"Gregg introduced an amendment (defeated) that would have required 60 Senate votes for budget resolutions that don't meet the European Union standard of limiting debt to 30 percent of GDP.
'We're in such a bad situation in this nation right now... that [the Europeans] actually look good,' Gregg said.
[Bernie] Sanders pounced.
'I'm glad to hear that my neighbor from New Hampshire is suddenly interested in Europe,' he said. 'And maybe we can take a hard look at the fact that virtually every European country has a national health-care program guaranteeing health care to all of their people, spending substantially less per capita than we do in this country -- maybe we can add that. And maybe we can look at the fact that while we have 18 percent of our kids living in poverty, our European friends in some cases have 3 or 4 percent of their children living in poverty. And maybe while our families have to spend $40,000 a year to send our kids to college, they do it virtually free. So I like the idea of opening up the discussion about the pros and cons of Europe, but it is broader than my friend from New Hampshire is talking about.'"
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OK, then, we should randomly drug test ALL elected officials too since they take tax money as a salary. AND, those test should be shown live on C-SPAN.
I want to see McConnell's shriveled up cock pissing in a cup live on C-SPAN.
Oh, what about all college students who receive federal aid?
And every last one of these bank executives?
How, oh, how will these broke ass states pay for all of this testing?
"Trying to buy health insurance on your own and have gallstones? You'll automatically be denied coverage. Rheumatoid arthritis? Automatic denial. Severe acne? Probably denied. Do you take metformin, a popular drug for diabetes? Denied. Use the anti-clotting drug Plavix or Seroquel, prescribed for anti-psychotic or sleep problems? Forget about it.
This confidential information on some insurers' practices is available on the Web -- if you know where to look.
What's more, you can discover that if you lie to an insurer about your medical history and drug use, you will be rejected because data-mining companies sell information to insurers about your health, including detailed usage of prescription drugs."
"Thanks to 'something called volcano monitoring,' to use the denigrating language of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, passenger jets did not fly into ash clouds when Alaska's Mount Redoubt erupted earlier this week.
Volcanic ash creates conditions akin to flying into a sand blaster. A KLM flight lost power in all four engines after it flew into the cloud created by a 1989 eruption of Redoubt.
The plane dropped by more than two vertical miles before its crew could restart the engines and land in Anchorage. No wonder Alaska Airlines canceled 19 in-state flights on Monday week after Redoubt sent an ash plume 60,000 feet into the sky.
The eruptions of Redoubt carry a lesson that Jindal did not learn back when he was a Rhodes Scholar: Don't sneer at science.
The lesson applies equally to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a potential Jindal rival for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. 'Sarah Barracuda' spent last fall lampooning federal money spent on fruit fly research, ignoring that it is essential to the study of human genetics."
Check out some cool pics of Redoubt erupting in Alaska.
If you look closely at the rim you can see Palin sacrificing an extra bastard child. This one was named 'Tonka'. Don't worry, she's got plenty more where Tonka came from and several willing familial vags on stand-by to squirt more out.
Besides, her witch hunting African pastor told her to toss old Tonka in. What's a V-PILF to do?
"Marking up budget legislation can be a brutal affair, often beginning early and lasting long into the night.
But buried within the hours of debate in the Senate on Thursday is an exchange you'd be more likely to hear in a locker room than a congressional hearing.
Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) was on the receiving end of this one, after telling Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), 'Oh, you are good.'
'Well, your wife said the same thing,' Grassley responded."
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No could ever have predicted... except, you know, a lot of people did.
"When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets out of him.
The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.
In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said."
"Shlomi told cops he paid [Sasha] Harris about $1000 in cash after she 'propositioned him for straight sex.' Shlomi said that when he kissed Harris, she suddenly 'bit his tongue and would not let go.' Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue. The affidavit...notes that during the 4 AM fight Harris sustained facial fractures and lacerations all over her face.... After freeing his tongue, a bleeding Shlomi ran to the [hotel] lobby, where security summoned cops. Harris refused to cooperate with officers, who recovered $930 from her purse."
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Have you heard the one about a bobcat walking into a bar....
All y'all troll the Dallas Craigslist the next few weeks to see if any of the gear pops up. I'm betting that the thief is sitting on the stuff for a while to let the dust settle.
"Stolen Equipment Hey everybody, Slobberbone / The Drams are some of our closest friends. Please be on the lookout for this stuff if you live near Dallas and send it to any friends you have nearby. PLEASE EMAIL ME at jenn@drivebytruckers.com if you have any info! Included are pics of the Les Paul...
Message from Jess Barr, guitarist for Slobberbone / The Drams:
Early this morning my car was broken into and all of my equipment was stolen. This includes my red matchless clubman 35 head and cabinet, my black gig bag with cables and pedals, and, most importantly, my gibson les paul goldtop. If you know anything about this or happen to run across any of theses items at a pawn shop,etc. please let me know. No questions will be asked. Obviously, these are all just material possessions that can be replaced, but on a sentimental level it's pretty devastating. So if you could spread the word and keep your eyes open for me, it would be greatly appreciated.
thanks, jess
p.s. If you see me playing air guitar at the next gig, please just pretend that I'm shredding on some sweet solos."
