G-EffingU.S.-E

This is how it should work in the U.S.:

Campaign via social media networks blocks Dutch bankers' bonuses | Business | The Observer

This is how is actually works in the U.S.:

Senate Dems cede more ground, offer Republicans $30 billion in budget cuts

Fucking Democrats selling us up the river... again.

_______

We hoped we elected Kennedy. Would have settled for Clinton. We got Bush-lite.

ThinkProgress � After Paying Zero Income Taxes, GE Plans To Ask Its Union Workers To Make Wage And Benefits Concessions

_______

Feingold calls for GE CEO Immelt to step down as Obama jobs chief | The Raw Story:

"'But what really adds insult to injury is the prestigious and influential position Jeffrey Immelt holds as chair of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness,' the former Democratic senator wrote. 'That's wrong.'

'Someone like Immelt, who has helped his company evade taxes on its huge profits -- and is now looking to workers to take major pay cuts after his compensation was doubled -- should not lead the administration’s effort to create jobs,' he added.

________

Daily Kos: America is Giving Up: Why Geithner and GE CEO MUST GO!:

"The hypocrisy and political ineptitude here is appalling. We're talking about an administration that axed Shirley Sherrod just days after trumped up reports by right-wing media smeared her as a racist. Sure, Tom Vilsack later apologized. But the incident showed that the White House is not above getting rid of someone solely based on fears that such a person would be a political liability.

Jeffrey Immelt is a HUGE liability. He is like a disillusionment and despair machine. He is a bright big bonus golden parachute package to the right wrapped up with a shiny bow. Ordinary people already know this story. It's just cementing in their minds that both parties are puppets of the super-rich."

_______
_____
___

No, We Can't

I'm pretty sure if you put me in a room with the Prez, without me saying a word, five minutes later I'd come out with his lunch money, his bicycle, all his comic books and a sandwich made by the First Lady... possibly his shoes.... OK, definitely his shoes.

AMERICAblog News: Government shutdown, here we come!:

"For some reason we still can't fathom, the President simply joined the Hoover Economics bandwagon (as Krugman calls it), risking our economic recovery, in addition to a lot of good government services. Anyone who complained about the President's poor negotiating skills during health care reform, or during the recent cave on the Bush tax cuts, will recognize the pattern. This is why Joe, Chris and I said early on in this administration that the President's weakness on any one issue shouldn't be ignored or written off as a one-time thing. It's the way he operates, and it will affect every single deal he ever makes on every single issue you care about.

I do love how the Republicans keep saying $60bn in cuts, and the Dems keep inching towards the Republicans, while the GOP holds firm. Same old same old. It's not a negotiation, it's a conquest. Business as usual. What I fear even more than a shutdown is the President's refusal to ever not-blink during a negotiation. He'll never let it to come that - he doesn't let hostage takers kill the hostages, and will do almost anything to make it stop - and the Republicans know it."

_______

From one Nobel prize winner to another.

The President Is A Lousy Negotiator - NYTimes.com:

"So, can we now count on Obama, at least, not to preemptively surrender to the right by proposing Social Security cuts — cuts that we know will be a starting point, not an end to the discussion?

No, we can’t."

_______

Jon Stewart ‘gives up’ on GE tax shenanigans�|�Raw Replay

Nightly News stays mum on GE’s $0 tax bill - Yahoo! News:

"In spite of robust profits of $14.2 billion worldwide, GE has calculated a corporate tax bill for 2010 that adds up to zero, via a creative series of tax referrals and revenue shifts. (This was, indeed, the second year running that the company—which has an enormous, and famously nimble, 975-employee tax division, led by former Treasury official John Samuels"

Heckuva job, Obama.

G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether - NYTimes.com:

A PRESIDENT’S BUSINESS LIAISON
In January, President Obama named Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive, to head the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. “He understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy,” Mr. Obama said."

________

Asides from the lunacy that one would be poor making 174k a year, how about NOT HAVING 6 FUCKING KIDS.

And the mound of debt is your own damn fault.

GOP Rep: I'm 'Struggling' On My $174K Salary (VIDEO) | TPMDC:

"I can guarantee you, or most of you, I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you. With 6 kids, I still pay off my student loans."

_______

Just sayin...

Chinese Traffic Cameras In Heze City, Shandong Capture Gruesome Accidents (VIDEO)

_______
_____
___

Taxes: Admission to a Civilized Society

Not all Progressives. Some realize he's home where he is.

