Colbert | The Audacity of Nope

Just another reason to love Stephen Colbert:

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

The Word - The Audacity of Nope

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Paul McCartney Appearance

Funny Political Videos
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Books | Will Bunch: Reagan - "Tear Down This Myth"

Will Bunch has a new book out which looks very promising. My memories of the Reagan years were mostly humour and angst for a doddering, but deadly old fool.

"..you may ask whether the Reagan myth matters as much now that George W. Bush is back at the ranch and President Obama in the White House. I would argue that it does. Increasingly, the GOP minority in Washington, including 41 senators with just enough votes to derail the administration’s proposals, is going to invoke the Reagan myth to continue to justify a tax system that harms the middle class and policies that ignore the scientific consensus on climate change. Look at the first major policy debate of the Obama presidency, over the proposed $825 billion economic stimulus. Democrats are under enormous political pressure to weight the plan toward tax cuts, and away from spending programs, which Republicans quickly branded as much pork – despite evidence that jobs programs stimulate the economy at twice the rate of tax reductions. "I remain concerned about wasteful spending that might be attached to the tax relief," House GOP leader John Boehner said – and right-wing talk radio was a lot less restrained. Ironically, the spending sought by the Democrats seek to undo the crumbling of America’s infrastructure and the failure to create “green-collar” jobs that dates back to the Reagan era.
And here’s another reason the Reagan myth still matters, and that’s because there’s a pundit class inside the Beltway that cuts its teeth in the 1980s and remains firmly convinced that America is a “center-right” nation, despite massive evidence to the contrary. These pundits will urge Obama to enact an economic recovery package in the Gipper’s image, ignoring the long-term harmed caused by Reagan’s brand of “trickle-down economics.."

Oh, and a bit of trivia:
The Secret Service routinely confiscates and destroys the glass each time the President drinks in public to protect his DNA

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Detail Video of the Emergency Plane Landing in Hudson River

A new video, captured by a security camera from Con Edison, is the longest video (47 minutes) to surface detailing the dramatic landing of the U.S. Airways flight landing in the Hudson River. From Reuters:



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Thursday Video | "Lost Coastlines" by Okkervil River

Okkervil River.



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The Daily Show | Guantanamo

The Daily Show on the "keep Guantanamo" crowd:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Guantanamo Baywatch - The Final Season

Daily Show Full Episodes
Daily Show Tickets

More Funny Videos
Comedians on Tour

Kos

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Mad Magazine | The First 100 Minutes

They still funny.. The new mad Magazine's cover:


More

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Stimulus Bill - What He Said

I could go on and on about how every time I saw a Republican(Mitch McConnell=Anal Retentive Dick) on my tv this morning they were going on about how they wanted to do it their way to "help the American people even more", and other lying-ass bull. I could tell how I'd talk back to them saying things like, "yeah like the magic you maroons have accomplished in the last eight years dumbass"! Look how well they've done. Think of the year 2000 and think of today, anything better?
You have to remember the Republican politicians wants this to fail, Mitch "mo'money" McConnell wants this to fail

I think the best way to say this is to just let Atrios say it:

"I am just shocked to discover that Republicans will vote against the bill which has been made shittier to please them".

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MIA? No Just Away

Been out of Blog touch for a while. I went to the country Saturday and got back last night. The only thing I did afterwards, other than some homely chores was scan the Net a bit for news, and played WoW(my new vice) for about an hour.
I'm not sure what's happening with the Blog.
Maybe after these three(+) years I'm finally getting burnt out, maybe it's the new Democratic majorities in my government which makes me less inclined to rant into the void(so to speak). I do think that that's part of it. I remember back during the '04 elections actually thinking that if Kerry won I maybe could give up or lighten up on Blogging. Another BIG part is the lack of feedback and viewers and another distraction is that right now time that I'd be spending on the Net, and on the Blog now often goes to my World of Warcraft game.
If I slow down, or even stop I don't think my little hovel here in the hinterlands will be missed greatly. I certainly wouldn't stop completely because there will always be something I find or think of that I want to throw up to the world's Net. Aaaanyway, my Blogging will probably slow(and the world yawns and says, "whateva!")
Here's a good 60 Minutes bit on the Israeli/Palestinians:


Watch CBS Videos Online

Thanks Susie.

