DBT Week in Review - 5/29/09

DBT!

Big blog post from Patterson this week with all kinds of goodies:

Drive-By Truckers:

"DBT has a couple of new releases in the immediate pipeline:

First off, our Austin City Limits show from last fall will be released on July 7 on DVD. The DVD will include the entire performance (only about a third of it was aired when it came on TV).
This is by far the best live performance of ours ever caught on film.
We were on, the sound was excellent, and the production value top-notch. We loved playing on that stage and the crowd was fantastic.
It also features one of the last ever performances of '18 Wheels Of Love', featuring the full monologue and the sequel monologue.

Second in upcoming DBT News, on September 1st, New West will be releasing THE FINE PRINT (A Collection of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008). We finished mixing it yesterday and are mastering it Thursday. It features 12 songs and maybe the most fun album we've ever made. Songs include 'George Jones Talkin' Cell Phone Blues', 'Rebels', 'Play It All Night Long', 'TVA' and the original never released version of 'Goode's Field Road'."

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Every young boys dream... Patterson playing at your wedding...

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Listen to Bettye and DBT will viewing a sweet slide show:

((( artists den ))):

"Photographer Erika Goldring captured great moments from a special Artists Den performance by Booker T. and the Drive-By Truckers with special guest Bettye LaVette at the Patrick F. Taylor Library at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans."

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GLL is simply one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Here's a cover version. Nice:

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Welcome to the wonderful world, Cooley Dale Smith!

NineBullets.org - Message Board • View topic - Lil Stroker...

Dexateens

Dexateen’s Chicago Premiere - Come Back Real Soon, Ya Hear? : Sound Citizen:

"Anyway - this is not your standard southern rock. And that was apparent from the moment the first chord rang out. Perhaps guitarist Lee Bains III’s AC/DC shirt and Gibson SG should have tipped me off. There are times when the Dexateens jam a hard rock sound, you can even hear some metal in there, but with a decidedly hillbilly heart - and I mean that in a great way. You can hear bluegrass in both the vocals and rhythms of every song and you get the feeling that it just comes out that way. It feels so deep-rooted in their sound that I don’t imagine they could play any other way even if they tried. At times I heard just hints of Neil Young, The Black Crowes and even some Kid Rock, believe it or not, but those are just my own music biases creeping in - the Dexateens have a sound all their own. And I dig it. They can slow it down too, like “Grandaddy’s Mouth.” (check out the partial video below.)

The Dexateens may have made their first Chicago stop this week, but it won’t be their last. I feel good about the staying power with this one. And so do the people at Austin City Limits, where they will be making an appearance."

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Music

EU pushes music industry to open up online rights - The Globe and Mail:

"EU antitrust regulators told the music industry Tuesday to move quickly and change licenses that currently restrict online music stores such as iTunes from offering the same songs for sale across Europe.

Internet music downloads in Europe lag behind those in the United States, pulling in just a fraction of revenues the record industry is losing from falling CD sales.

Part of the problem in Europe is that music rights are sold separately in each country, which has prevented Apple Inc (AAPL-Q130.097.596.20%) .'s iTunes from setting up a single store to service all of Europe. Instead, it has to seek licenses from each EU member state where it wishes to sell and to set up separate national stores with different music selections."

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Members of Spinal Tap, On the Road Without the Wigs - NYTimes.com

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R.I.P. Altamont Raceway

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A Guitar Magazine Tests the Luxury Waters - NYTimes.com:

"One might assume that the new magazine Guitar Aficionado is a spinoff of the 17-year-old Cigar Aficionado. Both have covers with celebrities holding the featured prop (the chef Tom Colicchio with a 1963 guitar, Jay-Z with a stogie of a presumably more recent vintage). They both carry stories about alcohol, watches and men’s fashion, and ads for cigars and speakers. Also, both titles include the word “aficionado.”"

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NPR: R.I.P. Jay Bennett:

"Today we say goodbye to the talented Jay Bennett, who brought a wonderful depth of sound to some of Wilco's best-loved records -- particularly my favorites, Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Bennett left the band in 2001, but his influence remains stamped on its sound"

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Daily Kos: R.I.P. Jay Bennett:

"However, with this morning's news, we now know what drove Bennett to sue a former friend and bandmate: the threat of overwhelming medical bills. Like many artists and countless others who do not pursue traditional forms of employment, Bennett lacked health insurance. At the time of his death, Bennett was suffering from severe pain, and though he desperately needed hip replacement surgery, he was concerned that seeking help would send him spiraling into crippling debt. Despite the claims of health care industry apologists, many people like Bennett are beyond assistance. Struggling to secure a steady source of income early on, musicians are often forced to choose between their vocation and health insurance when they're young, and by the time they get old, they typically find themselves ineligible to receive coverage under any plan whatsoever.

Stories like this underline the desperate need for health reform that, at the very least, includes a public option. The United States needs artists and innovators who work outside the confines of the corporate safety net, and we should not be forcing them to choose between their health and the art that enriches all of our lives."

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1st Gear Racism

Those crafty dumbfuck Republicans. They knew the copius amounts of racism that courses through their veins would be impossible to conceal with the nomination of a Latina to the SC.

So what do they do? They decide to own the term before it owns them.

To hide their own racism, they decided to call Judge Sotomayor a racist.

Project much?

Disgraced former majority leader and serial adulterer Newt tweets.... (hilarious how conservatives think they've finally gained tech parity 'cause they figured out how to use 'the Twitter'. Perfect venue for them though... 166 characters is about the limit of any 'idea' they might have).

Just a bunch of zoo monkeys slinging shit.

‘Latina woman racist should’ withdraw, Gingrich Twitters

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Remeber, it is only OK if you are Republican:

Flashback: Alito on his immigrant background: ‘I do take that into account’ when ruling.:

"Judge Sonia Sotomayor has come under fire from the radical right for stating that her experiences as a Latina affect her judicial outlook. However, these same conservative critics never objected when Judge Sam Alito said virtually the same thing during his confirmation hearing, discussing how he “can’t help but think of” his immigrant family when evaluating immigration cases:

ALITO: Senator, I tried to in my opening statement, I tried to provide a little picture of who I am as a human being and how my background and my experiences have shaped me and brought me to this point. … And that’s why I went into that in my opening statement. Because when a case comes before me involving, let’s say, someone who is an immigrant — and we get an awful lot of immigration cases and naturalization cases — I can’t help but think of my own ancestors, because it wasn’t that long ago when they were in that position. [...]

And that goes down the line. When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account."

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Rush, Newt and Cheney? Hardly proxies.

Chicken-shit motherfuckers.

Republican senators rely on conservative proxies to attack Sotomayor:

"In a signal that President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee may face almost no opposition, no Republican senators have voiced their opposition to Sonia Sotomayor — even though the top Judiciary Committee Republican said Obama shouldn’t nominate her before her selection."

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Jeebus is responsible for the sub-prime mess. Why would I give 200 dolla to his diddy?

‘God’s debt cancellation’ donations help evangelist strike it rich:

"In a detailed investigation of South Carolina’s Inspiration Network, the Charlotte Observer reports that the network’s on-air promises that viewers can obtain prosperity and “God’s debt cancellation” by donating $200 or more have made its CEO David Cerullo a wealthy man and his cable network “one of the world’s fastest growing Christian broadcasters.”

With a salary that in 2007 amounted to $1.52 million, Cerulla is “the best-paid leader of any religious charity” and earns far more than CEOs of larger non-profits, such as Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. An additional $600,000 was paid in 2007 to his wife and children."

