Blogger Sucks Ass

Blogger ate my long ass post this morning.

Already deleted all of the articles.

Blogger sucks ass.

DBT Week in Review - 8/28/09

DBT/Patterson Hood

Check out 4 new videos from Patterson Hood and the Screwtopians as they perform songs in-studio from Murdering Oscar (and other love songs):



YouTube - Patterson Hood & the Screwtopians - "Belvedere" from Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)

YouTube - Patterson Hood & the Screwtopians - "Back of a Bible" from Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)

YouTube - Patterson Hood & the Screwtopians - "Pollyanna" from Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)

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Lorenzo Wolff: There Ain't Much to Country Livin':

"A few years ago I heard about a band that was doing a kind of updated country-rock thing and went to seem them play Irving Plaza. They played for about an hour and half, dazzling what otherwise would have been a jaded New York crowd with their proud, aggressive songs and the brutal realism of their lyrics. After the last chord was struck and the world started spinning again, I went over to their merch booth to pick up as many of their records as I could fit in my pockets."

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Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs) Review | Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

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The Hold Steady & Drive-By Truckers - videos from last November | Breakfast On Tour

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Drivin' N' Cryin' discuss DBT's influence on a song from their upcoming album Great American Bubble Factory:

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Byron Wilkes is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself

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Wes Freed

Wes has been posting some sweet new work on Willard's Garage. Check it out:

Willard's Garage

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Will Johnson

Centro-Matic's Pence, Johnson Share Art at Good Records | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth:

"Baseball through the eyes of Centro-matic singer/guitarist Will Johnson looks like that. On panels of wood, he paints portraits of the men who've served the beloved sport with their life stories, such as Willie Mays and Cool Papa Bell. Johnson frames their faces with words, sometimes words the players famously said and sometimes Johnson's own wide-eyed biographies of the figures.

The night before they set out to record Centro-matic's next record, Johnson and drummer Matt Pence, who's a photographer, will share their work Sunday from 7 t"

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Lauderdale

Shameless self promotion - Lauderdale's MySpace Blog |:

A couple of us from the band have started blogs so that we can share our photos, stories and whatnot. We're always taking photos on the road and elsewhere. If you're interested in seeing what's going on inside and outside of the band check them out.

Patrick's:
www.two-bitwonders.blogspot.com

Chris':
www.dailyspamart.blogspot.com

word is bond,
-Patrick"

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Muscle Shoals Sound

Former George Jones songwriter left fame behind | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"Welcome to Hobbyland, Montgomery's Sheffield store - a pack rat's nirvana.

But there is a history behind the guy selling those aged prom dresses and greeting cards.

He's penned more than 70 songs for country legend George Jones."

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Music

Dylan all over the news lately:

Bob Dylan to become the voice of your satnav? - Telegraph:

"Bob Dylan, the singer-songwriter who has taken his fans down Highway 61 by way of Lonely Avenue and Desolation Row, is in negotiations to voice a satellite navigation system.

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Bob Dylan’s Holiday LP “Christmas in the Heart” Due October 13th : Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily:

"Bob Dylan has made his latest unpredictable career move: Rolling Stone has learned that Bob Dylan will release a Christmas album October 13th. Entitled Christmas in the Heart, the collection will feature holiday standards including “Must Be Santa,” “Little Drummer Boy,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Here Comes Santa Claus.” All U.S. royalties from the collection will benefit the charity Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Other proceeds from the disc will benefit hunger relief organizations around the world. Get a first look at the album art here."

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Bob Dylan Stopped By Cops, Asked For ID In New Jersey Shore Town:

"A 24-year-old police officer apparently was unaware of who Dylan is and asked him for identification, Long Branch business administrator Howard Woolley said Friday.

'I don't think she was familiar with his entire body of work,' Woolley said."

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Rapper behind 'Roxanne's Revenge' gets Warner Music to pay for Ph.D:

"But Shante, then 19, remembered a clause in her Warner Music recording contract: The company would fund her education for life.

She eventually cashed in, earning a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell to the tune of $217,000 - all covered by the label. But getting Warner Music to cough up the dough was a battle.

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Whitey Strikes Back

A rare moment of Republican truth.

Racist as fuck, but she opened her mouth and some truth slipped out, so kudos Jenkins.

Rep. Jenkins: GOP looking for "great white hope" - Yahoo! News:

"TOPEKA, Kan. – U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins told a recent gathering in northeast Kansas that the Republican Party is looking for a 'great white hope' to help stop the political agenda of the Democratic party and President Barack Obama."

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Fit for Animals.

Op-Ed Columnist - Health Care Fit for Animals - NYTimes.com:

"He flew in corporate jets to industry meetings to plan how to block health reform, he says. He rode in limousines to confabs to concoct messaging to scare the public about reform. But in his heart, he began to have doubts as the business model for insurance evolved in recent years from spreading risk to dumping the risky.

Then in 2007 Mr. Potter attended a premiere of “Sicko,” Michael Moore’s excoriating film about the American health care system. Mr. Potter was taking notes so that he could prepare a propaganda counterblast — but he found himself agreeing with a great deal of the film.

A month later, Mr. Potter was back home in Tennessee, visiting his parents, and dropped in on a three-day charity program at a county fairgrounds to provide medical care for patients who could not afford doctors. Long lines of people were waiting in the rain, and patients were being examined and treated in public in stalls intended for livestock."

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Thank god.

My people are multiplying.

Polls show atheists on the rise in America:

"DAVIE, Florida — When South Florida atheists held their first meeting, they were just five friends, having a beer at a bar.

Four years later, they’ve moved to a bigger place — still a bar — to hold their weekly meet-and-greets. Membership is up to almost 500, Darwin Day is in the planning stages and bumper stickers are on sale.

“There is no God, but ice-cream is great,” reads one. “What schools need is a moment of science,” reads another."

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No back to your normally scheduled Republican lying.

Think Progress � Townsend Admits CIA Documents Don’t Back Up Cheney’s Claims About Torture:

"Strikingly, they provide little evidence for Cheney’s claims that the “enhanced interrogation” program run by the CIA provided valuable information. In fact, throughout both documents, many passages — though several are incomplete and circumstantial, actually suggest the opposite of Cheney’s contention: that non-abusive techniques actually helped elicit some of the most important information the documents cite in defending the value of the CIA’s interrogations."

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Interesting read.

