My state is better than your state
Sorry, but it’s still true, my friends. Massachusetts beats the crap out of every other chump state in the country. My hometown paper tells you why:
Mass. bashers take note: Health reform is working
PUNDITS and politicians who oppose universal healthcare for the nation have a new straw man to kick around – the Massachusetts reform plan that covers more than 97 percent of the state’s residents. In the myth that these critics have manufactured, this state’s plan is bleeding taxpayers dry, creating nothing less than a medical Big Dig.
The facts – according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation – are quite different. Its report this spring put the cost to the state taxpayer at about $88 million a year, less than four-tenths of 1 percent of the state budget of $27 billion. Yes, the state recently had to cut benefits for legal immigrants, and safety-net hospital Boston Medical Center has sued for higher state aid. But that is because the recession has cut state revenues, not because universal healthcare is a boondoggle. The main reason costs to the state have been well within expectations? More than half of all the previously uninsured got coverage by buying into their employers’ plans, not by opting for one of the state-subsidized plans.
This should be exciting news for those fiscal conservatives, including both Republicans and “blue dog’’ Democrats, who claim to support the goal of universal coverage while despairing over its budget impact. But that’s not what you hear from the Massachusetts bashers. Trying to scare off the nation from helping the uninsured get coverage, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said recently, “You don’t have to look any further than the universal healthcare mess in Massachusetts to see disaster ahead.’’ New York Times columnist Ross Douthat on Monday accused President Obama of “pushing a health plan that looks a lot like the system currently hemorrhaging money in Massachusetts.’’
As usual, I think it’s good to look at numbers when you’re arguing that Massachusetts’ health reform is “bankrupting” the state. Yes, Massachusetts does have a $1.2 billion budget deficit right now, or approximately 4.2% of the general fund. But guess what? It’s a recession and Massachusetts is actually better off in this regard than a lot of states out there. Take Alabama, a Real American State that’s chock-full of Heartland-y goodness: its deficit is 9.2% of the general fund. Meanwhile Arizona, home to the GOP’s super-mavericky former presidential candidate, has a deficit that totals a whopping 17.8% of its general fund. And the less said about California at this point the better.
So what am I trying to say? Well, I’m trying to say that Massachusetts now has health coverage for 97% of its citizens and its fiscal outlook isn’t appreciably better or worse than many other states in the country that haven’t enacted similar reforms. Indeed, using the magical powers of counting, I can see that 20 states actually have larger deficits as a percentage of their general funds than Massachusetts.
Plus we were the first state to legalize gay marriage, we were the home of abolitionist movement, we were the first state to start kicking British ass during the American Revolution, and so on and so forth. Plus there’s this guy:
So please, wingnuts, keep trashing my beloved home on the national stage. We’ll continue to kick back our feet, sip our Sam Adams and know that we’re a billion times better than you are.
UPDATE: By popular demand in the comments, Mr. Barney Frank, D-MA:
And incidentally, people from other states, please don’t feel too insulted when I issue tribalistic proclamations about Massachusetts. It’s just that when I see it bashed on a daily basis by greater wingnuttia, I feel the need to stridently defend it.
UPDATE II: Some Canuck in the comments is going “neener-neener-neener” because Canada’s an awesome country. I won’t dispute that, of course. Canada is an awesome country. Except for this stain on its reputation:
Brad, you KNOW they are just going to take this as evidence that the STATES should enact individual health care reform, not the Feds, because STATE’S RIGHTS and GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER and SHUT UP, THAT”S WHY.
zombie — actually, i’m thinking states rights might not be the worst thing in the world. Then Massachusetts could live in a relative island of sanity and the rest of y’all could have your health care provided by Bechtel.
And your State may be better, but my City has a Mayor who can take a pipe to the melon.
OMG! Conservaturds are using blatant lies about Massachusetts to derail Health Care reform? They’re spreading awful untruths about your home? That totally suxxorz.
Well glad it’ll never happen to me,
a Canadian.
zombie — actually, i’m thinking states rights might not be the worst thing in the world. Then Massachusetts could live in a relative island of sanity and the rest of y’all could have your health care provided by Bechtel.
prepare for the zombie onslaught. To Mass, my undead brethren!!
You can keep Brady though.
And your State may be better, but my City has a Mayor who can take a pipe to the melon.
Now that I think of it, this might be a good test to apply to ALL politicians.
To Mass, my undead brethren!!
Only reason you’re undead is ’cause you hired Blackwater to provide you with health care. Once you get to Massachusetts we’ll start treating you in hospitals so you’ll feel better.
I don’t think I can work up enough smugness to participate in this thread.
Certainly not living in Utah!
I WISH WE LIVED IN THA DAYS WHEN YOU COULD CHALLENGE A MAN TO A DUEL!!!
Hey, gotta include video of Barney Frank taking that LaRouchie to the woodshed, or is that the used furniture store?
Plus, you got Barney Frank.
Fuck you, BBBB. Just fuck you is all.
Not to mention that the head of organized crime and State Senate were twin brothers at one point. Also.
Plus Massachusetts has me, dancing with my dick out.
“My hometown paper tells you why:”
My hometown paper says white folks is better than black folks.
Don’t believe everything you read.
Oh yeah? Well, Iowa’s pretty cool, too.
We have marriage equality, one of the best public school systems, and the best tasting beef in the country.
Oh wait, we also have Grassley and King.
Crap. Never mind….
I’m not sure how to go about calculating General Funds, but your 1.2B deficit is 4.4% of the budget. Ontario’s 08-09 deficit is 3.9B on a budget of 104B or 3.5%. Granted that deficits triple in the following two years, but that’s because Ontario believes that increased spending is a good route for government to take during economic downturns.
OHIP’s health coverage pales before Massachusetts 97%. We’ve only got 100% – universal single-payer. Sucks to be us.
Although same-sex marriage ceremonies were performed in Ontario as early as 2001, the court ruling which legalized them only beat Massachusetts by less than a year (342 days).
We may not have been home to the abolitionists movement, having already abolished slavery by the point in time your alluding to, but we’ll have to settle for being one of the destination points for the Underground Rairoad.
