOD himself. Or people who seem to think they can speak for God and how he would want things on his earth. The religious right is fighting this tooth and nail. They argue that in these times it would add stress onto families already stretched thin. In fact Jim Beck the president of the Georgia Christian Coalition was quoted as saying:

“During times of economic stress, our families are under enough pressure,I don’t think we need to add even more pressure to those families by passing this law.”

Now I could write one of my infamous too long post that no one reads anyway or I could keep it short and sweet…….

HORSESHIT

When I told Striker Murdock I was writing this his first comments were spot on with my opinion. It has nothing to do with what the religious right wants and has everything to do with separation of church and state. If you don’t want to buy jager, beer, scotch, or whatever your vice of choice is on Sunday then by all means boycott and don’t buy it. Let me make that choice though. The 45 other states that allow it have not crumbled into the abyss because they sell beer on Sundays.

Even Franklin D Roosevelt saw that lifting prohibition in the 30’s was one of the best things he could do in order to help keep spirits up in those times of need and desperation.

If anything good comes of this recession I hope that it will be the ability to buy booze when and where I want to. So you can keep your bible, but let me buy my beer on Sunday.

…I finally concede there is no possibility I could ever win a fight with a chimpanzee. Not only could I not win a fight with a chimp, it would not even be close – the battle would be similar to this brief summary of the 911 call about ‘Travis’ the chimp attacking a friend of his owner:

“The chimp killed my friend” and “He’s ripping her apart.” Herold pleads with the dispatcher for police to “please hurry” to save her friend from the beating. At one point, she even yells for the police to shoot the chimp to stop the attack.

Simply replace ‘her’ with ‘him’, ’she’ with ‘he’, and ‘Herold’ with ‘Dave’ or ‘Scott’. I would be ripped apart, or at minimum, horribly disfigured; the chimpanzee would die in a hail of gunfire.

This post probably seems random to most of you, but there are several individuals out there who know exactly what I am talking about–YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

P.S. Oh BTW….dude who keeps ripping Obama on here; I have two words for you: Herbert Hoover. And, chili dog (just because I think its funny).