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DBT!
And just for the record ABAAC is a great album. I find myself coming back to it more and more.
"The A.V. Club recently talked to Patterson Hood, DBT’s chief singer-songwriter, about the band’s new material, our new president, and the duality of Lyndon Johnson."
Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the Chitlin Supper at Meek High School in Arley,AL. My mother graduated from Meek High in 1967. She had the distinct pleasure of being named the Chitlin Queen one year. This was an event that she would have to drag us to over the years. My dad graduated from Curry High just over the Walker County line. My sister and I went to Walker High, a city school for god’s sakes! Why would we be caught somewhere they serve hog guts?
I have grown to appreciate the Supper more and more over the years. There’s nothing slick about it except a few of the politicians who take the stage to pander for votes. Entertainment ranges from the awful American Idolesque karaoke to traditional gospel and country. I’ve even seen buck dancing from time to time. This year our very own Lee Bains III will grace the stage for an acoustic set. His first Chitlin Supper was last year and I’m glad it seems to have stuck.
Proceeds from the Supper go to a good cause. Meek High School marching band members are cleaning chitlns at an alarming rate at the moment. 400 or 500 pounds I’m told. After the chitlins are cleaned, they are boiled, pressure cooked and then fried. Experts encourage you to drizzle them with vinegar before taking a bite. The band will bake and fry up about 800 pounds of chicken as well for those of you too chicken to try chitlins. For more info:
"In Cahoots is a reoccuring feature here at Saints Don't Bother where we chat with various artists and bands. This past week, we caught up with John Smith, one of the vocalists and guitarists in The Dexateens, who will be at Barley's on Saturday night with Lucero. Since they are on the road, we emailed back and forth some questions, answers and random tidbits about the South, music and college football. See what you think, and check'em out!"
Two weeks ago I finally bought Bingham's first album. Haven't stopped listening to it since and am trying to learn a couple of his songs on guitar. I'm eat up with it.
"Finally, some news worth reporting. May 5th is apparently the drop date for Ryan Bingham's second album, Roadhouse Sun on Lost Highway Records. The album is again produced by Marc Fuckin' Ford (ex Black Crowes) and utilizes Bingham's backing band, The Dead Horses.
Here's the official press release text that is currently floating around on the interwebs:"
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Check out The Archibalds from Austine TX. Joey is a Northern Alabama boy.
In 2009, there is no higher praise for a band than being refreshingly (yet progressively) anachronistic. So, it is with Austin, Texas quartet, The Archibalds. Since forming in the sweaty summer of 2006, The Archibalds have tapped into that crossroads where new meets old, country meets rock, and pop meets avant-garde, effortlessly creating something undeniably unique. With a sound that is equal parts pure rock and roll and genre bending deviance, The Archibalds draw comparisons to Beck, Dr. Dog, and fellow Texans, The Gourds.
The band released their debut album O Camellia in 2007, which garnered them critical success including a listing as a “Band to Watch in 2008” from the Austin Chronicle. Since then, the band has embarked on their first tour, been featured on the Austin imprint Almost There Records’ annual compilation as well as their Big Star tribute compilation, and in December 2008, the band released their second full-length record titled Easy Living on Superpop! Records.
Throughout Easy Living, singer/guitarist/songwriter Joey Thompson mines for material in the trailer parks and landfills of the American South. Just as he turned a critical eye to his home state of Alabama on O Camellia, Easy Living takes on the South in general, documenting the characters that lurk there on the back roads and in the shadows. There is a literary attention to detail in these songs which lends empathy to these characters without losing a sense of humor about everything they encounter, from sex and religion to unemployment and the apocalypse.
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Music
Good read but he dings Bruce for the Wal-Mart thing and fails to address his own complicity in the goddamn Chevy Truck 'This is our Country' clap-trap.
"Had the industry not been decimated by a lack of vision caused by corporate bean counters obsessed with the bottom line, musicians would have been able to stick with creating music rather than trying to market it as well." ....... "Reagan's much-vaunted trickle-down theory said that wealth tricked down to the masses from the elite at the top. Now we've found out that this is patently untrue -- the current economic collapse reflects this self-serving folly. The same holds for music. It doesn't trickle down; it percolates up from the artists, from word of mouth, from the streets and rises up to the general populace. Constrained by the workings of SoundScan/BDS, music now came from the top and was rammed down people's throats."
"NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Alpha Media Group closed Blender magazine today, eliminating about 30 jobs and reducing its portfolio of titles to Maxim alone. The April issue of Blender out now will be its last."
"Nearly five years after the release of their 2004 blockbuster American Idiot—it sold some 12 million copies worldwide, and yielded five singles—the boys from Berkeley return this spring with their eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown (not including, lest we forget, a little 2007 side project). And now we have an official release date! It's May 15, though you can get lead single 'Know Your Enemy' digitally sooner, on a soon-to-be-announced day in April."
"A coalition of liberal groups – the Campaign for America's Future and USAction – have begun a campaign to pressure congressmen and senators to support Obama's ambitious budget proposal and 'stand up to the special interests.' But here's the twist: The groups aren't focusing on Republicans right now – they're challenging 'Blue Dog' Democrats like Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who they say are too influenced by lobbyists."
