What?

The Secret Service has been faced with a vast increase in the number of death threats directed against President Obama, so much so that they've had to pull people off Treasury enforcement.

So you'd think, with the number of kooks making threatening MySpace pages, LiveJournal and YouTube entries, and dredging up bits of the Bible to actively pray for the death of a legitimately elected leader, security would be fairly tight at a state dinner held in the White House, right?

Wrong.

In yet another display of ineptitude, the Secret Service allowed a couple to get past the gate, past the door and into the very fucking room at the Executive Mansion. They weren't invited, and just sailed on through. Even had pictures taken with some of the dignitaries.

Talk about embarrassing. What if something had happened? Would the Secret Service simply say, "Oops, our bad?"

The SS is already allowing heavily armed nutcases to get within shouting distance of the President, and allowed Bill O'Reilly to get within ten feet of Obama when he was a candidate. If security is this shoddy, what's to stop a Leon Czolgosz from getting close enough?

The M2C Sports Desk

Well, it's been a fun weekend for football (both kinds). Let's recap a bit, shall we?

In association football (known here in the USA as soccer) Real Salt Lake City beat the Los Angeles Galaxy in a penalty kick shootout after the match finished extra time still tied 1-1. Real SLC managed to beat out such World Cup participants and international players as David Beckham and Landon Donovan.

By the way, Team USA clinched a berth in the World Cup to be held next summer down in South Africa. Ought to be a fun party, particularly since France also clinched at the expense of Ireland thanks to Thierry Henry's handball. Ireland is still understandably ticked about it, too. I will be taking up a collection to get all of the FIFA officials Lasix surgery to fix their vision problems.

In college football, the top seven spots in the BCS Top 25 haven't changed a bit, going into what is termed as Rivalry Weekend. Florida is still #1 after smashing the living daylights out of Florida International, while #2 Alabama squished Chattanooga.

Notre Dame lost to UConn - WHO THE HELL CARES?!? Notre Dame's been a crap team for years, and the constant mindless schmoozing of this sports franchise with attendant university gets on my nerves. Either the NBC staff all attended Notre Dame or someone at the college has scurrilous photos - those are the only reasons they still get their games televised. Coach Charlie Weis has said that he won't argue if the Irish want to replace him. Of course, he's in no place to argue, having managed 20 losses over the past three years. Not good, even if it is Notre Dame.

I watched the 30th Annual Florida Classic between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman on Saturday. The Rattlers trounced the Wildcats 42-6, and everyone had a good time.

Professional football will always mean the NFL - nevermind the AFL, the USFL, the XFL and the Lingerie Football League (although the latter is fun to watch). Being a bit of an Oakland Raiders fan (ever since Madden was coach), I was tickled puce to see the Raiders win against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals were heavily favored, and I had expected a fearsome arse-whuppin.' The Raiders go on to meet Dallas in Texas for Thanksgiving, and after seeing the low-lights of the Dallas-Redskins game, I have some hopes for another Oakland win.

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers allowed the New Orleans Saints into their stadium, an action that they quite regretted after Drew Brees and the Saints won 38-7. Had Miami lost last Thursday, I would have been quite happy indeed.

Still, things could be a lot worse. That's all from the M2C Sports Desk.

Time to Trim the Fat

Congresscritter Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) has a minor problem.

His local Bishop, Thomas Tobin, has reportedly banned him from receiving Communion because of Rep. Kennedy's support for abortion rights.

Okay.

What's next?

Excommunication?

Oooh, I am sooooo scared.

Leaving aside the stupidity of a medieval, celibate organization that spent decades concealing pedophile members of its hierarchy daring to dictate to anyone anything about a woman's right of reproductive choice (abortion, for those of you who haven't gotten the memo yet, is LEGAL in the United States of America, fancy that), does Bishop Tobin really want to cross swords with a Kennedy?

Yes, he's one of those Kennedys.

I think that this is a sterling example of why there has been an historically anti-Catholic bias in this nation ever since it was colonized.

And, since Bishop Tobin wants to poke his crozier into a political discussion, it's time to trim the fat off the Church.

Bishop Tobin, you want to play the game? Then you need to pay the entrance fee.

I would strongly support Rep. Kennedy submitting a bill before Congress to strip the Roman Catholic Church of its tax exempt status. It's only fair. Now, Rep. Kennedy isn't from my district (sadly, I am represented by the collared slave known as Adam Putnam), but he has the right to worship wherever he wants.

And if any religious fat cat sticks his nose into political business, well, it's time he went on a diet.

Obligatory Friday Sex Post

From our "Some People Have Interesting Problems" department:

British couple forbidden to have sex.

USA Paying the Taliban

Did you know that we're paying the insurgents who shooting at us in Afghanistan?

