The Humanist

Time, gentleman (and ladies) please

2009-11-17T14:18:00.003-05:00

It's been my pleasure inhabiting this little space on blogger.com, but I've received a grand opportunity to blog for WNYMedia.net. You can find my new blog here.

Last one out turns the lights off. Thanks for reading.

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-09-04T11:52:00.004-04:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone. Here's a great tune from Jack Bruce's wonderful solo album Songs For a Tailor (1969) - "Never Tell Your Mother She's Out Of Tune," featuring special guest George Harrison on guitar:

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-05-08T15:22:00.002-04:00

Ah....for such a beautiful spring day, how's about a little Fairport Convention, doing a masterful Dylan cover - Percy's Song:

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-04-17T11:05:00.004-04:00

Today, we say Happy 52nd Birthday to the great English author Nick Hornby. To honor Mr. Hornby, I've selected my favorite from his 31 Songs (2002) - Carlos Santana's wonderful instrumental Samba Pa Ti

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-04-09T16:48:00.003-04:00

Happy Passover/Easter/Somali Pirate weekend to you and yours. For a Good Friday, here's a great pop song - The Dwight Twilley Band performing his 1975 hit "I'm On Fire":

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-04-03T09:42:00.002-04:00

Ah....it's good to be back.

Regular posting to follow....for now, here's the late, great Eva Cassidy with a superb cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Kathy's Song

Oscar Picks

2009-02-22T18:56:00.006-05:00

UPDATE: ugh...not one of my better years. 4 for 6 on the big awards and 10 for 17 overall. About as dismal as that godforsaken telecast...holy Christ, do I miss David Letterman and his earnest awkwardness as opposed to the excruciating, interminable song/dance numbers and the WTF-montages of films in 2008. Did I really need a 7-minute treatise to inform me that there were a bunch of dramas released last year? They need to get Jon Stewart (or even Steve Martin and Tina Fey) to host next year and quick.

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler Sean Penn, Milk

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona

Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk

Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz With Bashir (Israel) Departures (Japan)

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Art Direction: Nathan Crowley & Peter Lando, The Dark Knight The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Costume Design: Jacqueline West, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Duchess

Best Documentary Feature: Man On A Wire

Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Makeup: Greg Cannom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Song: Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman, "Down To Earth", WALL-E "Jai Ho" Slumdog Millionaire

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-02-20T09:28:00.003-05:00

We bid a bittersweet Happy Birthday to Kurt Cobain, who would have been 42 years old today. Here's his haunting cover of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" from Nirvana's "Unplugged" appearance in November 1993.

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-02-13T09:05:00.000-05:00

Here's Joaquin Phoenix committing career suicide on The Late Show....Letterman is a genius.

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-02-06T15:14:00.004-05:00

The late, great Sylvester was a pioneering electronic dance performer and one of the highlights of the disco era in the late 70's. Though he's best known for his signature tune "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", I've always loved this Hi-NRG classic, "Do You Wanna Funk?". Some of you may recognize it as the song played during the house party scene in Trading Places (1983).

The Boss Teabags America

2009-02-02T12:23:00.000-05:00

In a game replete with drama, excitement, intrigue and one of the greatest finishes ever, what do I choose to remember from last night's Super Bowl?

Oh yeah...some enterprising NBC director made sure that 100 million viewers got up close and personal with Bruce Springsteen's ballsack

I've never gone nuts-first into a TV camera, but I can't imagine it's a pleasant experience. Bruce is a pro.

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-01-30T09:16:00.000-05:00

Since we seem to be going through the 21st century version currently, let's hark back to the Mother of All Storms - the Blizzard of '77. White Death, indeed

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-01-23T10:52:00.001-05:00

20 January 2009

InauguraLOL, Part 2

2009-01-22T13:34:00.002-05:00

InauguraLOL

2009-01-22T12:49:00.004-05:00

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-01-16T12:13:00.003-05:00

Here's one you didn't see coming....the greatest soul belter of his time, Wilson Pickett, demolishes the Steppenwolf anthem Born to Be Wild. Yowza

Friday YouTube Nugget

2009-01-09T15:54:00.003-05:00

Elderlywomanbehindthecounterinasmalltownalsoknownasthe"heartsandthoughtstheyfadefadeaway"songfromvs.goddamnthissonghasaninfinitelylongtitledoesthisfriggintitleeverendeddieveddermusthavebeensnortinghorsetranquilizerwhenhewrotethisjeezsuchafuckeduptitleforsuchalovelysong.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T10:54:00.002-05:00

May our 2009 be happy and prosperous....or, at least better than the last half of 2008.

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-12-26T10:16:00.001-05:00

What a glorious Noel....The Humanist got everything he wanted and more and was able to bring some joy to family and friends with his choice of presents. He ate too much, (thankfully) didn't drink too much and made it safely back to work.....grumble.

Anyhoo, it's the Friday after Christmas, I got nothing.....so here's one of my favorite bits from Seinfeld. That's gold, Jerry......GOLD!

MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY

2008-12-25T00:26:00.002-05:00

"It's Christmaaaaaaaaaaas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-12-19T13:45:00.003-05:00

I realize I'm a couple weeks late with this, but it's been 7 years since we lost George Harrison. Here's a clip of my 2nd favorite Beatle being exceptionally silly on a BBC special from 1975:

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-12-12T14:51:00.001-05:00

And my nominee for Worst Lip Synch in a Video: Joe Jackson, I'm The Man:

Imagine

2008-12-08T08:55:00.003-05:00

9 October 1940 - 8 December 1980

28 years ago and it seems like yesterday.

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours

2008-11-25T09:49:00.007-05:00

There are so many things to be thankful for this year:

Family
Friends
Friends of Friends
Strangers
Strangers who are not yet Friends
Strangers who will never be Friends
Methodists
Snake-handlers
Dear gentle blog readers
Someone special to love....and who loves back
PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, MOTHERFUCKER!
(ahem)....vice-president elect Joe Biden
56 days, 2 hours, 5 minutes to go for President Bunnypants
Love
Peace
Harmony
Comfortable Shoes
Poutine
No local pro athletes paralyzed or garroted on the playing field thus far this year
The sun has not burned out just yet
I am not yet selling pencils on the street or moving into "Hoovervilles"
My sarcasm remains pointed
I can still rock the mic like a vandal and, also, light up a chump like a candle
I'm alive
I'm well
I'm happy
My brother
My mother

So, in the spirit of the season, I'm reposting my special Thanksgiving video...an appropriate clip from The Ice Storm (1997):

My warmest wishes to you and your families for a restful and happy Thanksgiving.

Now....onto the War on Christmas!

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-11-21T09:51:00.005-05:00

Today's installment comes from the soundtrack of Sean Penn's film, The Pledge (2001). The film was little seen in its release, but was a fascinating examination of a retired detective's obsession with finding a child killer. One of the standout songs on the soundtrack was by an artist from Mozambique. The lead singer of that country's top dance band, Orchestra Marrabenta Star, Wazimbo recorded this song in 1988 and re-released it in 2001 when it gained popularity due to its use in the film.

Here is Wazimbo with "Nwalhulwana"

Well, looks like I'm not getting any work done until January 2009

2008-11-19T15:32:00.006-05:00

"You lookin' at me?"

I just found out that Google is placing the entire photo archive of LIFE magazine online...the photos date all the way back to the 1750's (I posted one of the earliest ones above) and are organized and searchable by decade.

They have 20% of the total archive posted....in the next few months, they'll have all 10 million photos up.

Click if you dare: http://images.google.com/hosted/life

Yeah....that's about right

2008-11-18T11:51:00.004-05:00

UPDATE - As if today couldn't get worse, I just saw that Joe Lieberman will keep his chair on the Homeland Security Committee.

Reverend Jim - bring us the Kool-Aid!!!

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-11-14T09:23:00.003-05:00

Tune in, turn on, drop out

This week's installment is a little hippy-dippy, but is a pretty good song. The Moody Blues released "Legend of a Mind" in 1968, but the song is better known for its opening verse:

"Timothy Leary's dead.
No, no, no, no, He's outside looking in."

Timothy Leary was the notorious Harvard professor-turned-LSD advocate who graced the Sixties with his iconic slogan noted in the caption above. After crashing hard in the 70's (including a fugitive run through Algeria and Switzerland and a sentence at Folsom Prison), Leary reemerged in the 80's as a lecturer and personality. Kids like me who weren't around when Richard Nixon called him "the most dangerous man in America" saw Leary as a sort of relic of the Hippie Era. His last grab at publicity came around his death from prostate cancer in 1996. Leary arranged to have his head removed from his corpse for the purposes of cryonic preservation and his cremated remains to be loaded on a rocket so he could be buried in space. The rocket, which also carried the remains of Gene Roddenberry, was launched in April 1997 and was in orbit for six years before it burnt up.

Far out, man....

DRUM SOLO

2008-11-13T09:42:00.002-05:00

In honor of the great Mitch Mitchell, the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience who was found dead yesterday, here's a great moment from a concert in Sweden, 9 January 1969:

In honor of their service

2008-11-11T09:38:00.005-05:00

No on Prop.8 - Redux

2008-11-11T01:24:00.005-05:00

As happy as I am over Tuesday's election results, I was crushed that Proposition 8, the anti-civil rights initiative, narrowly passed in California. We have a lot of work to do to overcome.

I haven't heard a more eloquent or passionate commentary on this issue than Keith Olbermann in tonight's Special Comment:

This is neither political nor partisan. This is a matter of basic civil rights, the rights granted to us by our Constitution. None must rest until we are all free.

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-11-07T09:20:00.005-05:00

VICTORY!!!!

President-elect Barack Obama.

Damn, that feels great to say.

