Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The 50 best movie robots

Times Online has their list of the fifty best movie robots.

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We selected the fifty most memorable robots in film and rated them in four different categories:

Plausibility (meaning how likely it would be that, with advances on currently existing technology, such a device could be built)

Coolness (just how well designed, shiny or generally well-appointed the robot appeared to be)

Dangerousness (scoring not only on built-in weaponry, but the robot's eagerness to use it)

Comedy Value (how effective the robot is at providing light relief in the film in which it appears)


Continue.

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The FOX is Wrong

Global Warning. Don't ask FOX.



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RIP Tom Snyder

Of the noteworthy figures who passed yesterday I was far more familiar with Tom Snyder. I came of age when his talk show was at it's zenith and he introduced me and most of the world to the late-late night interview. With his omni-present cigarette and brash dimeaner you never knew what you'd get on a particular show. His show was a big part of my early political and social awakenings. I probably wouldn't enjoy his show today(I watch very few talk shows) but back then he was strikingly cutting edge, and I was young, and those are nearly always good companions. Bye Tom, it was good to know ye.










"I have never fallen in love with my own voice, but I've always had an attraction for it."
-Tom Snyder

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REPUBLICAN CHUTZPAH WATCH

The latest Republican talking points regarding the Democrats not being able to get anything noteworthy done. Of course if you've been paying attention for the last few years you know that being Republicans, what they accuse their opponents of is actually themselves looking in a mirror. From Kevin Drum.

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"You have to give Republicans points for consistency. They bring the Senate to a halt and then blame Democrats for not getting anything done. They destroy FEMA's ability to respond to natural disasters and then hold it up as an example of why you can't trust government to do anything right. They lose a war via unparalleled military incompetence and then claim that liberals are defeatists for pointing it out. They spend 20 years claiming that Social Security is going bankrupt and then use the resulting public insecurity about Social Security as an explanation for why the whole system needs to be privatized."

Continue.

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Call Congress | Bush's NSA Spying Bill Goes to Vote

From the EFF:
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Call Congress Now - NSA Spying Bill Headed for Vote This Week!

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly suggested that Congress might soon take action on a bill that could rubberstamp the NSA's spying program. The Bush Administration is trying to sell its latest proposal as a serious compromise, but don't be fooled -- it represents an unprecedented power grab that endangers the checks and balances that define our democracy. Please call your representatives now before it's too late.
Contrary to the Administration's characterizations, its "FISA Modernization" bill is not simply about "updating" the law and allowing surveillance of foreign-to-foreign communications. Instead, it could radically expand the government's ability to spy on Americans without a warrant.
It's highly irresponsible for Congress to even consider this proposal before uncovering the truth about the still-shadowy spying program. In recent weeks, Congress has made strides towards more vigorous oversight and authorized subpoenas for key information, but the proposed bill would short-circuit such scrutiny.
Tell your representatives to stand strong against the Administration and stop the abuse of surveillance powers.
More info:

The Administration's latest proposal (July 27, 2007) [note: some trouble viewing in certain PDF readers. Here's a plain text alternative.]
"Leahy, Rockefeller are talking with administration on surveillance law" (The Hill, June 18, 2007)


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Monday, July 30, 2007

The Strangeness of Crispin Glover

Crispin Glover's infamous appearance on The David Letterman Show



And 20 years later his strange description of it.



More of this Peter Hyoguchi interview of Crispin Glover at Interviewing Hollywood.

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Supreme Court Justice John Roberts Has Seizure

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts suffers a seizure in Maine. The appointment of Roberts, and Justice Samuel Alito has swung the Supreme court far to the Right.

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Faux News Attacks Bloggers

Only Democratic/Leftwing Blogs of course.



Psst...Do something

Oh and those eviil sites mentioned most prominently by the Fox Wingnuts are Firedog Lake and Daily Kos, visit them, visit them often. If Bill O'Reilly hates 'em they're gold.

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Sunday, July 29, 2007

Data Mining and Secret Crimes

Exactly who were they spying on? Kerry? Congress? To what extent? It must have been awfully putrid for so many to threaten to resign if it were implemented.

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Saturday, July 28, 2007

Saturday Cartoons

The Saturday Cartoons are at Bob Geiger's.

















Todd Umbarger

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Here's Back Talk - Straight Up

This guy is rightously angry. Let's put him in the White House briefing room.



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Friday, July 27, 2007

Crazies | Rapture Ready Christians United For Armageddon

There's so much bad craziness and nuttiness that I won't even try to detail it. It's one zany funamentalist cant after another. It's on Max Blumenthal's site. Or here's the YouTube version:



Personally I like the religion drugged senior dancers in the aisles. And another appearance by that indicted crook Tom Delay.

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Please Stop Bill, Pull Back Your Minions!

Please Bill O'Really..er..O'Reilly! PLEASE stop torturing Kos!


Colbert explains.

Hilarious.

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Thursday, July 26, 2007

Winner | Science Idol editorial cartoon contest

The Union of Concerned Scientists has the winner of their 2007 Science Idol Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest, which drew attention to the ongoing problem of political interference in federal government science.














The winner.

Here's more.

