DBT Week in Review - 2/26/10

DBT!

DBT touring this summer with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!

Drive-By Truckers - Tour Dates

_______

Listen up, y'all!

Drive-By Truckers:

"Drive-By Truckers and ATO Records are looking for enthusiastic fans to organize and host a listening party for the Drive-By Trucker's upcoming album 'The Big To-Do'."

_______

Mountain Stage Radio Affiliates

Drive By Truckers played Mountain Stage in February 2009. Many NPR affiliates will be airing that episode during the weekend of February 26-28 2010. A complete list of stations that carry the show can be found at the attached link. The following week DBT's set will be posted at NPR.org/mountainstage and archived for continued access. Rock!

_______

MIKE COOLEY SOLO PROJECT? YES, PLEASE. | The People's Music

_______

Interview- Pull out the To-Do list: Drive-By Truckers play two nights at the Jeff | The Hook News Blog:

"Despite their improbable fairy-tale rise to prominence, Drive-By Truckers are now arguably the South’s preeminent alt-country rockers. Fueled by booze and buzz over their character-driven, lyrically-provoking albums, the Athens, Georgia-based band balances Southern charm with backwoods rowdiness, poignantly nostalgic imagery, and a rousing three-guitar approach to country rock.

“We respect our audiences– times are hard, and it amazed me last year, with the horrendous downturn in the economy, that we had packed houses for most shows,” frontman Patterson Hood says. “We don’t take that for granted. It’s a cliche that every show counts, but it does.”"

________

DBT tunes up on a govt website. Via NB.

Some Road Songs - Highway History - FHWA:

"While we were working on FHWA By Day, Deborah Vocke challenged me to come up with a list of highway songs. Her challenge was prompted by the video for the B-52's 'Love Shack,' which shows the quartet driving in their car singing, 'I'm heading down the Atlanta highway.' I looked through my LP and cassette collection and copied the highway songs onto cassettes. They turned out to be fun to listen to in the car or on my regular long walks around Washington.

Deborah and I talked about writing an article on highway songs when we were preparing material for the issue of Public Roads dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Interstate System (Summer 1996). Somehow, time ran out on that idea, but I kept collecting and taping."

________

Drive-By Truckers tickets are going fast – Cape Fear Music - Wilmington Star News - Wilmington, NC - Archive

_______

turning me on | jay gonzalez

_______

It that a road tech Justin I see? Via Lurleen... I think.

Flaming Lips Santa Claus // Current

_______

Dexateens

Sessions: Dexateens | American Songwriter

______

Music

Not wrong, just illegal - Winnipeg Free Press:

"I support the act of file sharing and argue that the free sharing of these forms of intellectual property would likely produce, overall, more good than harm for society."

_______
_____
___

Listen Baby, Can You See....

Can I get a Hell Yeah!

Drive-By Truckers touring with Tom Petty!

TomPetty.com - News - North American Tour and New Album Announcement:

"The tour begins May 6 in Raleigh, NC and will take the band throughout the US and Canada all summer long. Special guests on the tour will include a mix of appearances by My Morning Jacket, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker, ZZ Top, and Drive-By Truckers."

Drive-By Truckers - Tour Dates

_______

Putting Americans In Control of Their Health Care | The White House

Daily Kos: Democrats: All you have to do is FIGHT:

"And there is only one thing the American People hate more than cowardly lying bullies.

People who lie down and roll over to cowardly lying bullies and let them take their lunch money.

WITHOUT EVEN A FIGHT.

If you had a choice between either voting for cowardly lying bullies or voting for someone who lets a cowardly lying bully beat them up every goddam day and never fight back.....who would you vote for?

That is the choice the American voter faces in November.

That is the ONLY reason any swing election will be close this year.

The Republicans have a tiny base, a horrible record, no money, no ideas, no solutions....nothing. And the voters KNOW this. Yet they have no real choice. Vote for the bully, or vote for the victim of the bully who gets rolled every frikking time. When they aren't busy running from the fight or hiding under their desks, that is.

Their is only one thing the Democrats have to do to change that, to BREAK the hold of the bully and get our government working for the American People again.

FIGHT BACK."

_______

Think Progress � Weiner Offends The GOP On House Floor: You’re All ‘Owned’ By The ‘Insurance Industry’!

_______

Daily Kos: The Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry:

"'The Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry.'

That's what I said on the House floor this afternoon.

The Republicans squealed like pigs and immediately demanded that my words be 'taken down' as they say in the House. But they can't say it's not true."

_______

Waxman: Anthem Blue Cross Spent $27M On 103 Executive Retreats:

"WASHINGTON — A major health insurer that wants to boost rates in California by up to 39 percent was trying to maximize profits by purging its sickest customers while spending millions on exorbitant salaries and retreats for its executives, congressional Democrats said Wednesday."

_______
_____
___

Loser in Chief

We elected another fucking Republican.

You create the support, Obama. That's what leaders do. We know the kabuki. We know you never wanted this b/c of your deals with big insurance and big pharma.

Loser.

Not another vote, not another dime, not another campaign phone call for Democrats.

If you think I have to hold my nose and vote Dem b/c the alternative is far worse, you've got another thing coming. I'll drag this bitch under the gutter.

Bring on President Palin.

White House slammed after declaring ‘not enough support’ for public option | Raw Story:

"Progressive bloggers and activists are up in arms about White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' assertion Tuesday that 'there isn't enough political support' to pass a public option for health care through Congress.

______

Per norm, Greenwald nails it.

This is their game. This IS what they do. Fuck 'em all.

My goal is to make it as painful as possible for any Democrat, especially those jackasses who think they are in the clear b/c they signed some goddamn letter of PO support. I can sign a letter too. Means jack shit.

Daily Kos: Glenn Greenwald: 'This is what the Democratic Party does; it's who they are':

"This is what the Democratic Party does; it's who they are. They're willing to feign support for anything their voters want just as long as there's no chance that they can pass it."

_______

North Alabama connection:

Slate Magazine - Editorial and Political Cartoons, Comic Strips:

"He served as editorial cartoonist for his college paper and managing editor of the alternative student newspaper while attending the University of North Alabama, where he graduated in 1980 with degrees in Art and History"

_______

Let's hand it back over to the idiotocracy. Bring it on.

_______

Because Europe has had many massive wars on its soil and has evolved to eschew militarization and war.... this is a danger to peace. Their peace endangers peace.

Seriously, did we even have an election? Is Cheney really president?

Gates Calls European Mood a Danger to Peace - NYTimes.com:

"“The demilitarization of Europe — where large swaths of the general public and political class are averse to military force and the risks that go with it — has gone from a blessing in the 20th century to an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace in the 21st,” he told NATO officers and officials in a speech at the National Defense University, the Defense Department-financed graduate school for military officers and diplomats."