I know that the hard work is ahead and this president faces the greatest challenges of any incoming president....yeah, yeah, yeah.

In the here and now, I want to celebrate. To kick off this weekend jamboreee with the Ramones....do you remember rock n' roll radio?

Almost forgot something.....

2008-11-04T11:10:00.004-05:00

The last laugh....or last scream, if you will

Democrats around the nation owe a huge debt of gratitude and respect towards the DNC chairman, Gov. Howard Dean. His 50-state strategy, which was ridiculed when he assumed office three years ago, has paid off beautifully. Today, the Democratic Presidential nominee is competitive in all but a handful of states and is polling very well in states previously written off to anyone with a (D) next to their name.

Thank you Gov. Dean.

Today is Election Day - Make Your Voice Heard

2008-11-04T00:26:00.005-05:00

21 months to get to this place in history.

Millions of words spoken.

Dozens of debates.

Story after campaign story, smear after smear, policy position after another...

The 2008 campaign has been the most invigorating, frustrating, uplifiting, demoralizing, inspirational campaign of my lifetime. I am glad to have lived through it and I hope for one more day of good news.

I'm headed to bed shortly with the promise of a new day, a new way and real change in our country's leadership by Tuesday evening.

I'll leave you with some music. Get to your polling station tomorrow and let your voice be heard.

For now and for all times....ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

FIRED UP AND READY TO GO!

One Day To Go: Madelyn Payne Dunham

2008-11-03T16:48:00.004-05:00

This embrace should have happened tomorrow

CNN is reporting that Madelyn Payne Dunham, Barack Obama's grandmother and the most prominent influence on him in his formative years, has passed away.

She was so close....so close. But I'm sure she saw all her dreams fulfilled in her grandson. May she rest in peace and may we all do our part to fulfill her last dream.

All power to the people

Five Days to Go: Alice Paul

2008-10-30T16:49:00.004-04:00

Today, we pay tribute to Alice Paul and the courageous activists who led the women's suffrage movement of the early 20th century that secured the right to vote for women. Paul (who held doctorates in political science and civil law) formed a succession of suffrage organizations to rally support for women's rights and convince the federal government to pass a constitutional amendment for women's suffrage.

In the course of this struggle, Paul and her fellow activists endured physicial assaults, imprisonment, torture and continuous harassment. Undaunted, these "iron-jawed angels" persisted until Woodrow Wilson announced, in 1918, the urgent need for women's suffrage as a "war measure". Two years later, by the margin of one vote in Tennessee, the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was passed and women were finally able to participate in the electoral process.

All power to the people

Six Days To Go: Harvey Milk

2008-10-29T13:52:00.004-04:00

In a little under a month, we will commemorate the 30th anniversary of Harvey Milk's assassination. Milk changed our political landscape forever when, in 1977, he was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay non-incumbent man in the U.S. to win an election for public office.

Sadly, Milk served just under a year before a ex-colleague from the Board entered City Hall with a pistol and assassinated both Milk and San Francisco's mayor, George Moscone, on November 27, 1978.

The plaque in front of what was Milk's camera store in the Castro District in San Francisco reads:

Harvey Milk's camera store and campaign headquarters at 575 Castro Street and his apartment upstairs were centers of community activism for a wide range of human rights, environmental, labor, and neighborhood issues. Harvey Milk's hard work and accomplishments on behalf of all San Franciscans earned him widespread respect and support. His life is an inspiration to all people committed to equal opportunity and an end to bigotry.

Milk's most famous quote was inspired by the legion of death threats he received during his life in public. He said - "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door". Harvey Milk devoted his last decade on earth to shattering myths, fighting bigotry and providing hope and inspiration at a time when gays and lesbians were still assumed to be mentally ill.

All power to the people.....and if you live in California, vote no on Prop. 8

One Week To Go: Charles Alexander

2008-10-28T19:26:00.004-04:00

The view from a man who's seen quite a lot in his 86 years:

I am humbled by Americans like Charles who were treated as second-class citzens for the better part of a century by their own country, yet always persevered and never lost their belief in the promise of a better day - for them and for the nation.

I hope Charles lives many more years to see that promise delivered.

All power to the people

"Memories....pressed between the pages of my mind..."

2008-10-26T12:52:00.002-04:00

"Memories...sweetened through the ages just like wine..."

Harriet Christian, Hillary supporter and batshit insane nutjob, May 31, 2008 at the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee Meeting:

The "inadequate black male", as of Sunday October 26, is leading Harriet's guy 51-40 nationally and leads McCain by double digits among voters on the economy, health care, taxes and the housing crisis.

"Quiet thoughts come floating down
And settle softly to the ground
Like golden autumn leaves around my feet
I touched them and they burst apart with sweet memories
Sweet memories"

It wasn't me...

2008-10-25T15:02:00.001-04:00

My own personal nightmare

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-10-24T10:11:00.004-04:00

It's New Wave Friday! I heard this timeless classic on the drive up to Ellicottville this past weekend and the GF and I were rockin' out. I cannot believe this tune is 26 years old....ugh.

The Cars - "Since You're Gone"

P.S. Get well, Mrs. Dunham

A special place in Hell...

2008-10-24T00:27:00.002-04:00

is reserved for this douchebag Republican apologist. When pressed on Gov. Palin's $150,000 shopping spree in under a month, he decides to mock a man going home to spend what little time is left with his seriously ill grandmother who raised him:

Anytime I feel like reaching across the aisle and feeling all bipartisan-sy, fuckheads like this remind me why I'm a Democrat.

Gimmicks Don't Work

2008-10-22T09:49:00.005-04:00

Come to think of it....Tina Fey would have been a better choice

We stand less than two weeks away from the election and the latest poll from NBC and the Wall Street Journal shows Obama opening up a 10-point lead over McCain. What has stalled McCain's traction in the polls? What has been the top reason his campaign has been stymied? What is the main concern voters have about a potential McCain presidency?

continuing the disastrous Bush economic policies to benefit the upper 1%?
not doing enough to protect American jobs?
slashing Medicare and taxing health care benefits (for the first time ever)?
providing tax breaks to Big Oil, Big Pharma, etc?
not simply staying in, but escalating the siege in Iraq?
continuing the obliviousness of the Bush administration towards the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Al Queda network in Pakistan?

Well, all these are notable factors....but the main reason voters are peeling away from McCain is - his own gambit in selecting a "mavericky", yet thoroughly unqualified vice-presidential candidate:

Now, Palin’s qualifications to be president rank as voters’ top concern about McCain’s candidacy - ahead of continuing President Bush’s policies, enacting economic policies that only benefit the rich and keeping too high of a troop presence in Iraq.

Fifty-five percent of respondents say she’s not qualified to serve as president if the need arises, up five points from the previous poll. In addition, for the first time, more voters have a negative opinion of her than a positive one. In the survey, 47 percent view her negatively, versus 38 percent who see her in a positive light.

That, to me, is a stunning development. The one decision McCain thought would transform his campaign has turned out to be a bigger liability to him than George W. Bush.

(Belated) Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-10-20T09:58:00.002-04:00

Sorry for missing Friday, but a weekend mini-vacation at a chalet in beautiful Ellicottville beckoned. To honor a great soul singer and one of the most distinctive voices of Motown, I'm posting the Four Tops' signature tune, "Reach Out (I'll Be There)". RIP, Levi Stubbs

A couple thousand words

2008-10-16T12:55:00.004-04:00

I think Senator McCain just saw CNN's instant polling that Independents went for Obama 57-31.

Hip Hip Hooray

2008-10-13T09:22:00.002-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen.....your 2008 Nobel Prize winner in Economics is Princeton professor and esteemed New York Times columnist Paul Krugman:

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Paul Krugman, the Princeton University scholar and New York Times columnist, won the Nobel economic prize Monday for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.
Krugman has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration and the Republican Party in The New York Times, where he writes a regular column and has a blog called "Conscience of a Liberal."
He has come out forcefully against John McCain during the economic meltdown, saying the Republican candidate is "more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago" and earlier that the GOP has become "the party of stupid."

I'm sure the "party of stupid" will issue a statement criticizing the Nobel panel for their liberal bias and boasting that Sarah Palin was just cited as "Pistol-Packin' Mama Of The Year" by the National Rifle Association.

"On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia"

2008-10-12T10:32:00.004-04:00

As predicted....great job McCain campaign. Not even the classless move of putting Gov. Palin's young daughters and Flyer great Brian Propp out there as human shields was going to deny the Philly faithful what they came to the game to do....boo the shit out of a nutjob VP candidate:

The message here seems to be "keep your shitty, losing campaign outta my hockey game"

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-10-10T08:26:00.005-04:00

Happy Friday!

As much as I wanted to post M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" (because The Wannabe Outdoorsman loves it so much), I must pay my respeck to old-school hip-hop with this week's Nugget.

De La Soul's 3 Feet High And Rising was a phenomenon when it debuted in 1989. It was a complete departure from the hardcore, gangsta rap that dominated the genre in the year. The uniquely positive style, sly humor and the coolest samples yet heard made this album a must have. Transitioning from senior year in high school to freshman in college, I listened to this album a thousand times. Although it wasn't the first rap album to make an impression on me (that honor is shared by Run D.M.C.'s Raising Hell and Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back), 3 Feet High and Rising made me appreciate hip-hop and the diversity in contemporary music I was about to explore (after spending my high school years immersed in the Allman Brothers and Santana).

Here's my favorite track from the album - a glorious mash-up of Steely Dan, Otis Redding and Sly & The Family Stone.....straight from the D.A.I.S.Y. Age, y'all, this is "Eye Know"

No on Prop. 8

2008-10-09T16:10:00.003-04:00

Proposition 8 is one more in a series of insidious, hateful ballot propositions in the great state of California - coming in direct response to the recent state Supreme Court decision affirming the right of same-sex couples to marry, this proposition would take that right away and write discrimination back into the state constitution.

