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Rocknation
Rocknation's Journal
Rocknation's Journal
December 28, 2016
But like that scene in The Wizard of Oz, the N.J. Dems finally realized that Christie no longer had absolute power over them and dropped a house -- specifically, a house of representatives -- on him!
What is there to ask? Christie has lost his political leverage, that's all. He hasn't got the support of either the Democrat majority in the state legislature, President Trump, OR the voters. It is now "safe" to just say no to him -- especially when the public interest is hanging in the balance.
Negotiating is not legislating, and bullying is not bipartisanship. Ding, dong, the Christie deals are dead!
rocktivity
Christie's "Glinda" Moment
NJ.com: At the core of Gov. Chris Christie's campaign to kill newspapers jobs is the claim that his bill will save money. He puts the number at $80 million...It's another lie. And I don't mean it's an innocent mistake. I mean it's a...whopper with a dark purpose behind it...
The last time this came up, the Legislature's own researchers found that locals might not save a dime, and that it could even cost them more to handle the job themselves online...(L)ocal governments (that) don't use newspapers...will have to establish secure web sites and hire someone to process...and track...these ads...
So where did Christie get the $80 million figure?..."Multiple state agencies sampled public notices in all daily newspapers in New Jersey over a consecutive 30-day period extrapolating the data over 12 months..." the press office said...(The) League of Municipalities...say this number did not come from them...A survey answered by 147 towns, which tended to be smaller towns, showed the average cost to be just over $7,000...
This is not about saving money. This is the governor's attempt to exact revenge on newspapers, and the reason is that we...point it out when he lies. What's depressing to me is that the Legislative leaders are joining hands with him. It's part of a deal, all struck in the back rooms, as usual. And it was bipartisan...
The last time this came up, the Legislature's own researchers found that locals might not save a dime, and that it could even cost them more to handle the job themselves online...(L)ocal governments (that) don't use newspapers...will have to establish secure web sites and hire someone to process...and track...these ads...
So where did Christie get the $80 million figure?..."Multiple state agencies sampled public notices in all daily newspapers in New Jersey over a consecutive 30-day period extrapolating the data over 12 months..." the press office said...(The) League of Municipalities...say this number did not come from them...A survey answered by 147 towns, which tended to be smaller towns, showed the average cost to be just over $7,000...
This is not about saving money. This is the governor's attempt to exact revenge on newspapers, and the reason is that we...point it out when he lies. What's depressing to me is that the Legislative leaders are joining hands with him. It's part of a deal, all struck in the back rooms, as usual. And it was bipartisan...
But like that scene in The Wizard of Oz, the N.J. Dems finally realized that Christie no longer had absolute power over them and dropped a house -- specifically, a house of representatives -- on him!
NJ.com: Finally, Democrats in Trenton are revolting against a craven backroom deal struck by their leaders, a sign of life in a party that seems to have lost its moral compass.
"I am so disgusted with my colleagues," says Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union). "There is no Democratic Party," says Sen. Loretta Weinberg. (D-Bergen). "Where are our core values?" asks Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex).
...(T)hey are (also) grumbling about the sweetheart book deal, too. Why waive an ethics law to allow the governor to profit from a book while he is in office? Hasn't he ignored his job enough? And the big question: What is the motive? What did Democratic leaders get in return for these big concessions to the most unpopular governor in the country? They got a raise for their staffs and judges, but is that all it takes? Is their price that low?
I asked. They won't say.
"I am so disgusted with my colleagues," says Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union). "There is no Democratic Party," says Sen. Loretta Weinberg. (D-Bergen). "Where are our core values?" asks Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex).
...(T)hey are (also) grumbling about the sweetheart book deal, too. Why waive an ethics law to allow the governor to profit from a book while he is in office? Hasn't he ignored his job enough? And the big question: What is the motive? What did Democratic leaders get in return for these big concessions to the most unpopular governor in the country? They got a raise for their staffs and judges, but is that all it takes? Is their price that low?
