Who Let The (Blue) Dogs Out? Win A Platinum Record Award!

You remember "Who Let the Dogs Out?" by the Baha Men, right? Even before it was a worldwide super-hit, it was being used at sporting events where people where starting to throw things when Queen songs came on the loudspeakers. Mississippi State started the craze, although the Seattle Mariners and the Mets were soon fighting over who used it as a team anthem first. The Baltimore Ravens claim it helped them make it to the Super Bowl in 2000 and the Finnish ice hockey team, Espoo Blues,Source: DownWithTyranny! RSS Feed

President Max

All hail President Max!

Hey, who knew back in November we were really voting for Max Baucus?

This whole ghastly spectacle of five Democrats on President Max's Senate Finance Committee voting with the Republicans to bar a public option in the national health care bill reminds me of that asinine Kevin Costner movie of last year, "Swing Vote."

Doubt if you were among the 76 people who saw it, but it was all about the fate of an entire American election coming down to winningSource: Marc Cooper RSS Feed

Talking Heads and the comedy of suits

Alright, so I just watched the Talking Heads concert movie "Stop Making Sense" and at one point David Byrne comes onstage in a giant suit and it's both mesmerizing and funny. I summed it up by calling it simply "badass."

But here's the thing, it turns out skinny guy in a large suit is funny in the same way fat guy in a little coat is funny! There's some kind of comic symmetry going on here.

Here's a full clip of Byrne in large suit:

Source: Thought Alarm RSS Feed

947 units on old brewery site

From the NY Post:
A mini-city is brewing at an old beer factory in Bushwick.
Developer Read Property Group is asking the city to approve the building of 947 apartments and townhouses where the Rheingold Brewery once stood.
The site is just blocks away from the proposed "Broadway Triangle" project. If both developments win approval, it would pave the way for an additional 2,842 homes in the hardscrabble neighborhood that has seen a revitalization in recent years.
SomeSource: Queens Crap RSS Feed

Obama Fiddles While the West Burns

Not like he’s playing politics or anything, but almost $3 million in “stimulus” money that was supposed to be for fighting wildfires is being spent restoring public parks and watersheds in Washington D.C., which, last time we looked, had no national forests.

Our U.S. Forest Service has directed that $2.8 million in “Wildland Fire Management” monies, approved under the Porkulus law, go to folks that will create “green jobs” in the nation’s capitol.

The spendingSource: Say Anything RSS Feed

Good For VFW ~ Justice Against Flag Burner

Local VFW enacts own form of justice against flag burner

Members of a local VFW hand down their own punishment after a man burns an American flag on their property.

We're told the man burned the flag after a bartender at VFW Post 1938 in Valley Falls wouldn't serve him alcohol.

"Alcohol does strange things to people," said post commander Nick Normile, "but disgrace to the American flag, we can't tolerate that."

It'sSource: Theodore's World RSS Feed

Iran Has Second Covert Nuclear Facility

From an unfazed New York Times:

Iran Said to Have Covert Nuclear Facility

By DAVID E. SANGER and HELENE COOPER

September 26, 2009

PITTSBURGH — President Obama and the leaders of Britain and France will accuse Iran Friday of building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel, saying the country has hidden the covert operation from international weapons inspectors for years, according to senior administration officials…

American officials Source: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Blog for Iowa: An Iowa Nuclear Disarmament Primer, Part 1

An Iowa Nuclear Disarmament Primer, Part 1
by Paul Deaton
Many of us were sleeping when President Obama addressed nuclear disarmament to a crowd in Prague on April 5, 2009. It seems the whole United States has been asleep regarding nuclear disarmament. Whatever your politics, we should be ready to

Source: BlogNetNews.com/Iowa RSS Feed

ThinkFast: September 23, 2009

President Obama “is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan,” including a plan advocated by Vice President Biden “to scale back American forces and focus more on rooting out Al Qaeda.” Despite launching a new strategy in March, the review comes amid deteriorating conditions, the recent disputed elections, and Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s dire report.

The Obama administration is set to announce a new policy “making it much more difficult for theSource: Think Progress RSS Feed

Holder To Rule Upon What Is A ‘Secret’

From a delighted New York Times:

Justice Dept. to Limit Use of State Secrets Privilege

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

September 23, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is preparing to impose new limits on the government assertion of the state secrets privilege used to block lawsuits for national security reasons. The practice was a major flashpoint in the debate over the escalation of executive power and secrecy during the Bush administration.

The new policy,Source: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Will Teabaggers Wind Up Supporting A Mark Foley Political Comeback?

