Afternoon Video | Sufjan Stevens "Chicago"

Sufjan Stevens in San Francisco doing, "Chicago":



If I don't get the chance later, have a happy New Year Net Riders!

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War On The World | Dubya As War Criminal

You know it, and I know it. If you've been following other news than just the U.S. corporate info-tainment variety it's a no brainer. That George W, "DICK" Dick Cheney, and many of their administration thugs deserve to be hauled before an International court.
A new book by political scientist Michael Haas "George W. Bush, War Criminal? The Bush Administration's Liability for 269 War Crimes" lays out the facts in a devistating way. Many of these are common knowledge among people who don't get their "news" from FOX, CNN, and Brian Williams variety:


















Michael Haas has an excellent Blog with updates and more details about the crimes of this evil administration. Did I say evil? Yes, yes I did. The latest post is a must read:

Children as Unlamented Victims of Bush’s War Crimes

I also want to include the following list from said Blog addressing misconceptions and falsehoods regarding the Bush crimes, etc.:

Twelve Myths in Bush’s “War on Terror”
There are many misconceptions about the “war on terror” now being promoted by President George W. Bush in interviews and “talking points” to his minions. At least twelve need to be cleared up before he leaves office and they become accepted truth:

1. The only way to remove Saddam Hussein from power was by invading Iraq. Prior to the invasion in 2003, there had been several attempted coups in Baghdad. Saddam Hussein’s air force was able to foil those which were most serious. In 1999, the top Saudi Arabia intelligence officer urged the United States to have the Security Council authorize the expansion of the no-fly zones over the north and south to cover the entire country. The idea was rejected by both the Clinton and Bush administrations.

2. The invasion of Iraq was premised on the high probability that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that could be launched at the United States. In May 1999, presidential candidate Bush intimated — without mentioning WMDs — that he would launch a war on Iraq if elected. Throughout their investigation, United Nations inspectors reported finding no hard evidence that there was anything suspicious at the many locations that American military intelligence identified as possible secret WMD sites in Iraq before the invasion. However, former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neill saw a secret document dated March 5, 2001, entitled “Plan for Post-Saddam Iraq and Foreign Suitors of Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.”

3. Prisoners at Guantánamo were the “worst of the worst” among those detained in Afghanistan in 2001. Of the 774 prisoners detained at Guantánamo, approximately 500 have been released already, at least 70 are eligible for release today, and about 100 are in limbo. Only 60 have been identified as likely to be convicted of an offense. The initial commandant at Guantánamo, General Rick Baccus, flew to Afghanistan to try to stop receiving “Mickey Mouse” prisoners. He was unsuccessful.

4. A special tribunal was needed to try al-Qaeda operatives at Guantánamo. When Bush decided that al-Qaeda terrorists could not be tried under criminal or military law, he tried to set up something new by executive order. After the Supreme Court faulted his new tribunal for violating the constitution, Congress set up a separate tribunal in the Military Commissions Act of 2006. But the violations cited in the first two trials at Guantánamo were found in American criminal statutes, thus negating the rationale for separate tribunals.

5. The legal proceedings at Guantánamo are “war crimes trials.” In the first trial, Salim Ahmed Hamdan was convicted of violating a criminal law, not a war crime. Ali Harnza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul, the second person on trial, was convicted of aiding others who committed war crimes principally because he drove them in vehicles. In other words, he did not commit a war crime. Some prisoners at Guantánamo may indeed be tried in court for war crimes, but no such proceeding has yet gone beyond preliminary motions.

6. There is no evidence that George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld are war criminals. In 2006, the Supreme Court in Hamdan v Rumsfeld ruled that the judicial system at Guantánamo violated Article 3, common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1947. A violation of the Geneva Conventions is a war crime. If there is a crime, there must be a criminal, though the Supreme Court ruled on procedures, not guilt. The judicial arrangements at Guantánamo violating the Geneva Conventions were set up under Bush’s executive order and implemented by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.

