Bars and Farms

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

150 Best Bars in America | The Daily Meal

_______

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."

_______

Meet the farmer next door

_______

Why liberal arts matter - CNN.com

_______
_____
___

Build the Big F****n' Thing!

Government is about the only entity left in the U.S. that CAN create jobs. Corporate America could give a rats ass about creating American jobs.

Thus, we should go big with a public works campaign and....

Build the Big F****n' Thing!

_______

We're doing it here in NorCal, even though we imported most of the steel from China (reformatting your resume in Mandarin is a bitch, btw).

Piece of new Bay Bridge tower to go up:

"Crews are scheduled to install the 165-foot, 12,000-ton piece, known as a lift, Wednesday afternoon. The massive piece arrived in the Bay Area from China earlier this month.

It is one of five pieces that will make up the first section of the 525-foot tower, which will be the centerpiece of the new, seismically safe, $6.2 billion eastern span."

_______

And we roll with our own renewable energy plans, feds be damned.

Sonoma County resists feds on home energy loans

_______

And it is not like this country isn't looking like some Appalachian, backwoods shack that one strong wind can take out....

Dam fails in eastern Iowa, causing massive flooding - CNN.com

Oil pipeline leak pollutes major Michigan river | Raw Story

Oil spewing from well near La. marsh - U.S. news - Environment - msnbc.com

Officials detail how Tempe Town Lake dam will be repaired

So, stimulate and stimulate BIG, Obama or go home.

______

Speaking of hell... I mean, Phoenix... You reap what you sow....

Fleeing Phoenix out of fear of immigration law - Los Angeles Times:

"Reporting from Phoenix — Every time a customer buys some of the large fabric tote bags from the Dollar Store at 43rd Avenue and Thomas Road, Najmuddin Katchi sees another piece of his business vanish.

The purchase of the briefcase-sized shoulder bags means that another one of Katchi's customers, mostly Latino immigrants, is packing to leave the state before what is touted as the nation's toughest law against illegal immigrants takes effect July 29."

_______

Very cool, but you'd be forced to utilize their email program, I bet.

PilotHandwriting.com

_______

So awesome.

Flying giants: Incredibly rare display as manta rays leap 3ft out of water into the air | Mail Online

_______
_____
___

Immortal Dog vs. Bionic Cat

Clint Webb for Senate. Because, why not? We'll elect a bunch like him anyway.

_______

They givin' back err jobs.

Colbert, Immigrant Farm Workers Challenge Pundits And Unemployed To 'Take Our Jobs':

"And don't count on a big paycheck. Farm workers are excluded from federal overtime provisions, and small farms don't even have to pay the minimum wage. Fifteen states don't require farm labor to be covered by workers compensation laws.

Any takers?

'The reality is farmworkers who are here today aren't taking any American jobs away. They work in often unbearable situations,' Rodriguez said. 'I don't think there will be many takers, but the offer is being made. Let's see what happens.'"

_______

Assholes.

More Millionaires Put Money Into Jets, Jewelry, Give Less To Charity

_______

GOP says Schwarzenegger a 'disappointment' - Politics - Washington Post - msnbc.com

Disappointment?! Hell, the entire state was druuuunk as fuck when we held this special election. On the ballot was a porn star, a Gary Coleman, a handful of homeless dude plus a host of other freaks. We picked the most ridiculous of the bunch. Expectations were not high.

"Organizers said the actor-turned-politician declined an invitation to the event. The truth is, he would not have been welcome. After nearly six years in office, Schwarzenegger has few friends left in either party. The state budget deficit hovers around $20 billion; his approval rating has sunk below 25 percent."

_______

Humor....

Immortal Dog Is The Most Awesome Dog (VIDEO)

Vs.

Reality.

'Bionic Cat' Gets New Life With Prosthetic Paws

Strange.

_______
_____
___

And I'm Praying for You Too.

I hope President Obama learned the lesson that policy decisions should be based on merit, not politics. He's going to have to eat this one, big time. AND, we dirty hippies called 'bullshit' when he made this proclamation and included opening up new territory for drilling in the energy plan.

