SuperBowl? who cares. Super Plushy!!

I know I promised action photos, but I've been standing in a darkroom for the past 8 hours and I'm too tired to chase Mr. Plushy around. Maybe tomorrow.

One must post with the plushy one has, not the plushy one wishes one has.

Sunday Snow Cat

Hidey-ho! out in the snow!

(yes, there will be plush later, when I get back from the darkroom)

Plame not actually "just a housewife"

Gee, what a surprise! It turns out that the CIA actually knew what they were talking about when they referred the matter of Plame's outing to justice. Newsweek is reporting that Plame was still covert, and that the CIA was taking affirmative action to protect her identity.

Feb. 13, 2006 issue - Newly released court papers could put holes in the defense of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, in the Valerie Plame leak case. Lawyers for Libby, and White House allies, have repeatedly questioned whether Plame, the wife of White House critic Joe Wilson, really had covert status when she was outed to the media in July 2003. But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion.

I wonder what libby defense crowd will come up with next? Perhaps Libby can blame the matter on a manimal conspiracy.

Magoo!!

Lion kitty Maxx's long-lost beautiful sister.

Update: I neglected to say that Magoo lives with Barry in Alaska.

Saturday kitty fix

Still no action photos. Maxx escaped outside while I was sleeping on the sofa.

His furry appendage

Hold still so I can poke holes in you!

Some other kitty

AFP/Mustafa Ozer

Turkey has taken precautions to protect their famous turkish vans from the bird flu.

Competence? ethics?

Go read Harold Meyerson in the WAPO, Republican Wedge Issues, 2006

Old lies die hard. We grow inured to the administration's howlers in defense of its Iraq policy, so much so that the preposterous case the president made in his State of the Union address for our continued presence in Iraq went almost unnoticed. But he actually said this:

"A sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq would abandon our Iraqi allies to death and prison, [and] would put men like bin Laden and Zarqawi in charge of a strategic country. . . ."

Is there one person anywhere inside the administration who really believes that Abu Musab Zarqawi's murderous band of outsiders would emerge as rulers over the vastly larger and very well-armed Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish legions if we pulled out?

~snip~

Warrantless wiretapping and immigrant bashing as the Republican wedge issues of '06? Well, what else can they run on?

Their competence? Their ethics?

Heh.

Amazing

When I saw the headline for this story, I just knew it was about a republican. The NYTimes is reporting that aides to republican gubnatorial candidate William Weld re-edited news stories to remove negative references to their boss.

As William F. Weld runs for governor of New York this year, his campaign has put a new spin on the old political rule of having a positive message.

Campaign aides have significantly altered two newspaper articles on his Web site about his bid for governor, removing all negative phrases about him, like "mini-slump" and "dogged by an investigation," and passages about his political problems.

Also removed were references to a federal investigation of Decker College, a Kentucky trade school that Mr. Weld led until he left to run for governor last fall; the college collapsed into bankruptcy weeks later amid allegations of financial aid fraud. And criticism of Mr. Weld by a former New York Republican senator, Alfonse D'Amato, was removed.

Scrub, scrub, scrub. If they can't get the media to play ball, they just do it themselves.

More republican morals on display.

Late night plushy fix

Well, no action photos for tonight. Someone was not being cooperative, then the batteries in my speedlite died. Maybe tomorrow.

Wild Plush

Teh cute!

Mr. President, your pants are on fire....

Dan Froomkin makes the point today that not only is bush nekkid, he's developed a severe credibility problem that the press seems unwilling or unable to explore:

President Bush's fundamental challenge as he tries to regain his political footing is that most Americans don't trust him anymore.

In the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, for instance, 53 percent of Americans said they do not consider him honest and trustworthy. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found 52 percent of Americans believe the Bush administration intentionally misled the public in making its case for war in Iraq. Serious stuff.

And yet, when Bush faces the press corps -- either en masse, in a news conference, or in the occasional sit-down interview -- the central issue of credibility typically goes unexplored.

Froomkin's prescription? the next major media figure who gets the big interview with chimpy should devote the entire time to the credibility issue and the various whoppers the administration spews on a daily basis.

He's also going to put together a list of sample questions, to, ummm, help the press get started on this project. You can help!! Email Froomkin with your sample question at froomkin@washingtonpost.com.

My question? "Exactly when did you become aware that Karl Rove was, in fact, involved in leaking Valerie Plame's name to journalists and why haven't you lived up to your promise to fire anyone involved in the matter?

Bonus question!! ($1,000,000 quatloos to the reporter that asks this one) "Just who, exactly, told you that your dick would grow if you invaded Iraq?"

Forget the dancing kitty...