GOP radio host and unprosecuted child molester Mark Foley (R-FL) told Florida's Conservative Republican Alliance at a fundraiser for Marco Rubio (also attended by Limbaugh) that he would like to "use my experience and my voice to help others, to rally for economic sanity, to bring about real reforms on a local, state and even national level" and he doesn't rule out running for office again. Foley, who was always close with Charlie Crist-- a gay Mafia thing-- has also had a crush onSource: DownWithTyranny! RSS Feed

Awesome Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Interview on CNN After Dictator Obama Gets Pushy

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 22: U.S. President Barack Obama speaks while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) during a trilateral meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel September 22, 2009 in New York City. Obama is meeting with the two leaders in an attempt to restart peace talks

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been brought together in New York for theirSource: Theodore's World RSS Feed

Siena Poll: Bad News For Paterson and Giuliani

Today’s Siena Poll found that nearly three-quarters of New York voters thin k Gov. David Paterson is “well intentioned” but isn’t getting the job done.

The news also wasn’t particularly good for Rudy Giuliani, who is considering a Republican run for governor next year.  About 25 percent of want to see Giuliani run, but nearly half do not want him to run next year.

Paterson’s favorable/unfavorable rating is 29-59 percent (down from 32-55 percentSource: Politics on the Hudson RSS Feed

The stupidity of Bobby Jindal

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Remember Howdy Jindal's abysmal response to President Obama? Well, he's back with more hackery.

You thought Bobby Jindal would have given the ACORN bashing a little more thought, but you see, he's a Stepford Republican, so they all are programmed to give similar responses to conservative stimuli.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) is trying to shore up his anti-ACORN bona fides. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reportsSource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed

Yes, Something’s Happening In Iran

You wouldn’t know it if you only watched CNN, ABC, MSNBC or any other member of the mainstream media, but the Green Revolution continues unabated in Iran. Michael Ledeen writes for Pajamas Media:

When a tyrannical regime dies, you can see the symptoms in the little things. Late Friday afternoon, after millions (yes, millions–this according to Le Monde, France 2, and L’Express, with the BBC saying that the demonstrations were bigger than those at the time of theSource: PoliGazette RSS Feed

BHS to feature drawings of Queens historic structures

A new exhibit opening at the Bayside Historical Society on September 24 will showcase historically significant structures in Queens through a series of drawings by artist Joe LoGuirato. Spotlighting the borough's architectural heritage, the 16 drawings depict structures within Queens that are either NYC designated landmarks or are worthy of adding to that list.
An opening reception will be held at BHS headquarters, the Castle in Fort Totten Park, on September 24 at 7 pm. LightSource: Queens Crap RSS Feed

Can The President Order The DOJ To Stop Investigating Murders?

Via Glenn Greenwald. His whole post is worth reading.

I don’t think so. However, seven former CIA directors have sent a letter to President Obama and they “urge [him] to exercise [his] authority to reverse Attorney General’s August 24 decision to re-open the criminal investigation of CIA interrogations.” What so-called “authority” are they talking about?

Glenn Greenwald:

The President doesn’t order specific people to be Source: One Utah RSS Feed

Are Americans More Laissez-Faire, After The Meltdown?

That's what a new Gallup survey suggests, finding that 45 percent of Americans, the highest reading in a decade, said there is too much "regulation of business and industry" when the polling agency asked them earlier this month, vs. 24 percent who say there's too little and 27 percent who say we have the right amount.
People also think the government is "trying to do too many things" these days, Gallup reports, as 57 percent, also the highest reading in a decade. Lest we take the latter Source: Marc Ambinder RSS Feed

Parks insists on wasteful design for Ridgewood Reservoir

From Save Ridgewood Reservoir:
Since the start of the input process the parks department, namely Queens Commissioner Lewandowski and Park Administrator Kuha, have claimed that safety was their primary concern. Many of us commend them on their efforts to have openings in the existing 7' high chainlink fence repaired regularly and helping to increase patrols in the area. Homeless encampments in the basins, makeshift paintball areas and other illegal activities have been eliminated in the Source: Queens Crap RSS Feed

Louisiana Establishing Rules To Challenge Teaching of Evolution

Parents who object to teaching established science on religious grounds should be told to shut the frak up–not be taken seriously. I’ve previously noted the move towards teaching creationism in the schools in Louisiana. Now rules are being  writen in Louisiana to make changes in science instruction based upon objections to teaching evolution:

The state’s top school board Wednesday approved procedures for residents who object to materials that challenge theSource: Liberal Values RSS Feed

CPUSA: Teabaggers And Other Haters

From the CPUSA’s People’s Weekly World (formerly the Daily Worker):

President Barack Obama speaks at the AFL-CIO Convention at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, September 15, 2009. Tale of two worlds

Author: PWW Editorial Board
People’s Weekly World Newspaper, 09/17/09

At the AFL-CIO labor convention, teabaggers, birthers and other haters seem a world away. Firefighters, ironworkers, teachers and officeSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Racist Jimmy Carter Attacks Black Man

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)—Former President Jimmy Carter took a swipe at rapper Kanye West’s behavior at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards, saying it was “completely uncalled for” and his punishment was to appear on the new Jay Leno show.”

