Mitt Romney & Bain: Profits over people

When Mitt Willard Romney commented that he do could nothing about 47 percent of the American people because they were slackers and takers, he did not misspeak. His words were not taken out of context. When people believe they are not being recorded they often speak their minds. What Mr. Romney said was exactly what he intended to say and what he said was what he meant and what he believes. The media has failed miserably to deal with Romney's tour of duty at Bain Capital. This is an egregious error as Romney's tenure at Bain provides confirmation of Romney's beliefs and gives us a detailed perspective as to what kind of person he is - his core beliefs.

Gary Cohn is a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist. Most recently he's been engaged in writing a series of articles for Mesothelioma.com. His latest article, "A Promise Not Kept: Profits Over People," appeared yesterday on that website.

It begins thusly:


A Promise Not Kept

John Cottrell had health problems, but in his heart he believed he was covered. After all, GS Industries, the Kansas City steel company where he had worked for 30 years had guaranteed his health insurance and pensions in the event of a shutdown. John retired in poor health from asbestos-related respiratory problems in 2000, but he and his wife Shirley felt secure knowing that their most critical employee benefits were guaranteed for life.

Then everything changed. Bain Capital, the private equity firm which gained control of GS Industries in 1993, declared bankruptcy for the mill in 2007, and quickly shut down the plant. A few months later, Bain dropped another hammer on the workforce: it was reneging on its promise to cover the lifetime worker benefits. Suddenly, the Cottrell's future was very much in doubt.

"He thought these things couldn't be touched. He and the other workers trusted the company's promises." -- Shirley Cottrell

These are the personal stories of Coltrell and other GS Industry workers and how their peace of mind and medical safety net were ripped apart. It will portray the suffering on an individual level, and show the damage done when people's futures are controlled by a company that bases life-changing decisions primarily on financial considerations, regardless of the promises it made and the healthcare repercussions suffered by its workforce.

[...] Bain merged Worldwide [Grinding Systems] with a steel mill in South Carolina, and renamed the new company GS Industries (GSI). In 1997, it endured a nasty 10-week worker strike that was motivated by the union's skepticism that, if there was a shutdown, GSI had not earmarked sufficient reserves to cover its benefit and pension commitments.

Ultimately, a settlement was reached that increased employee pensions and guaranteed that employees would continue to receive health and life insurance, even if the plant closed down.

Which it did. In 2001, just one year after Coltrell retired with guaranteed lifetime benefits, Bain elected to put GSI into bankruptcy and close down the plant, along with its 750 jobs. The private equity firm then announced it would no longer honor its recent promise to cover employee healthcare and pension benefits if the plant closed.

Bain's decision under Romney is ironic, considering the candidate's recently released statement where he classified 47% of Americans as freeloaders who refuse to "take personal responsibility." The sole reason that GSI's workers did not lose their entire pension was because the mill's Bain-backed management applied for, and received, a bailout from the U.S. Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. This federal handout came to $44 million; a sum that covered only the non-supplemental portion of the workers' "guaranteed" pensions.  


Complicating matters is the fact that a number of workers contracted lung problems, including asbestosis, which "is a degenerative respiratory condition that often manifests as a pre-cursor to mesothelioma, an aggressive occupational-related cancer that develops in the lining of the lungs and abdominal cavity. There is no known cure for mesothelioma."

There is much more in Mr. Cohn's article with regard to the suffering of GSI's employees and the company's rejection of responsibiity for that suffering. And Mr. Romney's culpability is palpable.


"Romney ran Bain until 1999, when he left to run the Salt Lake City Olympics. He was in a position of oversee the majority of operational and financial changes the private equity firm made for GS Industries before Bain put it into bankruptcy in 2001. Despite his departure, Romney still maintained a significant financial stake in Bain, and continued to collect dividends from Bain afterwards."


From other sources, I understand that Romney did very well under Bain's vulture-like financial attacks; he personally profited to the tune of $20,000 for every employee who was fired or otherwise put out of work. Please read Mr. Cohn's complete article here. And then ask yourself if Romney is the kind of person you want in charge of the well-being of the citizens of the United States of America.

Is Paul Ryan Full of Beans?

You're gonna love this one.

From Americablog.com.

Last night at the VP debate, Ryan told a touching tale of how he and his wife viewed the 7-week ultrasound of their first-born child, and how the wee baby was in the shape of a bean, and so they decided to nickname the baby Liza, "Bean."

And that's when Mr. Ryan came to believe life begins at conception.

Isn't that sweet?  Do you have tears in your eyes?

Hah!


Did you know that Mr. Ryan was reported to be a fan of Nirvana, the band founded by Kurt Cobain?  Did you know that Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love named their daughter Francis Bean Cobain?  Here's how it happened:

"Frances Bean Cobain was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and was immediately anointed the world's newest rock princess. ... Kurt Cobain named his daughter after Frances McKee, the guitarist for The Vaselines, and gave here the middle named [sic] Bean because he thought she resembled a kidney bean on the ultrasound."

John Aravosis, of America Blog, suggests that perhaps Mr. Ryan misspoke, that perhaps he "named his daughter Bean because Cobain named his daughter Bean."

Or not.

Perhaps, as Aravosis also suggests, Ryan made up the story.  I mean, it's a good story.  Right?  And we know how Ryan has a history of telling lies.  "There was the time he claimed he climbed 40 of the Rocky Mountains."  And then he bragged about running a marathon in under three hours.   Then he said he didn't want stimulus money when he did.  I hadn't heard this one, but Avarosis says that Ryan once claimed to have just 6 percent body fat!

Is Ryan just another Republican liar like Romney?

You betcha, to quote another Republican liar!

Read the full story here.

The United States - Land of Insanity

Crooks and Liars is one of the most helpful sites on the Web with regard to understanding the craziness that infests these United States of America.

Today, on C & L, Josh Glasstetter describes a one-hour special on the Discovery Channel which featured none other than the old, despicable rocker, Ted Nugent.  Yes, that's right - the Discovery Channel - which, it seems, has concluded that anything is legit if it brings in viewers.

