Foiled Again!

What happened to the end of Industrial Civilization & everyone going back to the trees & mud-huts & living in harmony w/ the earth? Greedy fucking bankers, as usual.

Speaking to central bankers and economists at the Fed’s annual retreat here in the Grand Tetons, Mr. Bernanke echoed the growing relief among European and Asian central bankers that their own economies had already started to rebound.

It is rapidly becoming our fondest hope to see this world of liars & thieves, murderers & cheaters fall, Babylon-style. That means the downfall of everything has to happen before we die, so we'd really appreciate it if the dialectic would get on w/ it.

... But Never Better Late

"Rusty" Calley is sorry, so sorry.

"There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai," former lieutenant William Calley told members of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus, Georgia. "I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry."

Vietnamese "were killed," passively. American soldiers were "involved." Not quite. Say it, Rusty. Say, "I ordered the deaths of hundreds of civilians, I'm a murderer."

Wikipedia claims

Ultimately, Calley served only three and a half years of house arrest in his quarters at Fort Benning.

& the AFP adds

The exact toll of the massacre still remains in dispute, but US estimates suggest that between 347 and 504 unarmed citizens were massacred that day.

So Rusty does three & a half years hard time in his quarters for 350 to 500 deaths, & this Lockerbie bomber whose release has been such an outrage (Had anyone asked, we would have been all for letting him die in prison, but no one asked.) killed 270 & did eight years in an actual prison. Where's that outrage again, America?

22 August: Dog Days, Doggier Nights; Today's Deaths: Richard III, Michael Collins, Jomo Kenyatta, Huey P. Newton; "The Scream" Stolen

Today is Saturday, Aug. 22nd, the 234th day of 2009. There are 131 days left in the year. AP's A/V.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Aug. 22, 1485, England's King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, effectively ending the War of the Roses. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard to become King Henry VII.

On this date:

In 1787, inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. In 1846, the United States annexed New Mexico. In 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup. In 1893, author, poet, critic and wit Dorothy Parker was born in West Bend, N.J.In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. chief executive to ride in an automobile, in Hartford, Conn. In 1904, Chinese communist leader Deng Xiaoping was born in Sichuan province. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, which remained under Japanese colonial rule until 1945.In 1922, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by Irish Republican Army members who were opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that Collins had co-signed. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon were nominated for second terms in office by the Republican national convention in San Francisco.Fifty years ago, in 1959, the New York Philharmonic orchestra, led by conductor Leonard Bernstein, opened a concert tour of the Soviet Union with a program in Moscow featuring works by Samuel Barber, Mozart and Shostakovich. In 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Bogota, Colombia, for the start of the first papal visit to South America. In 1978, President Jomo Kenyatta, a leading figure in Kenya's struggle for independence, died; Vice President Daniel arap Moi was sworn in as acting president. In 1985, 55 people died when fire broke out aboard a British Airtours charter jet on a runway at Manchester Airport in England. In 1986, Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of Karen Silkwood $1.38 million, settling a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit. Twenty years ago, in 1989, Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot to death in Oakland, Calif. (Gunman Tyrone Robinson was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.)Ten years ago: Hurricane Bret rumbled ashore on the Texas Gulf Coast with winds of over 100 miles-an-hour. A China Airlines jet landing in stormy weather at Hong Kong's new airport flipped over and burst into flames, killing three people and injuring more than 200. In 2003, Alabama's chief justice, Roy Moore, was suspended for his refusal to obey a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of his courthouse. Five years ago: As shocked spectators watched, armed thieves stole one of four versions of the Edvard Munch masterpiece "The Scream" and a second Munch painting, "Madonna," from the Munch museum in Oslo, Norway. (The paintings, visibly damaged, were recovered in Aug. 2006; three men were convicted in connection with the theft and sentenced to prison.) One year ago: The US carried out airstrikes in western Herat province in Afghanistan; according to a later U.S. estimate, the raid resulted in the deaths of 33 civilians and 22 militants (the Afghan government and U.N. investigators said that 90 civilians had died). Usain Bolt helped Jamaica win the 400-meter relay final in 37.10 seconds for his third gold medal and third world record of the Beijing Olympics. Bryan Clay won the decathlon. Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers beat Brazil in the men's beach volleyball championship game.

Today's Birthdays August 22

Author Ray Bradbury is 89. Heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley is 89. Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is 75. Broadcast journalist Morton Dean is 74. Author Annie Proulx is 74. Rockabilly singer Dale Hawkins is 73. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski is 70. Actress Valerie Harper is 69. Football coach Bill Parcells is 68. CBS newsman Steve Kroft is 64. Actress Cindy Williams is 62. Musician David Marks is 61. International Swimming Hall of Famer Diana Nyad is 60. Baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor is 53. Rock musician Vernon Reid is 51. Actress Regina Taylor is 49. Rock singer Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears) is 48. Rock musician Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) is 48. Rock musician Gary Lee Conner (Screaming Trees) is 47. Singer Tori Amos is 46. Rhythm-and-blues musician James DeBarge is 46. International Tennis Hall of Famer Mats Wilander is 45. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is 42. Actor Ty Burrell is 42. Actor Rick Yune is 38. Rock musician Paul Doucette (Matchbox Twenty) is 37. Rap-reggae singer Beenie Man is 36. Comedian-actress Kristen Wiig is 36.Actress Jenna Leigh Green is 35. Rock musician Dean Back (Theory of a Deadman) is 34. Rock musician Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan) is 31. Actress Aya Sumika (TV: "Numb3rs") is 29. [Editor's note: "Country singers" we've never heard of & Backstreet Boys (36?) have been mercilessly excised from today's list.]

