Monday, November 30, 2009

Sorry Stupid

Of all of the things that I'm unhappy about, I do need to keep this article in mind more.

I mean, when he was inaugurated, it is not like he had a budget surplus and relative peace on earth.

Obama is having the best first year of any president since Franklin Roosevelt. - By Jacob Weisberg - Slate Magazine:

"This conventional wisdom about Obama's first year isn't just premature—it's sure to be flipped on its head by the anniversary of his inauguration on Jan. 20. If, as seems increasingly likely, Obama wins passage of a health care reform a bill by that date, he will deliver his first State of the Union address having accomplished more than any other postwar American president at a comparable point in his presidency. This isn't an ideological point or one that depends on agreement with his policies. It's a neutral assessment of his emerging record—how many big, transformational things Obama is likely to have made happen in his first 12 months in office."
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Ladies, ladies.....

Conservative revisionist history knows no bounds.

Perino: No Terrorist Attacks In America Under Bush (VIDEO)

Ah, Sarah, will you ever cease being a parody of yourself.

Think Progress � Palin quits before finishing the 5K Turkey Trot race.

Dana + Sarah =.....

Daily Kos: We're sorry you're stupid, but you're not allowed to hold back the rest of the class anymore.:

Dear misinformed Conservatives, we are sorry that you have been lied to by the Corporate Media. We are sorry that the scare tactics work on you every single time, we're sorry that you don't know anything about American history or even recent events. We are sorry that you can't help but stare at the National Enquirer while on the line at the grocery store, but you're not going to hold the line up anymore. The world won't let you.

"While you were out in la-la land, Neo-Conservatives have stripped down, sold off and outsourced America. Our Debt came from the war in Iraq that came from the torture evidence we ripped out of the terrorists, and the economy collapsed because we de-regulated, privatized and outsourced everything. Every Conservative since Teddy Roosevelt has been a total crook, and damn near every Democrat is too. Our American political and economic systems are flat out broken, and now that that part is out of the way, we can move on to some basic problems in logic most media brainwashed Conservatives suffer from, so, here are some facts based on evidence for you to meet.

ACORN is NOT a bigger problem than Blackwater, Haliburton, KBR, Goldman Sachs, The Bank of America, Citigroup, and the Loch Ness Monster combined. The Republican party lost in 2008 because the were corrupt, incompetent criminals. They lost, so deal with it.

Socialism is NOT the problem, not even on the radar. Socialism is what rich people scream if anything threatens their profit."
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Bad dog.

Dog Recovering After Eating 130 Nails - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando:

"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Ashley Saks couldn't believe what she saw when the veterinarian brought her the X-rays. Her 2-year-old Basset Hound Roxy had ingested more than 100 nails.

“I counted about 130, but I don't know how many she threw up before she was taken, so it could've been more,” Saks said."\
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Weeeeeeee!



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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Give Some Thanks

I'm taking the next few days away from the blog, so stuff yourselves silly and holiday your asses off.

Some almost good news, though.

Paula Deen HIT In The FACE With A Ham (VIDEO)

I propose a TV show where Paula Deen gets hit in the face repeatedly with a ham, or hammer, for an hour straight. No commercials.

That woman gets on my last nerve.

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New, free music from one of my favorite rockers.

Official news about the rock band Glossary from Murfreesboro, TN � Blog Archive � Joey’s solo record – free download:

"Ok, first thing’s first. Our new record, Feral Fire, will be released on February 2nd. We are all very excited to say the least.

Joey is so excited, he has decided to give you his new solo record as a free download!All-Night Cover It’s called The All-Night Bedroom Revival. I know Joey spent a lot of time on it and he did everything himself. I listened to it while I was on the road this past month and I can tell you that it’s gripping and dense and is a showcase for one of my favorite songwriters ever. The record also includes the incredible song “Paper Mills” written by Kevin Kerby of Little Rock, AR. So please enjoy it thoroughly and let it tide you over until Feral Fire’s birthday on Feb 2nd"
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And, holy freakin' crap is Norah Jones fine as dandy wine or what. JeZeus. She's always been cute, but she's vamped it up a bit for the new record.

Stupid record labels with there 'embedding disabled'. And that helps how?

YouTube - Norah Jones - Chasing Pirates

Here's she is performing the single live. All bow to Norah Jones hotness!



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And this website needs to add the 'embed' option. Get with it, folks. You get more views with embed.

A Night w/ Drivin N Cryin By Eric Von Haessler On ExposureRoom

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Fraudster

There is a very sick and twisted segment of the U.S. that is being legitimized and main-streamed by the traditional media.

What the hell is wrong with these people (and by 'people' I mean the twisted fucks and the news media).

pandagon.net:

"Via Spencer, Gawker reports on a growing movement of Christians using religious “jokes” in order to call for the assassination of Obama. The “joke” is this T-shirt, citing a verse from the Bible that says, “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.” As Gawker explains, it’s surrounded by other prayers of enemy smiting, namely that his widow and children starve and live in poverty after his death. Gawker has other examples of right wingers thinking it’s cute to be coy---but in an unsubtle, stupid way that’s not nearly as clever as they think---in calling for Obama’s death."
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Lies and damn lies. Isn't happening and the 30k don't even exist.

100,000,000 million U.S. residents scrub there asses with steel wool.

See, I can make up shit too.

Daily Kos: "30,000 Scientists Sue Al Gore for Fraud"

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World's largest ice sheet melting faster than expected | Environment | guardian.co.uk:

"'If the current trend continues or gets worse, Antarctica could become the largest contributor to sea level rises in the world. It could start to lose more ice than Greenland within a few years,' said Jianli Chen, of the University of Texas at Austin."
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Nice. We should schedule another meeting to schedule another meeting about scheduling another meeting to deal with climate change.

Warming's impacts sped up, worsened since Kyoto - Yahoo! News:

"WASHINGTON – Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated — beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then.

As the world has talked for a dozen years about what to do next, new ship passages opened through the once frozen summer sea ice of the Arctic. In Greenland and Antarctica, ice sheets have lost trillions of tons of ice. Mountain glaciers in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa are shrinking faster than before."
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These folks could make a killing in the deep friend South.

