Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Day-After Pill Decision Prompts a Resignation

Another decent, principled person resigns over the obscenity of politics trumping women's health care. Women are to be vessels of future ReThugs only.

"'I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled,' wrote Wood, who also was assistant commissioner for women's health. 'The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women's access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions, is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women's health.'"

Just A Complete Idiot


The idiot in action. This while New Orleans suffers its greatest tragedy, not to mention the utter destruction of Gulfport, among many others. & the dead people? Playing the guitar for them, asshole?


Drinking Liberally


Drinking Liberally

Tomorrow night. 7-9 p.m.
The Black Cat

211 Chapple Ave., Ashland, WI

Be There. I promise not to nap through it.

So Organize

Seems obvious to me.

Big Easy

Where y'at takes on a whole new temporary meaning. I'm thinking of the Buddha Belly, Le Bon Temp Roule, Franky & Johnny's, all three of Emeril's great restaurants, Tipitina's, I've got to stop, I feel bad. Donate your money.

We've Made The Top Ten

I hope the leaders of the state legislature are really proud of themselves. They have worked hard to put WI at number seven. The ReThugs also ought to be proud of the fact that they made poverty rise faster than anywhere else in the country. Makes me sick.

Hey, Northland College #2 or #3 or #Something

Maybe the faculty at Northland can do something similar? I could hold my breath, but I won't.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

CoolSad Post

From Digby.

It's Getting Worse

More bad news from New Orleans. I don't know, I get weary.

Go For It

The American Red Cross

1 800 HELP NOW


Here's Why Bush Needs To Accept Responsibility

This accounting gives a good overview of the ReThugs absolute distain for the people not only of New Orleans, but of the world. Bastards. & boy do I wish the stupid TV morons would concentrate on the politics instead of the rooftop rescues. But the rescues allow them to blame the people who stayed. Did it ever occur to Chris Jansing that maybe these people couldn't afford to get out? Idiot. Jesus God one of the morons on MSNBC just opined about how difficult a decision it must be to break a hole in the roof of your family home in order to save lives. WTF? I gotta go before I go insane.
& again. Posted by Picasa
Underwater again.  Posted by Picasa
NOLA under water. Posted by Picasa

Not So Lucky

It appears the luck of missing a direct hit has been tempered by a levee breach that is allowing the water from Lake Ponchatrain to flow into New Orleans. A report from the mayor, Mr. Nagin, stated that 80% of the city was underwater. This is not good. I've also heard reports that claim power may not be restored for a month. Remember to send money, not yourself. The last thing they need down there is a flood of people to go with the flood of water.

UPDATE: The NYT is reporting some of New Orleans is under 20 feet of water. Jeez.

Go Sign This Petition

Buzzflash has a great editorial & a petition for you to sign. It's time Bu$hCo made a commitment to the "noble cause". Do it now! Thanks.

So, I'm thinking about buying something quite similar to this. A 1984 FLT. What do you think? The kid & son-in-law are quite adamant that I don't do it, or at least get training wheels. It's actually a good price. I think I'll do it, if I get the loan. Posted by Picasa

STFU

I wish Bu$hCo would just stop with the war talk. It hasn't worked in Iraq, for cripe's sake. Read this editorial from the Toledo Blade.

Old Growth

This is good news for Wisconsin. It is also a good reason to re-elect Jim Doyle as our governor. A ReThug governor probably would not have signed this deal. Taxes you know. BTW, the Knowles mentioned in the Knowles-Nelson fund was a Republican back when Republicans were actually decent people, albeit misguided. Now they are vicious, well, ReThugs.

Forest purchase preserves history

Another Good Job, Bu$hCo

Poverty? What poverty? I guess the folks just refuse to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, if they have bootstraps. & the guy from MI tries to put a happy face on the numbers by pointing out that it was worse under Reagan & Bush I, but that is clearly a backhanded compliment. Bush is pushing these people down, while giving tax breaks to his overly-rich friends.

Poverty Rate Rises to 12.7 Percent>

Monday, August 29, 2005

I Hate To Say It, But Please, In The Future, Stick To Sports

I agree with Atrios that this is the stupidest column I have, ta da, ever read. Another black mark against the Washington Post. I usually love the sports columnists since they often speak about important issues that affect all of us. This piece of written drivel ought to have been shit-canned by any competent editor. Good grief.

NOLA Update

It looks like New Orleans avoided the worst of the storm. Good news. Still a lot of destruction, however, at least from the video I've seen on the Weather Channel. I'm glad it wasn't any worse.

I.D.

Through the Looking Glass has this interesting take on the NYT & Intelligent Design. What's important to me in this piece is the location of the refutation of the stupidity known as I.D. - page 10. I am one of "those people" who scan the front page of a newspaper & then go to the next page. If a story seems clear in its intent, I don't go to page 10 to read the rest of it. I think that is the case here. The NYT is not alone here, but they do seem to be under a lot of pressure these days. From advertisers?

Coffee's Benefits

Java Joy. Everything was real cool as I read this, then came the note about high cholesterol. Damn!

Elwood L. Perry, 90

Elwood should have stuck to flies. Seriously, he was right about when the fish aren't biting, although last Saturday I couldn't prove him right. I just about threw my whole fly box at a lake & caught two undersized bass & one rock bass. Luckily the son-in-law, also birthday boy, & the kid picked up a meal's worth using, it's hard for me to even write it, worms.

Slightly Good News

Katrina's Worst May Not Hit New Orleans

She Should Have Lied

Then Bu$hCo would have promoted her, instead she gets demoted. He is the worst president ever.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Just Say No

I sure as hell hope none of this comes true. Via NOAA. The kid did make contact with friends from NOLA. They were on Interstate 55 heading to Jackson, MS. The kid said the friend sounded really scared & didn't expect to come back to an intact home. The whole family, included some extended family from South America, plus the two cats, are in one car headed north. Again, let's hope it's not as bad as predicted. A great city, a part of our real culture (remember Easy Rider) could be gone. It's a horrific thought. Hoodoo, anyone?

DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PER- SONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WATCH IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS.

Karl Rove Is A Danger To America

Karl Rove has been out of the papers lately, what with Coat Hanger Roberts & Cindy Sheehan. The Boston Globe brings him back, along with his despicable history. Turd Blossom puts too fine a touch on it.

Rove's role

Fortunate Son

It is a great song, & this is exactly why MyDD is so wrong with his ageism & contempt for those of us who have actually been around for 50 plus years. This is a great post about a great song at a great blog. I urge you to read the blog daily.

Pandagon: Fortunate Son


Here are the lyrics:

Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail To The Chief",
oh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no senator's son,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no,

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman come to the door,
Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no millionaire's son.
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no.