7. Valuable intelligence was only extracted from terrorists when torture was employed. The FBI obtained useful intelligence from several prisoners through normal interrogation. When the CIA pushed aside the FBI to employ torture, cooperation ceased and phony confessions emerged.

8. Harsh treatment of suspected terrorists and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have crippled al-Qaeda. The National Intelligence Estimate of 2007 states just the opposite — that al-Qaeda has “regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capabilities.” According to a White House press release about that estimate, al-Qaeda’s “intent to attack the U.S. is undiminished, and they continue to adapt and improve their capabilities.”

9. Torture is the worst abuse committed by the Bush Administration in the “war on terror.” Most of those subjected to torture are still alive, though several died. Dr. Steven Miles and others have identified 45 prisoners who were murdered by their American captors from 2002 to 2007. Some others have died through neglect of their medical conditions. Murder is arguably worse than torture.

10. The Geneva Conventions were never applied to prisoners captured in the “war on terror.” General Baccus posted signs informing the first groups of incoming prisoners at Guantánamo that they were only required, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, to disclose their name, rank, and serial number. When the invasion of Afghanistan began, General Tommy Franks ordered that all prisoners should be treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. A few months later, the White House issued countermanding orders to both commanders.

11. Aside from murder and torture, the Bush administration has committed few war crimes. In George W. Bush, War Criminal?, with a Foreword by Nuremberg prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz, 269 war crimes are identified in four categories — 175 that deal with mistreatment of prisoners, 52 with the occupation of Iraq, 36 with the misconduct of war, and 6 with the launching of unjustified aggression. The number would be astronomic if based on the number of perpetrators, victims, and repetitions of the same types of crimes.

12. A presidential pardon would confer impunity on the war criminals of the Bush administration. Presidential pardons are conditional on admission of guilt. Indeed, the main sticking point in Nixon’s acceptance of his pardon by President Gerald Ford was the requirement that he admit guilt for his criminality. A president cannot pardon himself.

As time goes on, Bush will continue to rewrite history. Thus far, journalists have mostly avoided referring to his actions as “war crimes.” In so doing, the journalists are participants in a cover-up.

Even better, follow the link and read at the Blog.

Stomach for more? Here's "Torturing Democracy":


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The George Carlin Interviews

Being a HUGE fan of George Carlin these interviews are especially poignant and sad. A brilliant mind behind a humour facade.
Here's part 1 of 7:



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Gaza Violence | You Know, That Dennis Perrin Is Right!

I agree with Dennis Perrin's latest comments on the Israeli assault on the civilians of Gaza in retaliation for rocket attacks from Hamas(?). I disagree with his attacks on Liberals(as if we're the problem) for "ignoring the Israeli assaults on Lebanon in 2006". I didn't do so, here, here, here, and here for example. Maybe he meant many of the elite "Libblogs"
Gaza's just another feeling of helplessness, watching people dying for reasons that shouldn't even exist. Kind of the same feeling seeing dubya's Iraq assault, and Afghan wedding parties being obliterated into red mist by cruise missiles.
Dennis Perrin is spot on in his postings about these latest Israeli assaults on the civilians of Gaza. Killing Floor Expands, and Why We Pay Taxes.
Again with hundreds of dead civilians in occupied Gaza(with U.S. supplied arms) and how many Israelis dead from those Hamas(?) rockets? None. There has to be a better way.












Photo

I was watching some CNN(doctors office, neuralgia) today and I heard that maybe those evildoer Iranians were behind all this Hamas eviltry. An Israeli official spoke, a former US official spoke, and a US military official spoke. They were all commenting about where these(ineffective) rockets were coming from-and I was thinking, well I don't know but I know where the weapons killing the HELL out of civilians in Gaza are coming from, we the people . Who spoke for Hamas(no, I don't agree with them politically), who spoke for the tortured people of Gaza and the Palestinians? No one..
Oh, and CNN told me that the Bush Administration had sent dire warnings to stop the violence. To Hamas, and the Israeli government? No silly-just to Hamas.
Israel kind of got their asses handed to them in Lebanon in 2006. They should work something out with the poor, miserable people of Gaza.