Gang Killed People For Their Fat: Peruvian Police:

"LIMA, Peru — A gang in the remote Peruvian jungle has been killing people for their fat, police charged Thursday, draining it from their corpses and offering it on the black market for use in cosmetics. Medical experts expressed skepticism that a major market for fat might exist."
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NERDz!

d'Armond Speers: Dad Spoke Only Klingon To Son For Three Years

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Monday, November 23, 2009

Monkey See, Monkey Fling Do-Do

Wow! FAUX New's lying finally becomes news?!? What a world.

Fox News again accused of airing misleading video - Yahoo! News:

"For the second time in just over a week, Fox News is coming under fire for misusing old news footage. The latest flap is leading some people to charge that the cable news network is intentionally misleading its audience, while Fox claims a 'production error.'"
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The most terrifying thing you'll read all day.

Daily Kos: Don't Get Palin's Appeal? Try a Little Harder:

"Each time I read a diary or a comment that wonders out loud how someone as 'stupid' as Sarah Palin could be appealing to anyone, I shake my head in disbelief.

In 2004, this website was clogged up with comments and diaries about another politician most people believed to be 'too stupid,' to succeed. 'How can anyone be a supporter of someone so stupid? Someone who sounds so dumb and has done so many stupid things?'

Then, after that 'stupid' guy was re-elected, the Democratic Party went into an identity crisis tail spin.

Have we forgotten all this? Apparently we have.

Still don't get Sarah Palin's appeal? Try a little harder and you will."
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Because, how do you reach through the painful stupid of these people and bring them to the light? I just don't know and that really bothers me.

They are going to believe what they want to believe, facts be damned.



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And they are so fucking angry about.... well, something all the time that they even turn on V-PILF.

These folks do not live in the land of reason.

Video of Angry Wingnuts Booing Sarah Palin, Calling Her a “Quitter” & Chanting “Sign Our Books” | Rumproast

Teabaggers just aren’t happy about anything these days. I guess the Noblesville, Indiana Going Rogue book signing didn’t go very well yesterday because 300* or so of the 1000 people with wristbands were asked not to tread on Sarah Palin and then she tried to make a getaway with Baby Trig and several duffel bags full of cash but wingnuts have learned to protest about everything these days, so they were having none of it. This is the best thing you will see about horrible, horrible Sarah Palin on the internets all day and until the end of time.
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Amen, Conyers.

Conyers Rips Obama, Emanuel For 'Bowing Down' To GOP On Health Care

Health reform's human stories - Countdown with Keith Olbermann- msnbc.com

New Orleans, La. — - It happened as I watched a 50-something woman walk out, after spending several hours being attended to by volunteer doctors. "She's decided against treatment. A reasonable decision under the circumstances," the doctor tells us as she heads for the next patient. The president of the board of the National Association of Free Health Clinics tells me why: "It's stage four breast cancer, her body is filled with tumors." I don't know when that woman last saw a doctor. But I do know that if she had health insurance, the odds she would have seen a doctor long ago are much higher, and her chances for an earlier diagnosis and treatment would have been far greater.

After watching for hours as the patients moved through the clinic, it was hard to believe that I was in America.

Eighty-three percent of the patients they see are employed, they are not accepting other government help on a large scale, not "welfare queens" as some would like to have us believe. They are tax-paying, good, upstanding citizens who are trying to make it and give their kids a better life just like you and me.

Ninety percent of the patients who came through Saturday's clinic had two or more diagnoses.
Eighty-two percent had a life-threatening condition such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or hypertension. They are victims of a system built with corporate profits at its center, which long ago forgot the moral imperative that should drive us to show compassion to our fellow men and women.
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Can't they take one day off from being a massive collective of douchebags. Just one day.

This action only serves the credit card companies.

GOP senators block effort to freeze credit card interest rates:

"Republican senators on Wednesday blocked an effort to debate a bill that would prevent credit card companies from raising interest rates ahead of new regulations coming into force next year.

The move angered congressional Democrats who were pushing for an emergency freeze on credit card rates.

'I’m extremely disappointed that the financial health of millions of American taxpayers has been completely brushed aside by a handful of Wall Street banking interests in the US Senate,' Rep. Betsy Markey (D-CO) said, as quoted in the Coloradoan."
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Now, something that makes sense.

Some 'Awwww' for your Monday:



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Friday, November 20, 2009

DBT Week in Review - 11/20/09

DBT/Patterson

Aquarium Drunkard: Music Blog � Decade :: Drive-By Truckers, The Dirty South (2004)

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The 100 Best Records of the Decade: 73.) The Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South (2004)

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Review: Drive-by Truckers deliver in Clay Center s ... - News - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports:

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- On a mild November Sunday evening, the Drive-By Truckers stormed into Charleston and heated up the Clay Center stage with an eye-opening and ear-catching performance."
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My Aimz Is True: Concert Review: Private Drive-By Truckers show in T.O.

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Southern Shelter � Patterson Hood @ Caledonia 11/11/09

Plus Bo! Great listen.

Southern Shelter � Bo Bedingfield @ Caledonia 11/11/09

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That Evening Sun w/Patterson Hood songs featured opens in L.A. today!





Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit



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Adam Smith

New web site:

Adam Smith Photography / Artist Management

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Muscle Shoals Sound

The Black Keys New Album Recorded At Muscle Shoals Sound Studio | The Black Keys Fan Lounge:

"There used to be some amazing regional record labels, but that all dried up. But the same talent pool is there—just no one is there to discover it. It’s the same thing with Muscle Shoals—there are talented people everywhere. I do believe that music is genetic—it’s a family thing. Whatever was magical about Muscle Shoals is still there, it’s just no one fucking cares anymore. Music now is just pop music, made by motherfuckers like Bob Rock. Motherfuckers that have wrap-around Sub Zeros and dreadlocks and a crazy ass Kurzweil keyboard. People just don’t get it."
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I'm announcing a Patterson Japan solo tour for next year (Not that there is one in works, but a good buddy is going to grad school in Japan next year and how cool would it to follow Hood when I make my visit).

Japanese dig the Muscle Shoals sound | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"Hearing Donnie Fritts and Scott Boyer describe their five-show tour in Japan in October conjures up images of rock stars getting off a plane, being mobbed by autograph-hungry fans and running through train stations to make the next show.

Part of that is true - the rest is a product of my overactive imagination.

In reality, Fritts and The Decoys, two names that are well known in the Shoals but sometimes taken for granted, received the grand treatment in Japan.