I asked. They won't say.
What is there to ask? Christie has lost his political leverage, that's all. He hasn't got the support of either the Democrat majority in the state legislature, President Trump, OR the voters. It is now "safe" to just say no to him -- especially when the public interest is hanging in the balance.
NJ.com: In a stunning defeat for Gov. Chris Christie, state lawmakers...blocked a pair of controversial bills (Christie) was pushing for, stalling a measure that would end a requirement for legal ads to be published in New Jersey's newspapers and killing legislation that would have allowed Christie to profit from a book deal while in office...
Democratic leaders of the Senate said they would not even discuss the bills until it was clear how the Assembly would vote...Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) announced he was postponing a vote on the newspaper bill and that the book measure would not be reconsidered.
...Christie...has often cut deals with Democratic leaders and party bosses to usher through legislation over the last seven years...
Democratic leaders of the Senate said they would not even discuss the bills until it was clear how the Assembly would vote...Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) announced he was postponing a vote on the newspaper bill and that the book measure would not be reconsidered.
...Christie...has often cut deals with Democratic leaders and party bosses to usher through legislation over the last seven years...
Negotiating is not legislating, and bullying is not bipartisanship. Ding, dong, the Christie deals are dead!
rocktivity
June 16, 2016
Oh, well, this is QUITE inconvenient -- it blows away (if you'll pardon the expression) the anti-American jihadist martyr narrative, and just as the presidential election season was getting under way. All the anger, fear and hate of Muslims that the mainstream media, the Rethugs and the gun industry were planning to cash in on has to be replaced by patriotism and sympathy of the gay and pro-gay victims and another round of gun control talk? What a buzzkill! However, one man's buzzkill is another man's buzz -- we'll jut have to take comfort in enjoying things like this:
rocktivity
He's "socially" awkward in more ways than one
AmericanNewsX: Multiple reports tell us that the shooter has cited various terrorist groups that are actually bitter rivals of each other as his "connection." When investigated, more than once, it was found that he had no such ties and was more than likely trash talking when he felt threatened...(T)his guy really doesn’t seem to have any real connections to any real terrorists at all...
On the other hand, a consistent pattern of him being a regular at the Pulse (club) for about three years has emerged. Witnesses are coming forward who had interactions with him and are swearing to the terrorist being a gay man. He also had a profile on a gay dating site...
So far, the patterns of a secret life-leading, self-loathing gay Muslim are much more consistent than anything directed by any of the rival terrorist groups that the terrorist claimed to be with at various times and seeking any kind of religious martyrdom. If this turns out to be factual, many of those demanding we ban and scrutinize Muslims more in America will have egg on their face, yet again.
On the other hand, a consistent pattern of him being a regular at the Pulse (club) for about three years has emerged. Witnesses are coming forward who had interactions with him and are swearing to the terrorist being a gay man. He also had a profile on a gay dating site...
So far, the patterns of a secret life-leading, self-loathing gay Muslim are much more consistent than anything directed by any of the rival terrorist groups that the terrorist claimed to be with at various times and seeking any kind of religious martyrdom. If this turns out to be factual, many of those demanding we ban and scrutinize Muslims more in America will have egg on their face, yet again.
Telegraph UK: ...Sitora Yusufiy...(a) former wife of Mateen...has said he was mentally unstable and beat her...(S)he fled their home after four months of marriage...
Orlando residents...say that Mateen was a regular at the club and a homosexual seeking to pick up men. Jim Van Horn, said he once struck up a conversation with Mateen, but his friends pulled him away – saying there was “something strange” about him...Another couple, who work together as drag-dancing performers, said they had seen Mateen as many as a dozen times at Pulse, and that he went to the club to escape his home life.
Chris Callen, who goes by the stage name of Kristina McLaughlin, said Mateen began showing up about three years ago..."It could be he just went crazy. Maybe he got radicalised and hated who he was.”
