DBT Week in Review - 7/31/09

DBT! in Buttholeville!

Both Shoals Theatre Shows are steaming online. A little something to make the day go by faster.

Internet Archive: Free Download: Drive-By Truckers Live at Shoals Theater on 2009-07-23

Internet Archive: Free Download: Drive-By Truckers Live at Shoals Theatre on 2009-07-24

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J.D. McCorkle, the budding concert promoter extraordinaire, sent me a couple of pictures to post. Remember, J.D. I'm a lock for the Groupie Wrangler position:

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Russellvillians Amber Arthur and T.A. sent me some pictures from their front row experience.

I don't think that chub fist in the last pic got to stay for the entire show.

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Our dear, sweet Maddy mixes the rock with relationships in her review of the two shows.

Hug it out? Here, Maddy Writes it Out.

Vita Ordinario: It's a Long Story

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Here are The Decoys with Patterson, Shonna, Donnie Fritts and all kids of other legends performing The Band's 'The Weight'. Thanks, Marina!

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Watch Jay Gonzalez's hilarious new video for the song The Strong One.

Kudo's Jay!

Jay Gonzalez - The Strong One

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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Going south in any direction: Jason Isbell’s roots show everywhere he plays < PopWire | PopMatters:

"LEXINGTON, Ky. — He is, in every sense of the shopworn rock ‘n’ roll term, a road warrior.

For example, Alabama rocker Jason Isbell was playing a gig two Saturdays ago “on top of a mountain in Utah.” Then, Isbell and his tour-tested, meat-and-potatoes band, The 400 Unit, were coming to Lexington.

“Isn’t that crazy?” Isbell mused via phone, having spent the afternoon driving through Wyoming."

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Lauderdale

Lauderdale in the studio:

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Music

FT.com / Technology - Apple joins forces with record labels:

"Apple is working with the four largest record labels to stimulate digital sales of albums by bundling a new interactive booklet, sleeve notes and other interactive features with music downloads, in a move it hopes will change buying trends on its online iTunes store.

The talks come as Apple is separately racing to offer a portable, full-featured, tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution. The device could be launched alongside the new content deals, including those aimed at stimulating sales of CD-length music, according to people briefed on the project."

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Food

Some ideas for your end of season maters:

From vine to freezer - tomato sauce for all year

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And finally.... I'm sorry. It had to be done:

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As Stupid Does

With some stiff competition, introducing the stupidest fucking article ever written by a traditional 'news' source.

Gregory Levey: They pay you for this?

Viewpoint: Obama Should Send Bush to Mideast | Newsweek International | Newsweek.com:

"By Gregory Levey"

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What Atrios says....

Eschaton:

"A New Luxury

One nice thing about having large majorities in the House and Senate is that finally I will feel perfectly comfortable rooting for members of the wanker caucus to lose their seats. In 2010 voters will chuck out incumbents if the economy sucks and they don't perceive they've been given what they were promised (health care). The 'center' on health care involves giving people affordable quality health care, it does not involve preserving the obscene profits of the corrupt health insurance industry. If Democrats screw this up, those in Republican-leaning districts will lose their seats and I'll be cheering on every bad Democrat loss"

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Because you know we have the bestest healthcare in the WORLDS, dontcha know.

In Virginia town, health fair tends to America's poor:

"They came in their hundreds, America's uninsured and working poor, descending on this coal mining town in Virginia's southwest corner in search of the medical care they could not otherwise afford.

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Not good. Not good at all.

More cars torched overnight:

"(07-29) 07:17 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Four more cars were set ablaze overnight in San Francisco, bringing to number of arson attacks since this weekend to at least a dozen, authorities said today."

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Because I recently viewed the Watchmen.

And the answers are just now coming out?

The Buzz Log - This Is Only a Test: Rorschach Blots Rocking the Web - Yahoo! Buzz

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Pretty... but not good.

Daily Kos: Mysterious Glow-in-the-Dark Arctic Clouds Invade USA

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The only loyal man in South Carolina.

The comments section is dang funny.

Police: SC man charged with having sex with horse:

"A South Carolina man was charged with having sex with a horse after the animal's owner caught the act on videotape, then staked out the stable and caught him at shotgun point, authorities said Wednesday.
More News

But this wasn't the first time Rodell Vereen has been charged with buggery. He pleaded guilty last year to having sex with the same horse after owner Barbara Kenley found him in the same stable and was sentenced to probation and placed on the state's sex offender list."

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Different Kind of BJ

Sign it:

Citizens Supporting a Public Option

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Freeeeee Markets!!!!!

Oh, wait....

CFTC: Speculators caused 2008 oil price crisis:

"In a major U-turn from its claims during the Bush administration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is now set to admit that speculation in oil markets — and not the forces of supply and demand — are behind last year’s massive oil price spike.

In the summer of 2008, oil prices on the open market reached an unprecedented $147 per barrel. Many economists argue the spike helped push the US into an economic free-fall last autumn."

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You've got to love LA politics.

Stormy Daniels' Political Advisor May Have Been Hit By Car Bomb: Reports:

"Porn star Stormy Daniels' potential senatorial campaign was rocked yesterday by an explosion that blew up her political advisor's car in New Orleans, according to local news reports.

The advisor, Brian Welch, was not injured in the explosion.

In surveillance footage aired on TV affiliate ABC-26, a man is seen opening the drivers'-side door, throwing an object in the car and the vehicle exploding."

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I ate an entire bag last night. My spine is feelin' fine.

Blue M&Ms 'mend spinal injuries' - Telegraph

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Spirit of the Teen

Ditto.

And as crappy as the Bush administration was, you can't say that they didn't get their shit done.

In 2008 the public gave Dems a historically massive win. That Dems are concerned with any type of bipartisanship is stupid as fuck.

Do our bidding, dammit!

Daily Kos: President Obama, Let me be clear and I mean crystal:

"If the Senate Finance Committee drops the public option, the bill is worthless.

Let me repeat this, 'If the Senate Finance Committee drops the public option, the bill is worthless.'

It means that the 1.4 million lobby pay days have won.

It means that the senate is bogged down with members on the take.

It means that the American public's voice is stiffled, again.

It means that the real power in Washington, D.C. is not at the White House but with 'K Street' and the checks are being written, as I type.

This also means that you have a problem here, President Obama.

Of all the things that former President George W. Bush did, and he did more wrong than right, was that when he wanted legislation he did not stall, whimper or cry about it, he demanded action and it came through for him by HIS CONGRESS.