Yeh, some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give,
oh, they only answer, more, more, more, yoh,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no military son,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate son, no no no,

- John C. Fogerty

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Good Luck

My thoughts are with the people I know in New Orleans. Hope this isn't the BIG ONE. I'll bet Bu$hCo & Mary Landrieu hope it isn't either, since they have done nothing to protect this great city. If it is the big one, I'll know where to look for the blood. Hope it was worth it Mary.

Hurricane KATRINA Public Advisory

Boy/Girl,Man/Woman Isn't This The Truth

Amanda at Pandagon sure hits it with this post. The right-wing sex police continue their insidious campaign.

Pandagon: Facts meet fantasy and facts lose

Friday, August 26, 2005

War Strategy

A good long post from Billmon today. Read it all. Here's part of the conclusion. He's right.

It's all quite hopeless, in other words -- in which case withdrawal is not only the correct strategic choice but also the moral one.

Friday Random Ten

1. Midnight Lullaby - Tom Waits
2. Wang Dang Doodle - Marva Wright
3. There Is A River - L.J. Porter
4. I'm Telling You Now - Keb' Mo'
5. Work Of The Devil - Coco Robicheaux
6. 51 Phantom - North Mississippi Allstars
7. The Rain - The Subdudes
8. Swinging Gate - Troy Andrews
9. Common Law-Love - Sonny Landreth
10. You Need To Be With Me - Susan Tedeschi

I'm Betting It Will Go To 30%

New Gallup numbers continue Bu$hCo's slide. Good news. America is waking from the ReThug slumber. Via Raw Story.

Friday Cat Blogging, Sort Of

Kitty, kitty. Posted by Picasa

I'm Sorry He's Dead, But There Is A Lesson To Be Learned Here

I know we are supposedly in a non-ironic world these days, but I need to add this to the long line of reasons why we should not jog, or in this case, save the children. It's from the Times-Picayune.

"...founder and executive director of Save the Children Jogging Organization, died Aug. 19 of a heart attack at Lindy Boggs Medical Center. He was 53."

Land of the Free

Yeah, right. We don't need no stinking Bill of Rights.

F.B.I., Using Patriot Act, Demands Library's Records - New York Times

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Interesting, But...

This comes from a piece in J. Alterman's Altercation. I'm not sure of the author. I sometimes wonder about things like this. Theory is great, essential, when it meets the road - praxis, I suppose. On the other hand, W.C. Williams' directive - "No ideas but in things" - has served me well, in all aspects of my life. After all, we live in a real, material world, not a theoretical one. The world is a real thing, not a construct. I have sympathy, however, for this author's complaint about Fish, et.al.

The modern university takes the present organization of knowledge into separate disciplines, all those gated communities, as inevitable and natural as the categories of niche-marketing. The blinkered professional who has become the norm is not an intellectual who reads promiscuously in the hope he or she might come upon a book that will change his or her life. In his or her reading and writing, this modern scholar knows it is best­ as publisher William Germano advised book writers in an essay for The Chronicle of Higher Education­ to “think inside the box.” Curb your enthusiasm! Fifty years ago, even as recently as thirty years ago, scholars thought it a virtue to be widely read outside one’s own field. Not any more. A lot of the innovation that took place then occurred because people tried out the ideas from another field than their own. They made mistakes, of course, but there was then a tolerance for experimentation that is unacceptable in our more professionalized era. Now we accept the idea that each field is separate and that the professional has little to gain by intellectual promiscuity.




Vindictive? Try Psychotic

Well, Bu$hCo supporters, what do you make of this? Just some crybaby woman, again, I suppose. That's two women who don't much like how this administration works, or, doesn't work.

I had been hesitant to speak out before because this Administration is so vindictive. But now I will ... Anybody who confronts this Administration or Rumsfeld or the Pentagon with a true assessment, they find themselves either out of a job, out of their positions, fired, relieved or chastised. Their career comes to an end.

-- Janis Karpinski, interview with Marjorie Cohn, August 3, 2005


t r u t h o u t - Marjorie Cohn | Abu Ghraib General Lambastes Bush Administration

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Daryn, Daryn

Did she just say "apparently" when referring to Robertson's calling for Chavez' assassination? Robertson didn't "apparently" anything, he said Chavez should be murdered. As for Robertson, this morning he claimed he was misinterpreted. What a disingenuous son-of-a-bitch. Why does ABC (Disney) allow this hater to continue on TV? Call your local station, your cable operator, your satellite provider & demand that he be removed. Murder/assassination is not an American value.

Police Notes From, Well....

Aug. 11, Jail Captain Terry Nesvold and Police Chief Jeff Schinzing from Grantsburg were driving on County Rd. E when they hit and killed a deer. The estimate of the damage to the car was $1,453.22 and is still operating.

I'm glad the damage is still operating, too bad about the deer.

•Aug. 13, Jamarr A. Bowling, Siren, was seriously injured when he lost control of the 2000 Ford Focus he was driving, making him skid 346 feet away from Hwy. 35. According to witnesses, he lost control after he sped past another vehicle traveling north. In the process, he was ejected from the vehicle, where he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He was also cited for deviation from a designated lane and unreasonable speed.

After that length of skid, the roadrash must be awful. Of course he deviated from the designated lane, he was ejected. Duh.

•Aug. 14, Charles A. Soholt, Shell Lake, was traveling north on Bashaw Lake Road near Oak Road when his vehicle caught fire, due to the carborator being filled with gas. He was taken by ambulance and suffered second and third degree burns.

I thought that was the point of a carburetor, actual having gas. Also, what is a "carborator"?

•Aug. 14, A deputy suspected Peter L. Rukes of operating while intoxicated after he had called in to report damage to his vehicle. Rukes said his vehicle was taken while he was asleep, knocking windows out in the process. A deputy smelled intoxicants under his breath after asking him if he'd been drinking the night before.

I have often wondered exactly where this "under his breath" thing is located. & the deputy only smelled them after asking the perp if he had been drinking the night before. What a good interview technique - ask & smell.

•Aug. 7, Lloyd Kallman, Grantsburg, reported criminal damage to property when both locks were taken out of a 1989 Ford Bronco, along with a broken passenger side window. The damage is estimated at $1,100.

That "broken passenger side window" must have been quite valuable.

ReThuglican Community Values

This sort of thing from the "values" crowd is not an anomaly. It's becoming a fad.

Chicago Tribune news: Devine: Official stole milk money

While the Sorry Ass President Vacations

Despondent is putting too fine a point on this problem.

Wave of Marine Species Extinctions Feared

MoDo Today

My bike didn't cost $3000 - & I've never taken a vacation from a vacation. Bush - THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER.

"What twisted logic: with no W.M.D., no link to 9/11 and no democracy, now we have to keep killing people and have our kids killed because so many of our kids have been killed already? Talk about a vicious circle: the killing keeps justifying itself."