Today In Entertainment History August 22

[Judging from the paucity of "entertainment" events here, the dog days are fully upon us. — Ed.] On Aug. 22, 1956, the Five Satins made their debut on the R&B charts with "In the Still of the Night." In 1966, Jerry Lee Lewis was signed to play Iago in "Catch My Soul," a rock version of Shakespeare's "Othello." In 1968, John Lennon's wife Cynthia filed for divorce, one day shy of their sixth anniversary. By this time, John was seeing Yoko Ono, whom he married in 1969.In 1970, Elvis Presley announced his first tour since 1958. It lasted six dates.

Truth Panel

Today's Diet Aid

Picture this: We've just taken our first shower in a wk.; as we sit here, butt-nekkid & typing, we're smoking a cigarette. Be glad we don't have a camera w/ a timer (or a flunky) to take the picture.

If you've already shoveled down your dinner, beware: Merely thinking about this for too long can lead to bulimia. (Be sure to brush your teeth after vomiting. Don't want stomach acid on the dental enamel.)

Now that we've smoked that last butt, it's off to Vons.

From The Krauthammer Dictionary (ALSO: MORE NEW CRAP)

Remarkable Political Talent: One who lies on a consistent basis.

We might start by asking Sarah Palin to leave the room. I've got nothing against her. She's a remarkable political talent. But there are no "death panels" in the Democratic health-care bills, and to say that there are is to debase the debate.

Really, he's got nothing against her. A "remarkable talent." But let's ask her "to leave the room."

And, A Cheap Shot:

(UP-DATED, W/ A LINK TO SERIOUSNESS):

One of people who posts when Sullivan's vacating from The Daily Dish, Conor Clarke, read the rest of Dr. Krauthammer's column & noted

a bit of a fudge on Krauthammer's part.

Call it a "fudge" if you will, but it looks like a big glob of dog-shit on the doctor's wheels to us. He's quite the "remarkable political talent" as well. Punchline reference: "I'm glad I didn't roll in that."

STFU, Hollywood!

Hollywood celebrities are supposed to shut up & go away, but when one of them ("Mr. Voight -- a warrior himself in many ways -- has been cogitating about the state of America, meanwhile.") opens his trap to mouth fantasies about Obama, that's important & reasoned. (He's been "cogitating," y'know.)

"There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?" Mr. Voight tells Inside the Beltway.

"We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever can't see this is probably hoping it isn't true. If we permit Mr. Obama to take over all our industries, if we permit him to raise our taxes to support unconstitutional causes, then we will be in default. This great America will become a paralyzed nation."

The clue is here: "We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever can't see this is probably hoping it isn't true." We wish to hell it were true, but we don't see the slightest indication of creeping socialism.

Civil war? Paralyzed nation? Talk to the "Party of NO" about that, Mr. Voight.

Mr. Voight is also concerned about legendary Boogie Man Saul Alinsky & mythical ACORN thugs, while ignoring the astroturfed tea-baggers who started the disruptions of public fora. No mention of dragging one's loaded pseudo-penis to town halls & standing around w/ it, either. Because that's not thuggery, that's why!

Pushing Globalism

MSNBC is going to have to start paying us for re-distributing their programming.Actually, we're running this one again because, through the quirks of cyberspace, an email address of ours has been passed around the right, & we've gotten some interesting communications, including this one, from the very same Alan Gottlieb (We assume, yes. There can't be that many gun-clutchers named Alan Gottlieb.) who, although identified above as the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, also seems to be affiliated w/ Citizen's Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms, which is very worried.Can you imagine who these horrid supporters are? Hint: Foreigners!We see why he could barely express himself on Hardball. He can't express himself very well through typing.Yes indeed, call the White House & express your disdain. Please. While you're drowning Senators in faxes. Is it the gun nuts who have faxes & telephones, or is just that Senators are so stupid they have to see printed faxes before they'll believe that a few hundred nuts are in a lather?

Either way, we'd love to see Mr. Gottlieb return to Hardball to explain this nugget of paranoia.Is it still 1961?

Funny That A Whore Would Be Up To Her Same Old Tricks, Yrs. Later

From the electrons of Salon, a spoilsport points out what a witch Betsy McCaughey is, & comes up w/ a not-unreasonable idea to wise these stupid racists the hell up. But ruins it by suggesting that we not call them "stupid racists." Here are the important parts, so you needn't worry about getting any Paglia on you by visiting Salon.

Stage managed? Absolutely. Somebody like Betsy McCaughey doesn't invent a lie as brazen as the so-called death panels out of nowhere. She's a professional; a paid propagandist for the right-wing Hudson Institute. Back in 1993, her article "No Exit" in the allegedly liberal (but incompetently edited)* New Republic magazine helped sink President Bill Clinton's healthcare initiative.

Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 1

Then McCaughey claimed the Clinton bill made it a crime to buy supplemental insurance or pay your doctor out of pocket. The bill itself said, "Nothing in this act shall be construed as prohibiting ... an individual from purchasing health-care services."

Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 2

But McCaughey's a poised and superficially attractive woman who performs capably on television. So why wouldn't low-information voters get taken in all over again? Particularly after her "death panel" falsehoods got amplified by figures like Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and the supposedly "moderate" Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Perlstein: "If you don't understand that any moment of genuine political change always produces both [mad lies and heartfelt fear], you can't understand America, where the crazy tree blooms in every moment of liberal ascendancy, and where elites exploit the crazy for their own narrow interests."

And yet the Obama White House got caught napping as the paranoid train left the station once again. Presidential aides told reporters that the barrage of falsehoods and insane comparisons to Nazi Germany "had caught them off guard and forced them to begin an August counteroffensive."

So where were these geniuses back when Clinton was being called a drug smuggler and mass murderer? When militiamen spotted U.N. "black helicopters" over Western skies? When thousands hoarded canned food and bottled water in advance of the imaginary Y2K catastrophe?