Fritts said going to Japan with The Decoys was one of the best experiences of his 50-year career.

'Being accepted by the Japanese like we were was unbelievable,' he said."
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Music

:: news, reviews and opinion :: since 2001 :: online at clickyclickymusic.com ::: Rock Over Boston | drivin n cryin | TT the Bear's | 11.15.2009:

"It would be easy to go on for a thousand words about drivin n cryin (in fact, when I started this review it was starting to look like I would), because theirs has been a long and complex story since singer-sonwriter Kevn Kinney and bassist/mandolinist Tim Nielsen released the first album with the band's first lineup, 1986's Scarred But Smarter. So let's boil it down. Here's what you need to know: drivin n cryin are a part southern rock, part country rock, part folk rock, and part hard rock working class band from Atlanta, GA. They like folk music as much as they like the Stooges, and Aerosmith as much as country music."
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D'0h!

Bruce Springsteen News - Yahoo! Music:

"A visibly embarrassed Springsteen grinned and said such a mistake was 'every front man's nightmare.'"
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The Who? I wish they would tell me.

The Who to perform at SuperBowl: report | Entertainment | Reuters

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Yeah!

INTERVIEW - Don't jail illegal music sharers - UN agency | Business News | Reuters

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Or Rock musicians for that matter.

Belarus rock musician faces extradition on phony murder charge | Raw Story:

"Amnesty International has declared rock musician and social activist Igor Koktysh to be a prisoner of conscience who 'is being persecuted for his political views.' Koktysh was tried on trumped-up murder charges in Belarus in 2001, and was allegedly tortured in an attempt to force him to confess, but he was acquitted after he proved he had been in another city at the time."
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'Remote Control' Host Ken Ober Dead At 52 - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News

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Via Grumbine.

NSFW, but damn I wish I had a job to give this guy.

Ian Pfaff's Demo Reel from Ian Pfaff on Vimeo.



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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Ninja FAIL

When it happens, not 'if', I sure hope they miss.

I will become one militant liberal if a shot it taken.

These fuckers are crazy.

"Trawling for assassins": Evangelical nuts want Obama dead UPDATED

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Couldn't come out from under the bed long enough to fake up a protest?

Not scared of the terrorist. They're scared that all of the illegal torture will come to roost. And it will.

Conservatives ’sit out’ NYC trials protest despite calls by Liz Cheney, Gingrich and Rove | Raw Story:

"An effort by several prominent Republicans to rally opposition to Attorney General Eric Holder's plan to bring five accused 9/11 plotters to the US for trial apparently fell flat Wednesday."
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Pussies.

Daily Kos: Conservative Cowards:

"So, no, it doesn't surprise me a bit that New Yorkers are generally unafraid of putting swarthy-looking terrorists on trial in their courts. They live everyday with the threat of a terrorist attack. Manhattan is the number one terrorist target in the country. Perhaps the oddest thing about Timothy McVeigh is that he chose to attack Oklahoma City. What was that about? It's infinitely more likely that terrorists will attack the NYC subway system than it is that they will attack, say, Little Rock. It should have made people wonder that New Yorkers turned against the war in Iraq faster than anyone else, despite the fact that the war was, at least in part and theory, an act of retribution on their behalf. New Yorkers knew better than anyone else that the war in Iraq was making them more, not less, of a target."
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Awesome. This should give Dems plenty of time to figure out how to weld a super-majority.... maybe.

Poll: Republicans Prefer Ideological Purity Over Electoral Success:

"Despite losing two straight congressional elections, more Republicans say they would prefer to support a candidate who was ideologically pure than one who could win."
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Maybe my halling ass down mountain trails on my mountain bike isn't such a great idea.

Uninsured trauma patients are much more likely to die -- latimes.com

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I've been sayin'....

Fire Geithner and Summers, prominent Democrat says | Raw Story:

"'We may have to sacrifice just two more jobs to get millions back for Americans'

President Barack Obama 'is being failed by his economic team' and should replace Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and White House economic policy director Larry Summers, says US House Rep. Peter DeFazio."
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Apple rulz!

Simon Aldous: Windows 7 'Inspired' By Mac, Microsoft Manager Admits:

"Windows 7 = Apple 4 years ago"
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Could of been me, man, could have been me.

"Ninja" Impaled On Fence In Seattle After Failed Leap:
"Witt says the man was 'overconfident in his abilities,' and that alcohol likely played a role."
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Columbus Go Home!

Idiot Teabaggers. Almost too easy to punk

"Somebody is hating? Sheeeeyt, when should I start t'chantin'".

Interloper tricks Tea Party audience into an anti-European immigrant chant of ‘Columbus go home!’

Tea partiers punk’d into supporting removal of white people from US

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Winning their deformed hearts and deformed minds.

Fallujah’s infants suffer from sharp rise in birth defects | Raw Story

Remember, American youth, you only matter when you are in the womb. Once out, you better start practicing your boot strap pulling up.

Insurance Runs Out For 12-Year-Old Boy Without Arm

I wonder which state's obesity issues which are a huge burden on the health care industry are the worst?

Hmmmm. Starts with an A and ends with an A.

The Healthiest And Unhealthiest States - Forbes.com

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Thank a Dem.

Offshore Bank Accounts Revealed To IRS By 14,700 Taxpayers:
"MIAMI (AP)-- More than 14,700 U.S. taxpayers came forward to disclose billions in offshore bank accounts in 70 countries under a voluntary Internal Revenue Service program allowing most to avoid criminal prosecution as long as they pay what they owe, IRS officials said Tuesday.

A flood of people came forward in the last days before the amnesty program expired Oct. 15, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. The final total far surpasses the number who disclose offshore accounts in a typical year -- about 100 -- and comes amid a broad U.S. crackdown on international tax evasion at Swiss bank UBS AG and other institutions.

'To put it simply, this is a historic milestone for the nation's hardworking taxpayers,' Shulman said in a conference call from Washington."
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Don not thank a Dem. Geithner is the worst. He and Sumners need to go and pronto.

These guys were part of the initial problem. Why Obama thought they could fix it is beyond me.

Geithner sucks.

Geithner Singled Out In TARP Watchdog's Scathing Report On AIG Bailout:

"A brutal report issued Monday by a government watchdog holds Timothy Geithner -- then the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and now the nation's Treasury Secretary -- responsible for overpayments that put billions of extra tax dollars in the coffers of major Wall Street firms, most notably Goldman Sachs.

