Paddlin'

I'll be here today paddlin' 10 miles of glory...

DBT WIR on Monday.

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What is...

The Good. Rick Bragg on the Tuscaloosa tornadoe.

What stands in a storm: When the winds died down - CNN.com:

"I have seldom felt helpless in my life. I hold to the hillbilly standard that there is no situation so hopeless that, through perseverance, I cannot make worse."

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The very bad.

A Plague on the Gulf: Local Fisherman Pulls Up Dozens of Crabs with Oil Stains, Burns and Lesions Off Pensacola | Stuart H. Smith

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The very, very ugly.

Alabama Continues To Tax Citizens To Pay For Confederate Memorial Park | ThinkProgress

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The didn't get married, in Doll-y-wood. And, would a Porter Wagoner look-a-like perform such a ceremony?

Dollywood Bans Visitor's Gay-Friendly T-Shirt

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What is 'Ow, ow, fucking-ow', Alex.

Alex Trebek injured chasing burglary suspect

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We live longer.

San Jose Residents Have Longest Life Spans In U.S. | CBC San Francisco - Yahoo! News:

"It seems as if the farther west you go, the better the longevity. Only two cities in the northeast made the cut.

The west coast had the majority of the spots on the list of 20 cities, with California having the most out of all the states."

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Longevity might have something to do with this guy. See you at Hardly Strictly, Truffle Guy. Glad you got a t-shirt.

Truffle Guy Forever Immortalized on T-Shirt | Uptown Almanac

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Primary

Krugman.

Meh, Bleh, and Eek - NYTimes.com:

"At this point, we just have to accept it as a fact of life: Obama doesn’t, and maybe can’t, do outrage — no matter how much the situation calls for it. The purpose of last night’s speech, if there was one, was to rally the nation against crazy Republicans. But there were no memorable lines, no forceful statements of the very stark reality. “Now, now, that’s not reasonable” isn’t going to move multitudes.

It turns out, I’m sorry to say, that he wasn’t the one we were waiting for."

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He doesn't represent me. He doesn't represent Progressives. I will not vote for Obama in 2012. I do not believe he deserves re-election, the alternative be damned.

Obama and the Left: a problem for the WH? - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com:

"At this point, the only factor that can lead someone to deny the significance of this trend is willful blindness. And it's hard to imagine those numbers going anywhere but down as the realization sets in that it is the President who, now by his own admission, has been working hard to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits, and as the President increasingly pursues what is clearly his 2012 strategy: casting himself as a trans-partisan centrist (his doing so vindicates, in my view, those of us who have long argued that there was nothing 'new' about Obama's politics; it was just slightly re-branded Clintonian, Third Way triangulation)."

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Mr. President, What is this "Shared Sacrifice" You Talk Of?

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Daily Kos: Short and Succinct on MY Social Security:

"'Entitlement' my ass, I PAID cash for my social security insurance! Our benefits aren't some kind of charity or handout. Congressional benefits -- free premium federal health care, enormous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, 3 weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days -- now THAT is welfare! And they have the nerve to call my retirement 'entitlement'?"

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For the sake of what's left of any soul of the Democratic Party, Obama needs to be challenged.

Bernie Sanders Says It Would Be A ‘Good Idea’ To Primary President Obama | ThinkProgress

SANDERS: Brian, believe me, I wish I had the answer to your question. Let me just suggest this. I think there are millions of Americans who are deeply disappointed in the president, who believe that with regard to Social Security and other things, he said one thing as a candidate and is doing something very much else as a president. Who cannot believe how weak he has been for whatever reason in negotiating with Republicans, and there’s deep disappointment. So my suggestion is, I think one of the reasons the president has made the move so far to the right is that there is no primary opposition to him and I think it would do this country a good deal of service if people started thinking about candidates out there to begin contrasting a progressive agenda as opposed to what Obama believes he’s doing. [...] So I would say to Ryan, discouragement is not an option. I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition.

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Dupes

Eschaton: No Drama Obama:

"The rather obvious solution is a clean debt ceiling hike, but none of the people involved in this ridiculous mess seem to want that.

Using crisis as an excuse to ram through massive 'bipartisan' changes without public input is horribly undemocratic.


Shame on all of them."

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Compromise My Ass:

"Man, the citizens of this country are being duped big time, again.

Dupe: One that is easily deceived or cheated; delude, trick.

President Obama quoted Thomas Jefferson in his nationally televised speech tonight. Here's another quote from Jefferson:

Thomas Jefferson: .'If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered.'"

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It’s not like you weren’t warned:

"My response to the President’s speech?

You know, at some point, you just have to stop listening to people who always end being proven wrong.

And to help nudge you along, here’s a reminder of what some people, some outsiders, some people who are scorned as “the professional left” and as “bloggers in their mother’s basement” were saying, back at the time President Obama agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts in December 2010, last year:"

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Does politics disappoint Pres. Obama?:

"The President doesn't want his hands tied. I can understand that from Lincoln -- but Obama doesn't face an armed rebellion, he faces a bunch of Republicans who don't want to do what's reasonable, what's customary, and what the American people overwhelmingly want. I understand the need for negotiation, but he's not really negotiating with the Republicans. He's like a man picking up an unconscious opponent from the floor and pretending to wrestle with him so he can justify calling the bout a draw. He has sought this outcome; sought the inferior position we suddenly, amazingly given public opinion, find ourselves in today."

