Deadly Sins

WTF, seriously? If this happens in a another small town, we've got some serious issues in this country. Meaning, if a pattern develops.

Also.... Oh, Baucus. Is there any bit of conservative ideology that you won't suck off.

I like the '... Max Baucus and other Republican lawmakers...". Yeah, he might as well be Republican.

Reports: Mysterious, unregistered security firm policing Montana town:

"A mysterious, reportedly unregistered and almost entirely unknown private security firm by the name 'American Police Force' is causing a stir in a small Montana town for apparently impersonating local police.

According to a local media report, APF representatives were recently seen in the tiny town of Hardin, Montana, driving black SUV's with a peculiar logo and, inexplicably, 'City of Hardin Police Department' stamped on the door."
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Hardin, home to about 3,400 people, is in the state’s poorest county. Its unoccupied, 460-bed prison cost $27 million to construct. The town made national headlines earlier this year when local officials pleaded to have Guantanamo Bay inmates sent to the jail.

Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus and other Republican lawmakers have stood in the way of moving Guantanamo inmates stateside, claiming they would present an increased security risk. The political calculation has led the White House to caution that its promise to close the controversial facility in January may not materialize on schedule.

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What can I add....

GOP councilor would rather abolish police force than see it unionize

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In news of the 'no-shit'.

Generals: Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney are scaremongering - Josh Gerstein - POLITICO.com:

"About a dozen retired generals and admirals, trying to add momentum to President Barack Obama’s effort to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison, are accusing former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz of scaremongering about the dangers of closing it.

“It’s up to all of us to say these arguments advanced by Cheney and his acolytes are nonsense and that really what they’re doing is undermining our national security by delaying the date at which Guantanamo is closed,” retired Brig. Gen. James Cullen, a former chief judge of the Army’s Court of Criminal Appeals, told POLITICO Tuesday."

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RS does some of the finest political journalism out there.

The Lie Machine : Rolling Stone

Conservatives were quick to insist that the near-riot — the first of many town-hall mobs that would dominate the headlines in August — was completely spontaneous. The protesters didn't show up "because of some organized group," Rick Scott, the head of Conservatives for Patients' Rights, told reporters. "They're mad about the stimulus bill, the bailout, the economy. Now they see that their health care is about to be taken over by the government."

In fact, Scott's own group had played an integral role in mobilizing the protesters. According to internal documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Conservatives for Patients' Rights had been working closely for weeks as a "coalition partner" with three other right-wing groups in a plot to unleash irate mobs at town-hall meetings just like Doggett's. Far from representing a spontaneous upwelling of populist rage, the protests were tightly orchestrated from the top down by corporate-funded front groups as well as top lobbyists for the health care industry. Call it the return of the Karl Rove playbook: The effort to mobilize the angriest fringe of the Republican base was guided by a conservative dream team that included the same GOP henchmen who Swift-boated John Kerry in 2004, smeared John McCain in 2000, wrote the script for Republican obstructionism on global warming, and harpooned the health care reform effort led by Hillary Clinton in 1993.

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Methodology may be iffy, but fun stats none-the-less.

American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins

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20 Dollars to make you Holler

I watched the first one with John Muir and it was excellent.

We've had a corporate asshole problem in the U.S. since its inception. If it weren't for Muir, we'd have a damn roller coaster coming off of the falls in Yosemite and McDonald adverts plastered on El Capitan.

Daily Kos: Burns' National Park series PERFECTLY timed (Updated x3 w/more photos)

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Yeah, well, Lee Atwater recanted on his death bed but where did that get us.

Its a little to little, its a little too late.

Greenspan Backs Key Obama Wall Street Reform Effort:

"Greenspan has acknowledged that the collapse has led to a crisis of faith. 'I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms,' Greenspan said at a House hearing last October under questioning from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

'In other words,' said Waxman, moving in for the kill, 'you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right, it was not working.'

'Absolutely, precisely,' said Greenspan. 'You know, that's precisely the reason I was shocked, because I have been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well.'

It's one thing to reject a failed ideology, but another altogether to embrace the kind of regulation represented by the CFPA. 'He has already said that he erred in assuming that the market would take care of things--the Ayn Rand point of view--but this seems to go farther than he's gone before in calling for a new agency to protect consumers from financial products,' said Miller"

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Letter to the editor, Southern Style.

Excellent Ass Whuppin.

Fair coverage | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"In response to Perry Taylor's letter criticizing the limited space the TimesDaily devoted to the trek taken by himself and a few of the citizens to protest, whatever it was, and focus on 'Taking Back America,' I want to respond.

Mr. Taylor, you need to read the copies of the TimesDaily for Nov. 5 and Jan. 20. The TimesDaily gave fair and complete coverage of how our citizens already took back America. It was called the presidential election and the presidential inauguration."

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The world is watching... us make assholes of ourselves.

'World Leader' to Obama: Explain Why 'They're Putting a Hitler Moustache On You' - Political Punch:

"'I was up at the G20 -- just a little aside -- I was up at the G20, and some of you saw those big flags and all the world leaders come in and Michelle and I are shaking hands with them,' the president said. 'One of the leaders -- I won't mention who it was -- he comes up to me. We take the picture, we go behind.

'He says, 'Barack, explain to me this health care debate.'

'He says, 'We don't understand it. You're trying to make sure everybody has health care and they're putting a Hitler mustache on you -- I don't -- that doesn't make sense to me. Explain that to me.''"

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Huzzah, Palau! Now, if you can only survive the tropical storms pounding you at the moment.

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Palau pioneers 'shark sanctuary'

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This was posted on Kos last week. Old article, but a damn fine read.

The $20 Theory of the Universe - Esquire

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Blackwashing

Seriously. Bunch of damn pussies.

It's time for Obama to take off the kid gloves -- latimes.com:

"The president's coolness in the face of the right wing's relentlessly anti-intellectual assault on his policies has been impressive as a display of character. But it also has enabled his opponents to subvert his program and erode his popularity.

He hasn't been helped by the feckless performance of the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. They've behaved like they think the public buys into such Republican talking points on healthcare as the 'death panel' and 'socialized medicine' claims -- all discredited fantasies.

By failing to take a strong line, the Democrats allowed the GOP to dominate the healthcare debate all summer. Senate Majority Leader Reid wasted weeks trying to enlist the GOP in a compromise, despite clear signs that Republican leaders were only interested in sabotaging reform. Obama didn't really take the reins of the debate until his address to Congress on Sept. 9.