Orlando residents...say that Mateen was a regular at the club and a homosexual seeking to pick up men. Jim Van Horn, said he once struck up a conversation with Mateen, but his friends pulled him away – saying there was “something strange” about him...Another couple, who work together as drag-dancing performers, said they had seen Mateen as many as a dozen times at Pulse, and that he went to the club to escape his home life.
Chris Callen, who goes by the stage name of Kristina McLaughlin, said Mateen began showing up about three years ago..."It could be he just went crazy. Maybe he got radicalised and hated who he was.”
TMZ: There are mounting claims that Omar Mateen was gay and looking to hook up on apps and in clubs -- but it appears he was also actively hitting on women -- a strong sign of a possible struggle with his sexuality.
Cord Cedeno says he connected with Mateen a couple years ago on Grindr...Mateen -- whose profile was a pic of him in a tie -- would only say "Hi" over and over. He says he eventually blocked Mateen, but knows 4 friends who say the Orlando murderer remained active on other apps. He says Mateen used Adam4Adam to send shots of his penis to men, but never showed his face...(Cedeno) has no knowledge (of) Mateen...hooking up with a man.
On the other hand, a female user on Plenty Of Fish says Mateen reached out to her 18 months ago. She says he was "nice, normal...mentioned he had a child, but said he was single and looking for a good woman to marry." She told us Mateen...rant(ed) about Islam and the Quran, saying people misunderstood his religion. She says he wanted to meet face-to-face, but she too blocked him because he seemed "emotionally unstable."
Cord Cedeno says he connected with Mateen a couple years ago on Grindr...Mateen -- whose profile was a pic of him in a tie -- would only say "Hi" over and over. He says he eventually blocked Mateen, but knows 4 friends who say the Orlando murderer remained active on other apps. He says Mateen used Adam4Adam to send shots of his penis to men, but never showed his face...(Cedeno) has no knowledge (of) Mateen...hooking up with a man.
On the other hand, a female user on Plenty Of Fish says Mateen reached out to her 18 months ago. She says he was "nice, normal...mentioned he had a child, but said he was single and looking for a good woman to marry." She told us Mateen...rant(ed) about Islam and the Quran, saying people misunderstood his religion. She says he wanted to meet face-to-face, but she too blocked him because he seemed "emotionally unstable."
Oh, well, this is QUITE inconvenient -- it blows away (if you'll pardon the expression) the anti-American jihadist martyr narrative, and just as the presidential election season was getting under way. All the anger, fear and hate of Muslims that the mainstream media, the Rethugs and the gun industry were planning to cash in on has to be replaced by patriotism and sympathy of the gay and pro-gay victims and another round of gun control talk? What a buzzkill! However, one man's buzzkill is another man's buzz -- we'll jut have to take comfort in enjoying things like this:
rocktivity
March 13, 2016
But Blomgren's autistic son has managed to manage without him under the care of his elderly grandparents for the better part of a month, and apparently Blomgren's father isn't too elderly to travel from North Carolina to get him. And dare I hope that Blomgren will receive his ankle bracelet BEFORE leaving Oregon custody?
The seismic tremor you just felt was the result of a collective orgasm going through the entire Oregon federal system.
During the end of the standoff, one of the holdouts kept accusing the Feds of planning to bombard them with enough additional charges to keep them in jail permanently. It sure sounds like she was right, which makes Blomgren's release that much more mysterious. But if his statement about their discussing IEDs and drones gives the Feds a way to bombard them into prison permanently with the ULTIMATE domestic terrorism charges...Now, THAT makes sense!
rocktivity
Biggest Rat Deserts the Bundy Standoff Sinking Ship
OregonLive.com: Jason C. Blomgren, one of the 26 people now indicted...in the armed seizure of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon...pleaded not guilty to a new indictment charging him with conspiracy to impede federal officers and possession of firearms in a federal facility...
(The) Federal Magistrate Judge...agreed to release Blomgren from custody once his father arrives in Portland to return with him to North Carolina in Blomgren's vehicle. (He) will be on electronic monitoring and home detention, pending trial.
