Open Thread
By bluegal Tuesday Nov 10, 2009 8:30pmGeoff Badenoch reads Robert Burns as he should be read. I suggest you close your eyes when the poetry starts.
Open Thread below....
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discount store:
http://www.wesh.com/news/21567569/detail.html
Those clever Chinese marketers probably saw all the swastikas at teabagger rallies and figured out it was a trend worth marketing to...
At least it wasn't marketed towards Hanukkah.
.
.
with menorahs of six or seven candles, made by the same company.
to bother with any silly marketing ploys:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/natio...
I hope Obama has a grand time with all the "human rights activists" during his upcoming visit.
Did anyone happen to notice that she already has her Christmas tree up???? Holy cow, that's really pushing it isn't it? After all it's only November 11 for Pete's sake.
While it's amusing for the apparent horror of it, that's really not fair.
As pointed out in the article, that swastika wrapping paper has a dot in each quadrant and has some other Indian-looking art on it, so it's almost certainly intended to be the common Hindu symbol.
Further, Buddhism also makes heavy use of the same symbol (usually the mirror version of the Nazi favorite, thanks to their appropriating a perfectly good ancient symbol), and in Asian countries seeing swastika marking Buddhist temples or whatever else is quite common--any Japanese tourist map of an old city will be dotted with them, since they're the standard mark used for Buddhist temples. (People of the right age to have played the original Legend of Zelda will be familiar with it in the same context as the shape of one of the levels.)
Let's not get all huffy about things that only appear untoward but are, frankly, completely legitimate if a bit culturally tone-deaf. The US distaste for armbands due to the Hitler Youth et all is similar--looks odd, but common elsewhere.
On an unrelated note, yay for Rabbie Burns. Quality poet, and you've gotta love the Scottish dialect--Burns doesn't sound right any other way. My local Scottish society had a young military man (who I believe ended up overseas during one or the other of the Iraq conflicts) who could do a spectacular Ode to the Haggis.
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.htm...
Not sure if the train operator missed any text messages though...
The book I bought a few years back, though it has an enormous amount of poetry in it, wasn't actually complete... As the kilted gentleman mentions above (the girlfriend thing), Burns also wrote poetry for women he loved. Quite a bit for quite a few. I had to search for and buy that book seperately. Bawdy, it is. Beyond bawdy, some of it...
Highway of Heroes
.
Here's a link to a photo tribute on the Highway of Heroes from the photographer mentioned in the news video.
Highway of Heroes 2
LaoTsu.
And I thought Obama handled today's memorial at Ft Hood today with class and grace. I can only imagine how bush would have shamed it.
Oh, and since it's now Veterans Day:
FUCK YOU to bush, cheney and the rest of the chickenhawks.
And THANK YOU to those who have served.
Peace.
the right wing radio were complaining because Obama's schedule would not allow time to go to Berlin to celebrate the wall coming down. Bitch about everything, offer solutions to nothing.
Another crime commited by the Bush regime. Depriving we, the American public, from properly mourning our fallen soldiers. Hiding them away as if shamed by thier sacrifice, which in truth, they should be, for placing them in danger in an unnecessary war.
http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/11/09...
Thanks for the Robert Burns. It makes me think about...
"In the Good Ole' Days:" (written in 2004 by Del Jessen at the on-set of the Iraqi war.)
In the good old days this country had a leader
who was makin' LOVE not war,
In the good old days we had a constitution
and we knew who the rules were for.
In the good old days our world was at peace,
and we kissed our children good night.
Now we gotta turn on CNN to catch a glimpse
of how they're doin' in the fight.
In the good old days we were victim of terror,
and the world was at our side.
In the good old days we yelled out IMPEACHMENT
'cause the Senate said the President had lied.
In the good old days the Arab Street...
thought America was pretty cool.
Now all they want is an AK47,
and they learn how to kill us in their schools.
In the good old days we had good old jobs,
and we were all gettin' ready to retire,
And the National Guard trucks were stuck in the mud...
not in an Iraqi QUAGMIRE.
In the good old days, I actually remember
such a thing as a Light News Day,
When the anchors would laugh,
and they would do silly things,
And they would even run out of things to say.
In... the... good old days we sang good old songs
about tractors and sweethearts and such.
