kimmy

GM is posting profits in the billions. Why all the anxiety over this one model of car? BTW, GM's response makes sense. If KimmyCorp invests $1 million developing the new Widget2000, and you assess the profitability after the first widget is sold for $10, then you could say that KimmyCorp has lost $999,990 on every widget sold, but after I sell another widget, it's $499,990 per widget, and after I've sold 100,000 widgets I have broken even. In a few years when I've sold 500,000 widgets, the premise that I was once losing nearly a million dollars per widget sold becomes completely irrelevant. GM has invested a lot of money in developing new technologies for this project, and that investment isn't going to pay off overnight, nor was it expected to. The technology they are developing for this product will pay off for them for a long time to come. -k

Next time Jerry and Shady are watching the Megyn Kelly Patriot Hour, they should remind themselves that Fox News' insurance plan pays for Megyn's contraceptives. -k

To borrow your own talking point, it's a "medical problem" that's easily treated by abstinence. Don't want to be hindered by Erectile Dysfunction? Don't have sex. No prescription necessary. No insurance payout necessary. ED is the easiest ailment in the world to treat, provided the patient is willing to keep it in his pants. If he wants to have sex, well, gee, that's a little tougher, but "why should society subsidize his sex life"? E.D. is only a "medical problem" for men who can't accept biological reality but still want to have sex. Clearly, the insurance company is quite literally paying to get these flaccid men erect. So why is it that no conservatives have even acknowledged that fact, let alone proclaimed that insurance companies are paying men to have sex? You guys really are a bunch of gigantic hypocrites. uh-uh, you're not getting off the hook that easy. You can't throw around this line that "Sandra Fluke wants society to pay for her sex life" and then pretend you're trying to have a rational discussion about state intervention. We can have that discussion when I'm done smacking you with your stupid talking points. So to get back to that, what do you think it says about Catholic institutions that they are literally paying to get men stiff? -k

The wars are being financed by borrowing... so ending the wars doesn't free up money that you can spend elsewhere. But at least it lets you stop borrowing. That's kind of a big thing right now. Actual footage from Shady's webcam? -k

As far as I can tell, that's the case. I'm thinking that the 7.72x54r is so similar to the .30-06 that the bullets might be a drop-in replacement... and I suspect there's an endless variety of high-quality bullets made for .30-06 reloaders. The primer would be a nuisance, but not if you started with unfired rounds. I have been continuing to follow the Marlin lever-action quality issue. ("They moved production to a non-union shop in a Right To Work state! According to you guys, the quality ought to be unbeatable!" ) and the consensus is that they still kind of suck. As I mentioned the Henry "Big-Boy" is now high on my list of alternatives, but the Rossi "R92" looks like an interesting possibility as well. Their version of the Winchester 1892 lever action comes in 357 mag and 44 mag (as well as some "antique" rounds) and is available with classy options like an octagonal barrel and case-hardened receiver, which I think are totally boss. Know anything about Rossi? I understand that they've been purchased by a the Brazilian company that also owns Taurus revolvers, but as far as their reputation for quality and so-on, I'm not sure. Hopefully they haven't fired all the employees and moved the production to a non-union shop in a right-to-work state. -k

Without going into too much detail, I live in the southern interior. I'm a short drive from a lot of crown land. There are some forestry service roads I drive to and park, then hike up into the hills or along a creek canyon. One of my favorite things is finding old ruins. I once discovered an abandoned homestead, and another time I found a mad trapper shed that's been abandoned for decades. -k

It's clear who she is: she's an activist who causes right-wing kooks to flip their shit. It's not "society", it's her insurance plan. There's a reasonable argument to be made as to whether the government has any business forcing people to be insured, or dictating what their insurance plans cover. However, if one starts making religious exceptions, then it's only a matter of time before people start selling a share of their company to the Church of Christ Scientists so that their insurance only has to cover splints and prayer. I have never heard a single conservative acknowledge the fact that the same Catholic institutions crying about insurance covering birth control cover Viagra without complaint, and are proud of it. Now... by your logic, by asking contraception to be covered by insurance, Sandra Fluke is asking to be paid to have sex, making her a prostitute. By the same logic, these Catholic institutions are giving men money to have sex, so what does that make them? Whatever the case, I hope that Douche Dimbaugh and the kook wing of the Republican party go after Sandra Fluke just like they did back in February. It will cost them the election. Go Jerry, Go! -k