While my dear readers are from all over this great land, I urge you to do whatever you can to join the fight to defeat this noxious ballot initiative. The recent polling indicates that the "Yes" vote has overtaken the "No" vote and, less than a month until California voters go to the polls, an influx of Mormon money to blanket the state with misleading ads has turned the tide from what it was a scant five months ago.

I gave $100 yesterday....please give whatever you can (or volunteer....or write some e-mails....or put a "No on Prop. 8" sign on yer blog). I have too many friends in California who've waited too long to be recognized equally under the law to be slapped in the face once more.

Thanks.

Link to the No on Prop.8 website: http://www.noonprop8.com/home

This Will End Well...

2008-10-09T11:57:00.005-04:00

Gov. Palin - meet the Broad Street Bullies

In the infinite wisdom of the McCain campaign, which has deemed the mainstream media too hostile and sexist to allow their vice-presidential candidate to hold a single press conference as of yet, it appears Governor Palin is headed to the friendliest place on earth. No, not Disneyland - a Flyers home game:

The GOP vice presidential nominee will drop the ceremonial first puck when the Philadelphia Flyers open the regular season against the New York Rangers on Saturday. Palin, the Alaska governor and self-described "hockey mom,” will join the winner of a team promotion for the “Ultimate Hockey Mom” to drop the puck.

OK....so the McCain campaign is telling us that Katie Couric was too tough, but a drunken, obnoxious Philadelphia Flyers crowd will be suitable? These are the same people who booed Santa Claus....who booed Michael Irvin when he lay motionless at Veterans Stadium, fearful of a spinal injury....who mercilessly booed local heroes like Mike Schmidt, Charles Barkley, Richie Ashburn...this is the event for which they choose to let her loose into the wild?

I realize that Pennsylvania is a swing state and the crowds at sporting events tend to skewer more conservative...but this can't have been thought out too clearly by the geniuses in the McCain campaign. I hope the Philly faithful show Gov. Palin all due respect and courtesy...but let's be honest - when they have a prison set up in the bowels of Veterans' Stadium for all the criminals attending Eagles games, I'm not optimistic she'll get a polite welcome.

Victory in the GWOTD (Global War On Talking Dirty)

2008-10-09T09:54:00.005-04:00

Dial 1-900-TALK-TO-MY-BUSH

In a development that absolutely no one could have anticipated (sigh), it seems that the seemingly foolproof plan of giving Bush administration toadies access to your phone calls might not have worked out as planned:

Despite pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence officials to the contrary, hundreds of US citizens overseas have been eavesdropped on as they called friends and family back home, according to two former military intercept operators who worked at the giant National Security Agency (NSA) center in Fort Gordon, Georgia.

"These were just really everyday, average, ordinary Americans who happened to be in the Middle East, in our area of intercept and happened to be making these phone calls on satellite phones," said Adrienne Kinne, a 31-year old US Army Reserves Arab linguist assigned to a special military program at the NSA's Back Hall at Fort Gordon from November 2001 to 2003. Kinne described the contents of the calls as "personal, private things with Americans who are not in any way, shape or form associated with anything to do with terrorism."

Jeepers! Guess that's the "constant check to make sure that our civil liberties of our citizens are treated with respect" bullshit that Our Dear Glorious Leader was babbling about for the past five years.

Shame on all you Democratic House and Senate members that voted to give this buffoon and his criminal lackeys free rein to listen in on private conversations.....rubbing their thighs all the way, I imagine.

One more thing

2008-10-07T12:11:00.002-04:00

Sarah Palin talks....

her supporters listen...

info on the bottom photo here

"Sit down, boy"

2008-10-07T11:06:00.005-04:00

VP FAIL

With their campaign sinking amid the worst economic crists since the Great Depression that, despite their furious spinning, voters seem to be blaming the Republicans for and no more traction from the Palin selection to be had, the McCain-Palin ticket's strategy for the last month in the campaign seems to be "How Low Can We Go"? No bottom is too low for these two, apparently:

"McCain calls Obama a liar, faults his Chicago ties"

"Palin criticizes Obama's ties to Wright, Ayers"

"Character attacks emerge in McCain-Obama race"

As can be expected, when John "Maverick" McCain and Sarah "No Press Interviews Please" Palin start feeding the dog-whistle racism and ugly rhetoric to their base, who could ever imagine the ignorant racist oafs in their audiences would show their true faces?

"...Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."

"Sit down, boy"

There, in a nutshell, is the McCain-Palin strategy from here until Nov. 4.

Let's ease back into this....

2008-10-07T09:22:00.004-04:00

A little A.A. Milne, as interpreted by Kermit's nephew Robin, to ease us back into the routine before I go America all over everybody's ass:

Housecleaning.....

2008-10-03T10:00:00.004-04:00

My dear loyal readers (all seven of you):

My deepest apologies for my lack of blogging....between travel and the girlfriend, I've been woefully neglectful of my poor abandoned blog. I've missed the big news of the past two weeks (economic meltdown, the campaign hijinks, Bills starting 4-0, Paul Newman's death, season premiere of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, etc.), so I will spend the next few days trying to catch up.

One bit of housecleaning....I wanted to post a tribute to Rick Wright, who passed away in September, because I think this poor guy got one of the all-time shafts in the biz from one of the truly misanthropic characters in rock and roll - Roger Waters. Here's what you must understand about Rick Wright - he was a founding member of Pink Floyd. He and Syd Barrett were the driving forces behind Pink Floyd's early sound...he not only sang lead on many of Syd's compositions, he also wrote a lot of memorable tunes from their first two albums ("Remember A Day" is my favorite from this period). He sang lead on the epic "Echoes" and went on to write "Great Gig in the Sky" and "Us and Them" from Dark Side of the Moon.

Which makes what Roger Waters did to him during the making of The Wall (1979) all the more vile:

"...Battling both personal problems and an increasingly rocky relationship with Roger Waters, he was forced to resign from Pink Floyd during The Wall sessions by Waters, who threatened to pull the plug on the album's tapes if Wright did not leave the band. However, he was retained as a salaried session musician during the subsequent live concerts to promote that album in 1980 and 1981. Ironically, Wright became the only member of Pink Floyd to profit from those hugely spectacular shows, since the net financial loss had to be borne by the three remaining "full-time" members. He was the only member of the band not to attend the 1982 premiere of the film version of The Wall. In 1983, Pink Floyd released the only album on which Wright does not appear with The Final Cut..."

Rumor has long held that Waters had a financial incentive from the record company to finish the Wall early in 1979, which was stymied by Rick Wright's vacation. The man who excoriated the industry so skillfully four years before in "Have A Cigar" decided to fire his friend and bandmate for more than fifteen years so he could collect some more filthy lucre from the record company and then, to add insult, blamed it on Wright's "cocaine problem".

So, Rick Wright turns out to be the only Floyd member to make some scratch on The Wall tour and manages to avoid completely the trainwreck that was The Final Cut. Cheers to him.

Well, here is a clip of the aforementioned "Echoes" from Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii. Shine on, you crazy diamond...

The Selling of the Presidency, Vol. 11

2008-10-03T09:49:00.003-04:00

Buy my product (i.e. vote for my ticket) and maybe I'll bang ya. Fer shure.....

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-09-19T13:37:00.004-04:00

Sorry y'all for the spare blogging...I've been traveling for work and it's screwed up my posting schedule. Normal blogging to return next week...

I will post a tribute to Rick Wright (see This Week's Rock Death to the right) over the weekend....today, however, is a good day for the Pixies.

The Bushonomics Chickens Come Home To Roost, Part IX

2008-09-15T00:11:00.005-04:00

I'll have more to comment on this tomorrow, mostly in response to AR's last post, but Monday will herald yet another historic collapse in three parts - Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch are looking to go belly up while American International Group (AIG) is having a fire sale of its assets.

This ruinous, absentee-owner stewardship of the economy that fiddles while our market burns can be summed up as follows:

I GOT MINE, FUCK YOU

Don't forget....these are the same clowns that the GOP wanted to entrust our Social Security funds to manage. You can thank the Democrats for saving Social Security.

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-09-12T10:38:00.004-04:00

A very happy 56th birthday to Neil Peart from Rush:

Why Intellectual Dishonesty Is Never A Good Idea

2008-09-10T17:47:00.006-04:00

Now that we're in the home stretch of this campaign season (56 days and counting), you are undoubtedly being inundated by e-mails, as have I, tearing down one candidate or the other. In my experience, the majority of these mass e-mails are dubiously sourced, at best, or, at worst, a compendium of outright lies designed to smear the candidate and scare voters off from supporting him. The recipients of these e-mails would do well to find out the facts on their own and debunk these false missives wherever possible. It is one thing to forward them to friends and family; it is quite another to post them to one's blog as if they were the author's work, without attribution or explanation.

Such was the case with a recent post on Automatic Rebalancing. You all will remember AR from this charming post in April of this year, which depicted a group of black people running away from Obama after he pledged "to make sure everyone who can work will have a job." How witty...if you're at the local Christian Identity meeting.

Such was the case on Monday when AR posted a lengthy comparison of the tax policies of Obama and McCain. The purpose of the exercise, given the partisan slant of the blog, was to highlight how disastrous Obama's policies would be for the average taxpayer and how beneficent McCain's policies would be. The author introduced this post by stating his bonafides as a "professional in the financial services industry" and claiming that the "following information has been researched and verified..." Seems legit, no? The post goes on to list comparisons in different tax categories (capital gains, dividends, income tax, etc) with comments by the author supporting the "facts" as presented.