In the good old days our sons and our daughters
weren't comin' home walkin' on a crutch.
In the good old days, we laughed and we sang,
and we raised a glass in good cheer,
that was just before the suicide bombers
started blowing up Marines. who were
shooting at civilians wearing
shirts made of bombs, while doing
guard duty in the rear.
In the good old days going to war...
was so much more cut and dried...
Our big screen heros carried the day,
and the bad guys always died.
In the good old days we knew who was right,
and the Good Guys were ready for a fight...
But today... all I see is DARKNESS in PLAY...
there ain't no more good guys comin' this way,
for no good reason we've gone back to war,
This isn't the good old days any more.
No... this... isn't the good old days any more,
This one's lookin' like a Holy War.
Load up yer rifle clip, sharpen yer blade,
It's a Muslim Jihad, and a Christian Crusade.
Hey! Haven't we stumbled through this one before?
the Dark Age of History comes back once more!
This isn't the good old days anymore...
This isn't the good old days.
Lyrics by Del Jessen, 2004
Virginia's governor is already planning for his next race by executing the DC sniper. A Brooklyn jury gets bought by two Bear Stearns' execs charged with lying to investors. For some reason, there aren't many black residents of L.A. who are getting flu shots. AIDS is a primary killer of women around the world. The Vatican considers expanding its message to Scientologists. The U.N. flip-flops and endorses Karzai. Red-light cameras actually cause more accidents, for some reason. McCain and Dumbya made Newsweek's decade of biggest blunders. Cheney and Dumbya make their list for the decade's worst predictions. Why so serious? The "wisdom" of Rush.
"But they (LAPD) only count collisions caused by someone going through the red light, not by rear end accidents or any others at an intersection."
Police manipulating facts to suit their agenda (IE: raising revenue)? I am shocked, just shocked...
Thanks, tequila.
chuckle episoed, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekQT9rxQPso , the part of the pig.
...but 30 Rock has been sliding since the end of last season. That episode- titled Stone Mountain- is the best of this season so far, and it rates a C+ in my book.
How I long for the days of Cooter Burger...
...from season 2, iirc.
Blackwater tried to buy off Iraqi officials to avoid prosecution.
on CNN, but then it mysteriously dropped off the repeated segment.
couldn't be true. Eric Prince comes from a fine Christian family.
if it didn't have all that messy Sanskrit on it...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#33846017
and the most with preexisting illnesses.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/111009.html
Heh, the article poses the following question:
It proposes all sorts of answers from Republicans simply wanting Obama to fail on everything to the fear that the public option might be expanded over the years, and even suggests that Holy Joe's commitment to Israel could have something to do with his stance.
I think the article misses something about the game of politics. The strategy of those opposed to health care reform has always been to whittle away at it until whatever it was that a small majority could pass would actually be bad for the American people. Each opposition politician would add his or her own peculiar amendments in ersatz negotiations with those desperate to pass a reform measure, pretending that they would vote for the bill if this amendment or that amendment were adopted. Then, they'd turn around and vote NO, lambasting the bill, whatever its final form.
What do they get out of this? Well, either they succeed in killing the bill altogether, preserving the status quo for the insurance companies, OR . . . . .
. . . the shitty bill passes with a public option so weak it can't do anything, the insurance companies have other people forced to buy their shitty policies against their will and under the threat of legal penalty, and when Americans realize they've been had, all the politicians who voted NO get to say, "See! We told you government reform would only make things worse and take away your freedom!"
And then they win their de jure conservative majority back.
Seems to me that the only real way to get any sort of meaningful healthcare (not goddamn insurance reform) is to amend the Constitution to state that the health of the country's citizens is an unalienable right first.
Expecting the cart to be an effective jockey simply is not going to get it done.
Here's an interesting take on Saturday's House vote:
http://welcomebacktopottersville.blogspot.com...
Kareem...
use of his celebrity. Good luck indeed.
Okay, this has been bugging me for years. So I'm just gonna ask it. Does anyone else here think that Denzel Washington looks like the DC Sniper?
but the guy they just arrested in Seattle for the murder of a policeman does.
Hadn't heard about that one. Have you a link?
if they just needed Denzel to pose for this or if this is the alleged suspect.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localne...
.
He was an angel once. A pretty bad one as I recall.