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That's all I got today. Been a busy week. Hopefully a guest blogger joins me next week.

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Fili-Busta-Clear-Skies

Rosalita... Chiquita... whatever.

What's the over/under before the first Republican utters 'wetback'.

I say a week.

I hear the weather is nice in FarLeftistan this time of year.

Huckabee: "Maria" Sotomayor Comes From "The Far Left"

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Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Unless it's a Democrat.

IOKIYAAR (It's OK if you are a Republican).

Look at all of the hypocrisy! Loads of video.

Democracy or Hypocrisy | Media Matters Action Network:

"In 2005, many Republican Senators went so far as to claim the filibuster of judicial nominees was unconstitutional. Now four years later, President Obama's has appointed Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Will Senate Republicans remain consistent in their position or commit one of the most blatant acts of hypocrisy in the 220-year history of the United States Senate?"

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Of course you'll see this all over the librul media on the TV.

Daily Kos: Eat your words, republican hypocrites:

"As Christy Hardin Smith so aptly points out, the foaming at the mouthers are already starting with their weak sauce hissy fit about Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

And frankly, there are so many ways to push back against this – refuting their asinine talking points, pointing out their racist behavior, smacking down their 'analysis' of her prior opinions....but in reality, there is one way to short circuit all of this in a very simple and easily understandable way:

Why was there such an uproar in 2005 over a potential filibuster of Bush’s JUDICIAL NOMINEES but it is suddenly ok to filibuster a more qualified nominee now?"

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Doesn't work. Doesn't work. Doesn't work. Doesn't work.

Former military interrogator says torture cost hundreds ‘if not thousands’ of American lives

A 14-year military interrogator has undercut one of the key arguments posited by Vice President Dick Cheney in favor of the Bush Administration’s torture techniques and alleged that the use of torture has cost “hundreds if not thousands” of American lives.

The interrogator, who uses the name “Matthew Alexander,” says he oversaw more than 1,000 interrogations, conducting more than 300 in Iraq personally. His statements are captured in a new video by Brave New Films (below).

“Torture does not save lives,” Alexander said in his interview. “And the reason why is that our enemies use it, number one, as a recruiting tool…These same foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight because of torture and abuse….literally cost us hundreds if not thousands of American lives.”

Moreover, Alexander avers that many — as many as 90 percent — of those captured in Iraq said they joined the fight against the United States because of the torture conducted at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

“At the prison where I conducted interrogations,” Alexander said, “we heard day in and day out, foreign fighters who had been captured state that the number one reason that they had come to fight in Iraq was because of torture and abuse, what had happened at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.”

“Cheney,’ said Alexander, ‘fundamentally misunderstands the way America is viewed around the world,” a reporter who reviewed the video wrote Tuesday. “The American principles of freedom and democracy are cherished in the Muslim world and the idea, at least, of America is still a seductive one. But it is the behavior of the Bush administration at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and secret prisons around the globe that undercuts that image, allowing Al Qaeda to make the argument that America isn’t what it stands for.”

“One of Al Qaeda’s goals, it’s not just to attack the United States, it’s to prove that we’re hypocrites, that we don’t live up to American principles,” Alexander said. “So when we use torture and abuse, we’re playing directly into one of their stated goals.

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Clear skies, bitches!

No ideas. Only words.

Luntz is an evil, for hire fuck.

Frank Luntz: It doesn’t matter what Obama’s health care plan says, we’ll still call it ‘government takeover.’

In an interview with the New York Times, GOP wordsmith Frank Luntz — who recently penned a health care messaging memo instructing Republicans to attack President Obama’s health reform efforts by criticizing the deficiencies in foreign health care systems — concedes that Republicans will label Obama’s reform effort a “government takeover” of health care, regardless of the actual proposal:

Is it a correct description of the president’s plans for reform?
We don’t know what he is proposing. We want to avoid “a Washington takeover.”

But that’s not at issue. What the Democrats want is for everyone to be able to choose between their old, private health-insurance plan and an all-new, public health-insurance option.
I’m not a policy person. I’m a language person.

Indeed, “rather than challenging the tenets of American reform proposals, Luntz establishes a straw man argument against a non-existent health plan.” As Democratic strategist Paul Begala observes in a recent retort to the Luntz memo, “Because they know they cannot win the argument honestly, Republicans are resorting to mendacity.”

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And to follow up on yesterday's post regarding the high cost of being poor.....

America's poor are its most generous givers | McClatchy

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Orange Threat of Beer Bongs

There's no argument too asinine that conservative's won't attempt to justify this crap.

If it is 'just like a beer bong at frat parties', then why are we using it against 'terrorist' in order to extract information? Where is the 'fear' element? That I'll pass out and wake up with penises drawn on my forehead?

Douchebag conservatives.

Comparing waterboarding to beer funnels:

"Doug Powers, a columnist for World Net Daily, must have had a really rough college experience.

In his Monday morning weekly update, Powers jumped on the water-board soapbox and leveled an argument in favor of torturing prisoners. Tugging on the coattails of the recent 'Mancow' waterboarding media fiasco, he comes out with this gem:

A video that shows 'Mancow' Muller doing something that, if there were beer instead of water in that pitcher, happens every weekend at frat parties, can be viewed here.

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Speaking of douchebag conservatives.....

King Douche Newt doth protest way too fucking much:

PostPartisan - Gingrich's Deranged Ethics Advice:

"it’s amazing that Gingrich -- the only House speaker in history to be disciplined for ethics violations -- had the gall to make that claim. Does he think no one remembers?

Let’s review. Gingrich was reprimanded by the House and had to pay a $300,000 penalty for improperly using tax-deductible money for partisan political gain and for submitting false information to the ethics subcommittee investigating his conduct. An investigation by the House Ethics Committee concluded that Gingrich’s conduct represented 'intentional or…reckless' disregard of House rules and that there was “reason to believe” that Gingrich knew he was providing false information.

'The violation does not represent only a single instance of reckless conduct,' a report by an investigative subcommittee concluded. 'Rather, over a number of years and in a number of situations, Mr. Gingrich showed a disregard and lack of respect for the standards of conduct that applied to his activities.'

To be clear, the ethics case against Gingrich was no partisan witch hunt. The investigative subcommittee that determined he had violated ethics rules was headed by Florida Republican Porter Goss. The vote to reprimand him and impose the penalty was 395 to 28."

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Uh, yeah, I'd like to see the FCC try to enter my home.

This needs to be fixed.

FCC’s Warrantless Household Searches Alarm Experts | Threat Level | Wired.com

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I can't tell you how many times I've made this argument to my conservative friends who work for corporations that suck billions from the federal teat yet love to bitch about some 'welfare-queen' anecdote a friend of a friend told them.

I'm met with the usually slack-jawed blank stare 99% of the time.

The High Cost of Poverty: Why the Poor Pay More - washingtonpost.com:

"You have to be rich to be poor.

That's what some people who have never lived below the poverty line don't understand.
This Story

Put it another way: The poorer you are, the more things cost. More in money, time, hassle, exhaustion, menace. This is a fact of life that reality television and magazines don't often explain.

So we'll explain it here. Consider this a primer on the economics of poverty."

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The kids are NOT alright. Though maybe not much different that other generations. Just more media savvy.

Top Six Ways To Kill Piper: Middle School Girls Make Instructional Cartoon About How To Kill Classmate (VIDEO):

"A Pierce County mother says she's horrified by a cartoon video - posted online - that showed several ways to kill her sixth grade daughter. The cartoon was made off school grounds by some of her daughter's classmates, girls aged 11 and 12. Titled 'Top Six Ways to Kill Piper,' it includes depictions of girls shooting her, making her commit suicide, poisoning her and even pushing her off a cliff."