Read the rest:
My Private Idaho - New York Times

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Vibrant Vet



Bill Moyer, 73, wears a "Bullshit Protector" flap over his ear while President George W. Bush addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

I know several vets who are completely pissed at Bush & his war of choice in Iraq. It's cool to see vets at their convention who also understand the truth & aren't just drinking the kool-aid & saluting the moron president, as if he deserves any respect at all. Good for you Mr. Moyers, & if you are ever in northern Wisconsin, you are welcome at my home for some coffee & venison. It's a no-B.S. zone.



Pic & caption via Atrios.

Bully Boy Bush

So this is where Bush learned to be such a bully. Figures.

Nola.com's Printer-Friendly Page

Hey, Northland College

Ernie Partridge lives!

That's What I'm Talking About #6

James Wolcott: The Squawk of a Chickenhawk

Pressure?

Why aren't they facing prison sentences? Just because it was a "mistake," doesn't mean it was not criminal.

London Police Facing Pressure Over Killing of Brazilian - New York Times

Kill Him, Yeah, That's The Ticket

This is just so, so, Christian I can't help myself - remember, Robertson talks to god - time for the men & women in the white coats.

Televangelist Calls for Assassination of Chavez - New York Times

Monday, August 22, 2005

Cheney

Columns: Cheney has no credibility on Iraq:


"I wish Dick Cheney would stay in his secret hideaway, wherever it is, the one he goes to when the terror alert in Washington is at maximum level. Every time the vice president ventures out to defend the administration's bungled war in Iraq, he only adds insult to injury. Even more so than President Bush, Cheney is the cold embodiment of the delusions, arrogance, stubbornness, incompetence and denial that got us into this messy war. He has no credibility on the subject."

Some Things/OneThing

From Altercation.

"I am always happy to point out that this president’s political allies helped him steal the 2004 election, and it’s a double pleasure to be able to say that Mickey is right about something, here, too, particularly when it’s just a couple of days after his sneering at journalists generally. Paul Krugman does not sneer at journalists; he does their job for them, in between doing his other job, as a professor of economics at Princeton. And per usual, he’s dead right here, which is obviously not as big a deal as Mickey being right, since it’s nothing unusual. Anyway, here is the graph of his that has right wing bloggers’ panties in a bundle.

"In his recent book "Steal This Vote" - a very judicious work, despite its title - Andrew Gumbel, a U.S. correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, provides the best overview I've seen of the 2000 Florida vote. And he documents the simple truth: "Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election.


"Two different news media consortiums reviewed Florida's ballots; both found that a full manual recount would have given the election to Mr. Gore. This was true despite a host of efforts by state and local officials to suppress likely Gore votes, most notably Ms. Harris's "felon purge," which disenfranchised large numbers of valid voters. But few Americans have heard these facts. Perhaps journalists have felt that it would be divisive to cast doubt on the Bush administration's legitimacy.

"Really, it’s not controversial at all, unless facts have no meaning. The only counting method through which Gore would have lost was the one his profoundly incompetent legal team happened to choose to argue, not that it mattered. The media seized upon this coincidence to try to protect Bush’s legitimacy. But the fact his, Gore won Florida by any sensible standard."


It's always amazed me that the American people, institutions, & political parties just rolled over on the 2000 election. That may be too strong, but how could "the world's greatest country/democracy" become so warped, so fooled, so tragic? Yes, it's money, Rove, backward thinking jurists, et.al. Actually, the American people, the voters, in 2000 got it right; but the ReThugs just couldn't allow it. & we have suffered since. It's not just the Iraq war - the environment, living wages, human/civil rights, the list goes on & on. & at a personal level it's just as bad - how/if will we be able to retire? What of the coming GrandChild, the kid & her husband, what sort of life will they have? Will they be able to afford a home? I hope against hope (yes, I stole that) that the ReThugs will be buried permanently, that the American electorate will quit voting against their own self interest, their own lives, their own children.

Falling For You, Not

Love the Onion.

"Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them down," said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University.


Via BuzzFlash

MyDD :: Bush at 36%!!!!

I'll second the too bad it didn't happen a year ago. But MyDD needs, & I trust does, understand the role of the mainstream media in all of this. They refused to truly report, to do the jobs the were trained to do. Instead, they took the easy route & gave Bu$hCo a free pass. A true war hero, Kerry, was smeared as a coward, while a true deserter, Bu$h, was painted as a hero.

MyDD :: Bush at 36%!!!!

$300 Billion and All I Got Was an Islamic Theocracy??

Remember Bush & his Stepford-of-a-Wife blathering on & on about how we were going to free women in Iraq, among other places. Anyone with a brain understood this to be b.s., but the media bought it. Now, as we wait on the Iraqi constitution, it looks like we are settling for something akin to, well, it's OK to beat your wife, kill your wife, but we got rid of Hussein. Good job moron boy.

The All Spin Zone / $300 Billion and All I Got Was an Islamic Theocracy?? (Pt. II)

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Sad Ending

I feel bad about this, but her plight, to some degree, exposed the mainstream media as a tool of the young, blonde, white missing woman.

Missing pregnant woman found dead - The Boston Globe

Sorry #2

Sorry about the lack of blogging the last couple of days. My ISP is doing some "wonderful upgrades" & I was unable to get access to the internets. I'm up at the Sidekick's house using his wireless, so I'll try & get a bit of blogging done here, at least until I can no longer stand the cries of the cats locked in the basement.

More Good Frank Rich

Frank Rich hits another home run with this week's column.

The Swift Boating of Cindy Sheehan - New York Times


Some good parts:

The most prominent smear victims have been Bush political opponents with heroic Vietnam résumés: John McCain, Max Cleland, John Kerry. But the list of past targets stretches from the former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke to Specialist Thomas Wilson, the grunt who publicly challenged Donald Rumsfeld about inadequately armored vehicles last December. The assault on the whistle-blower Joseph Wilson - the diplomat described by the first President Bush as "courageous" and "a true American hero" for confronting Saddam to save American hostages in 1991 - was so toxic it may yet send its perpetrators to jail.



True to form, the attack on Cindy Sheehan surfaced early on Fox News, where she was immediately labeled a "crackpot" by Fred Barnes. The right-wing blogosphere quickly spread tales of her divorce, her angry Republican in-laws, her supposed political flip-flops, her incendiary sloganeering and her association with known ticket-stub-carrying attendees of "Fahrenheit 9/11." Rush Limbaugh went so far as to declare that Ms. Sheehan's "story is nothing more than forged documents - there's nothing about it that's real."



But this time the Swift Boating failed, utterly, and that failure is yet another revealing historical marker in this summer's collapse of political support for the Iraq war.


....