John R. Talbott: Progressives Cry Out: "Obama, Come Home":

"Last month, Obama named Jeffrey Immelt to the President's Economic Recovery Board and then we find out it was GE that designed and built the Japanese reactors. Yesterday we hear that GE is not paying any taxes on $14 billion of profits but is instead receiving a $3.2 billion rebate. And Immelt is the man that is supposed to be investigating how to close corporate tax loopholes?"

_______

Japanese corporations agree to forgo tax cuts, for good of their country | The Raw Story

_______

States broke? Maybe they cut taxes too much | McClatchy

_______

Maybe somebody should do something. Little help here. Dems?

Telecoms want ‘to put Netflix out of business entirely,’ Sen. Franken tells SXSW:

"'I came here to warn you the party may be over,' Franken said. 'They're coming after the Internet hoping to destroy the very thing that makes it such an important [medium] for independent artists and entrepreneurs: its openness and freedom.'

He warned that pay-walls may soon be erected to enhance the content of wealthy interests, ensuring some voices are heard over others and removing the level playing field of today's Internet. Franken called this a new business model that telecoms like Comcast were keen on implementing, purely in the interests of making money."

_______
_____
___

What Teachers Make

Herbert's last column at the NYT:

Losing Our Way - NYTimes.com:

"The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely."
.....

"G.E. is the nation’s largest corporation. Its chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, is the leader of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. You can understand how ordinary workers might look at this cozy corporate-government arrangement and conclude that it is not fully committed to the best interests of working people.

Overwhelming imbalances in wealth and income inevitably result in enormous imbalances of political power. So the corporations and the very wealthy continue to do well. The employment crisis never gets addressed. The wars never end. And nation-building never gets a foothold here at home.

New ideas and new leadership have seldom been more urgently needed."

_______

_______

ThinkProgress � London: Half A Million In The Streets To Protest Massive Government Cuts

_______

Daily Kos: Why Do We Put Up With It?:

"Looking at all this from across the Atlantic, a German acquaintance of mine recently noted “if this happened in Germany, cars would be burning in the streets.” Why, he wondered, were working and middle class Americans so docile in the face of this aggression by Wall Street and its paid-for politicians in both major parties? Why were the protests in Wisconsin an anomaly, rather than part of a nation-wide outcry against the persistent assaults on the vast majority of the population by the plutocratic few?"

________

The West coast through progressive eyes

_______
_____
___

DBT Week in Review - 3/25/11

DBT!

Rolling Stone Live: Drive-By Truckers Play Pared-Down Southern Rock | Rolling Stone Culture | Video Blog | Music Entertainment Videos

The Righteous Path - The Barnes & Noble Review: "Robert Christgau"

Suicidegirls.comInterviews - Mike Cooley, Drive-By Truckers

Skyscraper Magazine � Drive-By Truckers

KEXP 90.3 FM - Live Performance: Drive-By Truckers on 3/13/2011

Amazon.com: The Secret to a Happy Ending: Drive-By Truckers, Barr Weissman: Instant Video

Review: Drive By Truckers at the McDonald | Eugene Daily News

Album Review: Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots | One Thirty BPM

Drive-By Truckers at the Ogden - Denver - Slideshows

Truckers treat fans live

The Drive By Truckers-Go Go Boots review � WickedChannel.com:

_______

YouTube - CNN: Music, Drive-By Truckers keep on truckin'

_______

Wes Freed - Mag-Bats

My DBT/Wes Freed inspired shoes are done! Not bad... - Gravity's Gone

_______

Wes' band The Mag-Bats performing at Crackers' Campout East:

Campout East

_______

Swampland:The Wes Freed Interview

_______

Eddie Hinton

An Open Bama Letter to Oxford American � The Nashville Bridge

_______

Jason Isbell

SXSW Interview: Jason Isbell | Rolling Stone Music | Videos

_______

Will Johnson

HughShows: First/Last 'The Essentials'-Will Johnson

_______

The Civil Wars

_______

Music

R.I.P. Pinetop Perkins - Americana and roots music - No Depression

Axis Of Awesome Updates 'Four Chord Song' To Include 'Double Rainbow' Lyrics (VIDEO)

_______
_____
___

Getting Rolled

If only we had a President and Democratic party willing to fight. Leadership, I think it is called.

We are getting our asses kicked daily.

