Emmylou Harris tells the story of a prostitute in France trying to give comfort to a soldier on a three day spree. A soldier who has seen and lived the terrible tragedy and horror of WWI
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Saturday Emmylou Blogging
Friday, July 6, 2012
In Memoriam
After 'A Face in the Crowd' and before 'The Andy Griffith Show' Andy Griffith recorded a monologue about college football in 1953 that has become one of the most beloved comedy recordings of all time. The illustrations accompanying the video were drawn by MAD Magazine artist George Woodbridge. I used to listen to this recording over and over as a kid. Still makes me laugh -- and pretty much sums up my views on American Football to this day. Captions added by yours truly. Rest in peace, Andy. And thanks for the laughs...
What he said.
Thanks to PosterBrat.
GOP Embraces New Conspiracy Theories
TPM
Here's just one example:
Understandable. I mean, whoever heard of a Good Repug* going sane? Must be a commie plot like fluoride in the water.
*An oxymoron to be sure, but only in the reality-based world.
In the 1990s, if people told you about three men on television spinning ever more complicated conspiracy theories about the federal government, you’d assume they were talking about an “X-Files” spinoff. If you heard the same thing today, you’d be on solid ground assuming they were talking about high-ranking members of the Republican Party and the conservative movement.
...
Conspiracy theorizing is not a partisan activity — plenty of progressives opposed to President George W. Bush believed sinister agendas lurked behind the scenes in his administration. But most of the outlandish claims never came from the top levels of the Democratic Party.
A look over the new grassy knoll:
Here's just one example:
John Roberts, Manchurian Justice
What led Chief Justice John Roberts to cast his vote with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court, thus dashing the hopes — and expectations — of conservatives everywhere? Some options, as espoused by top Republicans:
Radio host Michael Savage said Roberts was on drugs. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said Roberts was in the pocket of the New York Times. The National Review said Roberts was scared of Obama after the president scolded the court during the State of the Union. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
These suggestions aren’t restricted to the conservative fringe — the idea that outside forces somehow got to Roberts is being espoused by top Republicans, including the one at the top of the presidential ticket.
Understandable. I mean, whoever heard of a Good Repug* going sane? Must be a commie plot like fluoride in the water.
*An oxymoron to be sure, but only in the reality-based world.
The real 'gateway drug'
The researchers have confirmed what I've thought for years.
Raw Story. links at site.
You'll get 'banged' all right. Too much profit from sales all the way up the chain of law enforcement, the court system, and the prison industrial complex.
Alcohol is the worst drug on the planet. Period. And the most profitable.
Raw Story. links at site.
A study in the August edition of The Journal of School Health finds that the generations old theory of a “gateway drug” effect is in fact accurate for some drug users, but shifts the blame for those addicts’ escalating substance abuse away from marijuana and onto the most pervasive and socially accepted drug in American life: alcohol.
Using a nationally representative sample from the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future survey, the study blasts holes in drug war orthodoxy wide enough to drive a truck through, definitively proving that marijuana use is not the primary indicator of whether a person will move on to more dangerous substances.
...
“I think [these results] have to do with level of access children have to alcohol, and that alcohol is viewed as less harmful than some of these other substances,” Barry added.
That social misconception, largely driven by the sheer popularity of alcohol and the profits it generates for private industry, is diametrically opposed to the most current science available on drug harms. A study published in 2010 in the medical journal Lancet ranked alcohol as the most harmful drug of all, above heroin, crack, meth, cocaine and tobacco. Even more striking: The Lancet study found that harms to others near the user were more than double those of the second most harmful drug, heroin.
...
“This is a time of budget tightening,” Barry concluded. “Many social services are being cut. If you take [our findings] and apply them to a school health setting, we believe that you are going to get the best bang for your buck by focusing on alcohol.”
You'll get 'banged' all right. Too much profit from sales all the way up the chain of law enforcement, the court system, and the prison industrial complex.
Alcohol is the worst drug on the planet. Period. And the most profitable.
Ha-ha ...
Karma's a bitch:
In Louisiana, Republican Governor Bobby Jindal pushed for a voucher program that would allow state funds to be used to pay for religious schools. It’s unconstitutional, it’s a way to use taxpayer money to fund someone’s faith, and it was a bad idea to begin with.
But it passed.
Now, one of the state legislators, Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Watson), just made a shocking discovery, though: Christianity isn’t the only religion!
...
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Headline of the Day
Ann Romney: Obama’s only strategy is ‘Let’s kill this guy’
Mrs. G says she's a snobby bitch just like Willard. Heh.