New Theory Questions Why We Sleep - Yahoo! News:

"The purpose of sleep remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science. Although we spend roughly one-third of life asleep, researchers still do not know why.

While sleep is often thought to have evolved to play an unknown but vital role inside the body, a new theory now suggests it actually developed as a method to better deal with the outside world."

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RIP Ted

RIP Ted.

Senator Edward Kennedy dies at age 77 - Yahoo! News:

"HYANNIS PORT, Massachusetts (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, a towering figure in the Democratic Party who took the helm of one of America's most fabled political families after two older brothers were assassinated, died at age 77, his family said."

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Shep finds a nut. Pat on the head.

Think Progress � Fox News’ Shep Smith debunks McCain’s charge that reconciliation would be a ‘drastic change.’:

"This afternoon in his town hall, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he is “unalterably opposed” to using the budget reconciliation process to pass health care reform. “It would be a drastic change in the way that the United States Senate does business.” Fox News’ Shep Smith fact-checked McCain’s claim immediately upon the conclusion of the town hall. “The truth is Republicans used this in 2001, 2003, and 2005 to pass then-President George Bush’s tax cuts,” Smith said. Armed with some research, he then reported this quote from Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH):"

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I'll admit to base desires when something awful happens. I'll admit a blood thirst for revenge.

But there is no way we can ever be 100% with the death penalty.

This case alone should abolish this stupid practice.

Daily Kos: MAJOR Death Penalty News out of Texas:

"Those smiles belong to Amber Willingham and her father, Cameron Todd Willingham.

Both of them were killed because of an accidental fire. Amber and her two sisters died in the blaze. Cameron was wrongfully executed by the state of Texas for setting it.

Today, Texas took the first big step in admitting it murdered an innocent man in its death chamber. And the implications are huge."

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Too little in the que today. Not much to write/comment about.

So, here's a video. DBT's new label is ATO. The label also contains Crowded House. Crowded House is made of members from Split Enz. I use to dig SE when I was a pup.

Thus, a video of I Got You.

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Gum Job

Some dirty fucking hippie actor writing sense.

Donald Sutherland: Stand Up, Max Baucus:

"It must finally be clear to us all that the stumbling block to successful health/disease care reform has been definitively reduced to two words. They're not 'public option' or 'single payer', they're 'Max Baucus'.

He was not elected to eliminate the Democratic Majority in the Finance Committee, but that's what he's done. It was not mandated that he exclude a representative expert on single payer from his 15-person advisory board but that's what he did. More than that, he's filled his campaign coffers with millions of dollars of Insurance Company money, for heaven's sake. Fine that he sits there holding the president's suit coat at that town hall meeting, great that he gets identified by the president a bunch of times. Great, because now we can all have a good look at who he is, sitting there squirming in the spotlight."

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It ain't all like the shitty traditional media is painting it to be.

Anecdotal, but a good read.

Daily Kos: A Small-town Texas Town Hall:

"A brief round of applause interrupted him, after which he continued, 'As far as peace goes, it seems to me that we ought to be defending ourselves when we’re attacked, not when there’s something we want out of somebody. As for justice, I’d sure as Hell like to see justice brought down on those people who’ve tried their best to ruin this country. I think any person that’s been shown to break the law, whether it’s a banker or a politician, they ought to be prosecuted and brought to justice.'"

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Damn Commies!

I want to be a commie, too.

Europe versus America: Do Longer Holidays Translate to Greater Productivity? - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

For all their extra vacation days as compared with the US, workers in the EU are keeping pace -- or better -- in terms of productivity.

Much of Europe closes up shop in August. From steelworkers in Spain to technology consultants in Germany, the European Union's workers head for the coast or other vacation hot spots, forgoing the sweltering heat of Europe's cities for some rest and relaxation.

Europeans on average pocket almost 10 more vacation days than their US counterparts. That's the findings from research by consultants at Mercer, which analyzed the minimum number of vacation days that companies across Europe must provide to staff with 10 years' service, as well as the number of national holidays in each country.

The study reveals the average time off in European Union countries is now 34.4 days, compared with just 25 in the US. Overall, employees in Lithuania are entitled to the greatest amount of paid leave, with 41 holidays per year. France and Finland come a close second, with 40.

"In Europe, time off is enshrined in government legislation, so employers are forced to hire more staff to cover the gaps," says Matthew Hunt, a principal in Mercer's international team. "The US takes a different view; there's a focus on maintaining productivity."

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Drive-By Truckers:

"I never knew how it all got started
a problem with Holland before we were born
and I don’t know the name of that boy we tied down
and beat till he just couldn’t walk anymore.
But I know the caliber in Daddy’s chest
and I know what Holland Hill drives.
The state let him go, but I guess it was best
cause nobody needs all us Lawsons alive."

Reported riot in Marion, Ala., brought under control; 5 arrested - Breaking News from the Press-Register - al.com:

"State Trooper John Reese said children of the 2 feuding families began arguing at the high school this morning and shotguns were found in their cars."

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I'm just surprised that a woman from South Carolina had 13 teeth in her mouth to pull.

Hey-oh!

Woman awarded $2M after dentist pulls 16 teeth:

"A South Carolina woman has won a $2 million jury verdict against a dental clinic that mistakenly pulled 13 teeth. The State reported that 28-year-old Elizabeth Smith wanted three teeth pulled when she went to the Sexton Dental Clinic in Florence in 2006. Her lawsuit said a dentist at the clinic pulled all 16 of her upper teeth."

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Bring it. I'm ready for science fiction to become science reality regardless of the hell it could potentially release.

Life to order: Man-made organisms will be here in four months, say biologists | Mail Online:

"Artificial life will be made to order in the laboratory within four months, a controversial biologist has claimed.

U.S genome expert Craig Venter, said his team have overcome a vital obstacle in the development of new man-made organisms.

The scientist, named as one of the most influential people in the world, said the first 'synthetic species' could be created this year."

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Pro-Votes

In case you missed it, AAW had a birthday last week:

Alabama Ass Whuppin': 4 Years of Ass Whuppin

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Free Market, y'all! Free to rape our asses of all of our money.

The Associated Press: Competition lacking among private health insurers:

"WASHINGTON — One of the most widely accepted arguments against a government medical plan for the middle class is that it would quash competition — just what private insurers seem to be doing themselves in many parts of the U.S.

Several studies show that in lots of places, one or two companies dominate the market. Critics say monopolistic conditions drive up premiums paid by employers and individuals.