Consequently, reform that Congress might have passed by Labor Day may not happen for months. Reid still isn't guaranteeing that healthcare reform will pass this year, saying only that there's 'a very good chance' it will happen. Is this how a leader with a commanding majority should talk?"

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Only a Southerner could pull this off.

Blackwashing: Stephen Colbert Goes There. . .

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The Post is lying out of its ass. The drops were due to the grassroots (small donors) extremely turned off by the unchanginess of the Obama administration. I've given directly to a couple of candidates, but the DNC, DCCC, DSCC, Obama, won't see a dime from me until they start acting like progressives.

Democrats Jarred By Drop In Campaign Donations:

"The Washington Post reports that harsh rhetoric about big business is costing Democrats campaign funds.

The Post reports that the majority of the fundraising declines were due to wealthy donors holding back."

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It is a bitch when one is required to actually deal with the horseshit laws one's party crammed down the U.S.'s throat during the Bush Wonder Years.

Poor, poor baby.

TSA, GOP Rep. square off in airport over body scanners | Raw Story:

"A Republican congressman who recently had an unpleasant run-in with the Transportation Security Administration in a Utah airport is denying allegations that he acted out over being ushered into a line for a full body scanning machine.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), a longtime opponent of the security technology witch effectively performs a strip search on its subjects, told a Salt Lake City NBC affiliate that a TSA agent claimed to know “exactly” who he is, causing the congressman to wonder if the whole incident was direct harassment.

He added that while the body scanner is optional, agents tried to force him through it.

“They did not make it optional; and when I told them I didn’t want to do it, they started treating me as though I was some sort of criminal or something, giving me the third degree,” he told KSL NBC 5."

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Uh.... I call titty bleeding an emergency. But, hey, I'm not medical insurer, so what do I know.

CA Insurer: Woman's Bleeding Breast Not Emergency - cbs5.com:

"Why? Documents from Blue Shield indicate the company had reviewed the case and determined Miran-Ramirez 'reasonably should have known that an emergency did not exist.'

'I am like how can they say that it was not an emergency? Like, my breast was bleeding! I am not a clinical person but if your breast is bleeding, for me that's an emergency,' she said."

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Hurry up with the real space travel already. I'm ready to jump off this rock and check out what else is out there.

Water detected on the Moon

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This should help you pass some time today.

There, I Fixed It: Epic Kludges Jury Rigs

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DBT Week in Review - 9/25/09

Rock star with a green thumb AND hot model. Oh, Shonna, is there anything you can't do.

Songbirds Page 6 | Alabama Chanin

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"Video for the Inflatable Orchestra (aka Jay Gonzalez) song, 'Into the Culvert.' This is actually something I shot a couple years back, which Jay and I have long discussed putting music to. Finally, this song clicked."

That's Don Chambers as the lead role.

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Haven't gotten mine yet, but you should get yours pronto.

However, I did watch The Accountant the other day... again. Never gets old.

Amazon.com: Randy and The Mob: Ray McKinnon, Walton Goggins, Lisa Blount, Burt Reynolds: Movies & TV

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Via Jenn:

50 STATES: Alabama:

"How a place as nondescript as Muscle Shoals became such a musical mecca — the area is home to the growing Alabama Music Hall of Fame — is hotly debated by locals and tourists alike.

Four neighboring towns comprise the region that most people refer to as the Shoals: Florence, Tuscumbia, Sheffield, and Muscle Shoals are all clustered along the banks of the scenic Tennessee River, which used to be impassable here; giant boulders jutted out of the water and spelled doom for passing ships and barges. The Native Americans actually called it the “Singing River” after the sound of water passing around the stones."

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Singing River Records seeking third artist | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"Singing River Records is a record label managed by UNA students who are involved in every phase of the operation, from selecting an artist, recording the music, mixing the tracks and marketing and releasing the finished product."

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Interesting promo/release idea.

Smashing Pumpkins dot com | announcement from billy corgan about new smashing pumpkins album

I'm happy to finally announce the plans for the new Smashing Pumpkins album.

Recording began yesterday, September 15th, 2009 on the new record which will be entitled 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope'. The album will feature 44 songs, 4 of which are now being recorded. My desire is to release a song at a time beginning around Halloween of this year, with each new release coming shortly after until all 44 are out. Each song will be made available absolutely for free, to anyone anywhere. There will be no strings attached. Free will mean free, which means you won't have to sign up for anything, give an email address, or jump through a hoop. You will be able to go and take the song or songs as you wish, as many times as you wish.

We will however sell highly limited edition EP's (of 4 songs each times 11), and details of how those EP's will be made available are still being worked out. Because the songs themselves will be free, the EP's will be more like collectors items for the discerning fan who will want the art itself, along with the highest possible audio quality available. The EP's will be more like mini-box sets rather than your normal cd single. We may also offer other variations for sale, say for example a digital single with a demo version of a song. The commitment that is most important is the one I'm making to you: that the music of 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope' will be available for free to everyone. All 44 songs: free for ALL.

When the entire album is finished, it will be compiled into a deluxe box set which will also be made available for sale. Those who have bought the EP's need not worry, as the box set will not be a recompilation of the limited edition pieces.

The story of the album is based on 'The Fool's Journey', as signified in the progress of the Tarot. It is my intention to approach this by breaking down the journey of our life here into four phases as made by these different characters; the Child, the Fool, the Skeptic, and the Mystic.

The music of 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope' harkens back to the original psychedelic roots of The Smashing Pumpkins: atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty.

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Patriots Act This Way

You mean the law isn't being applied as intended? You mean we dirty fucking hippies were right all along.

Shocking.

WATCH: DoJ Official Blows Cover Off PATRIOT Act

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Awesome. So glad Al is in the federal mix.

We need more Al Democrats. A lot more.

The DOJ fucker has the gall to state 'this is surreal'. Yeah, surreal you can't square 'laws' with the constitution.

Al Franken Reads the 4th Amendment to Justice Department Official:

"Franken, who opened by acknowledging that unlike most of his colleagues in the Senate, he’s not a lawyer, but according to his research “most Americans aren’t lawyers” either, said he’d also done research on the Patriot Act and in particular, the “roving wiretap” provision that allows the FBI to get a warrant to wiretap a an unnamed target and his or her various and changing cell phones, computers and other communication devices.

Noting that he received a copy of the Constitution when he was sworn in as a senator, he proceeded to read it to Kris, emphasizing this part: “no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

“That’s pretty explicit language,” noted Franken, asking Kris how the “roving wiretap” provision of the Patriot Act can meet that requirement if it doesn’t require the government to name its target.