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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Faux News | There They Go Again

Faux News once again identifies a weasely Republican as a Democrat(some history here and here for example). This time it's the whiney, trash talkin, ultimately spineless Arlen Specter:

















Sorry Fox he's yours. We've got our own weasel his name is Lie-berman.

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"Abu" Gonzales Contempt

It's not just contempt of Congress, but an utter contempt for both Congress and the American people. Impeach this little SOB! Do we have to say pretty please, and remind you that you have spines, and these people are mocking you, daring you to do ANYTHING to them. Congress how's it feel to be Abu's Bitch? To be sneered at by this little feces stain?
I just want to know? The Rude Pundit is right.

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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Stumbo May Run Against Rubber Stamp Mitch

Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo may run against queen Mitch. If Stumbo runs he'll have a good shot at taking McConnell's seat. He has statewide name recognition. His investgations are a big reason that Ernie Fletcher's probably going to lose the Kentucky governor's office in the upcoming election.
If there's any progressive Bloggers/fundraisers out there, keep your fingers crossed that Stumbo will run against Mitch. If he does PLEASE give him some support.

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Stumbo set to explore run for Senate
DEMOCRAT SEEKS TO RAISE MONEY FOR POSSIBLE RACE AGAINST MCCONNELL

Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo, a Democrat, filed papers yesterday allowing him to raise and spend money to evaluate whether he should challenge U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2008.

"I am keeping my options open. I am excited about gathering the facts and doing the ground work on this important election," Stumbo said in an e-mail sent to reporters. "It is time we remind Mitch McConnell that he represents Kentucky not George Bush."
More.

Also Matt Gunterman says poor befuddled Jim Bunning is going down also. I'll do the Snoopy dance if both these dumbya-rubberstamp clowns lose.

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Libya Frees Foreign Medical Workers

This is good news. I'm happy for them. Background here and here.

The latest at Kos and CBS.

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Zogby Poll

Zogby has their new poll numbers up.

Highlights:
• War: 62% blamed Republicans vs. 14% Democrats
• Global Warming: 56% blamed Republicans vs. 10% Democrats
• Prejudice: 52% blamed Republicans vs. 22% for Democrats
• Poverty: 49% held Republicans accountable; 29% Democrats
• Corruption: 47% blamed Republicans vs. 31% Democrats

Thanks to DWT-and others. The full time Bloggers get the news out first.

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Monday, July 23, 2007

Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

How to create an ugly American.



From Juan Cole and Pottersville. Some profanity here(of course):

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John Edwards | "Hair"

Discovered at Taylor Marsh land - John Edward's YouTube video:



Taylor's site has more. The only other one up is Hillary Clinton's. I thought better of Hillary's vid than Taylor did but John's was far more affective.

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Ten Warning Signs

Under the Radar: Ten Warning Signs for Today

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The New JetRed..Er Blue Pre-Flight Video

From Kos here's JetBlue's newest(we think) in flight vid.



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The i-Limb

Interesting. It's not "The Bionic Man but it's getting there.



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Saturday, July 21, 2007

Being Nothing, George W. Bush as Presidential Simulacrum

From CTheory.

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George W. Bush as Presidential Simulacrum

"..In Jerzy Kozinsky's 1970 novel Being There, a character named Chance the Gardener, whose entire existence has been restricted to watching television shows and tending a walled garden, is suddenly thrust into the outside world. Here he acquires admirers who rename him Chauncey Gardiner, mistake his ignorance for profundity, and take his horticultural allusions for zenlike koans. His intellectual limitations and personal inadequacies become social and political virtues. At the end of the novel, the President's advisors gather to consider a candidate to replace the current vice-president. One of them suggests Chance. "Gardiner has no background," he declares. "And so he's not and cannot be objectionable to everyone! He's personable, well-spoken, and he comes across well on TV" [1]. Although Being There is over 30 years old, it is eerily pertinent to the current political scene. Only in one respect was Kozinski's prophecy too cautious. Writing during the reign of the uncharismatic, unphotogenic, yet canny and intelligent President Nixon, Koskinski was apparently unable to imagine Chance as a sitting president.."

"..After the press conference of April 13, 2004, for example, one television reporter acknowledged that Bush had spoken "clumsily" at times, but speculated that the president's plain speech is part of his appeal, that he uses the idioms of ordinary Americans. Other commentators approved his evident "conviction" about the war in Iraq -- referring to moments when Bush uttered the clichés about freedom with apparent vehemence. On the April 13th, 2004, edition of Hardball, Chris Matthews expressed his admiration for Bush's refusal to acknowledge any responsibility or any mistakes -- a bizarre encomium, considering the long and embarrassing moments when Bush slouched down the side of the podium, grinning and stammering, unable to think of any response, as if a computer virus had infected his personal software.

On the following day, the New York Times lead editorial characterized the president's performance as follows: "Mr. Bush was grave and impressive while reading his opening remarks, but his responses to questions were distressingly rambling and unfocused."[7] The use of "impressive" seems precisely calibrated to ward off the blow of "distressingly." None of the commentators mentioned the ingratiating smile that constantly played about the President's lips, a nervous and inappropriate aspect of his demeanor, particularly considering the serious content of the reporters' questions. No one referred to the software glitch, and it was not shown again, let alone played repeatedly -- unlike other moments televised in 2004, such as Howard Dean's "scream" and Janet Jackson's bared breast.."

