This Modern World | Top Five Reasons To Trust Bankers

They don't care about making money. They just want to help people out.



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Neiwert | How Hate Talk Radicalized The Right

David Neiwert's new book is out and has struck a cord with all the people who've been wondering where hate talk radio is going, where the crazies at town halls came from, where their instructions come from and what the (Never)Rightwing is going to do and/or scream about next. Here David is in an interview discussing the book:


C&L

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Some Odds & Ends About Republicans, And Jenna, Oh My

A few random nuggets:

Top Ten signs you're not a Libertarian.
"If you think Ron Paul isn't conservative enough and Fox News is fair and balanced, you might not be a Libertarian."

Five Symptoms of Republican Schizophrenia
"Keep Government Out of Medicare."

Another reason to avoid "The Today Show"; No guys, not just because it's an info-tainment show targeted at women. The dumbest President ever's daughter Jenna has been hired to talk about ed-jumacation and stuff:
Unqualified nepotism: Conservative values at their very best.


For Republicans(as if you didn't know) bi-partisanship is a one way street - their way.
Bi-Partisanship is Hurting Democrats

MEH..!

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Kennedy: ‘The Cause of My Life’

Oh, And Orrin Hatch; Either support your "Dear friend" Ted's health care plan or STFU about your BFF Ted! Thank you..

"Heartbroken parents pleaded with the doctors: What chance does my child have if I can only afford half of the prescribed treatments? Or two thirds? I've sold everything. I've mortgaged as much as possible. No parent should suffer that torment. Not in this country."
Ted Kennedy, Newsweek: ‘The Cause of My Life’

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Movie Trailer | "Moon"

I may have to see "Moon". It looks like it could be REALLY GOOD. Here's the trailer:



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Ted Kennedy Services | Some Great Oratory, And Other Moments

Whew! I'm back. It's been a few days. Let me dust out some of the cobwebs here...there, we go. Good as new.
If you're like me; A political junkie, history nerd(talk nerdy to me), good speech lover and especially a proud Democrat(as was Ted). Ted Kennedy's passing has provided quite a bit of it all. And I believe he would have LOVED it all.
I watched a good part of the services last night and most of the funeral this morning. I've embedded a few of my favorite speakers below, most from last night but also Obama's eulogy from today. This isn't all though follow the link. Last night alone was a cornocopia. Even Orrin Hatch had a nice speech.

Chris Dodd is one of my favorites. Maybe because it sounds like he and Ted were really old close friends:

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

Mass. Governor Deval Patrick did well and it was the first time I've seen him speak:

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

Former Senator John Culver of Iowa who was a classmate and friend of Kennedy told a wonderfully funny, and touching story from their days at school:

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

Finally, with today's eulogy is President Barack Obama. Done(as always) really well:

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

My least favorite speech was John McCain's. He did passibly well but then blatently snubbed Vicki Kennedy at the end of his speech(Boo!).

Three former Presidents, the eulogy by the current President, former and present vice-Presidents, the cream of the crop(depending on how you look at it) in today's American political scene. What a funeral! Way to go Ted!

Even dubya behaved himself.

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Thom Hartmann | Lower The Retirement Age To 55

This is the best idea I've heard in ages. Maybe(but not quite) topping National health care. Brilliant. And not just because I'm 55.

Lower the Retirement Age to 55 Now!

Ernie Zelinski

Much Thanks C & L.

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Can Ted Kennedy's Death Bring Good National Health Care?

I hope so.
And one with at least a public option(I'd prefer single-payer).
Call it the Kennedy Bill..that would be nice and fitting.

Sign the petition.

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The "Least Influential People"

Damn it. I just HAVE to be on the list this year!


Time Releases Annual List Of "Least Influential Americans"


Did Harry Reid make the list again?

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RIP Ted Kennedy, The Last Of "Camelot" Is Gone

The Lion is gone.
Thousands will say it far better than I, and so I'll let them. But I'll quote Joe Biden(who had a very heartfelt statement this morningby the way), who paraphrased Shakespeare, "I don't think we'll see his like again".

Photo: Us

Godspeed as they say Teddy. You did your best with all the pain and loss thrust on you. I still remember your brothers and what might have been. I'm a proud agnostic, but if you DO get to meet John and Bobby again give them a BIG hug from ALL of us.

Here's something from those days that meant a lot:


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Breaking: "Joementum" Lieberman STILL A Corporate Whore!

Remember when Joe sleaze was electioneering For John McCain in '08? Me to.