But bully for you on the American Revolution thing. Kicking British ass is an All-American tradition. You can tell by the opinions that Americans have regarding NHS, which is totally not based on lies, like what they’re doing to Massachusetts.
IOW, LEAFS SUCK!
Once you get to Massachusetts we’ll start treating you in hospitals so you’ll feel better.
Stop being so civilized. It’s unAmerican.
Dragon-King, you also have Rush.
I guess my carping don’t belong. Ontario ain’t a state yet.
Once you get to Massachusetts we’ll start treating you in hospitals so you’ll feel better.
When Democrats saw the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, they offered them healthcare.
When Republicans saw the zombies coming, they
prepared to make wararranged for Bob Novak and Dick Cheney to bite everyone so we would have all the power of the zombie, but with God on our side!IOKIYACZ (It’s OK if you’re a Christian zombie)
OTOH, we have Russ Feingold.
And a bronze statue of Fonzie.
And cannibals.
Rush
Is that bad because they’re pretentiously unpretentious prog rock randroids or is that good because they’re pretentiously unpretentious prog rock gods?
Ima Nuuuuuuuuu Worrrrrrrlllllldddd Maaaannnnn!!!
If Wisconsin really wants to impress me, it can build a bronze Russ Feingold that eats Henry Winkler.
MECHA-RUSS!!!
Then Massachusetts could live in a relative island of sanity
Lot of perimeter on that state, boyo. you never saw a movie where the folks were surrounded by the crazies? It never turns out well.
Yeah, well how many cold wars have you won? Huh? How many poor countries have you bombed into still deeper poverty? HOW MANY NUKES DO YOU HAVE???
YOO ESS AY! YOO ESS AY! YOO ESS SHIT
… I think I may have broke my hip. Can I borrow some of your insurance?
But, good lord, you people cannot drive.
OW, LEAFS SUCK!
Indeed. /red wings fan
Canadia is also responsible for this which pretty much negates all good that may have ever emerged from that country.
Dear Canada,
You have this, and thus no room to talk about anything ever.
Love,
United States, an entirely independent nation-state
As far as Brady’s concerned, I’m counting on Belicheat to go into I’m-obviously-compensating mode, seeing how I’ve got Tom as my fantasy league QB. C’mon, Bill, run up that score!
And your State may be better, but my City has a Mayor who can take a pipe to the melon.
Menino could take a pipe to the melon and no one would notice a difference.
No. Any program that keeps a bunch of Massholes alive and healthy, with about a dozen or so exceptions, is not a good thing. Same thing with Canadians.
Well, Mississippi has, uh, Square Books in Oxford. Also good food.
Menino could take a pipe to the melon and wind up more intelligible!
It’s just that when I see it bashed on a daily basis by greater wingnuttia,
Badger of Honor, sir.
Would you prefer to be lumped into the Red State “Heartland” bullshit, despite a strong progressive tradition that includes electing honest-to-god Socialists?
I WISH WE LIVED IN THA DAYS WHEN YOU COULD CHALLENGE A MAN TO A DUEL!!!
You can do that in Provincetown, it just has to be using your man-swords.
Watching that Frank clip again, I have to say that the girl/table Frank eviscerates/throws in the chipper could totally star in Amelie 2: Amelie Goes Nuts/Galt/Whatever.
I’ve always been a little weak-kneed for the crazy ones.
Also, Eli Manning is from here.
The Catch
And yet, you Bay staters let Butler’s Colonial Donut House in Westport close.
Is nothing sacred?
But, good lord, you people cannot drive.
Meh, every place has their thing; Atlanta drivers change multiple lanes at a time without signalling, DC drivers think a light just turned red means 8 more cars can go through, etc.
King’s from Nebraska, or South Dakota. Right? Right? And Grassley’s just senile and hoping nobody notices ’til 2011.
…and thus no room to talk about anything ever.
And the Queen of England on our money.
Okay, you guys win. I shoulda remembered my place as a Canuckistani and not made any attempt to rile the home of the Second Amendment. I’ll just sit back and enjoy my beer and health care and a Charter of Rights that applies to teh Ghey.
In a totally heterosexual way, of course.
Hey, guess who may be able to see Massachusetts from her house r-e-a-l soon?
It’s the first Brady man-love posting of the season! We should keep count.
Alabama is more “Southern” than “Heartland,” which is more often applied to the Midwest. But yeah, they’re supposed to be Real ‘Murcans in ‘Bama. Out here in California, we’re pretty fucked by horrible decisions made decades ago, and need a constitutional convention or something. That our mess doesn’t represent the popular will as it does in Alabama and Texas ain’t much comfort. Maybe Brady can lead the Massachusetts Minutemen over to chat with the Governator.
Well, down here we’ve got an educational system that’s the envy of Mississippi… And Ellis Washington. [trudges off in shame]
No mention of our look-the-other-way attitude toward marijuana?
No mention of our look-the-other-way attitude toward marijuana?
We ain’t decriminalized yet but Canada’s got laxer pot police than any other place in North America. Heck even or DoJ is getting on-side.
Palin moving to li’l Rhody to work for Fox?
This can mean only one thing: she’s won the role of Meg in the live-action version of Family Guy.
Pantload would be a natural as Peter, once he dip-sixes the face mullet.
Oh and finally, Canada is so lie-berally lefty left that we got Conrad Black to give up his citizenship.
Check and mate, fuckers.
Canada also gave us Mark Steyn And Adam Yoshida, for which we should have invaded.
Well we….
…um, we…
…we deep-fry everything in sight.
I got nuthin’.
But, good lord, you people cannot drive.
Banging a left is a fundamental human right. And anybody who can’t handle a rotary is too wimpy to be driving.
Aww. Look at cute little Dragon-King Wangchuck.
Hey, I never told you to stop shining my boots.
Hey, gotta include video of Barney Frank taking that LaRouchie to the woodshed, or is that the used furniture store?
Aw, it was a LaRouchie? Well, no wonder.
DC drivers think a light just turned red means 8 more cars can go through
Yeah, minimum. I wish that was only a joke.
…for which we should have invaded.
Well Weyrich, Rehnquist and Joe McCarthy are already dead – but since you’re a zombie, I feel justified in pointing out that Wisconsin’s produced it’s fair share of wingnuts – and even elected them too.