Just a quick thought from a "liblog".

Also another important read: The Politics of the Gaza Massacre By Justin Raimondo

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My First Digital Camera

Forsooth I have left the film world and entered the digital with my first digital camera(below). A Christmas present from the wife..a Sony DSC-S730. Seems easy enough and seems to be packed with features(no I'm not endorsing). It's going to be interesting and fun(I hope), learning digital as an old 35mm user:

And here's my very first pic:














Mister Pudgy(and my right foot).

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60 Minutes | Obama's Journey to the White House

Last night 60 Minutes did an entire hour on Barack Obama's long trip to the White House. Here's the video:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Jed Report.

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TVA Coal Ash Spill Disaster

The Tennessee Valley Authority's Tennessee ash flood spill is far larger than their initial estimate(surprise!). Their spokespeople are saying, REMAIN CALM!!

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X-Rays | New View Of The Crab Nebula

Now I find things like this interesting




















The old view of the Crab Nebula. Beautiful No?
















New view
X-Rayed, showing energy winds from the pulsar inside the Nebula.

"the size of a city with more mass than the Sun and the density of an atomic nucleus, the spinning pulsar itself is the collapsed core of a massive star. The stellar core collapse resulted in a supernova explosion that was witnessed in the year 1054. This Chandra image spans just under 9 light-years at the Crab's estimated distance of 6,000 light-years.. The pulsar's energy accelerates charged particles and, strange shapes are created as the charged particles stream away, eventually losing energy as they interact with the pulsar's strong magnetic field.."

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Strange Videos Review | "The Host"

Just a movie moment. I started watching a DVD of the movie, "The Host". It's a Korean film, and it had two or three big reviews on my library's front cover. Things like "On a par with Jaws". Anyway it was in the stack so I tried it last night.


The most bizarre video I've watched lately, and that includes Cloverfield. The concept's been done before, toxic chemicals create a monster in a body of water. Their monster is good, very good, certainly repulsive and big enough. But the script and dialogue is right up there with a dozen Godzilla movies. Also the copy I watched is an English version so it had inserted English audio in as the voices and I was also using English subtitles. Most of the time the voices were saying completely different things than were shown in the subtitles. Pretty good plot but with enough bizarre twists to make me go, "What the hell's going on now!". 2-1/2 on my 5 scale and that's for the monster and the affects.

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Jim Lehrer Comedian | Make 'em Laugh

Not bad for the PBS straight man. Made for a new PBS series, "Make 'em Laugh".



"Two guys walk into a bar"

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The Return

Back with presents still to open. Back from the nether regions of Ohio. We stayed with sister-in-law "Tammy", saw the rest of the inlaws that I only see once or twice a year. It's pretty cool though. We've been doing it since we were married(22yrs.) so it's almost ancient tradition. More fun when my mother-in-law was alive. My(wife's) nephew now live's there and spends his time away from the armed services drunk, high, and wrecking trucks. Anyway, lots of presents, some un-opened and lots of good food.
I'm just looking around right now a bit first. Hope you net rockets had a Great Christmas! There's some good things going at this moment I see and those are just via Atrios:

California's(it's always first with them isn't it?) getting a Supertrain? Looks like San Francisco/Los Angelos/Anaheim Line(to start) Supertrain is coming with the Federal Infrastructure bill.

Don't let the door hit you in the...department:
71% won't miss Bush when he leaves office. 28 percent say he's he's the worst President ever, and forty percent rate him as a poor President. After nearly eight years in office.
Versus:
82 percent, of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Wednesday approve of the way Obama is handling his presidential transition.