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AMERICAblog News: The top priority of Obama’s "grand bargain" is his reelection:

"but it seems depraved that a Democrat would run for reelection on a platform that would 'cut social insurance and health care programs for people who are old and sick and cannot work.' If a GOP President proposed these changes, we'd be calling it was it is. The Democratic base would be apoplectic. But, for some reason, we're all supposed to suck it up because a Democratic President is doing it. It's just wrong."

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#f*&@kyouWashington

Shock Doctrine.

Eschaton: There Is No Crisis

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What Obama Was Willing to Give Away - NYTimes.com:

"Jonathan Cohn summarizes what seems to have been in the deal that Boehner walked away from; it’s horrifying. Above all, the proposed rise in the age of Medicare eligibility was a real betrayal of both Democratic principles and good government."

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Daily Kos: The Debt Ceiling Battle Was Lost Last December:

"Yes, now President Obama and Democrats have to accept a bad bargain to raise the debt ceiling. But if they had negotiated better last December, they could have made a better bargain then. They didn't. The Deal was a terrible mistake. And 7 months later, people like Bernstein want to forget how the bad deal in December is leading to the bad deal in July/August on the debt ceiling (and the one after that on the budget.)

It is taxes that Republicans care about. It is the one thing that animates the party. In December, President Obama had the biggest stick he is likely to have until after the 2012 elections. He gave it up without getting back what he needed.

It was terrible bargaining and everyone should have been able to see it. Apparently, not everyone did."

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Obama, George H.W. Bush, and the ghosts of 1990 - War Room - Salon.com

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Tweeters rage against the D.C. machine - What's Trending - CBS News:

"#F---YouWashington"

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A conservative Christian did this. Not a brown person. Not a Muslim. A conservative Christian who targeted Liberals.

Norway's Timothy McVeigh.

Norway Attack: Island Survivors On Their 2-Hour Fight For Life

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Right-Wing Pundits Jumped To Blame Muslims And ‘Jihadists’ For Norway Attacks | ThinkProgress

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Daily Kos: Norway attacker was a political Terminator:

"Taking out 80 of the people committed enough to go to the AUF's Utoya summer retreat? That's like sending a Terminator back in time to take out a future Parliamentary leadership.

The crime was unspeakably heinous to begin with. And telling Americans that the killer targeted a 'summer camp,' it was no doubt imagined, would only make it sound worse.

It did. But it didn't really describe the magnitude of the loss for Norway. Nor did it convey the calculated sickness—and the very, very intensely political nature—of what the gunman undertook to do."

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DBT Week in Review - 7/22/11

DBT!

Rocking the Blues Concert: Drive-By Truckers - Eventbrite

BUTTHOLEVILLE by Patterson Hood

Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots � BUMS LOGIC

Swampland:Athens Photographer Jason Thrasher Discusses Filming The Drive By Truckers Go-Go Boots Episodes

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Patterson Hood

Patterson Hood 7/2/2011 @ Standard Deluxe – Waverly, AL � Live Music!

Patterson Hood � Music in the Hall

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Lera Lynn

Live Video : Lera Lynn : In The Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel cover) � My Old Kentucky Blog

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Music

Musicians Are Probably Smarter Than The Rest Of Us

Flaming Lips Debut Three New Songs Inside Gummy Fetus (LISTEN)

Jay-Z/Kanye West's 'Otis': The Duo Drops Their Much-Anticipated Track

Ottawa Bluesfest Stage Collapse: Thunderstorm Topples Stage While Cheap Trick Performs (VIDEOS)

Taiji Sawada Dead: Japanese Rocker Dies At 45

Models & Musicians: 15 Runway Strutter And Rock Star Pairings (PHOTOS, POLL)

Chart Watch Extra: One Hit Wonders - Chart Watch

Son of Pink Floyd guitarist jailed over attack on royal convoy | The Raw Story

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FDR, Reagan and Roseanne

FDR

A real Democrat warning us about today's Democrats and Republicans.

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Reagan

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Roseanne

An American treasure. Her show would never make it to air these days.

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Fair-the-well, Shuttles. I grew up with you and watched you fly into Huntsville, AL on the back of 747s. Our government has failed with you nothing to replace you.

Atlantis has landed, ending NASA's shuttle era - Yahoo! News

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Ain't Free Market

Truth? Only compromised deals where everyone is equally at fault.... or some similar bullshit.

Daily Kos: Some Things Are True

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Indeed, why.

The coming economic catastrophe: Why do we still listen to free-market ideologues? - By Joseph E. Stiglitz - Slate Magazine

Just a few years ago, a powerful ideology—the belief in free and unfettered markets—brought the world to the brink of ruin. Even in its heyday, from the early 1980s until 2007, American-style deregulated capitalism brought greater material well-being only to the very richest of the richest country of the world. Indeed, over the course of this ideology's 30-year ascendance, most Americans saw their incomes decline or stagnate.