Yes, technology is advanced.... in other countries. Why not here in the U.S.?.....

Wonk Room � Citing Katrina Myth, Obama Claimed ‘Oil Rigs Today Don’t Generally Cause Spills’:

"I don’t agree with the notion that we shouldn’t do anything. It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced."

....Here's why. Shocking, I know. We'll be paying for the Bush/Cheney years for decades to come. Thus, the reason why Obama needs to stop splitting babies and push as hard as he can for tranformative, progressive policies. No. More. Bipartisanship. Bullshit.

Daily Kos: BP Oil Platform Spill Disaster is CHENEY'S Fault:

"Mike Papantonio, an environmental lawyer on the Ed Show just now: An 'acoustic switch' would have prevented this catastrophe - it's a failsafe that shuts the flow of oil off at the source - they cost only about half a million dollars each, and are required in off-shore drilling platforms in most of the world...except for the United States. This was one of the new deregulations devised by Dick Cheney during his secret meetings with the oil industry at the beginning of Bush's first term."

_______

Yup. Palast does a great job. I think it is called 'journalism'.

Greg Palast � Behind the Arizona Immigration Law:GOP Game to Swipe the November Election:

"What moved GOP Governor Jan Brewer to sign the Soviet-style show-me-your-papers law is the exploding number of legal Hispanics, US citizens all, who are daring to vote -- and daring to vote Democratic by more than two-to-one. Unless this demographic locomotive is halted, Arizona Republicans know their party will soon be electoral toast. Or, if you like, tortillas.

In 2008, working for Rolling Stone with civil rights attorney Bobby Kennedy, our team flew to Arizona to investigate what smelled like an electoral pogrom against Chicano voters ... directed by one Jan Brewer."

_______

It works....

Local businesses already feeling financial fallout of SB 1070 | Phoenix News | Arizona News | azfamily.com | Home:

"Some local businesses are already feeling the financial fallout. The Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association say 19 meeting have been cancelled because of Senate Bill 1070.

These groups represent an economic impact of $6 million to the state.

Ben Bethel says, “It's been a very quick swift action like I've never seen before.”"

What do the crazies do in response? Double-down!

Think Progress � Arizona Expands Its Discrimination: Teachers With Heavy Accents Can’t Teach English, Ethnic Studies Are Banned

Here's that list. Use it:

Arizona Boycott | Boycotting Arizona Companies

_______

I wouldn't let my child near this sick, twisted fuck of a person. I recently went through my Facebook friend list and blocked anyone who joined the 'Pray for Obama's death' group. Found three booger eaters from Alabama who got the boot.

I want those folks to know that I'm praying for them in the same manner they are praying for Obama.

Principal: Anti-Obama Facebook group 'a joke' | Concord Monitor

_______

Geek in Chief made a social media funny:

White House Correspondents’ Dinner: Obama on “Socialized Media” [VIDEO]:

"Social media earned a mention in the annual White House Correspondents Dinner tonight, with President Obama quipping, ‘But even though the mainstream press gives me a hard time, I hear that I’m still pretty big on Twitter, Facebook … or as Sarah Palin calls it, the socialized media.’ [1:25 in the second clip below]"

_______
_____
___

Something We Wouldn't Want to Meet

Skimmer's are Republican darlings; the folks they are fighting for tooth and nail.

What Atrios says:

Eschaton:

"The Skimmer Economy

Some day I hope more people realize that large segments of our economy don't actually do anything (health insurance, much of finance/real estate), they simply position themselves in the middle of transactions and take their cut. That isn't to say there are no transactions which legitimately require skilled middlemen, or that there is no legitimate function for the finance and banking industries, but to a great degree the skimmers just don't do anything productive at all. Except take our money."

_______

I spent a couple of years in AZ. As a Dem, the A-xenophobes (R) have just handed us a gift. Will be interesting to see how the Dems screw it up.