The backdrops against which Ms. Sheehan stands - both that of Mr. Bush's what-me-worry vacation and that of Iraq itself - are perfectly synergistic with her message of unequal sacrifice and fruitless carnage. Her point would endure even if the messenger were shot by a gun-waving Crawford hothead or she never returned to Texas from her ailing mother's bedside or the president folded the media circus by actually meeting with her.



....



Casey Sheehan's death in Iraq could not be more representative of the war's mismanagement and failure, but it is hardly singular. Another mother who has journeyed to Crawford, Celeste Zappala, wrote last Sunday in New York's Daily News of how her son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was also killed in April 2004 - in Baghdad, where he was providing security for the Iraq Survey Group, which was charged with looking for W.M.D.'s "well beyond the admission by David Kay that they didn't exist."




As Ms. Zappala noted with rage, her son's death came only a few weeks after Mr. Bush regaled the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association banquet in Washington with a scripted comedy routine featuring photos of him pretending to look for W.M.D.'s in the Oval Office. "We'd like to know if he still finds humor in the fabrications that justified the war that killed my son," Ms. Zappala wrote. (Perhaps so: surely it was a joke that one of the emissaries Mr. Bush sent to Cindy Sheehan in Crawford was Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser who took responsibility for allowing the 16 errant words about doomsday uranium into the president's prewar State of the Union speech.)

Friday, August 19, 2005

How About Ours?

Read Bob Herbert's column. It's, as usual, good. So, I ask this question: Are any of Hank, a.k.a. Mr. Sue Martinsen, Martinsen's children in any branch of the Armed Forces? Didn't think so. I wonder about the other local ReThugs? But Mrs. Hank/Sue Martinsen sure can paint those soldiers on a brick wall, can't she? Well, IMHO she doesn't paint them very well.

Blood Runs Red, Not Blue - New York Times

Not A Shred of Credibility Left

We already knew this, right? Then why did it happen? Powell, a man I once thought might, might be able to lead this country, is shown to be a fool tool for Bu$hco. It's sad, really sad.

CNN.com - Former aide:�Powell�WMD speech�'lowest point in my life' - Aug 19, 2005

Friday's Random Ten

Today, the iPod presents:

Drownin' On Dry Land - Tab Benoit
Don't Cry No More - Terrance Simien
God's Gonna Cut You Down - Odetta
Cut You Sucka - Johnny Sketch & The Dirty Notes
Leave It Like It Is - Tabby Thomas
When Will I Ever Learn To Live In God - Van Morrison
Isn't She Lovely - Keb' Mo'
Dust My Broom - Etta James
Whoever Said It Was Easy - Wayne Toups
Total Devotion - Irene Sage


I must say, a satisfying set. New neural networks formed, I think.

Good Comments

Here's the first one:



"The administration says the American people want tax cuts. Well, duh. The American people also want drive-through nickel beer night. The American people want to lose weight by eating ice cream. The American people love the Home Shopping Network because it's commercial-free."
--Will Durst


Here's the second, an email from a friend:

"This is just the kind of news that no-one likes to hear. There is little comfort in the ability, of those who 2 ½ years ago predicted this, to say I told you so. The corner that our administration has so effectively boxed us into has so many comparisons to be drawn to an earlier conflict in a South East Asian country that it is scary. Deja Vu. Thank the Lord (or our lucky stars) for Cindy Sheehan for bringing the subject to a sharp point in the public eye. Simply put just WTF is the "noble cause" our chief awol son of privilege spoke of when talking of the military casualties in Iraq. I liken Ms. Sheehan's presence in Texas to a red hot poker being used for the presnits on going rectal exam to see what kind of shit he's made of."

I like the nickel beer drivethru idea, but both are completely truthful & more people need to realize it.

Wanker, Trademarked By Atrios

Why does Sue Martinsen, a.k.a., Mrs. Hank Martinsen, hate Ashland? Just asking.

Friday Guest Cat Blogging

My friend Nat's kitten. Posted by Picasa

Operation Yellow Elephant

The Yellow Elephant needs help. Please go to the link & do the small work. You'll feel better about yourself, your sex life will become fulfilling & gratifying, your mom will call & praise you & ... & it's all a lie, but do it anyway.

Operation Yellow Elephant: Special Op Yellow Caucus Orders

Words, Words, Words

More on the non-maverick McCain from Dr. Atta Turk.

But the best quote is one that Digby found from Bush's Biatch John McCain:

We didn’t have to get into Kosovo. Once we stumbled into it, we had to win it. This administration has conducted a feckless photo-op foreign policy for which we will pay a very heavy price in American blood and treasure.



Kosovo: Cost in American Blood - ZERO; Cost in American Treasure - Including occupation expenses perhaps as much as $20 billion since 1999.

Iraq: Cost in American Blood 1,858 deaths, more than 10,000 seriously wounded; Cost in American Treasure - Tracking to more than $300 Billion since late 2002.



These are not the words of a leader, or even of a truthful human being.

Friday

It's a muggy Friday morning. Low clouds. No breeze. I've got a chiropractic appointment at mid-morning. Just found out a nephew has some strange infection in his foot. He was traveling with a drum & bugle corps in NYC & is now hospitalized. He has no insurance. This is what's wrong with America. My sister is a bit beside herself, she offered to pay for the hospitalization, something she probably can't afford. Why in the hell is this, paying for an acute healthcare problem, even a worry in the most advanced society in the world? Bush is vacationing while people still die in Iraq & my sister cries for her son in a hospital in NYC, cries for him & how she is going to pay for his healthcare. I guess this is what Bush means when he talks about the ownership society.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Keyboard Kommando Komix presents…

From The Poor Man Cafe, Standing athwart history, yell I Thwarted



The Poor Man Cafe � Keyboard Kommando Komix presents…

Butterflies Are Free

Northland College ought to have spent some of the building money on a project like this - a true commitment to the environment, rather than a science building that is, well, ....

Weekend: The ultimate collection

I Must Get On With My Life

So says Bush, while on vacation. 4 more Americans, 43 Iraqis - they can't get on with their lives. Bush vacations on. What a moron.

4 U.S. Soldiers Killed as the Violence Continues in Iraq - New York Times

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Drinking Liberally

Tomorrow night at The Black Cat, 211 Chapple, Ashland, WI



Drinking
Liberally


Yeah, like Bush is any true American's President.


O - hi - o #4

Ohio ReThug scandal just keeps getting better. Gov. Taft must be one of those value voters.

- toledoblade.com -

Clarification #3780

I need to clarify my post below concerning the moron head of the 3rd District's ReThug party. I object to his characterization of Social Security as a "ponzi scheme." I do not completely object to his charaterization of Social Security as "Socialist," since it really isn't Socialist enough, at least for me. He, meaning the moron, is still a moron, however. I hope this clears things up, or not.