Conservatives determined to prevent Obama from succeeding understand that their best chance is to frighten poorly informed voters historically susceptible to conspiracy theories – particularly in rural states far from centers of power.

Too often, the Democratic response goes something like this: "The claims can be debunked a million times and it would make not one bit of difference to them. They hate President Obama, most of them are racists, and they are out to destroy him. They are irrational (barely) human beings with no conscience."

Persuasive, don't you think? OK, so I took that from a fellow on my Facebook page. It's sadly typical. For a generation now, the well-organized and lavishly funded right-wing noise machine has dominated American political debate with poisonous nonsense like McCaughey's, with little effective pushback.

To the extent Democrats resist, it's mainly on Web sites like the invaluable Media Matters for America. What's needed, however, is a strong counter-narrative informing voters that they're being had: conned, tricked and manipulated by, yes, New York, Washington and Hollywood "media elites" who lie for money. Vulgar? You bet. It's called "populism," and it once dominated the very states where talk-radio bombast now holds sway.

No, the argument can't be won overnight. On the other hand, it can't be won at all by calling people stupid racists.

© 2009 Gene Lyons. Distributed by Newspaper Enterprise Association

We dunno. Couldn't hurt to try to expose these people, but will the stupid racists believe the media exposing other media elitists? There's stubborn pride in disbelief of the obvious & accepted (& a commensurate pride in belief in the fantastic, Jeeziz, angels & other delusions) among the bitter clingers, & even lifting the rock & showing all the crawlies may not help much. *Ha-ha ha-ha-ha. He means YOU, Andrew Sullivan!

21 August: Workshop Of The Telescopes; Hawai'i Official; Trotsky Dies; Aquino Killed; Swing Era Starts; Nat Turner Makes Bid For Freedom

From The Associated Press, 51 mins ago, & The UPI Almanac. Today is Friday, Aug. 21, the 233rd day of 2009. There are 132 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

Fifty years ago, on Aug. 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state as President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order, five months after signing the Hawaiian statehood bill.

On this date:

Four hundred years ago, in 1609, Galileo Galilei demonstrated his new telescope, capable of magnifying images of objects ninefold, to a group of officials atop the Campanile in Venice. In 1807, Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat set off from Albany on its return trip to New York, arriving some 30 hours later. In 1831, Nat Turner led a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least 55 white people. (He was later executed.) In 1858, the first of seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place. In 1878, the American Bar Association was founded in Saratoga, N.Y. [Great, organized drunkards. — Ed.] In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting turned up two years later, in Italy.) In 1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died in Mexico City from wounds inflicted by an assassin the day before. In 1945, President Harry S. Truman ended the Lend-Lease program that had shipped some $50 billion in aid to America's allies during World War II.

In 1951, the United States ordered construction of the world's first atomic submarine, the Nautilus. In 1963, martial law was declared in South Vietnam as police and army troops began a crackdown on Buddhist anti-government protesters. In 1983, Philippine opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., ending a self-imposed exile in the United States, was shot dead moments after stepping off a plane at Manila International Airport.In 1987, Sgt. Clayton Lonetree, the first Marine ever court-martialed for spying, was convicted in Quantico, Va., of passing secrets to the KGB. In 1991, the hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.In 1992, fugitive neo-Nazi leader Randall Weaver opened fire on U.S. marshals from inside his Idaho mountaintop home. His wife and teenage son and a deputy marshal died during the 11-day standoff. Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton urged Americans to contribute to the relief effort for Turkey, where the death toll from a massive earthquake four days earlier topped 12,000. (It eventually reached 17,000). In 2002, U.S. President George Bush said that while no decision had been made whether to go to war against Iraq, he believed a "regime change" would be "in the best interest of the world." Michael Copper, former executive of the bankrupt energy giant Enron, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. A jury in San Diego convicted David Westerfield of kidnapping 7-year-old Danielle van Dam from her home and killing her; he was later sentenced to death. Five years ago: The International Gymnastics Federation ruled that South Korean Yang Tae-young was unfairly docked a tenth of a point in the all-around gymnastics final at the Athens Olympics, costing him the gold medal that ended up going to Paul Hamm of the United States; however, the ruling did not change the final result. In 2006, U. S. President George Bush admitted at a news conference that the war in Iraq was a big strain on the United States but declared there would be no mass American pullout "so long as I'm the president." Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein went on trial on a second mass murder charge in Baghdad, this one involving the deaths of 148 men and boys in an alleged revenge attack. He already was being tried in relation to the deaths of thousands of Kurds. British prosecutors announced that 11 people had been charged in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners bound for the United States. One year ago: President George W. Bush issued a federal disaster declaration for parts of Florida affected by Tropical Storm Fay. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Baghdad for discussions with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials. Twin Taliban suicide bombings at Pakistan's largest weapons complex killed at least 67 people. At the Summer Olympics, Japan defeated the U.S. softball team, 3-1, to win the gold medal. Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won their second consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball, beating Wang Jie and Tian Jia of China. The U.S. women's soccer team won the gold medal by beating Brazil 1-0 in extra time.

Today's Birthdays:

Former NFL player Pete Retzlaff is 78. Actor-director Melvin Van Peebles is 77. Playwright Mart Crowley ("The Boys in the Band") is 74. Singer Kenny Rogers is 71. Actor Clarence Williams III is 70. Rock-'n'-roll musician James Burton is 70. Singer Harold Reid (The Statler Brothers) is 70. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 68. NFL Hall of Famer Willie Lanier is 64. Actress Patty McCormack is 64. Pop singer-musician Carl Giammarese is 62. Actress Loretta Devine is 60. CBS "Early Show" co-host Harry Smith is 58. Singer Glenn Hughes is 57. Country musician Nick Kane is 55. Actress Kim Cattrall is 53. College Football Hall of Famer and NFL quarterback Jim McMahon is 50. Baseball All-Star pitcher John Wetteland is 43. Rock singer Serj Tankian (System of a Down) is 42. Actress Carrie-Anne Moss is 39. Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Craig Counsell is 39. Rock musician Liam Howlett (Prodigy) is 38. Actress Alicia Witt is 34.Singer Kelis is 30. Singer Melissa Schuman is 25. Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt is 23.