By the Jimmy Carter rule that definitely constitutes racism. Carter who is white took a swipe at a black man.

Makes as much sense as Carter’s attack of Joe Wilson. Of course Carter criticizing West’s badSource: Say Anything RSS Feed

Negroponte on OLPC / The World Bank on Mobile Innovation

Yesterday I was at the IDB for "Reinventing the Classroom: Social and Educational Impact of ICTs in Education." I wrote yesterday about CEIBAL, Urugay's initiative to distribute laptops to every student and teacher in the public school system. Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of One Laptop Per Child, followed that with a firey talk in the afternoon.

The mission of education, Negroponte reminded his audience, isn't teaching, it's learning. What happens inside the classroom isSource: NDN RSS Feed

NYT: ACORN Victim Of R-Wing Hit Job

From the ‘Politics’ section of the always objective New York Times:

Conservatives Draw Blood From Acorn, Favored Foe

By SCOTT SHANE

September 16, 2009

WASHINGTON — For months during last year’s presidential race, conservatives sought to tar the Obama campaign with accusations of voter fraud and other transgressions by the national community organizing group Acorn, which had done some work for the campaign.

But it took amateurSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

DEAN BARKER AND BLUE HAMPSHIRE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT POLLING

Blue Hampshire- the print edition?Guest Post by Steve DeMaura

Over the weekend liberal blogger Dean Barker made his best attempt to critique the latest Populus Research/Now Hampshire survey. Unfortunately for Dean his stunning lack of knowledge of survey research and his ever moving compass of what he deems acceptable or not disqualifies his comments.

Populus Research is a survey research firm which has among its clients corporations, conservative organizations and Republican Source: GraniteGrok RSS Feed

Obama's Off The Record Jackass Commented Published

After seeing the news of how Kanye West took to the stage and grabbed the microphone when Taylor Swift won VMAs' award, to rudely interject himself and publicly state that Beyonce should have one, many people had a lot of names to call him and in an "off the record" discussion during the interview, Barack Obama was asked about it and evidently called West a "jackass".
This off the record comment was then publicized when "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran, put it on Twitter, saying Source: Wake Up America RSS Feed

CO-Sen: Primarily speaking

Zappatero's Sunday hit on U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, for daring to line up political support from his colleagues, struck me as a suitable emblem for the grudge-nursing rhetoric that has surrounded ex-Speaker Andrew Romanoff's pre-announcement. This rhetoric has reinforced my initial disappointment to the news of Romanoff's plans. So Zapp's post inspired me to adapt and expand the thoughts I privately laid out on August 31 to the other SquareState.net editors. Basically, it's an outline of Source: Square State RSS Feed

New York Times Reforms Online Ad Sales After Malware Scam

A security breach forced The New York Times on Monday to suspend online ads that are served directly from an advertiser’s website.

The move comes after a security loophole allowed scammers over the weekend to swap an innocuous advertisement for one serving a fake virus-warning, and hawking a deceptive scareware product intended to sell bogus security software.

“The ad was submitted directly to our Digital Advertising Operations team,” said Diane McNulty, aSource: Threat Level RSS Feed

Right Wing Lies about 9/12 Crowd Size Too Extreme Even for Fox News

Glenn Beck’s anti-Obama 9/12 march in Washington is over, but the fakery continues. During the event, an executive for Freedomworks, the DC-based lobbying firm headed by former GOP House leader Dick Armey that was hired to astroturf the event, took to the stage and, citing ABC News as his source, flatly lied about the crowd size, saying it was about 25 times the D.C. Fire Department’s estimates.

The crowd size of Saturday’s Tea Bagger march probably did beat aSource: Pensito Review RSS Feed

Full of Hope

Photo Credit: Michael SullivanA young student is laden down with school equipment and hygiene supplies at her school at al-Boreyap.
tags : Republican ... Democrat .... Conservative .... Liberal .... Hillary ..... Clinton .... Barack .... Barak ..... Obama .... US Torture --- US Atrocities --- US military --- War on Terrorism --- Iraq --- Afghanistan --- Iraqi Kids --- Iraqi Children --- Good News in Iraq .... pelosi .... cut and run --- Satire......................