Add It Up

Now, I don't want to rain on the taxpayer's parade here, but I wonder what they are going to rush out & buy with their buck? Imagine all those single bucks added up? Education? Rehabilitation? Bridges? Driver's Ed? Yeah, I'm going to hop in my truck, drive sixteen miles & buy a cup of coffee at the Black Cat with my buck. Thanks Wisconsin Republican Legislature, for proving once again just how stupid & short-sighted you are.

JS Online: Tax bills are likely to drop by a dollar

Downward Spiral

Well, not quite. But I wonder how much farther we will fall if we keep electing ReThugs to the Assembly & the Senate. Wake up, Badgers, ReThugs are no good for education. They are probably all secret Pink Floyd devotees. Oh, the shame.

JS Online: State slips in ACT rank

English Majors Unite

I just love logic, I think.

Chicago Tribune | Edith Wharton: Proven deterrent in war on terror

Vassar Clements, R.I.P.

To show how wide an appeal Clements had, even I know who he was. & as many of you know, I don't much like most bluegrass.

Los Angeles Times: Vassar Clements, 77; Bluegrass Fiddler Also Played Jazz, Rock and Country

Carolyn Will Be Happy

Really, she will be happy. She just loves frogs. Plus, if you really read the article at the other end of the link, you will see that brook trout, among others, are being removed. This is good, since the brook trout, really a char, is not a native species to these lakes. Hooray for science.

Los Angeles Times: Frogs trump fish

Bush Is Happy

This is the kind of progress Bush really likes. Progress that invovles dead people, but not live mothers.

Iraq Leader Paves Way for Legal Hangings - New York Times

Things Are Going Well

While Bush vacations, Iraq is not getting any better. But for Bush, life must go on, no crisp corpses for him, just bicycles & BBQ. He is the worst president we have ever had.

Series of Car Bombings Kill at Least 43 People in Iraqi Capital - New York Times

Support The Troops #2

Pro-life, my ass.

The Capital Times

MoDo

"The president's pedaling as fast as he can, but he's going nowhere."


Biking Toward Nowhere - New York Times

Monday, August 15, 2005

Scooter, Let Me Introduce You


As soon as you are freed from the basement Scooter, we'll meet with the armed one for some, let's see W & W.

Local Politics, OK, State Politics

I'm from Wisconsin, this makes me ashamed & disgusted. Mr. Gary Arneson, sorry about the Mr., is from some other planet. I hope the Dems in that district use this against him & his fellow ReThugs. Particularly this piece:

"Ron Kind can celebrate the Socialist Ponzi scheme, house of cards, band-aid of the great depression if he wants but now it's a tourniquet on our future," says Gary Arneson, 3rd District GOP chairman."
Emphasis added. Read the whole horror story here.

If you would like to give Arneson, see I've learned about the Mr., your own ideas about Social Security, here's how:

GArne49er@aol.com

Well, I'm Pissed Off, Are You?

Do something about it! From Altercation.


Oooops, Sorry


• August 15, 2005 |11:30 AM ET| Permalink

What do we have here?

"What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground," said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. "We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning."

....

Yeah well, you know what’s coming next; tens of thousands dead; more than that wounded; hundreds of billions wasted; the hatred of the world; the creation of countless terrorists and torture victims, the destruction of a nation; and the dishonoring of the leadership of the United States of America. All in the service of something that “was never realistic,” an “unreality” that was sold to us by a dishonest, fanatical group of ideologues and their cheerleaders in the so-called liberal media.

What’s is perhaps most galling about this is the fact that if you tried to warn your fellow citizens against just this likelihood three years ago when it was still preventable, you were part of some decadent, fifth-columnist coastal elite that hated America, while the chest beating patriots were the ones who drained this nation of its blood and treasure is the service of their own lethal combination of ignorance, arrogance, and ideological obsession. Onward Christian Soldiers.
From Sadly No. Neil Young was right, BTW.

Well thankfully for us, The Rant has stepped up to the plate and cracked a pinch-hit homer with this column by Greg Lewis. Eschewing the avant-garde surrealist wingnuttery popularized by Kaye Grogan and Pastor Swank, Greg concocts an old-fashioned crackpot stew with a skillful blend of ignorance, crappy writing, and all-around stupidity. Take it away, Greg!



How Democrats Marginalize Their Constituencies

USA/Greg Lewis

Democrats continue to claim to be the party of "the people," but where the rubber meets the road, Democrats routinely fail to deliver. Among the "people" Democrats would claim to represent are, to give you one example, regular Americans, folks who grew up listening to the music of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd and who understand that they are not the ignorant, racist rednecks the liberal media and Neil Young portray them to be.


So the reason Democrats can't connect with regular folks is because they aren't loudly condemning a Neil Young song that came out over 35 years ago. Makes sense to me.

Bush Is A Joke

From Bill in Portland Maine, via Kos.

Ahhhhh, sweet vacation...

"President Bush talked tough today. He said he's not backing out, he's staying the course for as long as it takes. He's in it for the long haul. Not Iraq---his 5-week vacation."
--Jay Leno

"President Bush is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and here's the good news: he says he will only stay until Crawford is capable of self rule."
--David Letterman

"President Bush is now in the second week of his five-week vacation down there in Crawford, Texas. He's been taking a lot of criticism for this long vacation and his aides say he has his laptop with him so he can still play Solitaire and Minesweep---so it's business as usual."
--Jay Leno

"In a radio speech this weekend Bush said, 'I will not be satisfied until every American who wants to work can find a job.' Then Bush went back to his five-week vacation."
--Conan O'Brien

"President Bush is on a five-week vacation. From what?"
--David Letterman

"And while President Bush was out of town Hillary Clinton stopped by the White House on Friday for an important meeting with her decorator."
--Jay Leno

Cliche Morning, When Will It End?

When good headline writers go bad:

Many positives for Raiders despite exhibition loss


From S.F. Chronicle.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Bee Stuff, I'll Get You Stuff, Too

Buzz this, anti-art (remember Christo's piece?) boy.


Bee condo:





Go here to see more pics of the bee condo. Maybe the Sidekick could build a few of these hives to relieve the tension he's feeling on the job. Today I called him to let him know we were enjoying the day & he responded with coarse & vulgar language. Tut, tut. What will the children think?

Good Information

From Hoffmania.

Repost: Our Favorite Website

By popular demand, we're reposting this...

-You go to a newspaper or media site to read a story.
-You get a registration page which asks you a zillion marketing questions.
-You don't want them spamming you.

Go to BugMeNot.com. Enter the URL of the site you're trying to gain access to. BugMeNot will spit out at least one username/email and password you can use at that site.

What can make this better? Glad ya axed. If you use FireFox as your browser (and you really should), you can download a plug-in which, when installed, you right-click on the username field of a registration page, you click "BugMeNot" and in a few seconds, a working username and password will fill in the login.

Who's yer buddy?

