Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Johnny Hallyday Rencontre avec Emmylou Harris à Nashville en 1984

Thanks to AnthonyPussini, France.

Whisky Power

The Guardian (UK)

Scotland toasts new whisky-powered bioenergy plant

Up to 9,000 homes to be powered with energy produced by burning waste matter from the whisky-making process

Waste products from around 16 of the area's 50 distilleries will be used at the site, including well-known brands such as Glenlivet, Chivas Regal, Macallan, and Famous Grouse.

Good brands! Rumor has it* that real estate values downwind from the plant have tripled. The thrifty Scots will save a lot of money formerly spent in bars merely by relaxing in lawn chairs on the roof. No more the image of the drunken Scotsman crawling home. They'll just fall down the stairs.

I hope they never figure out how to make economical sustainable power from dog shit...

*I know because I started it.

Bryan Bowers ~ The Scotsman

Thanks to domasi01.

Now What?

William Rivers Pitt in a post about The Godawful Bush Years and their ongoing aftermath:

I wanted to celebrate the death of bin Laden, and in my own way, I did. I didn't dance in the streets or wave a flag or shout "USA! USA! USA!" But I definitely smiled, and I don't apologize for it. There an old joke about a man who would buy a newspaper every day from a paperboy, scan the front page, and then throw the paper away in disgust. After a while, the paperboy asked him why he kept throwing the paper away. "I'm looking for someone in the obituaries," the man replied. "But, sir," said the paperboy, "the obituaries aren't on the front page." The man looked at him and said, "When the son of a bitch I'm looking for dies, he'll be on the front page."

Fuckin' A, and there's more than one.

Headlines of the Day

Pakistan arrests dozens in connection with bin Laden compound

Mostly the Xe (formerly Blackwater) security guards contracted to protect him...?

Related and worth a read:

Pakistan’s bin Laden Scapegoat

In the same vein:

How Did bin Laden Live Undetected in Pakistan for Years? Someone Has Got Some Explainin' to Do.
...

With regard to the spectacular killing

Of Osama bin Laden last Sunday

Authorities there should all insist they

Had plans to kill him last Monday.

Yeah, the next time he ordered in, they were gonna send a squad of commandos disguised as the pizza delivery guy. Yeesh.

John Yoo, Still A War Criminal

Andy Sullivan, obviously a regular reader of the Brain, follows up on my post, more links at site:

Here's a great quote:

"Former government lawyer John Yoo taking credit on behalf of the Bush administration for Sunday's strike against Osama bin Laden is like Edward John Smith, the captain of the Titanic, taking credit for the results of the 1998 Academy Awards," - Andrew Cohen.

Any Titanic reference I can work in ... Heh.

So let us be very clear. The war criminal Dick Cheney presided over the worst lapse in national security since Pearl Harbor, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,000 people. This rank incompetent failed to get bin Laden at Tora Bora, and then dragged the US on false pretenses into a war in Iraq, empowering Iran's dictatorship, and killing another 5,000 more Americans on a wild goose chase. He presided over the deaths of more than 8,000 Americans, and tens of thousands of Iraqis during his criminally incompetent years in office.

On the other hand, the man who abolished torture as soon as he took office, Barack Obama, captured and killed Osama bin Laden, and captured a massive trove of intelligence, more than two years later. No Americans died in the operation.

What on earth are we debating? How have these delusional maniacs managed to even get us onto this turf? Because they have to. Because when the full truth of these past years are fully in focus, they will be revealed as some of the greatest criminals ever to have wielded power in America.

Amen.

Headline of the Day II

Trump Bumped out of Indy 500 Pace Car

Good. The Indy 500 is a 100-year-old iconic American institution, while Trump belongs in some other American institution.

Thoughts on the OBL 'Death Photo'

What could possibly inflame the Muslim world over a little photo? Could it be their dislike of graven images?

Or could it be the group photo of SEAL Team 6 with the dead Osama sitting upright front and center, wearing a boonie hat and smoking a joint with a beer in his hand? Maybe it's the Ace of Spades pinned to his forehead with a 7.62 round?

Or maybe it's the grinning trigger man wearing OBL's ears on a string around his neck? Hell, he got him and they're his trophy after all.

Note to Vets of a certain age: Sorry 'bout that, Chief...

In all seriousness, I know SEALs are a lot more professional than pissed-off teenage grunts of times gone by with memories of their buddies skinned and tied to a tree with their balls in their mouths and would never do that, but we've all seen those photos and worse. I'm just sayin'...

Note to those who think I displayed utter tastelessness in this post: Hey, I cleaned it up big time. I left out the horny goat in the photo doing unspeakable-yet-funny things to the corpse-of-honor's orifices.

Headline of the Day

Dubya Won't Join Obama at Ground Zero Observance: From Megaphone George to Afraid of Being Booed

Rightly so, and it's a first.