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Israel Used Extremely Toxic DIME Weapons In Gaza

Surprised? I'm not. The Israeli government(with complete knowledge of the Bush thug mis-administration I'm sure) used Gaza as a toxic weapons testing ground. With women and children as the testees. Particulary nasty explosive devices called DIME(Dense Inert Metallic Explosive) weapons.

Doctors report Israel using DIME (Dense Inert Metal Explosive) weapons in Gaza

Dr Jan Brommundt, a German doctor working for Medecins du Monde in the south Gazan city of Khan Younis, described the injuries he had seen as "absolutely gruesome". [...]
When detonated, a Dime device expels a blade of charged tungsten dust that burns and destroys everything within a four-metre radius.

Booman

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Catastrophic Scenarios | Super Solar Flares and extreme geomagnetic storms

In a recent a NASA-funded study by the National Academy of Sciences entitled Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts. In the 132-page report, experts detailed what might happen to our modern, high-tech society in the event of a "super solar flare" followed by an extreme geomagnetic storm. They found that almost nothing is immune from space weather—not even the water in your bathroom.

"To estimate the scale of such a failure, report co-author John Kappenmann of the Metatech Corporation looked at the great geomagnetic storm of May 1921, which produced ground currents as much as ten times stronger than the 1989 Quebec storm, and modeled its effect on the modern power grid. He found more than 350 transformers at risk of permanent damage and 130 million people without power. The loss of electricity would ripple across the social infrastructure with "water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, fuel re-supply and so on."

NASA: Severe Space Weather

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America | The New Torture Poll

58%-40% of Americans say no to torture in a new Washington Post/ABC News poll which was released yesterday
















Glenn Greenwald:
By a wide margin -- 58-40% -- Americans say that torture should never be used, no matter the circumstances. Let's repeat that: "no matter the circumstance." That margin is enormous among Democrats (71-28%) and substantial among independents (56-43%). As usual these days, Republicans hold the minority view, but even among them there is substantial categorical opposition to torture (42-55%).

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The End of Bush's Gitmo?

Obama Signs Executive Order To Close Guantanamo Bay














"..You want to handle this situation methodically to avoid complications, for every soul that has been held there you need to figure out each individual case and what the solution is. For those who can be released, there needs to be diplomatic arrangements. You can't send them to somewhere where they will be tortured.."
-Sarah Mendelson, Director of the Human Rights and Security Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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Tom Tomorrow | A Farewell Salute

Speaking for the vast majority of us.


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The Inaugural Address

Here's the inaugural address by PRESIDENT Barack Obama. Not his best speech but very good:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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The Daily Show's Changefest '09

Jon Stewart's Inaugeration talk:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Obama's Inauguration

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

"Dick Cheney might as well have been rolled out to the Star Wars "Imperial March" with a white cat on his lap."


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Which Inauguration? | Ohhh, That Inauguration!

Well it's over. Damn, the Bush era is FINALLY gone. It's finally PRESIDENT Barack Obama. A very good speech, I didn't get to see all of it. Maybe YouTube will have it up later
Here's our new first couple. Ain't they cute? And sharp as tacks to?

Photo: Greg Nash/WDCPIX

Thanks Kos.
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Inauguration Watch | From Work

Huge crowds in Washington for Barack Obama's inauguration. Me, I'll have to watch it here at work during lunch. It's a wonderful feeling, but also very scary. I "hope" he can dig us out of the dubya hole.
There's so many horrific problems facing my country and the world. And I the fear that Obama will follow that middle of the road, go along to get along route that he won't be near what we need.
Meanwhile the corporate media's giddy. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm assuming that it'll last till, and if, Barack starts stepping on some corporate toes for the poor, the middle class, the environment, taxes, and all the other political corporate no-no's.
It's going to be interesting to watch, and for Barack, his beautiful family, and the world I wish him the best.
Meanwhile here's Keith Olbermann with 8 years of dubya, in 8 minutes:



On a somewhat related note I watched a bit of "Meet the Tool", with Karl Rove's dance partner David Gregory a few days ago. He was grilling Rahm Emanuel for being obviously not bi-partisan enough for the current political climate(meaning Democrats in charge) with this Cheney-esk sneer on his face. I stayed on the channel for maybe 5 minutes till I couldn't take the snide gotcha of Gregory. I'm not a fan of Emanuel, but I'm also one of those who knew that as soon as Democrats were back in the White House that hard questions would return, and the gloves would come back off of our corporate media. That's certainly not a bad thing per se, but it's pretty much been missing for eight years and David Gregory is one of the poster boys for that.
What. A. Tool.