Former President George W. Bush with his lackey, Former Vice-President Dick Cheney did not play. What they wanted they got, if they had to twist arms to get what they wanted, they did it. If they had to hit hard, it was with a sledge hammer and their congress felt it. In the end, the Bush congress both respected him and feared him.

This is not happening now."

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Primary challenge = Some Act Right.

But if Specter wins, you can kiss that 97% goodbye, Dems.

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Since Primary Challenge, Specter Voting with Dems 97% of the Time:

"Back in May, we introduced something which I like to call the Specterometer. This is simply the percentage of the time that Arlen Specter is voting with the Democrats on what I refer to as Contentious Votes -- anything that comes up for a floor vote in the Senate and where the majority of each party splits their votes.

In the first month or so after becoming a Democrat, Specter was voting with his new party about two-thirds of the time on these Contentious Votes. While there are some less loyal Democrats -- say, Ben Nelson of Nebraska -- who only vote with their party about half the time, this was certainly less than what most Democratic observers were hoping for.

But since then, indeed, something has changed. Well, a couple of things have changed. On May 27th, Congressman Joe Sestak announced that he intended to challenge Specter for the Democratic nomination. And since that time, Specter has voted with his party on 28 out of 29 Contentious Votes, or 97 percent of the time."

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Meow, y'all.

The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room � Voinovich slams DeMint and Coburn for GOP downfall; blames ‘the southerners’:

"Too many conservative senators like Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) are to blame for the GOP's downfall, one of their retiring Republican colleagues complained Monday.

'We got too many Jim DeMints and Tom Coburns,' Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) told the Columbus Dispatch. 'It's the southerners.'

Voinovich, a native Clevelander who retires after the 2010 election, continued after the southern elements of the GOP.

'They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr,'' he said. 'People hear them and say, 'These people, they're southerners. The party's being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?''"

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Here's what to do with them extra maters.

From vine to freezer - tomato sauce for all year

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Consider your Teen Spirit Rick-rolled.

Sorry, but it had to be posted.

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Don't tase my bros, bro.

Guess who said/wrote this?

So, yeah, we certainly haven't had enough time to debate the issue.

Fucking sorry ass Blue Dogs. Become a Republican already. Stop shitting on my party.

Yeah, I'm gonna get my curse on today.

AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Headline that says it all: Will Blue Dogs Help GOP Extremists Destroy Obama's Presidency Over Their Donations From Insurance Industry CEOs?

The Democratic Party represents the people... The Democratic Party puts human rights and human welfare first... These Republican gluttons of privilege are cold men. They are cunning men... They want a return of the Wall Street economic dictatorship.

Something happens to Republican leaders when they get control of the government... Republicans in Washington have a habit of becoming curiously deaf to the voice of the people. They have a hard time hearing what the ordinary people of the country are saying. But they have no trouble at all hearing what Wall Street is saying. They are able to catch the slightest whisper from big business and the special interests.

Republican candidates are apparently trying to sing the American voters to sleep with a lullaby about unity... They want to kind of unity that benefits the National Association of Manufacturers... the real estate trusts... [the] selfish interests... They don't want unity. They want surrender. And I am here to tell you people that I will not surrender.

Some things are worth fighting for... We must fight isolationists and reactionaries, the profiteers and the privileged class... Our primary concern is for the little fellow. We think the big boys have always done very well, taking care of themselves... It is the business of government to see that the little fellow gets a square deal.

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Wherein I agree with Michael Steele for the first and probably only time.

Steele urges Democrats to pass health care bill without Republicans.:

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It is hard to imagine how it could have been worse... but, it could have been worse. Much worse.

Imagine this. Just close your eyes and imagine this. Imagine a brigade marching down your Main Street.

Goddamn Cheney was in the White House....

Report: Bush mulled sending troops into Buffalo:

"WASHINGTON – The Bush administration in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, N.Y., suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects in what would have been a nearly unprecedented use of military power, The New York Times reported.

Vice President Dick Cheney and several other Bush advisers at the time strongly urged that the military be used to apprehend men who were suspected of plotting with al Qaida, who later became known as the Lackawanna Six, the Times reported on its Web site Friday night. It cited former administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity."

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We crush the Republicans, now we've got to crush 40% of the Dem party.

Work is never done.

Sold out pieces of shit.

David Sirota: Attack of the One-Percenters: Land Rover Liberals, Corrupt Cowboys & the Millionaire Media

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It is like the sun rising. Gonna happen no matter what.

Family-No-Fucking-Values.

Anti-gay, pro-abstinence legislator had affair with intern:

"A Republican state senator from Tennessee–who is married and the father of two– has admitted to police that he had sex with a 22 year old intern after her boyfriend allegedly demanded money from the legislator to not make public a video of the legislator and intern having sex.

State Sen. Paul Stanley only recently sponsored legislation designed to prohibit gay couples in his home state from ever adopting children. He has also opposed family planning services, explaining that his “faith and church” require him to “promote abstinence.” And Stanley has run as a “pro-family” candidate in his campaigns for the Tennessee State Senate."

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Taser thing is getting out of control.

Didn't break the law? Really?

We'll see what the judge says about that.

Idaho man sodomized by police Taser plans to sue:

"A Boise, Idaho, police officer who pushed a Taser inside a man’s buttocks and threatened to “Taser his balls” violated use-of-force policy, but didn’t break the law, an ombudsman has found."

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DBT Week in Review - 7/24/09

DBT! DBT! DBT!

Check in with Ninebullets today for all of your Shoals Theatre Night 1 reviews:

NineBullets.org - Message Board • View topic - 2 night stay at the Shoals Theater

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Here are a couple of 'Tubes already posted from the show last night:

Sinkhole:



This one may still be loading....

Righteous Path:

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dbts : Message: Re: [dbts] DBT - Covered by...?:

"The kids at Nuci's Space Camp Amped covered (Something's Got To) Give Pretty Soon just last week at their grand finale concert. I missed it by 2 minutes. Always running late. Local Athens jazz band (and fantastic musicians) Kenosha Kid did a show once at Flicker where they covered songs by various Athens bands, DBT among the group. You can listen here: http://southernshelter.com/2007/08/kenosha-kid-sells-out-flicker-33006/"

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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

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

Hello, folks. Having a sit-down on the new couch, watching the Braves tear up San Fran, thinking I should let you all know how things have been going lately.

First and foremost, we're very excited about the Music for Marines benefit at the Shoals Theatre Wednesday night. It's for a great cause, and Sons of Roswell and Barrelmouth will be playing with us, both bands chock full of Greenhill natives, so you should really try to come out.