"..When I argue that Bush is not "real," I do not mean that he was manufactured in a secret factory, owned by a corporation like the Karp Cartel and controlled by a powerful conspiracy. But I will speculate that in a post-literate, hyperreal world, those accretions of historical time and psychological reflection that produce subjectivity tend to disperse before they constitute a deep, coherent self. The result can be a personality like that of Bush -- intellectually narrow, emotionally shallow, working with an abridged vocabulary, like a novice in a foreign language class. He is a commodity produced by contemporary American culture, with its bizarre admixture of consumerism, television, worship of celebrities, and glib Christian fundamentalism. Other cultures in other periods have produced personalities limited in different ways -- the provincial peasant, for example, who has never been more than a mile from his birthplace. Unlike the peasant, the contemporary flat personality knows that other countries, other cultures, other religions exist -- but in his solipsism they remain "unreal" to him, mere delusions to which other people, themselves mere figments, display an irrational attachment.."


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Saturday Cartoons

Bob Geiger has them:















Jack Ohman, Portland Oregonian

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Friday, July 20, 2007

Photos From the Top of the Bay Bridge

Great series of photos:

















Here.

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Vitter | Five Hookers so Far and One Child

It's not even the crime folks. It's that religious wingnut hypocrisy, riding and preaching to everyone from their high horse while wallowing in the swill every chance they get. See also Newt Gingrich.

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Larry Flynt Says He’s Found Five Hookers ‘So Far’ Who Had Sex with Sen. Vitter in New Orleans

Other developments include widely reported stories that Vitter has a diaper fetish and would pay the women to dress him up like a baby, as well as a story that he had a child with one of the prostitutes, Wendy Cortez, and that mother and child live in suburban Washington, where they receive financial support from Sen. Baby-Daddy.


Linked from HillbillyReport.

"I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary[Clinton], if he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me."
-Wendy Vitter, David Vitter's wife discussing Hillary Clinton

"Abstinence education is a public health strategy focused on risk avoidance that aims to help young people avoid exposure to harm...by teaching teenagers that saving sex until marriage and remaining faithful afterwards is the best choice for health and happiness."
-Senator Vitter

What a guy!

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Fletcher Still Miserable in Latest Poll

Governor Fletcher's "Special Session" gambit failed to produce.

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Fletcher’s approval stays flat at miserable 39%

The latest tracking approval numbers on indicted Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) are out from Survey USA and they show absolutely no improvement for the man. He was at 39 percent approval last month, and he’s at 39 percent approval this month. It doesn’t appear that the special session fiasco helped a bit. If there’s any silver lining for Fletcher: his disapproval number decreased a single point from 58 to 57 percent. Forgive me if I’m a bit underwhelmed by that statistic.
The short story: the numbers appear to show that recent political developments in Kentucky have rallied Republicans around Fletcher and further alienated Democrats and independents.
DitchMitch Break's all the numbers down.

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Say it Loud | The Greatest Protest Songs

From PopMatters comes 65 of the greatest protest songs, from Beethoven(Yes Beethoven!) to N.W.A.:


1965: Barry McGuire's, "Eve of Destruction".


1969: CCR, "Fortunate Son".

More.
Thanks to DWT for the heads up.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Bill Moyers | Impeachment and the Constitution

Bill Moyers with guests conservative constitutional lawyer and expert Bruce Fein and John Nichols of The Nation. This is Part 1, for the rest just follow the YouTube link or go to PBS:



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Young Chickenhawks

Some classic lines in this video. I especially like the line by the crook Tom Delay, and the discredited talking points(there was to Al Quada in Iraq before we invaded, so there!). Funny stuff!



Draft a college Republican!

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In Karl Rove We Trust

The Rove/Bushco "Republicanization" of the Federal government. Think Progress has a list and all the nasty details. Not Atrios is correct, why isn't Miss Rove in jail?:

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Bush’s Agencies Of Mass Politicization

...For example, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2003 that Karl Rove or his top aide, Ken Mehlman, “visited nearly every agency to outline White House campaign priorities, review polling data and, on occasion, call attention to tight House, Senate and gubernatorial races that could be affected by regulatory action.”

Partisan campaign or electoral activities on federal government property are illegal. This prohibition, however, has not stopped the Bush administration from politicizing virtually every agency under its control...

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Video | Goin' Back to Harlan

Kate & Anna McGarrigle with Emmylou Harris:



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Ship of Fools | Cruisin' With NeoCons

From The Independent. I've seen a lot of links to this here and there on line. In case you haven't seen it treat yourself to the bizarre world of Wingnutism.

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Ship of fools: Johann Hari sets sail with America's swashbuckling neocons

The Iraq war has been an amazing success, global warming is just a myth – and as for Guantanamo Bay, it's practically a holiday camp... The annual cruise organised by the 'National Review', mouthpiece of right-wing America, is a parallel universe populated by straight-talking, gun-toting, God-fearing Republicans.