Today In Entertainment History August 21

In 1904, jazz musician and bandleader William "Count" Basie was born in Red Bank, N.J. In 1935, the Benny Goodman Orchestra played a concert that's considered to be the beginning of the Swing Era. The concert was at a ballroom in Los Angeles and included songs like "Just You, Just Me." In 1972, Grace Slick was sprayed with mace and Paul Kantner was slammed to the floor by police following a chaotic show by Jefferson Airplane in Akron, Ohio. A bomb threat had been phoned in, fans threw rocks at police cars and officers responded with tear gas. In 1980, singer Linda Ronstadt opened on Broadway in the opera "The Pirates of Penzance." She also starred in the film version. In 1994, John Denver was charged with drunken driving after he crashed his Porsche into a tree. [Even worse at flying, though. — Ed.] In 1995, REM sued Hershey Foods, claiming the company exploited its name when it ran a "Kit Kat REM concert" sweepstakes in Hershey candy bars. The suit was eventually dropped. In 1996, singer Rick James was released from prison after serving two years for assaulting a woman. Two days earlier, the woman he was to marry was jailed for shoplifting a $39 pair of boots. David Byrne sued to prevent the rest of Talking Heads from touring as The Heads. The suit was settled out of court. [What a fucking asshole. — Ed.] Last year, one-time actor Fred Crane, who'd played one of the Tarleton twins in "Gone With the Wind," died in Atlanta at age 90.

Thought for Today:

"To know a little less and to understand a little more: that, it seems to me, is our greatest need." — James Ramsey Ullman, American author (1907-1971).

Xe Blackwater Countdown Continues

For a change, NSNBC re-runs from today (depending on your time zone).

I Got A Right

Yesterday's edition of "Chris Matthews presents a gun-loon who can't reason past 'Guns, must have guns.'"Alas, today there was no one to claim: "It's their right, that's why." Either Hardball has run out of willing masochists, or the word went out from Second Amendment Central not to go on the show, you look like morons. (And when Tweety can make you look bad, you are a real moron.)

Taken Out Behind The Woodshed & Given A Good Old Fashioned Joe The Plumber Style Whipping

As we get more than enough of The Atlantic at Asymmetrical Information, while searching for the proverbial low hanging fruit (rotting fruit making the very ground slippery & smelly is more like it) we've never subjected ourself to this Marc Ambinder weasel. But now that we've read his textbook example of Media Village rec'd. wisdom, careerism, sheer fucking stupidity & assholery, knee-jerk power-worship & absolute inability to reason (And the commenters taking his ass way outside & beating it like a rug, a good job by all.) we doubt if we'll return, other than to note his later-in-the-day mea culpa or whatever it was.

The best comments for the earlier item were along the "You people still haven't faced what you allowed/helped the Bush Admin. to do, or even why you did it." We seriously doubt that Mr. Knee-Jerk is capable of learning anything beyond his post-graduate field of study: Kissing ass for personal advancement. And now that we've read part two ... no, his mind is made up, facts shall never enter it. He does type "sorry," but typing that meaningless word is even easier than mouthing it.

More Absolutely Justified America Hating

From yesterday's Independent. We certainly agree w/ the implications in the headline, but we're going to pick a pair of nits to keep in practice.

The election of Obama – a black man with an anti-conservative message – as a successor to George W. Bush has scrambled the core American right's view of their country.

We'll grant that Americans think "one drop" qualifies anyone as "black," but we don't know where "anti-conservative" comes from. And let's not get carried away w/ "landslide," either. Let alone "massive landslide."

a majority of Americans in a massive landslide, it simply didn't compute.

The piece goes on to summarize, we presume mostly for Limeys & other non-Americans, the silliness in these United Snakes.

For example:

The American media then presents itself as an umpire between "the rival sides", as if they both had evidence behind them.

It's "objective," alright. The only problem is that it isn't real. As if anything is.

20 August: Menedezes Murdered; Mothers Of Invention Over; Alaska Noticed

From The Associated Press, 28 mins ago, & The UPI Almanac. Today is Thursday, Aug. 20, the 232nd day of 2009. There are 133 days left in the year.Added Bonus @ 2058 PDT, 21 August 2009. The updated AP A/V, w/ 22 secs. about Isaac Hayes, who is now worthy because he's dead, we guess. How, then do they explain Robert Planet? He only appears dead.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Aug. 20, 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations began invading Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" liberalization drive led by Alexander Dubcek.