Dago Blows Its Load!
This is pants-around-the-ankles stuff for those of you who like "watch this!" coupled with high explosives. You know who you are...
Raw Story
Oh baby, was it good for you too? Helluva show, Dago!
There's another video at the link as well.
Update:
This is reported to be a computer malfunction. I don't care how fast your finger is, once the glitch occurred there's no one fast enough to expect "Esc" or "Back" to undo it. Heh.
Raw Story
Tens of thousands of dollars of fireworks meant for San Diego’s 18-minute-long “Big Bay Boom” fireworks show went up last night in a breathtaking display of light and sound — all in about 15 seconds, effectively ruining the whole thing.
Four different barges parked in San Diego Bay all sent up their explosives at the same time, causing a spectacular scene that left onlookers stunned and wondering what happened. The company responsible for the show, Garden State Fireworks, was blamed by San Diego event coordinators for a technical glitch that caused all the fireworks to explode at once, approximately 5 minutes before the display was supposed to start.
Oh baby, was it good for you too? Helluva show, Dago!
There's another video at the link as well.
Update:
This is reported to be a computer malfunction. I don't care how fast your finger is, once the glitch occurred there's no one fast enough to expect "Esc" or "Back" to undo it. Heh.
Just pretty yourself up, honey ...
One of Mrs. F's old bosses made the mistake of saying that to Mrs. F ... once. This idiot from Brooklyn stepped on his dick the same way:
Sucks to be him. Heh ...
Women of Brooklyn, New York, State Senator Marty Golden (R) wants to turn you into proper ladies fit for employment.
As part of a summer series on career development directed at his female constituents, Golden is hosting a taxpayer-funded event called “Posture, Deportment and the Feminine Presence” on July 24. Golden promises to teach Bay Ridge women “the art of feminine presence,” which includes tips on how to “sit, stand and walk like a model” and “walk up and down a stair elegantly”:
...
Sucks to be him. Heh ...
Great thanks to Watertiger for the link.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Welcome to ObamaCare! Please, no stabbing
If it's Wednesday it must be Morford going on about SCOTUS' healthcare decision in his best column in weeks.
What's wrong with us, young Mark, is that there's an ingrained primitive selfish fearful dark side in our natures that only the better amongst us have learned to suppress in the name of progress and compassion for our species. This has been a constant battle since first we stood erect and will be so until the second to the last of us dies. The last man standing can do what he wants.
Left out a coupla words, I think - progress despite the ho's.
This is the essential question: 2,000 years after Jesus supposedly set the tone and 200 years into the fragmented, half-empty/half-full American experiment and only now we’re pretending to give a damn for the basic well being of our fellow citizens? Only now our better natures are barely, just barely, edging out our resentment, suspicion and fear? But only sometimes? What is wrong with us?
What's wrong with us, young Mark, is that there's an ingrained primitive selfish fearful dark side in our natures that only the better amongst us have learned to suppress in the name of progress and compassion for our species. This has been a constant battle since first we stood erect and will be so until the second to the last of us dies. The last man standing can do what he wants.
Do not misunderstand. I was hugely relieved to hear health care reform, as fraught as it is, actually made it through a brutally divided SCOTUS on the meagerest of razor-thin technicalities, despite a firestorm of ignorance and anti-Obama hate from the right. I am thrilled to know that bloated, bloviated old Antonin Scalia, who despises pretty much everything you and I stand for, is sneering himself to sleep right now. I truly believe an awkward lurch of progress has been made.
...
It remains astonishing. When we cheer in a streets over such basic advances, we are, in essence, celebrating the amazing fact that a good intention can still defeat a hateful regression, despite how the battle seems eternal and, at least lately, the forces of ignorance seem to have gained far too much ground.
...
As for the rest, well, it seems we’re still running wild in the schoolyard, barely suppressing the urge to smash each other over the head with a bat. Hell, we just reached the point where we can finally hand each other a Band-Aid without asking for a life savings, blaming a Mexican immigrant, or longing to punch a Supreme Court justice in the face. Progress, ho.
Left out a coupla words, I think - progress despite the ho's.
Waiting for Star Trek ...
If this turns out to be the Higgs, we are at the beginning of a glorious age:
...
The Higgs particle, although crucial for understanding how the universe was formed, remains theoretical. It explains how particles clumped together to form stars, planets and even life.
Without the Higgs particle, the particles that make up the universe would have remained like a soup, the theory goes.
...
