I can't believe it's not a democracy!

Dog bites man:

Republican Politician Naked, Bending Over on Gay Sex Site. Do click. The money shot is pixelated, but it is obvious that "Puerto Rican senator and GOP cheerleader Roberto Arango" was taking a picture of his asshole (he must be a pushy bottom, surprise). And yes, he's resigned. Because he was advertising his available asshole for play on a gay site. Now had he been posting compromising photos on a straight site, I bet he he would not have resigned. You know, like Diaperman. No surprise, we all know that the gay is the GOP's line in the sand.

Thanks to John for the link.

Is that all there is?

Irene downgraded to tropical storm as it slams NYC. Don't get me wrong--I'm glad I have power and the streets aren't rivers, but it seemed to me that the media and the mayor were overplaying this. For the mayor, it was to make up for his snow storm fuck up. For the media? They love this shit. Nothing gives them a woody faster than disaster porn. I should note that my apartment is a mere 2 1/2 blocks away from the East River. Technically, I am in Evacuation Zone C, but Zone B is literally across the street, and Zone A is one block away. Except for one deep puddle at the closest intersection and some mild wind, everything here is fine.

Hope things are calm and peaceful wherever you are.

Yet another way in which Obama's administration does not differ from W's:

US official: Al-Qaida's No. 2 killed in Pakistan. Yep, they keep on killing No. 2. Ok, Obama "got" bin Laden, but he was more of a figure head (and many of us would have preferred if he were captured alive--which appeared possible--and tried. Because, you know, we are a nation of laws, and all that). Still, W didn't "get" him (but he needed Emmanuel Goldstein alive).

So I'm sitting in my apartment--I'm in Evacation Zone C, so it's cool--wondering what they are going to try to scare us with after Hurricane Irene passes. Then I remembered that "they" will spend the next two weeks battering everyone with a tv with 9/11 tragioporn. Glad I do not have a tv.

"I say that emphatically," Hinkle also said. "I'm not gay."

“I just wanted to suck the lad’s dick,” he did not add. Yes, that's for you, Tengrain.

Well, when you represent the man, you have to expect this:

Anonymous Leaks Lewd Pics of BART Spokesman. Newser reports: Hackers outraged by BART's decision to cut off cell phone service to foil a protest have gone below the belt. Anonymous claims it has obtained lewd photos of BART spokesman Linton Johnson, and it has circulated them online, reports SF Weekly. One picture allegedly features Johnson displaying his genitals. "If you are going to be a dick to the public, then I'm sure you don't mind showing your dick to the public," Anonymous writes. The group has demanded the resignation of Johnson, who defended the blocking of wireless signals and told the media it was his idea.

No doubt someone will piss and moan about the violation of Johnson's privacy. Well, I see his right to privacy and trump it with the peoples' right to freedom of expression. And will someone please tell me why so many men are posting pictures of their junk on the internet? I mean, really.

Thanks to John for the link.

At first Jon Huntsman sounded like the only non-nutjob republican candidate for president.

I mean he mocked the other candidates refusal to understand and accept global climate change. But then he says this: Jon Huntsman Would Be Open to Running With Bachmann. Huntsman gave Obama a gift. Christ.

Finally, a sign of hope:

Working-Class Americans Retreating from Church. When the fundamentalist bullshit is finally ignored then, at last, this country can attempt to move on. I don't mean that every last fundamentalist has to disappear (but let me tell you, I want the rapture more than they do), just that their crazy views are given the kind of attention they deserve--none.

Looks like toxic goods aren't the only thing the Chinese are exporting:

The Audacity of Chinese Frauds. The NY Times reports: To pull off a fraud that humiliates the cream of the global financial elite, you need to have some friends. And where better to have them than at the local bank?

The fraud at Longtop Financial Technologies, a Chinese financial software company, was exposed this week in an amazing letter from its auditors, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. It appears to be a tale of corrupt bankers and their threats to auditors who had learned of the lies.

I must add that the corrupt bankers at issue are Chinese bankers. While we know that American bankers are criminal assholes, in this situation they may simply have been incompetent. The article continues: Longtop did not go public through a reverse merger. Its initial public offering, in 2007, was underwritten by Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. Morgan Stanley was a lead manager in a 2009 offering of more shares. Major owners of the stock included hedge funds run by people known as “tiger cubs” because they got their start at Julian Robertson’s Tiger Fund.

On May 4, only a couple of weeks before the fateful struggle at Longtop offices, an analyst for Morgan Stanley, Carol Wang, wrote:

“Longtop’s stock price has been very volatile in recent days amid fraud allegations that management has denied. Our analysis of margins and cash flow gives us confidence in its accounting methods. We believe market misconceptions provide a good entry point for long-term investors.”

Why does anyone believe a thing these "analysts" report? Remember when Jim fucking Cramer was telling people that Bear Sterns was perfectly fine a couple of weeks before they imploded? Yeah, lying bullshit artists, every single one.

Thanks to John for the link.

Gee, I wonder why?

Obama's approval rating on economy hits new low. I used to think that Obama was simply a neoliberal monster, but now I think arrogance/incompetence cannot be ruled out (as well).

That said, you no doubt read about the head of the OFA's operations in New Mexico who took a piss on Paul Krugman and "firebaggers" (a reference to Firedoglake/Jane Hamsher, meaning "radical" lefties). Well, I think President No We Can't is (or will be) finding out about now that he might have to make nice with the dirty fucking hippies (DFH). So I've was chatting with some friends and I think we will know when Obama has been told that he can't piss on the DFH anymore. That'll be when he invites Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders over to the White House for some event commemorating FDR. Because they are that craven and cheap, that's why.

He can't find money for a real stimulus bill, but Obama found the cash for this:

(AP/Carolyn Kaster)

What is it?  Just one of two superbuses that were commissioned by the Secret Service to chauffeur the president (and, eventually, the Republican presidential candidate and "visiting dignitaries") around the country.  Yeah, I want to throw up too.