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Stewart and Colbert are way more informative than the 'traditional media' any way, so no surprise.
"Nearly one-third of Americans under the age of 40 say satirical news-oriented television programs like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart are taking the place of traditional news outlets."
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The end of drug prohibition will create a new set of problems, but at least it will cut down on violence, bring safety measures to the quality of drugs and pour money into state and federal coffers
"'Prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground,' he wrote in an essay published by CNN on Tuesday. 'This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead.
'Violence was common in the alcohol industry when it was banned during Prohibition, but not before or after.'
Miron's proposed solution to ending the cartel war along the US-Mexico border is both simple and enormously complex.
'Violence is the norm in illicit gambling markets but not in legal ones. Violence is routine when prostitution is banned but not when it's permitted,' he wrote. 'Violence results from policies that create black markets, not from the characteristics of the good or activity in question.
'The only way to reduce violence, therefore, is to legalize drugs."
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Didn't the DEA get the freakin' memo from Holder and Obama?
Though, there could be some legitimate illegal activity that occurred, but still...
"SAN FRANCICSO (KRON) – Officials with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) say they’ve confiscated bags of marijuana from Emmalyn’s California Cannabis Clinic in San Francisco.
Authorities tell KRON 4’s Terisa Estacio that around 4 p.m. Wednesday a dozen agents stormed into the clinic, located at 1591 Howard at 12th Street."
"Rush Limbaugh, mocked as 'Jabba the Nut' by free weekly Boston Phoenix, has been selected as the ugliest man of the year by the paper. The 99 runner-up unsexiest men of the year can be purviewed at this link.
'America’s ugliest moment of 2009? Rush Limbaugh, his man-boobs a-jiggle, bouncing at the CPAC podium to bask in the sickly glow of conservatism’s orgy of greed, avarice, and arrogance,' the paper writes. 'Here, at last, was the shining image of the 21st century Republican Party: a leeringly rich Baby Boomer squatting at the top of the mountain, reaping his jollies from the suffering of those at the bottom, praying for the failure of hope.
'If this hypocritical and morally repugnant reformed Oxy junkie wants to discuss “failure,” maybe we should talk about his career as an NFL commentator — or the last time he detoxed off prescription smack,' they add."
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Cantor is a douche. And he lied that 'Democrats' also attended.
"Stolen Equipment Hey everybody, Slobberbone / The Drams are some of our closest friends. Please be on the lookout for this stuff if you live near Dallas and send it to any friends you have nearby. PLEASE EMAIL ME at jenn@drivebytruckers.com if you have any info! Included are pics of the Les Paul...
Message from Jess Barr, guitarist for Slobberbone / The Drams:
Early this morning my car was broken into and all of my equipment was stolen. This includes my red matchless clubman 35 head and cabinet, my black gig bag with cables and pedals, and, most importantly, my gibson les paul goldtop. If you know anything about this or happen to run across any of theses items at a pawn shop,etc. please let me know. No questions will be asked. Obviously, these are all just material possessions that can be replaced, but on a sentimental level it's pretty devastating. So if you could spread the word and keep your eyes open for me, it would be greatly appreciated.
thanks, jess
p.s. If you see me playing air guitar at the next gig, please just pretend that I'm shredding on some sweet solos."
It still amazes me to be able to watch our President in action. Obama was stellar in his prime time presser last night. The same can not be said for our press corp. These folks are the worst. From Tapper to Todd these douches act like their in high school.
Obama will learn 'em, though.
A President that likes to know what he's talking about before he speaks.... Times they have a changed.
"QUESTION: But on AIG, why did you wait -- why did you wait days to come out and express that outrage? It seems like the action is coming out of New York and the attorney general's office. It took you days to come public with Secretary Geithner and say, 'Look, we're outraged.' Why did it take so long?
OBAMA: It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak."
"Critics say Obama relies too heavily on his teleprompter. As Politico notes:
'Obama's reliance on the teleprompter is unusual -- not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small.'
They make an interesting point, why would a president want to be prepared and careful about what he says? The guy who had the job for the last eight years didn't need no stinkin' teleprompter!
Well, David Letterman addressed the outrage last night with his segment 'Teleprompter Vs. No Teleprompter.' It was enlightening to say the least."
"'I do think that the Republican Party right now hasn't sort of figured out what it's for,' Obama said in a White House interview with The Courier-Journal and reporters from five other newspapers. 'And so, as a proxy, they've just decided 'we're going to be against whatever the other side is for.' That's not what's needed in an economic crisis.'"
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As utterly stupid as this is, I can't really see it being all that legal.
"Soon wives could receive letters from the Escambia County Sheriff's Department letting them know when their husbands are arrested for soliciting prostitutes."
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Good to know. I've been chasing my tail for years.
"March 24, 2009 -- A team of veterinarians has found a surprising link between compulsive tail-chasing in dogs and high cholesterol, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice.
The finding adds to a growing body of evidence -- mostly from studies on humans -- that high cholesterol may be a marker for behavioral problems such as panic attacks and obsessive compulsive disorder, which could be expressed by frequent tail-chasing falls in dogs."