The authoritative new narrative describes how, while bailing out insurance giant AIG last fall, a team led by Geithner failed nearly every step of the way."
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Jeez.

100 new militia groups since Obama elected; watchdog alarmed | Raw Story:

"Some 100 new militia groups have formed since the election of President Barack Obama, says the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In a re-run of the phenomenon seen when President Bill Clinton took office, gun-rights advocates, libertarians, survivalists and others are forming militias as a symbol of their resistance to what they see as an administration that threatens to restrict their right to bear arms and expand government control over the lives of private citizens."
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Makes me want to load up on Ammo and canned goods.

Ice Age Froze Europe In Months | Mother Jones:

"Freako-frakkin-nomics notwithstanding, climate change is a thing of violent swiftness. New research indicates it took only months for Europe to freeze solid 12,800 years ago.

The most precise analysis yet of the onset of the 'Big Freeze' reveals that Europe froze not in a decade—as previously thought from analysis of Greenland ice cores—but in less than 12 months."
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West side is the best side.

First U.S. marijuana cafe opens in Portland | U.S. | Reuters:

"PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - The United States' first marijuana cafe opened on Friday, posing an early test of the Obama administration's move to relax policing of medical use of the drug.

The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it -- as long as they are out of public view -- despite a federal ban.

'This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members,' said Madeline Martinez, Oregon's executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization.

'Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana,' said Martinez. 'We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis.'"
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Oh those wacky French with their moderately funny Youtubes.



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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Pants Wetters

Oh noes, me so scared. Why, lawdy, we can't try terrorist here in the U.S. Just think how it will sully our beautiful minds.

Damn pants wetters.

Daily Kos: �There's a Reason Republicans Are Pissing Their Pants:

"That the Republicans are Un-American in their desire to circumvent our own Bill of Rights is self-evident. That they are Un-American in their cowardice when faced with two-bit extremist thugs is obvious. That they lack any sense of decency in their attempts to terrify an unassuming American public is clear, but has been a mainstay of their party going back over half a century. But none of this explains why the Republicans have chosen to simper so pathetically over the prospect of a few terrorists going on trial.

The reason is simple: they're afraid that their own policies of torture and indefinite detention will get the terrorists acquitted. So, like a stupid criminal, they're upping the ante by doubling down on their original criminal idiocy."
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Here's how a REAL American reacts.

9/11 Widow Kristen Breitweiser On "9/11 Terrorist" Going To Trial In New York City | Video

Cafe: "O'Donnell: Some of the victims' families of 9/11 have indicated that they're not pleased with this move to New York. How do you react to this?

Breitweiser: I think those families seem to be indicating a sense of anger or fear. And I think really, to be feeling those types of things, it doesn't fit my personality. I think that that's bowing to the terrorists. I think there is no better place than the Southern District of New York to be having these prosecutions heard. I think it's an open forum. And I think it speaks to the world that we are in fact a nation of laws. And frankly, I think, after eight years of the Bush administration we've got a lot of work in restoring our legitimacy to the rest of the world, that we are indeed a just nation that follows the rule of law."
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Good. Glad to see ACORN playing hard ball.

ACORN sues Congress for defunding it; Group says Congress bowed to Fox News

Can't really snark any better than Kos does, so....

Daily Kos: Real election fraud, courtesy of Pennsylvania GOP:

"Some ACORN dude registered Mickey Mouse to vote, which is so much worse than this:"
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Stunningly No Duh.

Book Review - 'The Ground Truth - The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11,' by John Farmer - Review - NYTimes.com:

"But the commission’s efforts to reconstruct the tragedy itself were, at best, resented and, at worst, impeded by the sprawling defense bureaucracy and the Bush administration, both of which had much to hide. Even two reports by the inspectors general of the Defense and Transportation Departments, released in 2006, whitewashed government failures. Now that numerous transcripts and tapes have been declassified, however, Farmer draws on them to assail the government’s official depiction of 9/11 as so much public relations flimflam."

Perhaps nothing perturbs Farmer more than the contention that high-ranking officials responded quickly and effectively to the revelation that Qaeda attacks were taking place. Nothing, Farmer indicates, could be further from the truth: President George W. Bush and other officials were mostly irrelevant during the hijackings; instead, it was the ground-level commanders who made operational decisions in an ad hoc fashion. The memoirs of the White House terrorism expert Richard Clarke, which Farmer credits with good faith, make it sound as though a dramatic video­conference that Clarke led played a crucial role in organizing a response to the hijackings, but Farmer says that “this account does not square in any significant respect with what occurred that morning.”
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Little Timmy needs some act right.

The Mommy Files : British think tank says tough love parenting is best

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Definitely not safe for work, but an entertaining 10 minutes. Such a great show.

Also: Harvard class on 'The Wire'



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Monday, November 16, 2009

Engorged Expenses

I think if more women got more hardcore about regulating the peen in the manner that old, bad hair white men want to regulate the va-jay-jay, then a lot of this ridiculousness would stop.

Hullabaloo:

"I don't want my tax dollars touching even one milimeter of that overly engorged expense.

I realize that many people disagree with my moral objections to men getting erections which God clearly doesn't want them to get, but my principles on this are more important to me than theirs are to them. So too bad. If you want a boner, pay for it yourself.

And I think those noxious advertisements for the drugs should be banned as well, if only for aesthetic reasons. Having to watch my baby boomer fellows wail 'Viva Viagra' is offensive to anyone who has any taste in music."
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Do these people vett anything at all?

Good for this kid.

I've always had a weird feeling about the pledge even when I was a wee lad.

Isn't 'pledging your allegiance' to a political state kinda, well, anti-freedom?

10-Year-Old Won't Pledge Allegiance To A Country That Discriminates Against Gays:

"'I've always tried to analyze things because I want to be lawyer,' Will said. 'I really don't feel that there's currently liberty and justice for all.'"
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He's getting some support in his local rag, which is nice.

Hey, kid, you’d better make that pledge�|�Arkansas News:

The Pledge of Allegiance was cooked up by a Baptist fellow in 1892 and subsequently promoted in youth publications for recitation by school children. It is, of course, not anything our founders envisioned and is, in fact, kind of antithetical to our very principle of constitutionally guaranteed liberty.

You cannot force somebody to promise fealty in this gloriously free country.