And isn't having to carry papers at all times rather.... well, Nazi-ish?

I thought Dems were the Nazi/Commie/Socialist. Makes about as much sense as a Glenn Beck chalk board.

Linda Greenhouse: Arizona Is A 'Police State,' 'I'm Not Going Back':

"I'm not going back to Arizona as long as it remains a police state, which is what the appalling anti-immigrant bill that Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law last week has turned it into.

What would Arizona's revered libertarian icon, Barry Goldwater, say about a law that requires the police to demand proof of legal residency from any person with whom they have made 'any lawful contact' and about whom they have 'reasonable suspicion' that 'the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States?' Wasn't the system of internal passports one of the most distasteful features of life in the Soviet Union and apartheid-era South Africa?"

_______

Sound of crickets.

Why Aren’t Tea Partiers Protesting Arizona’s Big Government Overreach On Immigration?:

"Isn’t the whole premise of the Tea Party movement that overreaching government poses a grave threat to individual freedom? It seems to me that a law allowing individuals to be detained and interrogated on a whim — and requiring legal residents to carry identification documents, as in a police state — would send the Tea Partyers into apoplexy. Or is there some kind of exception if the people whose freedoms are being taken away happen to have brown skin and might speak Spanish?"

_______

SF is boycotting AZ.

City Insider : City workers banned from official travel to Arizona

So is Mexico.

Some truckers plan boycott over Arizona immigration law - Politics AP - MiamiHerald.com

_______

I made a similar comment recently.

Justice for thee, but not for me.

Boggles the mind:

Greenwald: Obama DoJ prosecutes Bush corruption whistleblower, but not Bush war crimes

_______

Larry Flynt is right!

BBC News - Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens:

"He explained: 'We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.'"

_______

Talk about your skimmers.

Congratulations Comcast; You're The Worst Company In America! - The Consumerist:

"After four rounds of bloody battle against some of the most publicly reviled businesses in America, Comcast can now run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and hold its hands high in victory -- it has bested everyone else to earn the title of Worst Company In America for 2010."

_______

Big placebo in the sky.

Placebo effect beats God, Prozac:

"This is the story of three drugs. Except one is not really a drug at all and is merely an illusion, a nifty construct, an intense belief that it might be a drug, even though, as mentioned, it is very much not. We just think it is. Isn't that strange? Wonderful? Both?

The three drugs -- which, sorry, are not so much drugs as they are modes of comprehending our own weird little minds, needs and inherent psychoses -- are presented here by way of two recent studies that essentially reinforce what similar studies have been declaring for years and decades and, in the second case, since the ancient mystics suckled wild plants in the forest, licked God, found the source of the soul, and said, you know, holy f--."

_______
_____
___

Healthy Wallets

They may say they 'protect' the border, but once you cross the border it's every man, woman and child for themselves.

Kinda like anti-abortionist.

And they killed a 9 year old in cold blood.

And they were big supporters of the Tea Bagging.

Yeah, feelin' much safer with redneck vigilantes patrolling the border.

Minuteman leader arrested for double homicide

_______

Texas: Libertarian paradise.

Dying to Build by Melissa del Bosque - construction, safety, Texas:

"A construction worker dies in Texas every 2 1/2 days. No other state in the country has as many construction-related deaths: 142 fatalities were reported in 2007, up from 131 the year Puerto died, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s most recent statistics. The causes are far from mysterious: lax enforcement of labor and safety regulations, too many overtime hours without rest breaks and a lack of safety training and equipment."

_______

Money grubbing motherfuckers.

A.M.A. Opposes Government-Sponsored Health Plan - NYTimes.com:

"WASHINGTON — As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system."

______

Money grubbing... see above.

Dr. Chris McCoy: Dear AMA: I Quit!:

"Dear American Medical Association,

I recently had the opportunity to read your response to the Senate Finance Committee proposal for health care reform, and it is clear to me that I cannot remain a member in your organization. Please remove my name from your membership rolls, effective immediately.