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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

With my slow posting I could never be a pro-blogger. On the other hand here in the Z-list Blogging backwaters it doesn't much matter. We're leaving tomorrow morning to spend Christmas in S.E. Ohio. Where, yes, you guessed it, no Internets! So while I'm here, before packing, I'll wish everyone a fine agnostic Christmas, fine eats, good presents. Here's two of my favorite holiday videos . Bing Crosby and David Bowie with Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy, and then;


Kylie Minogue & friends with, "Santa Baby":


Gonna go read some news and views. 'Night all and have a safe Christmas. Don't forget to give to your local food bank and other charities, it's really needed, especially this year. Don't forget the USO and the local animal shelters to!

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Bush Tell-All Insider Dies In Plane Crash

Things that make you go Hmmm..!

"Bush Insider Who Planned To Tell All Killed In Plane Crash: Non-Profit Demands Full Federal Investigation"

“Mike Connell set-up the alternate email and communications system for the White House. He was responsible for creating the system that hosted the infamous GWB43.com accounts that Karl Rove and others used. When asked by Congress to provide these emails, the White House said that they were destroyed. But in reality, what Connell is alleged to have done is move these files to other servers after having allegedly scrubbed the files from all “known” Karl Rove accounts.
In addition, I have reason to believe that the alternate accounts were used to communicate with US Attorneys involved in political prosecutions, like that of Don Siegelman. This is what I have been working on to prove for over a year. In fact, it was through following the Siegelman-Rove trail that I found evidence leading to Connell. That is how I became aware of him. Mike was getting ready to talk. He was frightened.”

At-largely and Boing Boing.

Hey let's ask Sen. Paul Wellstone, or JFK Jr.! Oh wait..nevermind...
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Sunday Evening Check In

I got nothin'-
But I'm Online! I left yesterday for the country around 11:00AM, spent the night in Oneida KY(Holy Cow there's a website!) at my older sister's place. Then drove 200+ miles and picked the oldest daughter up near Pine Knot KY for XMas holiday. We got here about 6PM. All in all on the road for about 7-8 hours this weekend(not complaining). Pretty hectic, AND NO Internet service the whole time! First this, and then I'm going to look around the "tubes" for a bit. Oh, and Happy Winter Solstice Everyone!

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Governor Rod Blagojevich's Last Stand

Enjoy this news statement by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich:
"I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath"



Is that like:
"I've got this thing and it's F*****g golden, and I'm just not giving it up for F*****g nothing. I'm not gonna do it!"
-taped Blagojevich comment regarding Obama's former Senate seat.

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Writer of the Week | Frank X Walker

An essay by Frank X Walker. My writer of the week:

Creative Solutions to Life’s Challenges


Thanks Barefootandprogressive

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Friday Video | A Fine Frenzy

The most excellent Alison Sudol and A Fine Frenzy with "Come on, Come Out"




Come on, come out. The weather is warm..

Turn it up.
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Police State Report | Galveston Texas

Three police officers in Galveston Texas beat 12 year old girl in her front yard, as they tried to arrest her. Unfortunately for her the cops had the wrong house. To add insult to injury 3 weeks later they went to her school, where she was an honor student, and arrested her for assault on said police officers.

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Evening Video | Amos Lee

This is Amos Lee with "Night Train", from Supply And Demand:



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FBI: More Leeches in the Bush Era?

They should call the Bush era the parasitic years. Seems like everybody from the top down are either sucking money from the treasury like bloated leeches, torturing somebody, killing somebody or everything in between.

--
Audit highlights excessive FBI overtime in Iraq

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- FBI agents temporarily deployed to Iraq received an average of about $45,000 in excessive overtime because they billed the government for 16 hours a day throughout their 90-day assignments, according to a Justice Department audit.

The audit, released Thursday by Inspector General Glenn Fine, found the agents routinely submitted the overtime with the blessing of their managers from 2003 through 2007. The report says the excessive overtime totaled $7.8 million.."

Continue..