Glasstetter reminds us that Nugent is a "fanatic who threatened to kill President Obama and other officials and was investigated by the Secret Service in April.  In 2007, the Discovery Channel's new star wielded two machine guns while yelling, 'Obama, he's a piece of s--t.  I told him to suck on my machine gun.'  Then, raising up one [of] the guns, he said, 'Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch.'"

Nugent, a gun fancier and board member of the NRA, is probably insane.  Certainly, he acts as though he were insane.  This is nothing new.  "In 1990, he said he 'would have killed everybody,' including fellow Americans, if he had been in the service and sent to Vietnam."

Hmmm.  Maybe he's a coward, too, and dares shoot only people who can't shoot back!

There's more, which you can read here.


Nugent is but one nut on the wheel of craziness that seems to have rolled over our nation.  For example, in Spring Lake, New Jersey, the owner of a clothing store put up a window display which portrayed President Obama as a witch doctor.

The display consists of a Halloween skeleton with an Obama mask on top.  Underneath that is "an altered photo of Obama dressed as a witch doctor and a tombstone with the inscription, 'I told you I was sick.'"

The owner of Skuby & Co. Lifestyle Clothing claims this is not a racist thing but simply his way of expressing displeasure over the Affordable Care Act.

It is not only racist but indicates that the owner of the store is the one who is truly "sick"!


Then, in the great Lone Star State, some guy "lynched" an empty chair on his lawn.  When he was questioned about this by the Burnt Orange Report's chairman, the homeowner said "You can take [your concerns] and go straight to hell and take Obama with you.  I don't give a [expletive].  If you don't like it, don't come down my street."


[The two stories above came from Yahoo.com]


We expect that within a population of 300 million plus, we'll have a certain percentage of deranged persons.  I'm not sure what that number is but I'd guess it approximates 10 percent.  And that, of course, is why we have many thousands of psychologists and psychiatrists at work among us.

So, perhaps Nugent and the store owner and the Texas turd are not that unusual.  But we would hope for more sanity, not less, from our elected officials.  That, unfortunately, is not the case!

A Republican state representative from Wisconsin (who is endorsed by Paul Ryan), Roger Rivard from Rice Lake, made some interesting comments to a local newspaper relative to a case involving a 17-year-old high school senior accused of sexual assault because he had sex with a female minor in the band room of the school.

Rivard noted that his father had "warned him, 'Some girls rape easy,' - meaning that after the fact they can change what they say about whether or not the sex was consensual."

Three hours after those comments to the newspaper, Rivard put out a "clarification" statement, which spoke of sexual assault being "a crime that unfortunately is misunderstood and my comments have the potential to be misunderstood as well.  Rape is a horrible act of violence."

But what he means is "some girls rape easy."

Ryan had this to say at a breakfast buffet on August 9th at which time he introduced Rivard:  "Roger needs to be reaffirmed to get this job done and fix the state of Wisconsin."


And then there's Todd Akin, the Missouri moron.  Mr. Akin is still running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri.  He still thinks that women who have been "really raped" are able to use their bodies to shut down so they don't get pregnant.

Mr. Akin is the quintessential dumb-ass Republican ignoramus.  Why anyone would vote for this slimeball is beyond belief.  He's voted twice to do away with Medicare.  He wants to privatize Social Security, and he once said that student loans were like Stage III cancer.

What a guy!


You'll recall that in the debate last night, we had two Roman Catholics going at each other.  Well, that's what they call themselves but the reality is something else.  Biden, however, is at least able to separate his religious beliefs, especially those having to do with how sin is defined, from his political actions.

Ryan, not so much.  Except Ryan is no more Catholic than Fidel Castro.  Ryan has been and remains a devotee of the greedy and dastardly Ayn Rand.  Ryan claimed that his religion informs his belief for the need to take care of the poor.  Bullshit!  Perhaps he means that the church should take care of the poor while the government beats up on them in order to save the riches accumulated by the real crooks in this country

Ryan also said he believes that life begins at conception and that insane religious nonsense was conveniently ignored.  That is not a scientific view.  It is not reality.  It is a religious belief promoted by the Congregation for the Protection of Pedophiles, also known as the Roman Catholic Church.

But, what's really crazy is the fact that many, if not most of the sheeple who make up the Republican Party march down that same road of ignorance and superstition!


And then there's Mike Huckabee, a resolute Baptist preacher who has a really hard time telling the truth and following the directions of his so-called savior.  Huckabee landed in Florida a few days ago and spoke, naturally, at THE Baptist church in Ocala, which, like almost all Southern Baptist churches has become an adjunct of the far-right Republican Party.

Huckabee is a snake.  And thus he told the assembled group to vote their values.  Wink, wink.  And Christians who just sit back and don't get involved are, well, not such good Christians.  Wink, wink.

Huckabee said he wasn't there "to take a position for one party or another ... but I'll tell you one thing, I will not extend my vote and support for someone who does not believe that at the moment of conception a human life has been created."

And everyone applauded.  Everyone knew he was saying he wouldn't vote for Obama, but he would vote for a damn Mormon whom he doesn't even believe to be a Christian.  Wink, wink.

Oh, and gay marriage?  Forget it.  Not for Huckabee who was the ear of the Lord!  Marriage is between and a man and a woman, says Huckabee.  And if it happens that so-called evangelicals, with the highest divorce record in this country, happen to get married - one man to one woman - over and over again, well, so be it, at least they're not homosexual!  Wink, wink.


The Koch brothers, those very dangerous and treacherous siblings, who threaten our democracy day in and day out, are sponsors of the super PAC, Americans for Prosperity.  Americans for Prosperity is not appropriately titled:  It should be Rich Americans for the Prosperity of Rich Americans.

But, that's not the problem.  The problem is that Americans for Prosperity takes political positions and support politicians who are so far-right that they would fit perfectly in the Germany of the 1930s.