8 Fucking Years!
4 July, once again, brings about the Brain's birthday. I still can't believe we've been doing this so damn long; "lookin' for a chance to lob a few at the enemy and praying for a secondary explosion". I seems like yesterday, the Great Wave of Progressive Blogging that began just before the 2004 elections because so many were fed up with the war criminals in the White House. It was an amazing time, several new blogs popping up every day, everybody had something to say, everybody so happy to find like-minded people out there among the tsunami of righty propaganda. Many, I would say most, have gone by the wayside 8 years on, but most of the good ones have pressed on and kept up the fight, from the disappointment of John Kerry's loss to the euphoria of watching the first black man become President of the United States. I was proud to be part of all of it.
If this sounds like the beginning of a farewell letter, it is, sort of. I have nothing firm in mind but I can tell you, I won't be here for the 9th anniversary. I just can't deal with it anymore, to be so involved and having my sensibilities assaulted every day by the latest GOP faux outrage du jour. After 8 years of it, I feel like it's sucked most of my soul away. I thought I was a cynic before we started but now, 8 years later, cynicism has burned itself into my DNA. It's burnt me out.
I have no regrets, don't get me wrong, I would never trade the experience here at the Brain for anything. I have met wonderful people, some who I've become close personal friends with. I've learned never to believe and always question what is presented to me as 'news'. I've learned more about how our system of government works than I ever did in school and I've learned how cynically a great portion of our elected officials take their duty as representatives of the people. I've learned, from our commenters and fellow bloggers, about compassion, dedication, and how to look at myself in the mirror, to question long-held beliefs of mine and change my point of view. It has made me a far better man and I thank you all for your help in that regard.
And, lastly, I'd like to thank Gordon, without whom I never would have gone this long. Gordon has inspired me, made me laugh my ass off, and made me think about things I never had experience with before I met him. Gordon's perspective on events, on people, and on life in general has educated me and expanded my worldview. Brother, you have given me a wonderful gift and I am eternally grateful. Thank you.
So, I'm not up and leaving right now, I guarantee I'll be here for the election, but this will be the last of these anniversary posts for me. I'm shooting for sometime around Christmas and definitely before the new year. The blog will still be here and Gordon will be able to do as he pleases with it, and I don't rule out a rant on here once in a while in the future, but I'm done, stick a fork in me.
Thanks again to all, have a safe and happy 4th, and remember, especially today, that when someone says "watch this", run like hell.
If this sounds like the beginning of a farewell letter, it is, sort of. I have nothing firm in mind but I can tell you, I won't be here for the 9th anniversary. I just can't deal with it anymore, to be so involved and having my sensibilities assaulted every day by the latest GOP faux outrage du jour. After 8 years of it, I feel like it's sucked most of my soul away. I thought I was a cynic before we started but now, 8 years later, cynicism has burned itself into my DNA. It's burnt me out.
I have no regrets, don't get me wrong, I would never trade the experience here at the Brain for anything. I have met wonderful people, some who I've become close personal friends with. I've learned never to believe and always question what is presented to me as 'news'. I've learned more about how our system of government works than I ever did in school and I've learned how cynically a great portion of our elected officials take their duty as representatives of the people. I've learned, from our commenters and fellow bloggers, about compassion, dedication, and how to look at myself in the mirror, to question long-held beliefs of mine and change my point of view. It has made me a far better man and I thank you all for your help in that regard.
And, lastly, I'd like to thank Gordon, without whom I never would have gone this long. Gordon has inspired me, made me laugh my ass off, and made me think about things I never had experience with before I met him. Gordon's perspective on events, on people, and on life in general has educated me and expanded my worldview. Brother, you have given me a wonderful gift and I am eternally grateful. Thank you.
So, I'm not up and leaving right now, I guarantee I'll be here for the election, but this will be the last of these anniversary posts for me. I'm shooting for sometime around Christmas and definitely before the new year. The blog will still be here and Gordon will be able to do as he pleases with it, and I don't rule out a rant on here once in a while in the future, but I'm done, stick a fork in me.
Thanks again to all, have a safe and happy 4th, and remember, especially today, that when someone says "watch this", run like hell.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Rep. Joe Walsh Is Total Cockhead
Like DUH and agreed. El Rude-o on what that piece o' shit Walsh said about Tammy Duckworth:
That's hard to do. Takes natural born talent to out-worthless those bastards.
Repugs have no honor and think Rush Limpbaugh and other draft dodgers are heroes and great patriots. I think Ms. Duckworth is going to do the whole country a favor and whip this punk on election day and get his ass out of public view forever.