Blomgren...drove...from North Carolina several days after the leaders seized...the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge...(He) left his two sons with his elderly parents...(He) needs to return to North Carolina to help his 17-year-old son who has autism because Blomgren is the only one who can calm him down, said his court-appointed lawyer...
(The) Federal Magistrate Judge...agreed to release Blomgren from custody once his father arrives in Portland to return with him to North Carolina in Blomgren's vehicle. (He) will be on electronic monitoring and home detention, pending trial.
Blomgren...drove...from North Carolina several days after the leaders seized...the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge...(He) left his two sons with his elderly parents...(He) needs to return to North Carolina to help his 17-year-old son who has autism because Blomgren is the only one who can calm him down, said his court-appointed lawyer...
But Blomgren's autistic son has managed to manage without him under the care of his elderly grandparents for the better part of a month, and apparently Blomgren's father isn't too elderly to travel from North Carolina to get him. And dare I hope that Blomgren will receive his ankle bracelet BEFORE leaving Oregon custody?
ReverbPress.com: It appears as if there were extenuating circumstances that warranted (the pretrial release)...but it’s hard to imagine that his confession of what the Oregon standoff leaders had planned didn’t play a role...
“Blomgren told authorities that the occupation leaders never booby-trapped the wildlife sanctuary but talked about using ‘IEDs,’ or improvised explosive devices, when planning for a worst-case scenario and using at least two drones to spy on the FBI, the prosecutor said.”
The seismic tremor you just felt was the result of a collective orgasm going through the entire Oregon federal system.
During the end of the standoff, one of the holdouts kept accusing the Feds of planning to bombard them with enough additional charges to keep them in jail permanently. It sure sounds like she was right, which makes Blomgren's release that much more mysterious. But if his statement about their discussing IEDs and drones gives the Feds a way to bombard them into prison permanently with the ULTIMATE domestic terrorism charges...Now, THAT makes sense!
rocktivity
March 9, 2016
WV lawmakers legalize drinking raw milk, celebrate by drinking raw milk...
and...spoiler alert!
rocktivity
March 2, 2016
Substitute Governor Soprano for Gatsby, Donald Trump for Tom Buchanan, Bruce Springsteen for Daisy Buchanan, and you've got a remake in the making!
rocktivity
An Amazing Summation Of Christie (Written Thirty-Five Years Ago)
about a character who was invented nearly one hundred years ago:
The Great Gatsby...is a very great American novel with a considerable bearing...on any story in which social...reality, spirit, and money are understood in their relation to each other...
A half century ago...(Gatsby) was already inventing American society although he mistakenly supposed that it existed, and that it was Daisy and Tom Buchanan. What defined his life was not our present-day belief that money buys class, but the far more radical conviction that if money was legitimately come by, it was class, and...(therefore) conferred moral stature. When he died, Gatsby was still seeking not only a means of self-realization but a means of social incarnation as well...
(The Great Gatsby's author) F. Scott Fitzgerald was not afraid of the word "vulgar"...
-- Diana Trilling, Mrs. Harris: The Death Of The Scarsdale Diet Doctor, 1981
Substitute Governor Soprano for Gatsby, Donald Trump for Tom Buchanan, Bruce Springsteen for Daisy Buchanan, and you've got a remake in the making!
rocktivity
February 12, 2016
Misogynistic and vile? Hell, yes -- because the joke trades on the inconvenient truth that people who exchange money for sex (traditionally male) have moral, social, and legal ascendancy over people (traditionally female) who exchange sex for money. But if you substitute loyalty, integrity, or ambition (especially political ambition) for the sex, and any kind of reward or favoritism for the money, the joke also functions in the "respectable" world. I actually heard an MSNBC commentator say it of a politician, "Well, now we know what he is -- AND we know his price!"
rocktivity
Here's how I originally heard the joke
"Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?"