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Bunch of fucking Commies.

New Poll: 77 Percent Support "Choice" Of Public Option:

"More than three out of every four Americans feel it is important to have a 'choice' between a government-run health care insurance option and private coverage, according to a public opinion poll released on Thursday.

A new study by SurveyUSA puts support for a public option at a robust 77 percent, one percentage point higher than where it stood in June."

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Your polls in Montana are starting to look pretty shitty, ay, Max?

Love your conviction.... fake ass mofo.

Daily Kos: Sen. Baucus: �"I want a public option too."

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Michelle Bachmann: Pro-Choicer... uh....

Bachmann: No Government Control Over My Body! | TPMDC:

"Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who is a a staunch champion of the religious right and an opponent of President Obama on all things under the sun, has a new line against the Democrats on health care: Keep the government off my body!

The shit that spews from the mouths of Republican babes.... amazing.

Keep the government off my body... unless I need the government to be all up in my body so I can get me some toothless votes.

Fucking A.

Michele Bachmann for Congress:

"Since her election to Congress two years ago, Bachmann has authored the Positive Alternatives Act (HR 4852) and cosponsored numerous pro-life bills, including the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (HR 3442), Ultrasound Informed Consent Act (HR 5032), and the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (HR 1063)."

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Remember when they called us dirty fucking traitorous hippies for stating this... yeah, those weren't the days.

Tom Ridge: I Was Pressured To Raise Terror Alert To Help Bush Win

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Home grown Republican Terrorist.

Idaho GOP leader, Wells Fargo contractor, pulls .357 Magnum on delinquent homeowner:

"The Republican Party chairman of Boise County in Idaho was arrested Thursday for aggravated assault after he pulled a gun on a man whose house he was photographing.

Charles McAffee, 33, was among Idaho's anti-tax tea-party activists, and is a member of the Idaho Republican Party Central Committee. He was arrested after pulling a handgun on a homeowner whose mortgage his employer sought to photograph for being delinquent. His employer is a contractor for Wells Fargo."

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I need one of these pants visits.

"Putpockets" give a little extra cash - Yahoo! News:

"LONDON (Reuters) – Visitors to London always have to be on the look out for pickpockets, but now there's another, more positive phenomenon on the loose -- putpockets.

Aware that people are suffering in the economic crisis, 20 former pickpockets have turned over a new leaf and are now trawling London's tourist sites slipping money back into unsuspecting pockets."

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4 Years of Ass Whuppin

This is the 1, 734th post on Alabama Ass Whuppin.

Tomorrow marks the 4 year anniversary of the creation of this blog, but I don't do 'blog' on Saturdays, that's my lord's day.... me being 'the lord'... thus today's Blogiversary Post.

4 years. 1,734 posts.

Whew.

I'm not really sure about year 5 yet. The way time slips by, a year from now I may be posting '5 years of Alabama Ass Whuppin'.... then, again, I might not be. We'll see.

I'm planning on this next year being one of a grand transition in my life. What that entails... I've got a few foggy ideas, but nothing solid. As my friend 'The Mushroom" once stated, "It is always more fun to think about doing stuff, than to actually do stuff".

I think I've lived by that code a bit too long.

It's time to do stuff. Really do stuff.

So, I'm either still blogging per norm, part-time blogging as I entrench myself into an actual 'career that I love' instead of crappy contract 'work' that I don't love, or I'm teaching engrish in some far, far away land, enjoy my first few months of being a permanent ex-pat.

But let's take a look back, shall we.

Alabama Ass Whuppin': 12 Months of Ass Whuppin'

Alabama Ass Whuppin': 2 Years of Ass Whuppin

Alabama Ass Whuppin': AAW Year in Review - 3 Year Blog-a-versary

The rise of V-PIF:

Alabama Ass Whuppin': V-PILF
Alabama Ass Whuppin': American Idiot

Election Day:

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Never Going Back to Buttholeville:

"My election predictions:

Obama by 4 points in the popular vote

Obama gains 320-ish electoral votes

Senate: Dem total = 57

House: Dems pick up 22 seats."

Election night:

Alabama Ass Whuppin': 11:00 P.M. Eastern

Day after the election:

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Yes We Did

Here are some highlight posts from the past 12 months:

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Wescar Wacing in the Desert

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Rock and Roll Means Well - Fillmore - San Francisco - 11/23/08

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Rock and Roll Means Well - Fillmore - San Francisco - 11/24/08

Alabama Ass Whuppin': 36-0

Alabama Ass Whuppin': 1.20.09 - Better Angels of our Nature

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's Self Titled Record Review - Due out 2/17/09

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Coachella 2009 - Booker T and DBT

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Stewart Cink - The Open Champion

Alabama Ass Whuppin': Patterson Hood and the Screwtopians - San Francisco - 7/8/09

Thanks to all for another fun year. Thanks to all who come by and read my dribble.

Thanks to my heroes that have kept me going. You know who you are.

And, hey, if you feel like it, throw a few bucks AAW's way. It would be much, much appreciated.

Billing Information - PayPal

See you on Monday.

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Walking Around Sense

Classic.

This is how it is done. Dems take notes:

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Obama had to know these fucks where never going to play ball. I'd like to think he set them up to oppose very visibly (which they have) and us now ready to pull the rug out.

We shall see.

Democrats Seem Set to Go It Alone on a Health Bill - NYTimes.com:

"WASHINGTON — Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority’s cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks."

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And this is the dumb-fuck leading the creation of the health care plan.

Super.

Baucus is sold-out awful with added paranoid now.

Max Baucus Is Scared Of "The YouTubes":

"' There were a couple of people in the crowd 'with YouTubes,' Mr. Baucus added (meaning cameras), and he posited that the agitators were paid and probably from out of state. ('I could just sense it,' he said.)"

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That's OK. They can just 'enroll' (and by 'enroll' I mean have a credit card and a heart beat) at the University of Phoenix Corporation. No ACT score needed.

ACT prognosis: 23% could earn C, at best, in first-year college courses - USATODAY.com:

"Just 23% of students, up from 22% last year, earned test scores suggesting they can earn at least a C in first-year college courses in English, math, reading and science, says the report, released today by the non-profit Iowa-based testing company ACT. It's based on scores of 1.48 million 2009 high school graduates who took the ACT's college entrance exam."

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This is gonna lead to a world of hurt.