Consider this:  Americans for Prosperity have put out mailings "praising votes cast by two members of the Arkansas House of Representatives who have written in support of slavery.  These are state representatives Jon Hubbard and Loy Mauch, both of whom have a record of pro-slavery positions."

The Huffington Post reports that "Hubbard was revealed to have written that slavery may 'have been a blessing' in a 2010 book, while Mauch authored a series of letters to the editor in the last decade that espoused pro-slavery views, writing that former President Abraham Lincoln was a 'neurotic Northern war criminal' and comparing Lincoln and Civil War generals to Nazis."

We should note that Hubbard is a devoted Christian and claims he is about upholding "Christian values."

Jesus Christ!  People like this are a disgrace to the human race and Christ would not recognize their subhuman values!


One more.  An Arizona radio host, a Republican, by name of Barbara Espinoza, doesn't care if anyone knows she a racist.  She has publicly called President Obama the "first monkey president."  When challenged, she claims she was merely exercising her first amendment right of free speech.

She also exercised her right to be considered a total fool with a damaged set of core values and  someone who's undoubtedly missing certain parts of her brain.


Speaking of that, and in conclusion, we have to point to another Republican, the notorious Joe Walsh, of Illinois, who often opens his mouth at which time out spews garbage.  Walsh is divorced, like the majority of evangelicals who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman no matter how many times they do it.

Walsh is very worried about our nation's debt.  It's a lot easier to worry about the nation's debt than the fact that millions of people in this country go to bed hungry at night and millions more have no access to health care.  Of course, if you believe these people are slackers and takers, that makes it less of a problem.

But Walsh, terribly worried about the debt, on July 13, 2011, said that Washington (the government, I suppose he means) must not put "one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids."

Please note that at the time, Mr. Walsh owed $98,422 in back child support!


Insanity rules!

 

Rachel Maddow pans anti-science Republicans

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Paul Broun, ignoramus extraordinaire!

Paul Broun is a U.S.  Representative from Georgia.  He is also an MD. Unfortunately, he is stupid and ignorant!  He doesn't believe in science.  Naturally, the Republicans put him on the House Science Committee!

Mr. Broun has said many really ignorant things in the past but this time he's proven he's also a lunatic and does not belong in our Congress or any law-making body.  He's a fanatic christianist who cares nothing for science, or evidence, or reality!


But his previous lunacy has followed the path of most christianist fundy politicians:

Broun has voted to ban federal health coverage that includes abortion.  He sponsored a bill to define life beginning at fertilization.  He voted to ban federal funding for Planned Parenthood.  He wants to declare the unborn persons under the 14th amendment.

Broun voted to end the Home Affordable mortgage program.  Voted NO on the stimulus program.  Voted NO on an economic recovery package.  Voted NO on monitoring TARP funds to ensure mortgage relief.  Voted NO on the GM and Chrysler bailout.

This nogoodnik voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation.  He wants to amend the Constitution to define "traditional marriage." He voted against enforcement of anti-gay hate crimes.

His record is almost entirely negative when it comes to funding for education.  On energy, he's a typical Republican bought and paid for by the oil and gas industries.  He wants more drilling, and he doesn't want the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases.  Anything to do with protecting our environment, Broun is against.  And he's a prodigy of the NRA, believing that most everyone should have guns almost everywhere!

Health?  Well, he's an MD, but he's against it.  He voted to defund Obamacare and voted against any resolution that would offer more health care opportunities to the American public.


But he loves Jesus and the Bible.  So, back in 2007 he suggested that Congress "Recognize Christianity's importance to western civilization, and in April of last year, he wanted to "Designate [the] first weekend in May as Ten Commandments Weekend.


The man is a nasty piece of work which he proved last month when he got up in a Baptist church and said:

"All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell. ...  And it's lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior."

Jesus Christ!  This clown is on the House Science Committee!  Talk about irony!  Talk about stupidity!

Evolution isn't in question - it's the basis of everything we know about life on earth!  Without evolution we're absolutely lost.  Science is our way of understanding the universe and who we are!  Evolution is true.  The Bible is not!

Perhaps we need a method of recalling our representatives if they prove to be so stupid they are a danger to themselves and the rest of the nation.  Broun would qualify.

There was a report today that climate change is impacting our life much more rapidly than we had thought.  What the scientists believed was decades away, is happening right now and nations in the South Seas will need to take immediate action to save their populations.  The ice is melting and the seas are rising.  Broun, being a relatively young man, may live to see the waves wash over him even as he pontificates about religious nonsense and fights any attempt to deal with global warming!

Couldn't happen to a more stupid person!

You can read more about Broun's speech at the Liberty Baptist Church here.

Christianist pastors plan to preach politics from the pulpit

Christian pastors plan to defy the government on Sunday!

This particular witches cauldron has been brewing for some time.   Fundy Christianists following the fascist right believe their "religious" rights are being trod upon if they can't tread upon the U.S. Constitution and its notion of separation of church and state.

Part of the problem for the rest of us is that Christian fascists have been treading upon us for some time but under different venues.  They've submerged their nastiness by supporting far right causes and programs under different names, such as Americans for Prosperity, for years.

 Now these unchristian pastors plan to give the IRS (and the rest of us) the finger by participating in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday."  Fourteen hundred christian fascist pastors plan to stand in front of their congregations "preaching biblical Truth about candidates and elections" tomorrow, October 7.

This is against the law.  The IRS has specified that tax-exempt organizations such as churches may not preach politics from the pulpit; they may not "campaign for or against political candidates."

This so-called "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" is, as noted by Salon, "a project of the Alliance Defending Freedom ... [a] Christian legal group which specializes in taking cases where they think 'religious liberty' is at stake.  Christian pastors have a right to preach whatever they wish from their own pulpits,  says the ADF.

It would be fun to test their theory about "rights" by having an Imam stand in front of his Muslim followers and preach a sermon favoring the take-over of the country by Islamists, specifically naming a Muslim leader chosen to complete such a project - in the name of Allah, of course.