Lieberman: Worry about uninsured after the recession is over

Why is this corrupt manwhore still getting air time?

Oh, and speaking of John McCain. That other corporate douchebag with EXCELLENT government health care RIGHT NOW, whines(as if you cared) about the little people not needing that silly old gubment insurance:

McCain: Obama must drop public option


Don't you watching two weasels working together? Someone tell Johny that "Matlock" is on.

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Bobblespeak Translations: Today's "Meet The Press"

Bobblespeak translates the pundit shows: Here's what they had to say on Dancin' David Gregory's show today:

Meet the Press - with Mullen, Eikenberry, Smiley and Scarborough - August 23, 2009
...
Gregory: do we need more troops to defeat these crafty Afghans?

Mullen: could be

Gregory: but President McCain says we do

Mullen: actually Obama won the election

Gregory: what?!? [ starts sobbing ]
...

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Final Words For The Day

"Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.."
-Dying words of General Stonewall Jackson

Howl
".. Death threats, bellowing disruptions, a few brawls here and there, and for all intents and purposes, an important national debate between political leaders and the public was shredded by right-wing activists - many of whom don't have health insurance - who shouted themselves hoarse because they don't like the president. These "protesters" have been filled with a bewildering budget of lies and misinformation by the organizers behind these protests, and by national Republican leaders who seem to think derailing health care reform will win them some elections, and be damned to the people themselves..."
-William Rivers Pitt, truthout

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Winkers Jeans? Coming To Butts Near You..

"Winkers Jeans" You heard it here first..weeell, maybe not...but somewhere in the top ten.



The Squid.
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Political Brats

From Betty Bower's No Sin Zone.


The Anatomy of a Political Brat

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Video | Jon Stewart Takes On Betsy McCaughey(Part I)

I don't say "Must see" very often, but Jon Stewart's dismantling of Insurance shill(I'm assuming) Betsy McCaughey is a thing of beauty. I saw it this evening on The Comedy Channel(Ironic isn't it?) and found it on Current tv. McCaughey resorts to mechanical repeats of lame talking points.
Warning; Commercial, but it's short):

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

Part 2...

Thanks Current_

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Video: Jon Stewart On The Sadness Of Being CNN

Jon Stewart takes on the desperate antics of the once respectable CNN. Actually some of us haven't watched CNN(Conservative News Network anyone?) for more than 20 seconds since the early 90's.
On the other hand CNN isn't actually blocked on my remote like Faux News, so I don't even have to go through them while I channel surf.
ANYWAY, here's Jon

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
CNN's Just Sayin'
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

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Video: Barney Frank Takes The Correct Approach

I've always liked Barney Frank(at least most of the time), and here's a BIG reason why. He doesn't suffer fools gladly. A good approach when dealing with crazed wingnuts.


Oddly this woman looks like she should be smarter than this. His last line should have been;
"Ma'am PLEASE watch less Faux News!"

Rachel Maddow on the alternate universe of Republicanism.

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Police Stop Bob Dylan For Acting Suspicious?

Bob Dylan was recently stopped by cops in Long Branch, NJ for looking suspicious.



A lot of punchlines could come from this but I'll just let Bob's "Idiot Wind" do the talking.

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Cereal Mascot Reunion?

Excellent! But where's Mister "Lucky Charms"?



Check out the atari controllers on the table. And is that Budweiser cans strewn all over?

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Tom Tomorrow Latest | If Democrats Were More Like Republicans

Sadly true.



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Saturday's Video | Rob Thomas

Matchbox 20's own Rob Thomas with "Her Diamonds", from "Cradlesong":




Just logged on, and I'm now going to go read some "Netroots" news. Hope you're having a GREAT Saturday.

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Photo-Crashing Ground Squirrel

If you haven't seen it. Here's the pic of that camera loving squirrel. From Melissa Brandts and National Geographic:



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Flying Through Galaxies | The Hubble Ultra Deep Field In 3D

A pretty good video which explains and then enhances using 3D imagery one of the most amazing photos ever made by humanity. The Hubble ultra deep field image




"We pointed the most powerful telescope ever built by human beings at absolutely nothing, for no other reason than because we were curious, and discovered that we occupy a very tiny place in the heavens"

Thanks BoingBoing.

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Netroots Nation | Watch Live

..'Ello Liberals, and Progressives everywhere! For those of us who can't be there. Live streaming of Netroots Nation here. I've tried to embed below but it may not work very well.