On this date:

In 1741, Danish navigator Vitus Jonas Bering discovered what is now Alaska. In 1833, Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States, was born in North Bend, Ohio. In 1866, President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over, months after fighting had stopped. In 1914, German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War I. In 1920, pioneering American radio station 8MK in Detroit (later WWJ) began daily broadcasting. In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force, saying, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." In 1955, hundreds of people were killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure. In 1977, the U.S. launched Voyager 2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature. In 1979, Diana Nyad succeeded in her third attempt at swimming from the Bahamas to Florida. Twenty years ago, in 1989, entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were shot to death in their Beverly Hills, Calif., mansion by their sons, Lyle and Erik. Fifty-one people died when a pleasure boat sank in the River Thames in London after colliding with a dredger. British conservationist George Adamson, 83, was shot and killed by bandits in Kenya. Ten years ago: In a highly unusual move, the CIA pulled the security clearances for former Director John Deutch for keeping secret files on an unsecured home computer. Three Japanese banks announced a broad alliance plan. (The merger resulted in creation of the Mizuho Financial Group.) In 2003, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the state supreme court building. Five years ago: Democrats labored to deflect attacks on John Kerry's war record with fresh television ads touting his fitness for national command. In Athens, Michael Phelps matched Mark Spitz's record of four individual gold medals in the Olympic pool with a stirring comeback in the 100-meter butterfly, then removed himself from further competition. One year ago: A Spanish jetliner crashed during takeoff from Madrid, killing 154 people. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski signed a deal to put a U.S. missile defense base in Poland. In Beijing, Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the world record by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds. Former Chinese leader Hua Guofeng died in Beijing at age 87. U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress, died in Cleveland at age 58. Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, died near California's Lake Tahoe at age 63.

Today's Birthdays:

Writer-producer-director Walter Bernstein is 90. U.S. special envoy George Mitchell is 76. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is 74. Baseball All-Star Graig Nettles is 65. Broadcast journalist Connie Chung is 63. Musician Jimmy Pankow (Chicago) is 62. Actor John Noble is 61. Rock singer Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) is 61. Rock singer Doug Fieger (The Knack) is 57. Country singer Rudy Gatlin is 57. Singer-songwriter John Hiatt is 57. Actor-director Peter Horton is 56. TV weatherman Al Roker is 55. Actor Jay Acovone is 54. Actress Joan Allen is 53. TV personality Asha Blake is 48. Actor James Marsters is 47. Rapper KRS-One is 44. Rock singer Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) is 39. Rock musician Brad Avery is 38. Actor Jonathan Ke Quan is 38. Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton is 36. Rock singer Monique Powell (Save Ferris) is 34. Hockey player Chris Drury is 33.

Today In Entertainment History

On Aug. 20, 1960, Connie Francis made her acting debut when filming began on the movie "Where the Boys Are." In 1967, The New York Times reported on a new noise reduction system developed by R. and D.W. Dolby. It was first used by a subsidiary of Elektra Records. Forty fuggin' years ago, in 1969, Frank Zappa disbanded the Mothers of Invention. He said he was tired of performing for people who clapped for the "wrong reasons."[Tired of paying band members triple-scale for rehearsals, too. — Ed.] In 1989, actor Kenneth Branagh married actress Emma Thompson. In 1992, Sting and his longtime girlfriend Trudie Styler got married in England. It was his second marriage, her first. Ten years ago: bassist Bobby Sheehan of Blues Traveler was found dead of a drug overdose in his apartment in New Orleans. He was 31. Musician Fatboy Slim married British TV personality Zoe Ball in London. They have since separated.

Thought for Today:

"History abhors determinism, but cannot tolerate chance." — Bernard De Voto, American author, journalist and critic (1897-1955).

Mighty Sorry, No Body Cares

At this stage of the game we have no memory of sharing any or all of these liberal, biased anti-Blackwater (Hey, that name change worked out pretty well for them, didn't it?) clips from what (barely) passes for a leftish cable infotainment outlet in these United (Murdering) Snakes. As whatever the hell appears here (even repetitively) makes no difference in the greater or lesser scheme of things, if you've seen one or all, change the fucking channel already: No one's holding a gun to your head, are they? (Although if someone is, they probably are "Xe" employee contractors.)We're sure we didn't catch the above from 4 August 2009, or we would have linked to Mr. Scahill's piece in The Nation, as a service for the text-obsessed.Yet we do remember the above juxtaposition of frames of the Crusader King Prince, so we must've thrown those two up at the same time. Maybe the one just below is the one we never got around to. Are you bored yet? We can make it worse.Those who'd really like to wallow in it (& have not been obsessively reading this waste of everything for the last two+ yrs. & too many posts) can search (Look, we did it for you, lazy oafs!) "Blackwater" & "Erik Prince" to see more aggregation & smart-assery from just around two yrs. ago, when Xe Blackwater first made a big news splash. And, more from the Newspaper of Record:

Some Congressional Democrats have hinted that the program was just one of many that the Bush administration hid from Congressional scrutiny and have used the episode as a justification to delve deeper into other Bush-era counterterrorism programs.

But Republicans have criticized Mr. Panetta’s decision to cancel the program, saying he created a tempest in a teapot.

“I think there was a little more drama and intrigue than was warranted,” said Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.

All fair & balanced, huh? Objective, one could say. Like that jerk Hoekstra's insubstantial little whine was worth publishing.

World Up-Date from Yahoo!® News

Annals Of Delusion: "Mass Strike?"

As an urbane sophisticate, we naturally like well presented, up-scale conspiracy theories. When we read about Queen Elizabeth II, along w/ the Rothschilds & Royal Dutch Shell, being behind world heroin trafficking, we like it to be in something w/ a glossy cover, a title like "Executive Intelligence Report," plenty of references to Schiller (Whoever he is/was.) & pleas for more symphonic music in the schools. And one can only get that sort of thing from Lyndon LaRouche & his supporters/fans/cultists. So we're happy to see the Rouchers crawling out of the woodwork & onto our telebision/devil-box screens. And even happier to see our favorite Washingtonian, Dave Weigel, on the spot w/ these bozos as well. We'll just help ourself to some of his research here.Typeth Dave:

Now, obviously, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) would never make a comparison like that. But compare her rhetoric to the LaRouchePAC’s.

Please, Ms. Bachmann, fight it out w/ Sarah Palin for the title of Queen of the Republican Idiots. If you love your country half as much as you pretend to, you will.

DEVELOPING STORY BREAKS!!