Another, probably silly question is has the FBI always been sent overseas for intelligence gathering?(yes I know I could Google it)

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Afternoon Video | Wilco, "California Stars"

Billy Bragg and Wilco, California Stars:



Note : On my machine the audio on this is badly out of sync with the video.

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Bigot and Homophobe Pastor Rick Warren to Give Invocation at Obama Inaugeration

I think Digby says it best for me in this crazy divisive selection:

I've been writing for a long time about the Religious Industrial Complex and how they hope to end the culture war by marginalizing pro-choice and pro gay rights voices within both parties. They've entirely succeeded with the Republicans and have now turned their attention to the Democrats. It just took a giant step forward with the announcement that Obama has invited Christian Right leader Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration.

..Obama is validating the views of the Christian Right and they may very well be moved enough by that to become Democrats. But it naturally follows that in order to keep their votes, the Democrats would have to honor their agenda and views --- the evangelicals are big voting bloc and if the Democrats become the social conservative party, they could count on their votes for sure. (If they don't make substantial moves toward social conservatism, this won't work, obviously.) It doesn't leave much room for liberals, but perhaps that's a good thing. They are nothing but trouble, defending women's civil liberties, agitating for gay rights and hectoring the government about not torturing and starting wars and all that. It would be a big relief if they didn't need them.."

Here's the rich evangelist himself:


And here's Hilary Rosen last night on Anderson Cooper:


Obama kicks Liberals, gays and moderates in the face in order to please Christian rightwingers who are about as far from the teachings of the real Jesus as you can get. I'm somewhat not surprised.

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The Bush Years | The Agony, The Humour

GRITTv guest host Lizz Winstead interviews Baratunde Thurston from The Onion and Lee Papa, The Rude Pundit:


Thanks Firedoglake.

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Evening Video | Asha, Fire On The Mountain

There's still protest songs out there, around the world. Here's an emerging artist, born in Paris and out of Nigeria, Asa(Asha), from her latest album, "Asa", this is "Fire on the mountain":

ASA [asha] - Fire On The Mountain
Uploaded by naiverecords

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Dark Matter Expanding The Universe?

According to this theory, in the far distant future(millions of years) the earth's night sky will be far lonelier place. With the stars far fainter than they are now.

Were it not for dark energy, a mysterious repulsive force in the universe, our Milky Way galaxy would've long since crashed into its only neighbor, Andromeda. And instead of being lonely travelers in space, the galaxies would be nestled in the Virgo cluster, with hundreds more neighboring galaxies so close they'd be visible to the naked eye.

NASA/APOD

"The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye is M31, the Andromeda galaxy some two million light-years away. If not for the mysterious effects of dark energy, Andromeda and other galaxies in the cluster would be nearer to -- and perhaps colliding with -- the Milky Way."

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Washington Elite | "Fools and Cowards"

You know I don't approve of foreign citizens throwing shoes at the President of the U.S. of A.; then again I'm not a citizen of an occupied country, invaded, destroyed and kicked around like a child's ragged toy. An invasion based on lies, doctored evidence, and a complete indifference to human suffering. For Bush testosterone and corporate profits.
From the What he said department:

Yglesias:

The harsh reality is that this was not a noble undertaking done for good reasons. It was a criminal enterprise launched by madmen cheered on by a chorus of fools and cowards. And it’s seen as such by virtually everyone all around the world — including but by no means limited to the Arab world. But it’s impolitic to point this out in the United States, and it’s clear that even a president-elect who had the wisdom not to be suckered in by the War Fever of 2002 has no intention of really acting to marginalize the bad actors. Which, I think, makes sense for his political objectives. But if Americans want to play a constructive role in world affairs, it’s vitally important for us to get in touch with the reality of what the past eight years of US foreign policy have been and how they’re seen and understood by people who aren’t stirred by the shibboleths of American patriotism.

