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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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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Bars and Farms

I'm a bit surprised how many I've visited.

150 Best Bars in America | The Daily Meal

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Well played, Georgia. Well played.

Ga’s farm-labor crisis playing out as planned | Jay Bookman:

Thanks to the resulting labor shortage, Georgia farmers have been forced to leave millions of dollars’ worth of blueberries, onions, melons and other crops unharvested and rotting in the fields. It has also put state officials into something of a panic at the damage they’ve done to Georgia’s largest industry."

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Meet the farmer next door

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Why liberal arts matter - CNN.com

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Bounding Steaks

Sum total of our current news media. I imagine this is what their morning meetings are like.

YouTube - Reservoir Dogs - Like a Virgin scene

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Democrats and bold. Like snakes and Indiana Jones. I'm giving too much credit to Democrats or snakes in this analogy.

Daily Kos: Now is the time for boldness.:

"America is rotting.

Not through neglect, but through design and timidity. The 1Percenters designed the rot, and the Party that historically represented us 99Percenters encourage it through timidity. This rot has been slow and steady for Forty years, and now, in the last decade, the rot has moved into high octane overdrive."

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Maybe this will help..... Not the Dems. Me.

The Caperon, a Betabrand Think Tank Product - Betabrand

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DBT Week in Review - 4/16/11

Eyes Above It

"Like" and Follow:

https://www.facebook.com/EyesAboveIt

http://twitter.com/eyesaboveit

DBT!

eGigs.co.uk - Drive-By Truckers / Dan Michaelson And The Coastguards - Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds on Wednesday 11 May 2011

Drive-By Truckers: O2 Academy, Liverpool - Getintothis: Liverpool's guide to music reviews, gigs, discussion and opinion.

In Photos: Drive-By Truckers Josh T. Pearson @ The Button Factory, Dublin (07.05.11) | Ragged Words

Flickr: The Queen's Hall's Photostream

18. “Everybody Needs Love” – Drive-By Truckers (2011) | The Ultimate Alabama Playlist � The Year of Alabama Music

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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Those crazy kids.

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Slobberbone

Da 'Bone touring the Midwest. I wish for 'west' w/o 'mid'.

Slobberbone

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Muscle Shoals Sound

Tornado victim gets chance to make music | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL

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Music

National Jukebox LOC.gov

Groupon, Live Nation form online-ticket deal site

Flagpole Athens Music Awards

Google to launch online music service: report | The Raw Story

Tupac's Next Posthumous Release: A Screenplay - Amplifier

Judges and Bob Dylan: Judges hand down the law with help from Bob Dylan - latimes.com:

"During a semester in 2007, Long combed legal databases to identify lyrics in court filings and scholarly publications, finding Dylan cited 186 times, far outpacing the rest of the top 10: the Beatles, 74; Bruce Springsteen, 69; Paul Simon, 59; Woody Guthrie, 43; the Rolling Stones, 39; the Grateful Dead, 32; Simon & Garfunkel, 30; Joni Mitchell, 28; and R.E.M., 27."

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Food and Music

Witty and well done.

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Literature

One of my favorite authors.

Ink and Page � Blog Archive � Interview with Author Christopher Moore

Rather than take the bait, my friend said, “Well, she communicated with someone, didn’t she? Art is about communication, and what she had to say resonated with a buyer.” He wasn’t offended or competitive about it, but simply resolved to the truth that art was communication.

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Exceptionally Depressing

Quite beautiful:

25 Abandoned Yugoslavia Monuments that look like they're from the Future | Crack Two

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America. fuck yeah.

We're #1 -- Ten Depressing Ways America Is Exceptional | News & Politics | AlterNet

This is #11:

Taco Bell tests shell made of Doritos : Hot Topics

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Bah. That is all.

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Bridge Tower

Shining a light on the motherland today.

Never gonna happen. Not in SF. Nope.

SF Mayor Ed Lee enters nightclub rules fight:

"If the San Francisco Police Department had its way, every single person who went into a club in the city would have her picture taken and ID scanned as she walked in the door."

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Once completed, this bridge will be a jaw-dropper.