"An executive at another ad-supported cable channel once wisely said that if 'BSG' had another million dollars to spend on each episode it wouldn't be any good. What he meant was that tight budgets forced the writers to shy away from stereotypical space battles and bluster, focusing more closely on the actual storytelling. And that's precisely why 'BSG' managed to appeal to mainstream TV audiences and not just sci-fi fans. The series deftly balanced the kind of mythology that fuels sci-fi fans with dramatic arcs that enthralled admirers of more terrestrial fare."
"I started writing a book three years ago through which I hoped to help people see the artificial and ultimately dehumanizing landscape of corporatism on which we conduct so much of our lives. It’s not just that I saw the downturn coming—it’s that I feared it wouldn’t come quickly or clearly enough to help us wake up from the self-destructive fantasy of an eternally expanding economic frontier. The planet, and its people, were being taxed beyond their capacity to produce. Try arguing that to a banker whose livelihood is based on perpetuating that illusion, or to people whose retirement incomes depend on just one more generation falling for the scam." .......
An economy based on an interest-bearing centralized currency must grow to survive, and this means extracting more, producing more and consuming more. Interest-bearing currency favors the redistribution of wealth from the periphery (the people) to the center (the corporations and their owners). Just sitting on money—capital—is the most assured way of increasing wealth. By the very mechanics of the system, the rich get richer on an absolute and relative basis.
"'... The vice president is eager to defend a legacy that was unsustainable,' said Obama, characterizing Cheney's politics as a line of thought which 'has done incredible damage to our image and position in the world.'
'I fundamentally disagree with Dick Cheney,' said Obama. 'Not surprisingly. You know, I think that Vice President Cheney has been at the head of a movement whose notion is somehow that we can't reconcile our core values, our constitution, our belief that we don't torture, with our national security interests. I think he's drawing the wrong lesson from history. The facts don't bear him out.
'I think he is ... That attitude, that philosophy has done incredible damage to our image and position in the world. I mean, the fact of the matter is, after all these years, how many convictions actually came out of Guantanamo? How many ... How many terrorists have actually been brought to justice under the philosophy that is being promoted by Vice President Cheney? It hasn't made us safer."
'Hey, you know who I am, right?' he barked. 'I'm Barry Cooper. I make a living off busting cops.'
One of the officers stopped in his tracks. 'Yeah, I know who you are,' he said. 'I've seen your videos.'
'Good!' Barry yelled back. 'I'm going to run for Texas Attorney General. You better enjoy this while you can 'cause when I'm running the show, pulling sh*t like this will get your asses fired!'"
"But of Bush, the 57-year-old Orman has only scorn.
For Bush, the interviewer says, she 'holds an especially dark place in her heart.
'Commander in Chief?' she sputters. 'You blew up every single financial vessel we had and if you think you aren't personally responsible, well, the blame starts at the top. There is no higher top than you, sir! If I were you, I would feel so absolutely horrific that I would take every penny I had and distribute it to anybody and everybody to help them in whatever way I could. You owe the American people every penny of your fortune and your family's fortune.'"
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Republicans lying isn't odd. What's odd is that they didn't stick with the lie til the bitter end per norm.
"In a stunning reversal, the anti-labor Wall Street Journal editorial page admitted today that one of the key messages in Big Business’s fight against the Employee Free Choice Act is false. “The bill doesn’t remove the secret-ballot option from the National Labor Relations Act,” wrote the WSJ editors today.
The acknowledgment by the WSJ that the legislation doesn’t eliminate the option of a secret-ballot election is surprising given that it has been one of the most aggressive pushers of the false meme:"
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Hey Olympia Snowe. Joe seems to be having a problem with his 'pair'. Maybe you could lend a hand on 'pair' management since you're such the goddamn expert.
"SYDNEY – Warring bikers brawled through Australia's largest airport Sunday, beating one suspected gang member to death and brandishing metal poles 'like swords' as they rampaged through the main domestic terminal in front of terrified travelers.
Police said a group of suspected gang members was ambushed as they disembarked from an airplane."
"Date: May 19, 2009 [CD Release Party May 15, 2009] Label: AthFest/Ghostmeat Records Format: CD Category: Compilation
TRACK LISTING 1. Patterson Hood 2. The Corduroy Road* 3. Widespread Panic* 4. Betsy Franck & The Bareknuckle Band* 5. The Arcs* 6. A Post War Drama* 7. Holy Liars 8. Marty Winkler with Michael Steele & Davis Causey 9. Deaf Judges 10. Jesse Mangum* 11. The Warm Fuzzies* 12. Brave New Citizen* 13. Curley Maple* 14. Magic Missile 15. The Starter Kits* 16. The Quick Hooks*
* - previously unreleased tracks
This year's CD was culled from 186 submissions. It includes 11 previously unreleased songs. Only Patterson Hood has ever appeared on a AthFest CD in the past. This year's CD is packaged in an eco-friendly recycled paper and plastic digipak."
