Today In Atheism

Rotten Kid

14-year-old Tremaine McMillian stared at a police officer in a dehumanizing way, clenching his fists and flaring his nostrils - looking all mean and threatening and shit - while holding a puppy.

So of course, the cops had no choice but to body-slam the kid and choke him out til he stop resisting.



hat tip = Wonkette

Picture This

The Repubs are known far and wide as the Party Of No.  But I have to wonder - since my default position is that "it's never really about what they say it's about", and since the GOP doesn't ever really do anything to push back against that perception - well, what's up widdat?

It's not so much that they wanna take the really stoopid ideas of the wingnuts and turn 'em into law (in spite of what seems obviously contrary to that statement - cuz you can dip me in shit and call me lonesome but there's a buncha Monumental Stoopid goin' on over there).  I'm just thinking the wingnut agenda is diversionary. It's there to keep everybody yappin' along about stuff that's never gonna happen.  The wingnuts are forever  being encouraged to get nuttier and nuttier, and "the left" / "the public" / "the rest of us" - the big squishy middle is always being pinged with all this nuttier and nuttier shit that we're supposed to think about / talk about / be upset about - but mostly send-money-to-somebody about.

Sump'm ain't right.

Crazy Theory Alert - proceed only if adequately equipped with NaCl.

It is my considered opinion that we're living in a time of transition (I am, if nothing else, a regular genius, eh?).  My guess is that what we're watching now in 2013 is more or less what is fairly easy to imagine was going on maybe 20 years before the opening scenes of Rollerball (the original - not that pocket lint remake).

But anyway - wanna see what that diversion looks like?  Here ya go:

Bachmann's been in office for 8 years, and the US has nothing to show for it.  She's raked in over $1 Million in salary, plus close to another 40% in Federal Bennies, plus Farm Subsidies (estimated at another $1 Million), plus whatever she's made in "Honoraria" and perks and what she's managed to "earn" trading on the inside info she gets because of her position in government.

And now, of course, we'll be further amused (ie: distracted) as we watch Ms Bachmann's excellent adventure with the Ethics Investigation.

And maybe it's just a good grift, but it seems like we watch the fluttering birds and the glitter showers and the crash scenes while everything we need to make life workable is either stolen outright or co-opted, commoditized, processed, repackaged and sold back to us at a price just slightly higher than what we're allowed to make in wages.

Welcome to the World Wide Company Store. 

My Pal, Charley

I wish.

Marco Rubio Is Still Not Ready For Prime Time

By Charles P. Pierce

at 2:00pm

Every few months, Senator Marco Rubio reminds us that, in his case, the goblet of victory comes with a sippy-cup lid.

"So the only answer to this is to repeal Obamacare," Rubio said in response to an email from a man in Orlando, Fla. "It's just one more reason why this law is going to be a disaster for our country. And in the months to come, I'm really going to focus on the issue of repealing Obamacare because in addition to the IRS's role there is all sorts of other problems with regards to Obamacare that we need to answer." 

What in the climate-controlled hell is this man talking about? We have a situation with some IRS dumbassery in which inappropriate criteria were used to evaluate the claims of thousands of groups attempting to get in on an embarrassing scam made possible by a lint-headed Supreme Court decision that handed the job of regulating the insane way we run elections to the federal agency least qualified to do the job. So, naturally, the solution is to...repeal Obamacare! Because...IRS! This leads me to the completely cynical conclusion that Rubio is now trying to suck up to the crazoid Republican House caucus in the hopes that its members will vote for something they wouldn't vote for if you took out their fingernails with tractor-trailer trucks — namely, whatever immigration bill he and his Senate colleagues produce. Remember, Marco Rubio is the young man who can get...things...done. He is the face of the rebranded GOP. Good luck with that.

The KrugMan Speaks

Paul Krugman tells about Taxing The Rich:

First, over the past three decades we’ve seen a soaring share of income going to the very top of the income distribution (right scale) even as tax rates on high incomes have fallen sharply, with the recent Obama increases clawing back only a fraction of the previous cuts:

Second, there is now a lot of hard empirical work on the incentive effects of high top tax rates. None of it shows the kind of huge negative effects that figure so prominently in right-wing rhetoric. In particular, none of it suggests that we are anywhere close to the point where raising taxes on the rich would reduce revenue as opposed to increasing it.