_______

Jon Stewart ‘proves’ Glenn Beck is a commie | Raw Story:

"In the very same speech, Beck shed some light on his success. 'I educated myself. I went to the library and books are free.'

Stewart lowered his head in disbelief. 'Glenn, Glenn, Glenn the library isn't free. It's paid for with tax money. Free public libraries are the result of the progressive movement to communally share books,' he said.

'Community owned! That sounds like communist! You are a communist!' exclaimed an exasperated Stewart."

_______

Toast Miraculously Spotted On Jesus (PICTURE)

_______
_____
___

Teabagger Hero

You know what this means, right. Everybody wants this, right?

Polls: In Key States, Public Option Far More Popular Than Senate Plan | The Plum Line

Time for the march of the pouty, douchebag conservadems. If we, the people want it, then, guaranteed the Liebermans/Nelsons/asshole dems will stop us from getting it.

I really hate those guys.

_______

Two in a row from Atrios b/c he was tearing it up last night.

A-to-the-men:

Eschaton:

"Nobody Cares

As Bowers says, people don't give a crap about process. No matter what they say in polls, they don't give a crap about bipartisanship. The best it does is have the bipartisan fetishists in the press write nice things about you, but even that hasn't happened.

More than that, in my humble blogger opinion, bipartisanship is bad. Achieving it often requires splitting the baby type compromises. It spreads the blame around by making everybody and therefore nobody responsible. It obscures the real differences between the parties, and those differences are good because they provide voters with a real choice.

I'm not suggesting that lawmakers should never vote with the other side, but in general voters and democracy are much better served by having political parties with clear, if not extreme, differences."

_______

Hahahaha.

How fast before he's kissing teabag sack on FAUX News.

Baggers are PISSED. Again.... Hahahahaha.

Eschaton:

"Teabagger Hero

Scott Brown just sided with Dems and voted for cloture on the jobs bill...

Jobs Bill VOTE: GOP Filibuster Fails As Scott Brown And Others Break With Party

________

V-PILF gets Corky schooled.

"Like a loaf of French bread". Classic. I love this chick.

Family Guy actress hits Palin for carrying son around ‘like a loaf of bread’ | Raw Story:

"'In my family we think laughing is good,' actress Andrea Fay Friedman quipped. 'My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.'"

_______

Mr. 27% approval sure is getting all Democraty lately.

Schwarzenegger Rips Romney, GOP For Stimulus Hypocrisy:

"'I find it interesting that you have a lot of the Republicans running around, and pushing back on the stimulus money and saying, 'This doesn't create any new job,'' said Schwarzenegger. 'And then they go out and do the photo ops, posing with the big check and they say: 'Isn't this great, look at the kind of money I've provided for the state and this is money to create jobs, and this has created 10,000 new jobs, this has created 20,000 news jobs, and all those kinds of things.' It doesn't match up.'

It's hypocrisy, said host Terry Moran. 'Exactly,' Schwarzenegger replied.

Case in point:

Republicans Voting Against Stimulus Then Asked Obama for Money - Bloomberg.com

_______

Hilarious and exactly why I advise anyone to never watch those Sunday passion plays that are suppose to serve as some type of 'news' and 'commentary'. Those fuckers live in there own little village.

Turn the tube off and read your news.

The Bobblespeak Translations: Meet the Press - February 21, 2010

_______

Oh boy. I hope the people who put this together see some jail time.

Student claims school spied on him via computer webcam | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/19/2010

_______

My own extensive study has confirmed these results, especially if accompanied by a six pack of pale ale.

Marijuana Provides Pain Relief, New Study Says:

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The first U.S. clinical trials in more than two decades on the medical benefits of marijuana confirm pot is effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or illnesses, according to a report issued Wednesday."

_______
_____
___

A Mob of Lying Liars

If only they would listen to us dirty fucking hippies.

Daily Kos: State of the Nation:

"John Cole, a little more than a year ago:

I really don’t understand how bipartisanship is ever going to work when one of the parties is insane. Imagine trying to negotiate an agreement on dinner plans with your date, and you suggest Italian and she states her preference would be a meal of tire rims and anthrax. If you can figure out a way to split the difference there and find a meal you will both enjoy, you can probably figure out how bipartisanship is going to work the next few years."

_______

Less of a cult, more of a mob.

Real Time New Rules: The Tea Party Isn't a Movement, It's a Cult | Video Cafe

Maher: And three, cult members always attribute all of their problems to one simple explanation. Now here's an amazing statistic. In a recent poll almost ninety percent of Tea Baggers said that they thought taxes had either gone up or stayed the same under Obama. Only two percent thought they went down. But the reality is taxes have gone down for ninety five percent of working families taxes went down.

Think about that. Only two percent of the people in a "movement" about taxes named after a tax revolt have the slightest idea what's going on...with taxes.

So, it would be easy to just mock, except that those who fall under the control of cults aren't necessarily weirdoes, they're victims. And we shouldn't forget that these people are our relatives, our neighbors and the folks at the next table in the restaurant. Especially if that restaurant is Hooters and it's dollar wing Wednesday.

_______

Hypocrisy knows not bounds. They don't even care.

AMERICAblog News: Republican makes joke about Obama using teleprompter. Reads joke from a teleprompter.:

"UPDATE: Sam Stein of Huff Post tweets that there have now been six teleprompter jokes at the conservative CPAC conference, all read off of teleprompters."

_______

Republican Liar. Redundant.

Pawlenty repeats false tale about Obama teleprompter | McClatchy:

"'President Obama was in a grade school classroom speaking to elementary school children and he was using a teleprompter,' Pawlenty said Friday in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

'You've got to be kidding me,' he added. 'That's not a joke. That's a real story.'

Actually, it's not. The tale spread by bloggers over the Internet and in some media, including the Comedy Channel's Jon Stewart, blended together two Obama appearances Jan. 19 at the Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia, to make it appear he used the teleprompter when speaking to a classroom of 30 pupils.

In reality, Obama sat on a chair and spoke with the pupils without the device.

In a different classroom, he used the teleprompter to give scripted remarks on education to television cameras."

_______

If uber-conservative Bob Barr is being 'jeered' you know these fuckers are bat-shit insane.

Yes, booo! Laws! Laws suck! Booo.

Bob Barr jeered at CPAC for saying waterboarding is torture | Raw Story:

"Either we believe, as lawyers, as lawmakers and as citizens, that there is value in laws, that laws that are passed have meaning and have a purpose, or we dont,' Barr said.

_______

Lying Liars

James O'Keefe and the myth of the ACORN pimp | Media Matters for America:

"There's no doubt the pimp costume story worked. (Raise your hand if you were duped.) My guess is if you polled Americans today, and even ones who followed the story closely last year (including right-wing partisans), at least 90 percent would say O'Keefe sat inside ACORN offices while decked out in his pimp costume.