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This would explain a lot.

Cocaine test prompts Red Bull removal in Germany

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Hot for Tonka

"I'll kill all of the Jews... once I finish this Super-Size bag of Doritos... and take a nap... oh, and I've got to finish the 28th level of whatever hip video games the kids play these days... but after that those Jews better *yawn*.... mmmm Charleston Jew.... gotta make a run to the Kwik-E-Mart for some candy".

"Ji-haaaa-ha-ha-ha.... Ren and Stimpy are some funny-ass infidels".

Pick your offense: 1. Joking about terrorizing Jewish people. 2. Stereotyping pot smokers.

There's always an option at AAW!

NYC terror ‘mastermind’ tells judge he’s a pothead

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They were against slavery before they were for it.... wait... they're pro-slavery?

RNC Hits Obama For Criticizing Slavery | Media Matters Action Network

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What kind of fucked-up reality show world do we live in when conservatives can't put 2 and 2 together but rather must actually experience something before then determine the correct answer?

They'll only concede that Global Warming is real when they are hanging onto log treading in a vast, vast ocean.

Torture as entertainment? The end must be near.

Conservative radio hosts gets waterboarded, and lasts six seconds before saying its torture

Chicago radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller decided he'd get himself waterboarded to prove the technique wasn't torture.

It didn't turn out that way. "Mancow," in fact, lasted just six or seven seconds before crying foul. Apparently, the experience went pretty badly -- "Witnesses said Muller thrashed on the table, and even instantly threw the toy cow he was holding as his emergency tool to signify when he wanted the experiment to stop," according to NBC Chicago.

"The average person can take this for 14 seconds," Marine Sergeant Clay South told his audience before he was waterboarded on air. "He's going to wiggle, he's going to scream, he's going to wish he never did this."

Mancow was set on a 7-foot long table with his legs elevated and his feet tied.

"I wanted to prove it wasn't torture," Mancow said. "They cut off our heads, we put water on their face...I got voted to do this but I really thought 'I'm going to laugh this off.' "

The upshot? "It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke," Mancow told listeners. "It is such an odd feeling to have water poured down your nose with your head back...It was instantaneous...and I don't want to say this: absolutely torture."

"Absolutely. I mean that's drowning," he added later. "It is the feeling of drowning."

"If I knew it was gonna be this bad, I would not have done it," he said.

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Must read for all Democrats going on the TV.

Democrats: if you're going on TV, learn how to "debate!":

"But the key is what chumley said--it is entertainment, and they are shameless. So grant them no respect, offer them no quarter and smile while doing it."

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Pwned.

Milk is a gateway drug to bourbon

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The incredible shrinking party.

National Journal Magazine - For GOP, A Southern Exposure

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I blogged about Maria a few months back. I can't image doing this when I'm 97.... and if I am, brace yourself for post after post detailing my body functions.

Maria Amelia Lopez: "World's Oldest Blogger," 97, Dies In Spain:

"A Spanish great-grandmother who billed herself as the 'world's oldest blogger' and who gained a global following on the Internet, died today at the age of 97, local officials and reports said.

Maria Amelia Lopez, who was introduced to the world of blogging by one of her grandchildren, used a mix of humour and nostalgia to recall life during the long dictatorship of Francisco Franco and give her take on modern life.

'Today it's my birthday and my grandson, who is very stingy, gave me a blog,' she wrote on her first post on amis95.blogspot.com on December 23, 2006."

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To hell with a Tonka!

Toddler buys earthmover in online auction:

"WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A New Zealand mom made some online bids on toys before napping. Then her 3-year-old daughter took over and bought a bigger plaything than expected — a huge earth-moving digger for a cool $12,300."

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Hmm. Well then.

Letourneau hosts `Hot for Teacher' night at bar

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DBT Week in Review - 5/22/09

DBT!

DBT and fine wine.

I do love the internets.

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If you haven't listened to this yet, you should. It is really, really good.

Drive-By Truckers On Mountain Stage : NPR Music

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Jason Thrasher has some excellent photos of the Truckers et al on his new website.

Jason Thrasher Photography Rock Photography

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NineBullets.org - Message Board • View topic - Tons of House Concert Recordings Available Online:

Thanks to Jeff from the Guitartown email list he's now in the process of making his entire collection of area house concerts available online in both audio and video formats. I had the good fortune to be at some of these including the second night of the farewell shows at Pine Hill Farm as well as the Gourds at the old church in Nashville, NC.

http://www.jeffsmusicvault.com
http://www.jeffsvault.net
http://web.me.com/grinderman64/Jeffs_Vault/Shows.html

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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Congrats JI400!

MySpace.com Blogs - FAME Music Group MySpace Blog:

"NASHVILLE, May 20, 2009 – The Americana Music Association announced the nominees for the trade organization’s 2009 Honors and Awards ceremony today at its annual celebration at BMI Nashville. The show, in its eighth year, will be held September 17 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee."

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Real Animal, by Alejandro Escovedo
Written in Chalk, by Buddy & Julie Miller
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, by Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Midnight At The Movies, by Justin Townes Earle

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Dexateens

Bettye LaVette

MySpace.com Blogs - Bettye LaVette MySpace Blog:

"Having conquered the ghosts of a hard-luck past on her GRAMMY-nominated CD The Scene of the Crime, BETTYE LAVETTE shines a new light on that past with her latest, A CHANGE IS GONNA COME SESSIONS. The digital-only EP for Anti- Records, available exclusively through iTunes starting June 16, revisits BETTYE’s forgotten post-Atlantic Records years as a nightclub singer, Broadway performer, and touring cast member opposite Cab Calloway in “Bubbling Brown Sugar.”

The EP opens with a stirring solo version of Sam Cooke’s posthumous Civil Rights anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come,” a song which BETTYE sang with Jon Bon Jovi in January as part of the “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial” concert. Joining BETTYE for these Sessions are pianist and musical director Al Hill, veteran bassist John Heard – who has accompanied such luminaries as Count Basie, Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, and Art Pepper – drummer Danny Frankel (k.d. lang, Lou Reed), and Tom Hagerman from DeVotchKa on strings."

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San Francisco Peeps

Sheryl is a bud of mine from SF. She does some great Rock jewelry.

Rebel Chic: Rock Candy Design Jewelry | sfindiefashion.com:

"Candy isn’t always best when it’s sweet. Case in point: accessories from Rock Candy Design, a San Francisco jewelry line with a rebellious streak we wholeheartedly approve of.

Pieces like the Brothel Token pendant draw on the shady ladies of the Barbary Coast for inspiration, while the Cocksucker charm necklace caught our eye for its literal sensibilities and obvious conversation starting-appeal. You’ll fare far better than Bret or Daisy with a silver “diamond” as your new Rock of Luv, while metal multi-chain necklaces and bracelets deliver the kind of stage-worthy wow factor we’d use to amp up a simple black top and jeans.

Made by Sheryl Gould, who started out creating jewelry at a young age using wire and materials from her dad’s hardware store, each piece is designed to worn by men or women – a quality she dubs “unisexy.” Gould tells us, “I appreciate seeing men wear jewelry, when they wear it well.”"

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Garrin Benfield is a great singer/songwriter from the Bay Area. I met Garrin when I hired him as an exam proctor a few years ago.

Check out his JamBase review:

The Dead | 05.10.09 | Mountain View on JamBase

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Music

Genius.