I am getting used to these moments – when gentle holiday geniality bleeds into... what? I lie on the beach with Hillary-Ann, a chatty, scatty 35-year-old Californian designer. As she explains the perils of Republican dating, my mind drifts, watching the gentle tide. When I hear her say, " Of course, we need to execute some of these people," I wake up. Who do we need to execute? She runs her fingers through the sand lazily. "A few of these prominent liberals who are trying to demoralise the country," she says. "Just take a couple of these anti-war people off to the gas chamber for treason to show, if you try to bring down America at a time of war, that's what you'll get." She squints at the sun and smiles. " Then things'll change."
Continue.

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Hello Media! | This Isn't Rocket Science

More of the MSM's delusional, other-dimensional spin on that Republican(Hello!) Filibuster in the Senate. The "News" folks just find it so incredibly hard to get it right.
Here's mcjoan at Kos:
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The award for most misleading headline on today's Iraq vote goes to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, whose website leads with "Filibuster Fails to Force Iraq Vote."

We've seen a lot of that lately. Just to be clear, the Senate actually voted 52-47 for a withdrawal in Iraq by April 1, 2008. The Republicans were the filibusterers.
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There was more there about Fox News, but why bother, "Faux" is a Republican propaganda network so I won't even show their devilry.

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The Collected Laws

From GlobalNerdy and Boingboing.

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The New Collected Laws:

"For every scientific (or engineering) action, there is an equal and opposite social reaction."
-Norman Augustine , Augustine’s Second Law of Socioscience

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
-Arthur C. Clarke , Clarke’s Third Law

"The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management."
-Scott Adams , Dilbert Principle

"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."
-Mike Godwin , Godwin’s Law

"In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."
-The Peter Principle , Laurence J. Peter

"The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct."
-Occam’s Razor , William of Occam

"Bandwidth grows at least three times faster than computer power."
-Gilder’s Law , George Gilder

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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Nancy Pelosi to Lead March on Senate

This is getting better and better.
From AMERICAblog and D.U.

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Pelosi to lead march on Senate tonight during Iraq debate

I just heard that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is going to lead a march of House members from the House to the Senate tonight to lend their support to Senate Democrats who are holding an all-night session to challenge the Republicans' ongoing filibuster of efforts to change the course in Iraq.


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Libya Lifts Death Sentence Against Foreign Medical Workers

From NYT. Some history here.














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Libya Lifts H.I.V. Case Death Sentence

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- The death sentences for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV have been commuted to life in prison, Libya's foreign minister said Tuesday.

The ruling came after the families of the children each received $1 million and agreed to drop their demand for the execution of the six, who deny having infected more than 400 children and say their confessions were extracted under torture.

More.

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The Corporate "News" | Getting it Wrong Again

So are they ignorant, or are they lying? They report, you decide.

"[Filibustering] is wrong. It’s not supportable under the Constitution. And if they insist on persisting with these filibusters, I’m perfectly prepared to blow the place up."
--Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS)

"On Good Morning America, Sawyer falsely claimed Reid "vows to filibuster"

During the July 17 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, co-anchor Diane Sawyer falsely claimed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "vows to filibuster, talking all night to close out all topics besides a vote on Iraqi troop withdrawals." Sawyer was referring to Reid's plan to hold an all-night Senate debate prior to the July 18 cloture vote on a Democratic proposal to withdraw troops from Iraq..."

.."Additionally, on the July 16 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes asserted that Reid is "filibustering his own bill.."


"The American people deserve an open and honest debate on this war, and they deserve an up-or-down vote on this amendment to end it."
--Harry Reid - Please don't let us down Harry

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"Senator McConnell always has and continues to fully support the use of what has become known as the ‘[nuclear]’ option in order to restore the norms and traditions of the Senate."
-Mitch "Mo'Money" McConnell(R-KY) spokesman

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Monday, July 16, 2007

Obama Joins Picket Line

This is good I like this.















"I've been doing this for a long time and you never see a presidential candidate walking on a picket line. He was down here four years ago, and it's good to see him down here again today..."
--Henry Tamarin, president of Local 1, UNITE HERE.

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Senator Kent Conrad on Republicans and Filibusters

From Young Turks, Senator Kent Conrad(ND) discusses making the Republicans actually do their threatened filibustering of all those bills they're shooting down, from stem cell legislation, to minimum wage, to medicaid, etc.



"They (Republicans) don't intend to allow Democrats to have ANY legislative successes and they intend to do it by filibuster."
You know I can remember, and it hasn't been that long ago when the Republicans wanted to get rid of the filibuster and actually tried to do so.

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Sunday, July 15, 2007

Web Drawing

The Electronic Sketchbook.

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Saturday, July 14, 2007

All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

From The Onion and the Squid:


Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Man crashes the entire Internet-all data lost. Bloggers and the country of Nigeria hardest hit. Again that's from The Onion.

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Norm Coleman | Midnight Toker

Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman is the marijuana hypocrite of the week. Apparently another Republican case of, "do as I say not as I doobie(yes I know, terrible)". The saddest thing in Minnesota (other than former UK coach Tubby Smith fleeing there) is that Coleman holds the seat of deceased Senator Paul Wellstone a Progressive legend.




















Anyway Coleman apparently toked up half of Mexico while in college. Here's Cliff Schecter and BNF. I wonder if he's also a closeted pervert like a lot of Republican politicians?