But it's not true. At least there have not been any publicly released ACORN videos to suggest otherwise."

_______

Hullabaloo:

"This story is important. There's a long tradition of undercover muckraking that's initiated many an important social change in this country. But this isn't muckraking, it's political theatre. The level of cynical deception in this 'story' runs several layers deeper than anything I've ever seen before, tapping into some really nasty, subterranean veins of stereotype, prejudice and racism --- on everyone's part --- to make what ends up being a completely distorted point. The fact that what should have been instantly seen as an obviously absurd proposition was taken at face value even by the US congress and the major media institutions of this country should inform us a little bit about how tenuous our racial progress might just be. This was a shameful episode deserving of more scrutiny than it's gotten so far."

_______

Damn, Tejas.

Meet the Flintstones | The Texas Tribune:

"Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll."

_______

Damn, Utes.

Let's see... MLK was assassinated with a.... now what was it.... hmmm.

Think Progress � Utah state senator wants to create holiday honoring ‘gun pioneer’ on MLK Day.:

"“I see them as complimentary,” [Madsen] said. Browning is known for developing a variety of guns, including the gas-operated machine gun. Madsen said he plans to meet with the NAACP to discuss his proposal.

“We’ll see if they can take it in the spirit it’s intended,” Madsen said. [...]

“Guns keep peace,” [state Senate Majority Leader Scott] Jenkins [R] said. “I kind of like the idea of making his birthday a holiday. I’m all over that.”"

________

Damn, ND.

Bank Of North Dakota: America's Only 'Socialist' Bank Is Thriving During Downturn

_______

My favorite Winter Olympian

Sven Kramer To NBC Reporter: 'Are You Stupid?' (VIDEO)

_______

Want

G-Spot Mouse Could Heat Geeks Up (PHOTOS)

_______
_____
___

DBT Week in Review - 2/19/2010

DBT!

So very rare that I get to lead with something Cooleyish.

Not 1 but 2 cool Cooley related bits.

1. Enjoy Yourself:

D-B Truckers on Record Store Day on Blurt Online:

"'It's not an album, it's not a full-length record. It's not even an EP,' he says. 'There's no way I can describe it. You'll think I'm fucking with you if I start describing it. You'll just have to see. The only thing I'll tell you is this - it's high art.'"

2: Vintage Cooley covering REM with a nascent Stained Mecca circa 1988:

_______

DBT, Booker and Bettye:

Hulu - Live from the Artists Den: Booker T. & The Drive-By Truckers with Bettye LaVette

_______

NineBullets.org - Message Board • View topic - Raleigh 02/12/10-02/13/10:

"Great Show last night!

One amazing song after another...can't believe I waited so long to see them headline a gig.

A friend wasn't able to claim an extra, so after listening to my 9 yo tell me for almost a full hour, 'I wanna go...can't I go...why can't I go...etc', the wife and I gave in.
So, Sam, my 9 yo son, popped his cherry with The Truckers.
After the show was over, he said, 'I will remember this for the rest of my life!'

I was actually amazed by how nice folks were with him.
I can't count the amount of 'Rock on little guy!' he got.

Anyway...like I said, it was an AMAZING show all around!"

________

Brent Best/Slobberbone

Go play nice... or dirty with Brent Best on his new Slobberbone Facebook page!

Facebook | Slobberbone

And, because I think I grabbed this off his page....

_______

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Daniel Wolff: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit:

"'Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit” is a mystery. The first time I heard it, the last time, and the countless times in between, it sounded both uncannily familiar and absolutely fresh. I can explain that a little – and I can suggest some of the issues and emotions the music raises -- but when all is said and done, the record remains a mystery. And I believe that’s deliberate."

______

Dexateens

Dexateens making a run for the border!

Canadian Music Fest 2010- Dexateens!

_______

Music

The Knack lead singer Doug Fieger dies - Yahoo! News:

"WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Doug Fieger, leader of the power pop band The Knack who sang on the 1979 hit 'My Sharona,' died Sunday. He was 57.

Fieger, a Detroit-area native, died at his home in Woodland Hills near Los Angeles after battling cancer, according to The Knack's manager, Jake Hooker."

_______

Muscle Shoals.... Clothes

Reid wins designer award | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"He said Reid has mastered the use of familiar fabrics such as tweed, plaid and denim. He tweaks classic designs, such as adding red plaid piping on a pea coat and lining its flaps with leather rather than fabric, or a moleskin jacket with a surprisingly contemporary lining in red and navy check cotton.

'He's a gentleman who thinks in a very modern way,' Moore said. 'We just love the fact you can go into a Billy Reid store and be a 20-something hipster or ... a guy looking for a business suit. He's going to inspire men who don't want to look cookie-cutter. His clothes are steeped in such incredible style ... that makes you want to buy them.'"

_______
_____
___

What Tiger Should Do

Justin (shitmydadsays) on Twitter

"'I like See's candy. Put me in a See's store, I'm eating candy. The whole world is Tiger's See's store, and the candy is vagina.'"

_______

It is no secret how little I think of what passes as news media today. I'm equally disgusted with the predictable kabuki of the fallen media star. Build 'em up, tear them down. Go to some sort of rehab then get on the cover of Whatever Magazine with a big 'Sorry! I fucked up'. Apologize, go on Oprah, rehabilitate the 'image' only b/c the ' image rehabilitation' is mandated by the marketers who still want to make money off your ass.

Thus is the trap Tiger is in.

My fantasy:

Tiger steps to the podium tomorrow gives the ol' 'trying time for me, my family and my fans'.... next he says "But, I was checking my bank account this morning and, well, fuck every last one of you. I'm Tiger Woods, bitches! I'll fuck who I want to fuck when I want to fuck them"!

Then Tiger just goes all gansta. Pulls out a big ass chain with a full sized gold-plated bent golf club dangling from the end.

Next he introduces Kanye as his new caddy.

Lastly he whips out his (some say large) dick and pimp walks to the front row where Jesper Parnevik and David Feherty and other faux outraged Tiger commentators and fake news people are sitting (yeah, Fox and Friends need to be there too) and slaps each and everyone of those bitches in the face with his prodigious member.

Still at the podium, Kanye screams "White America's Worst Nightmare: Rich, Black, and Just Don't Give a Fuck" and "Where are the white woman at!"

Still holding his dick, Tiger returns to the podium where he states "If any of y'all motherfuckers has anything additional to say about me, about what I do, or about my family, you can talk to this motherfucker I'm holding in my hand" (gets a little Samuel Jackson here).

Next tournament, he moon walks in his spikes across the 18th. Taunts little old white ladies in the gallery. Bangs the course President's daughter in a port-a-potty in between the 9th green and 10th tee....

I would empty my bank account purchasing new and improved Tiger products. I swear to god.