Kris looked flustered and mumbled that “this is surreal,” apparently referring to having to respond to Franken’s question. “I would defer to the other branch of government,” he said, referring to the courts, prompting Franken to interject: “I know what that is.”"

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I have to agree. I've commented previously on the Panda.

They only eat one thing and it has very little nutritional value. However, they get so fat they can't have sex.

Stupid pandas.

Let the panda die out 'with dignity', says BBC expert Chris Packham - Times Online

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Can you tell I'm phoning it in today.

7 Pranks That Ended Badly For The Perpetrator (VIDEO)

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Because I'm a foodie.

Michael Bauer: Between Meals : Zagat says: Service is improving and prices are down

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Once I was a huge Braves fan. Then the steroid era commenced and I was completely turned off of the sport. Haven't followed it in several years.

But a huge Braves fan I was (and still am to an extent). Grew up hard and strong on Braves baseball (Thanks, TBS!). Can still name the 1983 line-up.

I'll watch Bobby's swan song next year. I love Bobby and all of the great years he gave us in Atlanta. Damn, I hope they can make a run.

Bobby Cox Retiring After Next Season - News Story - WSB Atlanta

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Origins of Stupidity

Great analogy:

Daily Kos: That Stamp Will Cost You $23,000, Pal.

If health insurance companies ran the mail service, you wouldn't know what it would cost to mail a package, because nobody involved would be able to tell you, even if you spent the better part of a week on the phone with them. You would know what it cost you one only after you received the bill for mailing it. This bill would come one month later, but additional charges would be added a month after that, more additions would come two months later, the total would be revised again in four months, and would be adjusted again after six months. If you want to complain, knock yourself out, but chances are you won't even remember what it was you mailed back in the summer of 2008 or whenever-that-was.

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In their haste, the ACORN Kabuki Theatre Troop (aka The GOP) might have gone and effed up their donor train.

So fucking stupid as are all of the Democrats who voted for this stupid fucking bill.

But if it defunds some 'defense' contractors, then well done boys and girls. Well done.

Whoops: Anti-ACORN Bill Ropes In Defense Contractors, Others Charged With Fraud:

"Going after ACORN may be like shooting fish in a barrel lately -- but jumpy lawmakers used a bazooka to do it last week and may have blown up some of their longtime allies in the process.

The congressional legislation intended to defund ACORN, passed with broad bipartisan support, is written so broadly that it applies to 'any organization' that has been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws, campaign finance laws or filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. It also applies to any of the employees, contractors or other folks affiliated with a group charged with any of those things.

In other words, the bill could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops."

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Well, of course they do. Telecoms won't be able to rape consumers which means less money in the GOP's pocket.

WAR! bitches.

GOP senators declare war on Net neutrality

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Not FAUX News racism. Purely an act of FAUX News stupidity and lack of historical awareness.

Hey, maybe Kelly and Perino can get together and discuss the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Fox's Kelly refers to U.S. flags as "Stars and Bars" -- but that's the first national flag of the Confederacy | Media Matters for America

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I'm in love with the girl who made the Youtube response. I like to Bible idea with a 50 page intro.

Dontcha just want to pinch the delusional, sanctimonious smugness right off Kirk's neck.

Kirk Cameron's 'Origin Of Species' Plan: Ex-Actor To Distribute 50,000 Altered Darwin Books:

"Kirk Cameron, best known for his role in the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains, now spends much of his time advocating for far-right Christian evangelical causes.

In a video posted recently to YouTube, Cameron lays out a plan to subvert 'Darwin Day' on November 22, 2009 -- a date marking the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Charles Darwin's 'Origin of Species.' Cameron says that he and like-minded activists plan to deliver 50,000 copies of an altered version of Darwin's book to students at dozens of U.S. universities."

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When a Sheet isn't just a Sheet

Via my old roommate, Ed.

Poor, poor bastards:

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

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M and H, oh how do I love thee.

We is America � Margaret and Helen:

"Margaret, I haven’t laughed so hard since Katie Couric interviewed Sarah Palin. A few thousand white folks called in sick to work last week so they could parade around the nation’s capital on Saturday and Fox News declares a revolution is underway. My goodness. I don’t know which is more sad – the fact that they couldn’t spell half the words written on their illegible signs or that they all left their white hoods at home. Bring the hippies back. Their protests were much more entertaining.

Just to give you some perspective:"

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The Teabagger Socialist-Free Purity Pledge

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We'd all be much better off if we didn't wait 2-3 years after a Moore movie to determine that he's always freakin' right.

Arianna Huffington: Barack Obama Must See Michael Moore's New Movie (and So Must You)!

After a preview screening last week (at which I did a Q&A session with Michael), he came over to my home for a late night bite. Over lasagna, he told me about an incident that occurred while he was filming that exemplifies how the economic crisis cannot be looked at through a left vs right prism.

It happened while he and his crew were shooting the climax of the movie, where Michael decides to mark Wall Street as a crime scene, putting up yellow police tape around some of the financial district's towers of power.

While unfurling the tape in front of a "too big to fail" bank, he became aware of a group of New York's finest approaching him. Moore has a long history of dealing with policemen and security guards trying to shut him down, but in this case he knew he was, however temporarily, defacing private property. And his shooting schedule didn't leave room for a detour to the local jail. So, as the lead officer came closer, Moore tried to deflect him, saying: "Just doing a little comedy here, officer. I'll be gone in a minute, and will clean up before I go."

The officer looked at him for a moment, then leaned in: "Take all the time you need." He nodded to the bank and said, "These guys wiped out a lot of our Police Pension Funds." The officer turned and slowly headed back to his squad car. Moore wanted to put the moment in his film, but realized it could cost the cop his job, and decided to leave it out. "When they've lost the police," he told me, "you know they're in trouble."

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White colonizers. Golf course cut from a jungle inhabited by unruly monkeys.

Nothing racists about Roy Blunt, folks. Just your run of the mill policy disagreements.

Bruce Wilson: Roy Blunt (R-MO) Tells Racism-Tinged Monkey Joke at DC Conference

Congressman Blunt then went on to tell an anecdote which suggested that life in Washington, for GOP members today, is comparable to the lot of imperial British agents in India who had to contend with monkeys running amok on a golf course that the colonial occupiers had carved out of the verdant Indian jungle. There was a problem, the Missouri Representative explained; monkeys would come out of the jungle, grab golf balls, and throw them about. Amidst swelling laughter from his audience Roy Blunt narrated,

"I could go into great and long detail about how many things they did to try and eliminate the 'monkey problem.' But they never got it done, so finally this golf course and this golf course only, they passed a rule and the rule was - you have to play the ball where the monkey throws it. [audience laughter swells] And that is the rule in Washington all the time."