"Noel Murray Maybe it’s because I’ve been ridicu-busy lately, but the song I keep coming back to is Drive-By Truckers’ “The Living Bubba,” which Patterson Hood wrote in 1996 from the point of view of his country-rock acquaintance Gregory Dean Smalley, who’d recently died of AIDS. The song is simple and powerful, describing the effects of the disease and Smalley’s efforts to overcome them by playing as many gigs as he could. “I can’t die now / ‘Cause I got another show to do,” Hood sings over and over on Smalley’s behalf, and every time he does I feel my own little surge of strength. (For more on the song, read Hood’s recollections of its origins in Paste.)"
"I missed out on Alabama Chanin’s New York Fashion Week presentation at the Firehouse in late February, but all of NY’s fashion birds were tweeting in unison that this was one of the loveliest and most refreshing events of the week. Chanin’s Fall/Winter 2009 Collection was inspired by what the designer and her team referred to as “The Songbirds,” aka amazing women singing about real life issues to help soothe the scratches and bumps that life often throws our way - Emmlyou Harris, Patty Griffin, Allison Moorer, Abigail Washburn, Allison Krauss, The Be Good Tanyas, Elizabeth Cook, Shonna Tucker of The Drive-By Truckers and many, many others. The Songbirds fashion week presentation was totally unpretentious, and a sign perhaps, of just how much we have to learn about persistence and good honest sweat during hard times."
"So I’m listening to the Gourds new CD “Haymaker” this week.
This isn’t so much an indepth review of the CD (alright then – here’s the review: It’s good. Go buy it. You don’t really need me to tell you that, do you?) as it is a discussion of dem Gourds and how they make people happy"
"Here's my list of my favorite concert flubs. One important note: I left off Jay Z playing Oasis' 'Wonderwall' at 2008's Glastonbury Festival with a guitar hanging from his neck as a prop. It was insanely lame and deserves to be on some kind of list, but I know it wasn't technically a mistake. Just poor judgment."
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My first bit of practice with some new film editing toys. Kinda cheesy, but good for learning.
"Of all Barack Obama’s promises of reform, perhaps the most audacious is his pledge to “restore honesty, openness, and commonsense to Pentagon contracting and procurement.” Washington is littered with the open-jawed skeletons of such efforts, and given the historic length of the White House to-do list, some might say taking on the defense establishment smacks of hubris. But a raft of recent statements, directives, and appointments indicate the administration fully intends to chaperone Pentagon shopping trips and hold defense contractors accountable in a way they never have been before."
As one who use to love performing in Shakespeare's stage plays, (Iago in Othello and Orlando in As You Like It, thank you very much) this is pretty damn cool.
"A small bat that was spotted blasting off with the space shuttle Sunday and clinging to the back side of Discovery's external fuel tank apparently held on throughout the launch."
"I was taught to read when I was four and by the first day of first grade I was reading at the 4th grade level, or better. I never looked back. The only real problem is that since all the other kids hadn’t had this advantage, I spent most of my school years bored out of my skull. But the basic fact is that thanks to my early reading education, everything - everything - came easier to me. The same is true across the board. Invest in early reading and you’re strengthening every link in the educational chain for each and every affected student."
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Yeah, no elections were stolen in the past 9 years.
"Even the audit log system on current versions of Premier Election Solutions' (formerly Diebold's) electronic voting and tabulating systems --- used in some 34 states across the nation --- fail to record the wholesale deletion of ballots. Even when ballots are deleted on the same day as an election. That's the shocking admission heard today from Justin Bales, Premier's Western Region manager, at a State of California public hearing on the possible decertification of Diebold/Premier's tabulator system, GEMS v. 1.18.19."
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Please, oh , please can we just stop this stupid-ass prohibition.
"Scientists at the Universities of Melbourne and Texas have successfully resurrected a gene from the extinct Tasmanian Tiger. This certainly isn't Jurassic Park - more like a Jurassic Concession Stand - but it's an incredibly important step forward in the study of animals thought to be lost forever."
"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The actor best known as 'Borat' tricked the Alabama National Guard into allowing him onto a post, giving him a military uniform and briefly letting him train _ all, supposedly, for a German TV documentary.
The ruse, which included comedian Sacha Baron Cohen exposing his thong underwear while changing clothes, was going well until a young cadet recognized Cohen and notified older officers who weren't familiar with the actor.
'It's an embarrassment to the Alabama National Guard,' Staff Sgt. Katrina Timmons said Monday. 'Since then we have put in protocols to make sure this doesn't happen again.'"
"Historically, no institution has been as effective at improving the quality of life for working families as membership in a union.
Union members earn better wages, have better health-care coverage and can count on a more secure retirement than non-union workers.
As current and former union members ourselves, we know that unions work.
Who brought us the weekend? Unions. Who rose with unions? The middle class. It just makes sense. Tens of millions of workers would join a union if they could. The problem is that if they try, and their employer resists, workers have only about a 20 percent chance of success.
This is because the current system for forming a union is unfairly tilted in the employer's favor.
That's just wrong. It's un-American and one more example of greed and power run amok."
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And here's Maddow from last week debunking Republican bunk:
"The consensus was that the workers don't want anyone to get laid off and are willing to give up pay and benefits to make sure no one does. A nurse said her floor voted unanimously to forgo a 3 percent raise. A guy in finance who got laid off from his last job at a hospital in Rhode Island suggested working one less day a week. Another nurse said she was willing to give up some vacation and sick time. A respiratory therapist suggested eliminating bonuses."