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV

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Howard Dean, Harsh Words For The GOP Deadenders

I caught this interview with Howard Dean on Olbermann last night and wanted to throw it up when I had the chance. Chores done, check - Some daily resumes uploaded, check - Dreams of a good job still ongoing, check - Booyah, here it tis.

Note: Unlike Doctor Dean I wouldn't write of that "irrevelent" GOP yet. Obama and the Dems STILL damn well determined to be "bi-partisan". The GOP still has their own cable "News", a wingnut stranglehold on radio, and "FAUX" News still has a LOT of watchers(just look at the townhall shouters). We CAN dream though can't we Doctor?


Another reason I'm still a political junkie. Can't wait to see how it plays out.

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A Disaster Area? No, It's That American Non-Guvment Health System

Another view of that premium US health care system that the Wingnut teabaggers(or as MSNBC describes them "senior citizens") - many of whom are on medicare, Veteran's benefits, and/or other guv-ment programs - love to crow about in front of those townhall corporate media cameras.

"..looking at a make-do clinic in that "remote area" known as American health care.."



Patients receive dental care inside the Forum arena at a free health clinic on August 11, 2009 in Inglewood, California. Hundreds of people, most without either health or dental insurance, waited outside much of the night for the first day of the clinic.

BAGnewsNotes.

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Jon Stewart On The Teabaggers And Wingnut Townhallers

"Interesting point by Yellington J Crazypants"

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Healther Skelter
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

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Best Line About The Townhall "News" Coverage Today

Comes from Atrios:

"Used to be the "crazy people" at these things were single payer advocates, and the media ignored them."

--
Amen brother.
It's been full blown wingnut "teabagger" coverage all over the corporate "newsies" today.
I told my sister that the wingnutter carrying the pistol outside Obama's townhall today - IF he plays his cards right could be the next "joe the Plumber", remember him?

The "teabaggers" and other wingnuts at these events are the puppets. Who are the puppeteers?

Inside Story on Town Hall Riots: Right-Wing Shock Troops Do Corporate America's Dirty Work
-Adele M. Stan, AlterNet

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Astronomy Pic Of The Day | Coiled Galaxy, Looking At Us

From the NASA Image of the Day, galaxy NGC 1097:

Coiled Creature
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has imaged a wild creature of the dark -- a coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center.The 'eye' at the center of the galaxy is actually a monstrous black hole surrounded by a ring of stars. In this color-coded infrared view from Spitzer, the area around the invisible black hole is blue and the ring of stars, white.

The galaxy, called NGC 1097 and located 50 million light-years away, is spiral-shaped like our Milky Way, with long, spindly arms of stars.

The black hole is huge, about 100 million times the mass of our sun, and is feeding off gas and dust, along with the occasional unlucky star. Our Milky Way's central black hole is tame in comparison, with a mass of a few million suns..."

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Breaking: Arlen Specter Mauled By Wingnuts!

I caught a bit of Arlen Specter's town hall event this morning at the end of the Dylan Ratigan Show. Below is a clip from the beginning of the event. I saw the first of seven questions and it was all wingnut all the time. At one point when one said something particularly wingnuttia virtually the whole crowd stood up and cheered. That will give you some idea of the political aspect of the mob. One woman said she was 35 years old and identified herself(as if she needed to) as a "Republican conservative", and then proceeded to rant about the politicians(hint Obama) destroying our consitution. Where do you think this Wingnutlady was when bloody dubya was wiping his behind with the document during the Cheney administration?


Many of those Rightwing conservatives I saw ranting about "government run healthcare" looked like they may well be well into Medicare, and/or other "government run healthcare programs"(just a minor observation).
My BIG question is; How are these people becoming like 80~90% of the audience at these events? Do they shove their way in ahead of people with intelligent questions and concerns, is there complicency with some of the organizers, does the 70%+- of Americans who want health care reform just not bother to show up? So many questions without answers.
Poor Arlen apparently was not the best guy to come back with pithy comebacks and revelations. A lot of his replies to Wingnuttia hysteria was something along the lines of, "ah, ah, ah, well, uh, uh, uh". Although he did throw in a zinger at the Bushistas after the 30something wingnut lady did her "poor constitution" whine.
I also realize that the conservative Repubs are already highly pissed at ol' Arlen for switching over to the heathens anyway. So they don't need to much prodding to hate him.
On a related note. I sort of like Dylan Ratigan's show, it's okay if you're a(Democratic) political junkie.