It seemed like a direct window into the psyche of the revanchist wing of the GOP; politics is a golf game and unruly Democrat "monkeys" have swarmed out of the jungle to disrupt the play. Since it is impractical to "eliminate" the monkeys, accommodations will have to be made. Republicans will now "play the ball where the monkey throws it."

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I may be frustrated over some policy inaction with Obama, but it is always good to be reminded that elections do have consequences and because the right guy was elected, good things like this happen.

Only a commitment, though. Much work to be done to ensure Net Neutrality.

FCC Chief 'Boldly' Commits to Net Neutrality | Save the Internet:

"The fight for Net Neutrality took a big step forward on Monday with the chair of the Federal Communications Commission announcing plans to expand the rules to protect a free and open Internet.

In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Julius Genachowski said the FCC must be a 'smart cop on the beat” preserving Net Neutrality against increased efforts by providers to block services and applications over both wired and wireless connections."

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FYI: I'm not one of them.

mental_floss Blog � 4 People With Super Memory

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Can I get an Amen, fellas. (NSFW b/c you have a shitty job)

Lingerie Football PHOTOS: Denver Dream VS. Los Angeles Temptation

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Grandpa ain't takin' no shit. Grandma gets a good kick in at the end, too.

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Real Stupid Americans

Sign Dr. Dean's petition. He's the man with the only plan regarding health care reform.

AmericaCantWait.com

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They are so practiced at hypocrisy they don't even realize when they are being so laughably obvious.

Prevent funding then bitch about shitty service. Oy.

Tea Baggers Who Feel They’re ‘Taxed Enough Already’ Gripe About Inadequate Service In…Public Transit:

"“These individuals came all the way from Southeast Texas to protest the excessive spending and growing government intrusion by the 111th Congress and the new Obama administration,” Brady wrote. “These participants, whose tax dollars were used to create and maintain this public transit system, were frustrated and disappointed that our nation’s capital did not make a great effort to simply provide a basic level of transit for them.”

A spokesman for Brady says that “there weren’t enough cars and there weren’t enough trains.” Brady tweeted as much from the Saturday march. “METRO did not prepare for Tea Party March! More stories. People couldn’t get on, missed start of march. I will demand answers from Metro,” he wrote on Twitter.

In his letter, Brady also complained that overcrowding on the metro trains
“forced an 80-year-old woman and elderly veterans in wheelchairs to pay for cabs” — in other words, to rely on the non-government-run transportation system, which tea party protesters would presumably want to support."

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"Here in my czar
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
Its the only way to live
In czars"

Stupid fake outrage.

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Stupid fake outrage.... gets redundant.

Daily Kos: Greenwald Nails it on ACORN(Update with action item!):

"While most of the media is busy pushing rightwing talking points on the ACORN scandal, Glenn Greenwald puts the story into the proper perspective.

ACORN has received a grand total of $53 million in federal funds over the last 15 years -- an average of $3.5 million per year. Meanwhile, not millions, not billions, but trillions of dollars of public funds have been, in the last year alone, transferred to or otherwise used for the benefit of Wall Street. Billions of dollars in American taxpayer money vanished into thin air, eaten by private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, led by Halliburton subsidiary KBR."

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I miss Kids in the Hall.

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I could never make this shit up.

O’Reilly endorses the public option, which he previously called ‘socialism.’

Fly him Courageous.

‘Media Courage Award’ recipient Bill O’Reilly bans the media from his speech.

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The reddest state in the Union.

Real Americans.

Real Stupid Americans.

75 Percent of Oklahoma Students Can't Name the First President - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |:

"OKLAHOMA CITY -- Only one in four Oklahoma public high school students can name the first President of the United States, according to a survey released today.

The survey was commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in observance of Constitution Day on Thursday.

Brandon Dutcher is with the conservative think tank and said the group wanted to find out how much civic knowledge Oklahoma high school students know.

The Oklahoma City-based think tank enlisted national research firm, Strategic Vision, to access students' basic civic knowledge.

'They're questions taken from the actual exam that you have to take to become a U.S. citizen,' Dutcher said."

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DBT Week in Review - 9/18/09

Tommy takes first position today. Read it:

Tommy Womack:

"I’m sick of playing benefits.

We shouldn’t have to."

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DBT!


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Aquarium Drunkard: Music Blog � Jim Carroll :: August 1, 1950 — September 11, 2009:

"The Drive-by Truckers have long made “People Who Died” a staple of their live shows. If you go back to 1999’s sadly out-of-print Alabama Ass Whuppin’, the early line-up of the band tears through the song with abandon. Muddling the verse order, and shuffling and adjusting lyrics as he goes, Patterson Hood’s delivery of the song is a howling maelstrom of grief. There are times where his vocals become muttered and incoherent, others where the pain is howled into the Plutonian shore. Imagining the narrator now in the small towns of the deep South, where friends are people you’ve known since you were born, not just the guy you met hustling on the street the other week, the deaths rack up in a much more serious way. As friends drop left and right, everything that seemed true is revealed in the harsh light of reality. The guitars, thick and raspy, convey something much more guttural and deeply troubling than the skittish chug of Carroll’s original. You can only take so much pain in a lifetime. Sometimes, it just can’t hurt any less. words/ j. neas"

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Drive-By Truckers - Stereo Subversion

: "SSv: What kind of details can you give us about the new Drive-By record?

Patterson Hood: It’s a big rock record. A big, big rock record. It’s epic. I think it’ll be out in February and I think it’ll be a good one."

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Best Albums Of 2000’s and Best Albums Of The Decade

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Honest Tune Online - Drive-By Truckers : The Fine Print - A Collection of Oddities and Rarities

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CD Review: Drive-By Truckers - Music

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Drivin' N' Cryin'

I've had the pleasure of rocking out to this record for the past couple of weeks. Stellar work and worthy to add to your collection.

Stream Drivin' N' Cryin's first new album in 12 years: It's an EW exclusive! | EW.com

ATLANTA, GA - Drivin' N' Cryin' will put out their first record in twelve years. Great American Bubble Factory will be released on September 29, 2009 on Vintage Earth Music with marketing and distribution provided by Thirty Tigers/RED. "This record is the perfect crescendo to a long twenty-plus year career of the band. I think we've found the true essence of what we started to build back in 1985," says Kevn Kinney.