“And incidentally, people from other states, please don’t feel too insulted when I issue tribalistic proclamations about Massachusetts. It’s just that when I see it bashed on a daily basis by greater wingnuttia, I feel the need to stridently defend it.”
It’s cool. I live in San Francisco. I can’t really say much good about my state. I have a hard time saying anything good about anything east of Treasure Island, for that matter. You go right on…
Whomever is nym-jacking Betty Saxe-Cobourg, knock it off. The Queen of England does not wear boots.
P.S. I see your Nickelback and raise With Arms Wide Open.
Canada also gave us Mark Steyn And Adam Yoshida, for which we should have invaded.
Rubbish. Add to that list David Frum, proving again that shit does indeed run downhill.
Wisconsin’s produced it’s fair share of wingnuts – and even elected them too.
Hey, I did everything I could to stop Tommy Thompson. But that man has a zombie-trained bodyguard cadre.
Besides, we just send our wingnuts to Washington, we don’t export them to you. Maybe we will start though. we’ve got an extra Paul Ryan….
COMMONWEALTH.
Update: Planet Limbaugh is having fart fits over Barney’s response to the Manson follower. I urge him to take more blue pills and eat more transfatty foods. (Would you like an after dinner mint sir? It’s just a mint. Oh go on, it can’t hurt. KABOOM!)
And anybody who can’t handle a rotary is too wimpy to be driving.
Is that what that thing is called??? I’ll be turning in my drivers license forthwith.
Whomever is nym-jacking Betty Saxe-Cobourg, knock it off. The Queen of England does not wear boots.
Thigh-high black patent-leather with six-inch stiletto heels, baby! She also wields a mean sjambok. Rule Britannia, indeed.
Dear God, was that Nickelback update really necessary?
That may well be, Brad, but my dick is bigger than your dick.
Dear God, was that Nickelback update really necessary?
Well, it could have been worse. It could have been Celine Dion. Or this asswipe:
http://www.celebopedia.net/howie-mandel/
I guess my carping don’t belong. Ontario ain’t a state yet.
Not until The Smirking Corpse wins his majority government and then decides in one of his cute little tantrums that the Eastern bastards really do need to freeze in the dark, anyway. Goddamn there’s nuttin’ worse than an Alberta right-winger. (When times are bad, the Albertans are the worst bunch of Socialists ever. When times are good, they’re the worst bunch of National Socialists ever, and they’ve been playing dress-up as Dubai for a bit too long now.)
Spag bless Barney Frank.
If Cut-&-Run Sarah Palin-Tall is moving to RI, I need to know where so I can egg her house every frikkin’ day.
The thing I enjoyed most about my time in MA was the quiet humility of its cheerful residents. That, and its warm embrace of ethnic and racial diversity.
Barney Frank is 10 times the man of Sen Kyl or DeMint or Kent Conrad.
I understand Rep David Dreier won’t be having a town hall meeting. I guess he’s a wussy-man.
Plus, New England girls are the best! (my wife is from NH). to quote John Adam’s opinion on Virginian women from “1776”
John Adams – “Well, the winters are softer in Virginia, madam.”
Abigail Adams – “And their women, John?”
John Adams – “Fit for Virginians, madam, but pale puny things beside New England girls.”
I see that fish already mentioned Ms. Dion at 20:46. God, that is one downright awful version of a somewhat lame ass song.
In California everything is pretty much in the shitter, and has been so since Prop 13 passed, except for brief periods of bubble-fuelled semi-prosperity for some. I hope that Howard Jarvis, Dick Nixon and Ronnie Ray-gun are in hell right now taking turns sucking on Satan’s barbed cock.
Y’know, The Coast is the most because the surfin’s the best.
Feeshy loves him some Celine.
sucking on Satan’s barbed cock
You speak as if this would be punishment or torture for those gentlemen.
It’s cool. I live in San Francisco. I can’t really say much good about my state. I have a hard time saying anything good about anything east of Treasure Island, for that matter.
Watch it. We East Bay commies take offense to such slander. Plus, we get to vote for guys like this:
http://www.anthonywoodsforcongress.com/home.html
Everybody likes Ms. Dion.
And aren’t you all excited that she, her manager/husband & a test tube are having another baby?
Everybody likes Ms. Dion.
Is that a merkin she’s wearing there?
I’m proud to be an ‘merkin.
Atlanta drivers change multiple lanes at a time without signalling, DC drivers think a light just turned red means 8 more cars can go through, etc.
Seattle drivers just generally drive like they’re stoned out of their mind and paranoid that somebody’s going to notice. Driving 1mph under the speed limit in the fast lane, being almost pathologically polite about letting other people go first, etc. Seeing 2 or more Seattle drivers at a 4 way stop is truly a fucking site to behold. But only if you are also stoned out of your mind.
Controversy!
That he wasn’t the guy who tacked “socialism” on it and started postering might be material here, might not.
Just more proof these people create their own world of perpetual victimhood.
Brad, totally agree with you, but you’d better watch what you say about the Brits; we may need them to come back here and take over again.
Seattle drivers just generally drive like they’re stoned out of their mind and paranoid that somebody’s going to notice. Driving 1mph under the speed limit in the fast lane, being almost pathologically polite about letting other people go first, etc. Seeing 2 or more Seattle drivers at a 4 way stop is truly a fucking site to behold. But only if you are also stoned out of your mind.
I think I love Seattle.
Don’t forget that if it hasn’t rained for a couple of days, and a drop of water hits the windshield, we go: “What the Hell is that!?” and slam on our brakes.
I think I love Seattle.
That description of Seattle drivers is right on – and I did love it, myself. I drive like that even though I don’t smoke grass. It’s a sort of fear response after having survived several really scary car wrecks (none my fault) which miraculously ended up with no one injured. I keep wondering how long my luck can hold out.
Don’t forget that if it hasn’t rained for a couple of days, and a drop of water hits the windshield, we go: “What the Hell is that!?” and slam on our brakes.
OK, around here we fuckin drive to work when there’s eight inches of new snow on the ground, and this kind of shit would make me take a hostage.
It certainly would be for Satan.