In reading the response, I was frustrated and disheartened by the fact that you couldn't get through the second paragraph before bringing up the issue of physician reimbursement. This merely highlights how the AMA represents a physician-centered and self-interested perspective rather than honoring the altruistic nature of my profession. As a physician, I advocate first for what is best for my patients and believe that as a physician, as long as I continue to maintain the trust and integrity of the profession, I will earn the respect of my community. The appropriate financial compensation for my endeavors will follow in kind."

_______

Public plan or bust.

Ezra Klein - Health Care Reform for Beginners: The Many Flavors of the Public Plan:

"Enter the public insurance option. It doesn't replace the insurance individuals already rely on. But it provides an alternative. It lets them make the decision. It's the health care equivalent of being pro-choice. And it thus serves two purposes. The first is to act as a public insurer. To use market share to bargain down the prices of services, much as Medicare does. To lower administrative costs. To operate outside the need for profit, and quarterly results. The Commonwealth Fund estimated that this would result in savings of 20%-30% over traditional private insurance:"

_______

Who needs formal health care anyway if you are a self starter.

Teen diagnoses her own disease in science class - CNN.com

_______

There are a couple of hundred birds like this in SF. I use to get tagged at USF all of the time by one mean-ass bird who resided on Golden Gate Ave.

This is the first one with a blog, though.

Bird In San Francisco Smacks Unsuspecting Pedestrians In The Head (VIDEO)

_______
_____
___

Warped Sister

Pitchfork has posted one of the songs from the upcoming Booker T/DBT/Neil Young collaboration "Potato Hole"

Via Jenn

"Warped Sister" [Stream] | Pitchfork:

"For Potato Hole, his first solo album in a really, really long time, Stax house organist and MGs frontman Booker T. Jones recruited the Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young as his backing band. Wisely, they don't shoot for the in-the-pocket grooves of the MGs: Very few groups, instrumental or otherwise, have ever sounded so preternaturally tight. Instead, on 'Warped Sister', the scratchy guitars churn steadily while the rhythm section chug away reliably. Trucker drummer Brad Morgan is crucial here: His beat is unflappable, and his cowbell guides the song through its false ending and out the other side. Despite the high-profile support players, Booker T. clearly takes the lead, opening with gigantic chords before coaxing out a surprisingly catchy melody from his organ. He gets so much texture and nuance out of his instrument that it sounds like it's actually forming words."

_______

This probably interests no one but me, but....

Woot!

'They got a name for the winners in the world....'

Alabama wins another recruiting national title:

"When it was crunch time, Alabama coach Nick Saban pulled out the Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer and pounded his way to his second consecutive Rivals.com recruiting national championship."

_______

Krugman is about the only Traditional media type that's worth reading these days.

Bipartisanship is for suckers.

Never saw the media so concerned with 'bipartisanship' during the BushCo years.

Bipartisan bromides - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com:

"But the part that really got me was Broder saying that we need “the best ideas from both parties.”

You see, this isn’t a brainstorming session — it’s a collision of fundamentally incompatible world views. If one thing is clear from the stimulus debate, it’s that the two parties have utterly different economic doctrines. Democrats believe in something more or less like standard textbook macroeconomics; Republicans believe in a doctrine under which tax cuts are the universal elixir, and government spending is almost always bad.

Obama may be able to get a few Republican Senators to go along with his plan; or he can get a lot of Republican votes by, in effect, becoming a Republican. There is no middle ground."

_______

Geez, nobody could have predicted that this conservative kiss-ass give away would never work.

They're building freakin' ramps to jump over the wall. Made a game of it.

So stupid.

What did Reagan say about 'tearing down' some wall?

US border fence found remarkably ineffective and difficult to complete

_______

Horrible story. But that's not what caught me eye. After 7 or so paragraphs detailing the horrors this boy endured, the article ends weirdly:

Shackled Tracy boy stumbled on means of escape:

"Among the items seized from the home were knives, bottles of Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort, and chains attached to a sports punching bag hanging in the garage, where the boy also apparently stayed, authorities said."