My old cohorts, the Drive-By Truckers (still don't know if that hyphen should be there or not) are playing the same venue on Thursday and Friday night, and I'm really happy about the fact that they're playing a hometown show. I think it'll be great for the area and the local scene, and it could go a long way toward establishing the Theatre as a real music venue. Cheers to them, for sure. I won't be able to make those shows, much to my chagrin, as we have to leave for K.C. on Thursday evening. Ya'll go, though, and let me know how it turns out. I'm sure it'll be great.

Want to give a special thanks to Zack Gooch for joining us on last weekend's run through Colorado and Utah. He did a fantastic job and we truly had a great time hanging out and making music with him.

Our distinguished guitarist, Browan, has a website up now for his incredible artwork, www.browanlollar.com, and I strongly suggest you check it out. He has some great stuff, and his paintings are pretty good, too, if you know what I mean.

On the personal front, I just finished a move back across the river to Sheffield, and I'm very happy about the living quarters. I'm sure to be playing a ton of pool when I'm home, so if you're game, come join me at the room. You know the one, I'm sure. Just make sure you bring enough dough to cover your losses (or your bar tab). I got stiffed last week, and I'm still pissed about it.

We're smack dab in the middle of the W.C. Handy Blues festival, so I may be out this week, sitting in with some friends. I'll try to remember to put a notice up on Twitter regarding where I'll be in case anybody wants to come see. Happy summer to everybody.

-Jason

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Some nice interviews and acoustic work by Jason on a Dutch Blog. Check 'em out:

Face Culture TV

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Dexateens

MySpace.com Blogs - Dexateens MySpace Blog

About three months ago, something questionable happened on campus at the University of Alabama.

In a nutshell, a white fraternity paraded past a black sorority house as the women were taking part in an alumni celebration. The element in question is the fact that the fraternity members were marching with rebel flags and confederate war uniforms, all in the name of what the fraternity calls an “old south” celebration.

I have been waiting to see if the university would reprimand the fraternity before I tore into my premeditated rant. The fraternity has issued a public apology, but to my knowledge, this appears to have been pushed under the rug by the University of Alabama. I also think it is important to note that UGA and Auburn have in years past either eliminated or scaled back their Greek “old south” celebrations due to similar circumstances.

I love the University of Alabama, and I love the south. It disgusts me to see that MSNBC picked up on this story and once again, Alabama, specifically the University, is in the spot light of racial insensitivity.

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Music

The Associated Press: Jackson Browne, Republicans settle case:

"LOS ANGELES — Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party are apologizing to Jackson Browne for using one of his songs during last year's presidential campaign.

The GOP is also vowing to get artists' permission before using musicians' work in future political campaigns.

The apology and pledge were released Tuesday along with an announcement of a settlement with Browne over a federal copyright infringement lawsuit filed last year in Los Angeles. Browne sued McCain and the national and Ohio Republican parties for using part of his song 'Running on Empty' to mock Democrat Barack Obama's proposed energy policies in a Web ad.

Financial details of the settlement weren't disclosed."

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I burned up at least 2... maybe 3 License to Ill cassettes back in the day.

Get well Adam!

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch has cancer; tour canceled, album pushed back (Backstage Pass) - Newsday.com:

"The Beastie Boys have cancelled all their upcoming tour dates, including their headlining spot at the All Points West Festival next week, and pushed back their 'Hot Sauce Committee Part 1' album, after Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer of the salivary gland.

In a video statement (below) released this morning, Yauch said the cancer is treatable and will not affect his voice. He will have surgery next week to remove the tumor and will need several weeks of further treatment.

'It's a pain in the neck (sorry had to say it) because I was really looking forward to playing these shows, but the doctors have made it clear that this is not the kind of thing that can be put aside to deal with later,' Yauch said in a statement.

No word yet from All Points West organizers on how the cancellation will be handled."

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Hairdrying the Myth Away

No need to post this, really. The default assumption is that when the GOP cites anything you can be sure that A. It is complete bullshit B. It is complete bullshit C. All of the above.

Research Firm Cited by GOP Is Owned by Health Insurer - washingtonpost.com:

"The political battle over health-care reform is waged largely with numbers, and few number-crunchers have shaped the debate as much as the Lewin Group, a consulting firm whose research has been widely cited by opponents of a public insurance option.

To Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, it is 'the nonpartisan Lewin Group.' To Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, it is an 'independent research firm.' To Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the second-ranking Republican on the pivotal Finance Committee, it is 'well known as one of the most nonpartisan groups in the country.'

Generally left unsaid amid all the citations is that the Lewin Group is wholly owned by UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation's largest insurers."

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Max Baucus is the fakiest of the fake Democrats.

This guy is pure awful:

Daily Kos: Report: Baucus Drawing Outrage in Dem Caucus.

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As one who marks up a good 60 papers a week, this is hilarious. Vanity Fair marked up VPILFs actual resignation speech.

She talk pretty... not.

Palin's Resignation: The Edited Version | vanityfair.com

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I gotta get me one of these.

A hair dryer. Brilliant!

Atheists choose 'de-baptism' to renounce childhood faith - USATODAY.com:

"In a type of mock ceremony that's now been performed in at least four states, a robed 'priest' used a hairdryer marked 'reason' in an apparent bid to blow away the waters of baptism once and for all. Several dozen participants then fed on a 'de-sacrament' (crackers with peanut butter) and received certificates assuring they had 'freely renounced a previous mistake, and accepted Reason over Superstition.'"

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Because... well, I don't have much else to blog about today. My apologies for the Foxworthyness:

Redneck Games Slideshow: Vote

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Mars Flight Simulation: 6 Men Endure 105 Days Of Isolation In Simulated Flight:

"MOSCOW -- Russian engineers broke a red wax seal and six men emerged from a metal hatch after 105 days of isolation in a mock spacecraft, still smiling after testing the stresses that space travelers may face on the journey to Mars."

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50-Cink

Stewart Cink was on Letterman last night. He did the Top 10. Watch it at the link below. Look for the little camera icon on the page to view.

Excellent job, Stewart!

"I called Tiger Woods last night. I laughed. Then I hung up".

"My street name is '50-Cink'.

CBS | Late Show with David Letterman :

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Panty policing don't work too good and stuff.

The redder the state, the more 'abstinence' is ignored. No one could ever of predicted...

US teen pregnancy and syphilis rates rose sharply during George Bush's presidency, Centres for Disease Control finds | World news | guardian.co.uk:

"Teenage pregnancies and syphilis have risen sharply among a generation of American school girls who were urged to avoid sex before marriage under George Bush's evangelically-driven education policy, according to a new report by the US's major public health body.