Alas. A boy and his dream.

_______

Somethings afoot with the Public Option, but I'm waiting to see it is all for show once again.

Making those phone calls, though.

Exclusive: Sanders joins Dems in final push for public option | Raw Story:

"The public option is not just important for the individual consumer, it is an important mechanism to provide competition for the private, for-profit health insurance industry, to keep them honest, and to lower the overall cost of health care in our country,' he said."

And before yesterday, I would have bet a pretty penny that Feinstein wouldn't sign on.

Happy and surprised to be wrong.

Dianne Feinstein Signs On To Public Option Push

_______

More on Bayh-douche. His daddy he ain't

Bill Maher: 'Corporatist' Evan Bayh Is What's Wrong With Senate (VIDEO):

"Evan Bayh is not a centrist, he's a corporatist, according to Bill Maher.

Maher appeared on 'Anderson Cooper 360' Tuesday night to comment on the state of affairs in Washington, D.C. He argued that Evan Bayh, the retiring Senator from Indiana, is what's wrong with Congress. The Senate is 'where legislation goes to die,' Maher says, because 'corporatist Democrats' like Bayh act like Republicans.

Maher told Cooper that politics are not polarized enough and that the U.S. lacks a real progressive party."

_______

Robert L. Borosage: Bipartisan Blight III: Evan Bayh Bye:

"The harsh reality is that Bayh has been wrong about virtually everything. And the country suffers not because partisanship blocked action, but because the establishment consensus got too much of his agenda enacted.

Bayh supported the catastrophic invasion of Iraq. He joined the bipartisan celebration of banking deregulation. He favors more military spending. He favored tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans in an age of Gilded Age inequality. He was an advocate of corporate free trade policies that encouraged multinationals to ship jobs to a mercantilist China willing to subsidize them. He's a champion of bipartisanship -- bipartisan folly."

_______

I share philosophies with the next two posts from DKos posters.

Hell raising, uncompromising Progressives.

None of this pragmatic, slicing babies horse-shit.

Daily Kos: I'm sick of centrist do-nothingism:

"I'm sick of do-nothingism. I'm sick of excuse making for political stagnation. I'm sick of no results. I'm sick of attacks on those of us who want to change things. Those of us who actually have hope that we can change everything if we want it, and we can do it now. I'm sick of the hopeless and heartless centrists telling us we can't do what we want right now."

_______

This guy takes it to the wussy Dems (not the elected ones, the base party members) as succinctly as I've seen.

Daily Kos: Throw The Bums Out:

"The People voted for Change....and they ain't getting it.

And past a certain point, they don't REALLY care why.

And they sure don't care about excuses.

So if The Dems don't want to get their asses Thrown Out, they better start delivering Change.

Period.

End of Story."

_______

It worked, but it wasn't large enough to bring unemployment down just like we dirty fucking hippies said.

Economic Scene - Success of Stimulus Bill Is Noteworthy as Another Is Weighed - NYTimes.com:

"If that had happened, what would the economy look like today?

Well, it would look almost exactly as it does now. Because those nice descriptions of the stimulus that I just gave aren’t hypothetical. They are descriptions of the actual bill."

_______

Lot of good folks down there. I'm glad those good folks righted this wrong.

Think Progress � Nashville residents of all faiths pledge support for local Muslims after hate crime vandalism.

_______

An issue of prohibition. If weed was legal, there wouldn't be a market for a fucking chemical with god-knows-what in it mimicking the real deal.

Only for idiots:

Cops: Imitation pot as bad as the real thing - Yahoo! News

_______

I bet that percentage is higher in the deep south of the U.S.

I happen to like sexy Canadian Bacon. Oh yeah.

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. | Asked to choose between bacon and sex, 43 per cent of Canadians would choose...bacon!:

"MISSISSAUGA, ON, Feb. 3 /CNW/ - According to a recent national survey, Canadians are passionate about bacon. When asked to choose between bacon and sex, more than four in 10 (43%) chose bacon! Maple Leaf commissioned this Angus Reid For the Love of Bacon survey to mark the launch of their newest product innovation, Maple Leaf Reclosable Bacon."

_______
_____
___

Bayh's an Asshole

Since Blogger once again ate my post yesterday in which I bashed the fake Democrat and every bit a part of the problem Evan Bayh, I get to do it again today.

Good riddance you 'centrist (read: do-nothing)' fake ass Democrat.

You are one of the main reasons Congress is Dysfunctional, asshole.

Your complete compromise on everything amounted to letting the Republicans have their way 100%.

Fuck you and we'll see you on K street soon, O man of lofty convictions.

Hypocritical asshole.

Disillusioned Bayh advocates electoral “shock” to broken system - Yahoo! News

In an interview on MSNBC this morning, newly retiring Sen. Evan Bayh declared the American political system "dysfunctional," riddled with "brain-dead partisanship" and permanent campaigning. Flatly denying any possibility that he'd seek the presidency or any other higher office, Bayh argued that the American people needed to deliver a "shock" to Congress by voting incumbents out en masse and replacing them with people interested in reforming the process and governing for the good of the people, rather than deep-pocketed special-interest groups.

..........

But Bayh had apparently become increasingly frustrated in the Senate. In this morning's interview he noted that just two weeks ago, Republicans who had co-sponsored a bill with him to rein in the deficit turned around and voted against it for purely political reasons. He also stated repeatedly that members of his own party should be more willing to settle for a compromise rather than holding out for perfection.

"Sometimes half a loaf is better than none," Bayh insisted.

What these folks said:

AMERICAblog News:

"I'm with Atrios:

If Ambinder knows what he was talking about, Bayh wanted Obama to support a Senate coalition of Republicans and centrist Democrats. You know, the same thing we had for the past several really awesome years of policymaking. You also get the sense that, as is usually the case, there isn't really much policy substance here, it's all about the joys of hippie punching.

CNN:

'He hates the Senate, hates the left bloggers,' a friend and longtime adviser to Bayh said. 'They are getting their wish, pure Democrats in the minority.'"

Actually, the reason Democrats are in the quagmire they are today is because they and the White House moved too far to the right, not because they embraced the blogs. None of them have embraced the blogs, even though much of what we espouse polls well with the majority of the American public, and, ironically, was included in candidate Obama's platform. The problems arose not when the President and Congress did too much of what the blogs wanted, it's when they refused to do what they already promised the American people, and thus came off weak and ineffective.

The Congress and the President moved to the right in an effort to appease the Republicans. And look what it got them. Nothing. For Evan Bayh to now pull a Sarah Palin, taking all his marbles and going home, is neither original nor helpful. Bayh can blame the demise of the Democratic party all on himself. They took his advice. Lord knows they aren't listening nearly enough to any of us.