Drivin' N' Cryin' originally started recording demos for this album on September 10, 2001. After 9/11 the band abandoned the sessions after deciding the time wasn't right for their stories of blue-collar optimism. They returned to Sonica Studios in Atlanta earlier this year where the band produced the album in collaboration with Anton Fier, who produced their 1987 album Whisper Tames the Lion and James Barber, their ex-manager-turned-producer.

This record moves from the "Midwestern Blues" to the Flannery O'Connor South of "This Town" to the industrial grind of "Detroit City" to the optimistic anthem (and Dictators cover) "I Stand Tall" to the genuine pining for home in "I See Georgia."

The current DNC line up is: Kevn Kinney (guitar & vocals), Tim Nielsen (bass, mandolin & backing vocals), Mac Carter (guitar), Dave V. Johnson (drums, percussion & backing vocals). The band will be on tour throughout the fall, tour dates will be announced soon.

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Centro-Matic

Counting the Scars:

"We are honored to share footage of Rockestra performing “Counting the Scars” at their Good Records performance in Dallas on Aug. 30th. Rockestra is a Rock n Roll Youth Orchestra that contains vocals, guitars, bass, drums, keys, synths, strings, horns, etc ages 12-17. Here’s a hearty salute to them and their lovely version of this song."

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Dexateens

The top 40 bands you should see at ACL before dark - No. 36 Dexateens:

"I attempt to avoid comparisons to other bands, especially when it shows my age, but I have heard others compare Dexateens to bands like Son Volt, or others of the same strain. But I think it is more apropos to say many of us are just now catching on to Dexateens’ sound that is 110% their own making."

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Lauderdale

two-bit wonders:

"The following series of photographs are from the first weekend in August. Lauderdale and Shotgun Lover shared bills at Speakeasy and the Alabama Music Box. We always have a blast playing shows and acting like pirates with those guys. I saw them last Friday night here at home with Doc Dailey and Magnolia Devil. It was a good show and a great reminder of my intentions to post these photos. This club circuit that we're on most weekends seems as if it's becoming the world's largest, most dysfunctional family. We're a handful of hard-working bands from all over the place who are perpetually crossing paths and closing down bars."

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Music

Emmitt-Nershi Band

BOULDER,CO- The Emmitt-Nershi Band will release New Country Blues on September 29, 2009 on SCI Fidelity Records. Prior to the release of the album, a free download of the title track, New Country Blues will be available online. The bands website, emmittnershiband.com, also features information on contests and ordering the new album. Fans have a chance to win an autographed guitar, as well as autographed albums.

Throughout the new album, Drew Emmitt and Bill Nershi exemplify the forward-thinking modern bluegrass musician. As linchpins of two legendary jam-bands --Drew with Leftover Salmon, Bill with the String Cheese Incident--both men have traveled the world and played in front of hundreds of thousands of people. The Emmitt-Nershi Band is rounded out with Andy Thorn on banjo and Tyler Grant on bass and guitar.

The title track is available for free download at the link below:

http://emmittnershiband.com/newcountryblues/downloads/01.NewCountryBlues.mp3.zip

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Miller, Fogerty honored at Americana Music Awards - USATODAY.com:

"Justin Townes Earle won new artist of the year,"

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Shoals Internet music program moves across the river | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL

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15th Street Dinah:

"15th Street Dinah is a blog primarily about music coming to and coming from the Tuscaloosa, AL area. From time to time, we might veer off course...but for the most part, that's our thing.

We're named in honor of the great Dinah Washington, Tuscaloosa native and 'Queen of the Blues'."

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McU.S.A.

Because we have 5 very activist conservative judges on the Supreme Court, our Democracy will very soon be sold to Corporations.

Colbert, a comedy show, the only source addressing this crucial issue.

Colbert Goes There - Only Media Figure In America To Openly Discuss Corporate Control Of Gov't

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I feel your pissed off-ness.

Dear Dems, Feed me a Sh!t Sandwich on HCR and I'll BURN THIS MFing TENT TO THE GROUND

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What Duncan says

Eschaton:

"Here's A Crazy Idea

Instead of a fine, perhaps the government could just sign you up to... oh, I don't know what we should call it... a public plan? And then send you a bill.

It's all so complicated and Rube Goldbergesque."

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Lest we not forget Bush's final Fuck You to the nation:

October 2009: Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele on the U.S. Treasury | vanityfair.com

Last October, Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, putting $700 billion into the hands of the Treasury Department to bail out the nation’s banks at a moment of vanishing credit and peak financial panic. Over the next three months, Treasury poured nearly $239 billion into 296 of the nation’s 8,000 banks. The money went to big banks. It went to small banks. It went to banks that desperately wanted the money. It went to banks that didn’t want the money at all but had been ordered by Treasury to take it anyway. It went to banks that were quite happy to accept the windfall, and used the money simply to buy other banks. Some banks received as much as $45 billion, others as little as $1.5 million. Sixty-seven percent went to eight institutions; 33 percent went to the rest. And that was just the money that went to banks. Tens of billions more went to other companies, all before Barack Obama took office. It was the largest single financial intervention by Treasury into the banking system in U.S. history.

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It is OK if you are a Republican.

Jeez. Morons.

Anti-Czar Bill Gets 100 Cosponsors In House [UPDATE]:

"I also pointed out yesterday that 'czars' have been a fact of life in American politics since the Nixon administration, and, to the best of my recollection, no Republican ever complained about the multitude of 'czars' in the Bush White House. But don't take my word for that. Here's Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif):"

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Judges smacking down the crazy.

Connie Rhodes "Birther" Challenge Thrown Out, Taitz Scolded:

"Land also put attorney Orly Taitz, who represents Capt. Connie Rhodes and is a leader in the national 'birther' movement, on notice by stating that she could face sanctions if she ever files a similar 'frivolous' lawsuit in his court.

'(Rhodes) has presented no credible evidence and has made no reliable factual allegations to support her unsubstantiated, conclusory allegations and conjecture that President Obama is ineligible to serve as president of the United States,' Land states in his order. 'Instead, she uses her complaint as a platform for spouting political rhetoric, such as her claims that the president is 'an illegal usurper, an unlawful pretender, [and] an unqualified imposter.''"

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The Kids are alright.

The $150 Edge-of-Space Camera: MIT Students Beat NASA On Beer-Money Budget | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:

"The two students (from MIT, of course) put together a low-budget rig to fly a camera high enough to photograph the curvature of the Earth. Instead of rockets, boosters and expensive control systems, they filled a weather balloon with helium and hung a styrofoam beer cooler underneath to carry a cheap Canon A470 compact camera. Instant hand warmers kept things from freezing up and made sure the batteries stayed warm enough to work.