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Gaza | America's Tax Dollars at Work

America this is what our tax dollars and weapons are paying for in Gaza. Do you think I care whether these are Palestinians or Israelis? They're human beings, civilians, children. It's a horror.













Speechless:


Creating rubble and bodies:


Bullet holes in children:















Tax dollars for war crimes.

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Medieval Tech Support | How to Read a Book

Tech support in the middle ages was a lot more basic. Here's the "reading a book" tech support. From a Norwegian tv show(read the subtitles):


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RIP Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Newell Wyeth (July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009). I saw this evening that Andrew Wyeth passed away at 91.
Many people thought he never surpassed his artist father N.C. Wyeth. But I never thought he had to, he had his own visions and many of them I loved.
Here's his most famous painting, "Christina's World", a painting of a crippled Christina Olson:


There's many other paintings by Wyeth that I like just as well or more so but he'll be mostly remembered for this one.

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Signed In | Nothing to Report

You know, it's no wonder I'm in the Z-list of Bloggers. There's lot's going on but you wouldn't know it by my Blog. I've now become addicted to World of Warcraft(see the vid below), so it's worse than usual.

My Post Herpetic Neuralgia is largely gone. There's still some numbness and pain in my right hand and arm but nothing like it was. There was a time I thought I'd suffer from that forever.

I'm going to throw up a few things while I'm on. I'm waiting on a pot of that old Appalachian favorite, cooked pinto beans to get done, with some corn bread(of course) to go with it. Meanwhile I'm gonna go look around the 'Nets for a bit Y'all.

Israel seems to have killed enough Palestinians for now. I saw that they'd up and declared a cease-fire. I believe they're looking for a home for them(Palestinians) far away, the Israeli version of the "Trail of Tears" if possible(sarcasm, I think) .

As I said there's a lot going on and I haven't even gotten to keep up. So I'm off to browse.

YAAAY, to US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger!

Anyway here's a short WoW clip with a Bowie's "Heroes" theme:


Back later.

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Israel Shells UN Headquarters In Gaza

AP
Gaza City, Gaza Strip - Israel shelled the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, engulfing the compound and a warehouse in fire and destroying thousands of pounds of food and humanitarian supplies intended for Palestinian refugees..
Photo-AP
..Another Israeli bombardment on Thursday killed the Hamas security chief..

Huffington Post

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Former Oakland Transport Cop Arrested For Shooting Death of Oscar Grant

Some Justice May come from this.



A video of the shooting. It's low qaulity and shaky but you probably should see it. It's towards the end.

Police in the Californian city of Oakland have arrested a former officer in connection with the killing of an unarmed man on New Year's Day.

Johannes Mehserle, 27, was taken into custody last night as part of the investigation into the controversial shooting of Oscar Grant earlier this month.

The 22-year-old victim was killed after transport police intervened to stop a fight on a train from San Francisco to Oakland in the early hours of 1 January.

The manner of his death has sparked protests and rioting. Footage filmed by passengers on the train at Fruitvale station appeared to show Grant sitting calmly on the platform shortly before the scuffle that left him dead.

The films – many of which have been placed on YouTube and other video-sharing websites – show Grant being forced to lie face down on the floor before a brief struggle in which Mehserle draws his weapon and shoots once into Grant's back.

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Tennessee GOP Gets Played

This is so delicious I had to post it. Not only did the Kentucky Wildcats embarrass the Volunteers in their own arena last night but the Tennessee GOP got played by their Democratic colleagues and one of their Republican members. Here's the story from John Cole, with video following, delicious!


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"The Republicans—who had just finally won control of the State House for the first time in 40+ years – were suppose to elect their Speaker of the House today. And failed!

..In the last election, a bunch of belligerent right-wing radicals tried to bully Rep. Williams (a moderate) into taking far-right stands—going so far as to threaten boycotts on his family business, etc.

Well, Rep. Williams had had enough of bullies and blowhards destroying the Republican Party from within. And the Democrats knew it. So the Democrats approached Rep. Williams about being the new House Speaker..

Rep. Williams said, “yes,” and history was made, just minutes ago.