Here're the bullet points from the article at Economic Policy Institute:

The top U.S. income tax rate is currently well below best estimates of the optimal rate for revenue maximization.

Recent research implies a revenue-maximizing top effective federal income tax rate of roughly 68.7 percent. This is nearly twice the top 35 percent effective marginal ordinary income tax rate that prevailed at the end of 2012, and 27.5 percentage points higher than the 41.2 percent rate in 2013.2 This would mean a top statutory income tax rate of 66.1 percent, 26.5 percentage points above the prevailing 39.6 percent top statutory rate.

Tax reform that broadens the tax base and minimizes tax avoidance opportunities actuallyincreases the revenue-maximizing top marginal tax rate.

This means that base-broadening tax reform and higher marginal rates should be seen as complements, not substitutes. Analyses of top tax rate changes since World War II show that higher rates have no statistically significant impact on factors driving economic growth—private saving, investment levels, labor participation rates, and labor productivity—nor on overall economic growth rates.

Both short-run demand-side and long-run supply-side growth effects stemming from top tax rate changes are extremely modest. Thus, related “dynamic” revenue “leakages” stemming from reduced economic activity following top rate increases are small as well. Indeed, the net revenue feedback of the 2001–2004 tax cuts was recently estimated at recouping just 1 percent of their scored cost.

Historically, decreases in top marginal tax rates have widened inequality of both pre- and post-tax income. This has been interpreted by some economists as marginal rate reductions providing a higher payoff to rent-seeking (i.e., using influence to “bargain” a higher share of income at the expense of other workers).

Today’s economic context of a depressed U.S. economy, political pressure to prematurely reduce near-term budget deficits, and ever-widening income inequality actually strengthens the case for raising top marginal tax rates. There remains substantial scope for further raising top rates toward the revenue-maximizing levels estimated by the best economic research.

I'm all for letting your Freak Fly.  You feel a deep driving need to get rich? Go for it. It's mostly a lotta fun to watch, and you should get to hang onto the bulk of it.  But let's make sure the things that need to be taken care of are getting taken care of - 'cuz those are the things that everybody's responsible for; the things you get the biggest benefits from; and the things that make it possible for you to continue making your zillions.  But mostly, let's make sure the disparity and inequalities are kept to reasonable levels - 'cuz that's what keeps the wait staff from takin' a giant shit in your punch bowl.

Today's Pix

  

 

 

Today's Eternal Sadness

15-year-old Saylor Slone Martine died this weekend after an accidental shooting in her home. 5NewsOnline reports that the Leflore County, Oklahoma teen and her 12-year-old sister, Savannah, had been “handling a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun,” and then “put it down on the counter.” When Martine reached for her cell phone, which had also been placed on the counter, the gun fired. LeFlore County Sheriff Rob Seale told reporters that the girl had “sustained life-threatening injuries” and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Tulsa, where she died. He added that the girls’ mother was outside when the shooting occurred and that it “looks pretty clear-cut accidental.” Neither sister was holding the gun when it unexpectedly fired. Seale suspects that the gun had a “manufacturing defect.”

hat tip = Addicting Info


And let's not forget - we need Tort Reform to make sure the family of this teenager can't possibly go suckin' around for a big fat payday at the expense of that poor defenseless Gun Maker.

3,820 Americans killed with guns - so far this year - and just according to Slate's DIY database.  The official number is likely to be higher.

This is a partial screen capture from Slate - which doesn't even show all of May:

Project Much?

Reporting on a study out of Geo Mason Univ (not exactly El Centro dela Librulisimo), from Addicting Info:

The study reveals that 32% of Republican statements have been rated ‘false’ or ‘pants on fire’ by Politifact, an organization that fact checks claims made by politicians and others. In stark contrast, only 11% of statements made by Democrats received the same ratings.

According to CMPA President Dr. Robert Lichter, “While Republicans see a credibility gap in the Obama administration, PolitiFact rates Republicans as the less credible party.”

Fat Bottom Girls

...you make the rockin' world go 'round.

Add Now - Mrs Betty Bowers