"Nevertheless, the Defense Department, the Energy Department, NASA, university physicists and a few private companies are working to produce and manage anti-matter and to develop useful applications for this weird stuff.
Potential applications include propellants for deep space travel, better cancer radiation therapies and detectors for smuggled nuclear materials, according to Gerald Jackson, a physicist and the president of Hbar Technologies in West Chicago, Ill. 'Hbar' is physicists' shorthand for anti-hydrogen."
"The man who dubbed Vice President Joe Biden a socialist last September for arguing that paying taxes is 'patriotic' appears to have some government redistribution ideas of his own.
Newt Gingrich, often cited as a Republican prospect for president in 2012, says the state should consider paying teenager girls not to get pregnant."
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Typical rough day for a Republican.
Getting his ass beaten with a guitar is a nice twist.
"Inverness Police say former Cook County Republican Chairman Gary Skoien admitted having two prostitutes in his children’s playroom when his wife walked in on him early Sunday morning.
The allegation is in a domestic battery report from Skoien, 55, against his 36-year-old, 5-foot-4-inch, 110-pound wife. He said she beat him with her fists and an electric guitar."
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I was wondering about all of those vapors wafting from North Alabama.
"GOOD HOPE, Ala. — It's one thing for a church in a big city like Dallas or Atlanta to tackle the ticklish topic of sex. It blends in with the urban scene.
It's another thing when a small-town congregation puts up billboards with the phrase 'Great sex: God's way' on rural highways to promote a sermon series. You can't even legally buy beer in Cullman County, and a preacher is talking about S-E-X on Sunday morning?
Daystar Church, whose congregation has grown dramatically under pastor Jerry Lawson, has run up against the sensibilities of a conservative north Alabama community with a monthlong focus on sex."
"In most states, the issue of medical marijuana is not on any legislative docket.
In Oregon however, a state which already allows medical marijuana, socializing the weed is being pitched as a bipartisan cause celebre.
Maybe socializing is the wrong word.
'House Bill 3247 would direct the state to establish and operate a marijuana production facility,' reported Oregon's KGW-TV. 'The state would control potency and pharmacy distribution.'"
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How do you make Ron Paul seem less bat shit crazy? Pair him with Stephen Baldwin.
Now don't get me wrong, Paul has some very reasoned, progressive/libertarian ideas that I agree with, one being the repeal of marijuana prohibition. Paul and I are good-good on that one.
9th cede DBT pulled out a win over 8th cede Hugh Martin.
Up next is Hank Williams. Now, who don't love some Hank, but if you need a reason to vote for DBT over Hank, here it is.... Hank Williams spawned Hank Jr. (who got knocked out of the first round by Bo Bice. HA!)
Unfortunately, Jason Isbell got knocked out by Florence, AL native W.C. Handy (I grew up a couple of blocks from Handy's log cabin home). If you're gonna get knocked out, it ain't too bad to be knocked out by Handy.
You'll have until 11 p.m. Sunday to cast your votes in this round, which will narrow the field to the Sweet 16. The second-round winners will be revealed Tuesday, March 17, at blog.al.com/bn/madness.
Check out the competitors with our YouTube and iTunes playlists.
The tournament will play out like the upcoming NCAA basketball brackets. Here are the results from your votes in Round 1:
BRACKET 1
1) Hank Williams 91%, 16) Willie King 9% 8) Hugh Martin 25%, 9) Drive By-Truckers 75% 5) Jim Nabors 75%, 12) Vestal Goodman 25% 4) Wilson Pickett 89%, 13) Ray Sawyer 11% 2) Jimmy Buffett 90%, 15) Justin Brown 10% 7) Dorothy Love Coates 28% 10) Taylor Hicks 72% 3) Sun Ra 48%, 14) Razzy Bailey 52% 6) Nell Carter 75%, 11) Delmore Brothers 25%
BRACKET 2
1) Alabama 90% 16) Henry Panion 10% 8) Tommy Shaw 46%, 9) Little Big Town 54% 5) Odetta 66%, 12) Claire Lynch 34% 4) Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section 73% 13) Jamey Johnson 27% 2) Lionel Richie 81%, 15) "Country Boy" Eddie 19% 7) Sonny James 55%, 10) Ruben Studdard 45% 3) Hank Williams Jr. 40%, 14) Bo Bice 60% 6) Louvin Brothers 48%, 11) Eddie Floyd 52%
BRACKET 3
1) Tammy Wynette 86%, 16) Hotel 14% 8) Bobby Goldsboro 50% (1,233 votes), 9) Martha Reeves 50% (1,246 votes) 5) Percy Sledge 86%, 12) Mac McAnally 14% 4) W.C. Handy 65%, 13) Jason Isbell 35% 2) The Temptations 93%, 15) Damon Johnson 7% 7) Erskine Hawkins 53%, 10) Rick Carter 47% 3) Sam Phillips 75%, 14) Take 6 25% 6) Vern Gosdin 67%, 11) Rebecca Luker 33%
BRACKET 4
1) Nat King Cole 91%, 16) Baker Knight 9% 8) "Big Mama" Thornton 31%, 9) Clarence Carter 69% 5) Blind Boys of Alabama 76%, 2) Chuck Leavell 24% 4) Commodores 91%, 13) Alan Hunter 9% 2) Emmylou Harris 92%, 15) Oteil Burbridge 8% 7) Wet Willie 54%, 10) Shelby Lynne 46% 3) Dinah Washington 55%, 14) Bobby Horton 45% 6) Toni Tennille 64%, 11) Ty Herndon 36%
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This is pretty cool. I believe the only 21st century albums listed is DBT's BTCD.