Scritti Politti: May 19, 2009:

"Citing his ongoing feud with EMI over the prior album, Danger Mouse's new Dark Night of the Soul will be released and sold exclusively as -- get this -- a blank CD-R. It will be up to the buyer to find the music through other means and burn it onto the CD.

Per a statement from the Mouse:

Danger Mouse's new project Dark Night Of The Soul consists of an album length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music. The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100 page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: 'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.'"

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Fuck Mal-Wart.

Green Day Vs. Wal-Mart:

"NEW YORK — Green Day has the most popular CD in the country, but you won't be able to find it at your local Wal-Mart."

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Bailing Out The RIAA? | Techdirt

At the Tech Policy Summit yesterday, David Carson, the General Counsel of the US Copyright Office spent a bit of time at the beginning of his talk explaining why the Performance Rights Act made sense. This is the bill that would make radio stations pay musicians (rather than just songwriters as it is now) for every song they play on the radio. The recording industry insists that it's somehow unfair that radio stations have been promoting their music for free, and Carson seems to believe their explanation 100% (which is, unfortunately, quite typical of the Copyright Office). He argued, unconvincingly, that while radio used to promote artists (the reason that stations don't need to pay musicians), it no longer does so. That makes no sense. While there are alternatives out there for promoting artists, and radio may not have the impact it once had, that hardly means that the stations aren't promoting the music.

And, of course, the most damning argument against the recording industry's demand for money here is the fact that, for decades, the industry has (illegally) had the money go in the other direction. The system of payola has shown, quite clearly, how much the recording industry values airtime, in that it's willing to pay radio stations to play its music.

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Angela's Asses

It became 'anti-American' because the Republicans said so. Simple, see.

Ex-CIA agent: When did questioning the CIA become anti-American?

Since Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi suggested that the CIA misled her in 2002 concerning its use of waterboarding, the Republican Party has been attempting to paint her claims as outrageous.

Former CIA special agent and radio host Jack Rice finds the Republicans’ outrage unconvincing. He told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on Tuesday, “What’s extraordinary here is the idea that if you would ever question the CIA, now all of a sudden somehow it’s anti-American.”

“What’s extraordinary to me is that I’ve seen the Republicans do this over and over,” Rice explained. “They will wrap something in the flag … and they will put a little lapel pin on it that says ‘national security.’ And if you ask a question about it, somehow you’re anti-American. And that’s what they’ve been trying to do to Nancy Pelosi for about six years.”

Rice has no illusions about the CIA’s vulnerability to pressure during the Bush administration. “Anybody who believes that an administration can’t push the Agency to do something is really missing the point,” he told Olbermann. “The fact that they can push the Agency and say, ‘This is what I’m looking for’ … will drive them to do certain things that may or may not be true — and that’s a big part of the problem that we’re facing right now.”

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Amen to that.

Top Powell aide says Congress is most ’spineless’ he’s seen in 65 years

The former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell — who of late has been supportive of more liberal positions — launched a stunning broadside against the Democratic-controlled Congress Wednesday, asserting that it’s been “spineless” when it comes to oversight and the most feckless he’s seen in 65 years.

Former Powell aide Col. Lawrence Wilkerson said he agrees with Democrats who say the CIA isn’t known for telling the truth. But he also launched a salvo at Congress for its alleged failure to investigate abuses of power.

“We could have less feckless leadership in the Congress in terms of oversight,” Wilkerson said. “And I’m not just talking about the Select Committees in the House and the Senate for Intelligence. I’m talking about the leadership in the Congress.

“This has been the most feckless Congress ever since 2000 that I’ve seen in my 65 years,” Wilkerson added. “I just don’t think there’s leadership over there. It’s spineless, it lacks courage, lacks political will.

He continued: “I shudder for the fact that we’ve got to face these economic and financial challenges we’ve got to face — Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea and other things — and we don’t have a Congress that has any leadership.”

Wilkerson also told CNN’s Kiran Chetry that the CIA regularly didn’t tell the whole truth in briefings. “The leadership of the CIA does not have a stellar record about telling the full and unequivocal truth about its covert operations,” he said.

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JTC!

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I'm a big fan of McCourt's books. Frank's brother Michael is a legendary bartender in San Francisco.

My trivia night team at the Bitter End in SF was named 'Angela's Asses'. Ah, good times.

Get well, Frank.

'Angela's Ashes' author Frank McCourt has melanoma:

"A publicist for Frank McCourt confirms the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'Angela's Ashes' has cancer.

Scribner spokesman Brian Belfiglio (bel-FIG'-lee-oh) says the 78-year-old writer is being treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer."

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Good stuff.

Rules for Time Travelers | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

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Hurts So Good

But, but, but the CIA doesn't ever pass false information. Wah!

It is all Pelosi's fault! Wah!

And one more 'Wah' for good measure.

Another Lawmaker Points To An Error In CIA Briefings Doc | TPMMuckraker:

"Here's yet more evidence -- as if it were needed -- that that CIA briefing document that Republicans are trying to hang around Nancy Pelosi's neck is hardly a reliable source of information.

Rep. David Obey, who chairs the appropriations committee, just sent the following letter to CIA director Leon Panetta:"

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But, but, but.....

Wah!

“It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress.”

Doesn't mean they don't do it. It is just not 'policy' or 'practice'. Whew, glad that's cleared up.

CIA Won’t Say Whether Panetta Disputes Pelosi Claim She Was Lied To | The Plum Line

A spokesperson for the CIA is declining to clarify whether CIA director Leon Panetta is disputing Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the agency lied to her about the use of torture.

It has, of course, been widely reported that Panetta smacked back hard against Pelosi’s claim in that note he sent to CIA employees last week. But as Politico’s Josh Gerstein pointed out yesterday, a close reading of Panetta’s note shows clearly that he did not directly dispute Pelosi’s allegations.

The crux of Gerstein’s argument is that Panetta said: “It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress.” That’s a statement of current policy and intent, not a rebuttal of Pelosi’s claims. And the part of Panetta’s statement that does address what was said in briefings is too vague to be conclusive.

So I asked a CIA spokesperson whether it was the CIA’s position that Pelosi was not lied to, as she has claimed. The spokesperson declined to elaborate, instead saying that Panetta’s note would have to speak for itself.

To be clear, this doesn’t prove one way or the other whether Pelosi was in fact lied to. She very well may have been told of the use of torture. Still, it’s sobering to think that while it’s been widely reported that Panetta disputes Pelosi’s allegations, this may not be at all true and may never have happened at all.

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Shrum does a pretty good job here.

Giuliani: ‘Of course’ the CIA has given ‘incorrect information’

“It just happens to be the truth,” Shrum said of his charges against the CIA. “Every once in a while, the truth ought to be uttered.”

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani chimed in at that point to say indignantly, “The general calumny of the CIA is outrageous. The CIA is a dedicated organization of patriotic people who are working their backs off to protect us.”

“Have they ever lied, Mr. Mayor?” Shrum asked.

“These people have dedicated their lives,” Giuliani replied.

“This is drivel,” Shrum retorted. “This is the kind of stuff you tried to run for president on and it didn’t go anywhere. Have they ever lied?”

“It’s absolutely outrageous that you accused them in general terms of being liars or systemically lying,” Giuliani responded. “Of course they’ve made mistakes.. Of course they’ve given incorrect information. Intelligence is a very difficult …”

At that point, the discussion largely broke down into cross-talk. However, Scarborough concluded the segment by backing up Giuliani in his assertions that the CIA does not lie. “The proof is in the pudding,” Scarborough stated. “The evidence is the United States of America has not been attacked since September 11, 2001.”