"Yes."
"Would you sleep with me for five dollars?"
"Hell, no! What do you think I am?"
"We've ESTABLISHED what you are. Now we're just negotiating the price."
Misogynistic and vile? Hell, yes -- because the joke trades on the inconvenient truth that people who exchange money for sex (traditionally male) have moral, social, and legal ascendancy over people (traditionally female) who exchange sex for money. But if you substitute loyalty, integrity, or ambition (especially political ambition) for the sex, and any kind of reward or favoritism for the money, the joke also functions in the "respectable" world. I actually heard an MSNBC commentator say it of a politician, "Well, now we know what he is -- AND we know his price!"
rocktivity
February 10, 2016
Easy on the melodrama, Huffpo -- two primary contests, one of which was held in a candidate's back yard, do not a "protracted struggle" make. But it does mean that it's time to get this out of the mothballs:
As for Hillary's treasury of superdelegate commitments, here's another little artifact from 2008:
I'm not saying that Hillary's approach can't work, just that it didn't work last time.
rocktivity
This is not the campaign that Hillary Clinton and the party envisioned...
Huffington Post: Sen. Bernie Sanders' victory over Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary all but guarantees the party what it wanted to avoid: a long, costly, and potentially damaging primary fight to determine the nominee...
(But) even amid the dour news on Tuesday night, there was confident talk. "We'll do well in March. And that's where the ballgame is," Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta said. The (Clinton) campaign released a three-page memo...touting (her) strength in the upcoming states and noting, rightly, that there were far more delegates to gain there...
(T)he memo read..."In total, 1,875 delegates will be awarded in the first 15 days of March, including nearly 900 on Super Tuesday alone. When you take into account the large number of Super Delegate commitments we’ve secured, as well as Hillary’s commanding lead in the polls in delegate-rich states, she is in a very strong position to become the nominee."
That Clinton's team has to rely on sharp analytics and delegate math-crunching to make the case for her winning the nomination is, in and of itself, remarkable. She wasn't supposed to be in this type of protracted struggle, certainly not against someone who wasn't even a Democrat...
(But) even amid the dour news on Tuesday night, there was confident talk. "We'll do well in March. And that's where the ballgame is," Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta said. The (Clinton) campaign released a three-page memo...touting (her) strength in the upcoming states and noting, rightly, that there were far more delegates to gain there...
(T)he memo read..."In total, 1,875 delegates will be awarded in the first 15 days of March, including nearly 900 on Super Tuesday alone. When you take into account the large number of Super Delegate commitments we’ve secured, as well as Hillary’s commanding lead in the polls in delegate-rich states, she is in a very strong position to become the nominee."
That Clinton's team has to rely on sharp analytics and delegate math-crunching to make the case for her winning the nomination is, in and of itself, remarkable. She wasn't supposed to be in this type of protracted struggle, certainly not against someone who wasn't even a Democrat...
Easy on the melodrama, Huffpo -- two primary contests, one of which was held in a candidate's back yard, do not a "protracted struggle" make. But it does mean that it's time to get this out of the mothballs:
As for Hillary's treasury of superdelegate commitments, here's another little artifact from 2008:
I'm not saying that Hillary's approach can't work, just that it didn't work last time.
rocktivity
February 10, 2016
Show me a bad loser, and I'll show you a possibly psychotic overgrown brat. And a bad leader. AND a loser....
rocktivity
Newton isn't sorry for acting like sore loser
Courier-Tribune: Cam Newton isn’t apologizing for acting like a “sore loser” after the Super Bowl. The league’s MVP has been widely criticized for walking out of a three-minute press conference after a 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday in which he answered questions with mostly one- and two-word responses while sulking in his chair wearing a black Carolina Panthers hoodie over his head.
“Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser,” Newton said Tuesday as players cleaned out their lockers at the team’s downtown stadium.