Lion kitty Maxx, the lord of all cats, has arrived.

"You'll find....

Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

".... that sucking Karl's dick gets easier with time. BTW, are you gonna finish that donut??"

Why?

Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Why do all republicans have dick heads and the fashion sense of a 50's reject? Is it a requirement to get into the club?

Psycho scary-eyed dancing kitty!!

He's a dancing machine....

Blair- Bush's butt buddy

AFP/Shawn Thew

Via The Guardian, Blair promised to be behind little king Georgie's excellent adventure before he'd gotten legal advice on the legality of the war, or a new UN resolution.

Tony Blair told President George Bush that he was "solidly" behind US plans to invade Iraq before he sought advice about the invasion's legality and despite the absence of a second UN resolution, according to a new account of the build-up to the war published today.

A memo of a two-hour meeting between the two leaders at the White House on January 31 2003 - nearly two months before the invasion - reveals that Mr Bush made it clear the US intended to invade whether or not there was a second UN resolution and even if UN inspectors found no evidence of a banned Iraqi weapons programme.

Note that bush made clear that he was invading whether or not there were WMDs found.

He lied to Congress, the american people, and the world.

Welcome back Watertiger....

Sez lion kitty Maxx, "I'll share my carrot with you. PUUUUURRRRRRRR!!!!"

He missed his girlfriend while she was gone.

Our fearless leader

AP/Matthew S. Gunby

After this morning's prayer breakfast, little king georgie decided to go for a swim.

Manimal II - Hey Now!!

Self portrait.

You know... I was so busy at work today that it didn't even occur to me that no one should be more insulted by the "manimal" crack than yours truly, four legs good.

We hear a lot about women's rights and the glass ceiling, but no one ever mentions the barn ceiling. It is truly the last acceptable form of descrimination. What does Bush think? that my existence is going to cause good christian babies to grow an extra set of legs and lose an eye?

What utter nonsense.

We'll marinate, grill and snack on them first. Everyone knows that they're much more tender before the second set of legs comes in anyhoo.

Alright already!!!

Sheesh. I get no rest.... being a plushypornographer is an exhausting business.

You'll learn to like it...

Reuters/Jim Young

"Ya just reach in and massage it real nice, heh heh. Next week we'll move on to hummers."

Photo of the Day

AP/Peter Petrov

Just because it's beautiful.

Size does matter

"Yes, my dick really is that small," said the preznit."It matches my teeny brain. Heh heh."

Plushy v. Alien Life Form Deathmatch

My guess is that Mr. Plushy wins this round.

Manimal!!

The preznit seems to finally have recognized the terrible threat of the Hammerhead Shark Frenzy and Mansquito.

A hopeful society has institutions of science and medicine that do not cut ethical corners, and that recognize the matchless value of every life. Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research -- human cloning in all its forms -- creating or implanting embryos for experiments, creating human-animal hybrids and buying, selling, or patenting human embryos.

I, for one, welcome our manimal overlords. Saturday nights are so much more entertaining with them around.

So long Tom!!

I've been wondering about this. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the bugman is having a wee bit of trouble funding his legal defense. Delay's Defense Fund in the Red

WASHINGTON - Embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay raised more money for his legal defense in 2005 than ever before but still owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to lawyers, according to documents released Tuesday.

DeLay, fighting an indictment in Texas on charges of illegal fundraising while facing scrutiny by federal prosecutors in Washington for his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, raised $181,851 between Oct. 1 and the end of the year. That amount brought the total raised for his legal defense fund in 2005 to $590,520 — significantly more than the $439,550 recorded in 2004.

~snip~

DeLay, of Sugar Land, raised $318,000 in the third quarter of 2005, during which he was indicted in Travis County. Perry said the falloff in the final three months should not be interpreted as a lack of enthusiasm among donors.

Yeah, I'll bet. Big contributors include Robert McNair (owner of the Texans) and Lonnie and Ken Pilgrim, and Pilgrim's Pride.

No pilgrim's pride chicken for the 4legger household.

The Gift

I cannot go to bed without linking to this lovely post by Hecate, The Gift.

It's amazing, isn't it, how a kind act can help us to remember that we live in an enchanted world, in spite of the George Bushes and the Haliburtons, and the cold germs? Once, when I was doing chemotherapy, had just been abandoned by my lover of twenty-some years, and was about as sorry for myself as it was possible to feel, I was sitting in a restaurant trying to make myself eat something. I called for the check and the waitress said, "A man saw you sitting in the window, came in and paid for your meal. He left this." It was a tiny, dirty scrap of paper, torn off of an envelope and it said: "Believe." I still have that scrap of paper and it keeps me going sometimes when I feel like giving up.