Well, I smelled a rat. So, off to teh Yahoo intertubes search engine I ran and, lo and behold, found that most of the content of the post came directly from a rancid piece of anti-Obama astroturf making its way through e-mail inboxes across the land. Both of the popular online urban legend debunking sites, Snopes.com and FactCheck.org, called the information contained in this sleaze false and definitely misleading.

Knowing that AR has the cowardly policy of reviewing comments for moderation (or editing) before they're posted, I sent the following comment:

You're such an "expert" that you cut and pasted a false spam e-mail that's already been debunked by snopes.com? (http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/taxes.asp)

Just of kicks, let's take the income tax claim of this nonsense...as snopes noted, Obama does not favor extending the tax cuts for households with incomes of $250,000 or more per year. None of the brackets you listed apply to that level, so their inclusion is not only irrelevant, it's a flat out lie about Obama's tax policy. In fact, the taxpayers in the brackets you listed would see a greater reduction under Obama's plan than they would under McCain's "let's make the Bush tax cuts for the rich permanent"plan.

So much for the information having been "researched and verified". It's full of shit!

I would hope that you don't reproduce this same shoddy, lazy effort for your clients.

P.S. You can either publish this comment as is or it's going up verbatim on my blog

Well, I didn't have to worry about making good on my threat, as AR published a fierce rebuttal to my comment yesterday. Under the heading "Ah, self-righteous indignation...Wonderfully droll, isn't it?"

Well, I do tend to get self-righteous when I'm actually right.

In his defense, AR claims that he omitted the claims he thought were "absurd" and kept the ones he thought were "worthy of query". Well, thank goodness for that. Instead of cut-and-pasting all of the bullshit, AR just gave us a little taste.

The main problem with AR's original post is that it doesn't provide any links to any of Obama's actual proposals, nor does it cite any sources for the claims it makes (and AR expounds upon). AR claims he used other sources (a neo-conservative rag out of NYC and Dick Morris, for Christ's sake), but strangely does not cite them directly.

The post is predicated on a bushel of wild, exaggerated assumptions on Obama's policies...it invents whole claims out of thin air when they are not supported by the facts in evidence (i.e. Obama's own website). Any blather following cannot be taken seriously because the original assertion is either misleading or blatantly false.

Notwithstanding AR's mention of conservative nutjob media to support his case, he states the Tax Policy Center (a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute) "didn't have all the hard facts of either plan and had to make assumptions on key elements"....well, no shit, numbnuts. The difference is that the Tax Policy Center discloses this right up front and doesn't pass off wild speculation as fact, as you did.

AR is correct in one area....I am certainly no expert in economic issues. I didn't get my MBA by dazzling professors with my views on relevant economic theory or my vast knowledge of our current tax codes. I can use a fucking search engine, though, and when I spot bullshit, I call it bullshit.

FactCheck.org does a much better job than I possibly could in debunking this nonsense...here's the link again if you want to go through the gory details. I doubt one could call FactCheck.org an illegitmate source, being that it's funded by the Annenberg Foundation, which was founded by the noted leftist commie pinko Walter Annenberg.

Pay special attention to the last line of FactCheck's expose:

The short answer to our reader’s question is, no, this message isn’t real. It’s a pack of lies.

Liberalism......What A Concept!

2008-09-09T08:57:00.002-04:00

What Bob Herbert said...

It would take volumes to adequately cover the enhancements to the quality of
American lives and the greatness of American society that have been wrought by
people whose politics were unabashedly liberal. It is a track record that
deserves to be celebrated, not ridiculed or scorned.

This is precisely the response to knuckle-dragging opportunists like Mitt Romney who said, with a straight face, at the Republican National Convention - "“We need change, all right...change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington.” Where the hell has he been for the last eight years?

In A Time Where Egregious Ignorance is a Virtue...

2008-09-08T14:00:00.005-04:00

"It was my understanding that there would be no math in this debate..."

GOP VP hopeful Sarah Palin presented herself to the delegates at the Republican Convention (and the nation) as a tough, straight-talking gal, straight out of a saloon in the Alaskan wildnerness, ready to take down those varmint liberals in Washington with their high taxes and elitist ways....dadgumit! Nevermind that it was the conservative GOP majorities in Congress along with their president that steered this country into disaster over the better part of the last eight years - Sarah's got libruls to hunt! Yee-hah!

It's a shame, then, that tough talk can't cover for a mind-numbing display of ignorance on the most important topic of the day - the housing crisis and the impending federal bailout of the nation's two largest mortgage finance firms, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae:

McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speaking in Colorado Springs,
Colo., said Fannie and Freddie had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." The companies, however, aren't taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during
reorganization...

It is clear how atrocious McCain's pick is when one considers how likely it is that this beauty pageant also-ran will more than likely occupy the Oval Office if McCain is elected. That the 2nd spot on the national ticket doesn't even know the two biggest players in the housing crisis and institutions critical to this nation's mortgage debt is beyond laughable....it's bloody depressing.

It's no wonder that the McCain campaign is keeping Tough-Talkin Sarah in a virtual bubble for the remainder of the campaign. The "hockey mom" can't keep her yap shut about what pussies Obama and Biden are in her canned campaign speeches, but Gawd forbid she submit herself to take questions from the press. I saw today that the McCain campaign consented to release Gov. Palin into the wild for a series of multiple interviews this week with ABC's Charlie Gibson. While I hope that Gibson is not intimidated by the GOP's whining, I won't hold my breath.

I don't mean this as a criticism of the McCain campaign's strategy to keep this neophyte, fundamentalist nutjob away from the general public....it's their campaign and they can run it however they like. They are not obligated to make Gov. Palin available for press interviews and such. I'd probably do the same thing, if I were in their shoes.

That doesn't mean that the voters deserve to be insulted by a candidate of such pitful qualifications and total lack of preparation on the issues that matter.

The Magic Position

2008-09-08T13:51:00.002-04:00

I Hate Men

2008-09-08T13:50:00.002-04:00

All My Friends Are Dead

2008-09-08T13:49:00.002-04:00

Joyce

2008-09-08T13:47:00.002-04:00

Can I Borrow A Feelin?

2008-09-08T13:41:00.001-04:00

Let Me Touch Him

2008-09-08T13:32:00.003-04:00

left to right: Waldo, Delbert, Homer and Jack

Ken - by request only

2008-09-08T13:15:00.004-04:00

"You Said 'Walter Reed', Right? Well I Got Your 'Walter Reed'!"

2008-09-05T11:05:00.007-04:00

"My friends, when I'm in house #5, which you can see behind me, I often think about putting country first..."

Just a quick note before I begin because this is too funny....some idiot at the RNC was charged with the responsibility of putting a picture up of Walter Reed Army Medical Center behind McCain during his speech...because, as you know, no Republican address is complete without draping themselves in the flag, putting on 9/11 footage as background scenery and using our troops as political props. Because, we all know, the military is Republican - well, except for those soldiers on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world that are giving to Obama by a 6-1 margin over McCain.

It turns out Captain Video went a'Googling and came up with.....a picture of Walter Reed Middle School. In North Hollywood, CA. Not even remotely related to an Army Medical Center or a place of convalescence for wounded troops.

This is incomptence we can believe in, my friends.

More to come on McCain's speech and the campaign ahead.

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-09-05T08:52:00.002-04:00

This week's installment is dedicated to country music legend and comic actor who passed away this week. Jerry Reed was a Grammy-winning country music star who dabbled in movies and had memorable performances in Smokey and the Bandit and The Waterboy. Here's my favorite Jerry Reed tune, "Amos Moses":

The right campaign image

2008-09-04T16:36:00.004-04:00

Let's see....is it this one:

or maybe this blast from the past:

here's a recent one.....and classy, too!

hmmm.....

naw....I'll go with this:

"BLUE"/CALAMITY JANE '08

Qualified

2008-09-04T10:35:00.003-04:00

You know what’s laughable? When I hear someone say that Gov. Palin is more qualified than Obama.

Did I miss the part where Palin won 18 million votes in 57 state and territory primaries and caucuses in one of the biggest upsets in U.S. political history? Was I sleeping when Palin participated in 25 debates in which she was queried intensely on the issues of the day?

I think Gov. Palin is more than qualified to run Alaska...I'd simply like to know what experience she has on the national (or international, for that matter) stage that makes her the best choice for the Vice-President (and a 72-year old cancer-stricken, Ambien-gulping heartbeat away from being Leader of the Free World).

V-B Day (Victory in Blog War III)

2008-09-04T10:06:00.004-04:00

(we interrupt our GOP bashing to bring you this important news bulletin)

IT'S OVER

Where do I sign up for the Blog GI Bill?

Let history record that on Wednesday, September 3rd in the Year of our Lawd Two-Thousand And Eight at approximately 10:36 am EST, Gabs O'Steel formally surrendered in the Great Blog War III, thus ending...well, it ended. Let the free people of the Blogosphere celebrate this triumph in the Last Great Blog War and let us commit ourselves to preserving the peace for generations of bloggers to come. As the conquering blog, let me state that I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for the blog I defeated and pledge that, as an occupying power, I will neither disrupt nor inhibit the great and noble task of rebuilding your vanquished nation, this time as a strong beacon of democracy, truth and the American Way. (H/T to the Wannabe Outdoorsman for the statesmanship)

Just wait until she sees my version of the Marshall Plan. Imagine a steady influx of YouTube videos and in-depth discussions on neutral zone traps.

Meet the Focker

2008-09-03T15:13:00.008-04:00

(St. Paul) - Senator John McCain greets the kid who knocked up his running mate's daughter. No, not awkward in the slightest.

The video of "When John Met Levi" is here.

A few nice words on behalf of Senator Biden

2008-09-03T10:52:00.006-04:00

My friend Ken in California is complaining that my posts as of late are disturbingly negative against the GOP ticket and that I should say some nice things in defense of the Democratic ticket.