AMERICAblog News: Warren Buffet: Wealthiest winning class war in US:

"The real and only class warfare in America is the ultra-rich versus everyone else. And yes, they're winning in a big way and the Democrats can't figure out how to even slow it down. Heck, we even have a Democratic president that talks about Reagan as though he was one of the great presidents of the US"

_______

New Civil War erupts, led by super rich, GOP Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch:

"Wake up America. You are under attack. Stop kidding yourself. We are at war. In fact, we have been fighting this Civil War for a generation, since Ronald Reagan was elected in 1981. Recently Buffett renewed the battle cry: The “rich class” is winning this war. Except most Americans still don’t realize they’re losing, don’t see the prize at stake.

All this was predicted back in September 2008 by Naomi Klein, author of “Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” Yes, we were warned that the GOP’s Reaganomics ideology would stage a rapid comeback … warned before the market collapsed … before Wall Street was virtually bankrupt. … before Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson conned Congress into $787 billion in bailouts … warned before Obama’s 2008 election"

....

“But rest assured,” continued Klein in September 2008, Reaganomics “ideology will come roaring back when the bailouts are done. The massive debts the public is accumulating to bail out the speculators will then become part of a global budget crisis that will be the rationalization for deep cuts to social programs, and for a renewed push to privatize.”"

_______

Infographic: How unions succeeded in making your workplace safer in the 100 years since the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

_______

He was against illegal wars before he was for them.

Joe Biden Warned In 2007 That He'd Impeach Bush For Waging War Without Congressional Approval

_______

Change and all.

Obama takes ‘unprecedented’ aim at leakers | The Raw Story:

"WASHINGTON (AFP) – Elected on a promise of a more transparent government, President Barack Obama has taken 'unprecedented' aim at leakers who divulge classified information to journalists, critics say.

'We've seen the current president bringing five prosecutions so far... against people for whistleblowing, for leaks of classified information,' said Daniel Ellsberg, famous for his 1971 leak of the 'Pentagon Papers,' which helped turn the tide of public opinion against the Vietnam War.

'All previous presidents put together brought three prosecutions... We see a campaign here against whistleblowing that is highly unprecedented in legal terms.'"

_______
_____
___

Expect More Losing

Love Uptown Almanac:

A Cross to Bear | Uptown Almanac

________

This slogan is not Sheen approved (and just as vapid as anything Bush came up with).

Daily Kos: Winning the future is a great slogan:

"One day, we will all be super-educated and therefore able to outwit everyone else in some sort of global game. One day, we will build stuff again, like bridges and tunnels. One day, we will become a great manufacturing power again. But all of the things that allowed us to do these things in the past, like strong unions, industrial policy, inexpensive education, heavy regulation, and taxation that redistributed wealth downward will not be found in this budget because those things aren't on the table in any branch of government. What is on the table is a future, a future where everything will work out. We will win! Hooray for optimism!

As for today and tomorrow, expect more losing."

_______

And Geitner is about to blow holes in the few things this bill does do. It'll be just like it never happened (Until it happens again they bail out these bastards with our money again)

Wall Street Won! Nothing to Prevent Another Crisis, Says Former FDIC Chairman Bill Isaac: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance:

"Crisis may create opportunity, but Congress completely flubbed its opportunity to enact meaningful financial reform in the aftermath of the worst crisis since the Great Depression, says the former chairman of the FDIC, Bill Isaac.

The Dodd-Frank reform bill--the one major piece of legislation to emerge since the financial crisis--is mostly meaningless, says Isaac, who is also the chairman of regional bank Fifth Third. Dodd-Frank does nothing to address the root causes of the financial crisis, Isaac says, and it won't prevent the next one."

_______

Brutal out there.

Hawaiian man killed while surfing at Mavericks

_______
_____
___

Nowhere Else to Go

The 'having nowhere else to go' battered wife syndrome Democratic mentality will doom us. If we keep electing the same useless assholes over and over again, well....

Labor movement could kick-start a ‘popular revolt’ in the U.S., Nader claims�:

"In an extended interview with Middle East news network Al Jazeera, consumer advocate and repeat U.S. presidential candidate Ralph Nader suggested that President Barack Obama is not supporting the labor movement because “they have nowhere else to go” except for Democrats.

“If he doesn’t stand up for those millions of workers, we might as well call him a president in a corporate prison called the White House,” Nader said, likening Obama’s “playing” of labor unions to the stretching of an elastic band."

_______

Amen.

Daily Kos: House Progressives reflect on being in the minority:

"'The sum and substance of our political strategy can't be waiting for them to fuck up.'"

_______

AMERICAblog News: Foolish consistency: the hobgoblin of little minds:

"These are just two more examples of many messages that the Dems might use to good result if they could just maintain more discipline than a herd of cats.

But recall what Ralph Waldo Emerson said: 'A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.'