..Anaxamander has the details in his/her diary. The Tennessee State House has 50 Republicans and 49 Democrats. Well, Rep. Kent Williams (R-TN) got the support of all 49 Democrats plus his own vote to put himself in the Speaker’s chair.."
--
The official Republican nominee, Jason Mumpower (a wingnut from Bristol in Sullivan County) was left speechless, clutching the family bible that he had brought in preparation for taking the Speaker’s oath of office.
-Wonkette

"Harry Reid should be forced to watch these videos every morning, every lunch break, and before he goes to bed, and they should be streamed at all times in his office."
-John Cole

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Al Jazeera Releases Gaza Footage on Creative Commons

Al Jazeera Creative Commons



Al Jazeera is releasing 12 broadcast quality videos today shot in Gaza under Creative Commons’ least restrictive Attribution license. Each professionally recorded video has a detailed information page and is hosted on blip.tv allowing for easy downloads of the original files and integration into Miro. The value of this footage is best described by an International Herald Tribune/New York Times article describing the release:

"..In a conflict where the Western news media have been largely prevented from reporting from Gaza because of restrictions imposed by the Israeli military, Al Jazeera has had a distinct advantage. It was already there."

Creative Commons Blog.

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Only Richard Nixon Less Popular Than Bush

Things that make Fox New's wingnut heads explode.

The Gallup final poll shows Bush approval rating has risen a bit to 34%.
Only Richard Nixon was explicitly less popular at the time of his exit than Bush is today. Gallup's final approval polling on Nixon had him at 24% of Americans approving of the job he was doing.
Of all the recent presidents, Bill Clinton had the highest approval rating (66%) upon leaving office.

Americablog

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Eric Margolis | Who and What is Hamas

From the Real News Network Eric Margolis gives us a briefing on Hamas.



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Campbell Brown on Bush and Katrina

Campbell Brown's amazing takedown of G-Dub's delusional hurricane Katrina spin.


"..Many people will disagree over many aspects of the Bush legacy," Brown said. "But on the government's handling of Katrina? It is impossible to challenge what so many of us witnessed firsthand, what the entire country witnessed through the images on our television screens day and night.."

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Monday's Video | Michael Franti

Words of wisdom from Michael Franti, "I Know I'm Not Alone" - Listen to more of Michael, and a lot less of corporate media:



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And Another Obama Interview

John Harwood of The New York Times and CNBC sits down with President-elect Barack Obama:



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History of the Internets

You always wondered, and here it is: The History of the Internet:


History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.

While I'm on the subject here's a little folksong I found about the Internet:

"The internet is a less than physical space containing a multitude of varying opinions on a wide variety of topics written by..."

Boingboing.

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Kentucky's Mo' Money Mitch McConnell In A Bind

As a surprise to no one Kentucky's Republican Senator Mitch McConnell has recently become a firm believer in limits on government spending. After the administration of George W. Bush where federal money was being thrown around like drunken sailers on a binge. Let me guess, on January 21st Mitch will become a firm believer in limits to the powers of the executive branch, and making sure there's no partisans(Democratic that is) appointed to government positions.
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Will Mitch crash Obama honeymoon?
HE'LL NEED TO KEEP GOP MODERATES FROM STRAYING

"WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell might be the most powerful Republican in federal government, but he will have to work hard to herd his party's dwindled caucus during President-elect Barack Obama's congressional honeymoon phase.."
--

Of course Mitch only wants to keep the Republican's budget ideas in play. Because you know they've worked so well for the past eight years. Just look at our economy, the budget surplus, employment, and, Ah, oh hell, never mind!

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Coming Soon | Taser Shotgun?

Things that make cops drool...The Taser Shotgun?

Introducing the TASER™ XREP™ – eXtended Range Electronic Projectile. The XREP projectile is self-contained, wireless, and fires from a 12-gauge shotgun. It delivers the same Neuro Muscular Incapacitation (NMI) bio-effect as our handheld TASER X26 Electronic Control Device (ECD), but can be delivered to a distance of 65 feet (20 meters), combining blunt impact with field-proven TASER NMI.

Booman says:
I also bet that too many of our local law enforcement officers can't wait to use it either. As often as they can. Against some smart ass little punk, for example, who weighs only 130 pounds but has a bad attitude and isn't showing them the proper respect. Or a person suffering from a diabetic seizure. Or someone whose home they bust into by mistake. Or a mentally ill person. Or an old lady at a nursing home. Or someone who just looks at them funny. Or some of them liberal hippie type protesters who cause so much trouble. Or a scared autistic runaway boy. Or anyone who's black.