_______

Julio is a good friend of my old roommate. He use to come over for house parties and Tommy's is probably my favorite Mexican restaurant in San Francisco.

Tommy's has more different types of tequila on hand than any other SF restaurant.

Bay Area distillers play around with Tequila:

"Julio Bermejo, a Tequila expert who runs the bar at Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in the Richmond District, has an entirely different plan that involves regular travel south. He's almost done building a distillery that he expects to open by the end of the year in Jesus Maria, a town near Arandas in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico."

_______

No further comment needed.

Hippo Swallows Dwarf!

_______
_____
___

Banned from 'Dega

Bush is worse than a pre-schooler who just learned the word 'no'. He needs to be put in a corner.

‘This is called a ‘bunker mentality'’

ThinkProgress highlights this disturbing item from yesterday’s Nelson Report:

[S]ome big money players up from Texas recently paid a visit to their friend in the White House. The story goes that they got out exactly one question, and the rest of the meeting consisted of The President in an extended whine, a rant, actually, about no one understands him, the critics are all messed up, if only people would see what he’s doing things would be OK…etc., etc.

This is called a “bunker mentality” and it’s not attractive when a friend does it. When the friend is the President of the United States, it can be downright dangerous. Apparently the Texas friends were suitably appalled, hence the story now in circulation.

.....

This isn’t encouraging. In fact, if Bush starts wondering what he can do to prove everyone wrong about his greatness, this kind of thinking could get scary.

______

Kurt Vonnegut wrote this in 1983

The Worst Addiction of Them All:

"If Western Civilization were a person, we would be directing it to the nearest meeting of War-Preparers Anonymous. We would be telling it to stand up before the meeting and say, 'My name is Western Civilization. I am a compulsive war- preparer. I have lost everything I ever cared about. I should have come here long ago. I first hit bottom in World War I.' Western Civilization cannot be represented by a single person, of course, but a single explanation for the catastrophic course it has followed during this bloody century is possible. We the people, because of our ignorance of the disease, have again and again entrusted power to people we did not know were sickies."

_______

Fucking Amish. They almost let Harrison Ford bleed to death in The Witness.

Daily Kos: It's time to deport the Amish:

"But before we start rounding up the 12 milion illegal Hispanics roaming around America -- you know, the folks committing all sorts of horrendous acts like working and taking care of their families -- I thought maybe we should practice on another group of people whose loyalty clearly lies with the Old Country.

The Amish. It's time to send them back to Germany and Switzerland.

Consider:

1. They have been here for more than 200 years and they have refused to assimilate. They still live in their own enclaves, for Christ's sake.

2. They refuse to give up their language and speak English exclusively. The Amish still speak Pennsylvania German at home and High German during church services. They only use English when they speak to us 'outsiders' -- folks they derisively call 'The English.'

3. They refuse to serve in the military, meaning they are perfectly willing to allow al Qaeda to overrun Iraq. They want the terrorists to win.

4. They wear strange clothing.

5. They don't watch 'American Idol' on TV.

6. Over the years they have demanded and received special exemptions from the law.

7. They claim to be a religion of peace -- just like Islam."

_______

These guys deserve a medal. Not for throwing shit at Jeff Gordon but for getting banned for life at the Talladega Superspeedway.

Do you know how much of a redneck jackass you have to be to get banned? This is harder than a double-eagle in golf.

Talladega track bans 14 fans for life:

"TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) -- Talladega Superspeedway has permanently banned 14 fans from buying tickets at the speedway following their arrests Sunday for throwing objects on the track after Jeff Gordon's victory in the Aaron's 499.

The fans were charged with disorderly conduct Sunday and posted bond at the track's jail facilities, Talladega County Sheriff Jerry Studdard said. Track officials can't prevent the 14 fans from buying tickets through a third party.

A number of fans began throwing beer cans after Gordon won the race under caution, passing the late Dale Earnhardt -- a Talladega favorite -- in career wins."

_______
_____
___