Kick off Esquire.com's Music Week with our unranked, incomplete, yet highly tasteful and informative list of the records your music collection requires. How many have you listened to?
The list (in alphatetical order):
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Beethoven - Symphony No. 5
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
James Brown - Live at the Apollo
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
Bill Callahan - Woke on a Whaleheart
The Cars - The Cars
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western
Cody Chestnut - The Headphone Masterpiece
Vic Chestnutt - Left To His Own Devices
The Clash - Combat Rock
Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen
Sam Cooke - Night Beat
Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
Drive-By Truckers - Brighter than Creation's Dark
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Marvin Gaye - What's Goin On
The Grateful Dead - American Beauty
Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
Iggy Pop - Lust For Life
Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
Kiss - Destroyer
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
Luna - Penthouse
Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5
Bob Marley - Catch a Fire
Metallica - ...And Justice For All
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Minor Threat - Out of Step
Mississippi John Hurt - The Best of Mississippi John Hurt
Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly OST
Nas - Illmatic
Willie Nelson - Phases and Stages
Nirvana - Unplugged
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Pearl Jam - Ten
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
Pink Floyd - Animals
Pixies - Doolittle
Pulp - This Is Hardcore
Radiohead - The Bends
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
Ramones - Road To Ruin
Otis Redding - The Dictionary Of Soul
Slick Rick - The Great Adventures Of...
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath
Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours
Bruce Springsteen - Darkness of the Edge of Town
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Taj Mahal - Take A Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home Talking Heads - True Stories
Television - Marquee Moon
The Temptations - Gettin' Ready
The Travelling Wilburys - The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1
Ike and Tina Turner - Workin' Together
Van Halen - Fair Warning
Townes Van Zandt - Live at the Old Quarter
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico
Tom Waits - Small Change
The Who - Who's Next
Wilco - Being There
Hank Williams - The Unreleased Recordings
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
Neil Young - Harvest
And before you guys get your boxers all twisted up, Esquire also added a list of 30 more albums that just missed the cut:
Beck - Odelay
Chuck Berry - The Great Twenty-Eight
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
The Cure - Disintegration
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
The Doors - The Doors
Four Tops - Reach Out
Green Day - Dookie
Buddy Holly - 20 Golden Greats
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. 1
Joy Division - Closer
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Motley Crue - Girls, Girls, Girls
My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions
The Pretenders - The Pretenders Prince - Purple Rain
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
R.E.M. - Murmur
Anything by Little Richard Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bullocks
"TUSCUMBIA - The Tennessee River, Natchez Trace and Jackson Military Road played a major role in travel and commerce during Alabama's early development as a state.
But those same passageways served as inlets to welcome an array of music and sounds from settlers and visitors from throughout America.
To pay homage to the state's rich music culture, The Smithsonian Institution has partnered with the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art for 'New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music."
"HAMPTON, Va. — Some Phish fans are leaving Hampton a little lighter than when they arrived for the band's weekend reunion.
Police said Monday they confiscated about $1.2 million in illegal drugs and more than $68,000 in cash from concertgoers. Authorities also arrested 194 Phish fans during the three-night celebration of the band's return to the stage after a nearly five-year absence."
"Last month, we got word that Faith No More is reuniting for a European tour this summer. But what about the other major Bay Area rock acts from the '90s that somehow slipped off the radar? We tracked them down at the arenas and county fairs to get status updates."
"Peter Garrett, the towering, shaven-headed frontman for Midnight Oil, broke up the band in 2002 and pursued a career in politics that brought him into government less than two years ago.
But band members will come together to perform at a concert to raise funds for victims of Australia's worst wildfires, which killed more than 210 and destroyed thousands of homes in southern Victoria state last month.
Once known as champions of Aboriginal rights and the environment, Midnight Oil has not played a gig since their singer became a minister. Garrett has toed his Labor Party's center-left policy line, and tries to avoid questions about his former views.
Now, Garrett may have a dilemma on his hands because lyrics in some of the band's most popular songs do not fit comfortably within the political mainstream.
'Can Midnight Oil field 20 whole minutes of material that wouldn't get Mr. Garrett sacked if he were to read it out in Parliament rather than shrieking it while twitching violently to guitar music?' Sydney Morning Herald columnist Annabel Crabb wrote recently."
"This is a song about people and heroes and change. Life in America. I hope you enjoy it as much as my dog. He is usually very camera shy but not in this video. Featuring Shakey Pictures' new 'economy look' to go with the times!
Let's send Johnny to Detroit!
Enjoy,
Joe the Rock Star"
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I would never, ever unleash any Britney crappiness on you unless some hilarity is involved.
32 second mark. Talk about a wardrobe malfunction.
I want a t-shirt that says what Brit-brit said.