ZRM:
Yeah, I’ve known numerous people who say they’re from Moose Scrotum, Minnesota or whatever, and “Know how to drive in the snow.”
I always tell them: “You know, you don’t have to run into them; they can run into you.” I can tell by the look in their eyes that this is a completely new thought!
Menino could take a pipe to the melon and wind up more intelligible!
I concur with this; I turned on the news last night and before I looked up to see it was Menino speaking, I thought they were interviewing a drunk for some reason.
So how fucked up is it that I spent the last 8 years saying: “Man, I thought I hated Nixon…but what wouldn’t you give to have Nixon back right now?”
I’ve been to Boston several times, cool city. But goddamn, how many months of cold can a person take? And plus, that accent – really not all that pleasant though the folks themselves seem pretty nice.
Of course, I’m stuck down here in a pleasant progressive oasis surrounded by a sea of ignorance. But I only have to run the heat 4 months per year, so there’s that. And the accents are much more pleasant, and most folks, even the ignorant ones, are nice, at least when it comes to dealing with them on a daily basis…though I wouldn’t want to discuss politics or religion with the vast majority of them.
All of the Seattle driving comments above are spot on, as I remember from when I lived there.Even though the freeways are frequently parking lots during rush hour, I’ve never seen anyone get out of a car and bash someone else’s car with a tire iron.
It was wonderful. Here in Des Moines, which at one time was called Little Chicago, people seem to be trying to revivie that moniker by being as rude as humanly possible, always exceeding the speed limit, ignoring stop signs, refusing to use turn signals, even at four way stops, and screeching things at each other out the windows. Like Chicago, in other words, but with fewer vehicles.
A few weeks back, I read in the West Des Moines crime log that someone, cut off on the freeway, followed the culprit to a hotel parking lot, yanked him out of his car, and thoroughly assaulted him. I was not all that sorry for the guy. I’d like to assault some of these bastages myself.
And now I have to go pick up the SO. I wonder if today will be the day when some crazed woman in an SUV with a cell phone plastered to her tanning-boothed ear will knock my Sebring into the next county.
Your standard of living and the well-being of your populace can be as cool as you want them to be; it’ll still be fucking Massachusetts. While it’s truly and seriously wonderful that, unlike the rest of Congress, Barney Frank has a fucking spine, my blue state has better crabs, a purplish state y’all didn’t want has better lobsters, and neither state has Tawm Fucking Brady or any of the other curses on humanity that you people call sports teams.
QED, which is Latin for “You lose, bitchez.” You’d probably know that if you had better public schools.
You can’t judge a state’s health care system by “numbers.” You have to look at intangibles like heart, hustle, and how calm its eyes are.
that she (Celine), her manager/husband & a test tube are having another baby
Not mine. I swear.
sucking on Satan’s barbed cock
If Satan ever invites you to go ice-fishing, be warned — he’s such a show-off.
Somebody needs to get on taking the piss out of this. Tailor made for a S,N post.
http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2009/08/was-heil-hitler-confrontation-staged.html
Unfortunate, but not unexpected, I suppose. Bleahhhh.
Everything that makes wingnuts look bad is staged by the liberal mainstream media and/or the as-yet-unidentified Lefty Karl Rove. Some of the “smarter” wingnuts are already anticipating that Sarah Palin is soon going to pull off her latex mask, revealing Dennis Kucinich.
Ha ha! Landru’s state has crabs!
the as-yet-unidentified Lefty Karl Rove
Kind of like the Soviet’s “Chief Designer” for their space program, whose identity they kept secret for many yrs.?
States w/o constant ground motion produce only weaklings & wusses, who believe the earth is to be trusted. Stability is gullibility.
Also: Mittens!
Kind of like the Soviet’s “Chief Designer” for their space program, whose identity they kept secret for many yrs.?
That would be Sergey Korolyov, who according to one source, “actually died due to a poorly performed operation for hemorrhoids.”
That would be Sergey Korolyov, who according to one source, “actually died due to a poorly performed operation for hemorrhoids.”
They went in through his mouth.
I know that surgeon, too.
Hey, you can go hating on Nickelback and Celine Dion all you like… lots of us up here hate them too. I can kinda deal with Celine, but that Nickelback thing… nasty. However, if we want to start talking about bad bad bands, I’m feeling pretty confident I can come up with a few US examples… White Lion and Hannah Montana FTW!
Besides, on the flip side of the ledger, we’ve got Neil Young, The Guess Who, The Band, Joni Mitchell, Chilliwack, The Stampeders, Showdown (go listen to The Rodeo Song… instant classic), k.d. lang, Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies, Skinny Puppy, The Pursuit of Happiness, and of course no roundup would be complete without Stompin’ Tom Connors, who had the final word on nickel way back in the day with Sudbury Saturday Night (The girls are playin’ bingo and the boys are gettin’ stinko and we’ll think no more of Inco on a Sudbury saturday night!).
Oh yeah, I see some of you folks are beating on Celine Dion… so on the Quebecois side of the ledger I feel compelled to point out folks like Les Colocs, Jean Leloup et les salles affaires (Jean Leloup and Dirty Business), Kevin Parent, La Bottine Souriante, Les Trois Accords (The Three Chords), Les Cowboys Fringants, and we shouldn’t forget some great Anglo Quebeckers like Sam Roberts, Bran Van 3000, Voivod, The Box, Me Mom and Morgantaler (you really should look up who Morgantaler is… he’s single handedly responsible for women’s reproductive rights in Canada), and of course Leonard Cohen.
Oh yeah, full props out to my hometown boys (and girls) The Tragically Hip, Moist, The Mahones, Sarah Harmer, Luther Wright and the Wrongs… but I can’t include them because they’re buds so I’m biased… 😉 Still… a good intro there would be Luther Wright’s remaking of Pink Floyd’s The Wall as a bluegrass album… I know most of the players on that one.
Except that their fears of the CIA assassinating Korolëv were pure paranoia. The prospect of any “Lefty Karl Rove” surviving more than a month in today’s America would be quite small.
You can’t judge a state’s health care system by “numbers.” You have to look at intangibles like heart, hustle, and how calm its eyes are.