Atrios:

I don't expect Cheney's gang to ever care about the hell they unleashed in that country, but they were enabled by almost the entire population of Elite Washington. Even now simple inconvenient facts of that time are brushed aside in favor of the Official Narrative. The complete lack of repentance or honest accounting by our elites is a continuing reminder of just how corrupt and sick elite Washington is.

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Tasers: 400 Dead Since 2001

Anyone surprised? Anyone? Anyone?

The ‘non-lethal’ Taser: 400 dead since 2001

And:
The Blend Taser files
*Cops taser bride and groom at wedding
*NC: More freestyle law enforcement death-by-Taser
* 17-year-old killed by Taser over shoplifted Hot Pockets
*Florida: Wheelchair-bound woman Tased to death; Vermont: man Tased during seizure
*PA: town plans to arm school police with Tasers
*Iowa: disorderly conduct ‘punishment’ - death by Taser
*NY: Brooklyn man tased, falls to death from fire escape
*Taser Nation: Are Cops Using Tasers Too Often?
* Security guard uses taser on man holding a baby
*Ohio police officer uses stun gun to subdue a handcuffed woman

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Arianna Huffington Refuting Obama Citizenship Doubters

On Countdown with Keith Olberman.



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President-Elect Obama's Weekly Radio Address

From the President-elect's weekly address. He nominated Shaun Donovan, Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development in New York City as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Here's the full address:


Kos.

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What Would Hunter Thompson Think?

Damn, I wish he were still here to tell us. Maybe he would be a little bit more optimistic. From Post Secret:


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Late in the Evening - Why Not Some Emily Dickinson?

Emily Dickinson would be in my top 20 list of people from history I'd like to meet and have a long conversation with. Unfortunately Emily doesn't strike me as a people person. Here is her poem on falling into madness, "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain":

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -

And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space - began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race
Wrecked, solitary, here –

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down –
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing – then –
-Emily Dickinson, Manuscript: About summer 1862

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Jeff Dunham and Akmed The Dead Terrorist

Jeff Dunham is coming to Rupp Arena in Lexington. I'm sure you've seen the bit but if not here he is with "Akmed the dead terrorist":


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afternoon Video | My Morning Jacket, "I'm Amazed"

Nasty day outside here. Mid 30's and cold rain. My Morning Jacket's video of, "I'm Amazed":



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The Year's Top Ten Web Videos

Ready?
Here's the year's top 10 Web videos:

1. Tina Fey As Sarah Palin
2. The Real Palin
3. Christian the Lion
4. "Yes We Can"
5. "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"
6. Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad
7. Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon
8. Puppy Cam
9. Frozen Grand Central
10. Late-night Hosts Brawl

But what about "Hamster on a piano", and "Lil' O'Reilly", etc?

Well anyway enjoy.

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PBS, "Inheritance" | The Children of Monsters

A rainy morning Blog post. I spent a good part of last night watching the PBS documentary, "Inheritance". It's the story of Monika Hertwig, the daughter of the notorious nazi camp commandant Amon Goeth. Goeth was portrayed brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes in "Schindler's List".
The documentary shows the meeting of Hertwig and the Jewish girl(now old) Helen Jonas who was taken in and enslaved by Goeth, she's also portrayed in the film. They meet at the site of the Plaszow death camp. Helen Jonas met the actual Oskar Schindler and talks about him in the documentary.
Here's a short preview clip, and a description from PBS:


Like Schindler's List it's hard to look away once you start watching and like that movie it's painful to watch. The documentary shows the trial of Goeth and his filmed execution which is different from the movie version. His hanging took three tries. Here's the PBS description:

Imagine watching Schindler's List and knowing the sadistic Nazi camp commandant played by Ralph Fiennes was your father. Inheritance is the story of Monika Hertwig, the daughter of mass murderer Amon Goeth. Hertwig has spent her life in the shadow of her father's sins, trying to come to terms with her "inheritance." She seeks out Helen Jonas, who was enslaved by Goeth and who is one of the few living eyewitnesses to his unspeakable brutality. The women's raw, emotional meeting unearths terrible truths and lingering questions about how the actions of our parents can continue to ripple through generations.