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D.U's Top Ten

Aaah, the classics never die. Here's Democratic Underground's latest, "Top Ten Conservative Idiots". Numero uno this week, Those wacky tantrumatic "teabaggers" of course:

The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 370






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Joan Walsh | Seriously, Obama Death Panels?

The unbearable wackiness of Sarah Palin and the new Republican party. Joan Walsh sees them to:

But seriously, folks: Obama death panels?
From- Salon.com

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George W. Bush Invaded Iraq to Stop Gog And Magog?

Makes about as much sense as some of his other reasons.
We always knew that dubya was dumb as a post, but apparently he's religiously intoxicated to. Just like the 23%(hint, Republicans) who still think that there was ANYTHING good about the man.
Damn, we were lucky to survive..


A French Revelation, or The Burning Bush
JAMES A. HAUGHT

Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible’s satanic agents of the Apocalypse.

Honest. This isn’t a joke. The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in attacking Iraq as a mission from God.

Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their “common faith” (Christianity) and told him: “Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.”

This bizarre episode occurred while the White House was assembling its “coalition of the willing” to unleash the Iraq invasion. Chirac says he was boggled by Bush’s call and “wondered how someone could be so superficial and fanatical in their beliefs....”
Continue

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This Just In | Sarah Palin Dumber Than Fred Thompson!

And that's saying a lot..

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

Yes, she actually calls a health care plan evil...

Kos

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Secretary Of State Clinton Laughs At John Bolton

The sweet spot is when interviewer Fareed Zakaria brings up the name of far right conservative John bolton.



On the other hand when SecOS Clinton(discussing N. Korea) starts talking about;

"..certain countries who..I think are beyond the pale..of the rule of law...hold people and subject them to long prison terms that are absolutely unfair and unwarrented"

You think Hillary's heard of something called Gitmo, and CIA phantom prison sites? Or even our prison industrial war on drugs(users)?

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Ben Stein Dumped(Finally) By The Times

Couldn't have happened to a nicer wingnut guy. The intelligence of The Times just rose by degrees.

Ben Stein finally Expelled from NY Times

Oh, and it wasn't his Money either!

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Music For Friday Evenings | The National

A nice Friday night video; The National on Letterman with "Fake Empire":



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Joe Bageant | "The Bastards Never Die "

From Counterpunch:

The Bastards Never Die
By JOE BAGEANT
(With Running Commentary by Screaming Man)

A Short History of Why We Eat Oil, Can't Smoke Pot and Assault Weapons Are So Expensive in Our Hour of Need ...

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Kathy Griffin | "Gawd Dammit, And Pontius Pilote!"

Kathy Griffin does an hilarious(to me) take on her cursing catholic mom in this bit:



"Who's going on this cruise? Lesbians and their children!!!??"

"Gawd Dammit!!"

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Welcome Home

A big welcome home to Euna Lee and Laura Ling. A very touching family reunion this morning.



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Salon's Handy-Dandy Guide To Refuting The Birthers

A short break from the(apparently) endless job search.
Salon.com has a nice article up about the "birther" conspiracy theories. These are the same crackpots that show up at the townhalls to shout down ANY public discussion or discourse on health care. Played like puppets by the John Boehners, Rush Limbaughs, health/pharma/insurance corporations, etal.

Salon's handy-dandy guide to refuting the Birthers




















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White House Goes On Offensive Against RightWing Health Care Mis-information

I suppose Rightwing lies and Bullcrap would be better terms for it. The Drudge "Report" is number one in the sights right now.

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.

Here's one White House video:


If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

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Moment Of Crazy | MSNBC "Interviews" Orly Taitz

"Birther" Orly Taitz shows how to do a psycho interview with David Shuster:

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

Via Balloon Juice

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One More Sunday Video | "Breathe"

Heard this one just today. Telepopmusic with "Breathe":



Speaking of Michael Phelps; Now if he were listening to this video, I'd recommend the Kentucky Mountain Sinsemilla, probably the Afghan strain:-)

Gonna go look for one of those full time job thingies. Later travelers.

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Michael Phelps Hasn't Let Corporate Scolds Stop Him

Someone needs to warn the mother hens at Kellogs(etal.) that Michael Phelps hasn't been harmed at all by the "killer weed"

Michael Phelps wins 5th gold at World Games

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Interesting Old Photos | George Armstrong Custer

From a bunch of pics that I've saved for some reason. This is Captain(at that time) George Armstrong Custer with confederate prisoner of war Lt. James B. Washington.
























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Sunday Video | "Old Enough"

The Raconteurs with Ricky Scaggs and Ashley Monroe, "Old Enough":



I'm back..

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