But at the end of the day, Tim, I think the winner of this game is going to be the team that can score more points. Probably it’ll be the team that shows up to play football and then plays football for all 60 minutes, and doesn’t start playing table tennis in the middle or something.
I guess what I’m trying to say, Tim, is that no matter what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, the democrats are gonna find a way to lose this one.
Also, Tom Brady’s having way too much fun being Tom Brady to ever be a great football player again. But if he were in fact to hold a news conference where he said he was giving up football to spend more time x’ing supermodels, how could you really blame the guy.
I always tell them: “You know, you don’t have to run into them; they can run into you.” I can tell by the look in their eyes that this is a completely new thought!
Nahh. The timid stay home.
Well, you’re right about that: I do.
Fuck Tom Brady with Brett Favre’s fading arm.
Fuck Tom Brady with Brett Favre’s fading arm.
That won’t do. Here, try me instead.
Well I live in a State in which the following has happened;
Also, today I learned that the Latin for the Eurasian Badger is Meles meles which probable explains the troubles of RUGGED.
Nevermind which state is the best, the question should be ‘Which is the most Consistent?
My Lords, arising out of that reply, is the noble Lord aware that according to the Press, the Department of the Environment are to spend £10,000 in digging a subway to allow badgers to cross underneath the A3 road in Surrey?
Is the noble Lord confident that the badgers will in fact make full use of this subway?—because someone who knows quite a lot about badgers told me that it is very likely the badgers will suspect that the subway is a trap, and will not go near it.
You know, I can make a better case for Nickelback than Celine Dion. I mean, the music’s not for everyone, but Nickelback is the 00’s Canadian version of Poison – you know exactly what you’re going to get when you insert the CD. That makes it miles better than, say, Creed, which has some JAYSUS thing going on with it as well, and Celine Dion, who’s been fooled and has been fooling people with her lack of talent for a couple of aeons now.
Nickelback? It’s all about being 17 all over again, rock and roll, sex, dope, and the occasional song about teenage angsty stuff over a couple of chords. Might as well hate on AC/DC if you’re gonna go nuclear about that stuff.
A snake! A snaaaake!!!
Nevermind which state is the best, the question should be ‘Which is the most Consistent?
Well, Wisconsin has already bred TWO cannibal/serial killers; who else has that kind of track record?
Massachusetts doesn’t have a major opera company, thus it is a cesspool of philistinism.
Duh.
I notice you conveniently left out the cheating cheaters on the Boston Red Cheaters who totally cheated to get their ring in ’04.
I also live in the State where it was legislated:
That description of Seattle drivers is right on – and I did love it, myself. I drive like that even though I don’t smoke grass.
Xecky, even though too-slow drivers are preferable to too-fast ones, I have a point of order. Driving too slow in the passing lane is actually illegal, though it’s one of those offenses that the cops never write tickets for. It is not the job of civilians to police the roads. Unless you want to pass, stay out of the passing lane.
Our Nickleback was made possible by your Creed.
There, I said it.
And Massachusetts has two, count ’em, TWO copies of Olaus Wormius’ Latin translation of the Necronomicon.
Suck on my giant polyp, out of state bitches! Ia! Ia!
Man, the pro-Masshole propaganda here is just nauseating. The Massachusetts plan is rife with problems, considering it is a best-try solution in the face of what the rest of the nation is stuck with. Pat yourselves on the fanny all you want for a lot of things. Sports. Rock music. Culture. Number of college graduates. Median income. But not Deval Patrick.
OTOH, Mass is responsible for the Pixies.
So I am willing to give them a bit of leeway on the Brady thing.
BUT: my east coast friends and future lunches; Black Francis fully admits that the Pixies owe a huge debt to the Violent Femmes.
Minneapolis did have a pretty damn amazing music scene in the ’80s, but, then again, Beantown…
The coleslaw has pineapple in it! Aah! German potato salad!
Minneapolis did have a pretty damn amazing music scene in the ’80s, but, then again, Beantown…
My hairdresser worked the clubs, including First Ave, during those days. Great stories.
My state still has the Dwarf House. You can keep yer damn fancy la-di-da ‘development’ and whatnot.
I dunno, El Cid… it sounds promising at first:
In addition to the full-service dining area
Then devolves into Republican Senator/Southern Baptist Pastor kinkiness:
Topping the list of must-haves at the original Dwarf House, is the Hot Brown.
No way am I gonna click on that link!
Besides, I prefer my food without the fundamentalism, or put alliteratively:
Fuck fundamentalist fast food!
Would there be a market for non-fundamentalist chicken sandwiches- Chick Fil-Atheist? Would PZ do ads for them dressed in a chicken suit?
I’ve never eaten at a Chick-Fil-A, and after reading this article, I probably never will:
The parent company asks people who apply for an operator license to disclose marital status, number of dependents and involvement in “community, civic, social, church and/or professional organizations.”
But Danielle Alderson, 30, a Baltimore operator, says some fellow franchisees find that Chick-fil-A butts into its workers’ personal lives a bit much. She says she can’t hire a good manager who, say, moonlights at a strip club because it would irk the company. “We are watched very closely by Chick-fil-A,” she says. “It’s very weird.”
Is it legal? There are no federal laws that prohibit companies from asking nosy questions about religion and marital status during interviews. Most companies don’t because it can open them up to discrimination claims, says James Ryan, a spokesman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Chick-fil-A has more freedom to ask whatever it wants of franchisees because they are independent contractors and not necessarily subject to federal employment discrimination laws. (Employees, however, may sue under those laws.)
Chick-fil-A, the corporate parent, has been sued at least 12 times since 1988 on charges of employment discrimination, according to records in U.S. District Courts. Aziz Latif, a former Chick-fil-A restaurant manager in Houston, sued the company in 2002 after Latif, a Muslim, says he was fired a day after he didn’t participate in a group prayer to Jesus Christ at a company training program in 2000. The suit was settled on undisclosed terms.
The company might face more suits if it didn’t screen potential hires and operators so carefully. Many Chick-fil-A job candidates must endure a yearlong vetting process that includes dozens of interviews. Ty Yokum, the training manager for the chain, sat through 7 interviews and didn’t get the job. He reapplied in 1991 and was subjected to another 17 interviews–the final one lasted five hours–and was hired. Bureon Ledbetter, Chick-fil-A’s general counsel, says the company works hard to select people like Yokum, who “fit.” “We want operators who support the values here,” Ledbetter says.