Posted Aug 14, 2005 at 09:46 AM L.A.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink

Yup, More Research

Bush doesn't believe in science & he'll be gone before this crap hits the fan.

Via The Left Coast:

The huge expanse of western Siberia is thawing for the first time since its formation, 11,000 years ago.

The area, which is the size of France and Germany combined, could release billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Interesting Sunday Fact

The coffee house fact of the week:

The last bomber shot down over Germany in WWII, the Black Cat, lost eight out of ten crewmen. That, in the words of one family member, destroyed their family. His aunt never moved from her home, in case her son was actually alive and would come looking for them. She said she didn't want to move and he would then be unable to find her.

Heh, heh, heh

Scooter has been speaking to the bees from this hive. One more reason to worry, Sidekick. Beware the buzz.

WBIR-TV, Knoxville, TN

& He Was The Best Maverick

It's good to see I'm not the only one who remembers, fondly, I might add, the wonderful Maverick TV series. He mostly talked his way out of trouble. McCain, who has been given a big time free pass by the main stream media appears, unfortunately, to be in a frame of mind that continually wants to be beaten & betrayed. Remember the Bush/Rove attacks in South Carolina? This is just one of many things that have happened to McCain. & he stills supports the stupidest President ever, at least in my lifetime, which, BTW, goes back to Truman. McCain should just shut up & go live on the Imus Ranch for Kids With Cancer. Those kids could teach McCain something about living & truth.

James Wolcott: There's only one Maverick, and his name is James Garner

Kokomo, Laughomo, Go & Be Strong

"(Am I a bad person because I am singing “enormous, mendacious, disembodied anus” to myself to the tune of the Beach Boys’ smash hit single “Kokomo”? Or am I a bad person in spite of it? Discuss.)"


The Poor Man Cafe � Son of Love them that they are wingnuts

Another Bluesman R.I.P.

Emery 'Detroit Junior' Williams, 73; Blues Pianist and Songwriter - Los Angeles Times

Finally Facts

& a mention of Dr. Spock, no, not Star Trek Spock. This milk fetish must stop.

Got milk? You've got problems - Los Angeles Times

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Rich Is Rich

Read the Frank Rich column for this week here. He is telling us what we already know, but will this be the Cronkite moment for this idiotic war? Only time, boy I hope it's quick, will tell. Choice excerpts below.

"LIKE the Japanese soldier marooned on an island for years after V-J Day, President Bush may be the last person in the country to learn that for Americans, if not Iraqis, the war in Iraq is over. "We will stay the course," he insistently tells us from his Texas ranch. What do you mean we, white man?"

...

"...Mr. Bush has lost not only the country but also his army. Neither bonuses nor fudged standards nor the faking of high school diplomas has solved the recruitment shortfall."

...

"The president's cable cadre is in disarray as well. At Fox News Bill O'Reilly is trashing Donald Rumsfeld for his incompetence, and Ann Coulter is chiding Mr. O'Reilly for being a defeatist. In an emblematic gesture akin to waving a white flag, Robert Novak walked off a CNN set and possibly out of a job rather than answer questions about his role in smearing the man who helped expose the administration's prewar inflation of Saddam W.M.D.'s. (On this sinking ship, it's hard to know which rat to root for.)"

...

"Paul Hackett, a Democrat who called the president a "chicken hawk," received 48 percent of the vote in exactly the kind of bedrock conservative Ohio district that decided the 2004 election for Mr. Bush."

...

"Only someone as adrift from reality as Mr. Bush would need to be told that a vacationing president can't win a standoff with a grief-stricken parent commandeering TV cameras and the blogosphere 24/7."

...

"The endgame for American involvement in Iraq will be of a piece with the rest of this sorry history."

...

"The priority now is less to save Jessica Lynch (or Iraqi democracy) than to save Rick Santorum and every other endangered Republican facing voters in November 2006."

...

"A citizenry that was asked to accept tax cuts, not sacrifice, at the war's inception is hardly in the mood to start sacrificing now. There will be neither the volunteers nor the money required to field the wholesale additional American troops that might bolster the security situation in Iraq."

...

"We're outta there. Now comes the hard task of identifying the leaders who can pick up the pieces of the fiasco that has made us more vulnerable, not less, to the terrorists who struck us four years ago next month."


Now read the whole thing & write to your senators & congressman & your mother &; father & tell them the news.

ReThuglian Family Values Section #339809

Actress Paid Not to Talk of Schwarzenegger Affair

If People Weren't Dieing

this would be funny. The Bu$ho thugs can't seem, at least as of late, to keep it on the same page. Fools.

War Messages That Don't Quite Match - Los Angeles Times

Friday, August 12, 2005

A Good Woman

From Digby.

It is not an academic exercise for her. She lost her son --- and she'd like to know why. Nobody can explain to her -- or to any of us --- why we invaded Iraq and why people are dying. They said it was to protect us -- but it wasn't a threat. Then they said it was to liberate the Iraqi people, but Saddam and his government are a memory and yet the Iraqi people are still fighting us and each other. Our invasion of iraq has inspired more terrorism, not less. Oil prices are higher than they've ever been. The country is swimming in debt. People are being killed and maimed with the regularity of the tides.

And everybody knows this. Deep inside they know that something has gone terribly wrong. We were either lied to or our leaders are verging on the insanely incompetent. That's why when Cindy Sheehan says that she wants to ask the president why her son died --- in those simple terms --- it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It's not just rhetorical.

She literally doesn't know why her son had to die in Iraq. And neither do we.
The Sidekick claims he can't tell the difference between his two cats. Well, here is the evidence. Doesn't say much for the Sidekick's observation skills, does it? Well, so much for the Bio Boy name. Posted by Picasa
Be afraid, Sidekick Boy, be very afraid. You can't keep me locked up in the basement forever. Notice the fire in my left eye? I also know where the key to the trigger lock is located. Sleep well. Posted by Picasa
Rocky & Tippy #3 Posted by Picasa
Rocky & Tippy #2 Posted by Picasa
Tippy & Rocky #1 Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Not Much

I'm not attending Drinking Liberally tonight. My leg is sore again, but Mrs. coldH2O will be holding fort. I'll work on the Martinsen petition & get it ready for next week. Hope y'all have a good time & if you didn't go, why not? The Sidekick had better make it. However, even if he makes it, the cat blogging will be brutal tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

I'm Still Laughing

Go to Sadly,No! to see why I laughed long & hard over the following. Jeez, it was good to laugh.