Fundamentalist Christianists like to yammer about the anti-Christ, scaring the bejesus out of their parishioners.  The truth is they are the ones who are anti-Jesus.  Almost everything they say and do is opposite of what Jesus either taught or the way he lived--according to the Gospel tales.  Jesus said  "Pay your taxes to Caesar" and shut up.  Stop whining.  Get about God's work on earth - take care of the poor and the needy.  Don't be a hypocrite.  Don't pray in public.  Turn the other check.  Walk the extra mile.  Visit the sick and those in prison.  Jesus said if you are a rich person you're not going to get into the heavenly kingdom.  Jesus never spoke of turning Rome into a Christian empire.  He never mentioned overthrowing the temple and turning Palestine into a Christian state!  He said to obey the law and that he came to fulfill the Jewish Law!

If Jesus were to return to earth today, he would be appalled at what goes on in his name by these fundamentalist christianists who spend their time telling other people how to live their lives, or turning their religious beliefs (which have nothing to do with Jesus) into law, or trying to promote their biblical illiteracy in our schools and our military and our government!

Jesus would not recognize groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom.  Such a group is contrary to everything he taught. 

Personally, I hope all 1400 of these unchristian pastors get arrested and tossed in jail for breaking the law.  What's funny is that these christianist churches are exempt from paying taxes (even though Jesus said they should pay taxes); they get all kinds of tax breaks for their schools and parsonages and other pursuits!  Soldiers in Iraq still carry weapons with Bible verses inscribed on them! 

The government is not anti-Christian, it promotes Christianity and for many of us that is an abomination!  And unconstitutional. 

And finally, Christianist fundys, as we have noted, are, almost without exception, tied into the fascist right in this country.  They are ultra-conservative and serve the rich and powerful.  They are against science, freedom for people different than themselves, people in need and the sick.  They are skilled liars operating on the principle that "the ends justifies the means," and thus fundy Christianists such as Sarah Palin can fantasize about health care "death panels" even though she has to know there is not, and never has been, any such thing!  They lie about capitalism and about socialism.  They do not follow Jesus, no matter what they claim, but rather use Jesus to bolster their right-wing political ideology.  They are fascist because many of their leaders have stated publicly that if they ever gain power they will ignore our constitution and enact new laws based on their understanding of the Bible, a collection of material written by ancient and ignorant men who knew nothing of science and thus precious little as to how the world really works and how life came to be on this miserly little planet.


As someone once said, "God save us from his followers"!

The 1st debate compliments of Jimmy Fallon

Romney & crew exploit old video to bring Obama down

Thanks to my good friend, Art Woodstone, for the following precise critique of Mr. Romney and gang.  Mr. Woodstone never fails to undercut the pretensions of politicians who would have us believe their lies are true!

If you don't read Drudge or the Daily Caller or watch Fox News, you may have missed this:  a 2007 video of then-Senator Obama praising the Reverend Wright and blaming governmental ineptitude and inefficiency in response to the Katrina disaster on white racism.   Romney's gang dug the video out of the files and are now trying to breathe life into their "discovery" to prove Obama is a threat to our country and the human race!

The Republicans tried to exploit the same video in the campaign of 2008 without obvious success.  But when you're desperate and you're Romney, it seems you willingly rely on the devil and his disciples for help.

The re-emergence of this video reflects the extreme lengths to which Romney and his cohorts, most of them way way right of sanity, will go to see their candidate elected.  This video is merely the particular method they are busy exploiting this week.   And that leads to a question or three.  Will the Goebbels gang ever stop attacking Obama?  No!  That's their sole purpose in this presidential contest.  Thus they're using this video to cast aspersions on the president's character feigning outrage that Obama would play the "race" card, as if racism had nothing to do with the government's farcical response to Hurricane Katrina.  

Does the Romney gang honestly think a) Bush's boys did enough and b) that there wasn't an element of racism in their lack of performance?  Whether they believe that or not, these "geniuses" from Drudge and the Daily Caller are bending over backward to fault Obama for his 2007 speech and to pour salt into the wound would also have the American people believe that praising the loudmouth Wright constitutes a fatal character flaw in our President.   Right?

Okay.  In that case, it's only fair that we examine a flaw or two in the character of the man Drudge and the Daily Caller would prefer to lead us as president.  In a moment of honesty, while speaking to his rich friends, he said he's not going to worry about the 47 percent (which undeniably includes the black majority in New Orleans devastated by Katrina) as they don't contribute to society [or to his campaign].

What does that say about the character of Mr. Romney?   It says he honestly doesn't care about almost half of the American people as he believes they are not worthy of his respect or support.

Furthermore, also relating to Romney's character or lack thereof, he obviously has no problem with his gang weaving long strands of lies into the fabric of his campaign.  Romney has had ample opportunity to tell these hate mongers who embrace the seductive mantra from the legacy of the Nazi, Joseph Goebbels, [who believed telling a lie often enough transforms it into truth] that he rejects their support and repudiates their distortions and outright falsehoods, as [in theory] he would any band of outlaws who lie solely to bring down another human being.

But Mr. Romney chooses not to do that.  Which makes him an accomplice in this maelstrom of lies.  So much for "character"!

Lies by Ann & Mitt - The Letterman Show

New Romney Ad edited by Democrats

Born with a silver spoon

 The Candidate

I was not born

With a silver spoon

He said

Eyes glinting

Chin jutting

Brow furrowed  

A creeping smile

Slithering across

His political

Face.

We lived in a

Basement apartment

Like regular folks

She said

Stepping out of a 

60s sitcom

All fluff

And full of lace

As is right

For a woman

Who knows

Her place.

They said

We had to live

On returns 

From investments

It was hard

We even got

Regular haircuts

And ate at McDonalds

Unless daddy and mommy

Took us out

Or gave us money

For the rent.