Those who do say they like the member-of-the-club feel that goes along with working with Chick-fil-A. “It is very difficult to get in, but once you’re in, you’re in for life,” says Donald Elam, a Chick-fil-A franchisee in Superstition Springs, Ariz.: “I tell all my people, ‘I’m not working for Chick-fil-A; I’m working for the Lord.'”
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0723/080.html
Fucking christianist assholes.
DC is fun in the snow. Half the drivers are from the north so they get over-confident when they see we only have an inch or two of snow, and half are from the south and they panic at the first snowflake in the air. The result, half the people going too fast, half afraid to move at all!
and yeah, I kinda LIKE Nickelback! “Animals” is a GREAT song!!!!! So there! I said it and I’m damn glad I said it!
All the proof anyone could ask for. Naming contest next!
hat she (Celine), her manager/husband & a test tube are having another baby
former-Senator Edwards gets around, don’t he!
You’ve been busted by a Liberal Democrat ZRM!
Tax avoidance as well as overconsumption of brains. eh? Tsk Tsk.
Well, depends on whether or not you worship fried chicken or Motown.
Chick Fil-Atheist? Would PZ do ads for them dressed in a chicken suit?
An octopus suit…something like an elder octomom suit.
Well, depends on whether or not you worship fried chicken or Motown.
There’s a chicken and waffles place in downtown Oakland that I’ve been meaning to check out, but I always end up going to the Everett & Jones Barbecue instead. Don’t know if Ms. Knight or Mr. Winans are associated with it, though.
I mean, fried chicken and waffles – what more could you ask for, right?
Just to note, vis-a-vis Dick-fil-A, our own Southwestern In-N-Out Burger was founded by Xians, but they seem to put their money where their mouth is by paying $10.00/hr. & providing health insurance for their wage-slaves rather than funneling money to Focus on the Family & forcing their employees to pray together.
In-N-Out Burger
Regurgitation? Peristalsis? Are the burgers bait on hooks and the cooks throw the customers back?
Mmmmmm…chicken-fried octopus!
All the proof anyone could ask for. Naming contest next!
Milt.
Palin moving to li’l Rhody to work for Fox?
Is this a plus or minus for Mass? She’ll be close… close enough for me to poop on.
The Massachusetts plan is rife with problems, considering it is a best-try solution in the face of what the rest of the nation is stuck with. Pat yourselves on the fanny all you want for a lot of things…. But not Deval Patrick.
Mitt Romney was governor when it passed, and he wanted it to be even worse, favoring things like high-deductible do-nothing plans. So yeah, not thrilled with it myself, but it wasn’t Patrick’s baby.
Accept no substitutes! Delish, light & tasty fried chicken, + celebrity spotting, if spotting one won’t ruin your meal.
commie a., you probably should try your local emporium.
A place here used to sell “broasted chicken” (A combination of broiled and roasted? Who knows?) The sign said:
“Eat it Here
Take it Out”
I guess they were bragging that you could hold it down till you got out the door!
broasted chicken
Also seen in the wild on the Upper West Side…along with chino latino food. Rice, chopped chicken, spicy…is it Chinese? Is it Puerto Rican? Who can tell?
Accept no substitutes! Delish, light & tasty fried chicken, + celebrity spotting, if spotting one won’t ruin your meal.
God I’m hungry right now.
One of the most praised culinary traditions in terms of gourmet development is Peruvian “chifa“, or Peruvian-Chinese food.
El Cid –
Fascinating. Really.
Not only does it sound good to eat and tell me something about Peru that I never would have guessed, it shows parallel cultural evolution.
Just to note, vis-a-vis Dick-fil-A, our own Southwestern In-N-Out Burger was founded by Xians, but they seem to put their money where their mouth is by paying $10.00/hr. & providing health insurance for their wage-slaves rather than funneling money to Focus on the Family & forcing their employees to pray together.
In other words, they’re real Christians and not RW Xtian-talibanists…
Regurgitation? Peristalsis?
A different sort of biological activity:
Are youse guys talking about ethnic foods? Well since we’ve already acknowledged the vast and overwhelming superiority that is Canada, let me alienate the rest of the Canucks in the audience. As a Torontonian, we’ve got it all.
Chifa? Bit hard to find, but we’ve got it.
Korean Beef Burritos? Yup.
Seriously, there’s a wiki page for it, and if it’s in wikipedia it must be troo.
Yeah, In-and-Out has ben sued for… Giving coupons for burgers and not having a non-beef, non-wheat, vegetarian option. Because they only serve burgers and fries.
A different sort of biological activity:
I have a sudden urge to listen to some Ludwig Von whilst drinking milk.
Hungry?
I had to get up & heat some Safeway frozen waffles. Not the same, of course, but inspired by.
Ah yes, “the old in ‘n’ out.” Slipped my mind for a moment or decade there.
Sorry folks. the free market has spoken:
Nickelback is a good band.
What song is it you want to hear?
Freeeeeeeeeemarket!
If I shut up tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be ranting on, now,
Cause there’s too many punch-bowls I’ve got to pee.
But if I keep quoting Rand, girl,
Your ears would bleed just the same.
Cause I’m as free as John Galt now,
And my views you can not change.
Lord knows, I can’t change.
We’re talking about a family so committed to their beliefs that you’ll find “John 3:16? printed in tiny red letters on the bottom of every soft drink cup.
Have et there many a time & never noticed. (Burgers too good.) Subtle, for Xians. From Wikipedia:
Judging from my recent output, the Sadly, No!tion needs a new thread.
Judging by mine, I badly need a drink.
But … GHEY MARRIAGE!
With a name like In-N-Out I’d expect those messages to be on the condoms.
I used to wonder what all the hype was about In-N-Out burgers until I went to California and had one.