In our current political climate, the quote applies to both parties, but for different reasons. Republicans maintain the foolish consistency -- or better, the fraudulent one -- that they favor small government, low taxes and free enterprise. But the only reason the GOPers succeed in this delusion is because most Dems maintain a foolishly consistent faith in bipartisanship and a similar unwillingness to play hardball. And finally, the mainstream media contributes its own foolish consistency to the train wreck this nation has become: it enables the little minds of both parties by fawning over and identifying with the establishment even as it fails utterly to pursue its principle mission: to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

_______

Starts at the top.

"America's True Crisis: Zero Vision, Zero Leadership":

"Jim Hightower is right. But, he fails to see that the lack of leadership starts at the White House and inhabits the entire Democratic Party. I do not expect leadership from republicans. The republican idea of leadership is to fuck up the nation in some weird idea that making the rich richer without producing anything of value will benefit all, when instead it harms all."

_______

Daniel Ellsberg arrested at protest for Bradley Manning:

"Manning 'is being selectively prosecuted, pure and simple,' said Zeese.

Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame and retired US colonel Ann Wrightwere among 30 activists detained amid the peaceful demonstration at the Quantico Marine base in Virginia, according to the group."

_______
_____
___

Bully

Candidate Obama promised to protect and support whistle-blowers. President Obama's actions reveal otherwise.

The Abuse of Private Manning - NYTimes.com:

"Philip Crowley, a State Department spokesman, committed the classic mistake of a Washington mouthpiece by telling the truth about Private Manning to a small group (including a blogger): that the military’s treatment of Private Manning was “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” He resigned on Sunday.

Far more troubling is why President Obama, who has forcefully denounced prisoner abuse, is condoning this treatment. Last week, at a news conference, he said the Pentagon had assured him that the terms of the private’s confinement “are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards.” He said he could not go into details, but details are precisely what is needed to explain and correct an abuse that should never have begun."

_______

Actors, musicians demand end to inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning | The Raw Story

_______

WTF.

AMERICAblog Gay: Judge asks why Obama admin. seeking unusually tough charges against GetEqual DADT protesters, invokes MLK:

"What happened next was surprising to those in the Courtroom. Judge Facciola got up out of his chair, while pacing, gave a speech about the history of the civil rights movement in the United States. He intimated that there were trumped up charges back in the 50s and 60s, too. And, he evoked the Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham case, Martin Luther King's 'letters from the Birmingham jail' and how civil rights protesters were often brought to court to face stricter charges. The judge clearly linked the protest over Don't Ask, Don't Tell to those earlier civil rights protests."

________

If you see this guy at an ass-kicking contest, best run away.

One-Legged Wrestler Wins NCAA Title | ThePostGame

_______

The perfect response to a bully. Democrats should be forced to watch this until they get it.

Casey Heynes | Bully Video | SportsGrid

_______

Dream house.

Historic hideway / 1913 home highlighted by quiet location, lower-level speakeasy

_______
_____
___

DBT Week in Review - 3/18/11

DBT!

A 'Secret' from Drive-By Truckers - CNN.com

Interview: Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers On New Album and Politics of Our Time | HeadCount | Register to Vote!

Drive-By Truckers Rock Out "Everybody Needs Love" @ TeamCoco.com

Keep on truckin'

Album Review: Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots | One Thirty BPM

Patteron Hood of Drive-By Truckers talks to ILSUDH2 | I Listen So You Don't Have To

Drive By Truckers - 3/12/11 - a set on Flickr

Drive-By Truckers make a departure | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com

Drive-By Truckers deliver at sold-out Seattle show | Seattle's Big Blog - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

De ascultat: cronici albume: Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots

Uprooted Music Revue: Patterson Hood of The Drive-By Truckers Talks "Go-Go Boots"

Q&A With Drive-By Truckers | OurStage

_______



_______



_______



_______

Brent Best - Slobberbone



_______

Night One at 35 Conferette '11: Thank Goodness For Mavis Staples and Slobberbone, Who Helped Us Forget The Scheduling Problems. - Dallas Music - DC9 At Night:

"Oh, and to add even more to the evening's pleasant musical surprises, before Slobberbone's set, Best told us that his solo album will be done this spring and that Slobberbone will finally hit the studio this summer to record their first new record in almost a decade."

_______

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

________

Wes-Jyl Freed - Dirtball

▶ Dirt Ball DRUNK by Otway3:

"Dirt Ball in the Swamp with Page Wilson"

________

Booker T. Jones



_______

Doc Dailey - Couch X Couch West



_______

Dexteens

Dexateens, G-Side to perform at Oxford American concert in Florence, Alabama | al.com

_______

Music

Because he's seen fire and he's seen rain AND seen a tree.

