What’zup Today?

by LegalEagle on February 9, 2010

Image Courtesy of Daniella Zalcman at WikiCommons.

Does not play well with others… Iranian nuclear move upsets U.S., France, and Russia.

Wounded but deadly… U.S. counterterrorism experts offer both caution and optimism on the Al-Qaeda threat.

So this guy isn’t exactly Danny Ocean…

Riverton police say the 26-year-old ran out of the store after grabbing the bottle of booze and a package of cough drops Wednesday and hid in a nearby building, which happened to be the police station.

Come on over guys, party at my place…

by LegalEagle on February 9, 2010

Did somebody say party? Image Courtesy of WikiCommons.

We at USDemocrazy love a good party.

But if someone was to invite us over for a rousing discussion of health care policy…hmmmm

We would probably be “busy” that night walking the dog. (Unless there was food. Never turn down food.)

But, alas, suppose the guy asking was the President of the United States!

You see, the Republicans in Congress just got such an invite via a TV interview before the big game Sunday (props to the Saints.) Come on over and discuss policy, President Obama says… and there will be food! Would you go?

read more…

Super Bowl Ads Round-Up

by Photo Guru on February 9, 2010

Super Bowl Sunday: A great time for football fans or advertisement enthusiasts? Well, the football fans have gotten the chance to marvel over the Saints’ win, but now it’s time to analyze the advertisements!

Here’s the New York Times’ take on the issue. But we at U.S. Democrazy thought we’d bring you some of our favorites!

First, here’s the definite winner in the Most Adorable category:

Second, the best advertisement that targeted guys:

Here’s one for the Golden Girls fan:

Finally, here’s one that just made us laugh:

What was your favorite ad from the Super Bowl? Tell us in the comments!

Film Festival: Frozen Frenzy!

by ForeverPlaid on February 8, 2010

We at USDemocrazy are victims. Victims of the SNOWPOCALYPSE, that is.

If you live in the mid-Atlantic region, you know what we’re talking about. If you live in the northern mid-west, you’re probably thinking, “Um, OK.”

And since we are snowed in and absolutely bored out of our minds, we became unnaturally obsessed with snow stories and videos, which we’re sharing here. If you think it’s going to be boring, you’re clearly unfamiliar with how awesome blizzards are.

Snow can make people act crazy. But no one can act crazier than meteorologists, as evidenced by the video above, featuring a seemingly maniacal weatherman flipping out over the most recent mid-Atlantic blizzard. It’s awesome.

What’s also awesome is thundersnow. Haven’t heard of it? Well, the concept is simple: imagine a thunderstorm, subtract the rain, and add a whole lot of snow. And there you have it. They’re pretty rare, so meteorologists get worked up over thundersnow storms as well. For instance, Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel:

And Mr. Cantore isn’t the only one enraptured by this meteorological anomaly:

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Thundersnow
www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

read more…

Porky Procrastination

by Stefmav on February 8, 2010
Photo Credit: The Washington Post

Photo Credit: The Washington Post

Washington DC is rolling in pork. We don’t meat all those BBQ ribs consumed at Super Bowl Parties (Who Dat?!).

No, we are talking about pork-barrel spending. That’s when politicians grab government funds for pet projects in their congressional districts.

Now, to be fair, every politician does this. If congress folk bring home the Bacon (hence the term “Pork”) to their district voters love ‘em for it. Who doesn’t like somebody else’s money being spent on them?

But there are some in Congress who are artfully abusing working this system. The most notorious example might be Alabama Senator Richard Shelby’s $40 billion pet project (yes, that is Billion with a B).

His local project  wants to take taxpayer money to create air-to-air refueling tankers and an explosive testing lab for the FBI (let’s hope the the exposive testing does not take place inside the fuel tankers).

Okay…maybe the USA needs these projects…but Senator Shelby has a curious way of convincing opponents to support him: he is using BLACKMAIL.

The powerful Senator has decided to block any of the Obama administration’s nominees (and there are loads) until he gets his Mega Billion Payout. read more…

What’zup Today?

by ChickPea on February 5, 2010
Thanks to TPM

Thanks to TPM

Scott Brown was sworn in yesterday as Massachusetts’s junior senator. He completes the GOP’s 41-59 majority.

Playing politics. As if they don’t already have enough nonsense to cover, posters find the Super Bowl to be partisan issue.

Harold Ford Jr. and RNC Chairman Michael Steele squared off last night in a debate for America’s future.

Haiti is Hit Yet Again…

by Susa on February 5, 2010
Thanks to nhop.ca!

Thanks to nhop.ca!

Haiti’s having a pretty hard time right now, since the massive earthquake earlier this month.

Fortunately, a lot of good people from around the world are trying to help… with food, money, kidnapping… KIDNAPPING?!?!

Ten U.S. Baptist missionaries were charged with kidnapping 33 Haitian children and trying to take them across the Haitian border to the Dominican Republic.

The Haitian Prime Minister, Max Bellerive, states,

It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers.  It is clear now that some of the children have live parents… And it is clear now, that they knew what they were doing was wrong.