MS penchant for ripping off code may bite that ass big-time this go around.

I'm sure the judge will grant an extension, though.

Microsoft asks judge to keep Word on the market : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech:

"Microsoft appears to be taking with deadly seriousness the threat that Microsoft Word could be forced off the market in October, following a judgment against it on patent infringement issues over its use of XML.

Filing an emergency motion with the court, Microsoft has asked for a stay of that ruling while Microsoft attempts to remove the functionality that got it in trouble with Canadian software company i4i. In its petition, the company claims that it is 'expending enormous human and financial capital to make its best effort to comply with the district court's 60-day deadline,' but implied that the changes it is making to take the software out of violation of i4i's patent could take months.

If Microsoft can't re-engineer Word before October 10, and if the courts don't grant the company a stay of the ruling, the fallout would likely be catastrophic not just for Microsoft but throughout the computer industry. Retailers would be forced to remove packaged copies of Word (and Office) from shelves, and PC makers would have to remove Word from any preinstalled bundles that come with new computers. With Windows 7 rolling out just days after that deadline, the potential mess that could be generated is almost unfathomable."

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Vile, Contemptible Nonsense

Love Frank. This is how you handle your bid-ness.

Rep. Frank lashes out at protester for Nazi remark - Yahoo! News:

"DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Rep. Barney Frank lashed out at protester who held a poster depicting President Barack Obama with a Hitler-style mustache during a heated town hall meeting on federal health care reform.

'On what planet do you spend most of your time?' Frank asked the woman, who had stepped up to the podium at a southeastern Massachusetts senior center to ask why Frank supports what she called a Nazi policy.

'Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it,' Frank replied.

He continued by saying her ability to deface an image of the president and express her views 'is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated.'"

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Thank jeebus Labor is stepping up to the plate big time.

Damn right!

Labor Warns Dems: We'll Sit Out Election If You Oppose Public Plan:

"One of the country's most prominent union officials is warning that big labor may pull its support from Democrats who don't fight for a government-run insurance plan.

In an interview with the Huffington Post on Saturday, Richard Trumka, the secretary-treasurer and likely next president of the AFL-CIO, said his federation is drawing a line in the sand when it comes to a public option in the health care bill. Lawmakers who don't support the provision, he said, shouldn't take anything for granted.

'We'll look at every one of their votes,' Trumka said after his speech at the Netroots Nation convention. 'If they're against the Employee Free Choice Act, if they're against health care for that reason, I think it'll be tough for them to get support from working people.'"

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Posting an article like this is getting ridiculously redundant. Hell, we can't ever get the good guys to do the easy stuff like health care.

But, again, true, true.

Peter Moskos and Stanford "Neill" Franklin - Time to Legalize Drugs - washingtonpost.com:

"Only after years of witnessing the ineffectiveness of drug policies -- and the disproportionate impact the drug war has on young black men -- have we and other police officers begun to question the system.

Cities and states license beer and tobacco sellers to control where, when and to whom drugs are sold. Ending Prohibition saved lives because it took gangsters out of the game. Regulated alcohol doesn't work perfectly, but it works well enough. Prescription drugs are regulated, and while there is a huge problem with abuse, at least a system of distribution involving doctors and pharmacists works without violence and high-volume incarceration. Regulating drugs would work similarly: not a cure-all, but a vast improvement on the status quo.

Legalization would not create a drug free-for-all. In fact, regulation reins in the mess we already have. If prohibition decreased drug use and drug arrests acted as a deterrent, America would not lead the world in illegal drug use and incarceration for drug crimes.

Drug manufacturing and distribution is too dangerous to remain in the hands of unregulated criminals. Drug distribution needs to be the combined responsibility of doctors, the government, and a legal and regulated free market. This simple step would quickly eliminate the greatest threat of violence: street-corner drug dealing."

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Only 40 percent?!?

Television news networks must be around 90 percent.

AFP: 40 percent of Twitter messages 'pointless babble': study:

"WASHINGTON — Forty percent of the messages on Twitter are 'pointless babble' along the lines of 'I am eating a sandwich now,' according to a study conducted by a US market research firm."

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When I get an iPhone this will be one of my first apps.

NSFW due to naughty language.

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Tarantino's top 20 films since 1992.

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Heat Packing Kabuki

Admittedly, I've been a bit concerned over recent reports of the demise of the Public Option. My concern is my own fault by paying even half attention to the steady stream of horse-shit the media spits out.

And, I agree with below that much of what we are seeing is political kabuki. The final health bill does not exist. When it does, at that time I'll determine whether to raise hell to defeat or fight like hell to ensure its passage.

But, I'm very glad to see the good guys stepping up and pressuring the sucky Dems, especially Rahm and Messina's Blue Dog loving asses.

The Progressive caucus in the House holds the keys. Hopefully they'll maintain their sack and follow through.

Campaign Silo � 60 Members of Congress Say “No Public Plan, No Conference”:

"It's pretty clear that they're not down with the kabuki play, and are serious about conference. Well played, progressives.

Only an arrogant nitwit would believe they could negotiate a deal that gave health care away to the pharmaceutical industry, the doctors, the hospitals and the insurance companies, tie everyone's hands and keep the government from being able to negotiate costs for the next decade and then jam it on progressives to sell in their districts at the end the end of the process.

How you doin' today, Rahm?"

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Amen, Digby. We need to weed a bunch of the mofos out regardless.

Hullabaloo:

"To hell with Rahm and his appease the Blue Dogs at all costs strategy. What good is it if the president fails in 2012? If Cook is right and the Dems maintain their majority while losing a bunch of these reactionary wingnuts, I couldn't be happier. And the Democrat should be happy too because it means they can pass successful legislation for a change."

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Kudos Kos.

Daily Kos: Midday open thread

I wonder if the White House truly understands the depth of anger they'll face from the progressive side if they fail to pass health care reform with a strong public option. We haven't busted our asses the last four years to pass bank bailouts and give insurance companies everything they ever wanted. If we wanted that, we'd be Republicans.

This is the Democrats' key issue. If they can't do the right thing here, there will be little choice left for us than to continue our efforts to rid ourselves of the corporatist hacks that infest our party. No one ever said this was going to be quick and easy. This week, we're polling the public option in Montana, Nebraska, and Tennessee's 6th congressional district. We want to know of Sen. Baucus, Sen. Nelson, and Blue Dog queen bee Jim Cooper are actually representing their constituents on the issue, or doing their best to keep their insurance company benefactors happy. Results are due Thursday or Friday, and let the chips fall where they might.