A little ray of hope and magic for these dark times. Thank you.

Bipartisanship? Civility?

Hey, I know this tune. And it's time to change the beat.


We were civil when they stole the 2000 election.

We were civil when they trashed Max Cleland.

We were civil while they swiftboated John Kerry.

We were civil while they dragged america into a war of choice.

We were civil when they outted a CIA agent and trashed the reputation of her husband.

It got us nowhere.

Now they want us to be civil while they trample civil liberties, shred the constitution, loot the treasury, and pack the highest court in the land with right wing ideologues. "Can't we just all get along?"

Not after what you've done to my country, motherfuckers. Never again. And to you turncoat washington establishment democrats who want us to be quiet and stop making waves.... well, come right over here and jump on my razor-sharp fucking pitchfork. Bitch!

Plushy Palate Cleanser

Maxx even gives you guys a little tongue. What a good kitty.

State of The Plush

For those of you who need it, here's a dose of plushy, pre-SOTU. Lion kitty and I will find something else to watch, thank you.

Just a reminder...

Jean Louis-David, 1793. Oil on canvas.

On my bad days, I remind myself of the messy ends of both Marat and Robespierre, the architects of the Terror during the French revolution.

(And no, I am not advocating assassination of anyone, just making the point that tyrants are often consumed by the terror they create.)

Floaters

Reuters

An artist's conception of an alien planet. Posted just because it's beautiful, and we certainly need some beauty today.

Monday plushy fix

I'm pretty pissed off tonight, but how can I turn down the plaintive plea of flory for her nightly plushy fix?

Thanks for fucking nothing

The gang of 14 and any senate democrats who voted for cloture today made their position crystal clear.

Make no mistake. They put politics over the welfare of the nation.

I, for one, will not forget it.

Not for One. Single. Solitary. Second.

I, for one....

Reuters/Rick Wilking

welcome our spikey headed overlords.

Solitary Stars

Credit: David A. Aguilar/CfA

In today's Monday Space Mysteries, we find that, contrary to previous thought, Astronomers Had it Wrong: Most Stars are Single.

For more than 200 years, astronomers thought that most of the stars in our galaxy had stellar companions. But a new study suggests the bulk of them are born alone and never have stellar company.

Interesting stuff- go read!

Democracy for me but not for thee

Rice says that the US won't provide foreign aid to a government formed by Hamas. Rice Rules Out Aiding Hamas She also says that they "underestimated the strength of Hamas."

That seems a little short sided to me. We insisted on the timing of these elections and we have to live with the results. Cutting off the Palestinians now will just harden resentment against the US and further derail the peace process. Everything Bush has done in the past five years has served to strengthen the radicals and marginalize the moderates. What a mess.

Worst. President. Ever.

Get right with Jeebus and get HEALTHY!

Jeez, those silly poor people. If they'd just get right with the lord they wouldn't be poor so they'd be able to pay those higher premiums. And they'd stop this nonsensical idea that rich people shouldn't get more tax cuts. And they'd be well too! Cause everyone knows that when jeebus is your bestest friend forever you never get cancer or heart disease.

Sheesh, get with the program you poor folks.

The New York Times has the details. Budget to Hurt Poor People on Medicaid, Report Says

Whose conscience?

The WAPO is reporting that at least a dozen states are considering legislation that will shield doctors, pharmacists and nurses who want to refuse to provide treatment based on their faith. Health Workers' Choice Debated

Notice the headline on that story,"Health Worker's Choice Debated" and not what it should be: "Christofacists refuse to provide care to some patients they think are icky."

What's next? some doctors refuse to treat democrats because they're not in a state of grace?

Bonus sunday kitty goodness

Maxx hopes that senate dems ruin little king georgie's week with a bit fat filibuster tomorrow.

Sunday cat blogging

Since I'll be in the darkroom today, an early lion kitty fix.

About that civility...

I saw a promo today about Bob Schieffer's interview with the preznit. Apparently one of the things he's going to do during the SOTU is decry the loss of civility in Washington, and make a plea that the political discourse become more gentile, less partisan .

Well, poppycock.

It occurs to me that we see all the president's minions trotting out and dolorously decrying this horrific lack of decorum whenever Bush is in the most trouble. "Why, it uncalled for!" they cry. "It's partisan, uncouth... uncivil!" What nonsense.

It matters not whether I say politely, "Excuse me, Mr. President, but it appears that your buttocks are exposed and that I can perceive your, ahem, genitals... could it be that you are unclothed?" or if I holler, "Hey! Chimpy McFlightsuit, you dumbfuck! I can see your puckered asshole, your shriveled up balls and your microdick!" The emperor is still naked.