Having our little kids stand up in public school and salute a piece of cloth to vow faithfulness to their nation is harmless in nearly all cases, like a rhythmic and memorized child’s prayer before meals or at bedtime.

But a mass forced pledging of nationalistic allegiance is, when you really think about it, a perversion of the greater notion that we love and support our country by our own choice and for the very freedoms it grants us, including the freedom not to have to spew officially required words or mantras or chants."
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D.C. should tell 'em to get bent. Government and religion do not mix.

We need to start taxing the shit out of churches.

Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum on same-sex marriage issue:

"Peter Rosenstein of the Campaign for All D.C. Families accused the church of trying to 'blackmail the city.'

'The issue here is they are using public funds, and to allow people to discriminate with public money is unacceptable,' Rosenstein said.

Rosenstein and other gay rights activists have strong support on the council. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the judiciary committee, said the council 'will not legislate based on threats.'

'The problem with the individual exemption is anybody could discriminate based on their assertion of religious principle,' Mendelson said. 'There were many people back in the 1950s and '60s, during the civil rights era, that said separation of the races was ordained by God.'"
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Yawn. Another day, another FAUX lie.

Fox News host falsifies footage to make GOP protest look bigger

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Nice little racket they go going there.

US defense contractors pay insurgents millions, report says :

"'In this grotesque carnival, the US military's contractors are forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes,' Roston writes. 'It is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting. And it is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban.

'It's a big part of their income,' a top Afghan government security official purportedly told told The Nation."
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Wow.

Rockslide In Tennessee Caught On Tape (VIDEO)

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This is pretty cool. Never knew about this until this weekend.

Dock Ellis' LSD No-Hitter Retold In New VIDEO

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Yes, you can have fries with that as long as you get in the back of the car, honey.

Woman who mistook cop for Sonic car hop faces DUI

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Friday, November 13, 2009

DBT Week in Review - 11/13/09

Patterson/DBT!

40 Watt Shows have been announced!

Drive-By Truckers- Tour Dates

On sale tomorrow, 11/14 @ Noon.

Tickets for 1/14

Tickets for 1/15

Tickets for 1/16


3 Day Pass!


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Listen to Patterson Hood’s ‘Depression Era’ from ‘That Evening Sun’:

"A number of weeks ago I wrote about the original song “Depression Era” from Scott Teems’s “That Evening Sun.” It’s a breathy southern soul tune that, for my money, bests all other original song contenders this year. But considering the fact that the film will struggle to be seen, and the music branch isn’t likely to appreciate the song’s placement in the film (closing credits), I doubt an original song nomination is on the horizon."
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Patterson, Finn and Nichols. Onion A.V. folks are on top of it!

Who's the next Bruce Springsteen? | Features | | A.V. Milwaukee:

"Let’s dispense with an obvious disclaimer: There will never be another Springsteen, just as there will never be another Bob Dylan, Beatles, Zeppelin, insert your favorite classic rock band here. Furthermore, younger artists don’t need to be validated by being compared to a baby boomer favorite. Today’s musical heroes are just as valid as the legends of yesteryear. Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way: I think the person most deserving of Springsteen’s mantle is Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers."
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Internet Archive: Free Download: Patterson Hood Live at Caledonia Lounge on 2009-11-04

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Patterson Hood takes up series at Caledonia - Variety:

"'A good bit of our 2000 live album, 'Alabama Ass Whuppin,' was recorded there [at the Caledonia], so we put this together as a way to say thank you to the Caledonia for 10 years of great rock here in Athens,' Hood said."
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Musicians sound call for the Louisiana coast:

"The letter (view here ) was signed by a wide range of musicians and music industry voices; from New Orleans own Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Galactic, and Funky Meters to internationally known acts like REM, Trent Reznor, Ok Go, Los Lobos and Bonnie Raitt. Voodoo performers the Drive-By Truckers, Gogol Bordello, JJ Grey & Mofro, the Knux, Parliment-Funkadelic, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Generationals, Warsaw, and many others added their support as well."
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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Here are a couple of pictures of JI400 during sound check at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last Sunday. I should have a full post up next week with pictures and a few tales.







Posted this video of The Blue earlier this week, but this is a do over for better sound. Still working on better compression for the imaging, but sound has been much improved. May still be loading, so vid quality will improve.



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Photo essay: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit @ the Larimer Lounge | Reverb

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Preservation Hall and Sony RED Distribution Announce: 'Preservation, an Album Benefiting Preservation Hall and Its Music Outreach Program':
"The complete roster of artists includes: Louis Armstrong, Andrew Bird, Terence Blanchard, Pete Seeger, Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama, Brandi Carlile, Cory Chisel, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Richie Havens, Jason Isbell, Jim James, Angelique Kidjo, Amy LaVere, Anita Briem, Del McCoury, Bobby McFerrin, Buddy Miller, Paolo Nutini, and Tom Waits."
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Muscle Shoals Sound

Mac McAnally named musician of the year | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"“It was just a lucky piece of timing,” he said. “I’m just a part-time musician.”"
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Stars play auctioned guitars | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA - It takes seasoned guitarists such as Earl 'Peanut' Montgomery and Jimmie Johnson to notice the subtle differences in the two custom-made Benedetto guitars being auctioned by the University of North Alabama.

Johnson and Montgomery are among almost a dozen Shoals musicians who have come to Rogers Hall on the UNA campus to give the guitars a test run.

The guitars are the same model - electric hollow body Benedetto Bambinos handmade in Savannah, Ga."
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Dexateens

DEXATEENS t-shirt - all sizes - Peavy - - eBay (item 220506845914 end time Nov-13-09 17:18:21 PST)

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Music

Here's a quirky little group from the Bay Area.

Late Night Music Club: 'Beat It,' by Pomplamoose | Late Nite Music Club:

"Pomplamoose (it means 'grapefruit' in French) is a Bay Area indie jazz-pop band and is compromised made up of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, who do what they call VideoSongs.

For those who don't know, a VideoSong is a new medium with (as Jack puts it) two rules:

1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice).

2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds)."


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Whatever.