Torture Enabler John Yoo Tries Again to Justify His Awful Existence

I've got a double-dip of loathing for that bastard, not only for enabling torture but for teaching law, fer chrissakes, at what used to be a prestigious University of California system which I've lost a lot of respect for because of their hiring of him. If I was Jerry Brown I'd run him outta town on a rail after he served his prison sentence. Or drop him off in Oakland with hunnert dollar bills sticking outta every pocket.

The Rude Pundit

In other words, John Yoo is a motherfucker. The dude who crafted the legal justification for the CIA to use waterboarding and other charming "enhanced interrogation techniques" has been out in the right-wing nutzoidosphere frantically re-re-re-arguing that the killing of Osama bin Laden has given his pathetic life meaning. Here he is in today's Wall Street Journal (motto: "Rupert Murdoch's asshole smells of wallaby meat"): "Sunday's success also vindicates the Bush administration...The United States located al Qaeda's leader by learning the identity of a trusted courier from the tough interrogations of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks, and his successor, Abu Faraj al-Libi." Except, you know, chances are that Mohammed didn't give up the real info until after the torture ended.

Then Yoo disappears into fantasyland, where a pussy Barack Obama can't tie his own shoes, let alone deal with terrorists: "Imagine what would have happened if the Obama administration had been running things immediately following 9/11. After their 'arrest,' we would have read KSM and al-Libi their Miranda rights, provided them legal counsel, sent them to the U.S. for detention, and granted them all the rights provided a U.S. citizen in criminal proceedings." He faults Obama for not capturing bin Laden alive and then torturing him (no, really). He concludes by calling on the President to restart the interrogation techniques.

Goddamnit, you gotta give Yoo points for consistency. This motherfucker has been making his pro-torture case for years now. He is out there constantly, making sure that his legacy, long after his foul tenure ended, is something more than "that creepy cocksucker who degraded America." No, he's gotta make it that he is responsible in some small way for getting to bin Laden, when, in reality, all he did was piss on the Constitution because, he said, the ink needed a good cleaning.

The Bush maladministration spent an awful lot of effort to defeat and shred the Constitution, that "goddam piece of paper". Torture is still illegal and still a war crime that we've hanged people for. And should again.

Of course, the people we hanged mostly lost wars to us. Our officials that have done it see themselves as big brave heroes for doing it when they're really cowards and bullies and war criminals. I'd like to see how brave and heroic they are standing on the trapdoor with the noose around their necks. I bet it'd smell real bad.

Groaner of the Day

Yesterday was Star Wars Day. May the fourth be with you.

The Last ...

The last living veteran of World War 1 has died. It was supposed to be the "War To End All Wars" but it only put us on a course to the place we are now. Rest easy, old timer:

... Just over three years before the centenary of the 1914-18 war, the last known veteran who saw action in that war has died.

Claude Choules has died in a Perth nursing home. He'd reached the remarkable age of 110.

Claude Choules served in Britain's Royal Navy in the so-called Great War.

He also served in the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War.

Two years ago, he became the world's oldest first-time published author with his memoir, The Last Of The Last ...

Justice ...

In America. It's for those who can't afford it.

Goldman Sachs finds itself under investigation once again but, at this point, as our pal Montag says, we know how that's gonna turn out:

...

As I noted in the beginning, normally Goldmine Sachs would find itself in deep shit. In these times the DoJ under AG Holder prefers to go after medical marijuana users and online pokers players. The idea of applying the law and taking down one or more of the Masters Of The Criminal Universe is alien to his job description.

If you or I swindled our neighbors for $10,000, we'd be sitting in a federal prison for a few years. These guys will be running the Treasury and the Federal Reserve in a few years.

Nothing to see here ...

Move along.

You know, with all the hubbub around the killing of one man, the big, bad terrorist with super powers, we happily lose sight of the fact that 90% of the terror attacks in this country come from far right wingnut country.

Thankfully, this character's trace has been purged from the gene pool:

FAIRVIEW — A man killed in a shoot-out with FBI agents and other law enforcement officers Wednesday afternoon was wanted in connection with the 2010 bombing of a Florida mosque, according to the FBI.

...

He was wanted in connection with the May 10, 2010, bombing of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida in Jacksonville. The attack occurred at night prior to evening prayers. No one was injured in that explosion.

...

And remember when Homeland Security pointed this out? The whining and crying of the big tough Republicans was deafening. "We're being persecuted!" Wait until some teabagger decides to blow one of them up because he wasn't "conservative enough". You'll see checkpoints at every street corner.

Thanks to They Gave Us A Republic for the link.

The State of Texas ...

Is like your weird uncle who still lives with your grandmother. You know, the guy no one talks about and always annoys everybody at parties:

A Texas high school teacher has been placed on administrative leave following an incident where he allegedly told a 9th grade Muslim girl in his algebra class "I bet that you're grieving" on Monday following the death of Osama bin Laden.