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Joy.

Murdoch and the British phone-hacking scandal: Why the U.S. should prosecute News Corp. and strip its TV licenses if it's guilty. - By Eliot Spitzer - Slate Magazine

Much more importantly, the facts already pretty well established in Britain indicate violations of American law, in particular a law called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Justice Department has been going out of its way to undertake FCPA prosecutions and investigations in recent years, and the News Corp. case presents a pretty simple test for Attorney General Eric Holder: If the department fails to open an immediate investigation into News Corp.'s violations of the FCPA, there will have been a major breach of enforcement at Justice. Having failed to pursue Wall Street with any apparent vigor, this is an opportunity for the Justice Department to show it can flex its muscles at the right moment. While one must always be cautious in seeking government investigation of the media for the obvious First Amendment concerns, this is not actually an investigation of the media, but an investigation of criminal acts undertaken by those masquerading as members of the media.

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A Growing Trend of Leaving America - US News and World Report

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Landmark transplant uses stemcell-coated artificial windpipe | The Raw Story

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California Dreamin'

I'd say let them go if the land wasn't an important part of my West Coast secession plan: Baja, California, Oregon, Washington and B.C. One awesome new country and our economic fortunes would expand exponentially once we were no longer subsidizing leech red states.

SoCal secede? Why is this bad? | San Francisco Bay Guardian:

"Those counties vote for Republicans who vow to cut taxes and spending -- and, of course, those counties also get more in state money than they contribute in taxes. That is, San Franciscans and people in Los Angeles are subsidizing with our tax dollars counties that elect people who don't want taxes.

Fine. Leave us. Without those counties, California would have a two-thirds Democratic majority in both houses, easy. The state would be able to raise taxes to balance the budget. California's credit rating would improve and the cost of bonds would drop. A Democrat could run for governor without pandering to the conservatives. Maybe we could even get rid of the death penalty.

South California would be an economic basket case -- but it would still be part of America, so the Democrats and sane people who are stuck living there would be able to move north without worrying about ICE. I'd even propose setting aside a state fund (maybe equal to some percentage of what California now spends subsidizing the tax haters) to help pay relocation expenses for low-income liberal refugees."

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San Francisco Secession: Could It Create 'Ecotopia'?

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San Francisco Totally Live from MACAFRAMA on Vimeo.

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Boo.

Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco to close

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Tall order that took a decade.

On a quest to try every S.F. Chinese restaurant

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Speaking of Baja. Some feel good for your day.

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Noodle

Change. Dammit. Change.

The only deal is no deal:

"What am I willing to give up so that Congress will follow through on its constitutional obligation to protect the credit of the nation? Exactly what I'm willing to give up to ensure that the sun rises, that water is wet, and that Republicans will toady to the rich. Nothing, that's what I'll give up.

No matter how many times it may be said, and no matter who says it, there is no 'unique opportunity' here. There's no opportunity at all. There's not even any here, here."

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Ted Strickland: Dems' Concessions On Debt Debate Are 'Very Troubling':

"In an interview with The Huffington Post, former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) aired his concern that the fiscal 'belt-tightening' President Obama and many Democrats have pursued has effectively diminished the party's brand. Democrats, he argued, have 'allowed the center of the political debate to be shifted so far to the right that we find ourselves debating on their territory and using Republican language.'

'It's very troubling,' he said."

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Daily Kos: Obama's Speak/Doublespeak on Entitlements:

"If you believe that targeting retirements at a time when unemployment is rising, as are CEO pay and bonuses, at a time when new jobs are not being created at a rate that is near enough to take a bite out of this recession, if you believe that targeting entitlements at this time is some sort of shared sacrifice, after we the taxpayer bailed out criminally negligent banking institutions for at times, fraudulent practices, and not a single one of 'em has gone to jail, then you my friend, are contributing to the destruction of the middle class, and the continued oppression of the working poor."

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The Very Serious People Still Want That Grand Bargain And Don't Care What It Does To The Economy -- Or Us | Crooks and Liars:

"Let's tell the emperor he has no clothes: Cutting spending during a prolonged recession is about as likely to reduce the long-term deficit as rubbing your lucky rabbit's foot. This is disaster capitalism, plain and simple:"

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Daily Kos: We’ve Already Lost So Cancel Any Perceivable Celebration:

"We have abandoned Keynes and common sense and moved in with Milton Freidman while partaking in shock doctrine austerity binge drinking, but we’re told we won’t get drunk. We’ll just have a few drinks while we forget what we are supposed to stand for as Democrats.

So what the hell are we celebrating anyway?"

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Prophetic.

AMERICAblog News: Taylor Marsh, 2007: Obama "wants to hold hands with the wingnuts to save some fantasy Social Security ‘crisis.’ "

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Because this makes as much sense as anything else these days...

Man wins right to wear pasta strainer on head in driver’s license photo | The Raw Story

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