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Feisty. Me likey.

I pledge to DESTROY the Blue Dogs & ConservaDems over this sh!t

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This, though, eases the pain greatly. If Dean is right and Obama pulls this off, there will be no badder mother effer on the planet.

And, yes, my politics can get micro and geeky.

Howard Dean schools Morning Joe on public option strategy (UPDATED w/ videos & action item):

"JOE: Let me explain to people what you're saying. The House is going to pass a version with a public option. The senate will pass a version without a public option. You get past the 60 votes. You go to reconciliation, you put the public option back in. And then you vote it on it and you only need 50 votes. And you get a public option.

RON BROWNSTEIN: Wow.

JOE: Is that what you're saying?

DEAN: Basically, yes."

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But what the fuck is this all about. Seriously.

We lived with 'TERRORISM" 24-7 for 7 years. And screams of 'UNAMERICAN' during the same duration if your farts sounded a bit too liberal.

But this is OK? La-dee-dah?!? Just expressing their Constitutional rights?!?

Fucking-A. What a world we live in.

Twelve Carry Guns -- Including Assault Rifle -- Outside Obama Event | LiveWire:

"About 12 people were carrying guns, including at least one semi-automatic assault rifle, outside a building where President Obama was speaking today."

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What Josh says:

Some Things Never Change | TPM:

"By Josh Marshall

I remember when Dems started bringing guns to all those Social Security phase-out events back in '05. Heady Days."

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And just because this makes me laugh for some reason:

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Cowardly Lions

Canary in a coal mine.

Gates Foundation Sells Off Most Health-Care, Pharmaceutical Holdings - WSJ.com:

"SAN FRANCISCO -- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private philanthropy fund, sold off almost all of its pharmaceutical, biotechnology and health-care investments in the quarter ended June 30, according to a regulatory filing published Friday."

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Roaches before the light is turned on.

In MI., Blue Cross raising individual, group rates 22 pct.:

"Insurer originally sought 56 percent rate hike, but regulators refused

Michigan insurance regulators have approved a 22 percent increase for group and individual Blue Cross Blue Shield health policies in the state, according to reports published Thursday"

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Great read. Rinse and repeat.

Rick Perlstein -- Birthers, Health Care Hecklers and the Rise of Right-Wing Rage

In the early 1950s, Republicans referred to the presidencies of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman as "20 years of treason" and accused the men who led the fight against fascism of deliberately surrendering the free world to communism. Mainline Protestants published a new translation of the Bible in the 1950s that properly rendered the Greek as connoting a more ambiguous theological status for the Virgin Mary; right-wingers attributed that to, yes, the hand of Soviet agents. And Vice President Richard Nixon claimed that the new Republicans arriving in the White House "found in the files a blueprint for socializing America."

When John F. Kennedy entered the White House, his proposals to anchor America's nuclear defense in intercontinental ballistic missiles -- instead of long-range bombers -- and form closer ties with Eastern Bloc outliers such as Yugoslavia were taken as evidence that the young president was secretly disarming the United States. Thousands of delegates from 90 cities packed a National Indignation Convention in Dallas, a 1961 version of today's tea parties; a keynote speaker turned to the master of ceremonies after his introduction and remarked as the audience roared: "Tom Anderson here has turned moderate! All he wants to do is impeach [Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl] Warren. I'm for hanging him!"

Before the "black helicopters" of the 1990s, there were right-wingers claiming access to secret documents from the 1920s proving that the entire concept of a "civil rights movement" had been hatched in the Soviet Union; when the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act was introduced, one frequently read in the South that it would "enslave" whites. And back before there were Bolsheviks to blame, paranoids didn't lack for subversives -- anti-Catholic conspiracy theorists even had their own powerful political party in the 1840s and '50s.

But here is the money quote:

"Good thing our leaders weren't so cowardly in 1964, or we would never have passed a civil rights bill -- because of complaints over the provisions in it that would enslave whites."

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The finger must continue to point.

Who's behind the attacks on a health care overhaul? | McClatchy:

"WASHINGTON — Much of the money and strategy behind the so-called grassroots groups organizing opposition to the Democrats' health care plans comes from conservative political consultants, professional organizers and millionaires, some of whom hold financial stakes in the outcome."

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From a Republican.

The GOP's Misplaced Rage - The Daily Beast:

"In my opinion, conservative activists, who seem to believe that the louder they shout the more correct their beliefs must be, are less angry about Obama’s policies than they are about having lost the White House in 2008. They are primarily Republican Party hacks trying to overturn the election results, not representatives of a true grassroots revolt against liberal policies. If that were the case they would have been out demonstrating against the Medicare drug benefit, the Sarbanes-Oxley bill, and all the pork-barrel spending that Bush refused to veto.

Until conservatives once again hold Republicans to the same standard they hold Democrats, they will have no credibility and deserve no respect. They can start building some by admitting to themselves that Bush caused many of the problems they are protesting."

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Yup.

Concentration of wealth in hands of rich greatest on record:

"The wealthiest 10 percent of Americans now have a larger share of total income than they ever have in records going back nearly a century — an even larger amount than during the Roaring Twenties, the last time the US saw such similar disparities in wealth."

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Going after them... finally.

Tax dodgers scramble to come clean amid crackdown - Yahoo! News:

"President Barack Obama, in his proposed 2010 budget, asked Congress to pay for 800 additional agents, examiners and lawyers to go after people who hide money overseas. Obama also wants Congress to require overseas financial institutions doing business in the U.S. to share more information with the IRS."

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Very cool. Of course, via China.

'Hidden Portal' Concept Described: First Tunable Electromagnetic Gateway:

"ScienceDaily (Aug. 14, 2009) — While the researchers can't promise delivery to a parallel universe or a school for wizards, books like Pullman's Dark Materials and JK Rowling's Harry Potter are steps closer to reality now that researchers in China have created the first tunable electromagnetic gateway."

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DBT Week in Review - 8/14/09

DBT!

Pre-Order The Fine Print!

Drive-By Truckers�Pre-Order The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities CD�|�Shop the Drive-By Truckers Official Store:

"Please note: The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities CD is available for pre-order and will ship on or around August 28, 2009. Orders containing this item will ship on or around August 28, 2009. To receive your order on the release date, you must select EXPRESS SHIPPING (U.S. addresses only).