_______

How Christian Were the Founders? - NYTimes.com

Not very. But that won't stop the Fundies from continuing their attempt to rewrite history.

Our Founders Were NOT Fundamentalists | The Smirking Chimp:

"Today's fundamentalists would have DESPISED the actual Founders. Franklin's joyous, amply reciprocated love of women would evoke their limitless rage. Jefferson's paternities with his slave mistress Sally Hemings, Paine's attacks on the priesthood, Hamilton's bastardly philandering, the grassroots scorn for organized religion -- all would draw howls of righteous right-wing rage.

Which may be why theocratic fundamentalists are so desperate to sanitize and fictionalize what's real about our history.

God forbid our children should know of American Christians who embraced the Sermon on the Mount and renounced the Book of Revelations...or natives who established democracy on American soil long before they saw the first European...or actual Founders who got drunk, high and laid on their way to writing the Constitution.

Faith-based tyranny is anti-American. So are dishonest textbooks. It's time to fight them both."

_______

Because most Americans are fucking stupid.

Idiotocracy

Poll Reveals Most Americans Don't Know They Got a Tax Cut - Political Hotsheet - CBS News:

"Of all the very information that came out of the recent CBS News/New York Times poll, one question stuck out, that of taxes.

Here's the poll question: 'In general, do you think the Obama Administration has increased taxes for most Americans, decreased taxes for most Americans or have they kept taxes the same for most Americans?'

The answer:
• 24 percent of respondents said they INCREASED taxes.
• 53 percent said they kept taxes the same
• And 12 percent said taxes were decreased."

_______

Here's something the Teabaggers should really be pissed about.

But, god forbid, anything ruin there 'Merica is #1' fucked up meme.

Op-Ed Columnist - Watching China Run - NYTimes.com:

"It was primarily a symbolic gesture. Way back in 1979, in the midst of an energy crisis, Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House. They were used to heat water for some White House staffers.

“A generation from now,” said Mr. Carter, “this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people, harnessing the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil.”

Ronald Reagan had the panels taken down."

The most important news and commentary to read right now. - The Slatest - Slate Magazine:

"China is so far ahead in the race to create technology related to renewable energy, that 'the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China,' notes the New York Times. The United States, along with other countries, is trying to catch up, but it's an uphill battle. While renewable energy continues to be more expensive, China charges a fee to all users to help spread out the cost, an example of how the government takes a deep interest in energy policy. And it's not just about government regulations. In fact, part of the reason why China has been able to become a world leader in building this new technology is that its domestic market is growing. Demand for electricity in China is skyrocketing, so power companies have to constantly buy new equipment, making it easier to develop large-scale production lines."

_______

Amen.

Jerry Seinfeld Gives Parenting Advice: Let Them Struggle:

"The first is Praise--'We tell our kids, 'Great job!' too much,' he says. The second is Problem-solving--'We refuse to let our children have problems. Problem-solving is the most important skill to develop for success in life, and we for some reason can't stand it if our kids have a situation that they need to 'fix.' Let them struggle--it's a gift.' Just as he's explaining the third P--'Giving your child too much Pleasure'--a woman comes in the deli with her three young daughters and buys them all huge cookies. 'Can you believe this?' Seinfeld says, gesturing like his TV counterpart used to. 'It's 5:30 p.m.--when will they have dinner? At 8?'"

_______

Craziness at Mavericks this year:

MAVERICKS / Biggest of the big waves:

"(02-13) 21:12 PST -- The sport of surfing reached new heights at Mavericks on Saturday. In the end, it wasn't so much a contest as an elevated state of mind, a heady swirl of fear, respect and bravado among some of the best big-wave riders in the world. In the end, most everyone agreed, some history was made.

From the locals to the Hawaiians to seasoned men on the judges' stand, the talk of the after-party centered around a powerful statement: These were the biggest waves ever for a paddle-surfing contest. South Africa's Chris Bertish took home the $50,000 first-prize check, but as he said, 'It took all of us to make this happen. I cannot believe what we saw out there today, and how well it was surfed by everybody.'"

Huge waves at Mavericks injure spectators
Monster Waves Wipe Out Surf Audience - ABC News

_______
_____
___

Fuck you Blogger.... Again.

Yet, more hard work fucking obliterated by this half assed Blogger service.

I fucking hate you blogger.

Anyone that wants to start a blog, use Word Press:

http://wordpress.com/
http://wordpress.com/
http://wordpress.com/
http://wordpress.com/

I rue the day I started AAW on Blogger.

Potentially, Maybe, Possibly, Making Plans, Might.....

Maddow was absolutely stellar last week. This post gives a good run down of how Maddow dominated. Really good stuff:

Daily Kos: Rachel Maddow is single-handedly changing this country's trajectory:

"The idea was that black voters weren‘t being denied the right to vote based on race. That would be illegal. No, those voters just couldn‘t pass this literacy test.

This isn‘t the plot of some Kagzo (ph) Klansman gothic short story. This isn‘t a theoretical for first-year law students. This isn‘t some State Department report on some tin pot dictatorship halfway around the world that we can‘t pronounce.

This is American history. This is really, really recent American history—as in this lifetime for a lot of people American history.

And the opening night speech at the national tea party convention this weekend proposed bringing the literacy test for voting back. And that proposal got a warm round of applause."

_______

It stopped raining here in NorCal, thus proving that clouds do not exist..... or something.

Weather and Climate... not the same thing.

Colbert Rips Fox News For Using Snowstorm To Deny Global Warming (VIDEO)

When Bill Nye is smacking you down..... you are a sad human being.

Bill Nye the Science Guy: Climate change deniers are ‘unpatriotic’ | Raw Story:

"'[We] remind you that global warming was the first term for this phenomenon that we now call can climate change,' he said. 'So it‘s very reasonable that a snowstorm in Washington that‘s this severe is a result of climate change.'

'There‘s more energy in the atmosphere, and this is stirring things up,' Nye continued. 'If you want to get serious about it, these guys claiming that the snow in Washington disproves climate change are almost unpatriotic. It's really, they're denying science.'"

______

"Potential Use" and "making plans". Sigh. Weak and wrong.

Obama Won't Drop Potential Use Of Reconciliation On Health Care

Obama Making Plans to Use Executive Power - NYTimes.com

Amen. I'm a Dean Democrat.

Howard Dean: Democrats ‘need a spinal transplant’

_______

Lived in peace until the locale media creates their own special Jihad.

Think Progress � Tennessee Mosque Vandalized After Local TV Station Airs Irresponsible Report On ‘Homegrown Jihad’

_______

Damn. My people are getting organized. Nice.