CIA Hired Blackwater Killers To Kill Jihadis For Jesus

Officials said that the C.I.A. did not have a formal contract with Blackwater for this program but instead had individual agreements with top company officials, including the founder, Erik D. Prince, a politically connected former member of the Navy Seals and the heir to a family fortune. Blackwater’s work on the program actually ended years before Mr. Panetta took over the agency, after senior C.I.A. officials themselves questioned the wisdom of using outsiders in a targeted killing program.

Blackwater, which has changed its name, most recently to Xe Services, and is based in North Carolina, in recent years has received millions of dollars in government contracts, growing so large that the Bush administration said that it was a necessary part of its war operation in Iraq.

Far-Reaching Repercussions?

Apparently the American media is too scared even to report this.

A Vogue cover girl has won a precedent-setting court battle to unmask an anonymous blogger who called her a “skank” on the internet.

In a case with potentially far-reaching repercussions, Liskula Cohen sought the identity of the blogger who maligned her on the Skanks in NYC blog so that she could sue him or her for defamation.

Talk about a "chilling effect." If intrepid Internet patriots are denied the anonymity from which we type anything we want about anyone who deserves abuse, what will become of discourse? How will the world know who the "Skanks in NYC" are, or how crazed the right-wing is? Our Constitution is being DISMANTLED before our eyes & we aren't doing anything about it! Where's that watering can?

New & Disturbing Euphemisms From The Spam Trap

Attack her ham pocket more

	Spam		X

It's no "Play-Doh© & bacon," but it's pretty damn icky.

Pathos

Poor Alan Gottlieb. (Hah!! We don't really feel the slightest sympathy for the cretin.)

A Plug For The "40th Annversary Director's Cut" Is A Good Argument For Death Panels

Thumbs down for Crock, Still & Mash. (Where's Bung?)Two words for Stephen Stills: Dentu-Grip©.

Seig Heil, Baby!

The "Heil Hitler!" lady (In IDF T-Shirt?) explains herself.

Just before Pamela Pilger shouted "Heil Hitler" to a Jewish man in favor of health care reform, she told Eyewitness News why she's against it.

The low-information voter, in the flesh. Try to follow the "my husband works two-and-a-half jobs and doesn't have insurance, but no one deserves it for free, it's not a right" bit. Well, madam, no one said anything about free. We're taxing you until you're blue in the face to pay for all the illegal alien STDs!

19 August: Birth of Farnsworth; Groucho Death Mystery; Mysterious Hurricane; Ginger Baker 70; Johnny Nash, Jill St. John 69!

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 19, the 231st day of 2009. There are 134 days left in the year. UPI Almanac.Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 19, 1909, the first automobile races were run at the just-opened Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the winner of the first event was auto engineer Louis Schwitzer, who drove a Stoddard-Dayton touring car twice around the 2.5-mile track at an average speed of 57.4 mph. [Which would make it the Indy Five. — Ed.] On this date: In 1812, the USS Constitution defeated the British frigate Guerriere off Nova Scotia during the War of 1812. In 1915, two Americans were killed when a German U-boat torpedoed the British liner Lusitania in the Atlantic Ocean, an incident that helped move the United States into World War I. In 1918, "Yip! Yip! Yaphank," a musical revue by Irving Berlin featuring Army recruits from Camp Upton in Yaphank, N.Y., opened on Broadway. Eighty years ago, in 1929, the radio comedy program "Amos 'n' Andy," starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, made its network debut on NBC-Blue. [That was the "dirty" network of the time. — Ed.] In 1934, a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler. In 1942, about 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, suffering more than 50 percent casualties. In 1949, the Federal Communications Commission prohibited so-called "give-away" radio and TV shows, saying they violated lottery laws. (The US Supreme Court overturned the ban in 1954, ruling that give-away shows fell short of being lotteries because participants did not pay in order to try to win prizes.) In 1955, severe flooding in the northeastern US claimed some 200 lives. In 1960, a tribunal in Moscow convicted American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford won the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in Kansas City. In 1977, one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history hit the eastern Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia, rattling buildings in Perth, Australia, 1,000 miles to the south. In 1987, gun enthusiast Michael Ryan went on a shooting rampage in Hungerford, England, killing 16 people. In 1991, Soviet hard-liners announced to a shocked world that President Mikhail S. Gorbachev had been removed from power. (The coup attempt collapsed two days later.) In 1992, delegates to the Republican National Convention nominated President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for re-election. They were defeated in November by Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore. In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced he was ending the 28-year U.S. policy of letting Cuban refugees take up U.S. residency if they reached the country. Ten years ago: Confronting questions about possible past drug use, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush told reporters he had not used illegal drugs in 25 years, and added that if voters insisted on knowing more -- quote -- "they can go find somebody else to vote for." [He warned you, you awful stupid people. But did you listen? No. — Ed.] Five years ago: Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry fought back against campaign allegations that he had exaggerated his combat record in Vietnam, accusing President George W. Bush of using a Republican front group "to do his dirty work." Google began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, ending the day up $15.34 at $100.34. Carly Patterson won gymnastics' premier event at the Olympics in Athens, becoming the first US woman to win the all-around title since Mary Lou Retton in 1984. In 2007, voters in Thailand approved a constitutional referendum by the military-backed government, which seized power the previous year. Rescue workers were reported ending their search for six miners trapped in a Utah coal mine for nearly two weeks. Three would-be rescuers were killed in a second cave-in. And, officials said intense heat gripping the U.S. Midwest and South contributed to the deaths of at least 47 people. Memphis endured the brunt with 10 dead. One year ago: Tropical Storm Fay rolled ashore in Florida short of hurricane strength, but mysteriously gained speed as it headed over land. Heavily armed insurgents in Afghanistan killed 10 French soldiers in a mountain ambush and then sent a squad of suicide bombers in a failed assault on a US base near the Pakistan border. Russia and Georgia exchanged prisoners captured during their brief war. Shawn Johnson won a gold medal on the balance beam at the Beijing games.