They’re that good.
n-N-Out prints discreet references to Bible verses on their paper utensils. The print is small and out of the way, and only contains the book, chapter and verse numbers, not the actual text of the passages. The practice began in the 1980s during Rich Snyder’s presidency,[34] a reflection of the beliefs held by the Snyder family:
Sweet zombie jesus, why? Do very unfunny xtian themed in-jokes play a central part in their beliefs?Does it make the food holy?
Is it in the hopes of conversion? Random non-believer orders a double-double. Looks at wrapper and reads Nahum 1:7 in tiny writing. Random non-believer has noidea what that means or even that it’s religious but is suddenly filled w/ the hot, salty, love of the lord! Praise jeeeeeeeehzus!
Or is it just a weird, petty, power trip? Like sticking thousands of pennies up your ass before using them, knowing that everybody you ever meet is likely to have touched one of your ass pennies at least once in their life.
Like sticking thousands of pennies up your ass before using them, knowing that everybody you ever meet is likely to have touched one of your ass pennies at least once in their life.
OK, that is so weird it has to be a “truth, indeed stranger than fiction” kind of deal. Let’s hear the story.
Personally, I’m happy that most people I see have breathed the same oxygen molecules I have, as I’m sure my lungs are dirtier than my ass.
There’s no way to tell what the In-N-Outers think they’re accomplishing w/ that, besides a seat in heaven or something. I’m big against gawd, & am the observant, literate type who’d ordinarily spot this offense to decency, but I’ve really never noticed those Chapter & Verse thingies.
“Wow, the world’s greatest cheeseburger. Only gawd could make a burger this good! I’m convinced & converted.” Nuh-uh.
Bee Bop, Zee Bop
No, really. Keep the change!
In-N-Out prints discreet references to Bible verses on their paper utensils. The print is small and out of the way, and only contains the book, chapter and verse numbers, not the actual text of the passages.
That’s totally weird, and I would think totally ass-backwards. It would be more useful to print the text, which would maybe give a person something to think about, and eventually lead them (in theory) to the bible.
The new ethnic food fusion I’m enjoying is here in SoCal where in Orange County, second generation Vietnamese from the Katrina coast fled and came here to Westminster, and opened Cajun style crab boil joints, with a Vietnamese touch, of course. There are about a half dozen of them.
They put your choice of seafood in a food-quality plastic bag – a big one – with your choice of spices, and then they dunk it in a boiling cauldron. They set a roll of paper towel and the hot plastic bag on your table, and you just go in with your hands. With beer.
Thing is, in addition to ‘mericans eating crayfish and chunks of corn on the cob at the tables, there are also big family groups of Vietnamese, from little kids to Grandma, just like at the big Chinese/Viet joints.
It’s pretty cool.
OK, that is so weird it has to be a “truth, indeed stranger than fiction” kind of deal. Let’s hear the story.
I wish, I don’t have that kind of patience, small minded pettiness or ass retention. It’s from an old Upright Citizens Brigade sketch. If you get enough ass pennies into circulation, you’ll have an advantage over everyone.
Hi, I’m British. We’re great except apparently we murder all our world-renowned scientists AND our grandmas.
A penny shoved up your ass a day keeps the doctor in a Mercedes.
FYWP.
If you get enough ass pennies into circulation, you’ll have an advantage over everyone.
OK I give up.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=60669
Gives a whole new meaning to “Penny Pinching” now doesn’t it? heheh
That’s Betty Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to you, subject.
I vote that the health care townhall shriekers be known as “ass pennies” henceforth.
When you give a teabagger a $20 you get your change in ass pennies.
The ass pennies are churning now down South. Their sphincters are clenched and gathering coinage.
Dr Zen said,
August 20, 2009 at 4:32
Hi, I’m British. We’re great except apparently we murder all our world-renowned scientists AND our grandmas.
Also commie socialist traitors, just like them Canuckistanians.
Also.
commie atheist, i’m with you. east bay all the way!
Nickelback?
Fuck, man, that’s just plain mean – oh well, at least it wasn’t Gino Vanelli, Rene Simard or Celine Dion.
I like to think that Canuckistan’s production of good wholesome family entertainment like this makes up for those over-rated, overpaid, perm-farming, power-chord-abusing prats … it’s a function of what a moldy old fossil I am that I can say I remember when Nickelback DID’NT suck rocks.
I knew it!
Bet UCB didn’t make it up. There are just some things so bizarre that while you believe they happened, have been done by humans, etc., no one could just imagine them for purposes of entertainment.
Ouchie. Paper cut.
Not to mention redefining “Penny Loafer.”
Unless you want to pass, stay out of the passing lane.
I do, generally, and don’t dawdle in there.
I much prefer not driving at all, these days. I’m happiest when in a vehicle no smaller than a bus.
Hi, Doctor Ruth!
Oh, and once, many moons ago, A friend and I wandered in to a Nickleback concert by mistake. It was in the same building as a studio tour. About thirty seconds in, I turned to him and said “I know how they got their name. After seeing them, I want my damn nickle back.”
When you give a teabagger a $20 you get your change in ass pennies.
You can get your “tea” “bagged” & get change from a $20? Wow!
“Then I hit him w/ a bag of ass pennies, Your Honor.”
“Sack of ass pennies” may replace “sack of hammers” in my personal vernacular.
GAY JEWS FOR HITLER NOW!!!!
GAY JEWS FOR HITLER NOW!!!!
GAY JEWS FOR HITLER NOW!!!!
I was at a full day festival concert (Edgefest 2004 I think…), and Cake was the act leading up to Nickelback, who were unfortunately the headliners.
The Nickelback fans threw water bottles at Cake until they left the stage 5 minutes into their set. I think the Neanderthals figured this would make Nickelback appear sooner. Instead, we got a 40 minute intermission between Cake and NB.
I and my date left shortly after Nickelback took the stage.
Canada has brought us Ed the Sock and Kenny Vs Spenny. How could you not love it just a little bit?
The UCB made up many strange things during their time. Ass penny detectors, prepackaged dog doo-on-a-stick, robotic saftey heads, “The fire is hot! Do not eat the urinal cakes!,” The Big Red Cat & Thunderball. The world is a little less of a happy place for it’s loss.
Independent of what–your corporations? Snort.