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Afternoon video | Tracy Chapman, Sing For You

This song has been stuck in my head for the last hour or so. Tracy Chapman on Jay Leno's show with "Sing For You":



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No More Polaroids?

I'm going to miss these guys.

The end of Polaroid pictures. Polaroid to stop making film.

Photo here.

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Easy Fire Gun For Seniors?

Now this worries me. Loaded firearms and free fire zones in our parks, and now grandpa can fire at will.

New gun for seniors could be subsidized by Medicare

"A New Jersey company says they have gotten federal approval to market a gun to the elderly and hopes to have it subsized by Medicare.

Constitution Arms says its Palm Pistol will aid seniors with arthritis who would otherwise have trouble pulling the trigger. The device allows individuals to shoot by squeezing with their thumb.."

Raw Story.

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Afternoon Video | Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips and, Do You Realize:



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TED | Redwood Trees and Ancient Beings

From TED Talks - A fascinating talk by science writer Richard Preston on the giant redwood trees, the most enormous beings on earth, and the amazing(and mostly unexplored) ecosystems that live in their canopies. My lunchtime watch today:



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Prohibition Continues With The Drug War

75 Years Since Repeal Of Prohibition Seventy-five years ago yesterday, on December 5, 1933, the United States of America repealed its ban on alcoholic beverages.
But even though you won’t find a soul alive who thinks the repeal was a bad idea, we continue to live day after day with the disastrous consequences of a drug policy that is as misguided as was prohibition.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Ethan Nadelman, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. Nadelman wrote:

"..Consider the consequences of drug prohibition today: 500,000 people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails for nonviolent drug-law violations; 1.8 million drug arrests last year; tens of billions of taxpayer dollars expended annually to fund a drug war that 76% of Americans say has failed; millions now marked for life as former drug felons; many thousands dying each year from drug overdoses that have more to do with prohibitionist policies than the drugs themselves.."

Some more.
and
More.

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Empires Never Learn

I saw this little tidbit in today's paper. Apparently our Afghanistan war is going down the drain faster than we thought. We're pulling troops back to Kabul and losing the countryside?

NYTimes:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Most of the additional American troops arriving in Afghanistan early next year will be deployed near the capital, Kabul, American military commanders here say, in a measure of how precarious the war effort has become.

And

Booman.
the American Empire is repeating the mistakes of the Soviet Empire. And the British Empire before it. Empires never learn, I guess.

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Obama's Birth Certificate | Massive Protest Crowds

They storm the Supreme Court Building in protest of the total silence regarding Barack Hussein Obama's non-American citizenship papers.

The seething crowd:













The roaring voices rising in..rising in...Oh hell never mind.














Wonkette.

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Friday Night Video | Genesis, One For The Vine

An old Genesis song that preceded George W. Bush. About leaders who feel themselves as chosen, and unstoppable. This song is from Wind and Wuthering, it's called "One For The Vine"
(quietly..ah one..and a two...and a three..and go..):


"This is he, God's chosen one, who's come to save us from all our oppressors, we shall be kings of this earth."

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Dusty Old Journals

Just got online for an hour or so. Before I go into the "Internet tubes" here's and excerpt from one of my old journals. A piece between some poems, no title, no date(had to have been pre-1980). I'll call it, "Dreams or Memories":

"Sometimes at night I see a castle. Pennants flying, gay colours, like one of those old landscapes inside a bubble. I don't think I'll ever know what is happening there. Maybe the memories from an earlier life.
There are people moving around, on foot and on horseback. A desperate sense of urgency. A celebration, or a war.
Perhaps both.
Just a disjointed memory? Berlin during the war, the fall of
Atlanta. A kaleidoscope, people laughing and crying, pain and
happiness. Scattered thoughts and unconnected events.
Coming out of a tent at wounded knee to meet death, and the
horse soldiers. It may be better not trying to understand.."
-RDean, circa'79

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Democracy Now | Amy Goodman Interviews Matthew Alexander and Scott Horton

Matthew Alexander(pseudonym) is the author of How to Break a Terrorist: The US Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq.
Scott Horton is an attorney who specializes in international law and human rights. He’s written extensively about prisoner abuse in Iraq. He’s the legal affairs contributor to Harper’s magazine and writes the blog “No Comment.”