The Scavenger : Atheist billboards in Sacto: 'Are you good without God?':

"Don't believe in the Man Upstairs? Atheists and agnostics want you to know that you're not the only one. And they've been spreading this message through a nationwide campaign that started last year. With the help of an umbrella organization called the United Coalition of Reason, local atheist groups have paid for billboards and other ads in about a dozen cities, including San Diego, Houston, Tulsa and New Orleans. Signs like the ones that recently emerged in Sacramento ask 'Are you good without God? Millions are.' Others proclaim 'Don't believe in God? You are not alone,' while the NYC subway ads point out, 'A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?'"

_______

Some of these really are outrageous:

Outrageous Vintage Ads That Show How Far We've Come (PICTURES)

_______
_____
___

DBT Week in Review - 2/12/10

DBT!

Pre-Order The Big To-Do yet? You hate baby Jesus if you haven't.

_______

DBT on ReverbNation.

_______

Shonna contributed a recipe to the Austin City Limits Performers' Cookbook.

Below is a note from the publisher posted to DBT's Facebook page

Table of Contents and Excerpt, Facemire, Music in the Kitchen

Hi Shonna - thanks for your awesome Drunken Baby Carrots recipe in "Music In The Kitchen" -Austin City Limits performers cookbbook. We LOVE it!

_______

Q&A: Brad Morgan of Drive-By Truckers | Metromix Greenville

_______

A Valentine's Day To-Do - see the Drive-By Truckers in Knoxville:

"'In the studio is when we typically have a really good time,” Cooley said. 'Going out and touring is fun, and we really get off on it, but it's the job — or at least, for us it's the closest we get to a grind. But when we're looking for something new, going into the studio and getting to hang out with each other without all of the soundchecks and this and that is something we look forward to. Because if you write songs, your favorite song is always the next one.'"

"“Once you get to that bridge, sometimes it's a lot longer and shakier and sometimes made out of rope. But you've got to get across it. And once you do — once you achieve tolerance — you can get back to all of the respect and chemistry and natural things that make it happen in the first place."

________

Knoxville.com | Drive-By Truckers take no show and no crowd for granted : Music : Knoxville.com:

"How the Drive-By Truckers became a success story confounds even its members.

'This is our 25th year together and it's still a mystery to me,' says Patterson Hood. 'I just know that it works and I'm glad it works."

_______

NineBullets.org - Message Board • View topic - Rolling Stone Shows Some Love:

"The new (Feb 18, 2010) issue of Rolling Stone has a little love for DBT, landing them on this month's 'Hot List:' 'This Fucking Job: Roots-rock social realism is back! 'A family can't live on these fast-food wages,' Patterson Hood sings over power chords crunchier than a double-stuffed gordita.'"

_______

Movie review: 'The Secret to a Happy Ending' features the Drive-By Truckers - washingtonpost.com:

"'The Secret to a Happy Ending' doesn't strictly obey the rules of the very genre it belongs to. Made by an unabashed fan, what it might lack in hard-nosed inquiry it makes up in conveying the ardor and near messianic belief that have made Drive-By Truckers a cult sensation."

_______

"....but it got canceled".

The Secret to a Happy Ending at the AFI Silver Theatre - Arts & Events - Washington City Paper:

"The documentary will probably present DBT in three different ways: DBT as the obvious heirs to Skynyrd’s “triple-threat” guitar section; DBT as real folk who still hang out in Athens, even though they’re famous; and DBT as manly men who dry themselves with cheetah pelts. If you doubt these truths, take your beef to Cooley and Patterson—they’ll be waiting for you at AFI."

_______

NineBullets.org - Message Board • View topic - vintage DBT

_______

Wes Freed turned me on to his neighbor Mark Lilly. Marks got a very cool racket.

Farm to Family 09.25.09 | VASADP:

"Farm to Family, operated by Mark Lilly, is a bus that stops all over Richmond so that you can pick up fresh produce from local farmers any day of the week. The goal of Farm to Family is to provide local, sustainable and affordable produce to the Richmond metro area and to provide small farms with a means of distribution year round. Mark also hopes that it will foster a community of healthy eaters and growers and lead towards a more sustainable food system."

________

Jason Isbell

The Music of The Who at Carnegie Hall - March 2, 2010:

"Bob Mould (of H�sker D�Fab Faux, The Gaslight Anthem, Jason Isbell, Asaf Avidan, Vanessa Carlton, Willie Nile, Rich Pagano, Nicole Atkins, Steven Bernstein & The Music Unites Youth Choir"

________

Muscle Shoals Sound

Filmmaker attempting to secure funding for music documentary | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"TUSCUMBIA - Most recording artists know when the audience is cheering, they're into the music.

Percy Sledge, who sang “When a Man Loves a Woman,” grew up in Leighton.

If they're silent, there's something wrong.

It's just the opposite for Percy Sledge, the man whose hit 'When a Man Loves a Woman' helped bring Muscle Shoals music to the world.

'When they're quiet, I've got 'em,' Sledge said in an interview that will be part of a short presentation that filmmaker Wallace Sears will use to get backing for a major documentary on Muscle Shoals music."

______

Music I Like

Whilst managing one of the many social sites I admin, I came across Allison Weiss from Athens, GA.

Really digging 'Fingers Crossed' and 'I'm Ready'.

Allison Weiss | Athens, GA | Rock / Folk / Powerpop | Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos | ReverbNation

_______

DnC gets a panda shout-out.

Morning Roundup: One Less Panda Edition - City Desk - Washington City Paper:

"Sometime around 8, Tai Shan entered a FedEx container and headed out to Dulles. I hope he took 123 to the Toll Road, rather than stay on 66, which is a killer! He will be flying back to China as part of a deal under which they sell us cheap power tools for the foreseeable future, accompanied by his redneck cousin Mei Lan, who is returning from Zoo Atlanta (sadness). Mei Lan will bore Tai Shan to tears on the way over, talking about how much better Atlanta's weather is than D.C.'s and why Drivin' N Cryin' never got their due."

_______

Music

Jesse Kornbluth: Justin Townes Earle: Steve's Son? Yes, Just as Talented, but Not Political and Much More Fun

_______

Air Force pulls ad following legal threat from White Stripes | Raw Story:

"WASHINGTON -- jackmeg Air Force pulls ad following legal threat from White StripesAdd the White Stripes to the long list of rock musicians that have extracted their music from politically-related campaigns they don't support.

The Detroit alternative rock duo consisting of Jack and Meg White has lashed out at the United States Air Force for using their song 'Fell In Love With A Girl' in a recruitment ad that aired during the Super Bowl.

Posted on their main page whitestripes.com is a cutting letter explicating in no ambiguous terms the band's dissatisfaction with the Air Force's use of their works without permission. The duo said they 'have not licensed' the song and 'plan to take strong action' if the ad isn't pulled."

_______

Bruce Springsteen Sues Connolly's Pub... Or Does He?:

"NEW YORK — Bruce Springsteen wants his name off a lawsuit demanding licensing fees from a Manhattan bar where a band played his songs.