Joe Perry: Steven Tyler has quit Aerosmith - Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 | 4:03 p.m. - Las Vegas Sun

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Bee Gees interview - Telegraph:

"The two surviving members of this legendary trio (brother Maurice died suddenly, in January 2003, aged 53, of complications from a twisted intestine) have come together to celebrate a golden anniversary, 50 years in the music business, with a new compilation The Ultimate Bee Gees. It has been a quite extraordinary career, with two distinct periods of world-beating stardom, as Beatles-influenced soft rockers in the late Sixties (their classic hits included To Love Somebody, Words and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart and blue-eyed disco singers in the late Seventies (Stayin’ Alive, Jive Talkin’, Tragedy) with a twilight period as hitmakers for other artists, including Barbra Streisand (Woman in Love), Diana Ross (Chain Reaction), Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (Islands in the Stream) and Dionne Warwick (Heartbreaker). Their catalogue of solid gold standards is rivalled only by Lennon and McCartney."
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The New York Music Project: Help Map The City In Song:

"Since its founding, New York has been an evergreen inspiration for musicians, from Gershwin to Dylan to the Beastie Boys. 'Empire State of Mind,' Jay-Z's love letter to the city, is just the latest, and perhaps greatest, in a long line of New York-inspired songs. But one day -- maybe soon, maybe not -- someone else will come along and pen a diddy about the city that never sleeps that will fully-encapsulate life in the five boroughs and Jay-Z's will be a worn-out standard, played while fans shuffle out of the new new Yankee Stadium.

So in honor of the long and vast history of New York in song, we're extremely pleased to introduce the Huffington Post New York Music Project. Essentially we are trying to discover, uncover, and map every single song lyric that name-checks a location, business, corner, monument, etc., in the city of New York. This can be as vague as George Cohan giving his regards 'to Broadway' to as specific as Lou Reed 'waiting for the man' on 125th and Lexington. We've put together 40 entries to start off with, but that just scratches the surface."
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Fun Stuff

Type yer birfday in:

Wolfram|Alpha

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Ambiguous Film Endings Resolved (VIDEO)

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Need to open a bottle of wine this weekend but don't have a cork screw?

Well, here you go:



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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Living to be 100

Damn right. We definitely need some crazy ass LBJ channeling.

So far, I'm not impressed with 'Chicago style politics'. Kind of doughy and bloated like their pizza. (Otherwise, Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the U.S. Love that place).

John Conyers Tells Obama: 'Start Knocking Heads':
"'The president could take a few pages from Lyndon Johnson's book... and start knocking heads together,' said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee."
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Granted, those past Dem Congresses didn't have to deal with the current bat-shit crazy Republicans we do, but still....

Harold Meyerson - Harold Meyerson on the Senate's sluggish pace - washingtonpost.com:

"While Republicans have become an immovable object, the Democrats have yet to find a way to become an irresistible force. They began the year with a president who had been elected by a substantial majority on a platform of urgent change, and with sizable majorities in both houses of Congress. They had been in this position twice before. The first time around, in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt and Congress had enacted the landmark legislation of the First Hundred Days -- depositor insurance, emergency relief, industrial stabilization, public employment (the Civilian Conservation Corps). The second time around, in 1965, Lyndon Johnson and Congress had created the Great Society, passing more than 80 bills, among them Medicare, the Voting Rights Act and federal aid to education, in six months."
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Excellent piece. California is hamstrung b/c of a bill passed by Reagan Repubs in the 70s which essentially eliminates majority rule in California. 1/3 of the Cali Senate can stop anything from happening in the state.

No similar law is in place on the Fed level. Dems are just allowing the same thing to happen.

Never once from 2001-2008 did you hear of 60 votes needed for any damn thing. 60 votes are only needed when Dems are in power.

Jeez.

Steven Pearlstein - Want real reform? Let's start with Congress.

So at the risk of sounding naive, I'd like to offer a novel idea for changing the legislative dynamic, restoring majority rule to the legislative process and keeping health reform alive: Debate it on the Senate floor.

That's right, forget about spending another six weeks searching for those elusive 60 votes to break a filibuster, going back and forth with weak-kneed centrists like Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu who can't seem to decide what they really want, or self-righteous egotists like Joe Lieberman, who thinks he can call all the shots. If they have suggestions for improving the bill, let them do it the old-fashioned way: propose an amendment on the floor and see if they can get 49 other senators to agree.

To get things started, it will be necessary to put Vice President Biden in his rightful constitutional place as presiding officer, where he should make clear he'll do whatever is necessary to restore majority rule to the Senate, even as he jealously protects the rights of the minority to blabber on as long as it wants and offer whatever amendments it thinks necessary. And if that means overturning some outmoded precedent laid down by some dead predecessor, so be it.

As a final step, Majority Leader Harry Reid will need to break out the cots and announce that he'll keep the Senate in session day and night until a bill is passed or defeated or Senators agree to give up and go home.

If nothing else, it will be a marvelous civics lesson for Americans who have probably forgotten, if they ever knew, what a real floor fight looks like. They might even be so captivated that they decide to join the battle and let their elected representatives know how they feel. And my hunch is that when it's all over, we'll wind up with a health-care reform bill that is not only better than one negotiated in the backrooms, but is a much better reflection of where the country is on the issue.

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God forbid if we use reconciliation. Why, there is absolutely no precedent for such a thing....

Sen. Sanders: If Lieberman filibusters health reform, force it through | Raw Story:

"While congressional Republicans tend to howl at even the threat of such a measure being used to pass legislation they are opposed to, the GOP used reconciliation against Democrats in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005,"
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It is ours to win or fuck up.

Op-Ed Columnist - Paranoia Strikes Deep - NYTimes.com:

"And if Tea Party Republicans do win big next year, what has already happened in California could happen at the national level. In California, the G.O.P. has essentially shrunk down to a rump party with no interest in actually governing — but that rump remains big enough to prevent anyone else from dealing with the state’s fiscal crisis. If this happens to America as a whole, as it all too easily could, the country could become effectively ungovernable in the midst of an ongoing economic disaster.

The point is that the takeover of the Republican Party by the irrational right is no laughing matter. Something unprecedented is happening here — and it’s very bad for America."
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Damn right! Money talks, bullshit walks.

Progressives Threaten To Cut Off Money For Dems Who Oppose Health Care:

With the finish line for health care reform in sight, progressive groups are taking an aggressive approach to make sure that Democrats in Congress vote with their party. They're threatening to stop giving them money.

In the past few weeks, several separate groups have announced they will withhold fundraising money and political support from any Democrats who either vote against the bill in the House or support a GOP filibuster of the bill in the Senate.