In a report that will surprise few of Bush's critics on the issue, the Centres for Disease Control says years of falling rates of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease infections under previous administrations were reversed or stalled in the Bush years. According to the CDC, birth rates among teenagers aged 15 or older had been in decline since 1991 but are up sharply in more than half of American states since 2005. The study also revealed that the number of teenage females with syphilis has risen by nearly half after a significant decrease while a two-decade fall in the gonorrhea infection rate is being reversed. The number of Aids cases in adolescent boys has nearly doubled.

The CDC says that southern states, where there is often the greatest emphasis on abstinence and religion, tend to have the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and STDs."

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American Free Market! Fuck Yeah!

Think Progress � Executives receive one-third of all pay in the U.S.

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Thank jeebus for the Matt O's of the world, sticking it out in the South and fighting back with reason:

Invent a solution | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"John Hargett asks whether there is any example of socialism succeeding. There is a road in front of his house for which we all helped pay.

Taxes and fees support police, garbage pickup, street cleaners, health inspectors and firefighters. When your house is on fire, 'free markets' lose their relevance.

Hargett might also admire Wilson Dam. TVA is always denounced as a socialist experiment, yet our electric rates are much lower than places where 'free markets' have free reign.

Perhaps the most successful example of American socialism is national defense. The Air Force does not hold bake sales to buy bombers.

In the 19th century, America tried various ways to avoid giving government these roles. They were all colossal failures.

Socialism is not a form of government. It is a tool of government: the use of public means to achieve public ends that are too big for one person to do themselves.

Hargett asks whether the Constitution grants authority for federal involvement in health care. His answer is in the preamble: 'to promote the general welfare.'

For 50 million working Americans, health care is unattainable or unaffordable. The free market has failed the general welfare. We must invent a solution.

Matt Osborne

Florence"

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Feelin' hot, hot, hot.

Taser set petrol sniffer ablaze: police:

"The WA Police Commissioner will not change the force's stun gun policy after a man caught fire when he was shot by a Taser in a remote Aboriginal community yesterday.

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What a cruel, cruel society.

They would have to beat me daily.

Beer-drinking model faces caning in Malaysia:

"KUALA LUMPUR — A religious court in Malaysia has sentenced a tearful Singaporean Muslim model to six strokes of the cane after she drank beer in a nightclub, reports said Tuesday.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol at a hotel nightclub in the eastern state of Pahang last year, the New Straits Times newspaper reported"

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Panty Police

One more thought on Cink's win.

Chris Burns was quoted in the Buttholeville Daily. Chris was our teaching pro at Florence Golf and Country Club. He is the best youth golfer teacher in the South East. Chris, easily, could have had several more pro golfers from his tutelage if so many of us were not prone to fuck up.

I'll forever be thankful for the game Chris taught me. He gave me a life long gift.

And, hey, I still got some game. I don't play that much, but I did shoot an 82 the other day. Thanks, Mr. Burns!

Cink wins British Open | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"Chris Burns predicted greatness for Stewart Cink before the Bradshaw High School graduate took his golf game to Georgia Tech and the PGA Tour.

'I told him before he went off to college that he would win a major before he was 30,' Burns, the longtime Florence Country Club professional, said Sunday afternoon after watching his protege win the British Open.

'He kidded with me a couple of years ago that he didn't make it. He was overdue.'"

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Indignant Whiteys:

Buchanan is right. This white man is full of resentment.:

"I resent watching my father work three jobs to feed our family, watching my mother sew mens suits for 30 years, and then watching rich-kid punks like George W. Bush have life handed to them because of their daddy's name and their granddaddy's money.

I resent the Henry Ford VIII's of the world getting their first paying job as an executive vice-president when mine was cleaning toilets and my father's was landing poor white soldiers and marines on a fire-stormed beach at Okinawa.

I resent that black men and women were firehosed, beaten, killed by men like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III because they dared demand the most basic human rights and justice."

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Not very libertarian of this Congressman. Why are the Republicans so concerned with everyone else's panties? Those fuckers are weird.

Good luck policing this.

Congressman proposes rate hike on unsafe sex:

"An Indiana Republican has what he thinks is a novel idea in helping ameliorate America’s health care crisis: raise premiums on those who have sex without a condom."

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This has to be one of the dumbest fucking things ever. Hurricanes act as a pressure valve for the earth. They need to occur.

Although, if Gates is involved, the Hurricane will freeze blue for 10 minutes before rebooting carrying some nasty viruses.

Bill Gates' Hurricane-Fighting Invention (UPDATED) (VIDEO):

"Microsoft's Bill Gates has already accomplished plenty in his life -- but now he's involved in an ambitious new venture -- a plan to tame hurricanes. He and several other scientists and engineers have a patent-pending project that plans to release barge-like contraptions into brewing offshore hurricanes, which would pump cold water up from the bottom of the ocean, thus calming the rough weather that's caused by warm ocean temperatures."

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Freaky.

Jumbo squid invade San Diego shores, spook divers:

"But the next night, things were different: A large squid surprised Magill by hitting her from behind and grabbing at her with its arms, pulling her sideways in the water. The powerful creature ripped her buoyancy hose away from her chest and knocked away her light.

When Magill recovered, she didn't know which direction was up and at first couldn't find the hose to help her stay afloat as she surfaced. The squid was gone.

'I just kicked like crazy. The first thing you think of is, 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this. If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have,' she said."

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Freakier. Those going to the DBT shows, be on the look out for hammer head worms in The Shoals.

Unusual Worms Alarm Some in North Alabama - US News and World Report:

"The unusual creatures were hammerhead worms, which are believed to be native to Asia. They are being seen in increasing numbers around the Shoals this summer.

Paul Kittle, chairman of the Biology Department at the University of North Alabama, has received reports about local sightings of hammerhead worms for about 10 years. He had never seen the worms at his home in the Underwood community of Lauderdale County before this summer.

'I've seen quite a few this year,' he said. 'I've seen several on my carport, and the other day I was using a sprinkler and when I went to move it, there was a hammerhead worm on the hose.'"

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Stewart Cink - The Open Champion

What a thrill. I mean what an incredible thrill.

Congratulations to my fellow Florence Golf and Country Club junior golf program alum, fellow Ping Pro-Junior teammate for two years running, and fellow Dixie Junior tournament traveler (thanks to his mom Anne for all the rides to the really fun tourneys), Stewart Cink for capturing his first, and certainly not last, Major Golf Championship by winning The 138th (British) Open yesterday in a play-off with... Tom Watson?!? What, is this 1977?