You can take the girl out of Louisiana.....
NSFW
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Here's the Mother of all Funk chords to wash that Britney nastiness from your mouth:
Bobby Jindal: 'I'm certainly not nearly as good of a speaker as Obama.' Good OF a speaker? How about not as good at eighth-grade grammar either. It's embarrassing."
"WASHINGTON — For nearly 150 years, a story has circulated about a hidden Civil War message engraved inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. On Tuesday, museum curators confirmed it was true. A watchmaker used tiny tools to carefully pry open the antique watch at the National Museum of American History, and a descendant of the engraver read aloud the message from a metal plate underneath the watch face."
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This is one tough SOB that was trying to kill himself.
"An apparently distraught man jumped into Niagara Falls on Wednesday and survived the 180-foot plunge, then resisted rescue attempts before he eventually was pulled from the icy water to safety, police said."
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Crazy Fred Phelps and Co. get pwned by Alpha Delta Phi at the University of Chicago.
"A federal grand jury met in Montgomery last week and according to sources close to the investigation heard testimony from a number of witnesses in what appears to be an investigation of Alabama Attorney General Troy King. King, questioned Monday, denies any knowledge of the investigation."
"Authorities charged a man with driving under the influence early Monday after police pulled him over for driving a car with only three tires. Police said an officer spotted a 27-year-old man driving without a rear passenger tire."
"“We will lose on legislation. But we will win the message war every day, and every week, until November 2010,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., an outspoken conservative who has participated on the GOP message teams. “Our goal is to bring down approval numbers for [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and for House Democrats. That will take repetition. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”"
"Human pollution is turning the seas into acid so quickly that the coming decades will recreate conditions not seen on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs, scientists will warn today.
The rapid acidification is caused by the massive amounts of carbon dioxide belched from chimneys and exhausts that dissolve in the ocean. The chemical change is placing 'unprecedented' pressure on marine life such as shellfish and lobsters and could cause widespread extinctions, the experts say."
"A canny chimpanzee who calmly collected a stash of rocks and then hurled them at zoo visitors in fits of rage has confirmed that apes can plan ahead just like humans, a Swedish study said Monday. Santino the chimpanzee's anti-social behavior stunned both visitors and keepers at the Furuvik Zoo but fascinated researchers because it was so carefully prepared.
According to a report in the journal Current Biology, the 31-year-old alpha male started building his weapons cache in the morning before the zoo opened, collecting rocks and knocking out disks from concrete boulders inside his enclosure. He waited until around midday before he unleashed a 'hailstorm' of rocks against visitors, the study said."
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It is not 'survival of the fittest'. It is survival of the most adaptable.
"Christian Zionists support all violent actions by Israel for any reason because in the fevered evangelical mind the nation of Israel is presently standing in for Jesus-the-avenger-on-evildoers everywhere, i.e. Arabs, all of whom (according to the born-again porn peddlers) are soon destined to burn anyway! So, who cares if 10 Israeli deaths from Hamas' rockets fired into southern Israel are avenged by the killing of 1,300 men women and children in Gaza?USA! USA! Go Jesus! Time for another godly session on my Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game! Hurry Jesus come back and kill em' all.
And that is the Republican's base. Good luck to President Obama trying to find bipartisan solutions to our world wide problems with these folks."
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Simple answer to Schaeffer's simple question: Because they're Republicans.
Today the Republican Party is rooting for doom. And since the Republicans are now anti-American members of an Obama-must-fail insurgency, lies become a self-fulfilling prophecy: talk doom, and keep the economy in a panic and we may get what we wish for.
Don't conservative Republicans object to the lies? No, because the Republicans don't have any actual and traditional conservative followers left. The Republican base is now made up of religious and neoconservative ideologues, and the uneducated white underclass with a token person of color or two up front on TV to obscure the all-white, all reactionary all backward -- there-is-no-global-warming -- rube reality. Actual conservatives, let alone the educated classes, have long since fled.
The Republican religious nuts are rooting for Jesus to "rapture" them, not for America, and the neoconservatives are rooting for war and the Israeli hard liners, not for America. Truth (and sanity) are out the window.
So, what is the problem with lying to our faces, say, claiming that all American's taxes are going up when 95% of American's taxes are going to go down? Why not claim Obama is a socialist, even if he's not? Why not say anything at all to drive our country into a pit when losing is seen as winning? That, is all the Republicans have to offer America: more lies on a path to destruction from which the Republican "leadership" plans to resurrect themselves and "save" America from Obama.
"Stung by the negative public reaction to Rush's takeover of the Republican Party, a new line of spin has been birthed by the crazies on the Right -- that the dastardly Democrats have conspired to push Limbaugh into the public debate to take away attention from the failed Obama Administration.
Yeah, yeah, laugh. It is hilarious, particularly because the American people are loving what Obama and the Democrats are doing. But before these blowhards start casting about for blame, maybe they should take a look in the mirror:"
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This is pretty cool and probably one of the most important innovations (domestication of horses) that allowed humans to evolve.
"Just seeing the two Alabama cavefish was cause for optimism among the scientists. The Alabama cavefish, which is listed as a critically endangered species by the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service, is one of the rarest fish in the world."
