Armageddon is Nigh?

A quick perusal of Huffington Post this afternoon was perhaps the most depressing thing I have done in a long time. For all of you out there that don't believe me, read on and see if you can stand it:

What Can Brown Do for You: Scott Brown blocks Wall Street reform to ensure that taxpayers, not banks, pay the $19 billion cost of the bill
This one wins best title, for its apt use of what is most likely the worst corporate slogan in history. I've said it before and I'll say it again: why is one man who is not the President powerful enough to stop anything from happening?

Thousands of homeowners improperly denied mortgage modifications
This hangs on Obama's head, of course, but you know that software the Treasury Dept. is using was designed by Republicans.

Unemployment benefits bill fails in House
No big surprise here, but it adds a little flavor to the overall "Fuck you, America" dish the man has cooking right now, if you know what I mean.

FDA says antibiotics in meat a 'serious public health threat'
I wish they would have finished that headline: "...that it will ignore indefinitely."

Protesters clash with police as Greeks strike yet again

Have you ever seen so much tear gas? The fifth strike this year is underway and Athens remains a war zone, as illustrated by the photo above, which was taken outside Parliament in Athens.

Catholic churches declaring bankruptcy to protect assets from sex abuse lawsuits.
The most hilarious thing about this is that the churches are immediately revealed to be obscenely wealthy when the judge looks through their books. Did the Vatican lawyers not realize that would happen? I hope Catholic Church, Inc. is forced to sell all of their property and artwork, and then declare bankruptcy for real. That would really lift me out of this depression, or at least help me turn a corner or two back toward the light.

GOP leader: Raise retirement age to 70
The best quote (courtesy of John Boehner - R, Ohio):

"Ensuring there's enough money to pay for the war will require reforming the country's entitlement system, Boehner said. He said he'd favor increasing the Social Security retirement age to 70 for people who have at least 20 years until retirement, tying cost-of-living increases to the consumer price index rather than wage inflation and limiting payments to those who need them."

Yeah--I, along with most Americans, want to make sure there is enough money to keep these wars going forever, and I am willing to make any and all sacrifices to ensure this will happen. Please raise my taxes to 100%, please--just so I can feel I am doing my part to keep our rich people safe.

Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest: "God has a plan"
How does she know that God has a plan, first of all? Second of all, how the fuck would she know what it is? What if God's plan was Roe v. Wade and all these stupid little mortal Republicans keep fucking it up for him? Oh, wait--I get it: God's plan is not a justification for whatever happens, but rather only a justification for whatever the Republicans want to make happen. That makes sense...

Republicans block bill for homeless veterans
Just so perfect. For those of you unable to read between the lines here, this is what the Republicans are actually saying:

"We want unlimited money for warfare, yes, but we didn't say we wanted to spend any of that on soldiers--we want to give that money to military contractors run by our friends who buy us yachts and pay for us to campaign every year for this killer job where we get paid to be greedy selfish assholes who control the avenues of power."

And then, of course, there is Toronto:



  
The infamous Black Block crew at work:




Thankfully, there was also some good news today--albeit only for the people of Paraguay:

24-year-old, fake-breasted lingerie model Larissa Riquelme (above) has promised to paint the colors of Paraguay all over her body and run naked through the streets of Asuncion should her team wins. Such selfless self-promotion is so rare these days that I must commend it whenever I am made aware.

I respect Diego Maradona a bit more--for making essentially the same pledge, but for Argentina--since he knows nobody actually wants to see it. It just means more when it's an unattractive man with nothing to gain from the stunt, I guess.

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