Of course, all this would be pointless if the guys couldn’t find the rig when it landed, so they dropped a prepaid GPS-equipped cellphone inside the box for tracking. Total cost, including duct tape? $148."

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Dude. Where's my crack.

One hell of a jones to pass off a Lincoln for 50 bucks.

Man accused of trading dad's car for $50 in crack:

"Authorities arrested a man they said tried to trade his father's car for $50 worth of crack cocaine. Deputies arrested the 39-year-old man around 4 a.m. Wednesday after his 74-year-old father reported that his Lincoln had been stolen. When deputies arrived at the father's home, they saw the son walking up the street. They determined that the car had been sold for drugs."

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They're a Little (Ayn) Randy

Damn. He just came out and said it. Spoke the straight up truth.

He's too right. While it may no longer be acceptable to be overtly racist in the South, that doesn't mean that the racism has vanished. It still lives in many a Southern heart because it has never truly been dealt with. On a personal/family level. Not saying other regions of the country don't have the same issue, but most of these teabaggers are white, old, pissed off, and Southern.

This really is amazing stuff for a Southerner of Carter's stature to come right out and say it.

Not surprised that it didn't get much play in the media. Democrats talking sense rarely do.

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

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This is a hell of a read.

I've read both Atlas and Fountainhead 3 times a piece. The first time I read both, I had no clue of the political/social/economic aspirations of Rand or the books. The 2nd and 3rd time through I was very clear on which political beasts were clutching Ayn tight to their black bosoms.

I like both books. There's a kernal to be taken from each regarding individuality and taking care of yourself. But, and this is a big but, these two book's lessons are similar to the lessons offered by the Bible or Greek mythology. Literal interpretations of both are... well, stupid as fuck. The Bible justifies slavery and the beating of your wife. Greek mythology... we'll let's just say one shouldn't diddle their mommy.

The sales of these two books have exploded in the past year. I doubt very seriously that your average mom and pop are buying. Hell, no way they would ever be able to sit down and read both of these tomes. It would require too much focus and patience. The sales are due to bulk purchases by right wing groups, I'm almost positive.

I like the stories. A few nuggets worthy of applying to your life. But as a political/economic/social blue print, her work is utter bullshit.

She was bat-shit crazy and meaner than a snake, too.

And 'Cultism' it really is.

Daily Kos: Sociopathy on the Right: Ayn Rand and the Triumph of Conservative Cultism:

"Interestingly, despite her general disdain for humanity, there were people she seemed to admire greatly, such as William Edward Hickman, whose credo, 'What is good for me is right,' she described in her Journals as, 'The best and strongest expression of a real man's psychology I have heard.' But Hickman was no simple expositor of personal greed and self-interest; no mere modern day libertarian; no pedestrian practitioner of excessive self-love. No indeed. He was a sociopathic murderer. In 1927 he kidnapped a 12-year old girl from a school in Los Angeles by the name of Marian Parker, chopped off her legs, cut our her internal organs, drained all of her blood and then spread parts of her body all over the city."

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Like they could ever learn lessons.

10 Lessons for Tea Baggers | Crooks and Liars:

"Here, then, are 10 Lessons for Tea Baggers:

1. President Obama Cut Your Taxes
2. The Stimulus is Working
3. First Ronald Reagan Tripled the National Debt...
4. ...Then George W. Bush Doubled It Again
5. Republican States Have the Worst Health Care
6. Medicare is a Government Program
7. Barack Obama is Not a Muslim
8. Barack Obama was Born in the United States
9. 70,000 Does Not Equal 2,000,000
10. The Economy Almost Always Does Better Under Democrats"

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Yes. And you can tell them to fuck off too. If they want to arrest you for it, then, bingo! Pay Day!

Do You Have the Right to Flip Off a Cop? - Yahoo! News

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Of the Freed, By the Freed, and For the Freed

Rare Chance to Own a Wes Freed - DBT Original Poster

These watercolor/mixed media originals of DBT posters are all around 14''x 18'' , including the vintage 1948 2''x4'' frame.

Best act quickly because these should be snatched up PDQ.Willard's Garage: DBT poster art originals , for sale

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Best line from yesterday's Web:

Ant: Taylor Swift got joewilsoned!

heh.

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Stoopid Government! Keeping us civilized.

Daily Kos: "Get the government out of my life!":

"Let's return to 1,100ad, when tribal warlords called all the shots, and everyone else just starved, or died of illness or injury. When there were no government rules and regulations for safety of the food supply, no attempts to maintain a society of laws and justice, and no public services to take your taxes and 'waste them' by government organizing and operating the most complex factors in society to create a safe and healthy environment. (Oh, wait!! You think you'll be one of the warlords, don't you? Sucker...)"

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It is deafening.

Lincoln Mitchell: The Silence of the Republicans:

"A clear line can be drawn from the red-baiting and Muslim-baiting of Obama during the campaign, to the birther movement, to shouting down Democratic members of Congress at town hall meetings to the accusation that the President of the United States was a Nazi because he sought to expand health care to a greater number of Americans to Joe Wilson's behavior last week. Parenthetically, it should be noted that other American presidents who have sought to expand health care coverage to more Americans include Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, two presidents whose anti-Nazi credentials are reasonably strong.

The Republicans, to their credit, have done a remarkable job of lowering the bar for what passes as acceptable political dialog in recent months. It is hard to believe that only a few months ago people were outraged that Rush Limbaugh, the blowhard in chief of the right wing of the Republican Party, suggested that he wanted to see President Obama fail. After what we have seen the last few months, Limbaugh's comments seem positively bipartisan in nature."

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Yup.

Physician Views on the Public Health Insurance Option and Medicare Expansions - RWJF:

"In every region of the country, a majority of physicians supported a combination of public and private options, as did physicians who identified themselves as primary care providers, surgeons, or other medical subspecialists. Among those who identified themselves as members of the American Medical Association, 62.2 percent favored both the public and private options."

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Nice. Those are some fuck up family values conservative sport.

When Getting Beaten By Your Husband Is A Pre-Existing Condition:

"Under the cold logic of the insurance industry, it makes perfect sense: If you are in a marriage with someone who has beaten you in the past, you're more likely to get beaten again than the average person and are therefore more expensive to insure.

In human terms, it's a second punishment for a victim of domestic violence.

In 2006, Democrats tried to end the practice. An amendment introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), now a member of leadership, split the Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee 10-10. The tie meant that the measure failed.

All ten no votes were Republicans, including Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), a member of the 'Gang of Six' on the Finance Committee who are hashing out a bipartisan bill. A spokesman for Enzi didn't immediately return a call from Huffington Post."