Shirley, you jest.
you know more about fastfeat than we do or you are terribly confused. I don'rt think fastfeat's real name is Shirley.
More than I care to have, actually; it's one of the downsides of having to spend time in jail...
Oh bring me to tears...Ae Fond Kiss Cara Dillon
Make my heart and soul soar... Now Westlin Winds Dick Gaughan!!
A Man's A Man For A' That Paolo Nutini
A Man's A Man For A' That Jim Malcolm
Green Grow the Rashes, O Michael Marra
A Red Red Rose Andy M. StewartA Red Red Rose
The DC sniper has been executed. Long overdue.
Here's a first: Fux fact checks Palin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUWF0ib-IC4&fe...
completely and replace it with "In Corporations We Lust"?
And Polk? Why not Harding or Hoover?
At the rate we're going, the dollar coin will soon become the new penny...
If the Health insurance industry is 17% of our economy and 46 million are uninsured what is the percentage the insured are paying of our economy?
George Burns - I Wish I Was Eighteen Again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3c-WBn5cCg
i am over 60 and am and have been most of my
life a gay man. so my gar-dar is somewhat fine
tuned and more right than wrong when i spot
someone who is or should be gay.
glen beck is one of the ugliest and most effeminate
homophobes i have ever seen. his gestures are over
the line, swishy and effeminate. he reminds me
of many of the old hollywood and radio stars who
were gay, but hide their private proclivities from the public.
being married is only a ruse.... remember larry craig?
My mother had the schoolgirl crush on him, posters/photos/the whole high school girl mania. When he died (and the real story was told), even though she was fifty years past her crush, she was still devastated.
The Hollywood studio system took great care in the old days to manage the stars' public image.
And I agree with you about Glen Beck. Probably why he became Mormon, to have a lot of help holding back the urge. That religion is very helpful for those who wish to be strapped into a cradleboard of control and rules. They will never have to actually make a decision; someone is always there to do that for them.
SCOTUS will take up whether or not juvenile offenders should get life sentences. The Chinese have solved their overpopulation problem: just expose their factory workers to BPA, and you're guaranteed sterility.
Justice Scalia does not believe the Eighth Amendment's "cruel and unusual punishment" clause requires proportionality (i.e. that the punishment fit the crime (e.g. the death penalty is a disproportionate punishment to stealing a stick of gum)).
Kennedy tends to be on the liberal side on these kinds of issues, though, so, here's hoping.
The Cap and Trade climate change bill is a huge mistake here
Wow. This FUX News clip is just amazing. It's FUX at its finest, and, you know . . . it's almost as if Greta has never even heard of Dennis. It's weird. It's as though she had him on to be the "conservative" Democrat who voted with all the wonderful citizens of Know Knothing Knation against the horrors of health care.
Okay, I am now going to provide a Karencatures transcript. I plead with you, please read the transcript before watching the clip! Most of my transcripts are wildly exaggerated spoofs. I promise you -- I PROMISE -- what follows is NOT a wild exaggeration.
Sustern: Golly, Congress sure done worked late into the night, but sadly, the Health Care Reform monster was approved by the House.
Video Clip: Brave citizens protest, shouting, "Kill the Bill!"
Video Clip: John Boehner bravely reclaims his time from a childish interruption by African American Charlie Rangel.
Video Clip: Republican representative calls the bill a jobs-killing, tax-hiking, deficit-exploding government takeover of our health care.
Video Clip: Republican representative calls the bill a Declaration of Dependence for pledging Americans' lives, fortunes and sacred honors.
Video Clip: Republican representative holds up a little baby as a ventriloquist's dummy to have the baby plead not to hurt him with health care reform.
Video Clip: Democrats cheer in those Republicans' faces as they pass the bill despite their concerns.
Sustern: You know, there are some decent Democrats who voted no. Let's talk to one of them. Dennis Kucinich, thank you for being here.
Kucinich: Good to see ya.
Sustern: You were a giant no on health care reform. Why?
Kucinich: Because it forces people to buy private insurance, makes them pay a penalty if they don't -- they pay twice, first from their own pocket, and they pay second through their taxes -- it's the wrong business. I mean, insurance companies are in business to make money. In health care, they make money not providing care. If we want health care, then let's have health care, and put the money into health care, not take one out of every three dollars and give it to the insurance companies.