James Taylor Keeps Skiing On Broken Leg

Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D.: After the Show: The Many Faces of the Performer

Nate Dogg Dead: Rapper Nathaniel D. Hale Dies At 41

Alice in Chains Bassist Mike Starr Dead | TMZ.com

Phil Collins Quitting Music Due to Health Problems - Music News, Phil Collins : People.com

Railroad Revival Tour: Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, and Old Crow Medicine Show Embark on Epic Train Tour of American Southwest - Transportation - GOOD

American Pickers’ Danielle Colby gets sexy for Farmageddon Records CD release : starcasm.net

_______
_____
___

Passport Divide

Not good.

U.S. shows growing alarm over Japan nuclear crisis - Yahoo! News:

"The State Department strongly urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Japan at this time and those in Japan should consider departing,' it said."

_______

What happens if a Japan-sized earthquake hits California? - The Week:

"What are the chances California will get hit by the Big One?

'The question is not if but when Southern California will be hit by a major earthquake — one so damaging that it will permanently change lives and livelihoods in the region,' warns the United States Geological Survey in a 2008 study. A magnitude 7.8 quake in California — Japan's quake was 30 times more powerful — would kill at least 2,000 people and cause $200 billion in damage, the USGS estimated. Because of how the state's many faults are structured, a quake of more than 8.0 is unlikely in much of California, geologists say."

_______

Bay Area Sushi Bars Face Daunting Supply Shortages � CBS San Francisco

_______

America's Great Passport Divide - Richard Florida - National - The Atlantic:

"At the opposite end of the spectrum, less than one in five residents of Mississippi are passport holders, and just one in four residents of West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, and Arkansas.

It's a fun map. With the exception of Sarah Palin's home state, it reinforces the 'differences' we expect to find between the states where more worldly, well-traveled people live versus those where the folks Palin likes to call 'real Americans' preponderate. Mostly to entertain myself, I decided to look at how this passport metric correlates with a variety of other political, cultural, economic, and demographic measures. What surprised me is how closely it lines up with the other great cleavages in America today."

_______
_____
___

Feel Wrongly

There's lots domestically to blog about, but it all seems pointless when matched against what is happening in Japan.

Maybe tomorrow I'll break out the bitch machine again....

How are these things failing so easily? How easily would the ancient reactors in the U.S. fail?

Japan Says 2nd Reactor May Have Ruptured With Radioactive Release - NYTimes.com:

"TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear crisis intensified on Wednesday after the authorities announced that a second reactor unit at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan may have ruptured and appeared to be releasing radioactive steam."

_______

This yearly article came a bit early this year. However, it remains true. We are due.

US overdue for huge Pacific quake: experts | The Raw Story:

"A 9.0 quake in this underwater fault that stretches from the northern tip of California all the way to Canada's British Columbia could simultaneously rattle major port cities of Vancouver, Portland and Seattle, unleash a massive tsunami and kill thousands of people."

________

Jeez. Paranoid much, Texas? Wonder why.

Again, 'feeling strongly' is not knowledge.

Japan crisis spikes demand for radiation pills - Yahoo! News:

"'I feel strongly there is a high likelihood we will have radiation coming from Japan,' said Tammy Lahutsky as she waited at the Texas Star Pharmacy in Plano, Texas on Tuesday. There's not, but she bought six bottles for herself and a friend, anyway."

_______
_____
___

Radiation

Don't feel much like blogging with the horror show in Japan on-going.

Terrible. Just terrible.

Japan: New radiation leaks harmful to health - Yahoo! News

There's a map at this link which shows how close the radiation will waft to the Bay Area. Looks like it reaches land in Seattle and Vancouver.

Daily Kos: Breaking: Spent fuel fire at reactor 4, hydrogen explosion & radiation release

_______

First reaction is 'idiot', but this kid may be a cat since 99% of those who do jump are killed.

He did it for kicks.

Windsor teen survives Golden Gate Bridge jump

_______
_____
___

Japan

Awoke in Vancouver to the news and warnings of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Not much can be said. Horrible.

Tide of 1,000 bodies overwhelms quake-hit Japan - Yahoo! News:

"TAKAJO, Japan – A tide of bodies washed up along Japan's coastline, crematoriums were overwhelmed and rescue workers ran out of body bags as the nation faced the grim reality of a mounting humanitarian, economic and nuclear crisis Monday after a calamitous tsunami.