Stewart's head must be spinning still. Again... Tom Watson in a playoff? We use to play "You be Jack and you be Arnold and you be Tom" on the putting green at FGCC low these many years ago (of course, Stewart always won the Coke or quarters we were playing for). Simply amazing.

Saturday I did the 15 hours drive/move. I don't have a TV or cable yet so I went to the local golf course early Sunday morning to watch the final round in the restaurant. I had every intention of watching sports history made by Tom Watson. I was in the definite minority among the folks in the restaurant as all were rooting for Tom.

I am so very happy for Stewart.

Our 4 hole scramble tourneys we held each Friday during the summer junior sessions at FGCC really paid off for Stewart at Turnberry. But, instead of winning a sleave of golf balls he won the Claret Jug plus 1.2 millions dollars. Not a bad upgrade.

So, again, Congrats Stewart! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Here is a picture posted on his Twitter account (he has nearly 600,000 followers):

Stewart Cink (stewartcink) on Twitter

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The 2009 Open Championship - Outside chance brings Cink inside group of major winners

Perhaps fittingly, Cink became just the second American to win at Turnberry -- Watson was the first 32 years ago.

“I never have dreamed that I would go head to head against Tom Watson in a playoff for a major championship,” Cink said. “That would be beyond even my mind's imagination capabilities. … The same Tom Watson that won this tournament in, what was it, '77, the same guy showed up here this week. And he just about did it. He beat everybody but one guy. And it was really special. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be playing against Tom Watson.”

To reiterate -- never in his wildest dreams did Cink see himself battling Watson for a major. But that’s what happened at Turnberry, and can anyone truly expect Cink -- one of the all-around good guys on TOUR -- to feel guilty about his greatest accomplishment ever on the golf course?

“I'm engulfed by the joy, for sure,” Cink said. “I can understand, though, the mystique that came really close to developing here and the story. But in the end, you know, it's a tournament to see who lasts the longest. It's a survival test out there, as you look at the scoreboard with the winning score being 2 under. It's a survival test, and I don't know what else to say.

“I don't feel ashamed. I don't feel disappointed,” he added. “I'm pleased as punch that I've won this tournament, and also proud of the way Tom Watson played because he showed not only did he show how great a golfer he is, but he showed what a great game we all play, the longevity that can exist, for a guy to come out and compete.

“We thought Jack Nicklaus hung the moon when we won the Masters at 46. This is 13 years on from that, if I'm correct, right? Thirteen more years of age. So it just says a lot about golf.”

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Cink’s climb to the top - Golf - Yahoo! Sports:

"From the improbable surge of a golden great to the turbulent gusts bursting in off the ocean, to sickness he briefly feared was the deadly swine flu, Cink met it all with an unflappable mood and a cheery disposition."

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British Open: Stewart Cink's win tarnished by Tom Watson's defeat - ESPN:

"TURNBERRY, Scotland -- One of golf's truly great guys turned out to be the bad guy.

Even Stewart Cink recognized that in the gathering darkness Sunday night at Turnberry, where you could hear a Claret Jug drop.

Tom Watson was the story here, a par away from perhaps the biggest happening in 149 years of the game's championship history. And there was the nice guy, Cink, with cold blood in his veins, stepping on a Hall of Famer's neck and not letting go until he sucked the life out of Scotland."

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DBT Week in Review - 7/17/09

Going back to Cali, y'all. Thank jeebus.

I'll have the Patterson/Screwtopians/SF pics up next week once settled.

Patterson Hood/DBT!

Rock n Raffle!

"Enter the raffle at http://www.rocknraffle.com - a once in a lifetime chance to see Widespread Panic, Drive-by Truckers (and dozens of other bands) at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans from October 30 - November 2nd.

PLUS: 100% your donation goes directly to Nuci's Space to help musicians and artists.

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The great Peter Grumbine spreading the gospel again.

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NineBullets.org - Message Board • View topic - Carl Perkin's Cadillac... Really

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Huffingtonpost - Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin: Dog Ears Music: Volume Eighty:

"Drive-By Truckers is the Southern alt-country rock ensemble hailing from Athens, Georgia. Founded in the mid-'90s, the unit includes Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, Brad Morgan, John Neff, Shonna Tucker, and (on occasion) Spencer Oldham or Jay Gonzalez. With over a dozen releases, the band keeps a consistent and refreshing integrity. 'Opening Act,' from Drive-By Truckers' 2008 release Brighter Than Creation's Dark, will lull you to think. Currently touring."

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Meh on the reviewer:

Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Drive-By Truckers: Live From Austin, TX

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Jason Isbell

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: His Favorite Bar Is Our Second Home recorded Jul 10, 2009

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Dexateens

This is teh awesome:

We Have Signal: Live From Birmingham - Dexateens from We Have Signal on Vimeo.

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Audra Brown

Girl continues to bring the Rock.

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Music

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Wisconsin court praises drunken concert goer:

"An Illinois teen knew he was too drunk to drive home after a Dave Matthews Band concert south of Milwaukee. So he fell asleep in his car, only to be awoken by a state trooper. Travis Peterson, 19, of Dixon, Ill., said even though he told the officer he was drunk and sleeping it off, the trooper ordered him to leave because the lot was being cleared.

Once out of the parking lot, Peterson was arrested for drunken driving. He was subsequently found guilty and ordered to spend 60 days in jail."

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Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant awarded CBE | Music | guardian.co.uk:

"Robert Plant was honoured as a CBE by Prince Charles in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Friday, letting the former Led Zeppelin singer finally one-up guitarist Jimmy Page.

While Page is a member of the Order of the British Empire, Plant now outranks him with his new title of Commander of the British Empire.

Plant didn't seem to think this really mattered. 'If we can remember each other's phone number at this time in life it's a miracle,' he said. 'We're still good friends, we both enjoy a rather dark sense of humour that comes, I think, from being on the wrong side of the tracks for all those wild years.'"

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Collapse in illegal sharing and boom in streaming brings music to executives' ears | Music | The Guardian:

"The picture may be more complex than a simple shift from filesharing to streaming, with people sharing music in new ways such as via bluetooth technology, on blogs, and through copying, also known as ripping content from friends' MP3 devices.

Even though users of streaming services are not necessarily buying more music, the industry benefits by learning more about fans' tastes. Steve Purdham, CEO and founder of We7, a music streaming service and download store, said: 'They may not buy an album, though they have that opportunity, but you can sell them tour tickets and a T-shirt of their favourite band.'"

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I say, I say, boy......

Riiiiight, Foghorn Beauregard Sessions. Right.

Far Superior... just like the white race, eh, Sessions?

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Wingnut welfare.