Sustern: So, like, how much is the government going to punish us if we don't buy health care? How much money is the penalty?
Kucinich: [puzzled] That depends. It's a percentage. Anyway . . . the point is we shouldn't be forcing people to buy private insurance. And you know, single payer was forced off the table, so we were trying for competition with the public option, but it's been whittled down to next to nothing, so we tried state single payer, but they chopped out my amendment, so basically, we have insurance companies getting carte blance, and Congress giving up its power.
Sustern: [suddenly figures out whom she's interviewing] So, in short, your a far-leftist, while the other Democrats I could have interviewed are good conservatives? Is that a fair description?
Kucinich: No! I'm a centrist! I'm smack in the middle of the mainstream of the American people, who want robust health care reform with the government involved! Seriously, if we're going to have this system, how will it control anybody's costs of health care so that everyone can access it? The whole thing is a boondoggle!
Sustern: So, how come Nancy won't go your way? Have you tried talking to her?
Kucinich: What? Of course I have. We talk all the time. I work with her. I respect her. A lot.
Sustern: What did she say?
Kucinich: Well, she has to deal with the White House, and they wanted my amendment dropped, because they thought the insurance companies would see it as a slippery slope to single payer. And the speaker herself has a tough balancing act to do. My job is to represent my constituents, which I do.
Sustern: But what did she say? Did she call you, "Dennis?" That'd just be so cute! So, did she say, "Yo, Denny-boy, like I can't make this happen your way 'cuz the heat's comin' from the White House, man!" Do you guys talk like that?
Kucinich: Uh, well, not quite those words verbatim. But I want you to know that I made a real effort to see if there were a way to work things out. But you know what's astonishing to me? Seriously, think about this: The House of Representatives apparently thinks its less controversial to put abortion on the table than state's rights to single payer!
Sustern: So, you guys passed this bill in this House. Is that it? Will this be the bill that the president signs into law?
Kucinich: Uh, no. The Senate will pass its version, and then there'll be a conference committee. Anything goes there. The real amending goes on in conference. So, if you're really concerned about fixing this bill, we still can. In conference committee.
Susterns: Thanks, Dennis. Come back soon.
Looks like Van Sustern just got pwned!!
Thanks.
Joseph Nye
Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University and Author
Another good read over at DU is 'Why the right hates President Barack Obama so', click here.
I think the reason Joe's holding up "reform" is because he can. He's gone drunk with power, and wants to hold on to it as long as he can before he gets booted out of office.
Anyway, the significance of Nov. 11 for Veteran's Day. Interesting description of the U.S.S.R., when Gorby was running the place. Sounds rather familiar, for some reason:
I hate assholes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrmQB38aT5U
The Soldiers Project: Honoring Our Veterans From Iraq
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G252WvDW1UM
The most patriotic way to honor future veterans of foreign wars is not to create any unnecessarily.
--
Posted By Juan Cole to Informed Comment at 11/11/2009 01:19:00
attributable to someone else. Not sure who though.
Juan says - common concept but the quote is in his words or he would have attrb'd.
Not trying to bust his or your balls. And I know you're good with quoting and crediting. Thanks for checking.
and the 20th century killed it - somewhere between Auschwitz and Bob Dylan it ceased to matter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOR3H6R6DSw
here's some 21st-century doggerel:
When all the domes are laid to rest
and flowers heap the minarets
when all the crosses lie uncrossed
and found objects mark the debris lost
perhaps the pyramids will cry:
"they fought to live, and lived to die."
For a' that an a' that
Th "Pith o sense and pride o' worth"
Dinna pay me BILLS an' a' that
An' if I dinna hae the cash an' a' that
Nor job t'earn me a' that
They takes me hame an' a' that
That Pith o sense an pride o worth
Ain't worth a damn an' a' that
We "dare be poor" an a' that?
WE GOT NO CHOICE nor a' that
WTF is up with some cities, such as here in Orlando, running their Veterans Day parades on other days than today? Not running here until Saturday. Govt offices are shut down, many have the day off--why not today??
Vets deconstruct their uniforms, turn into art.
http://multimedia.boston.com/m/21596154/the-c...
O what a gift he gee us, to see ourselves as others see us.
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