AAAARGH, my license has still not arrived. The RCMP assure me that it's in progress at the BC CFO, but it has been that way for over a month. I read a warning on the local gun club's website to send in your renewal applications early because BC renewals are taking over 3 months right now. I'm now over the 2 month mark myself... this is getting ridiculous. ... Hey, Derek, what do you know about home loading? Supposing I had some 38 special cases lying around and I had this idea that I could make a heavy-bullet sub-sonic round for my lever-gun. Or that I could pull the FMJ bullets out of my 7.62x54r rounds and replace them with 30-cal hunting bullets? What kind of stuff would I need to get into that sort of thing? -k

If Republicans don't think race should be an issue, then what's up with the voter suppression antics being employed by Republican governors in Wisconsin and the Deep South? Seinfeld voice: "What's up with voter list purges?!" I picture this bit of Republican propaganda being dispensed by a cartoon eagle. It's a claim that gets repeated over and over again and people seem to accept at face value without any analysis. I keep inviting you guys to make a case as to why tax cuts for rich-guys and corporations are going to create jobs for Americans, and I have yet to hear a credible response. As for deregulation... the Republicans want you to think they're talking about repealing rules preventing you from drilling for oil on land where somebody said they saw a spotted owl. What they're actually talking about is repealing the rules that were put in place to prevent banks from screwing up the entire economy all over again. I think the Libertarians are the party of freedom. The Republicans are the party of cranky old prudes who went apoplectic over Janet Jackson's nipple and think that anti-sodomy laws ought to be reinstated. -k

Really? Wow. I'm glad you guys liked her. I was really hoping she would have a good speech, but I was afraid she may have come across as whiny. I'm exactly her target demographic (or I would be, if I were American) so maybe that made me more critical of her. I really liked Sister Simone, the "Nun on the bus". I think that most religious voices in politics tend to be those of religious conservatives (for historical reasons, I gather, relating to the "Moral Majority" aligning itself with the Republicans many years ago.) So hearing from this very compassionate speaker was a really nice change. -k

translation of "Firmament" The firmament was imagined to be solid, and the word the ancients used to describe this "stretching" is the word they used to describe beating a lump of metal to a dish shape. But... (and this part is particularly applicable to Betsy...) In short, when the old translation stops working for them, they just pick a new translation that works better. -k

Which ones? I don't think George H.W. Bush actually believes in the new Grover Norquist version of the Republican Party. And I think they'd have done just about anything to keep George Walker Bush from showing his face. -k

So what do you call it when one group is promised tax cuts while everybody else has to pay more? Blah blah blah, that's a catch-phrase. Anger and resentment, properly directed, can be highly beneficial. Further reducing the spending power of the overwhelming majority of the American consumers for the sake of giving tax cuts to the richest Americans is not a rational approach either. It is not even remotely rational. Willard paid 13.9% tax in 2010, which is the only year he's not ashamed to show us. Do you really think he's getting "soaked"? First off, I don't think he's getting "soaked" at all. Second, when is somebody going to step up and make the case for the claim they're making, which is that it'll create jobs? Still waiting for somebody to make a believable case that cutting Willard's taxes to 0.86% creates jobs. The idea that cutting rich-guy taxes creates jobs is fantasy, a fantasy promoted by rich-guys. It rides on the belief that they'll invest it in things that create jobs in America. That's false. The will invest it in things that create profits. And nowadays, the idea that creating profits and creating jobs are one and the same is just not true. -k

Two more really strong speeches tonight from Elizabeth Warren and especially Bill Clinton. He did a really good job of replying to some of the fiction the Republicans have been pushing. -k

But just to be clear, making the wealthy pay more tax is "a lynching"? -k

Tax fairness is now akin to "a lynchin'"? -k

Were religious people key figures in abolishing slavery? Absolutely so. But that isn't the point. The point is that our values shifted, and man-made laws were changed to reflect that. -k

