A Response to Rush Limbaugh

Mr. Limbaugh says:

I know that Limbaugh’s shtick is to shock and use the most inflammatory language possible, but as someone who’s dedicated my life to working in the nonprofit sector, it’s hard to let this particular attack roll off my back.

On his August 12 show, Limbaugh called nonprofit workers

“[a] Bunch of lazy idiots. Many of them don’t want to really work. Non-profits siphon contributions, as their salaries and so forth, and think of themselves as good people, charitable people. I mean, these people are rapists, in terms of finance and economy

Here is a video response:

Daily Kos: MUST-SEE Jon Stewart: “Is Fox News a terrorist command center?”

Daily Kos: MUST-SEE Jon Stewart: “Is Fox News a…, posted with vodpod

20 August 2010 Rehabilitation

Workout notes easy 2 mile walk, leg weights/abs, 1 mile easy walk.

Weights/abs: 30 leg lifts then leg set: 20-30 leg presses with 150, leg extensions, leg curls, calf machine
30 twist crunches, leg set
30 regular crunches, leg set
20 incline sit ups, 20 regular sit ups
one legged squats: 45 pound bar on Smith Machine
20 ball sit ups
one legged squats: 75 pounds on the Smith Machine
one legged squats: 95 pounds on the Smith Machine
one mile cool-down walk
Then stretching, etc.

Last night: restless, but avoided pain.
I am finding that this shoulder stretch brings relief:

20 August 2010 posts

Economics: I found this comment from Paul Krugman to be amusing:

As I look at what passes for responsible economic policy these days, there’s an analogy that keeps passing through my mind. I know it’s over the top, but here it is anyway: the policy elite — central bankers, finance ministers, politicians who pose as defenders of fiscal virtue — are acting like the priests of some ancient cult, demanding that we engage in human sacrifices to appease the anger of invisible gods. [...]

in America, we do have a choice. The markets aren’t demanding that we give up on job creation. On the contrary, they seem worried about the lack of action — about the fact that, as Bill Gross of the giant bond fund Pimco put it earlier this week, we’re “approaching a cul-de-sac of stimulus,” which he warns “will slow to a snail’s pace, incapable of providing sufficient job growth going forward.”

It seems almost superfluous, given all that, to mention the final insult: many of the most vocal austerians are, of course, hypocrites. Notice, in particular, how suddenly Republicans lost interest in the budget deficit when they were challenged about the cost of retaining tax cuts for the wealthy. But that won’t stop them from continuing to pose as deficit hawks whenever anyone proposes doing something to help the unemployed.

So here’s the question I find myself asking: What will it take to break the hold of this cruel cult on the minds of the policy elite? When, if ever, will we get back to the job of rebuilding the economy?

Bottom line: if people don’t have money to spend, businesses won’t have enough customers to warrant hiring more people. This is why stimulus spending is more important in this current economic situation than deficit reduction. Cutting taxes for the rich really won’t do anything; there is no incentive to invest more if the market for goods isn’t there. Our problem is a demand problem.

Other topics
Many think that President Obama is a Muslim. I know, these people are idiots. But what bothers me more is that so many in this country care how someone worships some invisible man. And yes, it really irks me that some want to turn our military into some sort of fundamentalist Christian army.

The “Mosque near Ground Zero Mess”

Republicans: it is hard to read this with a straight face, but you see, Muslim mosques are places to recruit terrorists and to advance their form of repressive law.

Note to Republican visitors: I hardly am a fan of such a law; after all I am an atheist and therefore would be executed under such laws. But maybe Muslims are here (in this country) because they want freedom and don’t want to live under such laws? I think that we should be encouraging the advance of moderation in the Muslim community.

Here is another Republican:

And listen to what “Ground Zero” strippers have to say:

After the World Trade Center towers fell, a stripper named Chris went to volunteer in the recovery effort for the Red Cross. Nearly 10 years later, she dances just down the street from Ground Zero at the Pussycat Lounge.