Millions of people were facing a fourth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures in the northeast devastated by an earthquake and the wave it spawned. Meanwhile, a third reactor at a nuclear power plant lost its cooling capacity and the fuel rods at another were at least briefly fully exposed, raising fears of a meltdown."

_______

California ‘closely monitoring’ Japan nuclear leak | The Raw Story:

"LOS ANGELES — California is closely monitoring efforts to contain leaks from a quake-damaged Japanese nuclear plant, a spokesman said Saturday, as experts said radiation could be blown out across the Pacific.

While officials downplayed any immediate danger, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission deployed two experts to Japan, where the Fukushima plant, which was rocked by a large explosion earlier in the day in the aftermath of Japan's strongest-ever earthquake."

_______

Wall of Water Slams Japanese Town

_______

Tsunami reaches the Bay. Eastern span of the Bay Bridge in the background.

_______

Photos: Tsunami damage in Hawaii, California | Phoenix News | Arizona News | azfamily.com | Arizona News Headlines

_______

I snapped this at LAX on Saturday. Much pain on that flight.

_______
_____
___

Hard to be a Good Man....

....listening to the Drive-By Truckers....

_______


_______
_____
___

All on the Tit

All on the tit and we are forced to supply the milk.

A Reagan Republican Makes A Case Against The War -- And His Own Party:

"Why, then, have so few other prominent Republicans broken away from the party heterodoxy to publicly oppose the war, like Roberts has?

'They're all on the tit somewhere, aren't they?' Roberts said. 'They all need to be accepted. They're getting grants or they're getting employment. They're getting something and they have to support the line. They're just not independent. I don't know why they can't see the whole thing is a ruse.'"

_______

Torturing our own on our own soil. Sick.

Daily Kos: Bradley Manning Now "Catatonic"; Obama ENOUGH!

_______

Heckuva job.

Jerry Cope: NASA Data Strengthens Reports of Toxic Rain on the Gulf Coast From BP Spill

_______

Hilarious.

Charlie Sheen is not filial - GlobalTimes

Sheen goes on television and boasts that he has two girlfriends, who both sleep in the same bedroom. Is he too poor to set up his wives and mistresses in different houses?

_______
_____
___

No Broke

Is one broke if one has been robbed blind?

Michael Moore: America Is Not Broke:

"America is not broke.

Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.

Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.

Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer 'bailout' of 2008, now have more loot, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can't bring yourself to call that a financial coup d'�tat, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true."

_______

Not a corporation in the U.S. that pays 35% in taxes. Imagine if they did. Why, we could support 4-5 more endless occupations of other countries.

ThinkProgress � If Banks Paid Their Full Taxes, We Could Rehire All 132,000 Teachers Laid Off During The Recession — Twice

_______

Yes.

Is it single-payer time yet? California rate hikes!

_______

Get a job, hippies.

Daily Kos: True Confessions of a Good-for-Nothing Freeloader

_______

Candidate for most obvious headline of the year.

Police: Drinking preceded Russian roulette death

_______
_____
___

Wacka Wacka

Compromising before negotiations have begun. More horrible Republican based law and policy coming our way. So awesome having a "Democrat" as President.

White House Offers First Budget Compromise As Negotiations With GOP Begin

_______

Jesus. Winning hearts and minds? Why are we there - killing kids - again?

Petraeus apologizes for NATO strike that reportedly killed nine Afghan children

_______

Pretty interesting.

Five things you never knew about Pac-Man - Video Games Blog Plugged In - Yahoo! Games

_______

The police in my old 'hood be tweeting.

SFPD's Richmond Station Joins Us In The 21st Century (via Locally Sourced Technologiez) | Uptown Almanac:

"In addition to live-tweeting neighborhood warnings and super interesting crimes you didn't think even existed (see the glued ATM keys above), it seems like their intent is to actually use Twitter as a platform to better serve the community (SHOCKER, AMIRITE?). According to SF Weekly and SF Appeal's recent coverage, the Richmond station top cop, Captain Richard Corriea, has four officers tweeting from the field and is encouraging more to do the same."

_______

On a much sadder, old neighborhood note, RIP Tommy. You will be sorely missed.

Inside Scoop SF � Bidding farewell to Tommy Bermejo

_______
_____
___

DBT Week in Review - 3/4/11

DBT!

If anyone needs me today or tomorrow, I'll be doing this...

...and this...

... and this....

Drive-By Truckers live show at Amoeba Music San Francisco

So, don't need me for the next few days.