Ken is an ex-Republican who finally saw the light after voting for Bush in 2000 (I know that you did Ken...just admit it). He wants to be convinced to vote Obama-Biden in November. Apparently, four more years of the previous eight isn't enough to send him screaming towards that voting booth.

That said, Ken is right....I should offer at least one post to promote the positive in this campaign....specifically, why I believe Joe Biden was the best choice for the 2nd slot on the Democratic ticket and why it affirms my trust that Obama is ready for the Presidency.

Here's a list of reasons why Biden is an excellent 2nd in command for Obama:

35 years continuous service in the U.S. Senate - arguably, the candidate on either ticket with the most experience in public service on the federal level since Bob Dole in 1996
Has chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee
Was elected to the Senate in 1972 at the age of 30 due to an odd election in Delaware....the popular GOP incumbent was considering retirement but was convinced by Richard Nixon to run to avoid a messy primary fight. The incumbent did win the primary but was upset by the young Biden.
Almost single-handedly kept Robert Bork off the Supreme Court. And very nearly did the same with Clarence Thomas. He did bring in Anita Hill and other victims of now-Justice Thomas to testify to the vile and crude advances this predator subjected them to.
Authored many landmark pieces of legislation, including the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994), Violence Against Women Act (1994), Kids 2000 (provides computer resources and technical training to low-income and at-risk youths),
Has made diplomatic trips around the globe. In his service on the Foreign Relations Committee in the 90's, brought the world's attention to the genocide in the Balkans. In fact, during one meeting with Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, Biden called him a war criminal to his face
Voted for the AUMF that gave President Bush the authority to invade Iraq only after tirelessly working with Senator Lugar on a resolution that authorized military action only after the exhaustion of diplomatic efforts. The Biden-Lugar resolution was torpedoed by the Bush administration in concert with Congressional Republicans. Biden subsequently expressed regret over his AUMF vote and has been one of the Bush Administration's strongest critic in their prosecution of the war. Unlike a certain junior Senator from New York who never thought it important to issue a mea culpa for her AUMF vote.
When the craven asshole Bush got up in front of the Israeli Knesset and compared contemporary Democrats who opposed his Iraq policy to appeasers of Adolf Hitler prior to World War II, Biden replied "This is bullshit"
Is one of the least-wealthy Senators in office - his current net worth is between $60,000 and $360,000
Humble roots - Biden was born into a working poor family in Scranton PA and and earned his way to the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law.
He is a politician that is unafraid to speak his mind (sometimes to his detriment - see below) and, most importantly, he is not shy about disagreeing with Obama. I thought they both defused the potential tension of former competitors, now running mates pretty well when they introduced themselves in Springfield a few weeks ago
He will reach out to the working-class white voters that Obama has not yet gotten traction with
He was going to dominate the VP debate in any case....against Sarah Palin, it will be a mismatch of historic proportions
If needed, he is more than capable to step into the top slot

There are a couple more aspects to the Joe Biden story that lead me not just to admire him, but respect him:

Biden married his first wife, Neilia, in law school in 1966. Six years later, he was elected as the fifth-youngest Senator in U.S. history. Six weeks after the election, Neilia and their infant daughter were killed in a car crash; his two young sons were badly injured. Biden took the Senate oath of office by their bedside.
In the aftermath of the accident, Biden took his seat in the Senate, but never moved to D.C. He made the long commute from D.C. to his home in Delaware to be with his boys every night. He continued this commute even after he remarried and had more children. Now that his children are grown (with his eldest son, Beau, due to be deployed to Iraq in a few months), he still rides the Amtrak to be home with his aged mother.
Biden was out of the Senate for seven months in the late 1980's after suffering two brain aneurysms. The only lasting affect on Biden has been a noticeable loss of hair, thus resulting in his unique coiff.
Biden is well familiar with the rigors of the campaign trail, having mounted Presidential bids in 1988 and 2008.

Now, I'm not all flowery and gushy about Biden....I worry about his penchant to issue bold statements that sometimes come off as awkward and offensive. I am slightly worried that the plagarism issue that sunk his '88 campaign will be revived. I'm not enamored of his fealty to the credit card industry and his vote for the bankruptcy bill in 2005 that led progressives to dub him "Senator MBNA".

That said, I'm very happy with the choice, as it was the best option Obama had. I would have preferred Wesley Clark, but I understand why Clark wasn't in the final pool. I'm relived that Obama did not give into pressure to put Hillary Clinton on the ticket, which would have been a disaster. Biden brings to the ticket experience, passion and a record of public service that is unmatched. Obama-Biden is a formidable ticket and I cannot wait for the debates.

Your 30 pieces of silver can be picked up backstage, Sen. Lieberman

2008-09-02T22:43:00.007-04:00

Judas Iscariot calls you a piece of shit, Joe

Well, the circle is complete and ex-Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is addressing the Republican Convention. I don't know which is the more craven and disappointing act....a lifelong liberal pandering to a staunch conservative audience or said audience applauding a man who espouses ideals they have rejected for four decades. It's the former for me, because Joe Lieberman was a champion for liberal values for much of his adult life. The Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate eight years ago has been reduced to groveling for attention to people who would otherwise throw him in the street. To wit:

Joe Lieberman supported reproductive rights for women

Joe Lieberman supported LGBT rights

Joe Lieberman supported civil rights for blacks - going so far as being a Freedom Rider in the mid-60's and being beaten by Southern racists with baseball bats for his beliefs

Joe Lieberman supported strong environmental protections

Joe Lieberman supported strong gun control

Joe Lieberman supported strengthening and defending Social Security from Congressional Republicans' attempts to privatize the program

Joe Lierberman voted against amending the Constitution to criminalize flag desecration

All of this....all these years of serving his constituents and the American people honorably disappears tonight. Tonight, Joe Lieberman casts his lot with a candidate and a party that would roll back each and every advancement he has worked his life to achieve. It's a sad and pathetic spectacle.

If you need futher evidence of what a craven asshole Joe Lieberman is, witness his "stirring" endorsement of Democratic values 4 years ago when this traitor asshole was running for president:

Motherfucker, Say What?

2008-09-02T22:22:00.005-04:00

You 63% can go fuck yo'selves

I just heard the President of the United States compare the "angry left" to the Viet Cong. Yes...our Commander-In-Chief just equated American citizens to Communists we went to war with 40+ years ago:

"Fellow citizens: If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain’s resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry left never will.

I said it before and I'll say it again:

Will someone please give this asshole a blowjob so we can impeach him already?

Tell me again how much Michelle Obama hates America...

2008-09-02T16:37:00.007-04:00

The very definition of IOKIYAR (It's OK If You're A Republican), Presidential Candidate Spouse Patriotism Edition:

Michelle Obama:

Bio - Harvard Law graduate, associate at Sidney Austin (world's 9th largest law firm), VP at University of Chicago Hospital Systems

Offense - In a campaign appearance in Milwaukee on 2/18/08, was quoted as saying "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback"

Consequences - excoriated for weeks in the mainstream press, tagged as an "angry black woman" and unpatriotic by right wing pundits, forced to soften her tone for the remainder of the campaign, actually had to say she was proud of her country during her address at the 2008 Democratic Convention.

Todd Palin -

Bio - Never finished college, DWI arrest at the age of 20, 18 years as a production supervisor at BP Oil and is also a commercial salmon fisherman

Offense - Alaska's Division of Elections confirms that Todd Palin, husband of the presumptive Republican nominee for Vice-President, was a registered member (1995-2002) of the Alaska Independence Party, a radical group who actively advocates for Alaska's secession from the United States.

Again.....a registered member of a party whose sole purpose of being is to secede from the United States. Kinda like the Confederate States of America. Funnily enough, 2002 was the first year Sarah Palin ran for statewide office in Alaska.

Consequences - None, so far. In fact, the McCain campaign issued a statement calling questions on the Palins' past party affiliations "smears"

....but at least Todd Palin never said he wasn't proud of his country as an adult until his wife ran for Vice-President.

and boom goes the dynamite

2008-09-02T14:32:00.005-04:00

Here's a short clip of the woman John McCain thinks is ready to become the Leader of the Free World:

This was from Gov. Sarah Palin's (then Sara Heath) career as a local sports anchor for KTUU-TV in Anchorage in the late 80's.

The title of the post references a viral favorite - Brian Collins was a student at Ball State University who had the great misfortune to sub for a friend during the campus newscast on a day when the teleprompter failed and the printed copies he was given were not in order...what ensues is 3:54 of cringe-inducing goodness

"This is one doodle that can't be undid, homeskillet..."

2008-09-02T09:44:00.022-04:00

I, for one, am thankful that the same crackerjack personnel McCain put on VP vetting duty may one day be in control of our domestic emergency response...or our homeland security defense against terrorism....or my Social Security.

Greetings and salutations! Hope your Labor Day weekend was as restful and enjoyable as mine! Now that Gabs O'Steel has so daintily let the frickin cat out of the bag, I might as well proclaim it for realz on my own square of greater Blogistan - I got a girlfriend! And her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, if you get my drift. If you do, please let me know because I never knew what the fuck that song was about anyway...what is the "milkshake" double entendre referring to? These kids and their dirty songs nowadays....

Anyway, me and my gal had a wonderful holiday weekend filled with cookouts, hanging with friends, waiting an hour and a half at the Peace Bridge on Saturday to return to my beloved homeland, inviting my brother to hang with us at Tabu on Main St. for "Madonna Impersonator" night and watching him act non-plussed while being hit on by a 330-lb drag queen, drinking, fighting and more drinking. Oh, not to worry...we're were just quibbling over minor things, like how often I should clean my bathroom (you can guess what my answer is) and is it polite to point at psychopathic ex-convicts in Jim's Steak-Out at 12:30 am.