1 of 2


2of2


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Jon Stewart Will Miss Der Dubya

I'll miss him myself. Kinda like 8 years of painful rectal itch.



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Afternoon Video | Brian Ferry, "Avalon"

Hold on, Hold on. Aah, here we go. This will do... Brian Ferry and Roxy Music with, "Avalon":



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Willie Nelson's Marijuana Christmas

Willie Nelson knows how to celebrate the yule season. If Ebeneezer Scrooge had had some of Willie's stash it wouldn't have taken three ghosts to put him in the spirit. From Stephen Colbert's Christmas Special show. This is called, "Marijuana Christmas":

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

A Colbert Christmas: Willie Nelson Sings

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

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Strip Mining | "Toxic Texan" Dubya Going Out in a Stink

The Bush corruption administration, their EPA(Environmental Polluting Agency), and coal company cronies(does DICK Cheney own coal co. shares?) have declared open war on mountain streams and wildlife.

EPA playground

The Marfork Coal Company's toxic impoundment, in Whitesville, WV

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Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #1000

UR DOING IT WRONG!





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Give to Local Animal Shelters This Christmas

Give what you can. Times are hard and animal shelters are no exception. Google your local state and county shelters for an address and give what you can.

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The Disappearing Middle Class

Tom Eblen says the middle class has been shrinking for decades

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Freedom of Speech Even if It's "Icky"

Author Neil Gaiman(American Gods) has a write up on freedom of speech that you should read.
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing and at the same time a necessary evil. It means the freedom of people you don't agree with to write their opinions and their "art", and certainly the freedom of speech the majority disagrees with.
Go read Neil's ideas they'll make you think:
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Why defend freedom of icky speech?

"..So when Mike Diana was prosecuted -- and found guilty -- of obscenity for the comics in his Zine "Boiled Angel", and sentenced to a host of things, including (if memory serves) a three year suspended prison sentence, a three thousand dollar fine, not being allowed to be in the same room as anyone under eighteen, over a thousand hours of community service, and was forbidden to draw anything else obscene, with the local police ordered to make 24 hour unannounced spot checks to make sure Mike wasn't secretly committing Art in the small hours of the morning... that was the point I decided that I knew what was obscene, and it was prosecuting artists for having ideas and making lines on paper, and that I was going to do everything I could to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Whether I liked or approved of what Mike Diana did was utterly irrelevant. (For the record, I didn't like the text parts of Boiled Angel, but did like the comics, which were personal and had a raw power to them. And somewhere in the sprawling basement magazine collection I have Boiled Angel 7 and 8, which I read back then to find out what was being prosecuted, and for owning which I could, I assume, now be arrested...)"

"..I've read books that claimed that exposure to porn causes rape, but have seen no statistical evidence that porn causes rape -- and indeed have seen claims that the declining number of US rapes may be due to the wider availability of porn. Honestly, I think it's a red herring in First Amendment matters, and I'll leave it for other people to argue about.) Still, you seem to want lolicon banned, and people prosecuted for owning it, and I don't. You ask, What makes it worth defending? and the only answer I can give is this: Freedom to write, freedom to read, freedom to own material that you believe is worth defending means you're going to have to stand up for stuff you don't believe is worth defending, even stuff you find actively distasteful, because laws are big blunt instruments that do not differentiate between what you like and what you don't, because prosecutors are humans and bear grudges and fight for re-election, because one person's obscenity is another person's art.

Because if you don't stand up for the stuff you don't like, when they come for the stuff you do like, you've already lost.."

Linked.

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