The word "epic" kept coming to mind while I was watching her speech. I thought Mayor Castro's speech was pretty good too, but Mrs O blew the ceiling off the arena. Nothing against rambling seniors talking to chairs, of course. -k

Thanks to those shifting standards, owning slaves isn't legal anymore. -k

I confess, Jerry, you've got me a little bewildered: you dumped so much BS on me all at once that I don't even know where to start shoveling myself out. We're going to slash taxes for corporations! And we're going to slash taxes for rich guys! And we're going to slash taxes for poor people too! And everybody in between! And we're going to cut capital gains taxes so that YOU can be a bigtime investor JUST LIKE MITT! And we're going to increase defense spending! And we're going to slash the deficit! And we're not going to cut Medicare by one penny! And we're not going to cut Social Security by one penny! And we're going to give Kimmy a magic dancing pony just like Ann's! And we're going to give Shady some tanning-bed coupons! And a stash of "special herbs" for Gosthacked! And for you, Jerry, we're going to give you a BRIDGE! A FREAKING BRIDGE! IN BROOKLYN! And we're going to pay for all of this by defunding Planned Parenthood. And cutting bursaries to liberal arts colleges. Are you dumb enough to believe this stuff, Jerry? Or are you hoping everybody else is dumb enough to believe this stuff? This is freaking delusional. Can you say fantasy? Are you saying "the rich already pay more than their fair share"? BS. If the figure you quoted is true, then all it does is illustrate how absurdly immense the gap between the rich and the rest of society has become. It's funny how members of Team Elephant are always protesting that talking in terms of "classes" is inappropriate, and yet you're here arguing that the rich, as a class, pay too big a share. Willard-- and I only keep picking on Willard because he's one rich guy whose taxes we've had a chance to look at, for at least one year-- Willard paid 13.9% in 2010. I defy you to explain why 13.9% is too high a tax burden for a guy who made $21 million, when Americans who earn a fraction as much pay taxes at a much higher rate. Don't fall back on this "well rich people as a group pay this much" BS, tell me why Mitt Romney as an individual should pay less than the 13.9% he paid in 2010. Why should somebody like Mitt have a lower tax rate than somebody like his secretary? BTW, sorry I couldn't sit through the Jon Lovitz video. He's one of the most annoying people on earth even when he's not whining about how hard done-by he is. A talentless douche like him complaining that he pays too much taxes? That guy should get up every morning and thank his lucky stars or whatever god it is that he believes in that he isn't serving Breakfast Burgers down at BK. You Republican cheerleaders seem to think that $40 billion should be the last place they should look for money to address the deficit, and I think it should be the very first place they look. You can say "bah, it's only $40 billion", but $40 billion would fund one hell of a lot of food stamps or Earned Income Tax Credits or work skills training, and all of that is a way better use for it than giving it to Mitt and his friends. -k

No! No! No! He's awful! He's an awful man! He probably sounded much more awful to people who got all their information from GlenBeck.com, mind you. -k

I think it's been pointed out that a claim of damages is a necessary part of filing a civil claim. And I think it's been pointed out that he plans to donate any money he's awarded to a charity, so trying to spin it as a money-grubber move doesn't fly either. -k

"Mitt Romney Would Pay 0.82 Percent in Taxes Under Paul Ryan's Plan" -The Atlantic (and if you're wondering why Romney keeps having to say over and over that he's not running on the Ryan budget, that ought to start cluing you in.) So it puts the lie to this nonsense about how the rich and the corporations are going to pay their fair share once Ranger Ryan is on the case. That's so what. If he's going to eliminate the loopholes and deductions and accounting tricks that rich-guys and corporations use to pay no taxes, it's going to be by fixing the tax system so that rich-guys and corporations don't *need* any loopholes or deductions to pay no taxes. -k

(more on city council prayers here.) Spoiler alert: Christians aren't as excited about them when they're not Christian prayers. -k

Yeah, you've mentioned it... I just don't think anybody really believes you actually think this is an "opportunity". When they named America "the land of opportunity", I don't think they meant anything like this debacle. Don't let us stop you. Knock yourself out. ( ) -k