Posted by: jayinbmore at August 9, 2005 11:38 PM


"I am moved to speak in writing to express the subtle outrage for which this post which you have posted has inspired me to be represented inside by a time bomb. The keyboard in front of which I sit was lovingingly designed by hands filled with heart and spirit. Why then do you in writing threaten an explosion which threatens to douse this spirit upon which rests on my desk? It was on a lovely afternoon, on August 9, 2005, that I sipped with my mouth some water from a plastic cup while visually reading with my eyes the post which you had posted. The letters which you had arranged first into words and then into sentences inspired in my eyes an instinctive explosion in my body so that the water which had been lovingly sitting in the inside of my mouth, left my mouth and found its way instead upon my keyboard upon which it was never meant to sit. I write this post with words in order to hope that we the forefathers of Betsy Ross may join my outrage against the pain to my keyboard of the post you have posted."


Pistol Packing Idiots

The idiots are starting up the concealed carry fiasco again. Please tell your state representative/senator that you do not want this stupid law in Wisconsin. Read what the police chiefs think.

Via Gunguys, via Buzzflash.

That Time of the Week


Yes, it's true. Tomorrow night at The Black Cat, 211 Chapple Ave. in Ashland, WI, it's

Drinking Liberally,

one more time.


We'll discuss a petition concerning Hank Martinsen's possible extortion of the City of Ashland, among other things, like the war, Bu$hco economics, treason, Ms. Sheehan & that wonderful old horse - the Sidekick. Be there, or be square.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Baseball

For the last hour, being of a mellow disposition this rainy day, I have watched the Cubs vs. the Reds. I have lived in America my whole life. I did play Little League baseball, albeit not very well, but I have to say, after this past hour, baseball is the stupidest game in the world. I'm sorry, but the truth is the truth.

O - hi - o #3

For those of you who felt the Ohio election story was the province of the loony left, here's a convert. Read the whole column, but here is an interesting tidbit:

Obviously people who have followed this story before know the basic facts already, but for those who ignored Ohio until now, here's a very brief greatest hits of Ohio irregularities:

• As was the case in Florida, the secretary of state (Kenneth Blackwell, in Ohio), who is in charge of elections, was also the co-chair of the state's Bush-Cheney campaign.

• In a technique reminiscent of the semantic gymnastics of pre-Civil Rights Act election officials, Blackwell replaced the word "jurisdiction" with "precinct" in an electoral directive that would ultimately result in perhaps tens of thousands of provisional ballots—votes cast mainly by low-income residents—being disallowed.

• Blackwell initially rejected thousands of voter registrations because they were printed on paper that was, according to him, the wrong weight.

• In conservative, Bush-friendly Miami County, voter turnout was an Uzbekistan-esque 98.55 percent.

• In Warren county, election officials locked down the administration building and prevented reporters from observing the ballot counting, citing a "terrorist threat" (described as being a "10" on a scale of 1 to 10) that had been reported to them by the FBI. The FBI made no such report. Recounts conducted during this lockdown resulted in increased votes for Bush.

• In Franklin County, 4,258 votes were cast for Bush in a precinct where there were only 800 registered voters.


New York's Premier Alternative Newspaper. Arts, Music, Food, Movies and Opinion

Freeway Blogger Back in SoCal

This is good, via Hoffmania.

Hoffmania!: Freeway Blogger Back in SoCal

Good Post

You know, I, too, am glad the wingnuts have finally pointed out why I am against this awful war in Iraq. From the post:

None of us - NONE of us - were against the Iraq war because:

* There was no proof of WMDs.
* Over a hundred thousand Iraq citizens would be killed.
* Our troops were needed in Afghanistan.
* Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
* Our collective conscience felt we were going to make the world more dangerous.
* The White House had ZERO exit strategy.
* The White House was wrongly convinced of "flowers and chocolates."
* Greater human atrocities were being executed in non-oil-rich countries.
* We knew a balsa wood airplane couldn't reach the U.S. in 45 minutes.
* Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.


No. We're against the war because of our EGOS. How insightful.


Hoffmania!: Simple People are Happy People

2Bee or Nottoobee

Given all the hard work the Sidekick has been involved in lately, some of us are concerned about his stress levels. Therefore, we suggest the material at the other end of this link is something the Sidekick ought to participate in. (I know, preposition at the end of a sentence, screw off.) It looks like a fun game, & you can learn something as well. & it should not be hard work. Well, maybe for Bush it would hard work.

FunBrain.com - 2Bee or Nottoobee

Monday, August 08, 2005

Mrs. coldH2O with her faithful dog, the Rockhead. Only a Lab could get into a net hammock without breaking a leg or flipping the whole blasted thing over. Posted by Picasa

It's Too Darn Hot

to blog, it's too darn hot for just about everything. But this evening offers a potential bright spot. An old friend is in the area with the new boyfriend & will be coming down for dinner. She's also bringing five other people, plus another old friend is back from Hawaii & will be joining us. I'm thawing out a bunch of venison steaks. We have green beans from the garden, cucumbers & onions too, plus a big pot of gazpacho to eat. I bought a big bottle of Sapphire gin & some tonic water. A bag full of limes finishes this all off. I hope it cools down. Jeez. Maybe the cool g & t's will help make it not matter.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Pretty Sweet

Now we know the real reason Heather & Jamie & Ayla travel to Land O' Lakes so often. How come you guys kept this a secret for so long? Well, that part of your life is over.

JS Online: The town that cares

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Bee News

So the Sidekick & Mrs. Sidekick, along with Mrs. coldH2O & myself took a short road trip to the Blue Bayou tonight for some very northern Cajun food. It was great. I had the Cajun duck, more than I could finish. They others had jambalaya, shrimp ettouffe, & crayfish ettouffe. For an appetizer we had a bit of fried alligator. Everything was quite good, except for a large party of boorish, over-lubricated morons who, for some reason, did not understand that they did not have to yell at each other. This all leads up to this week's edition of bee news. Again, this is a few months old, but after tonight, the Sidekick could use a little of the bee that stung him. Enjoy.

Latest buzz in research: Intoxicated honey bees may clue scientists into drunken human behavior

Proclamation



I promise to be the best GrandBastard, er, GrandFather I can be. I hope. If I remember. Someday. Jeez, it all makes me quite nervous, like I'm freaking effing out, but it's fine, sure it's fine, as primroses in July. Congratulations, y'all.


Like Bush

Apparently, the Roman Catholic Church is taking Bush's approach to, well, just about everything. The leaders of the church have decided that if they ignore the behavior of those they lead, & ban those with other views, then, well, that behavior isn't there & dissent automatically sends you to hell. Not that it matters to me, but with hell the Buddha, Ghandi, Pretty Boy Floyd & various members of my family sounds like an OK place to be.

Hey Hank Martinsen #3

I think this is the church you go to, isn't it? I was babtized in that church & it makes me proud that the national church is doing something so worthwhile. I hope you also support the actions of the denomination that has a monopoly on your faith.

Free At Last

Damn those fancy pants, those evolutionists, those liberal scientists.