_______

Drive-By Truckers: Go-Go Boots | American Songwriter

Sunday Morning Album: Drive-By Truckers – “Go-Go Boots”

Drive-By Truckers Celebrate Roots on 'Go-Go Boots' - ABC News

Dancers might distract at pulsating Drive-By Truckers show - Chicago Sun-Times

Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Drive-By Truckers – Go Go Boots | The Line Of Best Fit

Drive-By Truckers look forward to a rest | Metromix Reno

Las Vegas Weekly : - Chatting with Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers

Drive-By Truckers reborn after rocky run < PopMatters

Drive-By�Truckers: Go-Go Boots (RED Distribution; 2011) | Record Reviews @ Cokemachineglow.com

Driveby Truckers deliver the soul and then some by Tim Oliver | LikeTheDew.com

_______



_______



_______
Jason Isbell



_______

Lera Lynn



_______

Steve Trash

Green Magic Moments - Steve Trash Zen/Magic by Steve Trash - Rockin' Eco Hero — Kickstarter

_______
_____
___

Recall Them All

Steve has been covering the happenings Wisconsin since Valentine's day. Check out his great videos:

YouTube - YouTellEmSteveDave's Channel

_______

Full throated praise once the task is accomplished.

Daily Kos: It's on! Wisconsin Dems officially back recall effort against GOP Senators

_______

A Union win.

Federal Judge Favors NFL Union Over Owners In TV Dispute

_______

There's something happening here? We'll see...

Your own private Wisconsin:

"What's more, it feels like the good type of revolution, the kind where the human animal not only struggles en masse against its oppressors, but even, occasionally, wins. What a thing.

So then, the question: Can you at all relate? Do you sense what it's like to take a deep breath and hurl yourself against the great wall of dogma and oppressive overlord? Does it help that many of these revolutions are very much being televised -- or rather socially networked -- often in 140 characters or fewer, which is very civilized way indeed to narrate a revolution, especially for a violently ADHD nation like America? This just in: Brevity is the soul of disobedience. Who knew?"

Do not, by the way, pay much heed to the president's response so far. Truly, our fine Obama is nothing if not measured to a damnable fault right now, urging this or that calm, voicing this or that displeasure over this or that hunk of bloody violence, when more often than not you want him to leap up and stomp his foot and say thank God Mubarak is out and that insane monster Gadhafi is going down and how can we topple more Middle Eastern regimes, and btw what can we do to kick over the whole goddamn poker table and reset the entire game board more fairly, more ingeniously, more hopefully for a new era?

_______

Why this guy isn't a major cog in the O.A. is telling.

Robert Reich: How Democrats Can Become Relevant Again (And Rescue the Nation While They're At It)

Here's what Democrats should be saying:

Hike taxes on the super-rich. Reform the tax code to create more brackets at the top with higher rates for millionaires and billionaires. Absurdly, the top bracket is now set at $375,000 with a tax rate of 35 percent; the second-highest bracket, at 33 percent, starts at $172,000 for individuals. But the big money is way higher.

The source of income shouldn't matter -- salary, wages, capital gains, other unearned income -- all should be treated the same. There's no reason to reward speculators. (Don't penalize true entrepreneurs, though. If they're owners who have held their assets for at least twenty years, keep their capital gains low.)

And while you're at it, raise the ceiling on income subject to Social Security taxes. And bring back the estate tax.

Do this and we can afford to do what we need to do as a nation. Do this and you prevent Republicans from setting the working middle class against itself. Do this and you restore some balance to a distribution of income and wealth that's now dangerously out of whack.

Do this, Democrats, and you have a chance of being relevant again.

_______

Lost Damon, he did.

Matt Damon Calls Out President Obama, Education Policy:

"Now, he's not so enthused about Obama. When asked if he was happy with the way the President is running the country, Damon said, point blank, 'no.'

'I really think he misinterpreted his mandate. A friend of mine said to me the other day, I thought it was a great line, 'I no longer hope for audacity,'' Damon said. 'He's doubled down on a lot of things, going back to education... the idea that we're testing kids and we're tying teachers salaries to how kids are performing on tests, that kind of mechanized thinking has nothing to do with higher order. We're training them, not teaching them."

_______

Hahahaha. Oh, Lynn. He can't do anything but capitulate.

Lynn Woolsey: Obama must not ‘capitulate’ to GOP on shutdown (EXCLUSIVE) | The Raw Story:

"WASHINGTON – Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) is urging President Barack Obama to follow in President Bill Clinton's footsteps and stand strong against Republicans on sharp spending cuts -- even as the possibility of a government shutdown looms.