Pre-Order The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities CD and save 10% on t-shirt & CD purchases!"

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Drive-By Truckers - New October Tour Dates!

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Patterson on Playboy.com's 'Uncovered'. Thankfully, he is covered.

Patterson plays an acoustic version of 'The Range War'.

Uncovered: Patterson Hood

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Drive-By Truckers @ Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, Tenn. 8/6/2009 | American Songwriter

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Aww. Start 'em young.

NineBullets.org - Message Board • View topic - Cooley Dale modeling DBT

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Slobberbone

I'd be in Green Bay right now if it weren't for the stupid economy.

St. Louis Music - Slobberbone gets the band back together for another twang-punk trek - page 1:

"B-Sides: Slobberbone has re-formed. Is this your attempt to divert attention from the blink-182 reunion tour?

Brent Best: Is there a blink-182 reunion? Oh my God! I need to call my booking guy. I don't want to interfere."

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Will Johnson and Jason Isbell

Just because I'm obsessed with this song:

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Dexateens

Dexateens - "Grandaddy's Mouth" - HearYa Live Session 5/20/09 from HearYa.com on Vimeo.

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Music

Les Paul, Guitar Innovator, Dies at 94 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com:

"Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, died Thursday in White Plains. He was 94."

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David Byrne Makes London Building Into Musical Instrument

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Next Week on 'Death Panels'......

What Duncan says:

Eschaton:

"Deep Thought

Nobody could've predicted that electing a black man president would drive this country completely fucking insane."

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This is hilarious and point on. Must read.

Commie Countries 101.

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Not All Socialist Countries are Alike:

"The really weird thing about Canada is, even though the government is paying the bill, they aren't actually providing the health care itself. Instead, they have private doctors for that, just like we do here.

I know this might be confusing for some of you, so let's try an analogy. This is a VISA card:"

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Yup. Damn Limey Commies killing their genius cripples. Just like our death panels will do.

Man, I sure would like the head job on that 'death panel'. I could do some real good for the world.

Stephen Hawking: "I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS.":

"When Investor's Business Daily attempted to scare readers away from 'socialized medicine' by claiming Stephen Hawking wouldn't be alive today if he relied on the British health care system, they neglected a couple of things. 1) Hawking does rely on the British National Health Service. 2) Hawking can speak for himself.

'I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS,' he told us. 'I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived.'"

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Well, then, VPILF seems to have been creating her own 'death panels' in that job she just upped and quit on .

Troubled Alaska health programs face federal restriction: Health | adn.com:

"State programs intended to help disabled and elderly Alaskans with daily life -- taking a bath, eating dinner, getting to the bathroom -- are so poorly managed, the state cannot assure the health and well-being of the people they are supposed to serve, a new federal review found.

The situation is so bad the federal government has forbidden the state to sign up new people until the state makes necessary improvements.

No other state in the nation is under such a moratorium, according to a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services."

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For it before he was against it.

Matt Taibbi - Taibblog – Newt Gingrich Changes What’s Left of his Mind on End-of-life Care - True/Slant:

"He’s pretty unequivocal here. Well, what happens when suddenly the Republican party decides it wants to scare the shit out of a bunch of old people by telling them the new health care bill is going to include a provision in which “death panels” ask them “when they want to die”? Now all of the sudden Gingrich is violently against the same programs he was so windily praising earlier this year."

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4 B4 against.

Daily Kos: Dubya's 1999 Texas "death panel"

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Neat.

NASA Spacecraft Reveals Mysterious Object Punching Through One Of Saturn's Rings:

"What is going on with Saturn's rings? It appears that recent images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal what seems to be a small object that has ripped through one of the planet's otherwise flat rings. The purpose of the NASA mission, the BBC explains, was to observe 'an equinox on Saturn, in a bid to learn more about the gas giant's ring system.'

Discover Magazine's take on it:"

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Research iz Hard

Research iz Hard.

Must be because Hawkin failed to give his computer voice an English accent.

Broken tubes - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com:

"And just as an illustration: a number of people have pointed this out, but here’s the latest in the “Obama’s health reform will kill people” news: Investor’s Business Daily — which poses as a reputable source of financial information — opines that

People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.

That would be Stephen Hawking, British professor, who was born in the UK and has lived there for his whole life."

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Death Panels!!! So Scary.

Olbermann’s ‘Special Comment’ on Sarah Palin and conservative scare tactics:

"'Finally as promised, a special comment on this terrible moment in American history and those unfortunate and irresponsible Americans who have brought us to it. 'The America I know and love,' the quitter governor of Alaska Sarah Palin began, 'is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down's Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's death panel so his bureaucrats can decide based on a subjective judgment of their level of productivity in society whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.'

Course it is, Ms. Palin. And that is why is does not exist, has not existed and would never under this President nor any other President ever exist in this country.

There is NO death panel. There is no judgment based on societal productivity. There is no worthiness test. But there is downright evil, Ms. Palin, and you just served its cause. You shouted 'Fire!' in a crowded theatre, a hot theatre, and then today, tried to roll it back with 'no, no, sorry, not fire, I meant flashlights.' Too little, too late, too obvious. Madam, you a clear and present danger to the safety and security of this nation."

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Duh

Whistleblower: Insurance firms ‘very much’ behind town hall disruptions:

"Health insurance companies deserve “a great deal of the blame” for the sometimes violent disruptions to town hall meetings on health care, says a former health insurance company executive turned whistleblower.

Wendell Potter, a former executive with health insurer Cigna who now works as the senior fellow on health care at the Center for Media and Democracy, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that health insurance companies “are very much behind the town hall disruptions that you see and a lot of the deception that’s going on in terms of disinformation that many Americans, apparently, are believing.”

On her show Monday night, Maddow cited statistics from the Securities and Exchange Commission showing that profits at the US’s ten largest health insurance companies skyrocketed more than 400 percent between 2000 and 2007, from $2.4 billion in 2000 to $12.7 billion in 2007.

“Apparently while they quadrupled their profits, the number of Americans without health insurance grew by 19 percent,” Maddow said."

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As rare as the Mammoth. Actual reporting by a traditional news source.

Shocking. Watch it.

The Washington Monthly:

"Last night, ABC News' Kate Snow tackled the vile right-wing demagoguery on end-of-life care, and while she refrained from calling Palin and her ilk 'liars,' she made it very clear that the accusations about euthanasia are completely wrong. It wasn't a he-said/she-said report; it was just reality.