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Cafferty. One of only a handful of 'news' people worth watching on TV.

Commentary: Prosecute sins of Bush-Cheney era - CNN.com

The Bush presidency is thankfully over...but the damage he and Dick Cheney did continues to press on the nerve of the American people like an impacted wisdom tooth. And until the questions surrounding arguably the most arrogant and perhaps most corrupt administration in our history are addressed, the pain won't go away.

From Nancy ("Impeachment is off the table") Pelosi to President Barack ("I want to look forward, not backward") Obama, the country is being poorly served by their Democratic government. And on this subject President Obama is dead wrong.

George W. Bush and his accomplices damaged this country like it's never been damaged before. And it's not just the phony war in Iraq or the torture memos that justified waterboarding. It's millions of missing emails and the constant use of executive privilege and signing statements.

It's the secretive meetings with Enron and other energy executives and the wholesale firing of federal prosecutors. It's trying to get the president's personal attorney seated on the Supreme Court and that despicable Alberto Gonzales sitting in front of congressional investigators whining, "I don't remember, I

It's the domestic eavesdropping in violation of the FISA Court, the rendition prisons, and the lying. It's looking the other way while the City of New Orleans drowned and its people were left to fend for themselves.

It's the violations of the Geneva Conventions, the soiling of our international reputation and the shredding of the U.S. Constitution. It's the handing over of $700 billion to the Wall Street fat cats last fall, no questions asked. Where is that money? What was it used for?

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Gay.

We're talking a very well heeled community here, overall.

Olbermann butchers RNC chairman on same-sex marriage:

"“Now all of a sudden I’ve got someone who wasn’t a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for,” Steele told Republicans in Georgia. “So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.”

But Olbermann pointed out that weddings are a boon for small businesses — and studies have estimated that same-sex marriage legalization will create thousands of new jobs.

“Mr. Steele, in this country, weddings are a $70 billion a year industry,” Olbermann remarked. “B, billion, as in Bridezilla. Seventy billion. Most of it spread among local florists, local photographers, local hotels, local restaurants, local bridal stores.

“Admittedly,” he added tongue-in-cheek, “the number of wedding gowns ordered when two men get married is zero, but think of two women, with two gowns and two sets of bridesmaids.”

“There is a reason that conservatives in California opposed [Proposition 8 banning the legalization of same-sex marriage],” he added. “Last year before the rights of same-sex couples were repealed, UCLA calculated that just in California the wedding business was going to explode by $684 million over three years."

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Cooley made a comment in the past regarding....

And I paraphrase...."Not being able to smoke in a bar in North Carolina is like taking public transportation in Detroit.... Get it?"

North Carolina smoking ban ends era in US tobacco heartland:

"North Carolina's governor signed a statewide indoor smoking ban into law Tuesday, signaling the end of an era in the United States' leading tobacco-producing state."

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Yep, they'll do that.

Omaha man blames casino drinks, drugs for big debt

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The Body

'The Body" should be on the TV 24/7.

Here, Ventura dominates Hassleback on the Hell that is The View.

This is how you totally destroy Republican bullshit on torture.

Hassleback: "I understand that question".... She deserves a cookie.... fucking idiot.

Stay classy, Elisabeth.

Ventura on The View: If waterboarding is fine, why don’t cops do it?

Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, making a guest appearance on ABC’s The View, gave co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck a lesson or two about the torture technique known as waterboarding.

Ventura, who underwent a barrage of torture techniques at the military Survival, Evade, Resist and Escape (SERE) school, confirmed for Hasselbeck that waterboarding is torture and not just an “enhanced interrogation technique.”

“If waterboarding is okay, why don’t we let our police do it to suspects to learn what they know?” he asked to a chorus of applause.

“That’s an interesting question,” Hasselbeck said. “I understand that question.”

“If waterboarding is okay, why didn’t we waterboard [Timothy] McVeigh and [Terry] Nichols, the Oklahoma City bombers, to find out if there were more people involved? What’s your answer to that?” he asked. “We only seem to waterboard Muslims.”

“That’s an extremist statement,” said Hasselbeck.”

“Aha!” cheered Ventura. “Have we waterboarded anybody else? Name me someone else we’ve waterboarded.”

She could not, instead shifting focus to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who has been criticized by Republicans for a seeming contradiction in disclosing what she knew about then-President Bush’s torture program, and when.

“They want her out because she lied?” asked Ventura. “Why didn’t they ask for Bush and Cheney to go out when they lied about why we went into Iraq.”

Better yet, watch it:

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Grand Old (Very) Party of Church Ladies.

GOP Losses Span Nearly All Demographic Groups:

"The decline and fall of the Republican Party in recent years has been so widespread that the party has lost support among nearly every major demographic subgroup of likely voters across the country, according to a new Gallup poll.

The party lost support among a broad swath of Americans, from conservative to liberal, low-income to high-income, married to unmarried, and elderly to young.

The only subgroup in which the party saw a slight increase in support from 2001 to 2009 was frequent churchgoers."

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Methinks thou (Republicans) doth Pelosi too much.

My only issue is that Pelosi doesn't have the balls to stick to her guns.

The CIA lies. That's what they do. That's the very nature of their existence.

President's use the CIA to lie.

The CIA deserves to be attacked. Republicans can clutch their pearls till the cows come home. Fuck 'em.

I still can't wrap my head around the "Pelosi new about the torture thus it is all her fault and not the fault of Cheney/Bush who created the torture program". ???

Hopefully America has moved on from buying such loads of crap.

GOP's Torture Tricks Backfire - The Daily Beast:

"There's no sign that Pelosi or anyone else is backing off the truth-commission idea. And, indeed, by suggesting that Pelosi could be a target of an investigation, conservatives have helped cleanse the idea of the odor of victor's justice. The question of CIA briefings of congressional leaders would, after all, be a legitimate subject of inquiry. And it's very possible that, done rigorously, Pelosi and other Democrats, such as Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), could wind up getting a black eye or two. But however bad an investigation might make the members of Congress who were supposed to be preventing illegal conduct look, the people actually doing the misdeeds are going to look even worse. Today, the congressional Republicans look extremely clever. But in a few months' time, we'll look back on this as yet another example of a conservative tactical victory that winds up backfiring. After all, selecting Sarah Palin looked brilliant for a week or two. And the anathematization of Obama's stimulus proposal seemed like an unexpected coup until it wound up pushing Arlen Specter into the arms of the Democrats. Gamesmanship, in short, can only get you so far. But conservatives sure are good at it."

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The largest fraud perpetrated in any state of the Union.

An innocent man will be sent back to jail.

Siegelman Judge Committed Fraud on the Court:

"Mark Fuller, the federal judge who oversaw the Don Siegelman trial, committed fraud on the court by failing to disclose his bias against the former Alabama governor. That means the judgment against Siegelman and codefendant Richard Scrushy should be vacated, says an attorney who has conducted extensive research on Fuller's legal and business activities.

'The evidence is clear to me that Judge Fuller failed to disclose his bias in the Siegelman case and committed fraud on the court,' said Paul Benton Weeks, an attorney in Springfield, Missouri. 'It is an example of what the Supreme Court has called an 'inexcusable' failure of a judge to remove himself from a case.'"

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Speaking of shitty judges....

Nobody could have predicted... except all of us who did.

Bush’s legacy: Chief Justice ‘more hard-line’ than Scalia:

"As President Barack Obama prepares to make his first appointment to the Supreme Court, the influence of Chief Justice John Roberts is coming under increased scrutiny.