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Mitch and Dubya's Progress

A short video for dubya's best bud Mitch McConnell on their progress in Iraq:



Of course you have to realize when Bush says progress he's seeing the waves of tax payer cash going to Halliburton, Bechtel, Big Oil, GE, Blackwater Services, Carlyle Group, and all those other "Progress-ive" cronies.

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The Saturday Cartoons

Bob Geiger has the 'toons up.

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Anderson Video

A new video from Nick Anderson for Bushco's Feel Good, Inc.:



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Friday, July 13, 2007

Your "Lie-beral" Media | MSNBC Labels Madam Client Democrat

MSNBC labels the DC Madam's client -Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana- a Democrat. This has been done before. Remember Faux News labeling Mark Foley a Democrat?



















From Raw Story.

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The Photo of Republican Priorities

The GOP's take on civil rights. From Frameshop.
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U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Col., is the sole Republican candidate to address the NAACP convention. He was flanked by lecterns with placards for nine other GOP candidates -- all no-shows.














More at Firedoglake. It's classic, Tom Tancredo(of all people) debating himself at the NAACP Republican Presidential debate. Heh!
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Keith Olbermann on Chertoff's "Gut Feeling"



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Bushco | Jack Booting the American Military

Veterans tell the horror of the US occupation of Iraq.

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'A dead Iraqi is just another dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'
Interviews with US veterans show for the first time the pattern of brutality in Iraq

By Leonard Doyle in Washington

"It is an axiom of American political life that the actions of the US military are beyond criticism. Democrats and Republicans praise the men and women in uniform at every turn. Apart from the odd bad apple at Abu Ghraib, the US military in Iraq is deemed to be doing a heroic job under trying circumstances.

That perception will take a severe knock today with the publication in The Nation magazine of a series of in-depth interviews with 50 combat veterans of the Iraq war from across the US. In the interviews, veterans have described acts of violence in which US forces have abused or killed Iraqi men, women and children with impunity.

The report steers clear of widely reported atrocities, such as the massacre in Haditha in 2005, but instead unearths a pattern of human rights abuses. "It's not individual atrocity," Specialist Garett Reppenhagen, a sniper from the 263rd Armour Battalion, said. "It's the fact that the entire war is an atrocity."

A number of the troops have returned home bearing mental and physical scars from fighting a war in an environment in which the insurgents are supported by the population. Many of those interviewed have come to oppose the US military presence in Iraq, joining the groundswell of public opinion across the US that views the war as futile.."

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"..A number of interviewees revealed that the military will attempt to frame innocent bystanders as insurgents, often after panicked American troops have fired into groups of unarmed Iraqis. The veterans said the troops involved would round up any survivors and accuse them of being in the resistance while planting Kalashnikov AK47 rifles beside corpses to make it appear that they had died in combat.

"It would always be an AK because they have so many of these lying around," said Joe Hatcher, 26, a scout with the 4th Calvary Regiment. He revealed the army also planted 9mm handguns and shovels to make it look like the civilians were shot while digging a hole for a roadside bomb.

"Every good cop carries a throwaway," Hatcher said of weapons planted on innocent victims in incidents that occurred while he was stationed between Tikrit and Samarra, from February 2004 to March 2005. Any survivors were sent to jail for interrogation.

There were also deaths caused by the reckless behaviour of military convoys. Sgt Kelly Dougherty of the Colorado National Guard described a hit-and-run in which a military convoy ran over a 10-year-old boy and his three donkeys, killing them all. "Judging by the skid marks, they hardly even slowed down. But, I mean... your order is that you never stop."

The worst abuses seem to have been during raids on private homes when soldiers were hunting insurgents. Thousands of such raids have taken place, usually at dead of night. The veterans point out that most are futile and serve only to terrify the civilians, while generating sympathy for the resistance.

Sgt John Bruhns, 29, of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armoured Division, described a typical raid. "You want to catch them off guard," he explained. "You want to catch them in their sleep ... You grab the man of the house. You rip him out of bed in front of his wife. You put him up against the wall... Then you go into a room and you tear the room to shreds. You'll ask 'Do you have any weapons? Do you have any anti-US propaganda?"
More.

JG has more also.

Impeach Bush and Cheney.

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

Vid | Warren Zevon

One of my favorite singer/songwriters Warren Zevon with one of my favorite song titles "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner". This was Warren's last public appearance cancer took him in Sept. 2003:



"Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun...and bought it".

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Surprise, More Hypocritical, Anti-moral Republicans

The party that loves to preach, loves to stray apparently. They're like minks.
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Sen. David Vitter, R-La. Apparently it's not the moral crusading Senator's first fling with prostitutes.

Thanks to Hillbilly Report for the link, here's his theme song:



"Well now more problems with this Vitter guy. You gotta go on his website, he's like Mr. Religious, Mr. Family Values. Well now a second madam has come forward and told the Associated Press that he was also a customer at her brothel. This guy was cheating on his hooker with another hooker."
--Jay Leno

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And of course there's State Representative Bob Allen (R-FL), who apparently offered an undercover male police officer money to let him(Allen) perform oral sex on him.

The straighter and more sanctimonious these people are, the more perverted they are.