According to one parent at Clear Brook High School in Houston who spoke about the incident to a local ABC affiliate, the teacher also said, "I heard about your uncle's death."

The parent said the student "understood that he was referring about Osama bin Laden being killed and was racially profiling her."

...

At the least, the coward could have said it to the kid's father, but then he'd run the chance of having his ass handed to him. The kid shoulda kicked him in the nuts.

King ain't the only one

Following up on Fixer's post:

5 Republicans who still insist torture led to bin Laden

Several of the usual suspects plus Rumsfeld.

Prosecution for war crimes is called for and at least a few of these bastards are doing a ditch-on-the-way-to-the-last-ditch attempt trying to stave it off. They're probably safe but they're thinking about what might happen if this country comes to its senses.

Loose Lips Didn't Sink Ship This Time

Raw Story

Al-Qaeda leader and elusive terrorist Osama bin Laden was prepared to flee his Abbottabad hideout on a second's notice, new information shows. Bin Laden had 500 Euros cash (equal to about $740 U.S.) and two telephone numbers sewn into the clothes he was wearing when he was killed in the U.S. military raid on his compound this weekend.

CIA Director Leon Panetta told members of Congress this information in a briefing Tuesday, in response to a question of why there weren't more security personnel guarding bin Laden, according to Politico. Bin Laden had reason to believe he'd be tipped off about any U.S. attempt to capture him with plenty of time to escape, they were told.

No comment necessary.

Video of the Day

Will Ferrell spoofs Bush reaction to bin Laden’s death

Indeed he does!

Headline of the Day

DOJ plan to arrest state licensers, tax dispensaries could doom medical marijuana industry

Apparently Big Pharma has had a moment of prayer with AG Holder.

In my town there is a brand new Smoke Shop (530 587-PUFF). A far cry from the head shops of old, it's a head shop, an idea whose time has come again with the camel's nose under the tent of medical marijuana. I was in there for the first time yesterday, and folks, it's Bong Central. They don't write or fill scrips (I asked), so let's just say they can fully accessorize stress relief.

Of interest to some may be the bong that looks like or is made out of a Newcastle Brown Ale Draught Keg. Heh.

It's a nice place with nice folks and I hope the DOJ hammer doesn't hurt it.

Osama bin Laden saves America

If it's Wednesday, it must be Morford.

I'm hereby delighted to report that many on the hard right, that fantastically insane cluster of hyperclenched beerchuggers who fully believe that Obama is a not only a Muslim, but also a Nazi commie socialist Mexican immigrant robot with lasers for eyes and molten pacifism for blood, do not actually believe Osama bin Laden is dead.

Parse it as you will, but it's not every day the global symbol of all that is vile and wrong with the human animal gets taken out by the global symbol of all that is decent and right with American-style democracy.

An oversimplification? Probably. But it all points to a possible radical rethinking for (and of) Obama himself, a grand opportunity to regain both momentum and message lost. It's also a perfect occasion to reignite the entire "Change We Can Believe In" mantra for a newly electrified populace.

I think his conclusion is a little too rainbows-and-unicorny, but he's always worth a read.

Exactly ...

The Mrs. and I have been as turned off by the "Kill Osama Celebrations" as this lady:

I could hear the cheers as I got out of the taxi, two blocks away. I could hear them from right in front of Park 51, the site of a planned Islamic community centre and mosque that met ferocious opposition last year for being too close to the "hallowed ground" of Ground Zero. It was minutes after President Obama's announcement that Osama bin Laden had been killed, and I was heeding a friend's suggestion that we – both Muslims – take candles and stand in vigil where the World Trade Centre stood before Bin Laden's footsoldiers took it down.

So it was a shock to find hundreds of others had turned that hallowed ground into the scene of a home crowd celebrating an away victory they hadn't attended, the roots of which they were probably not there to experience or were too young to remember.

There was always something sickening about tourists taking pictures of themselves posing in front of that big gaping hole called Ground Zero. "Me at site of mass slaughter, NYC" as holiday photo caption is wrong in every language, surely. It didn't take 10 minutes for the frat party atmosphere to sicken me. Olympic-style chants of "USA! USA!" I could just about take as a freshly minted American, as of Friday. But "Fuck Osama! Ole ole ole!" crushed any ambitiohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn of dignity for the thousands killed, many of whom had jumped hundreds of storeys to their deaths, their bodies shattered to pieces close to where we stood.

...

It's been disgusting here the last few days. As I said below, it's as if nothing else has gone on in NY since. Yes, Osama's dead, and it's a good thing his trace is wiped from the gene pool. It's certainly no excuse to party, not after what happened to this nation after 11 September. We should be mourning, not Osama bin Laden, but the fact we wasted 10 years and how many thousands of lives in an effort to get him. We should be mourning the fact, even now that he's dead, nothing is going to change.

Great thanks to Watertiger for the link.