All kidding aside, the gf is wonderful, the Humanist is very happy and all is well in the world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, we're back to the grind on the campaign trail and....lookee here! The VP pick on the Republican side is turning out to be a train wreck to rival the Ufa rail disaster:

First, there was the revelation over the weekend that Palin's 17-year old daughter is preggers:

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, according to aides of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, the aides said.

The Palins, in a statement released by the McCain campaign, said Bristol "came to us with news that we as parents knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned" and that their daughter "has our unconditional love and support."

Personally, I agree with Obama that Bristol's pregnancy is a private matter for the Palin family and is no one else's business. It was true when Obama's mother had him at 18 and it's defintely applicable for young Bristol, who isn't running for anything.

What is our business, however, is Bristol's mother and the flaming spires of hypocrisy jetting from her yap. Most prominent is that Sarah Palin is building a bridge to the 19th century when it comes to reproductive rights and access to education for teenagers like her own:

Democrats noted, before and after today's announcement, that Palin took a hard line on a question in 2006 from the conservative Eagle Forum Alaska:

Q: Will you support funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?

SP: Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.

Palin also opposes abortion in cases like her daughter's, and in harder cases.

Palin would prefer that her own daughter, as well as thousands of teenagers in the same position, not have a choice or means to deal with their pregnancy at all. And Gawd help you if you're a teen girl who happens to become pregnant due to rape or incest:

"I am pro-life. With the exception of a doctor’s determination that the mother’s life would end if the pregnancy continued. I believe that no matter what mistakes we make as a society, we cannot condone ending an innocent’s life," (emphasis mine)

Hear that, gals? You feelin that, parents of at-risk teens? Daddy's little angel got date-raped or Uncle Ernie got a little too affectionate during his last visit? Mama Palin says tough shit, missy....that's the Lord's little miracle in your belly and your uterus is now the property of Jeebus. I'm glad that Bristol has the means to support a newborn, being the daughter of the state governor and all, and that she's doesn't have to face the spectre of dropping out of school to become a single mother and all the happy, fun joy-joy that ensues. Cheers to her. Yay, responsibility!

Next, Gov. Palin lawyered up as Troopergate starts heating up:

Some allege the governor's staff pushed to get the governor's former brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, fired, and that Palin fired Commissioner Monegan because he wouldn't terminate Wooten.

Those allegations led to an investigation by the Legislature.

And, most recently, the governor hired a private attorney to represent her.

So the GOP ticket will be campaigning the next two months with the cloud of this state investigation hanging over their heads, with the findings scheduled to come out just before November 4th. No doubt, a brilliant piece of electoral strategy that will clearly work out very well for McCain. (/snark)

Then, late yesterday, word came out that Gov. Palin, a heartbeat away (potentially) from the presidency, belonged to a fringe Alaskan party that advocates secession from the United States:

After refraining from commenting on the charge for a day, the McCain campaign on Tuesday asserted that Palin was never a member of the AIP.

But Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.

"We are a state's rights party," says Clark, a self-employed goldminer. The AIP has "a plank that challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law."

It's worth noting that the official slogan of the McCain-Palin ticket is "America First"....while the AIP's official slogan is "Alaska First". Well, who's on first, Sarah?

And, finally, we learned this morning that Gov. Radioactive likes herself some good ol' fashioned book-burning:

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

Ah, this must be the "executive experience" the Republicans are crowing about with regard to the Palin selection. A demand for blind loyalty to the executive office-holder, firing those who are perceived as non-supporters or politically independent and blatant abuse of power. Doesn't sound like anything we've encountered in the last 8 years, nope....Change we can believe in!

And, oh yeah....the running mate of the so-called "maverick" (who detests earmarks) loves her some of that filthy earmark lucre. And was director of a 527 group supporting now-disgraced-and-indicted Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

As is quite apparent to anyone who isn't a Republican lemming or is above the age of 10, the choice of Palin as VP was among the most appalling, ill-considered political decisions of any presidential campaign. Palin, herself, is a political disaster area, on par with Harriet Miers as the worst selections for federal office in recent memory. But the real story is John McCain's utter disdain for his supporters and female voters in general and his continuing pattern of recklessness in his decision-making. Does anyone still believe that McCain gave any serious thought to Palin in terms of her capabilities in taking office, let alone her qualifications for the ticket? He himself admitted he'd only met her twice before naming her as a running mate and calling her his "soulmate".

This was McCain's first real test of decision-making under pressure as President and it is a total and resounding failure. The corner he's painted himself into now is threatening to submarine his campaign before we even get to the first debate. Keep this radioactive person on the ticket and continue the slow drip, drip, drip of embarrassing revelations that are coming out daily? Or, dump her from the ticket and reveal your campaign operation to be the Keystone Kops Komedy it is and piss off all the fundamentalists who so loved having an anti-choice, pro-rape & incest, pro-Creationism, anti-science & logic nutjob on the national ticket? I don't envy his choice but I'm not exactly broken up about it, either.

UPDATE: Oops, forgot a knee-slapper from the 2006 candidate questionnaire that Palin completed:

11. Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

As we all know, the phrase "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance by an act of Congress in 1954. Not to mention the Pledge itself wasn't written until 1892 and wasn't officially recognized as the official national pledge until 1942.

FURTHER UPDATE: Lest we think John McMansions was going to stay out of the fray:

Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits.

SON OF FURTHER UPDATE: drip, drip, drip

oh my

My ultra-serious, detail-oriented examination of the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

2008-08-29T14:25:00.006-04:00

Rowrrrrrr......

H/T to Sadly, No! for the image

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-08-29T14:02:00.000-04:00

I'm in a winning type of mood, so for this Labor Day holiday weekend edition, I'll lay a little of the late, great Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions on ya....here's "We're A Winner"

Eight Is Enough

2008-08-29T10:36:00.004-04:00

Last night's address by Barack Obama left me with a mix of elation, inspiration and a strange sense of relief.

Elated that his speech was a full-throated, unapologetic affirmation of progressive principles, not some jelly-spined "centrist" bullshit that's doomed Democratic candidates not named Bill Clinton for the last two decades. Obama took on the social hot-button issues of the day - abortion, guns, gay marriage - and explained to the country that he stands on the right side of history. He didn't prattle on about "post-partisanship" and how he'll make nice with Republicans. He needed to draw a sharp distinction between his Democratic party and the party that's brought us the Bush-Cheney trainwreck for the last eight years and he did a damn good job of it.

Elated that Obama struck the right balance between laying out the specific plans of an Obama adminstration and portending the utter disaster of a McCain administration - four more years after the previous eight disastrous ones. Nominee addresses to the convention are usually more flowery and don't take on the opposing party's nominee too directly, but this isn't just any election. Obama needed to make the case to the country that we cannot afford a McCain presidency because it would be Bush III and he made it quite convincingly.

Insipred by Obama's own story and his eloquence in weaving his story into the American story that's been so much a part of this convention. I'm sure he's told his story a thousand times, and I wouldn't blame him if his eyes glazed over at some point. But, last night, his retelling had a special meaning and I think it has a lot to do with the negative attacks and e-mail smears he's had to endure during this campaign. The right-wing's attempts to alternately portray him as either an America-hating Muslim fanatic from an Indonesian madrassa or an empty-headed "celebrity" who offers nothing more than a good speech and some hoops skills must look like the ridiculous, pathetic schemes that they were. Experience? Obama's got a lifetime of it.

Inspired that Obama's story is my story, as it is the story for millions across this country. I am a child of immigrants, a first-generation American of color who is proud of all the fibers of his heritage. Never in my dreams could imagine that in my adult life, I would be able to cast a vote for a candidate who not only shares my values and ideas about the nation and world, but looks like me as well. Someone said to me last night after Obama's address that my vote didn't matter. In a more cynical time, I would be inclined to agree with that. But there will be no more meaningful vote I will cast in my lifetime than when I pull the lever for Obama on November 4.

I am equally relieved....relieved that this audacious gamble paid off so handsomely. The spectacle of 84,000 people packed into a football stadium to hear a convention address by a nominee was overwhelming and it made for great television. America saw a party united, a party comprised of people from all different backgrounds and cultures, sexes, creeds and orientations....a party energized and inspired by their candidate. I don't know if it played as well among the multitudes in the stadium, but Obama's message and his appeal came through loud and clear over the TV. America saw a man who not only inspires millions in the U.S., but around the world. If this is to be the face of America for the next four (or eight) years, we will be well-served.

As far as political speeches go, I thought it was an well-written address, neatly covering a wide range of topics and hitting a number of varied objectives without being a boring, monotonous recitation of policy planks. Some of the better lines:

"Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change."

"Eight is enough!"

"It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it."

(talking about "trickle-down" economics) "Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own...Well it's time for them to own their failure."

"You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq."

"We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy."

The celebration has ended and the hard work begins in earnest. There are 67 days until Election Day and there are miles to go before we sleep.

Gobama!

6:47 P.M, August 27, 2008

2008-08-28T11:24:00.004-04:00

Hillary Clinton nominates Barack Obama by acclamation and thus, Senator Obama becomes the first minority in American history to be chosen as the nominee of a major party. A moment of pride for ALL Americans.

All Power To The People

18 million cracks in the glass ceiling

2008-08-27T12:15:00.005-04:00

An amazing speech....an amazing moment in American history. Thank you, Senator Clinton.

Time For A Blogger Ethics Panel....or, How I Learned to Stop Fact-Checking and Love The Pwn3age

2008-08-26T16:32:00.006-04:00

Unlike most other people I know, I don't have much of a problem with The Buffalo News. Sure, it swipes most of its national news stories right off the AP wire and Douglas Turner is an absolute embarrassment as a political writer...but, overall, it's not a bad way to start the morning.