A statement on Springsteen's Web site Thursday said he didn't know about the lawsuit that was filed Wednesday in federal court and wouldn't have agreed to be a plaintiff if he had been asked."

_______

GET THIS NOW: GALACTIC, YA-KA-MAY | The People's Music

_______

Backpack Strategically Placed In Theft-Proof Corner Of Concert Hall Floor | The Onion - America's Finest News Source:

"ATHENS, GA—Wishing to avoid the annoyance of wearing his backpack during a rock and roll show at the 40 Watt Club Friday, concertgoer Nick Hurley ingeniously placed the bag in the corner, thereby rendering his personal items completely inaccessible to any potential thieves.

_______

See. Even Jesus is against the prohibition.

30 pounds of pot found inside pictures of Jesus - CNN.com:

"(CNN0 -- A marijuana bust along the U.S.-Mexico border revealed 30 pounds of the drug stuffed into framed pictures of Jesus Christ, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said Wednesday."

_______

My buddy R. Keith Harris is TJ/Timbaland in this video.

More humorous than educational.

Soomo Publishing creates online assignments that bring the best web resources to the college classroom. "Too Late To Apologize: a Declaration" is our first satirical video project and is part of our ongoing effort to facilitate learning in creative, innovative ways. Learn more about Soomo Publishing at soomopublishing.com

Music and video based on "Apologize" by One Republic, featuring Timbaland, 2007.

_______

Without comment:

_______
_____
___

Tom Selleck Sandwiches

Seems more and more folks are picking up the 'Raise Hell, Democrats' meme. GOOD! If only they'd apply it.

Bob Cesca: Time for the Democrats to Get Loud and Fearless:

"Here's a major reason why the Republicans are still a viable party: they don't mind getting loud. They're willing to flagrantly lie out loud, while also making a huge production out of insignificant and contradictory nonsense that heretofore was never even considered to be a political trespass -- shamelessly and unapologetically amplifying it all to a level of noise that forces the press and voters alike to pay attention.

The Democrats could learn a thing or two about this. More presently."

______

What this dude says:

Charles Karel Bouley: Dear Mr. President: No Bi Ideas Please:

"You see, Republicans, neocons, the Right has had their say, for eight years, and it destroyed us. Over those eight years they did not practice bipartisanship, they practiced a mock dictatorship or coup. Democrats sat by and basically watched as the country was decimated; in 2006 when the country gave the Congress a Democratic majority, Nancy Pelosi, your speaker of the House, refused to impeach George W. Bush (we both know starting the proceedings doesn't mean removal, but it's the process that's important) and Democrats continued to support and fund the wars which the people that sent them there opposed. We didn't want bipartisanship then, either, we wanted resolutions.

The fact is, Republicans lost because We, the People, wanted them to. We were tired of their governance, their style, their lack of concern for the people and their sole focus on corporations and monied interests. We sent you, and others to Washington D.C. for change, we gave you a majority, and now we want that change. What we don't want is rehashed ideas that only serve the Republican masters of money and power."

______

Include me with the finger pointers.

Congressional Democrats point finger of blame at Rahm Emanuel - TheHill.com:

"Democrats in Congress are holding White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel accountable for his part in the collapse of healthcare reform.

The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority."

_______

Amen

Hullabaloo:

"And Rahm, by the way, is way more trouble than he's worth. Even Nixon's advisors were more subtle --- and far more lethal. You don't keep a nasty henchman who makes enemies of everyone and inspires loathing by his very presence if he can't even get the job done."

_______

The Tea Bagging convention in Tennessee apparently has opened a few conservative eyes.

Good luck stuffing that monkey back into the box.

Return Of the Repressed? Birtherism, Homophobia, Racial Paranoia Rise To Surface At Tea Party Confab | TPMMuckraker:

"Tea Party leaders had worked hard to keep the public face of the movement focused tightly on a small government, anti-tax message, largely steering clear of social issues, and appeals based explicitly on race. But this weekend, from the podium at Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Hotel, convention speakers espoused birtherism, anti-immigrant nativism, homophobia, Christian fundamentalism, and an apparent nostalgia for racially discriminatory barriers to voting.

Here's a quick recap:"

Here's a conservative that was simply shocked by it all.

Daily Kos: A Conservative Spits Out His Tea:

"Perhaps the most distressing part of all is that few media observers bothered to catalog these bizarre, conspiracist outbursts, and instead fixated on Sarah Palin's Saturday night keynote address. It is as if, in the current overheated political atmosphere, we all simply have come to expect that radicalized conservatives will behave like unhinged paranoiacs when they collect in the same room."

_______

Remember when we had people who ran the government but who did not believe in government?

Yeah, remember? Killed a lot of folks didn't it. Yeah... It did.

Insurer State Farm says it warned gov't about Toyota acceleration in 2007 - chicagotribune.com:

"NHTSA received complaints about acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles as early as 2003,"

Those same people sure helped out rich whitey, though.

'No Labor Market Recession For America's Affluent,' Low-Wage Workers Hit Hardest: STUDY

______

Damn communist with their evil magic that slices government costs. Penny pinchers! Social.... somethings! Creating ways to save the environment and money at the same time! Evil I tells ya. EVIL!

Recycling push puts Berkeley's budget in dumps:

"In a $10 million deficit announced last week, the single biggest factor - $4 million - was a decline in its refuse revenues.

The city says, in part, that it's a victim of its own success. Residents pride themselves on aggressively recycling and composting, so they're switching to smaller, cheaper trash cans - the only collection for which the city charges."

_______

Another reason not to answer the phone.

The Rise of Caller ID Spoofing - Digits - WSJ

______

Tom Selleck Sandwiches

Tom Selleck, Weird Waffles, And Keggers Of Yore: 7 Sites You Should Be Wasting Time On Right Now!

_______

RIP, Phil. RIP.

Discovery Channel: 'Deadliest Catch' captain dies - Yahoo! News

_______
_____
___

Banging Head Against Wall

Drive-By Truckers' The Big To-Do Pre-Order!

The Big To-Do Pre-Order!

_______

BangheadagainstwallBangheadagainstwallBangheadagainstwall
BangheadagainstwallBangheadagainstwallBangheadagainstwall
BangheadagainstwallBangheadagainstwallBangheadagainstwall

Obama calls health care summit with Republicans

_______

No one could have predicted....

44 - Top House Republicans throw cold water on health-care summit


Goddamn right.

Daily Kos: ***K Bipartisan***k***ship

________

Agreed, but if you aren't pushing that slow change as hard and as fast as you can, then the change gets consumed by the Palins of the world and pooped out the other end. You-fucking-betcha. (I read that off my hand)

Raise hell early and often, Progressives. Early and Often and Always.