“If I offended anybody that’s cool, but I know who I am and I’m not about to conform nor bend for anybody’s expectations because yours or anybody’s expectations would never exceed mine...Who are you to say that your way is right? I have all of these people who are condemning and saying this, that and the third, but what makes your way right?”
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said while he prefers his fifth-year quarterback would have handled the situation a little better, he understands where he is coming from and what he felt at the time. “That’s who he is. He hates to lose, that’s the bottom line,” Rivera said. “That is what you love in him. I would much rather have a guy who hates to lose than a guy who accepts it. The guy who accepts it, you might as well just push him out of your locker room because you don’t want him around..."
“Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser,” Newton said Tuesday as players cleaned out their lockers at the team’s downtown stadium.
“If I offended anybody that’s cool, but I know who I am and I’m not about to conform nor bend for anybody’s expectations because yours or anybody’s expectations would never exceed mine...Who are you to say that your way is right? I have all of these people who are condemning and saying this, that and the third, but what makes your way right?”
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said while he prefers his fifth-year quarterback would have handled the situation a little better, he understands where he is coming from and what he felt at the time. “That’s who he is. He hates to lose, that’s the bottom line,” Rivera said. “That is what you love in him. I would much rather have a guy who hates to lose than a guy who accepts it. The guy who accepts it, you might as well just push him out of your locker room because you don’t want him around..."
Show me a bad loser, and I'll show you a possibly psychotic overgrown brat. And a bad leader. AND a loser....
rocktivity
January 11, 2016
[div style="text-align:center"]DIS-HONORABLE MENTION
Woman's hand severely injured after she reaches into cage to pet tiger
Media Source: Omaha World Herald
Original Poster: Omaha Steve
Best Comments (Other Than Mine):
[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION:
THE "TO FIGURE THIS OUT, YOU HAD TO DO A FREAKING STUDY?" CATEGORY
New study: Democrats far better than Republicans at grammar
Media Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Original Poster: Newsjock
Best Comment (Other Than Mine): "At spelling too -- let's not forget Mr. Moran."
-- Sanity Claws
[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION:
THE "YOU FORGOT THE 'NOT FROM THE ONION' DISCLAIMER" CATEGORY
Nicky Minaj Upset That Museum Visitors Disrespect Her Wax Figure
Media Source: EntertainmentOnline.com
Original Poster: Liberal_in_LA
Best Comment(Other Than Mine): "I'm laughing my...ass off here."
-- Cali
[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION:
When it Comes to Choosing a Partner, Women and Men Value Different Qualities
Media Source: KUT.org
Original Poster: TexasTowelie
Best Comments (Other Than Mine):
[div style="text-align:center"]THIRD RUNNER UP
C.I.A. Funds Found Their Way Into Qaeda Coffers
Media Source: New York Times
Original Poster: Geek tragedy
Best Comment (Other Than Mine): "The CIA has never seen Islamic nutcases it didn't love."
-- Wolf Frankula
[div style="text-align:center"]SECOND RUNNER UP
Some blacks feel fatigued after barrage of racial incidents
Media Source: Associated Press
Original Poster: Surya Gayatri
Best Comments (Other Than Mine): "Coloreds, Negroes, Blacks, (and) African Americans have always felt under seige."
-- Iliyah
[div style="text-align:center"]FIRST RUNNER UP
Planned Parenthood shootings increasingly seem politically motivated
Media Source: Denver Post
Original Poster: Deminks
Best Comment (Other Than Mine): "He was a loner who lived with a woman (I thought loners lived alone), was a hate radio fan (per his pamphlets and conversation), and was shooting people in/from Planned Parenthood. Whatever could his motive be?"
-- Valerief
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 2px #000000 ridge"][div style="text-align:center"]
AND THE WINNER OF THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL
ROCKTIVITY/DU "YOU CALL THIS NEWS?" AWARDS:
Health officials warn you could die playing GOP debate drinking games
Media Source: RawStory.com
Original Poster: Kpete
Best Comment (Other Than Mine): "Reverse the rules: If one of these turd maggots say anything remotely intelligent, chug a quart of vodka."