Today's Birthdays -- August 19

Actor L.Q. Jones is 82. Actress Debra Paget is 76. Tennis coach Renee Richards is 75. Baseball All-Star Bobby Richardson is 74. Actress Diana Muldaur is 71. Rock musician Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith) is 70. Singer Johnny Nash is 69. Actress Jill St. John is 69. Actor and former U.S. senator Fred Thompson is 67. Singer Billy J. Kramer is 66. Country singer-songwriter Eddy Raven is 65. Rock singer Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) is 64. Former President Bill Clinton is 63. Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore, is 61. Actor Gerald McRaney is 61. Rock musician John Deacon (Queen) is 58. Actor-director Jonathan Frakes is 57. Political consultant Mary Matalin is 56. Actor Peter Gallagher is 54. Actor Adam Arkin is 53. Singer-songwriter Gary Chapman is 52. Actor Martin Donovan is 52. Football Hall-of-Famer Anthony Munoz is 51. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ivan Neville is 50. Actress Kyra Sedgwick is 44. Actor Kevin Dillon is 44. Country singer Lee Ann Womack is 43. TV reporter Tabitha Soren is 42. Rapper Nate Dogg is 40. Actor Matthew Perry is 40. Country singer Clay Walker is 40. Rapper Fat Joe is 39. Olympic gold medal tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez is 38. Actress Tracie Thoms is 34. Football player Thomas Jones is 31. Baseball player J.J. Hardy is 27. Olympic silver medal snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis is 24.

Today In Entertainment History -- August 19

In 1964, The Beatles opened their first US tour at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Other acts on the bill included the Righteous Brothers and Jackie DeShannon. In 1967, "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles hit No. 1 on the pop charts. That same day, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen had another child, a boy named Jason. In 1973, singers Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge got married in Los Angeles. They divorced in 1979. [Yawn. This is beyond dumb, but we're beyond lazy, so we can't be arsed to delete this sort of hooey. Instead we mock, which, though much more effort, is a bit satisfying. — Ed.] In 1977, comedian Groucho Marx died in Los Angeles. He was 86.Or you can believe The Very Reverend Moon's UPI Almanac, which claimed yesterday that: "In 1977, comedian Julius "Groucho" Marx, leader of the wacky Marx Brothers, died at the age of 87." At least both agree on the yr. — Ed.] In 1980, Christopher Cross' debut album went platinum. [Fortunately, a one-shit wonder. — Ed.] In 2000, actresses Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche announced they were breaking up. Just hours later, Heche was hospitalized after she wandered disoriented into a stranger's home in Fresno County, Calif. In 2008, sax player Leroi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band died of complications from an all-terrain vehicle accident two months earlier. He was 46. LeRoi Moore, a versatile saxophonist with the Dave Matthews Band, died in Los Angeles of complications from an ATV accident; he was 46. [Not that the AP is internally consistent. — Ed.]

Thought for Today:

"Being an intellectual creates a lot of questions and no answers." — Janis Joplin, American rock singer (1943-1970).

Don't Forget To Subsribe!

Bullshit, we say. Unless the guy man-handling them is a dwarf, those bunnies (quite possibly hideously mutated Lurches of the rabbit world, genetically engineered even) must weigh more than 25 lbs.

If the sound at the end makes you jump, you may be over-caffeinated.

The Last Trumpet, Pp. 4-7

So bad it sucks.

Show Biz Up-Date Up-Date

Turns out that boy really does need help. When this Randi Rhodes takes off, looks like she can't find a nation-wide fill-in, so it goes back to the local stations. Knowing that, we guess Johnny Angel Wendell (And what the fug, John, did whoever owns "Johnny Angel" sue your ass into submission & make you tack your legal surname onto your persona?) is lucky to be terrestrially available in L. A. (AM 1150) & S. F. (AM 960). Those unfortunates who don't live on the left side of the Coast Range (Not an invitation, or an offer of an invitation!) can waste the boss's time here from 1500 - 1800 ET. Drive time, baby!)

Voting Is Theft

Crazy comes in every color.

Oh yeah (added later) if you give a flying fuck, where it came from.

18 August: Death Of Khan; VD; Suffrage; Elvis's Grave Robbed

From The Associated Press, 1 hr 3 mins ago, & the UPI Almanac. Today is Tuesday, Aug. 18, the 230th day of 2009. There are 135 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 18, 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, N.Y., which had fallen behind schedule, finally wound to a close after three nights with a midmorning set performed by Jimi Hendrix. On this date: In 1227, the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan died. In 1587, Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina. (However, the colony Virginia was born into ended up mysteriously disappearing.) In 1838, the first marine expedition sponsored by the U.S. government set sail from Hampton Roads, Va.; the crews traveled the southern Pacific Ocean, gathering scientific information. In 1846, U.S. forces led by Gen. Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe, N.M. In 1894, Congress established the Bureau of Immigration. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a Proclamation of Neutrality, aimed at keeping the United States out of World War I. In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of all American women to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King dedicated the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the United States and Canada. [First the "Peace" Bridge, now this! Don't let them fool you. — Ed.] In 1954, Assistant Secretary of Labor James E. Wilkins became the first African-American to attend a meeting of a president's Cabinet as he sat in for Labor Secretary James P. Mitchell. In 1958, the novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov was first published in New York by G.P. Putnam's Sons, almost three years after it was originally published in Paris.