Note:
A CBC study has shown that the Taser has killed at least 400 people in the United States and Canada since 2001. The research showed that a person hit with a Taser could face as high as a 50 percent chance of cardiac arrest.

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Bill Moyers On The Mideast Violence

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Artist Appreciation Moment | Kentucky's Paul Sawyer

Paul Sawyer was doing Impressionist paintings at the turn of the 20th century in Kentucky. Working mostly in and around Frankfort. This is "Autumn in the Palisades":

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Saturday's Video | Blind Faith

Blind Faith, 1969, with "Can't Find My Way Home":



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Letterman's Bush Top Ten

You'll enjoy these.



And the best part: This embarrassing, evil clown has only about a week to screw our country any more.

Meanwhile, along with everything else. Job losses are the highest since 1945.

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Join The Humane Society and Help Stop The Seal Hunt

I've joined this campaign from the humane society(freely) and I hope you will to. It'll be a good thing, good for your karma. Print out the coupon and give it to the manager the next time you're in your local grocery.


Photo link: Heartbroken

Can your grocer stop the seal hunt?

Just before the holidays, The Fresh Market grocery store chain joined the campaign to stop the cruel Canadian seal hunt -- pledging to shift its seafood purchasing away from Canada until that country ends its seal hunt for good.

With more than 80 stores across 18 states, The Fresh Market joins grocers such as Whole Foods Market, BI-LO Supermarkets, Trader Joe's, Lowe's Food Stores, Harris Teeter, and WinCo Foods in pledging to stop buying seafood produced in Canada.

As we head into the New Year, it is crucial that we maintain this momentum and reach out to grocers -- please print and fill out this comment card for your local grocer -- and urge them to join the rapidly growing list of grocery stores and restaurants joining the ProtectSeals campaign.

What's the connection between your grocery store and the seal hunt? Sealers are actually commercial fishermen who earn only a small fraction of their livelihood from killing baby seals for their fur. The vast majority of the sealers' incomes -- 95% actually -- comes from commercial fishing. About two thirds of Canada's seafood is exported to the United States each year, achieving more than $2.5 billion for the Canadian economy annually. This dwarfs the few million dollars contributed to the Canadian economy by the commercial seal hunt.

By choosing to avoid Canadian seafood, you can give the fishermen who kill seals a clear economic incentive to stop the slaughter. So far, our boycott has resulted in millions of lost revenue for Canadian sealers. But we aren't there yet: As of today Canada still refuses to bow to international pressure, and is readying its sealing vessels for the 2009 slaughter.

More

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Housekeeping? Or Demolition?

Holy Crap!!
From the Best of Craig's List, "Light Housekeeping Needed":
















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Gaza | Israel Fights Off The Vicious Terrorist Threat

Hasn't our U.S. corporate "News" Media been trained well? I suppose that the build-up and aftermath of bloody dubya's assault on Iraq was probably the finishing lesson.
(Another)Example: I caught a bit of the CBS morning "news" this morning while waiting for daughter number 2 to get ready for school.
First they had Michael Bloomberg's take on Obama's stimulus bill(MICHAEL BLOOMBERG?) and his opinion on the Gaza situation. Answers: Classic Republican - stimulus bill good, more tax cuts better. On Gaza, "the Israelis have no choice but to kill women and children to protect themselves from stray rockets".
They had a "report" from Gaza by some "reporter"(doesn't matter who), who literally read off talking points from the IDF and the Israeli government. Exagerating? No, this guy was standing on camera with smoke rising from Gaza in the background and telling us what was going on, and after each of his 3 statements they were identified as being from IDF or Israeli government. Any reports from actually inside Gaza? No. Any scenes from inside Gaza? No. Any comments from Hamas, the UN, a Palestinian or ANYONE with a different perspective? Don't be silly.
Why didn't they just leave their "reporter" in New York in front of a blue screen, actually they may have. Jeebus I hate corporate "news" clones!
From Bagnews, here's a shot of Israeli teens enjoying the carnage:











And here's some casualties Michael Bloomberg approves of to keep those smiling teens above the carnage:



















Humanity's no less bloodthirsty than when they left the caves.