As one who works in higher ed, this is beyond the pale.

Texas Tech Administrators Brush Aside Outcry Over Gonzales Hiring, Defend $100,000 Salary:

"” Texas Tech alumni and high school government teacher David Ring said that making $100,000 “to teach one section of no more than 15 students…doesn’t seem like a fare shake to those professors at the school who, I don’t know, haven’t perjured themselves in front of the U.S. Congress.”"

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If you haven't seek Sicko, you should.

Video: Insurance lobby’s secret plan to attack ‘Sicko’ and Michael Moore

We've just been informed that Bill Moyers, on his show tonight, will expose for the first time the health insurance industry's secret campaign against Michael Moore and his film, "Sicko." It contains a stunning revelation and admission by a top health insurance executive -- the former head of publicity for CIGNA, one of the top health insurance companies in the country -- that the disinformation and attacks on Michael and the film were extensive and well-planned. Their job was to stop the movie from reaching a wide audience (and, more importantly, from having the widespread political impact the industry feared "Sicko" would have).

Wendell Potter, former Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA (which provides health insurance to nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 100 companies) admits that, in fact, "Sicko" "hit the nail on the head" and told the real truth about how much better people in other countries have it when it comes to their health care.

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Thank you Sen. Coburn. That's another 3-5 points of Hispanic support coming the Dems way.

Maybe you and Beauregard can show up in black face tomorrow.

GOP Sen. Coburn to Sotomayor: "You Have Lots of 'Splainin To Do" (Video) | Mother Jones

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People are always thinking up cool shit in the Bay Area. One of the main reasons I love it so.

Designers answer call to fight rising seas:

"Once they would have been the stuff of science fiction: shimmering levees of water that shield cities, or laser beams slicing across water through the night.

In fact, these are two of six winners announced Tuesday in a design competition that responds to a real-life threat - scientific projections that in the century to come, the sea level of San Francisco Bay could climb 55 inches beyond today's high tide."

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Now all we need is the technology to reach said planets.

Speed it the hell up. I wanna go in space before I die.

"Space Internet" to Link Worlds by 2011?

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Me in 15 years.

Porn-Blaring Man To Take Anger Management Classes:

"PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia man has agreed to take anger management classes for blaring a pornographic soundtrack to chase away kids playing outside his home. Michael Buck was arrested May 31 at his upscale Phoenixville cul-de-sac after irate neighbors told police they could hear the sexually explicit audio a block-and-a-half away."

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Three Day Weekend

Beauregard is as douchey as they come.

The Right’s Race-Baiting Assault on Sotomayor:

"Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III has a long history of questionable statements about race. He once quipped that he “used to think [the KKK] were OK” until he found out some of them were “pot smokers.” He routinely referred to an African-American attorney who worked for him as “boy,” and he once warned that attorney to “be careful what you say to white folks” after Sessions overheard him chastising a white secretary. Today, at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing, Sessions wondered aloud how Sotomayor could have voted differently than another judge of “Puerto Rican ancestry.”"

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Snap.

Obama On Responsibility For Economy: "Give It To Me":

"WARREN, Mich. — Conceding unemployment will get worse before it shrinks, President Barack Obama on Tuesday unveiled a $12 billion plan to help community colleges prepare millions of people for a new generation of jobs. Challenging critics, he said he welcomed the task of turning around the economy.

'I love the folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, 'Well, this is Obama's economy,'' the president told an outdoor crowd at Macomb Community College, veering off his scripted words. 'That's fine. Give it to me. My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and harp and gripe.'"

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You go Marcy. Keepin' it realz!

Blogger: GOP will investigate ‘Clinton blow job’ but not CIA:

"FireDogLake blogger Marcy Wheeler may have shocked daytime viewers of MSNBC with her choice of words, but she expressed what many people were thinking when she criticized Republicans for investigating Bill Clinton's 'blow job' while blocking any attempts to investigate possibly illegal actions -- such as a secret CIA hit squad -- by the Bush administration.

On MSNBC Monday, Wheeler attacked Matt Lewis of Townhall for his argument that investigating the previous administration would set a bad precedent.

'Your idea is that, after investigating Bill Clinton for a blow job for, like, five years, we shouldn't investigate the huge, grossly illegal things that were done under the past administration only because [former Attorney General] Alberto Gonzales was too much in the back pocket of [then-Vice President] Dick Cheney to do it when he was still in office,' she said."

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Oh no he didn't.

FISHERMAN PUTS SINKER IN PHOTO OP:

"Here's a fish tale Newt Gingrich hopes everyone soon forgets.

The House speaker went down to a New Hampshire river yesterday with a horde of reporters in tow some say to test the waters for a possible presidential bid to chat up some anglers.

But Gingrich had hardly waved hello when a feisty fisherman named Tim Kipp ruined the Republican's photo opportunity.

'Your politics are some of the meanest politics I have ever heard,' Kipp shouted as he stood waist-deep in the Androscoggin River. 'You make Calvin Coolidge look like a liberal.'

Gingrich appeared stunned, but recovered slightly and told Kipp: 'Despite our political differences, good luck today.'

But Kipp was just warming up.

'This guy is the most meanspirited, vicious politician we have seen in a long, long time,' Kipp told the reporters.

'The water we are fishing in right now will be destroyed by his policies.'"

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Damn socialist.

4-day workweek creates new volunteers in Utah - Yahoo! News:

"SALT LAKE CITY – Utah, a state that has always been a leader in the percentage of residents who volunteer, appears to have inadvertently found a way to boost volunteerism: a four-day workweek.

Since August, about 17,000 of the state's 24,000 executive-branch employees have been working 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday. Closing state offices on Fridays is supposed to cut energy costs and reduce carbon emissions.

The energy savings haven't been what Gov. Jon Huntsman had hoped for, but most state employees have embraced the schedule because of their new three-day weekends.

The extra day off is giving some workers their first opportunity to volunteer while holding a full-time job. Others are dedicating more time to helping others."

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Kudos for getting this published in the Buttholeville Daily. Too bad he'll need to move now.

The height of evolution? | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"I want to scream. I cannot believe how foolish society is. We read ancient, hopelessly contradictory books by uneducated men and call them the word of a god who has, of course, never existed. We want to believe someone watches over us. We want to believe that when we die, it's not over. We cannot imagine a world without God. The Bible is indefensible. It's filled with genocide, rape, slavery, child killing, mass murder and thousands of hopeless contradictions and errors."

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Good vs. Bad and Ugly

The Alabama 'Good'"

Regina Benjamin, Obama's Pick For Surgeon General:

"WASHINGTON — The Associated Press has learned that President Barack Obama has chosen a well-known Alabama family physician, Dr. Regina Benjamin, to be the next surgeon general.