Daily Kos: Hello, kind world? (Updated):

"I wrote a diary recently comparing the life of a progressive to trench warfare. This cause, of using the government to improve the world, is the work of a lifetime. And the fight is not a fair one.

There are three factors at play; the values of the people, the policies of the government, and the politics which (theoretically) turns the values into the policies.

Values change slowly, but they do change. When I was young, the idea of gay marriage was inconceivable. When my father was young, the idea of a black President was inconceivable. And yes, Inigo - that word does mean what I think it means. The work of changing the values of your friends and families and neighbors moves at glacial speed, but it does move. The one thing you cannot do is abandon your values and remain quiet. Every day, in a million conversations, values are changing. Don't stop."

_______

I wish Obama would hire this dirty fucking hippie who's been frackin' right about 99% of the time.

Op-Ed Columnist - America Is Not Yet Lost - NYTimes.com:

"Instead of fraying under the strain of imperial overstretch, we’re paralyzed by procedure. Instead of re-enacting the decline and fall of Rome, we’re re-enacting the dissolution of 18th-century Poland.

A brief history lesson: In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Polish legislature, the Sejm, operated on the unanimity principle: any member could nullify legislation by shouting “I do not allow!” This made the nation largely ungovernable, and neighboring regimes began hacking off pieces of its territory. By 1795 Poland had disappeared, not to re-emerge for more than a century.

Today, the U.S. Senate seems determined to make the Sejm look good by comparison."

_______

You got a little racism on your chin... yeah right there.... no, you missed it... above... no... next to... ah, forget it.

Daily Kos: The Real Tea Partiers

_______

Both cities are great but our surrounding areas are far more scenic. SD is kinda scrubby and ugly.... but a really fun city!

And everyone overplays how 'cold' it is in SF. Yes, 52 degrees in Feb. is arctic.

San Francisco vs. San Diego: Which is the better getaway? - latimes.com:

"It is a per-capita fact that one city has more surf shops and the other has more college graduates. But there's more to this choice than that.

One of these cities gives you reliable sun, a world-class zoo and kid-friendliness, accompanied by the occasional reminder that the 1982 film 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' was based on a true story.

The other city doesn't seem to care as much about your kids, but it will feed, entertain and edify you with such verve and sophistication that you'll barely notice the arctic breezes.

One is forever winning popularity contests, but the other is cheaper, has less crime and attracts more than twice as many overnight guests countywide."

_______

Hurry the fuck up.

Focusing 192 lasers on one little target:

"Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reported Thursday they have taken a major step toward harnessing the forces that power the sun in an effort to create unlimited energy on Earth."

_______

You may want to wait until you get home. Jack this bad boy up to 720, burn one, then sit back and be amazed. Pretty damn cool.

_____
___
_

Waterboarding. Now for Kids!

Eradicate? Yes. Because your twisted Christian beliefs are some of the most hateful on the planet.

Christians claim hate crimes law an effort to ‘eradicate’ their beliefs

And the irony flies so far over their heads all they see is a contrail.

_______

This kind of Jesus-Torture is good beliefs? Why would we ever want to vaccinate the disease of the Bush years from our collected blood?

Because I promise you.... This isn't the first child that's been waterboarded by an American.

Done in your name and done in my name.

Soldier reportedly ‘waterboards’ daughter for failing to recite alphabet | Raw Story:

"A 27-year-old Washington state soldier allegedly admitted Sunday to having held his daughter's head in a bowl of water because she couldn't recite the alphabet.

British newspapers labeled the technique 'waterboarding,'"

_______

Loyalty DNA? Kill switch? Haven't these people watched or read ANY science fiction?

And I wonder where the Christian outrage is on this one. Seems to be pretty godlike creating immortal beings.

And it'll probably run on Windows. A 9 year old Chinese child will be able to write code to flip the loyalty DNA. Promise.

Pentagon Looks to Breed Immortal ‘Synthetic Organisms,’ Molecular Kill-Switch Included | Danger Room | Wired.com:

"Of course, Darpa’s got to prevent the super-species from being swayed to do enemy work — so they’ll encode loyalty right into DNA, by developing genetically programmed locks to create “tamper proof” cells."

_______

Yup. Big buzz coming from this article.

Steve Clemons: Core Chicago Team Sinking Obama Presidency

_______

She reads better than she sounds, but she nailed this one. Too bad her dad is one of the 65+ year old nut jobs.

Meghan McCain Calls Out Tea Party For Racism, On 'The View' (VIDEO):

"McCain: Congressman Tancredo went on TV and he was the first opening speaker and he said, 'People who could not even spell the word vote or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House whose name is Barack Hussein Obama.' And then he went on to say that people at the convention should have to pass literacy tests in order to be able to vote in this country, which is the same thing that happened in the 50's to prevent African Americans from voting. It's innate racism and I think it's why young people are turned off by this movement. And I'm sorry, but revolutions start with young people, not with 65-year-old people talking about literacy tests and people who can't say the word 'vote' in English."

_______

It'll be legal on the west side soon.

When 70 Percent Support Marijuana Legalization, Starbucks Gets The Message | NEWS JUNKIE POST:

A remarkable scenario played out in the American media recently, and beyond the import of the story itself is the quantum shift in public perception that it illustrates.

A pro-cannabis group based in Colorado called for a nationwide boycott of coffee giant Starbucks after activists spotted a Starbucks logo on the website of a virulently extremist anti-drug organization. After intense negative publicity ensued, Starbucks actually felt moved to issue a denial."

_______

Bay Area is ground zero for California effort to legalize pot - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

_______

Neat

David Hume Kennerly: A Forty Year Photographic Retrospective:

"David Hume Kennerly A Forty Year Photographic Retrospective, 1970-2010 opens this Sunday at the Frank Pictures Gallery, in Santa Monica's Bergamot Station.

'When I look at all those places and all those people in these photographs, it's hard to believe I did that,' David Kennerly says. 'I never get over that feeling.'"

_______

You gotta roll with it.

How to Survive a 35,000-Foot Fall - Plane Crash Survival Guide - Popular Mechanics:

"You’re 6 miles up. You’re alone. You’re falling.

Things are bad. But now’s the time to focus on the good news. (Yes, it goes beyond surviving the destruction of your aircraft.) Although gravity is against you, another force is working in your favor: time. Believe it or not, you’re better off up here than if you’d slipped from the balcony of your high-rise hotel room after one too many drinks last night.

Or at least you will be. Oxygen is scarce at these heights. By now, hypoxia is starting to set in. You’ll be unconscious soon, and you’ll cannonball at least a mile before waking up again. When that happens, remember what you are about to read. The ground, after all, is your next destination."

_______

Cool.

Mars Pictures: NASA's Most Extraordinary Images EVER (PHOTOS)

_______

This has been around a while. I just came across it. It buoys my burnout a bit.

_______
_____
___