But for Chris, who declined to give her last name, and other dancers at the two strip clubs within three blocks of the World Trade Center site, the neighborhood is just where they go to work.

As supporters held signs extolling religious freedom at the site of the proposed Islamic center Wednesday, a stripper who gave her name as Cassandra was working the afternoon shift at New York Dolls on Murray Street — just around the corner. She worried that calls to prayer from the mosque at Park51 might wake up neighbors. But when she was told that the organizers aren’t planning loudspeakers, she said she didn’t have a problem with the project.

“I don’t know what the big deal is,” Cassandra said. “It’s freedom of religion, you know?”

Down on Church Street, one block east of the proposed Islamic center and two blocks from Ground Zero, men placed bets on horse racing at an Off-Track Betting facility. One bettor said he could see why the families of victims might get upset about the mosque and community center, but scoffed at the notion that the area around the betting parlor was hallowed ground.

“The bums used to sit right in front of it,” he said of the Park51 location, which would replace a former Burlington Coat Factory store damaged in the terrorist attack.

Speaking of prominent Republicans: there is no doubt that Sarah Palin is popular with many. But her appeal isn’t strong everywhere:

According to the Florida Times-Union, organizers of the event were very upfront and honest about why they decided to move, “An Evening With Sarah Palin” from the 2,936 seat Moran Theatre, to the 609 seat Terry Theatre, Florida Director for Heroic Media Mark Nelson admitted that there weren’t enough tickets sold to hold the event in the bigger building, “We would rather have a packed theater than a theater that’s not so packed.”

Not so packed, is a very polite way of saying, “Palin isn’t selling any tickets and if we hold this thing in the big building, we are going to look like idiots because it will be less than a quarter full.” How many tickets have been sold to the Jacksonville fundraiser? Considering that the venue holds 609 people and there are still some $50 tickets for sale on Ticketmaster, a generous sales estimate is probably somewhere in the 400-500 range, which means that the event organizers were expecting about 3,000 people, and instead will be lucky to get 20% of that total. (The Palin popularity myth has claimed another victim).

Note: she did much better when she came by here (near Peoria, IL) earlier this year:

A sold-out crowd of 1,100 people turned out for Palin’s speech, titled “You Don’t Need a Title to Make a Difference.” Audience members submitted questions for possible inclusion in a question-and-answer session after the speech.

Said U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria: “She’s definitely got a role in shaping American politics and American policy, and when she speaks, people listen.

“I thought she gave a very inspiring speech about some of the challenges she went through in her own life as mayor of Wasilla and governor of Alaska and as a candidate for the vice presidency of the United States,” he added.

Her speech was preceded by a $200-per-plate banquet. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Five Points capital projects fund and provide scholarships for area students.

“I’m not necessarily a Sarah Palin fan, but I think people in her position have interesting things to say. After all, she was the governor of Alaska,” said Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy. “I’m not necessarily a Joe Biden fan, but I listened to him, too, when he came to Peoria last month to speak on domestic violence because he has a passion for that and his speech was outstanding.”

Palin is just the latest political figure to stop in Illinois. Last month, Vice President Biden was the keynote speaker for The Center for Prevention of Abuse Partners in Peace event in Peoria. President George W. Bush’s former senior adviser Karl Rove was the keynote speaker at the Tazewell County Republicans Lincoln Day Brunch in East Peoria.

My psycho-babble take: Palin appeals to those who have a huge inferiority complex and our area has one. In short, she is probably popular with the uneducated Republicans and the “ACT of 20 and managed to cobble together a soft degree at a directional school” crowd; I doubt that the “Wharton School MBA Republican” set thinks highly of her.

Political Cartoon:

A bit more on President Obama: he has gotten a good deal done. The bad economy is driving his numbers down though.

Now THIS is something I call “Amazing”

I hear the words “amazing” and “awesome” applied very liberally.

THIS is an example of what I consider to be amazing upper body and core body strength.