An administration official said Obama will announce the nomination later Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to upstage the official announcement.

Benjamin was the first black woman to head a state medical society, received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights and just last fall received a MacArthur Foundation 'genius grant.' But she made headlines in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, with her determination to rebuild her rural health clinic Bayou La Batre, Ala., which serves 4,400 patients who would be hard-pressed to find care elsewhere."

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The Alabama 'Bad' and 'Ugly'.

Like Jefferson has any clue what 'mainstream' is.

Priceless watching this bigoted fuck wring his hands over our Wise Latina.

Sotomayor ‘has the votes’:

"'I think philosophically her statements indicate an approach to judging that is outside the mainstream,' Sen. Jeff Sessions, senior Judiciary Committee Republican, said in a nationally broadcast interview."

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Only love here.

America's Love-Hate History with Pot - CBS News:

"The story of how a child of the post-war era came to doubt, and then reject, conventional wisdom about the horrors of the 'devil weed' parallels the story about how the rest of America has gradually rethought its views of marijuana. The transformation has been intertwined with the rise of the Baby Boom generation and its successors, the societal upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s, and a generational shift that chipped away at long-held assumptions about trust and authority.

Today the potent smell of marijuana legalization is in the air. States including California and New Mexico -- and, as of mid-June, Rhode Island -- already permit marijuana's use for medicinal purposes. The success of those initiatives, coupled with an economic downturn, a president who did inhale and governors who are willing to discuss complete legalization, make it seem possible that legal bans on recreational use of marijuana will, in the not-so-distant future, go up in smoke."

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Dang ol' interweb bringing the cool.

WeChooseTheMoon.org: Website Recreates Apollo 11 Mission In Real Time:

"BOSTON — Families crowded around black-and-white television sets in 1969 to watch Neil Armstrong take man's first steps on the moon.

Now, they'll be able to watch the Apollo 11 mission recreated in real time on the Web, follow Twitter feeds of transmissions between Mission Control and the spacecraft, and even get an e-mail alert when the lunar module touches down. Those features are part of a new Web site from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum commemorating the moon mission and Kennedy's push to land Americans there first."

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Shouldn't say 'fuck' no you shouldn't say 'fuck', fuck no!

Stub your toe? Say ‘Sh#!’ You’ll feel better - Behavior- msnbc.com:

"Peggy Loper doesn’t know why, but she’s sure that the rapid hissed repetition of her favorite expletive somehow dulls the pain when she’s hammered her thumb rather than the nail she’d aimed for.

“Generally I start swearing even before the pain actually registers,” says the 48-year-old student from Salem, N.J. “And usually, the ouch-ouch dance, where I’m hopping from foot to foot, goes along with it. People have told me that I should try deep breathing, but I personally prefer to swear.” The F-bomb is her curse word of choice; that hard consonant at the end is particularly satisfying, she explains."

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Bottled Science

Dang ol' science with its figure out stuff and the like.

We don't needs us no science. We'ze gots Jeebus and 2000 year old desert mythology to guide us!

Vast majority of scientists say Bush Administration suppressed research findings:

"A new Pew Research Poll released Thursday found that a vast majority of scientists -- some 77 percent -- say that claims the Bush Administration suppressed research reports that didn't align with Administration's point of view are true.

The survey polled more than 2,500 scientists in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

'Most scientists had heard at least a little about claims that government scientists were not allowed to report research findings that conflicted with the Bush administration’s point of view,' Pew wrote. 'And the vast majority (77%) says that these claims are true. By contrast, these claims barely registered with the public – more than half heard nothing at all about this issue. Only about a quarter of the public (28%) said they thought the claims were true.'"

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Not surprising. The battle isn't 'taxes' it is 'intelligence'.

And conservatives are just not that into thinking. Too hard.

Poll: Just six percent of scientists are Republican:

"A full 87 percent of American scientists see their political alignment as Democrat or Independent, according to a new Pew Research poll.

Surprisingly or not, just six percent declared themselves Republican, and only nine percent overall expressed support of conservative ideology."

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And I don't know if Jeb Bush likes to fuck little boys. I simply do not know.

Jeb Bush: ‘I don’t know’ if Obama is a socialist.

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Good! I've held the position for quite some time that bottled water is the stupidest fucking thing on the planet.

Australians Ban Bottled Water:

"SYDNEY — Residents of a rural Australian town hoping to protect the earth and their wallets have voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community in the country _ and possibly the world _ to take such a drastic step in the growing backlash against the industry."

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Pretty amazing. When I lived really close to the beach, on a clear day, you could see the Farallones. Maybe all of the socialist environmental concern we San Francisco Commies like to practice is paying off. Well, a blind squirrel, I guess.....

I knew we had big ass white sharks out there, but didn't know that the orcas hang out too.

A whale of a day near the Farallones:

"Six orcas, two humpback whales, one gray whale, 500 Northern right whale dolphins, 100 Risso's dolphins, 50 Pacific White-sided dolphins, 50 harbor porpoises, along with California sea lions and Northern fur seal and many birds sightings: 15 albatross, a rare Xantus' murrelet, along with murres, guillemots, fulmars, shearwaters, puffins, oystercatchers, grebes, gulls, terns, auklets, cormorants and pelicans."

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If we tried that over here, we could explode half the fundies' heads in one fell swoop.

Anyone (ladies?) want to help me get in great cardio shape?

"Orgasm A Day" Campaign Directed At British Schoolchildren Sparks Controversy:

"The National Health Service of Britain has sparked controversy with their controversial sex education campaign promoting an orgasm a day:

A National Health Service leaflet is advising school pupils that they have a 'right' to an enjoyable sex life and that regular intercourse can be good for their cardiovascular health...

...Alongside the slogan 'an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away', it says: 'Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes' physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?'"

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DBT Week in Review - 7/10/09

Patterson Hood/DBT

Pics from the Screwtopians San Francisco show will be posted early next week.

Meanwhile....

FADER TV: Open Bar With Patterson Hood � The FADER:

"Drive By Trucker’s Patterson Hood stopped in at Heathers Bar on the day after the release of his latest album, Murdering Oscar. We consumed a few beers, kept the doors open, and tried to pay him the same Southern hospitality that he is probably used to. Patterson graced us with a ridiculously sweet song called “Grandaddy” that he wrote for his daughter."

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Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs):

"This long-in-coming sophomore set from the prolific Drive-By Truckers frontman hopscotches across time in a way that would make J.J. Abrams happy."