The new Bay Bridge tower grew to 495 feet as - Media (1 of 8) Bay Bridge tower sees 500-ton piece go up

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Two teens in the past couple of weeks have survived. The odds are lottery-like.

Teen survives Golden Gate Bridge fall

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I love this river.

Russian River has ally and advocate | PressDemocrat.com

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Must go to Spain.

Inside Scoop SF � San Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants announced: Noma tops again; El Bulli, French Laundry absent from Top 50

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Rest and Sandwiches

Congrats to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit on their record release today.

'Here We Rest' is available at local record stores as well as online outlets.

Browan Lollar's cover artwork is particularly inspired.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

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Sandwiches.

Little Vietnam Cafe's Banh Mi Ga: Rather - Media (1 of 21) 21 sandwich recipes

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Doing it Wrong

Or you've just gone all Randian:

7 Basic Things You Won't Believe You're All Doing Wrong | Cracked.com

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Annual top restaurants in the Bay Area:

Restaurants — Food — SFGate

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Tee. Hee.

Photography Tips From an Old Dude | Uptown Almanac

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Aaaand. Politics.

Jon Stewart Mocks Obama's 2012 Re-election Campaign, Lack Of Transparency (VIDEO)

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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."

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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."

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

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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."

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Go-Go Boots Album Release Party in NorCal

Join me at Flora Springs Winery on 2/12 for a Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots Album Release Party. Free swag will be given away.

NorCal Go-Go Boots Album Release Party hosted by Flora Springs Winery

Also, allow me to introduce my new blogging associate, Thomas Becker. He knows a hell a lot about wine.

He's dead, too.

Flora Springs' Winery Ghost | A Blog by Thomas Becker

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Some reasons why the West Side is the Best Side:

Food carts: Where but Portland, the land of - Media (1 of 31) 100 trends shaping our West Coast lifestyle

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Cheesey Fog

Nails it.

Michael Brenner: Barack Obama -- Out of the Closet

The weak supporting the weak. Comprehensive run-down how Democrats and some Liberals/Progressives are failing this country miserably.

"Faced with betrayal, they freeze at pronouncing the word, of thinking the thought, of feeling the emotion. They are easy marks for the upscale con man with the high-minded rhetoric. They see taking offense as itself somehow offensive. They shy away from accusing, from denouncing. So when Mr. Obama spits in their face week after week, they are stunned into denial. Some declare: Our Saviour is also a rainmaker -- a thousand blessings be upon him! Others turn the other cheek. A few instinctively reach for a handkerchief. The more imaginative suggest that he was really aiming at the Republicans, but he's under such great stress that he lost his aim. The truly original believe that it's all part of a clever strategy so ingenious that we poor mortals can't conceive of it. Mysterious are the ways of Our Saviour."

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Of course they did. Democrats turn 51 votes needed into 67 because..... uh.....

Weak and wrong.

Democrats Scale Down Rules Reform Package, Aiming For 67 Votes

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Might go get a juicer in Jack's honor.

Fitness guru Jack LaLanne, 96, dies at Calif. home - Yahoo! News:

"Just before he had heart valve surgery in 2009 at age 95, Jack Lalanne told his family that dying would wreck his image, his publicist Ariel Hankin said at the time."

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Yes, please.

A.S.B. • Oh god what is this

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Humboldt Fog is like eating a dream. Word has it has it their truffle offering is devine, too.

National Cheese Lovers Day: The Best California Cheeses:

"'The Humboldt Fog is a tribute to classic French goat cheese-making. It's soft ripening from the outside inward and it has the vegetable ash through the middle and a little bit around the edges.'-- Norbert Wabnig."

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Double Sun

And California is not far behind.

Vermont Lawmakers Lay Groundwork For Single Payer System In Place Of Obamacare

It should state 'BobDoleCare' or 'CrappyRepublicanBillfromthe90scare'.

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Ha.

Darya Pino, Ph.D: Is it Food? [Flowchart]

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Really? Bath salts are a hell of a drug?