Update:
Rachel weighs in:
If Repugs were held to sensible rhetorical standards there wouldn't be a Repuglican't party, and "career ender" is the result we're hoping for.
Walsh wouldn't know a "true hero" if she bit him on the ass. It ain't like in the movies, Joey boy, which is the nearest you're ever going to get to "honor".
[...] Good job, there, Illinois 8th. Walsh is one of the most worthless pieces of GOP shit in a turd pile that goes up to the sky.
That's hard to do. Takes natural born talent to out-worthless those bastards.
You know what a real hero doesn't do? Attack the honorable service of a veteran. But, then again, that's just the kind of skeevy shit you expect when a Republican goes up against a man or woman who can kick their asses, with or without legs.
Repugs have no honor and think Rush Limpbaugh and other draft dodgers are heroes and great patriots. I think Ms. Duckworth is going to do the whole country a favor and whip this punk on election day and get his ass out of public view forever.
Update:
Rachel weighs in:
First, I would hope that sane politicians would know better than to argue, during a time of war, about a double-amputee, that veterans should just shut up about their decorated service to their country. If Republicans were held to sensible rhetorical standards, this little incident would go in the "career ender" category.
If Repugs were held to sensible rhetorical standards there wouldn't be a Repuglican't party, and "career ender" is the result we're hoping for.
Second, it's not up to Joe Walsh, who's never worn a military uniform, to decide who qualifies or doesn't qualify as a "true hero." [...]
Walsh wouldn't know a "true hero" if she bit him on the ass. It ain't like in the movies, Joey boy, which is the nearest you're ever going to get to "honor".
Operation Tacolift
LATimes, links and video.
Count your blessings, Bethel. 400 miles is a safe distance. I guess the food-like Taco Bell offerings are "cheap" all right, but whether they're "Mexican food" or not probably depends on your distance from actual Mexican food.
It remains to be seen if the airlift violates either the 8th Amendment or the Geneva Conventions.
Taco Bell is to Mexican food as Repugs are to sanity. Not even close.
This is reminiscent of "Operation Haylift" in 1949. They made a movie out of that one. We'll probably get a commercial out of this one.
As far as customer service stunts go, this one was pretty epic: A helicopter sent to a remote Alaska town bearing a Taco Bell truck, itself bearing ingredients for 10,000 Doritos Locos tacos.
...
Last month, fliers trumpeting the chain’s debut in Bethel got residents salivating. After all, cheap Mexican food in the land of sled dogs and sub-zero temperatures isn’t exactly easy to come by. The nearest Taco Bell is some 400 miles away in Anchorage.
Count your blessings, Bethel. 400 miles is a safe distance. I guess the food-like Taco Bell offerings are "cheap" all right, but whether they're "Mexican food" or not probably depends on your distance from actual Mexican food.
It remains to be seen if the airlift violates either the 8th Amendment or the Geneva Conventions.
Taco Bell is to Mexican food as Repugs are to sanity. Not even close.
This is reminiscent of "Operation Haylift" in 1949. They made a movie out of that one. We'll probably get a commercial out of this one.
Headline of the Day
Government-sponsored study destroys DEA’s classification of marijuana
Read the article quick before the study gets suppressed.
Related:
Moms and Dads for Marijuana Regulation unveil new Colorado billboard
Wah-wah-wah ...
Good god, the crybabies are cranking it up to 11:
They're getting worse than the Birthers.
...
Already feeling betrayed by Roberts’ joining with the liberal bloc on the court to uphold Obamacare — and suspicious of Roberts’ motives — some conservatives seized on the Crawford report as evidence that they didn’t lose the case on the legal merits but because of external considerations that swayed Roberts away from their side.
Here are the top five theories emerging from conservative circles for why John Roberts stabbed their movement in the back:
...
They're getting worse than the Birthers.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Willard's New Logo
Kos
It turns out that the implications of David Corn's explosive scoop about how Mitt Romney misrepresented his role in Bain's investment in a medical-waste firm that disposed of aborted fetuses goes far beyond that specific investment. [...]
Disposed of aborted fetuses. Make up your own inappropriate (it could be nothing else) discarded aborted fetuses joke.
He's going to lose even more of the tiny-brained over this. Except for those who see through this made-up liberal smear, of course.
Obama Is Winning
Good. Time Swampland
I'm a little disturbed that Turdblossom sees things that clearly, unlike all the wingnut gasbags and Willard surrogates, but I guess they're paid to do that. Rove gets richer no matter who wins.