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Tuesday Night Video | Radiohead, House of Cards

Radiohead's video for "House of Cards":



I'm going to play WoW. Enough Internets news for now.

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Gaza | More Lives Wasted For Old Religions

Jesus. So much death for old Gods.
As for the war to control the news coming out of Israel's war front in Gaza. Someone tell me objectively why I should believe the IDF anymore than I believe my own Pentagon, and then they can tell me how much of my Pentagon's message they always accept as truth:

The Israeli Defense Force has shelled a UN school in the Gaza strip, killing 30 and injuring 55.

More reportage at C&L and video:


To Hamas or whomever's firing the missiles, STOP! Most are a waste anyway. Do you think it's really helping your people. And Israel, Jesus Christ, look at what you're doing...
There's no winning either side with words, it's like a brick wall of immediate dismissal and hate if you're critisizing "their" side.
No answers I guess. Just a thousand years of war and death.
As always IMHO

Us & Them.


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Death By Black Hole

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were pulled into a black hole, and no I'm not talking about the George W. Bush Presidential Library(Rimshot)?


Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson describes the (hypothetical) experience of death by falling into a black hole.

Full video at FORA.tv
Thanks Boingboing
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She Speaks With Forked Tongue

I find this very disturbing...and strangely exiting.



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Some Brief Headlines

Pic credit: Mediabiestro

I'm baaaack, after only a few days, and looking at the news. Here's some of(what I thought are) the biggest headlines of the moment:

Israeli tanks and soldiers invade Gaza Strip

Israel bombs Gaza mosque

Few days old: (Sad for their family)John Travolta's son dies in Bahamas

Democrat Al Franken now leads by 225 votes after adding 176 votes when absentee ballots were counted today in Minnesota

U.S. Manufacturing Lowest Since 1980

U.S.-installed Iraqi ex-PM says Bush "utter failure"

2008, record deaths in Afghanistan

Debt could jump $2 trillion in 2009

Factual Error Found On Internet(The Onion)

I'm going to read a bit more and then get back to World of Warcraft(Don't hate me because I have a tithian nightsword).
Later in the "tubes" guys.

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Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear | Lobbyists And Cronies

So many questions.. Are these guys completely deaf to public appearances? Are they just greedy crooks that'll just rake in the money till they're caught? Is this species a new government leach that's completly infected both State and Federal governments? Are Kentuckians as stupid as these guys seem to think?
Like I said, questions, questions.
It's just no wonder people are sick to death of this. It's not a Democratic or Republican thing either. I could fill pages with what Republicans and Bushies have done to my country, but this, this is just more crooks and cronyism. Or at least the overwhelming stench of it.
I love the guy who got a job at a set salary of $60,000 and decided he just wanted more, so he asked for more, and got $100,000. Easy-Peasy right?

Lexington Herald-Leader:
Lobbyist, official are partners

"..Gov. Steve Beshear's chief of staff, Adam Edelen, is a partner in private business deals with top Frankfort lobbyist Bob Babbage, who represents a long list of clients wanting something from state government..

..Although Babbage is a friend and business partner, Edelen said, he is received no differently by the Democratic Beshear administration than other lobbyists at the Capitol. Cutting his ties to Babbage is unnecessary, he added..

.."This certainly creates at least a terrible appearance problem for the governor's office," said Richard Beliles, chairman of Common Cause of Kentucky..

..Babbage lobbies the state's executive branch for more than two dozen clients who want state contracts or more favorable tax policies, laws and regulations. They include contractors Branscum Construction and Palmer Engineering and gambling-machine maker International Game Technology..

..Coldiron — the third partner in Chartwell Land Co. — remains at the state's homeland security agency. He took a midlevel job that was advertised with an annual salary of $60,000 to $80,000. But, after he told the governor's office that he wanted more, his pay was raised to $100,000..

...Babbage's name does not appear on Edelen's disclosure, just their company's name. Corporate records available elsewhere, at the secretary of state's office, show that Babbage and Coldiron are Edelen's business partners.."

Now seriously folks, Mister Edelen says there's no conflict of interest and no problems because, well, because, he says so dang it! So there!

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Krugman's Looking For A Word | How About Sociopath?

Paul Krugman says:
"There has to be some word for the kind of person who considers his mild discomfort the equivalent of torture, crippling injury, or death for other people."

I think Atrios has a better one and it start's with an "M".

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