"A similar effort is being launched on the House side. On Tuesday, Markos Moulitsas, founder of the popular Daily Kos blog, urged readers to simply stop writing checks to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as an explicit message to those '18 most endangered' Democrats who voted against health care legislation.

'It's clear that if you don't want your money to go to bad Democrats, then it's impossible to donate to the party committees,' Moulitsas told the Huffington Post. 'Some of the most endangered Democrats in 2010 are also some of the worst. If you want to contribute to the good ones, it's best to target your money directly to them.'"
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The portion of this diary excerpted below is righteously indignant, but the rest of the diary is brutal, albeit kinda inspiring too.

Talk about your Dirt Underneath.

Indeed. Fuck Y'all.

Daily Kos: I'm scared. �And I'm really f@cking angry.:

"Are you gonna sit there and tell me Mr. Gasbag/Mr. Congressman that that little clump of cells is a sacred treasure which must be saved at all costs and then turn around and say that providing healthcare for that clump of cells once the cord is cut is fiscally irresponsible and that the little bastard is now on its own?

Are you really gonna sit there and tell me Mr. Gasbag/Mr. Congressman that driving people into poverty so deep that they don't even have a shitty car to live in while Wall Street thieves, military contractors and environmental rapists grow ever more porcine and gluttonous is GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY and then turn around and LECTURE people driven mad with despair about bootstraps while hucking the occasional chunk of expired government cheese at them?

Are you gonna sit there and tell me Mr. Gasbag/Mr. Congressman that my gay friend's desires to have a legal joining that affords them the rights that the most basic common decency prescribes is somehow a THREAT to the kind of 'TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE' that my granddaughter witnessed last night?

Because if that's where we are at this point in the conversation, then I just have one thing to say to you, Mr. Gasbag/Mr. Congressman.

FUCK YOU."
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And the over/under for Dobbs on FAUX announcement is 7 days.

Lou Dobbs announces abrupt departure from CNN | Raw Story

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Hurry up with the life extenders, science. We godless bastards have placed our bets on y'all. And no more of the Ted Williams head freezing bs, either.

One Key Found for Living to 100 - Yahoo! News:

"Scientists have zeroed in on one apparent key to long life: an inherited cellular repair mechanism that thwarts aging and perhaps helps prevent disease. Researches say the finding could lead to anti-aging drugs."
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Forks of Cypress

Murder? Pffft. Freakin' ACORN is signing up people to vote!

I think we know which is more important, now, don't we.

Blackwater Approved $1 Million in Iraqi Payments After Shootings - NYTimes.com:

"WASHINGTON — Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials."
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We have a problem. We really, really do.

Wonder if any tall, skinny, white military types have been chased and smashed with a tire iron b/c they were mistaken for Timothy McVeigh.

Marine reservist chases, assaults Greek Orthodox priest who he mistook for an Arab terrorist.

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Damn commies:

Foreign Parts: � AIMER: Getting Sick, Part Five:

"I gulped. 'I don't have insurance,' I told her guiltily.

'Non?' she said, sounding surprised rather than disgusted.

'Well, I have American insurance, but it won't cover me in France.'

'Non?' She stared at me sympathetically. 'I'm sorry, but I must then ask for payment up front.'

'That's okay,' I said, but I was really thinking, What's it going to be? One-hundred euros? One-fifty?

'The bill is twenty euros.'"
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Dirt Underneath

Legal Schnauzer: Republicans Try to Shoot the Messenger on Corruption in Alabama:

"Alabama Republicans, predictably, have tried to discredit GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Johnson after his statements late last week that current governor Bob Riley received millions of dollars in campaign funds from Mississippi gambling interests in 2002.

A Riley spokesman said Johnson, a former member of Riley's cabinet, never was involved in campaign fund-raising and therefore could not know about such matters. The chairman of the Alabama Republican Party called Johnson's claims 'a joke.'

But the Riley defenders forget one inconvenient truth: This story hardly originated with Bill Johnson."
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I read all of these tweets at least once a week. Never gets old. Let's see how badly CBS eff's it up, though.

Twitter To TV: 'Shit My Dad Says' User Gets CBS Comedy Deal (PHOTOS, NSFW)

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Here is my high school history teacher, Mr. Wallace lecturing about the Forks of Cypress is Buttholeville. Mr. Wallace remains one of the best teachers I've ever had. He turned a lot of folks into lifetime history buffs.

One thing not mentioned in the video is that a horse track was once on the land surronding the house. Some of the first Kentucky Derby winners came from the Forks.



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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Whine Lovers

We've terrorized ourselves.

Daily Kos: 10 Suicides a Month at Fort Hood Texas:

"Fort Hood, Texas has the highest number of suicides of any military base in America. PTSD from multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan was the likely primary cause of this year's 75 suicides through July. The shooting tragedy in Texas is part of a larger mental health epidemic at Fort Hood.

This year alone, the base is averaging over 10 suicides each month - at least 75 have been recorded through July of this year alone.

Speculation on the background and motives of the shooter in Texas is a diversion from the severe mental health problems many of our soldiers are strugglin"
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Then again...

BBC NEWS | Health | Feeling grumpy 'is good for you':

"In a bad mood? Don't worry - according to research, it's good for you.

An Australian psychology expert who has been studying emotions has found being grumpy makes us think more clearly.

In contrast to those annoying happy types, miserable people are better at decision-making and less gullible, his experiments showed.

While cheerfulness fosters creativity, gloominess breeds attentiveness and careful thinking, Professor Joe Forgas told Australian Science Magazine."
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Somebody is projecting a bit much:

Limbaugh’s fetish? Mentions ‘anal poisoning’ 13 times in 2 years | Raw Story:

"MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Rush Limbaugh one of the world's worst people Thursday evening for saying that an HBO special about President Barack Obama should get 'anal poisoning.'

In fact, Olbermann noted, Limbaugh has mentioned 'anal poisoning' 13 times in the past 2 years. Limbaugh has also referenced 'men bending over and grabbing their ankles' 19 times. Olbermann suggests that Limbaugh could have a medical condition that lead to his fascination with that region of the body.

'There is actually no disease called anal poisoning,' Olbermann quips. 'The best anyone could come up with by explanation is that it's a term frequently used in pornography.'"
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Cool. Oceans are not just for drilling... baby.