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Death Threats to Biologists

From The Panda's Thumb this is an interesting series of messages and threatening correspondence to University of Colorado biologists. Some interesting commentary also:
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Threats against University of Colorado Biologists

“Among other things,” writes Professor Grant, “he identifies me as a ‘child molester’ for teaching evolution and threatens to get me fired plus he threatens legal action on that front. In the most recent communications, he writes words many of my colleagues consider death threats.”

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UPDATE: The perpetrator has been identified as one Michael Korn, a former Messianic Jew who has converted to Christianity. And he’s been up to this for awhile it seems.
More.

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The Homeland Security "Gut Feeling" Security System

Regarding "Guts" Chertoff's intestinal terrorists warnings BoingBoing has up; "The Gut feeling warning system":




















From here.
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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Uh Oh! Chertoff has a "gut feeling" of Terrorist Attack

Is it just gas, or is he expecting dubya's Homeland Security apparatis to fail and we really are gonna get a big terrorist attack this year? Does he have other evidence? Tarot cards maybe, or a terrorist attack nose itch?

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Republican Values and Priorities

Now who would have thought that the National Republican Party..well, pretty much the WHOLE Republican party would put Bushco and party over even the health of the Nation? This is from from Think Progress:

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Former Surgeon General Was Muzzled, Censored By Bush Administration

Richard Carmona served as President Bush’s first Surgeon General from 2002-2006. Today he spoke before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and revealed that political appointees in the Bush administration muzzled him on key issues such as “stem cell research, contraceptives and his misgivings about the administration’s embrace of ‘abstinence-only’ sex education”:

"Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological, or political agenda is ignored, marginalized, or simply buried."


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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

DOJ Attorney | Bush Justice is a National Disgrace

John S. Koppel has been a civil appellate attorney with the Department of Justice since 1981. This is from the Denver Post:
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Bush justice is a national disgrace
By John S. Koppel

As a longtime attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, I can honestly say that I have never been as ashamed of the department and government that I serve as I am at this time.

The public record now plainly demonstrates that both the DOJ and the government as a whole have been thoroughly politicized in a manner that is inappropriate, unethical and indeed unlawful. The unconscionable commutation of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's sentence, the misuse of warrantless investigative powers under the Patriot Act and the deplorable treatment of U.S. attorneys all point to an unmistakable pattern of abuse.

In the course of its tenure since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has turned the entire government (and the DOJ in particular) into a veritable Augean stable on issues such as civil rights, civil liberties, international law and basic human rights, as well as criminal prosecution and federal employment and contracting practices. It has systematically undermined the rule of law in the name of fighting terrorism, and it has sought to insulate its actions from legislative or judicial scrutiny and accountability by invoking national security at every turn, engaging in persistent fearmongering, routinely impugning the integrity and/or patriotism of its critics, and protecting its own lawbreakers. This is neither normal government conduct nor "politics as usual," but a national disgrace of a magnitude unseen since the days of Watergate - which, in fact, I believe it eclipses.

Continue..

On a related bit of regular Bushco thuggary, Alberto "WORST A.G. EVER!" Gonzales was told repeatedly about FBI lawbreaking months before he told this lie to lawmakers in 2005:
"There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse,"

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The Wind

Beautifully done and different.



Found at LS.

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Iraq War has cost $450 Billion

Ten Billion a month! Just imagine what could have been done with that kind of money in a sane world? Ten billion a month NOT going to Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater Security, Carlyle Group. You know Bush cronies, and the corporate/pentagon war machine. From Kos:

"Think about what $10 billion a month would mean to protecting Americans from terrorism, improving security at our ports and airports, and increasing border security. Think about what $10 billion a month would mean for the 47 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and for the education of our children. Think about what $10 billion a month would mean to lowering the deficit so that future generations are not burdened with debt."
--Nancy Pelosi

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Michael Moore Blasts Wolfe and CNN

Michael Moore in an interview with Wolfe Blitzer on CNN. He blasts both Wolfe and CNN and it's well deserved. From MichaelMoore.com:



Oh and a BIG hearty F.U. to Lou Dobbs!

"You would have to be dead to be unaffected by Moore's movie"
--Barclay Fitzpatrick, BlueCross

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Monday, July 09, 2007

Of Course! It's All an Act!

















That explains it. Republicans as performance art! Bob Harris is absolutely right:
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I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the last six and a half years would make a lot more sense if the GOP were actually performing a sophisticated Dada art exhibition.
--Bob Harris

"..While we're at it, here are a few other things Dick Cheney is and/or is not:

A half-human gill-breather, allergic to sunlight, and hellbent on global domination

Able to dematerialize at will, reassembling his atoms at an undisclosed location

Bionic, with a titanium heart encased in cesium which cannot be stopped by anything short of atomic blast

A fun guy around firearms and beer

Careful to mark and catalog even his own bowel movements as Top Secret

Able to connect to the Internet simply by raising his hand and shouting, "Cheney online!"

Affected by international standards of law, human rights, and basic human decency

Staring right this second at a wall map of Iran, holding a giant red crayon, with spittle accumulating in the corners of his mouth

Overwhelmed with guilt and despair, as any sane human being might be

Don't be surprised if one day they all show up one day wearing mime outfits, just so more people would get it.."