Unfortunately, the only paper in town has subscribed to the reactionary position of blaming blogs for the ills in society. To wit, managing editor Margaret Sullivan layeth the smackdown on Blogistan in last Sunday's paper:

And, on a deeper level, how much should we be concerned that we are playing a
part in perpetuating dirty politics? After all, the common fare of blogs — which
often have their own axes to grind and their own less-than-admirable motivations
for publishing — often does not meet the standards of a responsible news outlet. (Emphasis mine)

"Oh wake up, Maggie... I think I got something to say to you..."

(from the front page of Monday's Buffalo News):

Nicole Kidman may be joining fight to save Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre

(from the front page of today's Buffalo News):

Report of Kidman’s Studio Arena crusade called fake

How could this be, you may ask.....wouldn't a reputable publication like The Buffalo News double- and triple-check such a shocking and out-of-the-blue story? Eh...not so much:

Monday: "Show business Web sites reported Sunday that the film and stage megastar is challenging fellow A-list actors to help her raise money to revive the Main Street regional playhouse, which suspended operations early this year under the weight of a $2.9 million deficit..."

Today: "The report, posted to the Web site PR-inside.com at 8:20 Saturday night, claims that Kidman told reporters...that she 'expressed hope that one or more hugely charismatic New York City theater figures . . . pass the hat' for Buffalo’s struggling playhouse. But the article also contains an alleged quote from Kidman that mirrors, verbatim, a comment made by the theater’s managing director, Iain Campbell, in July and printed in The Buffalo News.

Catherine Olim, Kidman’s publicist, told The News she found the story “highly suspect” and noted that Kidman did not arrive in London until Monday. That contradicts the claim that Kidman spoke to reporters in London on Saturday.

“We have no knowledge of this, and [Kidman] is filming out of the country. If we find out, we’ll let you know if it’s true or not,” Olim wrote in an e-mail.

So, the enterprising newsies down on Washington and Scott interpreted one, random PR site to be mulitple "show business Web sites". And rather than take the 5 minutes to, you know, look through their own archives from the previous month or, heaven forbid, e-mail Nicole Kidman's fucking PR flack to make sure this wasn't a giant wankoff story, they decided to publish it as is. Nay, put it on the front page, above the fold!

This is surely an embarrassing day for the News and, frankly, they deserve it. Not only for the shoddy reporting and laziness in trumpeting this sham of a story (probably giving poor Kathleen Gaffney at Studio Arena a stroke in the meantime). They deserve to eat some public crow after taking such a condescending and arrogant attitude about blogs.

"axe to grind"?
"less-than-admirable motivations"?
"does not the standards of a responsible news outlet"?

Ladies and gentlemen, that describes your Buffalo News to a T. Any paper that publishes Charles Krauthammer and George Will on a continuing basis has a lot of gall to call out anyone else for bias and unprofessionalism.

Funny Foto In Search Of A Pithy Post

2008-08-25T17:00:00.005-04:00

I can guarantee this image will be used in a future post. I just can't think of one right now that isn't overly gutter-level

...and yes, in case you were wondering, it is a real book. Probably a sensitive and well-written book for preschoolers and coprophiliacs alike.

Greatest line of this campaign, so far

2008-08-25T10:19:00.011-04:00

More in common than you think....

Courtesy of Roger Ailes (the liberal blogger, not the Fox News Head Liar In Charge):

The McCain campaign keeps emphasizing that McCain was a prisoner in Vietnam, as proof of his qualification for the Presidency.

Well, so was Gary Glitter, and I'm not voting for him either.

heh

Prepare the Bumperstickers: Obama-Biden '08

2008-08-23T10:09:00.003-04:00

(from the New York Times)

Biography
Full Name: Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.
Party: Democratic
Political Office: U.S. Senator from Delaware; elected 1972; reelected 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, and 2002
Business/Professional Experience: Attorney (in Wilmington), 1968-72; Councilman, New Castle County (Delaware), 1970-72
Date of Birth: November 20, 1942
Place of Birth: Scranton, Pa.
Education: B.A., University of Delaware, 1965; J.D., Syracuse University College of Law, 1968
Spouse: married (2d) Jill Jacobs, 1977
Children: sons Joseph R. III, born 1969 and Robert, b. 1970 (with first wife Neilia Hunter, m. 1966; died 1972 in auto accident with infant daughter Naomi); daughter Ashley, born 1981
Religion: Roman Catholic
Home: Wilmington, Del.
Books by Joe Biden: Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics [July 2007] About Joe Biden: What it Takes: The Way to the White House (in part, an account of Biden's 1988 presidential campaign), by Richard Ben Cramer [1992]

First elected to the United States Senate from Delaware at age 29, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has experienced personal tragedy, near-fatal illness, and multiple attempts to advance to the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue. Though neither of his campaigns for the Democratic nomination ever really took off, he was tapped as Senator Barack Obama’s running mate on Aug. 23, 2008.
Only a month after winning his first Senate election, Mr. Biden’s wife and 13-month old daughter died in a car accident, which put both of his sons in the hospital. Mr. Biden was sworn into the Senate at their bedsides. His pursuit of the 1988 Democratic nomination ended amid accusations that he lifted large portions of his remarks at a debate from a British Labor Party leader. And a few months after his departure from the race Mr. Biden collapsed from a brain aneurism, ultimately undergoing two surgeries over a few months.

Mr. Biden told The Times he had learned something different from each of the three crises in his life.

The accident taught him, he said, “to always let the people you love know you love them, and never let something go unsaid.” The aneurysm taught him that “it’s a hell of a lot easier being on the operating table than in the waiting room.” As for the 1987 race, Mr. Biden said he learned that he could pull himself back up after the crippling experience of having his character questioned, “Particularly when it’s your own fault.”

Mr. Biden is perhaps best known for his work on the Foreign Relations Committee, of which he is currently chairman. He has said he regrets his 2003 vote in favor of the Iraq invasion, but he has been a persistent and harsh critic of the administration’s war conduct. Mr. Biden is among the most ardent proponents of a three-state solution in Iraq.

Despite his emphasis on diplomacy, Mr. Biden is known for his direct – and sometimes impulsive – speech, which has often attracted criticism.

Obama '08: One Spouse, One House

2008-08-22T14:49:00.009-04:00

Well, this has certainly been an interesting past few days while waiting for my exclusive (ZOMG!!!111) text from Senator Obama. After pretty much pulling even in most polls after a month of relentless negative advertising, Senator John McCain really went and put his $500 Italian leather loafer in his mouth when he botched this most simple of Q&As:

Q: How many houses do you have?
McCain: I'm not sure....I have to check with my staff. I'll have them get [the number] to you.

Wow...for a politician who is not shy about throwing the "elitist" label at his opponent, Senator McNopoly doesn't sound like a "man of the people" when he stumbles on the number of houses his family has.

The correct answer of course, is multiple houses.....reports vary from four to up to twelve properties that McCain and his wife own. The key words here being "his wife"

You see, my friends, Cindy Lou McCain (nee Hensley) is the heiress to an Arizona beer distributorship that is valued at $100 million dollars. When McCain dumped his disabled wife and three children to marry Cindy in 1980, he signed a prenup that clearly separated his finances from the Hensley family fortune. However, McCain also received a plum job at the distributorship and a healthy infusion of that beer money to fund his first run for Congress in 1982.

So, John McCain is married to a $100 million woman who owns up to 12 luxurious properties around the U.S., all in her name. McCain could have said, in effect, that he doesn't own a single piece of property in the U.S. Of course, he would have to explain that he's been riding a gravy train for the past 28 years and that "Mommy" owns him lock, stock and barrel....but that wouldn't sound too "Mavericky". It would sound like McCain handed over his testicles when he said "I do"

The McCain campaign's initial response to the kefluffle over "Housegate" was another in a disturbing series of exploitative references to what McCain himself has pledged he would never exploit for political gain:

[McCain spokesman Brian Rogers] also added: "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," referring to the prisoner of war camp that McCain was in during the Vietnam War.

Wonderful...."leave my guy alone about the multiple mansions because he was shot down and held prisoner by the Viet Cong 40 years ago". The "noun, verb, POW" defense was also used to defend McCain against charges that he cheated during the evangelical forum he and Obama attended last weekend. What's that line about the well and dipping once too often?

What this amounts to is - while McCain has spent over a month battering Obama with negative ads and speeches attacking him on any number of platforms ("elitist", "celebrity", "no experience", "too exotic-looking" for the Appalachian regions) and has succeeded in raising Obama's negatives in polling, he hasn't focused on one line of attack that would serve to define Obama negatively in the voters' minds. And, yesterday, he handed the Obama campaign the one effective line of attack that would blunt McCain's claims of legitimacy and experience. Obama is already on TV with ads blistering McCain's "experience" of the last 30 years as enjoying the life of Riley on his wife's dime. Obama cannot rely on the common sense of the American voter by saying simply "I will end the war in Iraq, my opponent will continue it for 100 years"...he needs to knock McCain from his imaginary pedestal and reveal to the voters that the Maverick has no clothes (or, at least, any that weren't bought by Suga Momma Cindy).

So, remind me again - who's the elitist in this race? The guy raised by a single mother (at times, on food stamps) who went to Columbia and Harvard Law on merit scholarships? Or the son and grandson of Naval Admirals who married into a $100 million fortune, a sizable chunk of which has underwritten his political career, including this Presidential campaign?

It's a shame that all those millions in advertisting, consulting fees and strategy sessions to come up with an attack plan went up in smoke in the course of one afternoon. Pity.