Our GovGen is generally okay, seeing as her role is about 99.99999% strictly ceremonial and what little political power it carries is mostly unused anyhow. The only thing she ever seriously did wrong was let Harpo prorogue the Parliament when it became apparent that the opposition were about to gang up on him and form a coalition. Woulda been our first in 90 years, and our first PROGRESSIVE one ever. Would have beaten the hell out of a “bipartisanship” composed mostly of Blue Dogs and “whatever is good, we’re agin it!” Repugs, if you ask me.
But hey, enjoy your “independence” while the insurance corps go on fleecing you, if it makes you feel better. No skin off my royal ass.
I’d rather have a gun in the outfield than under a mattress or something where a child could get it.
Oh yeah, and UCB are still going, just not on TV.
Fried Chicken lovers in the Pittsville, Doomstown, and Tri-Color areas would do well to try a joint called “Honey’s Kettle” in Culver City. Tasty chicken, but really, its all about the biscuits. I swear they sprinkle crack on those things.
Oh, and all the Cannuckistanian music pride on this thread and not one mention of Moxy Früvous? For shame, eh.
PENIS, also.
We – and by “we” I mean liberals – are all honorary Mass. residents today – and, for that matter, the rest of the year. Yea, Barney.
Hi, I’m British. We’re great except apparently we murder all our world-renowned scientists AND our grandmas.
A long tradition beginning with Alan Turing.
Nickelbacks or pennybutts? I am confused.
It’s enough to make you weep.
@zombie rotten mcdonald
1. Richard Nixon
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Howard Jarvis (Prop. 13, the fount of evil stupidity in tax revolts)
California Roolz!
MONTANA IS GROUND ZERO IN A BATTLE TO THE DEATH BETWEEN RABID PELICANS AND ZOMBIE BADGERS!!! I’LL BET ANY OF YOU DEMONCRAPS A BAG OF ASS PENNIES THAT TAXACHUSSETS DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO COMPARE WITH THAT!!!
Health care, Barney Frank and the indescribably gorgeous island of Nantucket?
No fair.
(I want Barney Frank to have my babies.)
Thanx porlock jr for reminding California’s ever-vernal contribution to the kind of rock-ribbed, dirt-scratching, daughter-fondling conservatism that’s kept this country slow and dumb for decades. However, we’d have single payer right now if it hadn’t been for the governor’s veto. It’s great to live in a state where they get to make a choice: “Hey voters, do you want a grey-faced Democrat functionary as your governor? Or do you want a movie star???” To which they responded “movie star! Movie star!” like a carload of kids.
PS Smirk if you will, Mass citizens, but remember that Jonathan Richman voted with his feet for Northern California.
PPS–In and Out pays their employees better than any other fast food joint, and I can live with their god-bothering. They used to print the “In and Out Urge” stickers themselves, but the new management’s heirs decided to become Orange County Jesus Freaks. Damn fine burgers, anyway…
Ronald Reagan was a cannibal?
I mean, Nixon I can believe, but St. Ronny?
I’ve been dying for chicken and waffles since I saw that spiky-haired guy eat some on the Food Network or whatever the fuck. Would somebody please send me some?
FGFM,
the head of organized crime and State Senate were twin brothers at one point
That’s true, but at a later point they became sisters born three years apart. And later still, Whitey became a Nepali fish-surgeon while Billy became a 1902 mahagony credenza from the workshops of Louis Majorelle.
Commie Atheist,
Donald Elam, a Chick-fil-A franchisee in Superstition Springs, Ariz.: “I tell all my people, ‘I’m not working for Chick-fil-A; I’m working for the Lord.’” [Emph. added]
Priceless. Thanks, you’ve made my day.
It’s enough to make you weep.
I wonder how many people still think Saddam Hussein planned the WTC attacks?
I guess 28%.
And once you hit Massachusetts, you’re almost to Vermont
Chick-fil-a? In-N-Out? Meh.
Massachusetts has Mr. Bartley’s.
Is this a plus or minus for Mass? She’ll be close… close enough for me to poop on.
It would be interesting to see whether Todd and Sarah remember to take the rifle out of the gun rack before they cross state lines.
Anybody want to start a pool, if they do relocate to RI?
And Brad, you know full well that we didn’t legalize gay marriage. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court merely pointed out that it’s unconstitutional to prohibit it. And then the Legislature declined to change the Constitution. I suppose we could take credit for failing to elect legislators who would have done so.
I mean, Nixon I can believe, but St. Ronny?
Why don’t you ask him?
She lives on Planet Limpball in Beck City on the corner of Hannity and Deluded. She also enjoys a regular diet of O’reilly Bile meals at Lou’s Paranoia Bar and Grill.
Bengals 7, Pats 6 at the half.
Sam Adams is not even brewed in Mass, poseur…
You spelled your name wrong, Mr. Koch, and seem to be unaware that there is a small testing and touring brewery in Boston, so that while the stuff at liquor stores is brewed elsewhere, there is in fact Sam Adams beer brewed in Mass.
Massachusetts may be an island of sanity, but we in the Pioneer Valley have to put up with that wannabe Wall Street Journal, the Springfield Republican, whose op ed pages provides home to a roster of wingnut cement heads that would make Townhall.com envious.
Er, and this is such a good thing, how?
The main reason costs to the state have been well within expectations? More than half of all the previously uninsured got coverage by buying into their employers’ plans, not by opting for one of the state-subsidized plans.
Hooray! The insurance companies are saved! And this is what you call “universal healthcare”? What a joke.
From January:
Governor Deval Patrick yesterday accelerated his administration’s efforts to control spiraling statewide healthcare costs, warning that rising premiums threaten to crush families and businesses and doom Massachusetts’ groundbreaking experiment with universal insurance.
Patrick said officials are considering using state insurance regulations to block excessive healthcare premiums. He is also summoning leaders of insurance and hospital companies for meetings as soon as this week to ask for their “vigorous cooperation.”
Seems kind of ass backwards. First you mandate most people to buy their crappy product, and then you start “considering” controlling the price?
Dear Canada,
You have this, and thus no room to talk about anything ever.
Love,
United States, an entirely independent nation-state
Hi! I’m clueless and have no idea what the Governor General does! I’m stupid and don’t know that Canada is completely independent!