In 1960, the first commercially produced oral contraceptives went on the market. In 1963, James Meredith became the first black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi.In 1976, two U.S. Army officers were killed in Korea's demilitarized zone as a group of North Korean soldiers wielding axes and metal pikes attacked U.S. and South Korean soldiers. U. S. President Gerald Ford was nominated in Kansas City, Mo., to head the Republican presidential ticket but lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter in November. In 1983, Hurricane Alicia slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 21 dead and causing more than a billion dollars' worth of damage. In 1988, Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle was nominated as George H.W. Bush's running mate during the Republican National Convention in New Orleans. In 1991, Soviet hard-liners launched a coup aimed at toppling President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who was vacationing in the Crimea. In 1997, Virginia Military Institute admitted a female student for the first time in its 158-year history. Ten years ago: A day after a deadly earthquake struck western Turkey, survivors denounced the rescue effort as sluggish and disorganized. (The death toll eventually topped 17,000.) Five years ago: In Athens, Paul Hamm won the men's gymnastics all-around Olympic gold medal by the closest margin ever in the event; controversy followed after it was discovered a scoring error cost Yang Tae-young of South Korea the title. Hawaii's first U.S. senator, Hiram L. Fong, died at age 97. In 2005, a judge in Wichita, Kan., sentenced BTK serial killer Dennis Rader to 10 consecutive life terms, while Pope Benedict XVI began his first foreign trip as pontiff in low-key style, returning to his German homeland. One year ago: Pervez Musharraf resigned as the president of Pakistan. Tropical Storm Fay pounded Cuba with torrential rain and wind before sweeping across the Florida Keys. Today's Birthdays: Former Interior Secretary Wally Hickel is 90. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter is 82. Movie director Roman Polanski is 76. Attorney and author Vincent Bugliosi is 75. Olympic gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson is 74. Actor-director Robert Redford is 73. Singer Johnny Preston is 70. Actor Christopher Jones is 68. Actor Henry G. Sanders is 67. R&B singer Sarah Dash (LaBelle) is 66. Actor-comedian (one-time musician & painter, too, what a talent) Martin Mull is 66. Rock musician Dennis Elliott is 59. Comedian Elayne Boosler is 57. Actor Patrick Swayze is 57. Country singer Steve Wilkinson (The Wilkinsons) is 54. Actor Denis Leary is 52. Actress Madeleine Stowe is 51. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is 48. News anchor Bob Woodruff is 48. The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, is 47. Bluegrass musician Jimmy Mattingly is 47. Actor Adam Storke is 47. Actor Craig Bierko is 44. Rock singer-musician Zac Maloy (The Nixons) is 41. Rock singer and hip-hop artist Everlast is 40. Rapper Masta Killa (Wu-Tang Clan) is 40. Actor Christian Slater is 40. Actor Edward Norton is 40. Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner is 39. Actress Kaitlin Olson is 34. Actor-writer-director Hadjii is 33. Rock musician Dirk Lance is 33. New England Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas is 32. Actor-comedian Andy Samberg (TV: "Saturday Night Live") is 31. New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey is 29. Actress Parker McKenna Posey is 14. Today In Entertainment History -- On Aug. 18, 1962, drummer Ringo Starr played his first gig with The Beatles at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. He replaced Pete Best. In 1977, Elvis Presley was buried at a Memphis, Tenn., cemetery, with about 75,000 people gathered outside. His body was moved to the grounds of Graceland after burglars tried to break into the original mausoleum. [That we didn't remember. — Ed.] Julius "Groucho" Marx, leader of the wacky Marx Brothers, died at the age of 87. In 1979, singers Nick Lowe and Carlene Carter got married in Los Angeles. Portions of the taped wedding were used in Lowe's "Cruel To Be Kind" video. They have since split up. [Oh, we had to know about a failed marriage of 30 yrs. ago. — Ed.] In 1986, Bon Jovi released their "Slippery When Wet" album. [Too bad The Commodores couldn't sue these Jersey fucksticks. — Ed.] In 1991, musician Billy Preston was arrested after a 16-year-old boy reported being sexually attacked. Preston was released on bail. [And then? — Ed.] In 1992, Woody Allen held a news conference in New York to deny allegations that he molested the children he had adopted with Mia Farrow. Director John Sturges died. Among his works are "The Great Escape" and "The Magnificent Seven." In 1995, Bill Wendell introduced David Letterman for the last time. Wendell had been Letterman's announcer and warm-up act for more than 15 years but said he wanted to pursue other projects. Bobby Brown was cited in suburban Los Angeles for allegedly kicking a hotel security guard. Five years ago: Film composer Elmer Bernstein died in Ojai, Calif. at age 82. Thought for Today: "That is one of the bitter curses of poverty; it leaves no right to be generous." — George Gissing, English author and critic (1857-1903).

Double Feature

Saw (heard, too) the just-hit-73 on the yr. scale Mr. Guy wailing at the Hollywood Bowl last Weds. Caught Ms. Big Mama's act c. 1973. Not bad either.

What Does The Second Amendment Have To Do W/ Health Care?

You certainly didn't expect an answer other than "It's their right" from these two Congressional clowns, did you?

Also (@2125 PDT): Confederate Yankee thinks it may not be the wisest move to pack for the President, but he gets in "well within their legal rights to carry," & at least one of his fans is all for intimidation:

Perhaps a display of the citizens' armaments at "O"s faked town hall meetings by our pretend CIC might make some impression on his administration. Ruby Ridge? Sigh.

We were also amused by Yankee's allowing unmoderated/unregistered comments, but noticed that, unlike virtually every other web log in known cyberspace, one's email address is visible to all the world. Nice, Bob.

(You can use a fake address, so it's not absolute & consummate evil, but still, if you didn't pay attention, well, just imagine the guy above reasoning w/ you. In your in-box.)