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Governor Fletcher Gets Mail

Kentucky's Speaker of the House Jody Richard's letter to Governor Ernie Fletcher regarding the canceling of Fletcher's special session. Linked from The Bridge:
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Speaker Richards Letter to Governor Fletcher

July 9, 2007

The Honorable Governor Ernie Fletcher
700 Capitol Ave., Suite 100
Frankfort, KY 40601
VIA HAND DELIVERY


Dear Governor Fletcher:
I have received your July 6th letter calling my attention to Friday's testimony before the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. What was striking about the testimony is it was the first and only effort by you to attempt to justify calling an extraordinary session to attract only a coal to natural gas project to Kentucky.

If this were truly the emergency warranting a special session, why did you wait until Friday to try to make your case for immediate action on this project? Pursuing coal to liquids to reduce our dependence on foreign oil now seems like a distant memory. It is almost as if the Northern Kentucky hearings never happened.

I was also bemused by your sudden willingness to remove local projects and other purportedly urgent items from your call. I would have thought that if they were not truly emergencies, you would have left them off your call in the first place. The inconsistencies and contradictions areso numerous that it is becoming difficult to keep track of them.
Continue.

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Hello Open Left

A quick but heartfelt welcome to Open Left.


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Sunday, July 08, 2007

Colin Powell Finds Battered, Shriveled Conscience

So poor ol' Colin spent 2.5 hours trying to talk dubya out of attacking Iraq. Didn't he spend at least that long lying to the UN Security Council about WMD's? I still remember them covering up Picasso's Guernica painting so the horrors of war wouldn't be in the background during his interviews. To little to late Colin.. Oh, and I still blame the coverup of Mi Lai on your sorry ass.

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From The Sunday Times:
Powell tried to talk Bush out of war

THE former American secretary of state Colin Powell has revealed that he spent 2½ hours vainly trying to persuade President George W Bush not to invade Iraq and believes today’s conflict cannot be resolved by US forces.

“I tried to avoid this war,” Powell said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado. “I took him through the consequences of going into an Arab country and becoming the occupiers.”

More.

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Christian Terrorists

Christian terrorists(wanna be terrorists) try to blow up a Christian church in Texas. And thanks to DWT here's the infamous "Jesus Camp(Part 1)" video:



These people are very scary.

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NY Times Editorial Says Time to Get Out of Iraq

From today's New York Times

"It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit."

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Pink Floyd From Live Earth in New York 7/07

That's Almost Pink Floyd, missing David Gilmour.



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Violent weekend in Iraq kills over 220

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YahooNews:
Violent weekend in Iraq kills over 220

BAGHDAD - Prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians called on Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves after a weekend of violence that claimed more than 220 lives, including 60 who died Sunday in a surge of bombings and shootings around Baghdad.

The calls reflect growing frustration with the inability of Iraqi security forces to prevent extremist attacks.

The weekend deaths included two American soldiers — one killed Sunday in a suicide bombing on the western outskirts of Baghdad and another who died in combat Saturday in Salahuddin province north of the capital, the U.S. command said. Three soldiers were wounded in the Sunday blast.

More.

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Saturday, July 07, 2007

As Live Earth Plays Iraq Explodes

Raise your hand if you're not a highly paid advisor but you just knew that when Bush escalated in Baghdad that the mass killings would just move somewhere else in Bushopotamia-at least for a while. Maybe where Bloody Donnie Rumsfeld said the WMDs were, "around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." Today it's the poor souls in Tuz Khormato.

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Yahoo News
Suicide bomb kills over 100 in Iraq

TUZ KHORMATO, Iraq - A suicide truck bomber blasted a Shiite town north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing more than 100 people, police said, in a sign Sunni insurgents are pulling away from a U.S. offensive around the capital to attack where security is thinner.

The marketplace devastation underlined a hard reality in Iraq: There are not enough forces to protect everywhere. U.S. troops, already increased by 28,000 this year, are focused on bringing calm to Baghdad, while the Iraqi military and police remain overstretched and undertrained.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, told The Associated Press he expected Sunni extremists to try to "pull off a variety of sensational attacks and grab the headlines to create a `mini-Tet.'"

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Blast From the Past

More like melancholy from the past. Elton John with "Indian Sunset"(1971) from, Madman across the Water:



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Saturday Cartoons

Bob Geiger has them up.















Justin Bilicki

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Friday, July 06, 2007

The Last of "The Drifters" is Gone

R.I.P. Bill Pinkney.

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Reuters:
Last of original Drifters dies at age 81

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rhythm and blues singer Bill Pinkney, the last surviving member of the original lineup of The Drifters, was found dead in his hotel room hours before he was due to perform in a July 4 celebration.

"Under The Boardwalk" at old Coney Island


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I'm an American, too..

And I want my country back. Thanks Skippy.

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Surprise(NOT!)- FTC Sides With Telecom Giants on Net Neutrality

From C and L and vnunet.com:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to abandon net neutrality and allow telecoms companies to charge websites for access.

The FTC said in a report that, despite popular support for net neutrality, it was minded to let the market sort out the issue.