According to a recent investigative article in The Nation, the process goes like this: we, the US taxpayers, give money to the Department of Defense. The DOD gives money to the private contractors who ship supplies to our troops all over Afghanistan. The contractors in turn give money to "private security firms" - local leaders, local warlords and the Taliban - in order to make sure that the supplies get through with as few bullet holes as possible.

A neat arrangement. Of course, what the "private security firms" do with the money they indirectly receive from us (probably augmented from drug operations) is their business. The recent discovery of 250 tons of explosives and bomb-making parts in the Afghan city of Kandahar is a hint, though.

This will only get worse. People on the receiving end of a protection racket will tell you that the amount of money never goes down.

In my opinion, it's time to leave.

Blackmail

Ever had to put up with a snotty brat of a child?

You tell the child that you're going to do something that the child doesn't want or like, and in retaliation the child says, "I'll stop loving you," or words to that effect.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Petulant Child, 2009.

The District of Columbia (our nation's capital) is getting ready to pass a law that allows same-sex marriage, but contains a provision clearly stating that religious organizations will not be required to set aside space or time to conduct ceremonies. No big deal there, as marriage is also a civil rite and American culture allows you to set up whatever ceremony you and your companion feel is appropriate.

But the law also requires organizations to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and to provide the same level of benefits to same-sex couples as it does to married hetero couples.

And that's when the Roman Catholic Church became a petulant child.

The RCC has thrown down an ultimatum that is really quite unconscionable for a 'Christian' organization who includes charity as a basic - they're threatening to shut off charitable services to the District, offering as an excuse that they won't be able to afford it.

We all know the real reason, of course.

One of the things that makes it very hard for me to embrace any religion is the separation between what the religion teaches and how it puts those teachings into practice. The New Testament injunctions against homosexuality do not emanate from Christ, but from Paul, who knew how to hate and has struck many people as a bit of a woman-hater.

Of course, we recall William Durant's judgment that "Fundamentalism is the triumph of Paul over Christ," and that the canon was fixed by a church council over a thousand years ago.

Nice to see that the RCC is keeping up with the times.

Setting Ground Rules

A Marine Corps reservist in the Tampa area was picking up his dry cleaning when he was accosted by a bearded man who didn't speak English.

So what did he do?

He belabored the bearded man with a tire iron, chased him, then called the cops and claimed that the man was a terrorist and had been speaking Arabic at him.

So now our staunch heroic Marine Corps reservist is in jail - for beating up a Greek Orthodox priest.

In light of the recent tragedy at Fort Hood, it's nice to see people are getting the ground rules set:

Anyone who isn't lily white, wears a beard and doesn't speak English is now fair game, apparently.

We have become the monster, gentle readers.

House Health Care Bill Passes

The final vote on HR 3962, the Health Care Reform Bill, in the US House of Reprehensibles was:

220-215 (218 needed for passage)

All but one Republican voted against it, which is no great surprise (the surprise was that one - Joseph Cao of Louisiana - voted for it), but 39 Democrats apparently felt that they don't want their jobs anymore so they voted against it.

Also in the bill is the Stupid - er, sorry, Stupak - Amendment, which will make abortion almost unobtainable by ensuring that only well-to-do women will be able to afford it. 64 Democrats voted for that obscenity, so they apparently want to be challenged in primaries come re-election time.

Still, there is cause to celebrate. This is the closest health care reform has gotten in either house of the Congress since Teddy Roosevelt first suggested it.

Now it goes to the conference stage, where the House and the Senate will thrash together a compromise bill. Then both houses vote on it and the finished product goes to Obama for his signature.

Meet the Vreelands!

Allow me to introduce Samantha (Sam) Vreeland and her husband Max. She's a badger, standing about five feet nine; he's an Island fox, the smallest of the North American vulpine species (and is very happy with that).

Both of them are dressed in the duty uniform of the Rain Island Naval Syndicate, an anarcho-syndicalist military force found in the Spontoon Island universe. She's a captain, he's a commander. The two of them are the stars of the story Kocha Koi, a story about a pirate submarine.

Artwork was commissioned by a young lady named Cherushi, who can be found at FurAffinity.

This is Just Too Precious

A bit of setup, first:

Last night on MSNBC's The Ed Show, former Congresscritter and right-wing boob Tom Tancredo was holding forth against government-run health care. His target du jour was the Veteran's Administration, which he stated was despised by veterans.

Unfortunately for "No Habla Espanol" Tancredo, he was debating Markos Moulitsas, blogger, veteran and not one to be trifled with. Let's watch the fireworks:



Knowing your subject: Important
Knowing the deep dark secret of the wingnut chicken-hawk: Essential
Making Tom Tancredo cry and stomp off like a WATB: Frickin' Priceless!