Underwater Kite Harnesses Ocean Energy : CleanTechnica:
"A completely new concept of underwater wave energy using a simple 7 ton kite turbine design has been developed by Minesto; which is a spinoff from the Swedish military and aircraft design firm Saab. The Deep Green underwater turbine captures the power of the ocean just like a kite in wind.

The system could generate 18 terawatthours of energy annually, enough to provide nearly 4 million British households with reliably green electricity every year. UK households now use about a third of what average US households use in energy"
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5 Must-Have iPhone Apps for Wine Lovers

AppleInsider | Report: Apple to launch Verizon iPhone in Q3 2010

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Youth Mobile 2030: 6 Amazing Cars From The Future (PHOTOS, POLL)

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Will You Read This Post? | Psychology Today

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Monday, November 09, 2009

Oh, Irony

The Freedom loving thing to do would have been to let him die freely where he fell.

Socialist took away his freedom to meet baby Jesus. Bastards!

Government health care rescues protesters at anti-government health care rally.:

"More ominously, a man standing just beyond the TV cameras apparently suffered a heart attack 20 minutes after event began. Medical personnel from the Capitol physician’s office — an entity that could, quite accurately, be labeled government-run health care — rushed over, attaching electrodes to his chest and giving him oxygen and an IV drip.

This turned into an unwanted visual for the speakers, as a D.C. ambulance and firetruck, lights flashing, pulled in just behind the lawmakers. A path was made through the media section, and the patient, attended to by about 10 government medical personnel, was being wheeled away on a stretcher just as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) stepped to the microphone. “Join us in defeating Pelosi care!” he exhorted. A few members stole a glance at the stretcher."
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We can't do one goddamn right thing in this country without some American Taliban fucking it up.

Maddow is right.

Let's also insert into the bill that men will not be allowed any type of penis care at all. Lump on your nut? Suck it up, 'cause Jesus wants it that way.

Maddow: Democratic women will REVOLT over Stupak-Pitts if it is not removed in Conference:

"On Meet The Press today, Rachel Maddow made a point that should NOT be overlooked by Democrats in the House and Senate who wish to remian in their elected offices in 2010 and beyond, and that is the fact that if the Stupak-Pitts C Street anti abortion amendment in the House version of Health Care Reform is NOT removed if/when the bill goes to Conference to be merged with the Senate bill, there will be MASSIVE blowback for the Democratic party from it's female base.

Simply put, if women's rights are restricted by a Democratic Majority in Congress and a Democratic President in the White House, the women who make up the Democratic base will either sit n their hands in 2010 or hold a massive revolt which will cripple the Democrtaic party in future elections."


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I'm still lamenting the massive missed opportunity to come in with guns a blazing. Doubt I'll ever see another such opportunity in my life time. We could have made some real change.

Bill Maher: Is This as Good as It Gets From Obama?:

"Yeah, I'm disappointed, too. I thought we were sweeping into power; I thought change meant Change. I believed all that talk about another First 100 Days, a la Roosevelt. Well, that didn't happen. The question is, is this as good as it gets from Obama, or is he pacing himself? He may have a four and eight-year plan and they included a first year of just gettin' to know you and not gonna rock the boat too much. Well, Mission Accomplished on that.

It's still too early to lose hope in a guy as smart and talented as Barack Obama. But I would counsel him to remember: If you're going undercover to infiltrate how Washington works, so you become one of them for a while, to gain their confidence, well, it can be just like all those movies where a cop goes deep, deep, DEEP undercover with drug people and -- fuck, he's a drug addict, too!"
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We do have this going for us, though.

U.S. becomes top country brand under Obama: survey - Yahoo! News:

"SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Barack Obama has done it again. The president's starpower has made the United States the place most people want to visit and do business with, according to an annual survey that ranks nations like retail brands.

'The Obama effect has seen the United States earn the coveted top spot for the first time in the fifth annual index,' FutureBrand, which is part of Interpublic Group of Companies, said in a statement."
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Yup, about right.



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Hilarious.

Think Progress � Is Glenn Beck Being Treated By SEIU Nurses?:
"In recent days, Beck has been hospitalized for appendicitis. As Alternet’s Alexander Zaitchik points out, the staff treating the ailing pundit is likely under the auspices of SEIU nurses:

The security-conscious Beck has not disclosed the name of the facility, but it’s a safe bet that it is staffed by proud members of a storied union: New York’s Local 1199, aka United Healthcare Workers East, which belongs to the Service Employees International Union. The SEIU has organized all of Manhattan’s major hospitals, including every facility to which Beck could have conceivably been sent.

Beck certainly isn’t complaining about being treated by nurses who were organized by the union he regularly demonizes. On his Twitter account, he praised the staff that is attending to him:"

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These have zero to do with public safety and all to do with stuffing corporate pockets full of cash. Want some 'freedom' teabaggers? How's about getting a law banning these things on the ballot in every city in the U.S.

Controversial speed cameras cause gear-grinding among irked drivers

You rip open the envelope and there it is: Another darned photo-enforcement traffic ticket.

The photograph, the zoom-in on the tag, it's you, baby. Your car. Two weeks ago. Forty-one in a 30-mph zone.

It's from your favorite municipality. You can pay $40 now or $80 later. You can also contest it, the infraction letter says, and that's a laugh. You remember seeing that the folks who went down to fight their automated tickets in Montgomery County got convicted 99.7 percent of the time. Like a Soviet election, you think, a sham, a joke, and you, the chump in the parade.

There's something that doesn't smell right about these tickets, but you're not quite sure what.

Is it the huge profits the government and their cohorts, the camera manufacturers, make on them? The District doubling the number of tickets it issued just two years ago, raking in $36 million last fiscal year? The fact that Redflex, one of the big manufacturers of these cameras, posted a 48 percent jump in revenue last year while the rest of the economy tanked?

People get worked up. Put these cyborgs on a ballot, and the voters beat them to the pavement.

Three cities Tuesday -- two in Ohio, one in Texas -- voted to rip the things down. In College Station, Tex., the camera manufacturer and their subcontractors reportedly spent $60,000 campaigning to keep them in place, more than five times the amount raised by the opposition, and lost anyway. Voters in Chillicothe, Ohio, went against the cameras at a rate of 72 percent. In Heath, Ohio, the mayor got caught removing anti-camera campaign signs from an intersection. He, and the cameras, got sent packing.

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