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Patterson Hood talks tunes -- chicagotribune.com:

"Nestled in the Taste of Chicago's musical lineup, tucked behind an acronym, is the great Southern roots-rock band the Drive-By Truckers and their gravel-voiced leader Patterson Hood. But on Taste programs, you'll find them listed as the 'DBTs,' backing Booker T., the legendary soul performer. That said, nestled within that show is another story -- Hood just released a solo disc, 'Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs),' which grew out of songs he wrote 15 years ago, when he was a bohemian from Alabama."

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'Freebird' ultimately unforgettable -- chicagotribune.com:

"Patterson Hood, leader of Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers -- which released a 2-CD exploration of Skynyrd's legacy, 'Southern Rock Opera' -- said he grew up in a small town in Alabama in the 1970s and that song was 'deadly serious, and still is. But I feel like I could write you a dissertation in defense of it as being one of the most underrated songs in rock history and I could write about its utter banality, and in both papers I would be sincere. To be truthful, it didn't even occur to me there might be irony in 'Freebird' until I moved from my small town to a city.'"

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Drive-By Truckers | Southern Rock Bands | Puresouthernrock.com

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� 06-03-2009 – Drive By Truckers at MoemoePhoto - Concert Photography

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Will Johnson

Will Johnson at Salt Creek Country Screening:

"July 25 – Oakford, IL
Hill Prairie Winery

Will Johnson and Thamus Rhounds will be performing songs in a unique and remote environment. This will be a multi-media event including a screening of the final cut of “Salt Creek County”. Many of the cast and crew will be on hand. Activities begin around 7pm. $10.00 suggested donation.

Further information, directions, etc. here:
www.hillprairiewinery.com
www.downstateproductions.com"

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Music

United Breaks Guitars | Video Cafe:

"A heart-wrenching tale for any musician or anyone who loves guitars. What happens when an airline company destroys your instrument and won't own up to their own negligence? You write a song (or 3) and post them on YouTube where they go viral of course."

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Casey Kasem Counts Down Final Radio Show After 39 Years:

"LOS ANGELES — Casey Kasem has done his final countdown.

The 77-year-old DJ told 'American Top 20' listeners across the country Saturday that the program would be his last."

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I'll be the laziest SOB.....

Patterson Hood and the Screwtopians killed in SF last night. Pics coming early next week.

Nice too meet some old and new internet friends.

Travel day, so blog is on the light side.

Instead of a bunch of articles, I'm bringing you "The Cute" today.

Can a brotha get an 'Awwww' for the roller skating hip-hop babies?

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Ball Sprouts

This is the exact case for a Public Option:

A public option would give contract workers (such as me) the flexibility to not have to take some bullshit corporate job in order to obtain health care. This, in turn, could entice corporations to, you know, actually give a shit about their employees.

It would also give workers the ability to tell corporations to go fuck themselves and leave their positions without fear off losing their health care.

In short, the PO would create a much more vibrant business environment in the U.S.

As it is right now, if you work for a Corp, you are basically a slave.

Eschaton:

"Paul Waldman makes more explicit a real advantage of the public option, the fact that it'll always be there. No more staying with a job because you can't lose coverage, the ability to consider engaging in some entrepreneurial endeavor or just having a resume gap for whatever reason, and of course no more fears of going to the doctor and getting diagnosed at an inconvenient time and being stuck in pre-existing condition hell until the end of time.

Employer-based system is deeply flawed, and individual market just can't work."

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It didn't even take a day for all hell to rain down on Rahm from the progressive front:

Lee Stranahan: Memo To Rahm: Do You Think We're MotherF#@kin' Stupid?

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And looky, looky what some hell raising for your cause can do:

Think Progress � Emanuel assures House Democrats that he won’t compromise on public plan.:

"After initially indicating his support for a public plan “trigger,” White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel reassured House Democrats tonight that he strongly backs a public plan. Progressive Caucus Co-Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) said she told Emanuel that support for a “trigger” would cause health reform to lose Democratic votes:

“We have compromised enough, and we are not going to compromise on any kind of trigger game,” Woolsey said she told Emanuel. “People clapped all over the place. We mean it, and not just progressives.”

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And, holy shit, is the Progressive movement encouraging ball growth for Dems in Congress?

"Stop chasing Republican votes...". That statement makes me moist.

Hullabaloo:

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday ordered Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to drop a proposal to tax health benefits and stop chasing Republican votes on a massive health care reform bill."

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Public Option or Bust

Slow and low this week.

You best go out and buy a copy of this today. It will most assuredly ROCK!

Drive-By Truckers�Pre-Order Live From Austin, TX CD/DVD�|�Shop the Drive-By Truckers Official Store

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A. Who the fuck are they having to cut a deal with? We are in solid control.

B. There is no health care reform without a public option. Period.

C. I hope this is horse shit, because if they cut the P.O. or add some bullshit 'trigger' to it, then I'm done with the Obama administration. Done. They have the power to twist some fucking arms off. If they don't twist... done.

If they can't shove pure progressive policy down the conservatives throats at this point and time in history, they'll never pass pure progressive policy.

Why, oh why, are a good portion of my party a bunch of fucking pussies.

White House Open to Deal on Public Health Plan - WSJ.com

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Whew. Need to cool off after that one.

No better way than with some SF Fog.

Fog Week!

San Francisco's famous fog:

"Iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco's world-famous fog is both predictable and unpredictable - one of the ethereal pillars of the city's myth and beauty."

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Fillmore Slim Pickin's

I have very little in the que to write/snark about today. Traveling and some sort of recent holiday that celebrates gunpowder have kept me off line more that usual. Did you guys know that you can actual go do stuff and not just read about or write about doing stuff? Crazy... but fun!

Prediction for the week: Celebrities will die. Most assuredly.

I caught a performance by Fillmore Slim this weekend. First time seeing Fillmore perform after learning about him several years ago from the Hughes Brothers film American Pimp. He can rocks some blues, y'all.

Cell phone camera pic, but proof :

So, anyway....

No more VPILF to kick around anymore... we'll, I'm sure she'll still be plenty kickable again, soon enough.

Alaskans say Palin had gone fishin’ on the job

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Due to a very recent personal work change (and not a good one) I can attest to the validity of this article:

Even 'Recession Proof' Schoolteachers Feel Pinch of Employment Downturn - WSJ.com

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At least there's some cool tech news:

Tiny New Battery Is Printable - Yahoo! News:

"A new battery, small and thin, weighs almost nothing and can be printed in a process similar to silk-screening shirts."

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Going to see Mr. Hood and the Screwtopians on Wed. Be on the look out for some pics.

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