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Damn right! Guns are for pussies.

Police: College student kills intruder with sword :

"In the garage, the student told police he discovered a man and when the student told the man to get out, the man accosted him, Guglielmi said. The student defended himself with the sword, cutting off the man's hand and causing a severe laceration to his upper body, he said."

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Atta boy. Future Republican in the making.

Fuck up. Lie about it. Blame it on the terrorist.

Ala. boy fakes kidnapping to hide bad grades:

"An 11-year-old boy gets high marks in storytelling after staging a hoax to cover up his bad grades. Police said the boy faked his kidnapping Friday to avoid bringing home a bad report card, saying that a man with a pistol snatched him after he left Ed White Middle School. The boy said the man forced him into a 'beat-up car' and threatened to kill him.

The student said he escaped by jumping out of the car but wasn't able to grab his bookbag, which contained the report card."

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Stand up for the 70% Who aren't Crazy

Teddy sniffing glue, he was 12 years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-nine
Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug
On 26 reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old
He looked like 65 when he died
He was a friend of mine

RIP Jim Carroll

Jim Carroll, Poet and Punk Rocker Who Wrote ‘The Basketball Diaries’, Dies at 60 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com:

"The critic Stephen Holden described Mr. Carroll in The New York Times in 1982 as “not so much a singer as an incantatory rock-and-roll poet.” Like Lou Reed, he had a mesmerizing power, evident on songs like “People Who Died” from “Catholic Boy,” a poetic litany of his dead friends that became a hit on college radio and part of the soundtrack for “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.”"

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A to the freakin' men. The entire episode was pretty damn spot-on.. accept when Kathy Griffin opened her maw.

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Did you hear that 7 billion Americans showed up for the wingnut festival on Saturday. We'll, that many really did no matter what the fuck your say. 7 billion. No, 700 billion. No, 7000 gazillion. Fuck you.

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Size Matters; So Do Lies:

"But yesterday, someone told a real whopper. ABC News, citing the DC fire department, reported that between 60,000 and 70,000 people had attended the tea party rally at the Capitol. By the time this figure reached Michelle Malkin, however, it had been blown up to 2,000,000. There is a big difference, obviously, between 70,000 and 2,000,000. That's not a twofold or threefold exaggeration -- it's roughly a thirtyfold exaggeration."

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Oh, yeah, we did have elections 10 months ago and the Dems did destroy these conservative assholes, so why in the fuck are these knuckle dragging, mouth breathing, spittle contortionist always on the goddamn tv.

What Duncan says:

Eschaton:

"Deep Thought

Maybe next time the 700 million teabaggers should try voting."

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I had a man on the inside in DC for the crazy white people march. He confirmed: Old, white and angry... about something.

Think Progress � Radical, Racist Signs Featured At 9/12 March

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Matthew Yglesias � The New Libertarians:

"Probably the weirdest thing about the Glenn Beck / Tea Party nexus to me is that it tends to rely so heavily on libertarian rhetoric and fear of incipient authoritarianism. These kind of sentiments would be a lot easier to take seriously if not for the fact that we didn’t see these people marching out in the streets when George W. Bush used the threat of terrorism to justify secret, illegal warrantless surveillance, detention without trial, torture, etc. Indeed, the very same people who spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday complaining that Barack Obama’s “czars” are a threat to liberty not only weren’t worried about czars in the Bush years, they spend Tuesday and Thursday worrying that Obama’s not doing enough to ensure that intelligence operatives can break the law with impunity."

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Cranks.

GOP 'cranks' dominating debate - Andie Coller - POLITICO.com:

"Here’s Orly Taitz, insisting that the commander in chief was born in Kenya. There’s a flock of town hall protesters, waving photos of the president in a Hitler mustache. Former GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin warns darkly that Obama is planning “death panels” for senior citizens. Georgia Rep. Paul Broun equates the president’s plans with “Nazi” policies. Ohio Rep. Jean Schmidt — last heard calling John Murtha a “coward” — tells a birther: “I agree with you, but the courts don’t.”

And then, in the midst of all the catcalls, hand-held signs and “I’m not listening” BlackBerrying, Wilson interrupts Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress by shouting, “You lie!”

“The president was helped more by the optics of House Republicans than by his own speech,” says former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.). “It’s not likely to do any long-term damage, but they need to be very careful how they oppose this president.”

One veteran GOP official puts it bluntly: “The image of a bunch of white guys booing an African-American president is about as bad as it gets.”"

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Joe Wilson is Your Pre-Existing Condition

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Morans with Signs of Descent

Cupboards are bare. Not enough content for a DBT WIR today, so I'm tossing together a few odds and ends to get us to the weekend.

Eight years ago today... I had just finished one of the wildest cab rides from downtown San Francisco back to my crib by the ocean that I'd ever experienced. Not sure who was freaked out more. Me, or my Iraqi cab driver. Stop signs were only suggestions that day.

The rest of the day was spent on a roof consuming large quantities of vodka while my roommate frantically tried to get in touch with friends and family in NYC. The crystal blue sky which was normally filled with planes landing at SFO, OAK and SJ was all but empty apart from the military helicopters swarming the Golden Gate Bridge.

Thank god we caught bin Laden.... oh, wait.

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First, ROLL TIDE! Thunda! Na-na-na naaa na nu-na-na.

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Morans fer sure.

ontd_political: Morans with signs of descent

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Pay attention, Lindsey or your Republican brethren will give you a swirly in the Senate potty.

Sen. Graham's Pseudo-Clap | TPMTV

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My buddy just moved to D.C. I asked him how the flavor was in his neighborhood. He sent this in response. Hilarious.

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Assholes

Sign it. Send it. Fight these Republican douchebags tooth and nail.

Organizing for America | BarackObama.com | Tell Congress to Support President Obama's Plan for Health Reform

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Fucking assholes whose only purpose is to shit the pool and stuff their pockets.

Dana Milbank - Washington Sketch: Republicans Behaving Badly at Obama Speech - washingtonpost.com: '

"The national debate, already raw for years, had coarsened over the summer as town hall meetings across the country dissolved into protests about 'death panels' and granny-killing. Guns were brought to Obama appearances. A pastor in Arizona said he was praying for Obama to die.

But even by that standard, there was something appalling about the display on the House floor for what was supposed to be a sacred ritual of American democracy: the nation watching while Cabinet members, lawmakers from both chambers and the diplomatic corps assembled."

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This is how we do it.

Opponent of ‘You Lie’ Rep. raises $96,000 overnight:

"The opponent of GOP Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who yelled 'You lie!' at President Barack Obama during his speech to Congress on healthcare, has raised more than $96,000 from online donors since Wednesday evening.