I'll Be Dipped

Somebody from Idaho, a Republican from Idaho, has a great idea. It's about time Wal-Mart joins the communities it has imposed itself upon. The State of Wisconsin, along with all other states, subsidizes Wal-Mart when it comes to health care. For a company with the kind of money Wal-Mart has, this is an obscenity. I'll bet the Wal-Mart heirs don't have Badger Care. On the other hand, maybe they do.

60

No, not my age, yet. It's been 60 years since America dropped the bomb on Japan. A friend's mother once told me that the bomb suddenly made a random death a reality that people could see & feel. Sure there had been bombing in other wars, mustard gas, but nothing of the magnitude of an atom bomb. Hundreds of thousands of people died 60 years ago. & the randomness of nuclear fallout still strikes people, & not just people in Japan - check out the cancer rates in the west (see Terry Tempest Williams) & northern Wisconsin, where the government once paid farmers to feed their milk cows uncontaminated hay. A moment of silence is hardly too much to ask.

O - hi - o #2

OhiOoooooo here.

O - hi - o

Still think the Ohio vote wasn't fixed in the fall of 2004? The scandal continues here & here.

RIP

L.A. Times

Little Milton, 70; Bluesman's Voice, Guitar Took Him to Hall of Fame
By Geoff Boucher
Times Staff Writer

August 6, 2005

Little Milton, the Mississippi bluesman known for his supple guitar skills, booming voice and the affirming civil rights era song "We're Gonna Make It," died Thursday at Delta Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn. He was 70.

The Blues Hall of Fame member, whose full name was Milton Campbell, suffered a brain aneurysm July 27 and lapsed into a coma, according to Tommy Couch Jr., general manager of Jackson, Miss.-based Malaco Music Group, which recorded Milton.

The singer's five-decade career took him from small Mississippi Delta towns to a Grammy nomination in 2000 for his album "Welcome to Little Milton," which featured duets with Lucinda Williams, Dave Alvin, Peter Wolf and others.

The singer split his time between homes in Las Vegas and Chicago, but his music didn't reflect the slickness of the former's music scene nor did it echo the classic Chicago blues sounds of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.

Campbell belted out blues and R&B classics in a rough, soul-oriented style that was most often compared to the vocals of Bobby "Blue" Bland.

As a young man, Campbell said he identified the recordings of T-Bone Walker, Roy Brown and Big Joe Turner as the compass points in his search for his own style.

Campbell was born the son of sharecroppers on Sept. 7, 1934. His father, Big Milton, also played the blues in Inverness, a small delta community near the hometown of B.B. King, who eventually would share friendship and music sensibilities with Campbell.

"I've lost a good friend," King, 79, said Thursday, according to the singer's spokesman.

Campbell found himself at a storied site in 1953 when he joined the roster of Sun Records, the Memphis collective that produced the first recordings by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and other seminal rock, blues and country musicians.

Campbell had come to Sun under the guidance of another Mississippi music figure — Ike Turner — who in 1951 at Sun had recorded "Rocket 88," viewed now by many historians as the first rock 'n' roll record.

On Friday, Turner described his one-time protege as "a great, great voice" and a friend who might have known the end was coming.

"He called two weeks ago and said, 'It's just you, B.B. and me left; we're falling like trees,' " Turner said. "He called because Tyrone Davis died not too long ago…. He said we should all stop waiting so long to talk to each other."

Turner said Campbell never achieved the crossover success he merited: "He was never really recognized for his talent — not the way he should have been, especially with the white audience. He never got the recognition that B.B. got."

By the end of the 1950s, Campbell had moved on from Sun and, after a stop in St. Louis, had found a label in Chicago with Checker, an imprint of Chess Records. It was there that he began to make his mark on the rhythm and blues charts.

Later he would move to Stax, another R&B label. His hits included "I'm a Lonely Man," "Blind Man," "Who's Cheatin' Who," "Grits Ain't Groceries," "Feel So Bad" and his biggest, "We're Gonna Make It," in 1965.

The song hit No. 1 on the R&B charts and had lyrics that caught the ear in a turbulent time: "We may have to fight hardships alone / But we're gonna make it / I know we will / 'Cause togetherness brings peace of mind / We can't stay down all the time."

Campbell won six W.C. Handy Awards, including the 1988 trophy for entertainer of the year after a strongly reviewed tour. That year he joined an impressive gallery of Mississippians in the Blues Hall of Fame. By clinical appraisal, his career might be described as second tier to some of the bigger names such as King, but Campbell was publicly unperturbed by the assessment.

"They started calling me the master of the chitlin' circuit, but I love the chitlin' circuit," he told The Times in 1987. "It keeps me eating and living the type of lifestyle I enjoy. It's been good to me…. I don't envy anybody. I'm gonna constantly keep doing what I'm doing, and I figure if it's [meant] for me, the recognition will come."

Campbell is survived by his wife, Lesterine "Pat" Campbell, and four children: Milton Campbell Jr. of Las Vegas; LaRhonda Campbell of St. Louis; Barbara Glover of Grand Prairie, Texas; and Verlin Gleason of Benton, Texas.

A memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Greater Love Ministry Church in Southaven, Miss.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Little Milton Campbell Memorial Fund at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. Donations also may be made by calling (800) 873-6983.




Emphasis added.

Friday, August 05, 2005

Hey Hank Martinsen #2

This sweet little post from WTF Is It Now? I always love it when there's a WI connection. I wonder if the man who is quoted is related to Hank Martinsen's son-in-law? It would be excellent if he was.

"Lowest... poll numbers... ever
As horrendous death toll rises in Bush's Folly.



"Approval of Preznit aWol's handling of Iraq is at its lowest level yet, according to a new poll that also found more than half now think he's dishonest.



"Though the Chimp-in-Chief is still seen as "strong and likable" like that nice retarded boy down the street, the lazy, rich idiot's confidence is seen as arrogance by a growing number of people.



"This country is a monarchy," said Charles Nuutinen, a 62-year-old independent from Wis. "He's turning this country into Saudi Arabia. He does what he wants. He doesn't care what the people want."
Tchoupa demonstrating his one trick. Notice that he is not a pony. Posted by Picasa
Toulouse wondering what a robin tastes like. I think it tastes just like chicken. Posted by Picasa

One More Editorial

This editorial from The Toledo Blade pretty much says it all. Will Bushco respond in a sincere, thoughtful manner? Don't hold your breath. Remember, Bush can't even ride a bike or eat a pretzel.

- toledoblade.com -

Novak Is A True Turd #2

Notice that this report is in the "Entertainment" section of this paper. That says a lot about the Main Stream Press, doesn't it?

St. Petersburg Times: Entertainment news and features

Down, Down, Down

No one is surprised that the dope-boy is tanking, big time.

Opinion of Bush's handling of Iraq, honesty reaches low point in poll:


"Bush's overall job approval was at 42 percent, with 55 percent disapproving."