This means that the organisation will not stand in the way of companies using differential pricing to make sure that some websites can be viewed more quickly than others. The report also counsels against net neutrality legislation.

Go read more, and then go to Save the Internet and sign the petition. Hurry!:
Right now Congress is being pushed to abandon the First Amendment of the Internet -- a principle called "network neutrality" that preserves the free and open Internet. Congress needs to hear from you today or they will hand over control of what you do online to companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

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Live Earth Concert Saturday in D.C.

Looks like Al Gore's Live Earth Concert is on after all, for Saturday. After the Republicans previously blocked it. Christy at FDL has more.

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Impeach Cheney First

From Down With Tyranny and Impeachcheney.org. Watch the video:



And sign the petition.

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Some Strange Presidential Candidates

From MTV (yes MTV) and Project Vote Smart.

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The Other Presidential Candidates
More than 100 other Americans most people have never ever heard of have thrown their hats into the ring.


Presidential candidate Jonathon Albert "The Impaler" Sharkey. 43, Satanist/pagan who is the founder, national chair and commanding general in the 1st Vampyre, Witches, Pagans Party Regiment (2006-present); former U.S. Army soldier; former board member of Hillborough, New Jersey's County Executive Republican Committee; dark priest/ advisor to the Church of the Followers of Lucifer, and more.


"..Getting elected president of the United States is one of the hardest things in the world. But running for president? Not so hard.

It's so easy, in fact, that this early in the game, in addition to the nearly 20 mainstream Democrats and Republicans vying for the job, there are more than 100 other Americans most people have never ever heard of who have thrown their hats into the ring.

For some, it's the third or fourth time around in the seemingly fruitless pursuit of the highest office in the land, fighting for name recognition amid a group that includes a 37-year-old real estate agent from Boulder, Colorado, with no political experience and a 2.9 college GPA; a Democrat named Ole' Savior; an independent who goes by the name Emperor Caesar; another whose nickname is "Messiah"; and the election director of the National Socialist Movement (otherwise known as the Nazi Party), which always seems to field at least one candidate in every presidential race.."

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Oh, and Lisa Simpson is running also.












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All Good Things...Come to an End

A Friday video for my daughter. She loves this song. It's catchy and you can dance to it. I kinda like it myself. So let's start with it..1..2...3..here we go..Crank it up:



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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

From The Inventors of America

Happy Birthday U.S. Happy Fourth everyone. Be careful out there. I'm going to start grilling in a few hours. Everyone come over.
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"When the people fear their government,
there is tyranny.
When the government fears the people,
there is liberty."

-Thomas Jefferson



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Tuesday, July 03, 2007

"The Stupids"

From Kevin Hayden at American Street:

The most important thing about the President’s commutation

Of all the stats and statements, this fact stands out: 45% of Americans have no idea who Scotter Libby is.

People wonder why 40+% think Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9-11 attacks. Especially since Bush and Cheney have both gone on record to state that isn’t true.

Here’s your answer: 40% of Americans just don’t give a shit about the world beyond their direct contact. It might be too complicated. It might seem too big or too corrupt to change. Or maybe they’re too busy with their own stuff to spend time noticing the world go by.

Continue here.
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Photo: The Stupid's representative

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Iraq War Protesters Greet Mitch McConnel

Kentucky's Republican Senator Mitch McConnell one of Bush's biggest rubber stamps is greeted by war protesters at a speech. Thanks to hillbillyreport and Ditch Mitch.



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Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris

Goodbye.



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Mars | The Edge Victoria Crater

Meanwhile on other worlds. Click pic for higher resolution.











Original here.

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Greenwald on the Bushco Pardon

As always Glenn Greenwald gets to the heart of the matter. This time it's the crime bosses getting Lil' Scooter out of jail:

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..The Plame investigation was urged by the Bush CIA and commenced by the Bush DOJ, Libby's conviction pursued by a Bush-appointed federal prosecutor, his jail sentence imposed by a Bush-appointed "tough-on-crime" federal judge, all pursuant to harsh and merciless criminal laws urged on by the "tough-on-crime/no-mercy" GOP. Lewis Libby was sent to prison by the system constructed and desired by the very Republican movement protesting his plight.

But our political discourse and media institutions are so broken and corrupt that Bush followers (and their media enablers) feel free to make the completely-backwards and fact-free claim that the Libby prosecution was driven by "partisan" and "political" motives -- as though it was a mirror image of the Clinton persecution driven by Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and a purely partisan Republican prosecutor -- because they know that there is no such thing as a claim too false to be passed on without real objection by our vapid, drooling press corps..
"
..

Call the White House at 202-456-1414.
Give 'em hell.

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Monday, July 02, 2007

"Truer Words"

"I'm more of a man than any liberal."
- mAnn Coulter - talking with Bill O'Reilly



















BWAHAHAHAHA! I agree Mann..er..Dann..ah..Ann.. ah, whatever!

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Impeach

In the bleachers at a Giants game



















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Dubya Tells "Rule of Law" to Go to Hell









Surprise(not really). Bush pardons Scooty..As we all know "Rule of Law" only applies to Non-Republicans and little people(See also Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher). More on the Thugs 'R' Us in the White House here, and here.

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