Loose Lips Sink Ships!

OK, kiddie-winkers, it looks like incoming missile time again. Between now and Rosh HaShana [1], it looks like there may be air strikes on Syria.

If Syria is attacked, you know Syria (and others) will be shooting rockets and missiles at Israel at an increased rate. They just are. Iron Dome is good but it’s not 100% perfect. So…

Iron_Dome_near_Sderot

Here’s a reminder about a basic fundamental Facebook / Twitter ground rule.

DO NOT POST on Facebook or tweet on Twitter where missiles land in Israel. If they miss and you say “Missiles landed just off the beach in Tel Aviv!” it lets the enemy know to adjust the trajectory accordingly.

Iron Dome

Keep it vague. Keep it safe. As they used to say in the olden days, “Loose Lips Sink Ships!”

It’s even more true today than it was in times past.

We know it’s coming. Let’s get the word out early this time!

Please share.

aa-tribalfang________________________________________________________

[1] This year, Rosh HaShana begins Wednesday evening September 4th.

The Great Divide (reblogged from Lust & Rum)

Powerful imagery from the man behind the lens behind the Lust & Rum blog. This piece stopped me in my tracks!

aa-tribalfang

LUST & RUM

New York City has always been a place of contrast and struggle. The gap between the privileged rich and the dirt poor has never been wider. Emphasized this week by the rolling, opulent bandwagon that is NY Fashion Week. A heady, shimmering display of extravagance and indulgence. As a photographer at the event, I guess I am part of it. Helping to feed and perpetuate this glittering circus and earn a living along the way. All of the images below are mine but I think the last one puts the whole thing into perspective.

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100 Things You Can Say To Irritate A Republican

I found this wonderfully amusing article at AddictingInfo.com.

This happened very shortly after I had to take an ultra-conservative acquaintance of mine, sit her down and explain, “It’s President Barak Obama. It’s not President Mitt Romney. It’s not President John McCain. You lost those elections. BADLY! Keep up your far-right ranting and you’re going to lose again… and probably get President Hillary Clinton.”

I thought she was going to have a stroke.

ANYWAY… direct from AddictingInfo.com…

100 Things You Can Say To Irritate A Republican

Conservatives are so easy to anger these days. Even the most insignificant statement can set off their tempers. If you want to enrage a conservative, I suggest saying the following:

1. A Socialist wrote the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Jesus healed the sick and helped the poor, for free.
3. Joseph McCarthy was an un-American, witch hunting sissy.
4. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were traitors.
5. The South lost the Civil War, get over it.
6. The Founding Fathers were liberals.
7. Fascism is a right-wing trait.
8. Sarah Palin is an idiot.
9. The Earth is round.
10. Reagan raised taxes eleven times as President.
11. Reagan legalized abortion as Governor of California.
12. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.
13. Ronald Reagan supported gun control.
14. Global warming is real.
15. Republicans hate illegal immigrants, unless they need their lawns mowed or their houses cleaned

Bachmann

16. The military is a government-run institution, so why do Republicans approve the defense budget?
17. The Cold War is over and the Soviet Union no longer exists.
18. Paying taxes is patriotic.
19. Republicans: Peddling the same failed economic policies since 1880.
20. The Republican Party began as a liberal party.
21. The Presidents’ full name is Barack Hussein Obama and he was born in the United States of America.
22. George W. Bush held hands with the King of Saudi Arabia.
23. President Obama saved the American auto industry, while Republicans wanted to destroy it.
24. Hate is not a Christian virtue.
25. Jesus was a liberal.
26. Republicans spend MORE money than Democrats.
27. Tea parties are for little girls.
28. Public schools educate all children; private schools are for indoctrinating children.
29. The Constitution is the law, NOT the Bible.
30. Sharia law doesn’t exist in America.

boehner
31. The President is NOT a Muslim.
32. Corporations are NOT people. People are people.
33. Fox News isn’t real news, it’s just a racist, sexist, hateful, right-wing propaganda machine.
34. The Federal Reserve was a Republican idea.
35. Women are equal citizens who deserve equal rights.
36. Women control their own bodies.
37. Abortion is a relevant medical procedure, just ask Rick Santorum.
38. Please use spell-check.
39. It’s “pundit”, not “pundint”.
40. Social Security is solvent through 2038.
41. Health care is a right, not a product.
42. Roe v. Wade was a bipartisan ruling made by a conservative leaning Supreme Court.
43. G.O.P also stands for Gross Old Perverts.
44. The donkey shouldn’t be the Democratic mascot because Republicans are the real jackasses.
45. Barack Obama ordered the killing of Osama Bin Laden. It took him two and half years to do what Bush couldn’t do in eight.
46. Waterboarding IS torture.
47. 9/11 happened on George W. Bush’s watch, therefore he did NOT keep America safe.
48. Republicans invaded Iraq for oil, so Iraq should be allowed to invade Texas to get it back.
49. Separation of church and state is in the Constitution, it’s called the First Amendment.
50. Muslims are protected by the Constitution, just as much as Christians.
51. Barack Obama is the first African-American President, get over it.
52. The Oval Office is NOT a “whites only” office.
53. America is a nation of immigrants, therefore we are all anchor babies.
54. The white race isn’t disappearing, it’s evolving.
55. God is a particle.