ActBlue, a liberal advocacy group, posted an appeal for Wilson opponent Rob Miller, a Democrat. Within hours, online donors flooded the site, leaving the Republican's Democratic opponent flush with new campaign cash overnight.

A spokesman for ActBlue tells RAW STORY that Miller has raised 'north of $96,000' since Wilson's outburst Wednesday."

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Nice.

Recorded sex comments cost Calif. lawmaker his job - Yahoo! News:

"The Orange County Republican is now a YouTube hit after KCAL-TV aired his racy comments about sexual conquests that were caught by an open microphone in a Capitol hearing room. Several media outlets said the comments referred to Duvall's affairs with a female lobbyist and another woman. He resigned Wednesday."

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A'merika. Fuck Yeah!

Free market, bitches.

Walmart's Project Impact: A Move to Crush Competition - Yahoo! News:

"Thus, the company is in the beginning stages of a massive store and strategy remodeling effort, which it has dubbed Project Impact. One goal of Project Impact is cleaner, less cluttered stores that will improve the shopping experience. Another is friendlier customer service. A third: home in on categories where the competition can be killed. 'They've got Kmart ready to take a standing eight-count next year,' says retail consultant Burt Flickinger III, managing director for Strategic Resources Group and a veteran Walmart watcher. 'Same with Rite Aid. They've knocked out four of the top five toy retailers, and are now going after the last one standing, Toys 'R' Us. Project Impact will be the catalyst to wipe out a second round of national and regional retailers.' (See 10 things to buy during the recession.)

Though that's bad news for many smaller businesses that can't compete, Walmart investors have clamored for this push. Despite the company's consistently strong financial performance, Wall Street hasn't cheered Walmart's growth rates. During the 1990s, the company's stock price jumped 1,173%. In this decade, it's down around 24% (Walmart's stock closed at $51.74 per share on Sept. 3). 'Walmart is under excruciating pressure from employees and frustrated institutional investors to get the stock up,' says Flickinger."

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Happy Birthday, Emmett

Today we welcome to the world Emmett M. Hood, the brand new edition to Patterson, Rebecca and Ava Hood's fam.

Emmett and mom are doing fine.

And Emmett has one heck of a birthday date.

Congrats, Hoods!

Why 09/09/09 Is So Special - Yahoo! News:

"Any grade-schooler could tell you, for example, that the sum of the two-digits resulting from nine multiplied by any other single-digit number will equal nine. So 9x3=27, and 2 7=9.

Multiply nine by any two, three or four-digit number and the sums of those will also break down to nine. For example: 9x62 = 558; 5 5 8=18; 1 8=9.

Sept. 9 also happens to be the 252nd day of the year (2 5 2)...

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What Krugman says.

Hoping for audacity - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com:

"Oh, and about the public option: yes, it should be in the speech — and not just because it will lower costs. From personal discussions I know that the individual mandate really gets peoples’ hackles up,because they see it as a giveaway to the insurance industry (you may recall that many Obama supporters made precisely that case during the primary). Yet the individual mandate is necessary — so it’s crucial to have the counter-argument that look, people can choose the public option. Yes, some senators will fight against that option tooth and nail — but that’s for later."

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Fuck. You.

Without a Public Option on day one, I'll never pay this. Ever.

And the comparison to auto coverage in this case is pure bullshit.

Fines Proposed For Going Without Health Insurance:

"Just as auto coverage is now mandatory in most states, Baucus would a require that all Americans get health insurance once the system is overhauled. Penalties for failing to get insurance would start at $750 a year for individuals and $1,500 for families. Households making more than three times the federal poverty level – about $66,000 for a family of four – would face the maximum fines. For families, it would be $3,800, and for individuals, $950."

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Not the kind of public option we need.

Soldier Who Re-Enlisted For Health Care, Killed In Afghanistan (VIDEO):

"Army Spc. Gregory James Missman died in Afghanistan after suffering wounds from an improvised explosive device in July.

Missman, 36, re-enlisted in the military after being laid off from his job as a computer consultant. Missman served in the Army 11 years earlier.

According to Missman's father, health care is what pushed his son back into service. After losing his job, Missman's young family, a wife and son were no longer insured."

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And I promise you this person has no clue as to the definition of 'irony'.

Raw Story � Healthcare supporter bites off opponent’s pinky:

"“A hospital spokeswoman says the man lost half the finger, but doctors reattached it and he was sent home the same night,” the AP reports. “She says he had Medicare.”"

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Such a cool world sometimes.

Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea | Environment | The Guardian:

"A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world."

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With Us or Against Us

Damn interesting read:

Drew Westen: Why the President Has Been Losing on Health Care, and What He Needs to Say:

"There is no doubt the President can get a compromise health care plan through Congress. He has enormous majorities in both the House and Senate, and they all know the stakes. But doing so would leave him with a compromised Presidency, in which a small minority of Republican lawmakers knows they can bully him at will into half-measures on any issue, and that he'll settle for Pyrrhic victories with the rationalization that he has achieved incremental change.

But the American people didn't vote for 'small change we can believe in.' And I don't think that's what this President wants--or needs--to be his legacy. Whatever the merits of the 'public option,' it has come to stand for something much larger: Whether this President really means what he says, and whether he's going to put the public interest over the private interests that dominate Washington and have dominated health care for far too long. We'll probably know Wednesday night."

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Meanwhile, in non-crazy town, the town that never gets any freakin' coverage by the heavily sarcastic finger quote "news" tv......

Senator AL Franken Talks Down Angry Mob

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Pro-Reform Rally In Seattle Ignored By Media:

"I've no idea where I was yesterday afternoon, but it couldn't possibly have been at an energetic, 3000-person strong pro-healthcare reform rally in Westlake Park, because I couldn't find even the tiniest mention of it in this morning's Seattle Times, so apparently, it never happened. And I have absolutely no idea where all those photos and videos on my camera came from.

It's like my own personal Twilight Zone."

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All eyes on Wed.

The Seminal � The Public Option: A Promise Kept or a Promise Broken:

"That is what the fight over the public option is all about - it is not about policy. It's a proxy for the implied contract we entered into when we helped get Obama elected. We expected Change, we expected to be respected, empowered and included, we expected him to fight, and we expected to join him in that fight.

Wednesday night will be a promise kept or a promise broken. Either way, it will be our moment of truth."

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Shocking. A know nothing know it all Republican.

Obama's Top Health Care Opponent: No PhD In Medicine, No Scholarly Articles On Health Care

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