King George can kiss my ass. When he quits fucking up the country, I'll learn to be civil again.

Why does Bush hate science?

NASA apparently tried to silence a climate expert.

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists.

Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.

Good for him.

The NYTimes grow some balls.

Holy shit! Well done, Gail. Spies, Lies and Wiretaps:

A bit over a week ago, President Bush and his men promised to provide the legal, constitutional and moral justifications for the sort of warrantless spying on Americans that has been illegal for nearly 30 years. Instead, we got the familiar mix of political spin, clumsy historical misinformation, contemptuous dismissals of civil liberties concerns, cynical attempts to paint dissents as anti-American and pro-terrorist, and a couple of big, dangerous lies.

It's almost enough to make me become a subscriber again.

Chiming in

Atrios links to Matt Stoller's post at MYDD, Some Real Questions. I have some questions of my own, after reading this quote:

"The bloggers and online donors represent an important resource for the party, but they are not representative of the majority you need to win elections," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist who advised Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "The trick will be to harness their energy and their money without looking like you are a captive of the activist left."

Does he have any idea just how insulting that is? He wants our money. He wants our grassroots energy. But he doesn't give a fuck what is important to us.

Pay attention Mr. Elmendorf- perhaps if you spent more time supporting the core values of the "activist, progressive left," you might actually win a few elections.

We're not lunatics. We're not "fringe" wackadoos. Most of us are intelligent, educated professionals who are a lot more moderate than you give us credit for. You've bought into republican spin that we're some kind of deranged rabble that must be shoved into a corner and hidden from decent folks. That's not only wrong, it's not smart.

We've found our voice and we will not be silenced.

And we will not compromise on our core values. Civil rights. Justice. Equal opportunity. Reproductive freedom for women. An equal playing field for all americans. Educational excellence for all american children. The American Constitution. A sane foreign policy that doesn't make the entire world hate us.

Tell me, what is so crazy about that?

You want my money and my energy? Then step up to the plate, motherfucker. Support the things that are important to me. As Molly Ivins says, if you, the democratic establishment, won't do it, then goddamnit, we'll find someone who will.

Ignore us at your peril.

Lion Kitty relents...

and gives us some plushyporn. Well, some G rated plushyporn at least.

Arthur!!

This is Maxx's good buddy Arthur. Maxx is prone to bending space-time to dash off to visit Arthur in the desert, where they often get into trouble by stealing the keys to GWPDA's jeep and running off on madcap adventures together. (Said adventures generally involve high speed driving, margaritas and chicken fajitas.)

Daily wanker

Atrios correctly nominates the WAPO's Jim Vandahei as his wanker of the day. If you click through to the MYDD link, and further click through to the "wingnut finery" link by DailyLife on Kos, one discovers than Mr. VandeHei's wife was a Delay staffer and that said reporter's study is adorned with wingnut memorabilia.

And this guy is supposed to be neutral?

And the Washington Post wonders why we're suspicious of them. My questions is, which other beltway reporters are in the wingnut camp? (By that I mean ideologically, and not just in a whorelicious way.) However are we going to get a fair hearing?

I don't think Maxx....

has much interest in civility.

The Mad Ones...

I like this post from Hecate so much that I'm copying it:

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars . . . . "

- Jack Kerouac

Wilder Plush

Okay, so this is cool- researchers are tracking cougar populations by using a virus as a tracking device. Virus Used to Track Elusive Cougars

To follow the movements of cougars in remote areas of western North America, a team of biologists has found a different kind of tracking device: a virus.

Borrowing a method used to study human demographics, biologist Roman Biek and his colleagues took samples from 352 cougars in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States and Canada.

The researchers analyzed the samples for strains of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which is common in big cats and does not appear to affect them.

~snip~

Results of the team's research appear in the current issue of the journal Science.

"This is a tool to determine over what spatial scales [the cougars] have moved recently," said Biek, a professor of biology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

That kitty looks kinda mad, doesn't he? He must be thinking of frist.

Friday pissed off cat blogging

Mr. Plushy is fucking pissed off. He wants a filibuster now. He says it's "time to fight motherfuckers. Quit being pussies."

Who could argue with that?

Like this wasn't predictable

Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah

Thousands of Fatah Members Protest in Gaza

What a mess.

What Digby said

I don't have much to add to this: Learning to lose well

I hope some of the comments I'm reading around the blogosphere aren't reflections of of a knee jerk cynicism on the part of Democrats who have fallen in love with their assessment that they are superior to their elected leaders. This is a very dangerous state of mind.