The only way Willard will win is if the lies and fearmongering cause a smokin' Repug turnout and nobody comes out for the O-Man, but I think we learned our lesson about that in 2010 please God. And maybe a lot of tampering with the results. I put nothing, but nothing, past the Repugs.
Conservative horcrux Karl Rove is out with his first official electoral college projection of 2012 and… it’s really bullish on Obama. Rove has South Carolina, which McCain won by 9 points in 2008, rated as a toss-up, and Texas – Texas – merely leaning Republican. The result, in Rove’s model, is 284 electoral votes within Obama’s grasp, 172 for Romney and 82 toss-ups.
I'm a little disturbed that Turdblossom sees things that clearly, unlike all the wingnut gasbags and Willard surrogates, but I guess they're paid to do that. Rove gets richer no matter who wins.
The only way Willard will win is if the lies and fearmongering cause a smokin' Repug turnout and nobody comes out for the O-Man, but I think we learned our lesson about that in 2010 please God. And maybe a lot of tampering with the results. I put nothing, but nothing, past the Repugs.
All Bark, No Bite: On False Bravado Becoming the Right Wing's Signature Characteristic
No shit.
This post at Kos offers three prime examples. Some of the usual suspects.
They're all like, "I'm gonna kick yer ass, ya godless commie fuck" and then run like little girls when you take one step toward them to offer them the chance to make good on it. Heh.
This post at Kos offers three prime examples. Some of the usual suspects.
For years, we've heard a lot of tough talk from conservatives -- threats and promises and chest-beatings -- intended to be argumentation. Intended to convince the masses of the rightness of their position.
But these moments are really one thing: defense mechanisms used by cowards who, when backed into a corner, resort to loud barking and the baring of teeth.
But they rarely bite. Because there's nothing there. Nothing.
They're all like, "I'm gonna kick yer ass, ya godless commie fuck" and then run like little girls when you take one step toward them to offer them the chance to make good on it. Heh.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
Heh. More Repugs need to do that.
That would be the brown acid Wavy Gravy* warned us about.
*OMG! Go look at his given name. The horror...
Fixer will no doubt add one of these to his collection. To wipe off his lawnmower blade like Willard's gardeners do.
Roberts Joins With Four Liberal Justices in Upholding Obamacare
After dropping acid with Breyer.
Heh. More Repugs need to do that.
CNN, Fox, Other Outlets Initially Report Health Law Overturned
Only Fox still stands by it.
That would be the brown acid Wavy Gravy* warned us about.
*OMG! Go look at his given name. The horror...
Critics Slam Kraft for Rainbow Oreo Honoring LGBT Community
Say it's contributing to obesity among gays.
Romney Donor Buys Ad Space on Soccer Club's Shirts
Hopes to reach Latinos other than Romney's gardeners.
Fixer will no doubt add one of these to his collection. To wipe off his lawnmower blade like Willard's gardeners do.
The crux of the biscuit ...
From Perfesser Krugman via Karoli:
Yeah. It's one thing to have competing plans but when you want to repeal something that protects Americans and replace it with nothing, it shows how much Republicans give a shit about actual people. They don't.
...
What was and is really striking about the anti-reformers is their cruelty. It would be one thing if, at any point, they had offered any hint of an alternative proposal to help Americans with pre-existing conditions, Americans who simply can't afford expensive individual insurance, Americans who lose coverage along with their jobs. But it has long been obvious that the opposition's goal is simply to kill reform, never mind the human consequences.
...
Yeah. It's one thing to have competing plans but when you want to repeal something that protects Americans and replace it with nothing, it shows how much Republicans give a shit about actual people. They don't.
The best news ...
From the SCOTUS decision last week (aside from the fact that millions of Americans can afford healthcare):
They're not all doing the Dance of Joy, naked, in the moonlight but they all know they stand to make big money from it. If Big Healthcare is going along with it, and it would cost them big money if the ACA is repealed, they'll put pressure on the GOP to back off. These corporations are too far down the road to implementation, 3 years in, to turn back now.
The US health care industry breathed a cautious sigh of relief Friday after the Supreme Court's surprise decision to uphold President Barack Obama's sweeping reforms, even as politicians kept their swords drawn over the law.
After three years preparing billions of dollars of investment to implement Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA), hospitals, doctors, insurers and drug companies were mostly relieved about not facing yet another U-turn in policy.
...
They're not all doing the Dance of Joy, naked, in the moonlight but they all know they stand to make big money from it. If Big Healthcare is going along with it, and it would cost them big money if the ACA is repealed, they'll put pressure on the GOP to back off. These corporations are too far down the road to implementation, 3 years in, to turn back now.
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