Source: U.S. Torture and Atrocities RSS Feed

MD May Prosecute ACORN Videotapers

From Baltimore’s radio station, WBAL:

State’s attorney Patricia Jessamy State’s Attorney Considers Prosecuting ACORN Video Posters

Friday, September 11, 2009 – Anne Kramer, Robert Lang and Associated Press

The activist group ACORN has fired two employees of its Baltimore office who were seen on hidden-camera video giving advice to a man posing as a pimp and a woman posing as a prostitute…

ACORN spokeswoman Sonja

Net Hoax Convinces Germany of Fake U.S. Suicide Bombing Attempt

FRANKFURT — All of Germany was bamboozled Thursday by a bizarre scheme that tricked the country’s main wire service into reporting an attempted suicide bombing in a California town — an attack supposedly perpetrated by a non-existent rap group called the “Berlin Boys.”

How they did it:

A team of publicity seeking hoaxers fooled Germany’s wire service into reporting on a fake suicide bombing in California allegedly perpetrated by German

Thomas Friedman: Yearning For Dictatorship

They know how to achieve consensus in China

Republicans are declining to support Obama-Care and Cap-and-Trade. Why, it’s enough to make New York Times editorialist Thomas Friedman envy China.

Watching both the health care and climate/energy debates in Congress, it is hard not to draw the following conclusion: There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today.

Source: Never Yet Melted RSS Feed

ACORN – ‘Advice You Can Bank On’

[Note: this is a repost of an article we published almost exactly a year ago, on September 16, 2008, but somehow it seems very timely again.]

From ACORN’s website:

Our Homebuyer’s Program

Intimidating to nearly everyone, the homebuying process seems impossible to millions of low and moderate income Americans. ACORN Housing’s mortgage counseling program eases the difficulty of buying a home for those with low incomes – we’ve helped overSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

Kurtz is Shocked That Ellsberg Would Compare WMD Lies to the Tonkin Gulf Incident

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h/t David

Howard Kurtz is still playing water carrier for the Bush administration and their WMD lies used to justify invading Iraq and when called out for it by Daniel Ellsberg who says he'll name names as to who in the Bush administration knew better what does he do? Why try to change the subject of course!

Ellsberg is the subject of a new documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the PentagonSource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed

Bloomberg on DOB scandal

From the NY Post:
The inspectors have yet to be charged, but have all quit, Mayor Bloomberg said -- the day after The Post broke the news of the scandal.
"They have resigned...You can rest assured we're not going to tolerate any of this," the mayor said.
"This is an industry that obviously for a long period of time has had problems with lawbreakers. We keep working at it and working at it, and hopefully, someday, we'll get rid of everybody in the construction industry thatSource: Queens Crap RSS Feed

Obama’s Trigger Option is Too Dangerous

Jonathan Walker at the Campaign for America’s Future writes: “The trigger option is incredibly dangerous and should make progressives very nervous.”

What is so dangerous is that it is incredibly easy to make the trigger worthless or even harmful. Changing a few words in the legislation could strip the trigger of all its power. Understanding the difference between a good trigger and a terrible trigger is not easy. Don’t expect the mainstream media to everSource: One Utah RSS Feed

Intellectual Garbage Cleanup (Joe Klein Edition)

Why oh why can't we have a better press corps? Joe Klein writes:

Op-Ed Pages and Lying: Several years ago, the first New York Times ombudsman, Dan Okrent, created a stir by pointing out factual errors in the columns of Paul Krugman...

This is a piece of intellectual garbage blowing past in front of my nose. I will pick it up.

It is true that Danny Okrent shot his reputation in the head in his final column by claiming that:

13Source: Grasping Reality with Both Hands RSS Feed

Afternoon News: Bus Tour Edition

Here's a look at some of the recent news coverage of the ongoing Health Insurance Reform Now bus tour:

From the Washington Post:

President Obama's supporters hope to recapture the energy of last year's triumphant election campaign in a bid to regain control of the health-care debate, planning more than 2,000 house parties, rallies and town hall meetings across the country over the next two weeks.
The initiative began Wednesday with a rally at a labor hall in Source: Obama HQ RSS Feed

Health Care Bill Breeches IRS Privacy

Health Care Bill Breeches IRS Privacy

By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann

08.31.2009

As if Obama’s health care proposals were not flawed enough, CBS News reports a previously unnoticed provision of the bill which makes a shambles of any privacy surrounding your federal tax returns. Under the House bill, the IRS is required to make available to theSource: Theodore's World RSS Feed