'You have to remember what a leader Bill Clinton was in 1995. It was very clear he was not going to capitulate,' Woolsey told Raw Story in an interview late Tuesday afternoon. 'President Clinton was absolute -- he said he would veto [the GOP proposals], and he did. We were with him on that, and I'm hoping to do the same with President Obama.'"

_______
_____
___

Losers

Jeez. Republicans say jump and Demo-losers ask 'Is this high enough? Please don't hurt me".

Senate to send Obama a stopgap GOP spending bill - Yahoo! News

I'm no longer surprised, but still baffled at the loser mentality of Democrats.

Looking forward to voting for anyone but a Democrat in 2012.

"WASHINGTON – In an early victory for Republicans, the Democratic Senate is voting to send President Barack Obama a GOP-drafted measure that cuts $4 billion in spending as the price for keeping the government open for an additional two weeks.

Sweeping bipartisan support is expected Wednesday for the measure, which passed the House on Tuesday by a 335-91 tally. More than 100 Democrats broke with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California to support it."

________

Fox lies. End of story.

Fox News reporter appears to have lied about being ‘punched’ by protester | The Raw Story

_______

Speaking of lying liars FAUX, O, Canada, you sexy, reasonable beast you.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Regulators Reject Proposal That Would Bring Fox-Style News to Canada:

"Canada regulators announced last week they would reject efforts by Canada's right wing Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to repeal a law that forbids lying on broadcast news.

Canada's Radio Act requires that 'a licenser may not broadcast....any false or misleading news.' The provision has kept Fox News and right wing talk radio out of Canada and helped make Canada a model for liberal democracy and freedom. As a result of that law, Canadians enjoy high quality news coverage including the kind of foreign affairs and investigative journalism that flourished in this country before Ronald Reagan abolished the 'Fairness Doctrine' in 1987."

_______

Heck of a job, Barackie. Heck. Of. A. Job.

BP reneges on deal to rebuild oyster beds, repair wetlands, Louisiana officials say | NOLA.com

_______
_____
___

Go To Jail

Bill Gates' opinion on education is equal to my opinion on rocket science. Both are fatally ill informed.

Another corporatist who made billions from a shitty product attempting to insert himself into a dialogue in which he is clueless all for the sake of promoting his pseudo-altruistic ego.

Daily Kos: A partial response to Bill Gates' op ed about teachers:

"Today's Washington Post features an op ed by Bill Gates titled How teacher development could revolutionize our schools. Teachers are the latest focus of Gates and his foundation. Before I respond to anything in this particular piece, let me remind readers that the last time Bill Gates got enthused about something in education, it was small schools. His foundations sank a huge amount of money into getting districts to create small schools while ignoring the research that had been done by those who had focused on the issue for years. The result was that the endeavor was not all that successful, the foundation has now pulled out of the effort, in some cases pulling the plug on ongoing efforts it had encouraged, and unfortunately tarnishing the concept and making it more difficult for those attempting to do it right."

_______

Didn't watch the Oscars, but this has to be the best acceptance speech. Nothing will change until people are put in prison for a very long time.

YouTube - Inside Job - Oscar winner acceptance speech

_______

Change nobody can believe in.

Justice Cranks Up Its Covert War on Whistleblowers—By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine):

"As noted previously, candidate Barack Obama promised to protect whistleblowers who come forward with information disclosing government waste, abuse, and inefficiency. Unfortunately, President Obama has done exactly the opposite. Obama’s real policies are exposed in documents filed in the prosecution of former CIA agent James Stirling."

_______

This 6 mile trek was my Saturday or Sunday morning bike ride for many a year.

The Golden Gate Bridge: 10 Different Perspectives (PHOTOS):

"There's no finer urban walkabout than San Francisco's 6-mile trek along the dramatic cliffs, coastal forests, posh neighborhoods and beaches that ring the northwestern quadrant of the city. Starting at the historic Cliff House restaurant by Ocean Beach, hike past the Sutro Baths, through the coastal woods of Land's End, where Golden Gate Bridge views are dramatic and plentiful. Continue through tony Sea Cliff (past Robin Williams' house), down to sandy Baker Beach, and up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Jaunt downhill past surfers at Fort Point, then across windswept, beachy Crissy Field. Stroll across the marina and up into grassy Fort Mason for a much deserved picnic and nap in the sun."

______

Well, duh. Via Jayne C.

Stare at boobs for longer life: Study | TheMedGuru

_______
_____
__