Officials fear bath salts are growing drug problem - Yahoo! News

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Time for me to preach the joy of the cable-less existence again. Your life will be infinitely improved and your IQ will jump 20 points if you remove cable news and all the other crappy, time-wasting programing from your life.

Netflix, Hulu, ESPN3, Network websites. Good to go.

Oh, no political commercials ever again, too.

First Person: How We Cut the Cord and Now Enjoy (Almost) Free TV - Yahoo! Finance

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Cool, but probably bullshit.

Two Suns? Twin Stars Could Be Visible From Earth By 2012

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Red Planet

Al Franken's pitiful mea culpa for voting Yea mimicked GOP talking points to a T. Very disappointed in Franken,

Repeat after me. TAX CUTS ARE NOT STIMULATIVE. TAX CUTS ARE WHAT'S GOT US IN THIS GODDAMN MESS TO BEGIN WITH. THIS TAX CAVE IS THE FIRST STEP TO KILLING SOCIAL SECURITY.

Daily Kos: The End of Obama's Presidency, According to Him (Updated):

"If the last two years have taught us anything, it's this: never put your faith in a politician. The only way for citizens to find their power in our present corrupt governing system is to band together outside the corrupt party apparatus and demand change from without. When even Al Franken goes along to get along, there seems no other choice."

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I'm all about Uptown Almanac at the moment. Cool old vid from Hwy 1/Ocean Beach.

San Francisco Motorcycle Cops Trained as Daredevils | Uptown Almanac

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Awesome.

Jim Bell: 'Postcards From Mars': 15 Amazing Pictures Of The Red Planet From New Book (PHOTOS)

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Because it is broth season.

For the Love of Cooking: Homemade Chicken Broth

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What we need is more WikiLeaks

And that's the truth, Ron Paul. Assange is a modern day Robin Hood.

Ron Paul: ‘What we need is more WikiLeaks’ | Raw Story:

"“In a free society we're supposed to know the truth,” Paul insisted. “In a society where truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble. And now, people who are revealing the truth are getting into trouble for it."

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Not sure this is gonna work.... squirrel is scary, though.

Drunken squirrel to scare Russians off vodka : Hot Topics

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Please never let me get in a double-dog-dare situation with one of these.

World’s hottest pepper is ‘hot enough to strip paint’ - Yahoo! News:

"'It numbs your tongue, then burns all the way down,' he told the paper. 'It can last an hour, and you just don't want to talk to anyone or do anything. But it's a marvelous endorphin rush. It makes you feel great.'"

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In another life I would be a storm chaser.

Jaw-dropping image of enormous 'supercell' cloud in Glasgow, Montana | Mail Online

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I Promise, I'll Never Hit You Again, Baby.

Good-fucking-grief. We are so screwed with this President.

Obama promises more outreach to GOP - CNN.com

And the Republicans promise to continue to destroy Obama at every turn. Nice and bipartisan-like.

Can we please just hurry up and get to the Huckabee/Palin reign of terror coming our way in 2013.

Oh, to have a leader that believed in something and fought for anything.

"Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama told GOP leaders behind closed doors Tuesday that he had failed to reach across party lines enough during his first two years in office, a senior administration official told CNN.

He promised to do a better job of bipartisan outreach in the days ahead, the official added.

'The president said he had to do better, and the president is ready to do his part,' the official said."

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Daily Kos: Dear Mr President Let Me Whisper In Your Ear

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Indeed. The entire game is rigged. Rigged and rigged to fail.

C-Span mic catches US Senator’s candor: The Senate ‘is all rigged’ | Raw Story

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CHAAAAAAANGE! Yee-haw!

Obama administration gives billions in stimulus money without environmental safeguards:

"In the name of job creation and clean energy, the Obama administration has doled out about $2 billion in stimulus money to some of the nation's biggest polluters while granting them exemptions from a basic form of environmental oversight, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found."

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Wanna try this sometime.

DIY: Crab Fishing in San Francisco - Jared Rivera

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Finger Wag

I'm pretty sure a finger wag isn't going to do the trick.

Only, if only, a law would have been passed to prevent such egregious greed. Oh, yeah.... right.