In an article for the New Yorker, legal analyst and former assistant US Attorney Jeffrey Toobin describes Roberts as “the Supreme Court’s stealth hard-liner” and finds reason for dismay.

According to Toobin, despite Roberts’ disarming intelligence, charm, and wit, his actions on the bench have been those of a “doctrinaire conservative.”

“The first Democratic nominee to the Court in fifteen years will confront what is now, increasingly, John Roberts’s Court,” Toobin writes. “The majority of the Court is moving right as the rest of the country — or, at least, the rest of the federal government — is moving left. … Roberts’s service on the Court, which is, of course, likely to continue for decades, offers an enduring and faithful reflection of the Bush Presidency.”

Toobin explains that although Roberts sees himself as a strict constructionist and a “judicial restraint” conservative, “according to Harvard’s Laurence Tribe, ‘The Chief Justice talks the talk of moderation while walking the walk of extreme conservatism.’"

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Heh-heh.

Not a simple shot-gun here, folks.

Good luck young men of tomorrow.

Obama: Dating My Daughters Will Be "An Issue":

"Were you surprised at how quickly your family became part of the cultural iconography?

You know, the nice thing is that, partly because of temperament, partly because of Michelle's unbelievable parenting skills, I've just got some happy, normal kids. And all that stuff that's going on around them, they just kind of miss. We have not seen any effects, any fishbowl effects, yet on them. Now, I worry about them when they're teenagers where, you know, you're already embarrassed about your parents and even more embarrassed on TV all the time. And dating I think will be an issue because I have men with guns surrounding them at all times [laughter], which I'm perfectly happy with, but they may feel differently about it."

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The Group Mile High Club.

New Zealand Launches Hookup Airways | Autopia | Wired.com:

New Zealand Launches Hookup Airways

Love is in the air — Air New Zealand, that is. The Kiwi carrier has launched Matchmaking Flight to bring lonely travelers together. After all, what better way to get to know The One than sharing a 13-hour flight on your first date?

If you aren’t up for a blind date, you can try meeting that special someone on the airline’s Matchmaking Flight website, a social networking where passenger can meet and interact in the safety of cyberspace before meeting at the terminal. That could keep you from getting matched with that sketchy guy in Seat 35B who keeps mentioning the mile-high club."

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Survivor

Survivor is my absolute favorite show on television. I've never missed one of the 18 seasons.

Alabamian cattle rancher J.T. won last night. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

A state with a population of 4 million dominates the big reality shows. Not sure why, but it sure is cool.

The tribe speaks, a new `Survivor' wins big money:

"NEW YORK – The tribe has spoken, naming cattle rancher James 'J.T.' Thomas Jr. the sole 'Survivor.'

The 24-year-old country boy prevailed over New Yorker Stephen Fishbach on Sunday's season finale, claiming the $1 million check and bragging rights.

Thomas, who operates a cattle-ranching business in Samson, Ala., wept tears of joy after hearing the result.

'I can't help it,' he said at the post-game special, aired live from New York. 'I'm happy — it's probably the happiest I've ever been in my life, obviously.'"

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Starting to come into focus, isn't it.

Powell aide: Cheney first approved torture to tie Iraq, al Qaeda:

"The chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell says that the Bush Administration authorized torture of detainees before even rendering a legal opinion on the practice — and that they sought to torture detainees in an effort to produce intelligence tying Iraq to al Qaeda.

“What I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002–well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion–its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa’ida,” former Powell chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson wrote Wednesday evening.

“So furious was this effort that on one particular detainee, even when the interrogation team had reported to Cheney’s office that their detainee “was compliant” (meaning the team recommended no more torture), the VP’s office ordered them to continue the enhanced methods,” Wilkerson added. “The detainee had not revealed any al-Qa’ida-Baghdad contacts yet. This ceased only after Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, under waterboarding in Egypt, “revealed” such contacts. Of course later we learned that al-Libi revealed these contacts only to get the torture to stop.”"

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Still a Dick.

The Truth About Richard Bruce Cheney - The Washington Note

First, more Americans were killed by terrorists on Cheney's watch than on any other leader's watch in US history. So his constant claim that no Americans were killed in the "seven and a half years" after 9/11 of his vice presidency takes on a new texture when one considers that fact. And it is a fact.

There was absolutely no policy priority attributed to al-Qa'ida by the Cheney-Bush administration in the months before 9/11. Counterterrorism czar Dick Clarke's position was downgraded, al-Qa'ida was put in the background so as to emphasize Iraq, and the policy priorities were lowering taxes, abrogating the ABM Treaty and building ballistic missile defenses.

Second, the fact no attack has occurred on U.S. soil since 9/11--much touted by Cheney--is due almost entirely to the nation's having deployed over 200,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and not to "the Cheney method of interrogation."

Those troops have kept al-Qa'ida at bay, killed many of them, and certainly "fixed" them, as we say in military jargon. Plus, sadly enough, those 200,000 troops present a far more lucrative and close proximity target for al-Qa'ida than the United States homeland. Testimony to that fact is clear: almost 5,000 American troops have died, more Americans than died on 9/11. Of course, they are the type of Americans for whom Cheney hasn't much use as he declared rather dramatically when he achieved no less than five draft deferments during the Vietnam War.

Third--and here comes the blistering fact--when Cheney claims that if President Obama stops "the Cheney method of interrogation and torture", the nation will be in danger, he is perverting the facts once again. But in a very ironic way.

My investigations have revealed to me--vividly and clearly--that once the Abu Ghraib photographs were made public in the Spring of 2004, the CIA, its contractors, and everyone else involved in administering "the Cheney methods of interrogation", simply shut down. Nada. Nothing. No torture or harsh techniques were employed by any U.S. interrogator. Period. People were too frightened by what might happen to them if they continued.

What I am saying is that no torture or harsh interrogation techniques were employed by any U.S. interrogator for the entire second term of Cheney-Bush, 2005-2009. So, if we are to believe the protestations of Dick Cheney, that Obama's having shut down the "Cheney interrogation methods" will endanger the nation, what are we to say to Dick Cheney for having endangered the nation for the last four years of his vice presidency?

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Of course they did.

Bush Administration rejected deal to dim Iraq war in 2004: report:

"According to a new report in Vanity Fair, the so-called Sunni Awakening, which has been credited with ending the Sunni insurgency and thus making possible the success of the 2007 surge in Iraq, could have taken place as early as 2004.

This report prompted MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann to wonder on Thursday, “Why did the Bush administration reject the deal and prolong the war?”

According to writer David Rose, “The Sunni insurgents had offered to come to terms with the Americans 30 months earlier, in the summer of 2004, during secret talks with senior U.S. officials and military commanders. … For a variety of reasons, some of them petty, some of them ideological, and some of them still obscure, these men were blocked by superiors in the State Department, the Pentagon, and the White House.”"

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Goddamn socialist with their sexy sex.

China to open first sex theme park | World news | guardian.co.uk:

"Maybe it was the giant revolving model of a woman's legs and lower torso, clad only in an unflattering crimson thong, or perhaps it was the oversized replica of a set of genitals. Either way, many residents in the south-west city of Chongqing are not happy about the development of China's first sex theme park, which has been described as 'vulgar' and inappropriate.

The park manager, Lu Xiaoqing, who was inspired by South Korea's popular sex theme park in Jeju, says that Love Land, due to open in October, will improve sex education and help adults enjoy a harmonious sex life. Inside, visitors will be able to view naked human sculptures, giant replicas of genitals and an exhibition about the history of sex and sexual practices in other countries.

The park will also offer sex technique workshops and advise on anti-Aids measures and using condoms properly.