We know all

About you

Poor folks

Struggling to

Pay the bills

And feed the kids

With college ahead

We suggest you

Get money from

Your folks and

Live in a tent.

And when you

Get old

Become a Mormon

Mormons take care

Of one another

By piling up money

And stowing it

Away for a

Rainy day

So Mormons

Don't need

No government.

They do it all themselves!

Image from here.

From Australia re "cranks and crazies" in the Republican Party

Together as one: Honoring Team USA at the White House

This is from the White House blog. Read the full story here.

Dear Candidate Romney

[The following was written by my good friend, Dianne W. She knows whereof she speaks and calls Mr. Romney (and his friends) to account!]

Dear Candidate Romney

I read what you are quoted as telling a group of $50,000 a plate donors about people like me (see bottom of post).  I read it several times.  I scoured the Internet looking for places where someone at the closed-door gathering might be offering a different recollection.

Then I came to the conclusion that you said what you said and meant what you said.

You claim you were quoted out of context - uh, there's a video - and that your comments were not elegantly stated?  Were you wearing the wrong tuxedo when you said them?

As a member of the 47%, I'd like to share some thoughts and facts (those are things that are true) with you.

Go fuck yourself and the rich Daddy you rode in on!

I have worked since I was 13 years old.

I was raised by an alcoholic father and a clinically-depressed mother.  My siblings and I were neglected and abused all of our childhood.  But we went to school.  We studied.  We worked hard to get out.  We got out.

I have paid taxes since my very first "real" job.

When I was promoted to EVP and board member of a large international firm I paid more in taxes than many people earn in a year.  I never once cheated.  I never once loop-holed.  I had enough money to live comfortably.  Why shouldn't I pay taxes?

When the once private firm where I had worked diligently for years was sold and sold again and then cut up into pieces and decimated by a firm similar to your Bain Capital, I lost my job.  Hundreds of people lost their jobs.

The people who bought and sold us got very rich!

I sat in on board meetings where laws were laughed at and where intricate plans were made to get around regulations.  I regret not trying to be a whistle-blower, but I had a child to care for.  And the people who were taking the company apart scared me.

I was much younger then; they wouldn't scare me today.  Today, I'm scared of dying from lack of proper healthcare.  Today, I'm scared of losing my home. 


After losing my job I started my own business.

Yes, I started it on my own but it was on a street that was built and maintained by city road crews.  When I worked late I felt safe because there were police officers paid by the government.  That's what President Obama meant when he said no one does it alone.

You tried to spin his comments into some of kind of political bullshit that would benefit your goal to reach the White House.

As a small-business owner, I paid my taxes.  I insured myself and my workers.  I treated them fairly and respected their talents and their humanity.

My healthcare insurance came to $1,500 per month and my disability insurance cost another $200 per month.  These insurances came from the same insurance carrier that had "loved" me and cared about me for the 20 years I was a paying customer.

Then I got hurt!  Then a chronic health issue that I had managed all of my life took a nasty turn.  It was hard to work and I decided to apply for some of the benefits I had been sold.

Guess what, Mitt or Mitch?  Insurance companies don't like keeping promises, especially if it costs them money.  Four years later I am still fighting for full coverage!

I'm also still paying my bills and paying taxes.

I am not fodder for you and your richie rich pals to laugh at!

I am not a sound byte for your pathetic campaign!

Next we'll talk about how you really feel about the Palestinians and Israel.  I'll be writing again, soon, Mitt.  Have a nice day.

[From the Mother Jones website - and everywhere else in the universe:

Mitt said:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.  All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.  That that's an entitlement.  And the government should give it to them.  And they will vote for this president no matter what...These are people who pay no income tax.

My job is not to worry about those people.  I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

 

Sam Harris - On the Freedom to Offend an Imaginary God

In his latest article, "On the Freedom to Offend an Imaginary God," Sam Harris, with no apologies to anyone, defends freedom of speech.  In these United States, we can disparage God, Allah, Buddha or any other imaginary deity.  We can spout nasty things about Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism or any other religion.  We can decry religious leaders whether they are popes, imams, priests, or other kinds of shamans.

Not only so, but it is the responsibility of our government to defend the right to free speech in our country and around the world.  That is not to say we should tell other countries how to live or what to believe, but to tell them in no uncertain terms that we live with and believe in freedom of speech and no ideology or religion is so sacrosanct as to be exempt from criticism or ridicule.

Harris begins his article referencing the "Muslim hysteria and violence" in the Middle East which resulted from "an unwatchable Internet video titled 'Innocence of Muslims.'"

While not a follower of Mr. Romney, Harris mentions that Romney's critique of the Obama administration, while mainly a political maneuver gone wrong, had some value in principal and that our government "struck the same note of apology, disavowing the offending speech while claiming to protect free speech in principle."

To make matters worse, the government tried to shut up Pastor Terry Jones, the nutcase who burns Qur'ans for fun in Gainesville, Florida.  The government went further asking that Google rid its servers of the video.

Such actions, says Harris, reflects "one of two psychological and diplomatic realities.  Either our government is unwilling to address the problem at hand, or the problem is so vast and terrifying that we have decided to placate the barbarians at the gate."

Harris goes on to spell out what he calls "The contagion of moral cowardice ... wherein liberal journalists and pundits began to reconsider our most basic freedoms in light of the sadomasochistic fury known as 'religious sensitivity' among Muslims."

Some people think it's not religion that's the problem.  The problem is a "history of western aggression in the region.  It is our policies, rather than our freedoms, that they hate."  That is "self-deception," says Harris.  "Religion only works as a pretext for political violence because many millions of people actually believe what they say they believe: that imaginary crimes like blasphemy and apostasy are killing offenses."

Nor, says Harris, are all religions the same.  He references Mormonism which is not "just like every other religion."  It is especially wacky and screwed up.  "Mormonism is the product of the plagiarisms and confabulations of an obvious con man, Joseph Smith ... [] Given how much we know about Smith, it is harder to be a Mormon than it is to be a Christian.  A firmer embrace of the preposterous is required---and the fact that Romney can manage it says something about him, just as if he were a Scientologist proposing to park his E-meter in the Oval Office."