mcconnell
56. Evolution is real.
57. The Earth is 4.54 billion years old, not 6,000.
58. The Founding Fathers did not free the slaves.
59. The Revolution was NOT fought over slavery.
60. Paul Revere warned the Americans, NOT the British.
61. Federal law trumps state law.
62. The Civil War was about slavery, NOT state’s rights.
63. Corporations care more about profits than they do about people.
64. Getting out of a recession requires government spending.
65. Glenn Beck is a nut-job.
66. Republicans: Paranoid since 1932.
67. Republicans don’t want to pay for your birth control, but they want you to pay for their Viagra.
68. Republicans actually NEED Viagra.
69. Fox News is owned by an Australian and has a Saudi prince as an investor.
70. Republicans complain about immigrants taking American jobs, then freely give American jobs to foreigners overseas.
71. Republicans hate communism, so why do they refer to themselves as red states?
72. Labor unions built this country.
73. Republicans hold America hostage as a political strategy; the temper tantrum throwing kind of political strategy.
74. Jesus was a Jew, not a Christian.

paul_ryan-2(Remember this guy? That’s OK… no one else does)

75. When Republicans see black, they attack.
76. Inside every Republican is a Klansman or a Nazi waiting to bloom.
77. Republicans only care about children BEFORE they are born.
78. Republicans are hypocrites, they’re just too stupid to know it.
79. The Christian-Right boycotts movies that have violence, and then promotes guns and insurrection.
80. I think therefore I am NOT a Republican.
81. Republicans that oppose gay marriage are most likely in the closet themselves.
82. Churches should stay out of politics, or be taxed.
83. People are too poor to vote Republican.
84. Democrats think for themselves, Republicans form think tanks to do it for them.
85. Republicans hate education because they couldn’t hack it in school.
86. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins and Republicans wallow in it.
87. A little socialism on the Left is better than a little fascism on the Right.
88. The current corporate tax rate is the lowest in 60 years, so stop whining about it being too high.
89. Republicans: Anti-Gay Marriage, Pro-Lesbian sex.
90. Republicans: Terrorizing the American people since 1981.
91. Republicans have their own terrorists, just look up Timothy McVeigh.
92. Republicans love outsourcing, just ask the Chinese Communists.
93. The Republican answer to the oil spill was to apologize to BP, a foreign oil company.
94. Democrats will be working hard to bring jobs to Americans, while the Republicans tea bag each other in the middle of the aisles.
95. Voter disenfranchisement is immoral and un-American, that’s why Republicans do it.
96. Republicans would let your house burn down unless you pay them to put it out.
97. Democrats want to take care of the sick. Republicans take their credit cards and then deny them medical attention.
98. Republicans say teachers are union thugs, then proceed to rape and mug the entire middle class on behalf of corporations.
99. Republicans think rape isn’t a crime, but miscarriages are.
100. Republicans are idiots and arguing with them is a waste of time!

Truth-LiesBottom line? If you want to anger a conservative, tell them the truth.

aa-tribalfang

Why I Hate Almost Everyone (Part 20): The American Taliban

Republican in Name Only

The American Taliban

They can call themselves The Tea Party. They can call themselves conservatives. They can call themselves Republicans, though Republicans certainly shouldn’t.

But we should call them what they are: the American Taliban.

aa-tribalfang

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I used to tease the heck out of The Tea Party. I used to have fun at their expense. I used to mock them mercilessly.

They’re not funny anymore. They’re frightening.

Game of Thrones (Season Two)

No sooner had I finished the DVD Box set of Game of Thrones than I learned about the April 1, 2012, premier of Season Two!

I don’t own a television (long story) so I decided to see if I could catch a viewing somewhere on-line this morning (April 2). Much to my delight, I was able to do so before any of the copyright people removed it.

Well… let me start off by saying…

Oh… My… Gawd!!

As impressed as I was by the first season, Season Two has certainly taken off from where the first season left off.

Just as spectacular and riveting, just as grand, just as epic and majestic. Great cast, great locations, great sets, costumes, CGI, props… everything. The writing is fantastic and the performances brilliant.

This isn’t really a TV program in the usual sense. The expression I’ve heard is ‘motion picture television’ and I think that phrase is apt. Every aspect of Game of Thrones is just as if it was filmed as a movie. No expense is spared. No corners cut. Production is of the highest quality. It is filmed on location in Northern Ireland, Malta and Iceland.

(Wonderful young actress Maisie Williams as Arya Stark)

One of the best things about Game of Thrones is number of strong, female lead characters in it. For this reason, it has been called by some a ‘feminist’ show. Well, if that means there are a lot of excellent actresses playing many strong key roles in the show, who are given parts with depth and breadth and complexity, well then… I guess it is a feminist show.

(Lena Headley as Cersei Lannister)

After watching Season Two, Episode One this morning, I am even more hooked than I already was.

Game of Thrones is one of the best things on television.

Watch it!

Game of Thrones (Review)

The other day, on the recommendation of my dear friend, DD (a former museum curator, history buff and general all ’round font of information about things medieval), I purchased the DVD box set of HBO’s Game of Thrones, Season One.

It stars Sean Bean in medieval costume. I didn’t need much convincing. [1]

(Game of Thrones: You Lose… You Die!)

One thing I have to say right at the start is that Game of Thrones is visually stunning. Sets, costumes, lighting, props, cinematography, effects… everything about the look and feel of this production is absolute perfection.

The visuals are matched by the casting, script, acting and direction.

I have to admit that stories involving royal intrigue, crafty aristocratic schemes and political plotting often leave me confused. I don’t like being baffled by movies or television shows. It took me a while before I had a firm grip on who was who, which ‘house’ was which and how everything fit together in this fictional, mythical world. But before long, I had a fairly good mental map of the Game of Thrones world… much like I have in my mind a good map of Middle Earth… and the major family and political groups that inhabit it.

It would be far too complicated to get into the machinations of which royal house was fighting and plotting against which other royal house.

Suffice it to say that it is a whole lot of fun to watch. Lots of swordplay, duplicitous plots within plots and an army of delicious characters… some you love, some you hate and some you just love to hate.

Watch it. Love it. Live it!

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[1] Sean Bean played Boromir in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, as well as Ulrich in Black Death.