'Sex is a taboo subject in China but people really need to have more access to information about it,' Lu told the state newspaper China Daily.

'We are building the park for the good of the public. I have found that the majority of people support my idea, but I have to pay attention and not make the park look vulgar and nasty.'"

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DBT Week in Review - 5/15/09

Dexateens

Dexateens' new album 'Singlewide' dropped last Tuesday.

Please support this excellent band by buying a copy.

Dexateens' latest CD, 'Singlewide,' a little more country | Charlottesville Daily Progress:

"The Dexateens have been plugging along for the past decade as underground Southern garage rock phenoms. The Alabama outfit formed in the late ’90s out of a songwriting partnership between John Smith and Elliott McPherson, who met at school in Tuscaloosa.

Through four albums the five-piece band has channeled the raw soul of Muscle Shoals with the dusty literary skill to dig into the realities of the rural underbelly like step-ahead contemporaries the Drive-By Truckers. Frontman Patterson Hood of the Truckers produced the Dexateens’ 2007 disc “Hardwire Healing.”

“What we share is a desire to embrace some of those Southern cliches and then transcend them,” said Smith.

“That’s what we’ve inherited from Patterson and the Truckers. I’m not sure we have the depth in the lyrics that they do, but we share an unwillingness to wallow in rebel rock stuff.”

Next week the band will release its fifth album, “Singlewide.” The new disc seems to move the group from the garage to the front porch, as the loud three-guitar attack is toned down in exchange for stripped acoustic country rock in the vein of early Neil Young and Graham Parsons."

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Patterson Hood/DBT

Patterson Hood releases second solo album | TimesDaily.com | Florence, AL

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From The Desk Of David Lowery: The Glands’ Ross Shapiro:

"David Lowery has maintained a healthy career as a split musical personality. When he isn’t playing laconic country-tinged pop with his band of 25 years, Camper Van Beethoven, he’s thrashing away at his guitar as the frontman for Cracker, the rock outfit that’s releasing its 10th studio album, Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey, this week. Lowery adds another line to his resume as he guest edits magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him."

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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

MySpace.com Blogs - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit MySpace Blog:

"We've just announced new dates with Gomez and Gov't Mule, as well as two new headline dates.

Headline Shows:
Sunday, May 31: Carbondale, IL @ PK's
Saturday, July 11: Whitesburg, KY @ Summit City

With Gomez:
Monday, June 1: New York, NY @ Terminal 5
Wednesday, June 3: Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small's
Thursday, June 4: Covington, KY @ Madison Theatre

With Gov't Mule:
Sunday, July 26: Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre Street Stage"

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Lauderdale

MySpace.com Blogs - Lauderdale MySpace Blog:

"Friday, May 15 @ Summit City in Whitesburg, Ky.
w/ James and Dylan Leblanc and Angela Hacker

Saturday, May 16 @ The Garage in Winson-Salem, N.C.
w/ Dylan Leblanc and American Aquarium

Come on out, say hi and hang out with us"

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Music

Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament Injured in Robbery Outside Atlanta Studio : Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily:

"Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was the victim of a violent robbery outside Southern Tracks Recording studios in Atlanta, where the band is recording their ninth studio album with producer Brendan O’Brien. According to a police report, Ament and a band employee pulled up to the rear of the studio on the afternoon of April 27th when three assailants brandishing knives emerged from the woods wearing black masks, gloves and pants. The robbers smashed the windows of a rented Jeep and grabbed a BlackBerry before demanding more money. In total, Ament was robbed of $3,000 in cash and $4,320 worth of goods."

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Dawn Teo: Obama, the NRA, and Alice Cooper:

"Alice Cooper will be opening for Barack Obama before the ceremony begins. Cooper will warm up the crowd of nearly 65,000 graduates and guests by performing 'School's Out' with his son Dash. 'Of all the people I've ever shared a stage with, Obama is the biggest rock star,' says Cooper, adding wryly, 'and I'd like to thank him, in advance, for changing the national anthem to 'School's Out'.'"

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Stephen Bruton, 60; Texas musician played with Kris Kristofferson, T Bone Burnett - Los Angeles Times

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Trey Anastasio, Phish Frontman, Tells Addiction Story On Capitol Hill, Lobbies For Drug Courts

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The next Bill Graham turns out to be a Bernie instead.

Investors say promoter owes them $2 million:

"Martin 'is the Bernie Madoff of the music promotion world,' says Robert Vickers, who performs as the lounge-lizard comedian Bud E. Luv. Vickers claims Martin wrote him $5,000 in bad checks and failed to repay $500,000 allegedly borrowed from one of the comedian's friends."

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I continue reviewing my Dag obsessions from the 90s. I really should do a separate post on Dag sometime soon.

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Blogger Sucks

Well, it seems Blogger ate the long ass post I put up this morning. Trying to figure out what happened.

J.

Water Bored

Must read.

It simply doesn't work.

FBI Whistleblower Testimony: Gonzales Imposed Brutal Interrogation Tactics

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I really can't grasp all of the conservative talking heads argument that 'waterboarding' isn't really that bad or harmful. If that's the case, then why do it? Why not use cotton candy and pixie dust to torture, then?

IG Report: Waterboarding Was Neither "Efficacious Or Medically Safe":

"And the conclusion seems pretty clear: Not only did interrogators, for a period of time, use waterboarding that was deemed by U.S. officials to be more frequent and intense than was medically safe, it did so to apparently limited results."

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Napolitano is about the only shining political star in a state full of political douchebags.

I could go for this.

Obama's Shortlist For Supreme Court: Napolitano Added

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My memory is shit, but I can access info and cross reference like a mofo.

Very interesting read.

The Internet and You | Mother Jones:

"Reading on the web is almost certainly affecting the way we process information, but it’s not making us stupid. Instead, it’s changing the way we’re smart. Rather than storehouses of in-depth information, the web is turning our brains into indexes. These days, it’s not what you know — it’s what you know you can access, and cross reference."

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If you've ever stepped in a fire ant mound, then your new best friend is this fly.

Great way to start a science article.

Parasitic flies turn fire ants into zombies:

"It sounds like something out of science fiction: zombie fire ants. But it's all too real.

Fire ants wander aimlessly away from the mound.

Eventually their heads fall off, and they die."

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Mustard Gas

When I read of the 2 Trillion cost reduction Corporate health care 'pledged' my first reaction was 'horse-shit'.

Then I caught this response to a blog post, which makes a bit of sense.

Still, I'm wary of any corporate 'pledge'. I'd feel much more comfortable with some 'laws' that force these fuckers to do things. Goddamn socialist, I am.

Healthcare Industry Offers to Shave $2 Trillion in Projected Increases | Crooks and Liars:

"Actually, what they are talking about is eliminating administrative costs. Like, you wouldn't need a referral for an MRI. If your doctor says you need it, then you just go get it. We don't need 5 forms and 10 employees to put up barriers there. However, the industry is just trying to cooperate so that they can stop the momentum of the public health insurance plan. The good news is that the WH is saying, 'That's nice, but we still want the public health insurance plan, too because the only way that you are going to keep your promise to do this stuff is if there is a government plan that is doing it, and people can choose it over you if screw up.'

So, it's always scary when industry has access to power. But another way to look at it is that usually these deals are made behind closed doors, and they are being forced to keep it public because frankly, nobody in DC likes them very much right now. Their access is not as good as it used to be."

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Amazing how many on both sides fucked this one up.

Unfettered free market is teh awsum!