Better yet, the ABC report noted that former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey (R), whose propensity for misinformation is practically limitless, was responsible for starting this insane attack in the first place.

The more major news outlets run pieces like these, the better off the public will be."

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What would we do with out thee, Jon.

Jon Stewart Vs. Town Hall Crazies (VIDEO)

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China or Bust

At least we'll have health care under our future overlords.

China plans universal health care - The New York Times:

"BEIJING — China announced that it intended to spend $123 billion by 2011 to establish universal health care for the country's 1.3 billion people.

The plan was passed Wednesday at a session of the State Council, the Chinese cabinet. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao presided.

Xinhua, the state news agency, said the authorities would 'take measures within three years to provide basic medical security to all Chinese in urban and rural areas, improve the quality of medical services and make medical services more accessible and affordable for ordinary people.'"

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Or, hell, just move to it.

The air sucks, but the food is the best.

Shut Out at Home, Americans Seek Opportunity in China - NYTimes.com

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Ammo to fight Teh Stoopid.

Daily Kos: ACTION: Stop Health Care Town Hall Disruptions In Their Tracks

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Yup.

Op-Ed Columnist - Averting the Worst - NYTimes.com:

"So it seems that we aren’t going to have a second Great Depression after all. What saved us? The answer, basically, is Big Government."

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Great viral email being passed around at the moment:

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.

I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.

After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.

On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.

I'm a conservative Shithead.

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American Idiots

Must read:

Bill Maher: New Rule: Smart President ≠ Smart Country:

Or take the health care debate we're presently having: members of Congress have recessed now so they can go home and "listen to their constituents." An urge they should resist because their constituents don't know anything. At a recent town-hall meeting in South Carolina, a man stood up and told his Congressman to "keep your government hands off my Medicare," which is kind of like which is kind of like driving cross country to protest highways.

I'm the bad guy for saying it's a stupid country, yet polls show that a majority of Americans cannot name a single branch of government, or explain what the Bill of Rights is. 24% could not name the country America fought in the Revolutionary War. More than two-thirds of Americans don't know what's in Roe v. Wade. Two-thirds don't know what the Food and Drug Administration does. Some of this stuff you should be able to pick up simply by being alive. You know, like the way the Slumdog kid knew about cricket.

.................
"And these are the idiots we want to weigh in on the minutia of health care policy? Please, this country is like a college chick after two Long Island Iced Teas: we can be talked into anything, like wars, and we can be talked out of anything, like health care. We should forget town halls, and replace them with study halls. There's a lot of populist anger directed towards Washington, but you know who concerned citizens should be most angry at? Their fellow citizens. 'Inside the beltway' thinking may be wrong, but at least it's thinking, which is more than you can say for what's going on outside the beltway.

And if you want to call me an elitist for this, I say thank you. Yes, I want decisions made by an elite group of people who know what they're talking about. That means Obama budget director Peter Orszag, not Sarah Palin."

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Even better:

Daily Kos: Idiot Nation

Ugh. I just have to highlight this again, as perfect example of Everything. Sarah Palin, determined to battle healthcare reform:

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

Seriously? I mean, come the flying monkey hell on. How is it that this hollow-headed dimwit doesn't get run out of town for statements like that? Obama's going to come murder her son?

The whole Republican party can absolutely make stuff up, no question about it, 100% lies, no factual basis whatsoever, outrageous, known false stuff about euthanasia and "death panels" and denying care to people that are no longer "productive", stuff that's right out of the most venomous propaganda playbooks around, weird-assed, depraved, paranoid stuff that would be perfectly at home in a Henry Ford tract about the secret methods of the evil Jews or the like -- and not a goddamned news outlet on the planet is making a story out of the fact that these supposed leaders of their party are gleefully lying through their teeth about all of it, or that the "teabaggers" carrying these selfsame lies into public meetings aren't just angry Americans with a different point of view, but people spreading known, 100%-goddamn-freaking-false-and-false-from-the-very-first-time-it-was-uttered bullshit, and intentionally doing it so loud that they hope nobody can possibly shout them down.

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No shit.

Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform:

"The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they've given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They've become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems."

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Widening Gyre | TPM

We had a number of emails last night discussing how much of what we're hearing from the right now should be considered incitement. There are numerous instances of anti-reform advocates explicitly comparing President Obama's health care plan to the Holocaust, for instance -- jumping from the hideous and outrageous claim that reform means euthanasia and going from there. We get desensitized to this stuff. But it's worth taking a moment to give that a long think -- comparing the president's reform plan to the Holocaust.

Most significant here is not the right-wing liars and demagogues making this stuff up but the fact that they've convinced a significant number of their followers that this stuff is true. That's a very dangerous situation.

We should also keep in mind that the birther-mania, as comical as it is on one level, is all part of the same fabric with the Hitler and Holocaust comparisons, an aggressive process of denigration and dehumanization, dressed up around claims about paperwork and places of birth, but all escalating and churning the belief of a minority of Americans that President Obama is not a legitimate president but rather a usurper.

It's always important for us to remember what the last eight years have again taught us, which is that America has a very strong civic fabric, one that can withstand, absorb and conquer all manner of ugly behavior. It can take in stride a lot of angry rhetoric, townhall fisticuffs and more.

But as this escalates we should continually be stepping back and thinking retrospectively from the vantage point of the future about where this all seems to be heading.

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Working from the same playbook going on 40 years.

Op-Ed Columnist - The Town Hall Mob - NYTimes.com:

"Does this sound familiar? It should: it’s a strategy that has played a central role in American politics ever since Richard Nixon realized that he could advance Republican fortunes by appealing to the racial fears of working-class whites."

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Can you trust bing? - The Inquirer:

"IT SEEMS THAT Microsoft tinkers with its Bing search algorithms to push its own marketing.

According to PC World, if you tap in the phrase 'Why is Windows so expensive?' you get as a top link 'Why are Macs so expensive?'

The rest of the links on the first search page answer everything including the price of windows you can see through and little about the price of the Windows OS.

There are a few entries about why Windows hosting providers are so expensive, and one about fish! The five other links on page one are about the expensive price of Macs. The Windows client OS is not even mentioned.

If you do the same search at Google, you get a long list of links about whether the Windows OS is expensive.

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Yeah, Australia rocks.