UPDATE:
Oh thank God.....a bonafide and legitimate surrogate has emerged to defend Senator McLandBaron from these wicked attacks.......Robin Leach:

"He probably was confused as to which homes are in his name, his wife's name, or corporate names," Leach explained in his familiar, deep British baritone. "In his attempt to be honest, he put his foot in his mouth."

FUCKING CRAZIER UPDATE:
This shit is now officially Out. Of. Control.:

The McCains increased their budget for household employees from $184,000 in 2006 to $273,000 in 2007, according to John McCain's tax returns.

Holy shit.....am I to understand, if you consider the median household income in the United States in 2007 was $48, 201, that John McCain and Beer Money Cindy spent over five times as much on servants as the typical household earns in an entire year? Didn't shit like this lead to the French Revolution?

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-08-22T09:56:00.006-04:00

Raging Bull

Raging Composer

This week's installment highlights one of those beautiful melds of film and music. Martin Scorcese's 1980 masterpiece Raging Bull is justifiably regarded as the best film of the 80's and now, almost three decades after its release, it remains a powerful film. One of its greatest legacies (at least for me) was introducing the music of Italian composer Pietro Mascagni to a wide audience. Even kids like me, who regarded opera as something the Viet Cong applied to John McCain to make him confess, were stunned by the juxtaposition of three excerpts of Mascagni's work (the Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana, the Barcarolle from Silvano and the Intermezzo from Guglielmo Ratcliff) with the stark brutality of the prizefighter's world.

The Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana is probably the better-known work from the film, but I have a real affection for the montage of fight stills and home movie clips in the middle of the film set to the Barcarolle from Silvano. Enjoy.

Blog War III is Brung...

2008-08-20T10:33:00.005-04:00

Blog War Is Hell

History will record that I was the instigator of this final, bloody chapter in the series of InterWebTube conflicts with my nemesis, GabsOSteel. Sure, it may appear unseemly to pick fights with a peaceful, sensitive blogger who writes about her feelings or some such shit, but damnit, blogging is war! I must defeat the forces of niceness and self-examination that would compel me to write open, honest posts about my life, instead of the vacuous pop culture/political/sports/YouTube snark I live for....Remember the Maine!

Anyhoo, Ms. Gabs has accepted my challenge and fired the first volley in Round Three by exercising in what can generously be called revisionist history. In recounting our first two battles, she seems to forget:

Blog War One:
...in which we switched blogging styles ala Freaky Friday. She posted about sports and YouTube videos and makes the ridiculous claim that I forfeited writing about my feelings. Really? Does this post ring a bell? I think one memorable post on a real-life event, one in which you were the star attraction, more than meets the challenge posed. Blog War One was a draw, y'all.

Blog War Two:
...in which we competed for corporate sponsorship. I will acknowledge that my initial efforts fell short in this endeavor (oh, Maker's Mark....will you ever return my calls?). However, Ms. Gabs' outrageous claim that she is sponsored by the hip new quarterly Greenfern (available at discerning booksellers and opium dens in the Greater Western New York area) is somewhat undercut by the complete and utter lack of Greenfern ads on her blog. Unless she worked out some corporate underwriting shennanigans like what the Chubb Corporation used to do for PBS. What the fuck did the Chubb Corporation do, anyway? Were they a front operation for the Mob? Wikipedia says property and casualty insurance, but who the hell can trust Wikipedia nowadays?

Oh, by the way, I'd like to announce the new corporate sponsor* of The Humanist -

*just as soon as I ask Mike

Blog War Three:
The terms of engagement for this particular contretemps have yet to be defined. We could have a competition to see who gets backlinked first by a prominent, unaffiliated blog, but of course, we all know that I won that battle handily. I'll throw this challenge out....publish a post that receives the most comments. Friends, family, strangers, Scientologists....whomever. The content of the post is up to the author (anything other than "Comment on this post and I'll give you Cash Money!!!") and the comment window closes on the last day in September. Spam comments count, duplicate commenters do not.

What say you, Gabs? I think the mere fact that I got a girly-girl like you to threaten to "beat my ass down" means I've won already.

No One Wants To Touch (Yeah!) No One Wants To Touch (Yeah!) No One Wants To Touch Him There, There, There, There...

2008-08-19T12:09:00.010-04:00

Gary Glitter looking not at all odd or creepy while waiting for recess to end

Convicted child molester and former 70's glam rock star Gary Glitter was released from a Vietnamese prison after a three-year sentence for having sex with children and immediately deported to England, where he'll be forced to register as a sex offender.

I think the appropriate sentence and/or treatment for Mr. Glitter would be to lock him in a room with a stereo and force him to listen to his godawful records nonstop until he inevitably throws himself out the window.

NA-NA NA-NA-NA-NA-NA.....HEY! NA-NA-NA

NA-NA NA-NA-NA-NA-NA.....HEY! NA-NA-NA .....and so on and so on......

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-08-15T09:39:00.006-04:00

If you thought last week was bad, I am really going to put you through the paces with this week's installment. Travel with me now back to the dark days of summer 1990 when this legendary piece of shit record spread on the radio and the ol' MTV like some supervirus. Damn Yankees was an unholy alliance of rock suckitude - bringing together members of such awful groups as Styx, Night Ranger and, oh dear....Ted Nugent. If the term "supergroup" wasn't already dead by this point, the musical abortion that was Damn Yankees certainly hammered the final nail in the coffin.

"High Enough" was their big hit - a power ballad so mawkish and insipid that only the video could provide anything in the way of entertainment. While the hair poseurs from Night Ranger and Styx take center stage, the star of this clip is undoubtedly the Nuge. Ted Nugent may be a supremely repellent human being, but he is uproarious in this video....you need only check out his swagger at 2:14 - 2:19, or his "wicked" solo at 3:14 in the midst of a police shootout. Hours of entertainment this provided, back in the day, I tell ya.

"Don't worry about it, ma'am.....jus them Damn Yankees!"

Greatest album run by a band?

2008-08-14T14:04:00.007-04:00

My vote goes to the incredible six-album run by the Who from 1966-1973:

1966: A Quick One

1967: The Who Sell Out

1969: Tommy

1970: Live at Leeds

1971: Who's Next

1973: Quadrophenia

Quite a stunning array of music....you start with two classics of mid-60's power-pop, move onto the most notable rock opera of all, throw in one of the greatest live albums ever recorded, shift into the album many consider the greatest rock album ever and close with the greatest (in my opinion) rock opera of all.

Of course, the Who have put out mostly dogshit in the 35 years since Quadrophenia, but that still doesn't detract from the greatness of this run.

I'll take your nominees in the comments

"....and with the second pick in this year's draft..."

2008-08-14T10:42:00.006-04:00

My team, White WRs on Coke, selects.....Purple Jesus.

#28 in your programs, #1 in your hearts.....Adrian Peterson.

I've got quite the backfield....Peterson, Maroney, Jamal Lewis and a hopefully rebuilt Deuce McCallister. Too bad the rest of my team blows.

Oh, and I drafted all Bills for my defensive players - McKelvin, Whitner, Poz and Schobel. I'm as loyal as I am daft

Go For The General In The General - Obama/Clark '08

2008-08-12T10:34:00.005-04:00

In my mind, there is but one choice for Barack Obama for his running mate. That choice must be General Wesley Clark. Sure, it may be controversial, but it's a smart pick both for the short-term electoral strategy in the general election, as well as the more important question of what role the Vice-President will play in the Administration post-Darth Cheney.

Here's what Clark brings to the table:

Raised in Little Rock Arkansas, but was born in Chicago and had a paternal great-grandfather who was a Belarusian Jew who emigrated to the U.S. to escape the pogroms
Valedictorian of his class at West Point
Rhodes scholar at Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Master's degree in military science
34 years service in the Army and Department of Defense, including company command in Vietnam from 1969-1970. He was shot four times with an AK-47 but still led his company in a counterattack. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions.
Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000....commanded Operation Allied Force in the Kosovo War

I can think of no other VP choice who brings the balance of military experience, foreign policy knowledge and moderate political philosophy quite like Gen. Clark. There are some with foreign policy bonafides (Biden, Richardson, Nunn), but they each are politicians with their own baggage and, in the case of Nunn, have odious opinions on social issues like reproductive rights and LGBT rights. Other candidates who are more appealing to the Democratic base may turn off independents and moderate Republicans and would fail to fill in the gaps (experience, foreign policy expertise) in Obama's campaign.

Clark is a moderate liberal with strong pro-environmental views, and equally strong pro-civil rights stances. He supports equal opportunity for gays in military service. He also advocates return to balancing the federal budget, reduction of the budget and trade deficits, and would nullify the tax cuts for the upper 1% which have been so ruinous to the economy overall and have ballooned our budget deficit. He has suggested providing healthcare for the uninsured by altering the current system.

Clark complements Obama very nicely while not contradicting him on any of the major policy issues an Obama administration will tackle next year. I hope that Obama discounts the hysterics surrounding Gen. Clark's appearance on Face The Nation and sees his best choice for a running mate in Wesley Clark.

And now.....you've been BarackRoll'd, son!!!!

Fearless Leader Enjoys Olympic Opening Ceremony

2008-08-11T10:50:00.005-04:00

I throw up in my mouth every time this buffoon travels abroad...what a disgrace:

Georgie checks his watch, wonders if he can get "Mama's Family" on Chinese TV

"wap-wap-wap-wap-wap...when are the 'Murrikans coming by in the parade? Dang!"

Will someone please give this moron a Gameboy or a Sudoku book and keep him off-camera?!!

UPDATE: This photo is too priceless to miss

Friday YouTube Nugget

2008-08-08T13:10:00.003-04:00

I don't know what you all did this week to deserve this, but prepare to receive some Culture Club in your face. FIERCE

Now....where can I get a coffee mug that says "BOY"?