Reality Bites

Another convert won...over at the Nation. Every time I bring up the concept that Sarah Palin will be the 2012 nominee for the G.O.P. I get pooh-poohed by my pals and peers.

Do not mis-underestimate this she-wolf.

It's her time in today's 'Murka and I'm telling ya, she's got a stone cold chance of beating Obama in 21 months as he continues to slide further into his role of a modern day Herbert Hoover.

Thanks to the Onion however for occasionally bringing me back from the brink of madness.

Frank Rich

Mr. Rich gives the complete treatment to the bankers, brokers and bloviators this week.

Oh, and I almost failed to mention that there was an extra special treat under the Thanksgiving bird this year...Tom Delay, the grift that keeps on giving.

I'm sure that he'll just get a slap on the wrist and perhaps some country club jail time at best, but still, what's not to like about one the worst and most traitorous fuckers in modern times getting convicted of a major state offense?

Eat my shorts, Bug Man.

Friday Random Ten (Black Friday Edition)

You Ain't Nothin' But Fine -- Rockpile
What's Wrong With Me -- X
The Man I Love -- Django Reinhardt
Was It You? -- Spoon
Let's Stay In And Make Love -- Nick Lowe
Sgt. Rock -- XTC
Me And My Imaginary Friend -- Colin Hay
Afternoons And Coffeespoons -- Crash Test Dummies
We Used To Wait -- Arcade Fire
Oh Lady, Be Good -- Joe Pass

Bonus Tryptophan cut...

War On War -- Wilco

Thankfulness

Let's all be thankful for never ending war. We've now been at it in Afghanistan longer than the Soviets were.

Swell.

Ol' Wild Bill

Brother Dave reminded me that it's just not Turkey Day without ol' Bill to help us along.

North Korea

Ruh-roh...

Stop Making Sense

Nick Baumann over at Mother Jones writes the column that I've been looking to read for a while now long before the phrase, "don't touch my junk" entered our everyday parlance.

America is such a weird place as it relates to security. I've traveled a fair bit abroad and no place even remotely approaches the ham-fisted approach we take to airport security here in the United States of Awesome.

I once made the mistake of transporting my boss' laptop back from the Netherlands as he was staying on for an extended holiday in Europe. The volume of questions and increasingly panicky responses I supplied the stern, yet friendly Dutch security was truly a daunting experience for moi.

America instead reverts to some kind of kabuki show of force by making everyone feel as is they're being sent to jail when entering the airport terminal. Silly and wasteful.

You have the right to remain silent...

Great stuff from none other than the Mayor of London. I doubt that Bush would ever be detained if he leaves the States again, but it's a nice little fantasy...

Palin 2012

All of you folks out there who keep telling me that if Sarah Palin gets the nomination come next year, that you'll move out of the country...better pack your bags.

Even Frank Rich says so...

We're now a fortnight away from the beginning of Zappadan. Let us begin the sterilizing of the tweezers...

Birds Of A Feather

The one where Ted Rall and I share some mighty strong opinions about the current CIC.

Friday Random Ten

It's Fall. It's Friday. It's the Ten...



Carnival Eyes -- David Byrne
Superman -- Stereophonics
Heart Of The City -- Nick Lowe
Dreamin' -- Weezer
I Wish I Felt Nothing -- The Wallflowers
Over You -- Sheryl Crow
Alice -- Tom Waits
Gloria -- Van Morrison
God's Away On Business -- Tom Waits
Lonely With A Broken Heart

Bonus Pre Thanksgiving Strike Cut:

Tick, Tick, Boom -- The Hives

Balloon Juice

Ummm, yeah. This just about captures my side of the equation.

Sports Stuff

Man, Greg Oden sure is snakebit.

And to think that Portland gave up rights to Kevin Durant in order to get Oden as a #1 pick must really burn. The curse of the big man in the NBA...ouch.

Critical Mass

I usually avoid "teh cute" videos at any and all costs, but this one is a winner. Behold...secret kitten.