Australian Sex Party gets all-clear:

"Sex and politics have officially come together, with the Australian Sex Party obtaining approval from the Australian Electoral Commission for registration as a political party."

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DBT Week in Review - 8/7/09

DBT/Patterson Hood

Our own Lurleen (Beth) McQueen produced a great interview with the lovely Shonna Tucker. Excellent interview and some really interesting responses from Shonna.

Great work both!

Jackson Free Press: Jackson, Mississippi - Music - Music Features - ‘Southern Female Attitude’

I've got a huge garden this year.

• What all are you growing?

I'm about to go pick okra right now. It's an everyday thing. I've got okra, onions, garlic, carrots, tomatoes—they are awesome right now—peas, beans, cucumbers, watermelon, six different lettuces. … I've got 11 chickens, so I kind of work and play in the dirt all day outside with my animals."

On music:

"It) makes people feel good sometimes to hear somebody say something that they wanna say and can't."

On valuing the fans:

"• The Drive-By Truckers often stick around after shows and give autographs. How would you describe your relationship with your fans?

Well, I hope it's great. I think that just relating to people is very important. You can't get up on stage and think, 'I'm gonna put on a great show tonight,' and then just walk away from these people who came out here and dropped everything and bought a ticket and drove forever and got a babysitter and whatever to see you play your guitar. You can't forget how lucky you are to be able to play music as your job. It blows my mind, still to this day. It's crazy that I can say that, and it's all because of fans. … I don't think any of us try to do it, or try not to, it's just I like to talk to people and see what's happening with them. I think it's very important."

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Patterson Hood and the Screwtopians: Collateral Damage And Then Some recorded Aug 6, 2009

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Someone on the Nine Bullets board caught this.

How weird.

Music Listings | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, Mississippi:

"Hal & Mal's Big Room - The Dexateens, Drive-By Truckers 9 p.m. 18 , $20 drivebytruckers.com

Reed Pierce's - Adam's House Cat 9 p.m. free"

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Isbell/Truckers

Isbell and Drive-By Truckers get us closer to real country - ESPN:

"Strange, then, that country music is making a resurgence in my life. For that, I blame the Drive-By Truckers."

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Music I Like

Check out these boys from the Shoals.

PLANET INK on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads:

"LOUD, CROWD PLEASING, FURIOUS, BLUES INJECTED MUSIC IS WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT. Planet Ink, from the legendary music scene in Muscle Shoals Alabama, has developed their own unique sound echoing riffy 60's groove, psychedelic, electric blues, and vintage rock flavor. Energetic, foot stompin’, head jolting live performances are all part of the Ink experience. The trio comprised of brothers Alexander and Micheal Bowling, and cousin James Sherrill has been providing audiences with slamin’ tunes and solid performances since the late summer of 2006. Thanks for checkin out our music, we hope you enjoy it"

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Music

Both sides of the argument:

Op-Ed Contributor - Radio Free America - NYTimes.com:

"WHEN I hear great American standards on the radio, I think of all the songwriters, artists and musicians whom my father, brother and I have worked with over the years. It reminds me that every recording has two parts, the composition and the performance. It also reminds me how many wonderful artists and musicians have not been paid fairly for their work."

NoPerformanceTax.org: Oppose the Record Label-Led Performance Fee on Radio.

What is a performance tax?
A performance tax is a fee that record labels want the government to impose on local radio stations simply for airing music free of charge for listeners.

In recent years, the record labels have seen sales of albums decline as more listeners opt for digital downloads. However, radio remains the number one promotional vehicle for music – it’s not responsible for the label’s resistance to the digital age, and it shouldn’t be on the hook to fix it. Radio already provides between $1.5 to $2.4 billion dollars annually in music sales for artists and record labels. By pushing a tax on local radio, record labels are biting the hand that feeds them.

Where does the money go?
In short, the money would flow out of your community and into the pockets of the record labels – the great majority of which are foreign-owned. The record labels would like for you to think this is all about compensating the artists, but in truth the record labels would get at least 50% of the proceeds from a tax on local radio.

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Very cool.

Sacramentan buys old vinyl 45s, finds out they were his mom's - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

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Pee 4 Change

I've tried to pair my articles today like a fine wine with a piece of cheese.

Categories: Lying Liars, Health Care, Assholes, Birthers, Pee, and a one-off San Francisco.

Here we go....

Fool me once.... Can't get fooled again:

Maddow: GOP is using the ‘Brooks Brothers Riot’ playbook:

"The angry mobs that have been shutting down town hall meetings called to discuss health care reform have reminded many people of an episode during the 2000 election generally known as the Brooks Brothers Riot.

“I think it is very similar,” Washington editor of The Nation Chris Hayes replied on Tuesday to a question from MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow about whether he thought the same strategy is being used currently by Republican-backed corporate lobbying groups.

A few weeks after the November 2000 election, when the outcome of the presidential race was hanging on the Florida recount, a raucous and unruly group of young Republican aides — some of whom were actually on the Bush recount committee’s payroll — rioted outside the room where over 10,000 ballots were being recounted in Miami-Dade County and forced the cancellation of the recount."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Fight back and hard this time.

Daily Kos: The Ten Health Care Talking Points EVERY DEM MUST REPEAT

HCAN Prepares Pro-Health Care Reform Activists For Responding To Town Hall Disruptions, Plans To Disrupt The Disrupters | TPMDC

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Now, you too can be birf'd a Kenyan!

Salon's handy-dandy guide to refuting the Birthers | Salon News

Kenyan Birth Certificate Generator - Make your own! Invalidating legitimate presidencies since 2009!

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Religious whack-job asshole. Jail isn't bad enough for this fucker.

Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder

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Good luck with that, asshole. Only the technically ignorant would pay... especially for Murdoch's tripe.

Quality journalism is not cheap? Murdoch planning on getting into the 'quality journalism' biz?

Asshole.

Rupert Murdoch plans charge for all news websites by next summer:

"'Quality journalism is not cheap,' said Murdoch."

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Gotta go.

The Thin Green Line : Pee in the shower to save the rainforest

Web site helps time mid-movie bathroom breaks

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Neat, because I use to watch the sun set over Seal Rock from my balcony but the rocks were sealless because the seals moved to pier 39 after the earthquake in 88.

Not neat because they are coming back due to a big ass El Nino that is forming.

Sea lions swarm long-abandoned Seal Rocks

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