-- Olddots
[div style="text-align:center"]
Congrats to the winners and thanks for coming to the guests! This year, unclaimed clothing from the after party will be donated to Nicki Minaj, and a room has been reserved Blue Jazz and Nuclear Unicorn. The bar bill will go to pharma greedster Martin Shrkeli...Oh, I beg your pardon, I read my cue card incorrectly!
The bar bill for the afterparty is actually going to Miss Universe pageant host Steve Harvey. Shrkeli WAS going to get it, but his arrest for securities fraud and firings as CEO of two pharmaceutical companies have suddenly rendered him quite broke. So we created a job for him instead -- in case you've been wondering why the busboy looks kind of familiar!
rocktivity
It's the Thirteenth Annual Rocktivity/DU "You Call This NEWS?" Awards!
[div style="text-align:center"]
Thank you, and welcome -- welcome to puberty! It's astounding to think that some of you have children who haven't been around as long as these awards have! And I would be remiss in not mentioning that once again, we are on the threshold of Hillary's second attempt to become president.
I'm so happy that we're not weathering the acrimony DU went through eight years ago that this year's ceremony is dedicated to all the Democratic Party Presidential candidates. Needless to say, I'm even happier that the GOP clown car has only turbocharged its rhetoric. But it puts the national media in the difficult position of having to choose which candidate's campaign advertising income to endorse. Maybe that's why we're entering our thirteenth year of DU-ers finding stories that are either a little too obvious, outdated, inconvenient, or a combination thereof to come across as actual news. So once again, let's salute the DU original posters and commenters who weren't afraid to call a spade a shovel!
Newbies in particular are invited to survey the archives:
[div style="text-align:center"]PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS
2003 - Bush's Ancestor's Bank Seized (Grandad - Germany/Nazi)
2004 - Cheney May Help or Hinder Bush's Chances
[div style="text-align:center"]PREVIOUS AWARD CEREMONIES
2005 - U.S. Army Report: Military Lost Dominance In Iraq After Invasion
2006 - Iraq On Brink Of Becoming A Failed State
2007 - Iraqis Blame U.S. Invasion For Discord
2008 - Bush sees no recession coming
2009 - Bottled water sales dry up - Industry Asks 'Why?'
2010 - Former Head of FEMA says Bush Administration Downplayed Severity of Hurricane Katrina
2011 - Wal-Mart: Our Shoppers Are "Running Out Of Money"
2012 - CIA Docs Confirm: Cheney Is A Liar!
2013 - It's official: Pope has not abolished sin, says Vatican
2014 - (State) Trooper wants job back because raping that girl was just a "moral mistake"
[div class="excerpt" style="text-align:center;border: 2px #000000 ridge"]THIRTEENTH ANNUAL ROCKTIVITY DU/LBN "YOU CALL THIS NEWS?" AWARD WINNERS
Having explained the rules, we begin, of course, with an exception to them. The following could not be officially nominated because I started the thread. Nonetheless, I felt that its real-life Onion-ness simply could not go unrecognized. Besides, the recipient, while not an official DU-er to my knowledge, was in a band that rocked liberal causes long before it was fashionable:
[div style="text-align:center"]EXCEPTIONAL SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Bassist Apologizes For Inspiring LIMP BIZKIT
Media Source: Blabbermouth.net
Best Comments: by Rage Against The Machine bassist Tim Commerford
"I do apologize for LIMP BIZKIT. I really do. I feel really bad that we inspired such bullshit. They're gone, though. That's the beautiful thing. There's only one left, and that's RAGE, and as far as I'm concerned, we're the only one that matters."
Commerford...climbed a 20-foot backdrop onstage as Limp Bizkit came up to accept the Best Rock Video award (in) 2000...(He) spent a night in jail...(but) added that if he could do it again he would have "ripped that thing to the ground and shredded it."