According to ABC News, children were drawn to follow the missionaries with pictures – pamphlets, actually – that showed pools, large houses, and clothes.

The children, although allegedly being taken to an orphanage, were not orphans. read more…

Political Puzzle

by ChickPea on February 5, 2010
Bing.com

Bing.com

Aren’t puzzles puzzling?

Out of the box their pieces are tiny, oddly shaped and maddeningly indistinguishable (like a pea, a marble and our editor’s brain). But when you look at the cover of the box, the pieces are mysteriously assembled to paint a clear picture.

A clear picture is being painted right now in Washington DC. As these pieces come together, this political picture is not looking good… for the Democrats.

Here are some of the pieces…

Fund Raising: A new Supreme Court ruling, Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, frees corporations to write unlimited blank checks to political campaigns (Open the Floodgates!).

Web Surfing: The Republicans are getting more savvy as to how to use The Internet for political gain. The recent election of Massachusetts Senator Senator Scott Brown has been attributed to a rigorous use of the internet. Elsewhere,  California conservative Carly Fiorina have taken to running attack adds through the web. Seen below is the “Demon Sheep” add run against her primary challenger Tom Campbell.

read more…

What’zup today?

by MZ_Hammmer on February 4, 2010
Thanks to Wikicommons.

Thanks to Wikicommons.

Speedy problems for Toyota. The Prius is added to the list of potential problem cars.

NO DEAL MR. AHMADINEJAD!! Hillary Clinton refuses to swap prisoners with Iran.

Well, actually it wasn’t true. Medical paper tying vaccines to autism is retracted.

Brisk Budget Banter

by MZ_Hammmer on February 4, 2010
Barack_Obama_releases_full_budget_5-7-09

Thanks to Wikicommons.

We at US Democrazy are pretty sure that there is nothing you, our readers, find more interesting than accounting.  That’s why we are excited to present (Sound the trumpets!):  President Obama’s Federal budget proposal for the 2011 Fiscal Year! (Applause!)

Now in case you missed the proposed budgets release on February 1 here are some quick numbers from the proposal (the full collection of tables is here as a .pdf):

  • The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the value of all goods and services produced in the US – $15,299 Billion
  • Expected federal income for 2011 – $2,567 Billion (16.8% of the GDP)

Of which: $1,121 Billion comes from individual’s (ie. your) income taxes

  • Expected federal expenditures for 2011 – $3,834 Billion (25.1% of the GDP)

Of which: $548.9 Billion goes towards the Department of Defense
$730 Billion goes towards Social Security

  • The difference (e.g. deficit) – $1,267 Billion (8.3% of the GDP)

From our friends at the Daily Beast comes a good summary of some interesting parts (yes, such a thing exists) of the budget.

read more…

Photo of the Week: Six More Weeks of Winter

by Photo Guru on February 4, 2010

Photo by Flickr user h.koppdelaney

Photo by Flickr user h.koppdelaney

Everyone’s favorite weatherman has called it again. This week, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, indicating six more weeks of winter. According to this picture, his prediction was right (which is more than we can say for most weathermen)!

What’zup today?

by ForeverPlaid on February 3, 2010

Shadow or no? It’s nice in America that we base our attitude on the weather off of a scared groundhog.

In case you’re still paying attention… Michael Jackson’s doctor is in trouble.

IRAN IN SPACE!! Well, Iran’s animals in space:

State television aired footage of the flying Kavoshgar-3. Photos posted to news websites showed a rat strapped into a space pod. Reports said two turtles and worms were also aboard.

Mr. VP is a fan of” Avatar,” apparently. But wait, why does he have time to watch three-hour movies?? (Video below.)

Caption Contest! Going Gaga

by ChickPea on February 3, 2010

To our loyal band of caption contest contributors, we’re moving to a new time. Now every Wednesday we will be posting a quirky photo for you to comment on. This way you will have all week to submit your funny, snide, clever, witty, and good-humored captions!

TheDailyBeast.com

TheDailyBeast.com

Seen here dressed in medical tubing, and holding a spiky star/weapon (we really don’t know…), Lady Gaga proves to everyone just how weird original she is when she is off her meds. Tell us what she is thinking… assuming that she is thinking…

An Oscar night for the common man

by ForeverPlaid on February 2, 2010

Break out your evening gowns… It’s time for the First Annual USDemocrazy Oscar Nomination Run-Down!

Hey… You! Stop yawning! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has changed a time-honored tradition just to please us, the common folk. That is, they’ve expanded the “Best Picture” category from five to TEN!!!!

NPR’s Linda Holmes points out that the Academy has added five extra nominees to the field in order to make some room for more commercial films… Remember last year when the most successful picture at the box office was looked over at the Oscars? A little film called “The Dark Knight” saw its fans cry foul when the Academy snubbed it.

read more…

What’zup Today?

by LegalEagle on February 2, 2010

Courtesy of McCormick

America’s most wanted: Wendy’s Chili:

Police say a lumber truck crashed into a Massachusetts home after the driver was knocked unconscious when he choked on chili from Wendy’s.

Re-educating NCLB… Administration reworks No Child Left Behind.

Show me the money… President Obama sends Congress his $3.8 trillion budget.