This is the point where I'm suppose to clap louder.

Health Insurance Profits Soar, Dem Calls For Rebates:

"WASHINGTON -- Health insurance profits are skyrocketing in 2010 compared to last year's returns and the outgoing chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the companies is calling on them to return the profits to consumers in the form of premium reductions."

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No one could have predicted....

Exclusive: Multiple independent lab tests confirm oil in Gulf shrimp | Raw Story

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Damn cool.

The Abandoned City Hall Subway Stop Now Open To Tourists (PHOTOS)

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You think the coming war over water is going to be bad.

The end of chocolate? : The Thin Green Line:

"Cocoa can only be grown close to the equator, mostly in West Africa, and farmers there lack incentives to replant the trees as they die. Cocoa trees take three years to mature. Small-scale producers of the delicious stuff earn just 80 cents a day selling to the mega-corporations that control the market."

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Orange Tossing

Amen.

Grayson: Democratic ‘appeasement’ cost us the election | Raw Story:

"'Our strategy for two years has been appeasement, and look where it got us,' Grayson told MSNBC. 'I think Democrats want to see a fighting leadership, they want to see a fighting president — somebody who actually accomplishes good things for constituents.'"

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Double Amen with a Weeellll.

Peace Sucks a Hairy Asshole - First Draft:

"Here's the problem, you gutless fucks. You had majorities. And I KNOW, okay, but all America sees is that you had majorities and you wasted them. Because that's what the GOP told them, and you said, 'buh buh buh' and couldn't point to anything you did right, not even with the unwashed hippies holding your arm up for you. You had majorities, and you had Harry Reid, refusing to be mean to Republicans by shoving stuff through. You had majorities, and you had Barack Obama acting like he was already an ex-president and could be gracious and social with these pricks. You had majorities, used them to do some stuff, and then sat back and acted like we should be grateful when we can fucking count.

We can fucking count, out here. We know what 51 means. We know what 257 means. We're not morons. And all the procedural whatsit you argue today, about ConservaDems and Blue Dogs, doesn't mean shit. You had it, and we worked hard to give it to you, and we see you calling things impossible which are just very hard, and we get fucking annoyed, because we don't get to get away with that shit. Not at our jobs and not in our lives."

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And yet, I'm not allowed to drive with a six-pack in belly. Does. Not. Compute.

As boomers age, 1 in 5 drivers will be oldsters - Yahoo! News

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Yeah, what's the big deal?

Man arrested for throwing oranges at planes:

"Police say Henio admitted to sniffing spray paint. He also admitted to throwing oranges at the planes, and said he didn't know why it was a big deal."

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Bear vs. Bison

Oh Noes Globe!

Snowglobe forces evacuation at Bradley Airport - Courant.com

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A government dictating the proper thing for a corporation to do against the corporation's will. Wow. What a novel concept.

McDonald’s furious after San Francisco bans Happy Meals

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Big Box retailers: Killing communities since... their beginning.

What It's Like to Work in Walmart Hell | | AlterNet:

"There's nothing -- not a goddamn thing -- about big-box retailers that makes the world better."

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Great pictures.

Bear vs. Bison: Alex Wypyszinski Snaps Photos Of Rare Hunt On Yellowstone National Park Road (VIDEO)

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SOME People are Awesome

Happy November! Eat some turkey:

Making the Case for a $140 Turkey: BA Daily: Blogs : bonappetit.com

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Then make a local FAUX affiliate eat some crow:

Daily Kos: Milwaukee County Dems take on Fox News crew

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Attaboy, Jorge.

Soros gives $1M to Calif. pot legalization measure - Yahoo! News:

"SAN FRANCISCO – Billionaire financier George Soros has thrown his weight behind California's marijuana legalization measure with a $1 million donation a week before the vote. The contribution reported Tuesday by The Sacramento Bee is the single biggest donation from an individual other than Proposition 19's main sponsor, Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee."

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Forward looking NorCal. Thank jeebus. I love the headlands.

Marin Headlands saved when 1960s city plan quashed

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SOME people are Awesome:

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