John Kerry stepped up today. Apparently, that isn't enough for some. He is still a "loser" in their eyes and is to be shunned. He didn't do it soon enough. Or he didn't do it right. Or he is nothing but a political opportunist. I'm beginning to think that some Democrats have gotten attached to their vision of Democrats as losers so they won't be emotionally shattered anymore. That's understandable. It's painful to get beaten. But, the rank and file need to step up too and be willing to lose and not hate ourselves or our leaders for it. How we lose on issues like this makes the difference for the future.

Kerry stepped up, and he did it because it was the right thing to do. Maybe if our leaders concentrated on doing the right thing, we wouldn't lose all the time.

Do the right thing. Do it because it's right- fuck politics, fuck strategery. Just do the right thing.

Plushy blogging for Jenny

Mr. Plushy is so sad at the state of the world. Won't someone think of the kitties?

teh cute and plushy

Siberian tiger cubs. Just because they're plushy.

More payola

Via firedoglake (from the Huffington Post), we learn that fauxnew's science reporter is on the Phillip Morris payroll, and has been since the day he walked into Fox.

Junk Science

On March 9, 2001, he wrote a column for the website headlined "secondhand smokescreen." The piece attacked a study by researcher Stephen Hecht, who found that women living with smokers had higher levels of chemicals associated with risk of lung cancer. "If spin were science, Hecht would win a Nobel Prize," Milloy wrote. For good measure, he heaped scorn on a 1993 Environmental Protection Agency report that also linked health risks and secondhand smoke. Later that spring, he authored another smoking-related piece for FoxNews.com. In that one, he cast aside two decades of research on the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke and concluded, "Secondhand smoke is annoying to many nonsmokers. That is the essence of the controversy and where the debate should lie--the rights of smokers to smoke in public places versus the rights of nonsmokers to be free of tobacco smoke." You might chalk it up to Milloy's contrarian nature. Or to his libertarian tendencies. Except, all the while, he was on the payroll of big tobacco.

Are any of them not on the take?

The Rich get richer...

A new study shows that no other state has a wider income gap than Texas. Texas leads U.S. in income gap between wealthy, middle-class

"Texas has arguably the most extreme separation between the well off and everyday people in the United States," said Don Baylor, a policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin think tank that advocates for lower-income families.

"In many states, the income gap is like a gully," he added. "In Texas the income gap is like a deep canyon."

From 2001 to 2003, the average income of the top 20 percent of Texas families — $118,971 — was nearly three times the average income of the middle 20 percent, which made $41,015, the study shows.

The average income of Texas' richest families was more than eight times greater than the $14,724 average of poorest one-fifth.

Ah, the Texas miracle.

Maxx speaks, senators listen

Sometimes democracy isn't tidy

Reuters/Loay Abu Haykel
AP/Muhammed Muheisen

Let's not forget that chimpy poured over a million dollars into Fatah's election coffers. Let's see, what's Bush's record in "helping" with mid-east elections.... Iraq? elected a shi'ite majority. Iran? our interference helped squash a moderate movement and put a hardliner in office. Now Palestine.... Bush is the anti-midas.

At least the pictures are pretty.

Go Kerry Go!!

Kerry is going for the fillibuster. Thank god someone still has some balls. Too bad my senators are "turtleboy" Cornyn and the world's dumbest cheerleader. Feh.

Your preznit speaks...

Via CNN.com:

"I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country," Bush said.

I guess irony is dead. And just how much did chimpy putting his money behind Al Fatah have to do with Hamas' landslide victory?

He is the anti-Midas. Everything he touches he destroys.

No Doubt?

AP/Charles Dharapak

The UT Law reject wants to lecture us on constitutional law. What there's no doubt about is that the preznit is an asshat.

Peeance and Freeance

So this is what our trillion dollars bought us? Kurd's Writings Land Him in Jail

ERBIL, Iraq, Jan. 25 — Kamal Sayid Qadir had just returned here from Austria in late October when two trusted former students invited him for coffee at the Hotel Avista.

~snip~

From Austria he had written articles accusing Mr. Barzani's all-powerful Kurdistan Democratic Party of corruption while calling members of its intelligence service, the Parastin, criminals and its chief — Mr. Barzani's son — a "pimp."

But Mr. Qadir said he never made it home from the hotel that night. Betrayed by his former students, who unknown to him had joined the Parastin, he says he was abducted after he left the hotel. He is now imprisoned here, sentenced last month to 30 years for defaming the Parastin and Kurdish political leaders after a trial that he said had lasted 15 minutes.

Go read the rest. I think I'm going to be ill. This is what chimpy calls freedom?

Mr. Plush ain't feeling civil...

I'll let him speak for himself.