(courtesy of Digby)

Interrogation Nation

No one is listening. No one cares.

Jazz Battles

TBogg gives us the blow by blow of the smackdown of Kenny G by Pat Metheny. Ouch.

Pee Wee

The secret word is...hilarious.

Fun with children

Always a good idea to bring young'uns to a bash like this.

Explosives...they're a blast!

Friday Random Ten (leaf raking edition)

Our Little Angel -- Elvis Costello & The Attractions
You're All I Have -- Snow Patrol
El Capitalisimo Foraneo -- Gotan Project
Daddy Sang Bass -- Johnny Cash
Venus -- Bananarama
Sponji Reggae -- Black Uhuru
Don't Cut Your Hair -- The Pretenders
Paper Tiger -- Spoon
Taxi Cab -- Vampire Weekend
Sofa No. 2 -- Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

bonus cut(s):

Violin Concerto In E The Four Seasons (Spring) -- Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
3:00 AM Blues -- Dick Hyman Group

Scary Monsters

Nope. Not the Bowie album. Much scarier than that, but still very 80's!

Veterans Day

Here's a post I put up last year as my tribute to Armistice Day.

I'll stand by it again.

Capitulation

Obama folds again and tries to slip it in under the door.

As an aside, is there anyone else out there who thinks that David Axelrod is just plain creepy? Would it were that he was a cartoon character, I'd be prone to painting him thusly as Clyde Crashcup. Then again, perhaps I'm just bitter seeing that I'm increasingly resembling Leonardo as the days wear on.

"P" as in par, "Ar" as in arty. Party.

Juan Cole

It's the end, the end of the century.

Why not embrace the rapture, everyone. It'll take all of your pain away.

Roger Ebert

From Roger's place over the weekend.

He's such a wonderful writer. And now with more Julie London...

Your Monday Morning Maher

While I have a high degree of support for what Stewart and Colbert did last weekend on the Mall, this piece from Friday's Real Time captures the essence of what my problem is with Comedy Central and its Rally.

One of the reasons that Obama's administration is floundering is that they allowed the other side to frame the dialogue. IMHO, Obama should have made his a scorched earth approach to governing instead of the faux bi-partisanship bullshit they used to heal the country.

Fuck healing. They wasted their chance to crush the right, and yet, here we are...right back to where we started 20 years ago as Bill so expertly points out.

New York Times Sunday Edition

The one where Frank asks Obama to make the call.

And where Nick Kristoff saves us a trip to a Third World getaway.

Mr. Fish

I missed this one from the weekend. Now we just need to get that football back from Michelle Bachman.

Friday Random Ten

I'm Your Toy -- Elvis Costello
No Show Jones -- Chris Difford
Rains On Me -- Tom Waits
Sunday -- k.d. Lang
Lights Out -- The Posies
Pyscho Killer -- Talking Heads
Adrenalin -- Throbbing Gristle
Next To You -- The Police
Bottomliners -- Brian Eno
Tonight -- Iggy Pop

Post Election Blues Bonus Cut:

March Of Greed -- Pere Ubu

The morning after (there's got to be, edition)

Wow.

That was a quick two years. On this day in 2008, I posted this.

And then Dave put this one up just minutes later the same day.

Like I said, wow.

Today?...meh, not so much.

Now, let the real campaign begin...

Oooh, I almost forgot to mention, there's even this cool new fangled e-obituary of the Obama administration's accomplishments that all the kewl kids are into. Trust me, he ain't getting anything passed from here forward so enjoy this recent time capsule respite from the babrbarians for what it's worth. And....scene.

This Weekend

Handy Andy Sullivan provides one of the better synopses of the whole Restore Sanity thingy that went down in D.C. over the weekend.

And the HuffPo photo bag of all of the clever signs is purty funny as well.

Haloween Scare tactic

Here's the most frightening thing I can find from the post candy afterglow of All Saints Day. We'll need all the help we can get over the next two years while this single-helixed gash is running for the highest office in the land.

Sweet fancy Moses!

More soft drug chatter

Galifianakis!