The point, Harris, reminds us, is that we can say whatever we want about Mormonism and Joseph Smith.  We will not be murdered or put in jail because of what we say.  I would add that Romney's Mormonism is fair game and it's surprising that so many Christians are supporting him.  Well, maybe it's not surprising at all for the fact is that for many Christians today their religion is merely a vehicle to gain political power.

Sadly, Harris is right when he says "The freedom to think out loud on certain topics, without fear of being hounded into hiding or killed has already been lost.  And the only forces on earth that can recover it are strong, secular governments that will face down charges of blasphemy with scorn.  No apologies necessary.  Muslims must learn that if they make belligerent and fanatical claims upon the tolerance of free societies, they will meet the limits of that tolerance."

Unfortunately, the United States government, being largely co-opted by Christianist religionists is moving in the opposite direction.  No one who disparages the Christian religion in any of its myriad incarnations could be elected to any political office in this country.  Christian fanatics would protest en masse at his or her election headquarters.  Millions of Americans believe that the founders of the United States were "evangelical" Christians who were about establishing a Christian nation "under God," even though that is light years away from the truth.  They are easily offended by those who do not believe in their imaginary deity.

It has become evident in recent years that a substantial number of our citizens neither understand nor concern themselves about the right of free speech.  In fact, when people on the street have been polled regarding the Bill of Rights, a majority express a dislike for the freedoms therein.

Finally, it has been said that freedom of speech is not absolute.  One is not free to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater.  I accept that.  But yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater is not equivalent to disparaging imaginary deities or religious figures.

So, just to be clear:  I think Scientology is utterly stupid and L. Ron Hubbard was a deceitful, greedy, moron!  I would say the same about Mormonism and Joseph Smith!  Roman Catholicism and its hierarchy is likewise a perverse exercise in imaginary gods and magical rituals. 

Please read Mr. Harris' entire article here.

Rachel Maddow (with David Corn) - How Romney really feels

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Rachel Maddow - The Fox News/Romney link

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Jon Stewart - Actual apocalypse - 2012

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Mitt Romney - Peace between Israel & the Palestinians isn't possible

Another video leaked to Mother Jones.

What Mitt Romney really thinks of Americans

h/t to my friend Jose M.

Barack Obama, the Mideast and Mr. Romney

The following was written by my erudite friend, Bob Poris, in response to articles in some German newspapers dealing with the relationship between the United States (and thus President Obama) and the Middle East.  

The newspapers cited were:  Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Berliner Zeitung; and the Suddeutsche Zeitung.


There is a lot of nonsense perpetrated by these newspapers.

Obama's speech to the Muslim world when he addressed them was not designed to do anything but promise he was open to dialogue after many years of their being ignored.

His waging of both wars has been more effective than his predecessors and he has ended one war and reduced our participation in the other by following the advice of the generals rather than a bunch of neocons and hawks.  He has done more in three years to devastate al Qaeda by killing off their leaders and large numbers of radical Islamists than Bush did in eight years!  He reopened the search for bin Laden and ordered the attack that killed him.  He assisted in the removed of Gaddafi and has been wise enough not to interfere in Syria or other Arab nations since the Arab Spring.

He has increased the effectiveness of sanctions against Iran as WE ARE NOT PREPARED TO GO TO WAR WITH IRAN!  He has sent badly-needed equipment including bombs and other devices to strengthen Israel's military.  He stays in contact with Israel's leaders and military officers.  Thus far President Obama has consistently stood up for Israel at the U.N. and has never withheld requests for arms or aid, in contrast to his predecessors!

Obama was wise to take the time to assess events in the Arab world created by the notorious anti-Islam film.  HE DID NOT APOLOGIZE, NOR HAS HE SHOWN WEAKNESS WHILE WAITING FOR THE FACTS TO BE KNOWN.  (ROMNEY SHOULD HAVE WAITED BUT HE DID NOT!)  Obama's phone call to Egypt was obviously effective and things changed overnight.  What should we have done, started a war?  We have not changed our laws regarding freedom of speech or religion.  It would be nice if the critics could come up with valid suggestions as to how we could change our laws without giving up the freedoms most of us value.

It is a fact that we do not "own" the dictators or kings of the Middle East.  Some of these leaders are new to fair elections.  Sometimes we do not like the results of these elections.  We could not have saved Mubarack in Egypt!  Due to the Arab Spring, the situation has changed in the Middle East.  What has happened has been beyond our reach or control.  Now we are trying to ensure the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt holds.  It is very important that Israel does not have to divert troops, arms and money to secure the border with Egypt, especially when the Iran situation could blow up leading to multiple rocket attacks from Lebanon and Gaza.

The Middle East is extremely volatile and no one knows how individual Arab countries will eventually come to grips with the current reality.  Then there are those who, for whatever reason, want to suggest that Obama snubbed Netanyahu.  But that NEVER HAPPENED!  The person who promoted that lie did no favor to either the U.S. or Israel.  It would appear to be politically motivated.  Our politics should not interfere with our foreign affairs.  The same is true relative to Israel's politics.  It is shameful that Mr. Adelson interferes in both countries!  Romney's interference was also not warranted and led to increasing the problem rather than to a solution.  Romney was not helpful during this crisis and it became quite clear that he is unprepared to handle our country's foreign affairs if he should be elected to the presidency.

I do not usually read the German newspapers, so I will not respond to them directly.  I am glad the German government is generally on good terms with Israel.  At this time we need to present a united front to the world, especially when war(s) threatens.  For some reason, Romney has deviated from the long-term practice of keeping politics out of the country's foreign affairs when a crisis looms.  To try to weaken the president for political gain is foolish at best and indicates that Romney cares less for the country than for his own political prospects.  He also forgets or does not understand that his comments now will not be forgotten by foreign governments if he becomes president.