Glass-Steagall Act: The Senators And Economists Who Got It Right:

"The legislation was the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act (alternatively known as Gramm Leach Bliley), which allowed banks to merge with insurance companies and investment houses. And Dorgan was, at the time, on a proverbial island with his concerns. Only eight senators would vote against the measure -- lionized by its proponents, including senior staff in the Clinton administration and many now staffing President Obama, as the most important breakthrough in the worlds of finance and politics in decades."

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Funny what some consider 'dreamy'.... especially Republicans.

Tennessee state senator calls guns in bars a ‘dreamy scenario’:

"Ordering a shot in a Tennessee bar may never be the same again.

The Tennessee House has passed a bill that would allow guns to be carried in bars where alcohol is served. Law abiding citizens should be allowed to carry guns in bars, Tennessee State Senator Doug Jackson told Fox’s Brian Kilmeade on Monday, calling armed drunks in bars a “dreamy scenario.”"

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This one has already lived its short news life cycle, but, still, hilarious how predictable the D.C. villagers are.

Grey Poupon is made by Kraft here in the U.S. Damn fake French condiment!

'Would you like some Freedom Fries to go with your froggy-ass mustard"?

Obama Mustard Attack Becomes Full-Blown Right-Wing Talking Point

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Happy Place

Check out one of those Galtish Libertarian Paradises:

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In comparison, how are some of those evil 'socialist' country doing?

Seem pretty damn happy.

World's Happiest Places

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It was stupid for Rove to blather about a 'permanent Republican majority' so it is just as stupid to argue for a 'permanent Democratic majority'.

However, things aren't looking too good for the 'thugs.

Pretty good article, though it does contain some lazy 'journalism'.

Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over? - TIME

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That didn't take long.

Sessions: Gay Supreme Court Nominee "Would Be A Big Concern"

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It's good to have a Democratic Prez.

Obama budget rescinds oil, gas industry tax breaks:

"President Barack Obama wants to end $26 billion in oil and gas industry tax breaks, calling them 'unjustifiable loopholes' in the tax system that other companies do not get."

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Golf has been a big part of my life. As a youth I got pretty serious about the game. My granddad was a big golfer and was friends with Chi-Chi Rodriguez. I grew up playing with Stewart Cink.

I thoroughly enjoy the game, playing and watching on TV.

Feherty needs a little self-reflection time away from work.

I love the game but I hate how it is dominated by conservative fucks.

CBS golf analyst David Feherty says US soldiers would assassinate Pelosi and Reid if given the chance

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Big Ed schools on single-payer:

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I believe Wendy and Adam Musick from Southern Bitch operate a community farm in VA.

Going back to the old way when it comes to food is the best way.

Getting Rid Of Your Grocer - CBS News:

"(CBS) Consumers seeking a healthy lifestyle these days are increasingly cutting out the supermarket and going straight to the farmer for fresh fruits and vegetables. CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports that community-supported agriculture is a growing trend.

On a small farm in Palm Beach County, Fla., it's harvesting season. They're picking and packing. Only this bounty isn't headed for a big warehouse or grocery store.

It's going from Nancy Roe's fields straight to Florida kitchens. From field to table. No stops in between.

It's called community supported agriculture or CSA - part of the 'buy local' movement. Customers pay Roe directly, and she sends them a box of fresh produce every week of the growing season."

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DBT Week in Review - 5/8/09

Patterson Hood

MySpace.com Blogs - Patterson Hood MySpace Blog:

"Cracker, the group that veritably introduced brash irreverence and irony into alt-rock, are back and in top form on their 429 Records debut, Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey.
..........

Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers duets with Lowery on the swampy, folk-Americana of “Friends,” a drunken tale of dysfunctional but loving friendship.

You can listen to 'Friends' at the Cracker link below!

http://www.pavementpr.com/artistpage/cracker.html"

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Q&A With David Lowery:

"I know that you’ve worked with Adam Duritz before, but how did you end up pulling in Patterson Hood and John Doe to help out on the new record?

We recorded the record in Athens, Ga., with David Barbe. David works with Drive-By Truckers. We were thinking of guests and thought Patterson would be perfect for the song “Friends.” We sent Patterson the song, and he loved it. A few weeks later when he got home from tour, he came in and sang it. We have, of course, known Patterson for years. Our good friend from Richmond, Wes Freed, has been doing the Drive-By Truckers’ artwork and promoting their Richmond shows since the very beginning of the band. John Doe has played at our Campout, and CVB and Cracker have shared the bill with X many times. After writing “We All Shine A Light,” I thought John would be perfect to sing the song with me. I mean, all those X songs with John and Exene; the long held notes with the static harmony against it. Similar approach. Plus John is the kind of guy that gets it when I say, “I want to do a song celebrating tolerance and multiculturalism, and I want to do it by singing about the Peshawar Panthers Cricket Team.”"

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Jazz News: Seeger Birthday Bash Review: Review:

"There were newer songs, too, including a biting Cajun vamp, “Dear Mr. President,' performed by a band including Michael Franti and Patterson Hood. The song mocked former President George W. Bush and ended with a plea to Obama: “Now Mr. President you inherited a mess. But fixing things is what you do best."

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Professor Patterson Hood? on Blurt Online

According to the Bible, the seven signs of the Apocalypse include war, famine, disease, hatred, crime and earthquakes, but BLURT's crack team of Biblical historians have uncovered the long lost eighth sign that Judgement Day may be near:

Patterson Hood is lecturing today at Princeton University.

The always-affable frontman of the Drive-By Truckers is meeting with American Studies students to kick off "Radio Free Dixie (Or, De Dirty South Broke-down): A Symposium on New South Sounds & Culture," a free two-day event that formally begins this Friday, May 8, which will attempt to examine the influence of rock musicians, artists, scholars, politicians, spiritual figures and critics that emerged from the Southeast region of the United States during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

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Dexateens

"this is the last call for DEXATEENS PRE ORDERS for our forthcoming record, SINGLEWIDE. All pre orders recieve a free silkscreened poster, designed by the band. i posted a photo of the poster on our pictures. if you are interested, go to the skybucket website

http://www.skybucket.com/

we are going on tour and we are real excited. see you then."

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Centro-matic

"FREE DOWNLOAD!

You can download Centro-matic's live set from the Austin City Limits Festival in 2006. This link will be good for 7 days.

http://www.yousendit.com/download/dVlwWWV1ZDU1R1BIRGc9PQ"

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Sons of Roswell

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Bloodkin

Band of the Week: Bloodkin :: Features Music :: Articles :: Paste:

"“Like most artists,” writes friend, admirer and Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood in the liner notes of Bloodkin’s new album, Baby, They Told Us We Would Rise Again, “they can and have been their own worst enemy"

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Music

Ean Evans, Lynyrd Skynyrd Bassist, Dead At 48:

"COLUMBUS, Miss. — Bassist Donald 'Ean' Evans of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd has died after a battle with cancer.

Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said Evans died Wednesday at his home in eastern Mississippi. He was 48.

In a statement posted on lynyrdskynyrd.com the band said, 'It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of longtime Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Ean Evans. Ean put up a valiant battle with an aggressive form of cancer and he will be sorely missed by family, friends and fans.'"

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Cat Stevens accuses Coldplay of stealing one of his tunes, Foreigner Suite, for Viva La Vida | The Sun |Showbiz|Bizarre

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Woodstock veterans to headline anniversary show:

"Some performers from the 1969 Woodstock concert will get back to the garden for a 40th anniversary show this summer.

On the bill for Aug. 15 are The Levon (LEE'-vahn) Helm Band, Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and the Holding Co., Ten Years After, Canned Heat, Mountain, and Country Joe McDonald."

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