[div style="text-align:center"]DIS-HONORABLE MENTION
Woman's hand severely injured after she reaches into cage to pet tiger
Media Source: Omaha World Herald
Original Poster: Omaha Steve
Best Comments (Other Than Mine):
"Bet she won't do that again..."
-- VanillaRhapsody
"Why? She's got another hand, after all."
-- Petronius
[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION:
THE "TO FIGURE THIS OUT, YOU HAD TO DO A FREAKING STUDY?" CATEGORY
New study: Democrats far better than Republicans at grammar
Media Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Original Poster: Newsjock
Best Comment (Other Than Mine): "At spelling too -- let's not forget Mr. Moran."
-- Sanity Claws
[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION:
THE "YOU FORGOT THE 'NOT FROM THE ONION' DISCLAIMER" CATEGORY
Nicky Minaj Upset That Museum Visitors Disrespect Her Wax Figure
Media Source: EntertainmentOnline.com
Original Poster: Liberal_in_LA
Best Comment(Other Than Mine): "I'm laughing my...ass off here."
-- Cali
[div style="text-align:center"]HONORABLE MENTION:
When it Comes to Choosing a Partner, Women and Men Value Different Qualities
Media Source: KUT.org
Original Poster: TexasTowelie
Best Comments (Other Than Mine):
"That's probably accurate, but a lot of Liberal people prefer -- how shall I put this? -- someone somewhat intelligent to talk to when the sex is done for the night."
-- BlueJazz
"As long as he worships me for the goddess I am, that is all the intelligence he needs -- and is permitted to display."
-- Nuclear Unicorn
"I wouldn't have it any other way, my dear. Perhaps I should have said 'After my beating.'"
-- BlueJazz
[div style="text-align:center"]THIRD RUNNER UP
C.I.A. Funds Found Their Way Into Qaeda Coffers
Media Source: New York Times
Original Poster: Geek tragedy
Best Comment (Other Than Mine): "The CIA has never seen Islamic nutcases it didn't love."
-- Wolf Frankula
[div style="text-align:center"]SECOND RUNNER UP
Some blacks feel fatigued after barrage of racial incidents
Media Source: Associated Press
Original Poster: Surya Gayatri
Best Comments (Other Than Mine): "Coloreds, Negroes, Blacks, (and) African Americans have always felt under seige."
-- Iliyah
[div style="text-align:center"]FIRST RUNNER UP
Planned Parenthood shootings increasingly seem politically motivated
Media Source: Denver Post
Original Poster: Deminks
Best Comment (Other Than Mine): "He was a loner who lived with a woman (I thought loners lived alone), was a hate radio fan (per his pamphlets and conversation), and was shooting people in/from Planned Parenthood. Whatever could his motive be?"
-- Valerief
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 2px #000000 ridge"][div style="text-align:center"]
AND THE WINNER OF THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL
ROCKTIVITY/DU "YOU CALL THIS NEWS?" AWARDS:
Health officials warn you could die playing GOP debate drinking games
Media Source: RawStory.com
Original Poster: Kpete
Best Comment (Other Than Mine): "Reverse the rules: If one of these turd maggots say anything remotely intelligent, chug a quart of vodka."
-- Olddots
[div style="text-align:center"]
Congrats to the winners and thanks for coming to the guests! This year, unclaimed clothing from the after party will be donated to Nicki Minaj, and a room has been reserved Blue Jazz and Nuclear Unicorn. The bar bill will go to pharma greedster Martin Shrkeli...Oh, I beg your pardon, I read my cue card incorrectly!
The bar bill for the afterparty is actually going to Miss Universe pageant host Steve Harvey. Shrkeli WAS going to get it, but his arrest for securities fraud and firings as CEO of two pharmaceutical companies have suddenly rendered him quite broke. So we created a job for him instead -- in case you've been wondering why the busboy looks kind of familiar!
rocktivity
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: New Jersey
Home country: USA
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 44,575