At the moment, Romney is considered a joke by Mr. Putin, by the British as a whole, and by the people in Poland.  His has not been an auspicious start in gaining the confidence of the world's leadership.

Obama - our best hope

The following is from an article in the Easy Chair section of the October 2012 issue of Harper's Magazine, entitled "The Maintenance Crew," by Thomas Frank.

   The central longing of presidential hero worship is to be led in some great adventure or act of national daring.  Mailer's reverential portrait of Kennedy, for example, dwelled on the candidate's existential promise, by which the novelist meant (if he meant anything at all) that JFK would gratify our 'pioneer lust for the unexpected and the incalculable.'

   Our need for the opposite is the reason I will vote to keep Barack Obama in the White House this fall.  We have an existential option before us, all right: an amazingly reinvigorated G.O.P. that has launched itself on a passionate crusade for pure capitalism.  It offers idealism and energy, it rages against government and regulation ... and it promises a huge serving of the unexpected and the incalculable.

   [...]  We really have no idea what will happen should they [the G.O.P.] take over the machinery of the state in January 2013.

   We know about the tax cuts they will enact, of course, and how those will defund operations in Washington.  We can guess pretty accurately how social-insurance programs will be crippled, how federal services will be outsourced, and how oversight agencies will be sabotaged.  But the right's holy war against every form of government involvement in the private sector---the Ayn Rand position that the G.O.P adopted after the financial crisis---this is something we haven't seen for a century or more.  They tell us it's a way to 'take back America,' but there is no recent chapter of American history to which we might turn for guidance or comparison.

   That's the path of boldness this year; an amped-up wrecking crew, turned loose on what remains of John Kenneth Galbraith's new industrial state.  Freedom through devastation---it's something of a utopian program, offered, ironically enough, by the so-called conservatives.

   I myself will decline to take that existential leap.  We know now that Barack Obama is no Superman.  He has been unimaginative and conventional.  On his watch, the banks got bigger.  The oceans continued to rise.  The wars sputtered on.  But at least he has been a conscientious administrator of the state.  He is not flamboyantly corrupt, in the manner of Tom DeLay and his congressional cohort, or gleefully perverse, in the manner of the Bush Administration's Department of Labor.  And that makes the choice easy for me, despite my disappointment:  I will choose the safe over the venturesome, the maintenance crew over the wrecking crew.  It doesn't make for a soaring slogan or an existential journey, but it's the best we can hope for this time around.

Science Proves the Existence of Heaven and Hell

[Disclaimer:  This piece was sent to me by a friend.  I do not know who is the author.  Please note the story may be legend, but that does not deny the validity of its message.]


The following involves a "bonus" question given on a University of Washington mid-term exam.  One student's answer was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet which is the reason we can enjoy it as well.

Bonus question:  Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.


One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time.  So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving.  I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave.  Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.  Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to hell.  Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.  With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume of Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1)  If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2)  If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'it will be a cold day in Hell before I go out with you,' and take into account the fact that I went out with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct. ... leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting, 'Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY 'A.'

h/t to Art Woodstone

Is your religious liberty at risk

We found what follows at Crooks and Liars.  Please check out their website for more interesting and stimulating articles written on an adult level.

We hear a lot these days from fundamentalist Christians and Roman Catholic prelates as to how their religious liberty is at risk.  It's hard to imagine how that can be the case if you don't have a Catholic or fundamentalist mindset.  If you do have such a mindset, then you might think because other people might have access to birth control and you disbelieve in birth control, your religious liberty is at risk.

Welcome to the wacky world of 2012, where Up is Down, East is West and North is South.

A Unitarian minister by name of the Rev. Emily Heath has put together a questionaire which is very helpful for those who are feeling put upon and think that the atheists and liberals, et. al., have put their religious liberty at risk.  The Rev. Heath says:

"I'm a religious person with a lifelong passion for civil rights, so this is of great interest to me.  So much so, that I believe we all need to determine whether our religious liberties are indeed at risk.  So, as a public service, I've come up with this little quiz.  I call it 'How to Determine if Your Religious Liberty Is Being Threatened in Just 10 Quick Questions.'  Just pick 'A' or 'B' for each question."

1.  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  I am not allowed to go to a religious service of my own choosing.

     B)  Others are allowed to go to a religious service of their own choosing.

2.  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  I am not allowed to marry the person I love legally, even though my religious community blesses my marriage.

     B)  Some states refuse to enforce my own particular religious beliefs on marriage on those two guys in line down at the courthouse.

3)  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  I am being forced to use birth control.

     B)  I am unable to force others to use birth control.

4)  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  I am not allowed to pray privately.

     B)  I am not allowed to force others to pray the prayers of my faith publicly.

5)  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  Being a member of my faith means that I can be bullied without legal recourse.

     B)  I am no longer allowed to use my faith to bully gay kids with impunity.

6)  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  I am not allowed to purchase, read or possess religious books or material.

     B)  Others are allowed to have access [to] books, movies and websites that I do not like.

7)  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  My religious group is not allowed equal protection under the establishment clause.

     B)  My religious group is not allowed to use public funds, buildings and resources as we would like, for whatever  purposes we might like.

8)  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  Another religious group has been declared the official faith of my country.

     B)  My own religious group is not given status as the official faith of my country.

9)  My religious liberty is at risk because:

     A)  My religious community is not allowed to build a house of worship in my community.

     B)  A religious community I do not like wants to build a house of worship in my community.

10)  My religious liberty is at risk because:

        A)  I am not allowed to reach my children the creation stories of our faith at home.

        B)  Public school science classes are teaching science.

Scoring key:

If you answered "A" to any question, then perhaps your religious liberty is indeed at stake.  You and your faith group have every right to now advocate for equal protection under the law.  But just remember this one, little, constitutional concept:  this means you can  fight for your equality -- not your superiority.

If you answered "B" to any question, then not only is your religious liberty not at stake, but there is a strong chance that you are oppressing the religious liberties of others.  This is the point where I would invite you to refer back to the tenets of your faith, especially the ones about your neighbors.

Colonels in Mirrored Sunglasses by Greg Palast

Colonels in Mirrored Sunglasses

An Excerpt from Greg Palast's brand new book Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Elections in 9 Easy Steps Greg Palast with comics by Ted Rall, introduction by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Chapter One: Colonels in Mirrored Sunglasses

Here are the facts, ma'am: In the 2008 election, no less than:

• 767,023 provisional ballots were cast and not counted;
• 1,451,116 ballots were "spoiled," not counted;
• 488,136 absentee ballots were mailed in, but not counted.

Add it up: in the last presidential election, no less than 2,706,275 ballots were cast—and never counted. I have not included a quarter million (251,936) provisional ballots counted only in part (that is, for some offices). That's the official number I've calculated from the records of the US Election Assistance Commission. Approximately three million votes flushed away are ugly enough. But it gets worse. In addition to the roughly three million ballots cast and not counted, no less than:

• 2,383,587 would-be voters had their registrations rejected;
• 491,952 voters already registered were wrongly purged from the rolls; and
• 320,000 properly registered voters were simply turned away from the polls when they tried to vote, mostly for not having IDs acceptable to a poll worker.

Add it up again and total grows to no less than 5,901,814 legitimate votes and voters tossed out of the count. Let’s call it the Missing Six Million. Karl Rove, when he was senior advisor to President George W. Bush, summed it up perfectly:

“We are beginning to look like we have elections like those run in countries where the guys in charge are, you know, colonels in mirrored sunglasses.”

Rove is not complaining, he’s boasting about his own accomplishments. But for strategist Rove, six million isn’t enough. Through several front organizations and affiliates, Rove and his comrades have launched a campaign making brilliant use of the tactics originating from the Red Scare and the War on Terror.

Now, instead of the communist lurking under your bed or the al-Qaeda sleeper cell next door, they’ve created a new monster to fear, to hunt, and to destroy: the Fraudulent Voter.

There aren’t any, of course. Or, to be accurate, so few you can literally count them on your fingers—about six in any year—not six million, half a dozen jerks convicted of voting illegally. In the whole country.

But in Rove’s echo chamber of fear, in the Voter-Fraud Hysteria Factory, these six become so threatening and dangerous that they will be used to take away the vote from six million. Tracking ballot-bending tricksters, figuring out how they game US elections and snatch the choice away from the electorate, that’s my job, my beat for more than a decade, for the Guardian newspaper and BBC television, and in 2008, for Rolling Stone.

I started covering the election games in November 2000 when I got my hands on two computer disks from the office of Secretary of State Katherine Harris of Florida. My team cracked the computer codes and found the names of ninety-one thousand criminals—felons—Harris listed to purge from voter rolls. We went through Harris’s list name by name. We didn't find felons. But most were guilty of VWB: Voting While Black. “Purging” is one way to get rid of legal voters. There are eight more tricks, and I’ll take you through each in turn. It was bad in 2000. It was worse in 2004 and 2008. But in 2012, it will be much worse. And in 2016, worse than in 2012.

Chapter Two:
"Why Obama is Likely to Lose in 2012"

"Why Obama Is Likely to Lose in 2012" is the title of a column Karl Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal in June 2011. It’s not Rove’s prediction: this is his plan to make sure Obama will lose. That's fine with me—if Rove prefers vanilla to chocolate, hey, it's a free country. But how Rove plans to take Obama down is contained in the subhead, and it gives me the chills...


... Read the rest in Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps

There it is!!! Republicans just don't get it!

Eric Cantor, a Republican, the Republican Majority Leader, just doesn't get it.  He can't be stupid, can he?  Not long ago I read an article that described how the brains of conservatives and liberals differ. There's something missing in the brains of conservatives.  Maybe that's Cantor's problem.  Maybe that's why he just doesn't get it!

The New Civil Rights Movement explains:

One hundred and eighteen years ago, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation which set aside the first Monday in September as a day to celebrate the laborers among us.  Labor Day was made a legal holiday "in all states, territories and the District of Columbia."

This from the U.S. Department of Labor (A department many of our Republican nogoodniks wish to delete from the government):

"Created by the nation's labor movement and dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers, Labor Day is an annual yearly tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."


One of the characteristics of the oligarchy that has ruled our country for so many years, is hostility toward the labor movement and our workers.  The Christian Republican Party carries on this tradition.  It's the wealthy who deserve praise on Labor Day, don't you know?

So, Eric Cantor, even though of the Jewish persuasion, remains a Very Important Representative of the Christian Republican Party.  Cantor, to commemorate this Labor Day, said:

"Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success."

The New Civil Rights Movement calls Cantor's statement "a shocking moment of tone-deafness and hostility to the accomplishments of unions and the working class. [...] a Labor Day message in support of corporations and management..."

Cantor, like most Republicans, just doesn't get it!  And there it is!!!

There it is!!! Republicans fear women!

There it is!!!

Musings on Labor Day - 2012

The man representing the privileged class, from which comes the oligarchy who run this country, claims to be able to empathize with the middle-class, the poor, the sick and the elderly.

How does he do that?  Well, here's one example.  A few days ago, while touring the areas damaged by Hurricane Isaac, he responded to one woman's plea for help by telling her to go home and call 211!

And here's another.  From an article in the Huffington Post:

"Romney took a midmorning boat ride, pulling up to a dock to fuel up his 29-foot Sea Ray and pick up a jet ski that had been in for repairs.

"In his Labor Day statement, Romney said, 'For far too many Americans, today is another day of worrying when their next paycheck will come.'"

He failed to say how he would address the problem.  As usual.

With Republicans, it's all smoke and mirrors!

The Republican Jesus

I'm sorry, but I can't remember the source of this photo.

What the hell could possibly go wrong

From a friend.

A Normal and Sane Republican Convention

This was stolen from Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors. Thanks, Tengrain!