I seek to cure whats deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become

No description - just watch.

via Metafilter.

God

Rancher wins the Powerball

Neal Wanless, a 23-year-old rancher from South Dakota, won the $232 million jackpot this week. This is pretty badass as small-time ranchers have a rough time of it. Also, the guy's neighbor is named Assman. For reals.

Good Luck

This is another one of those get yourself out of the freaky room puzzles. Have fun.

Dead Snow

Norway+Zombies+Nazis.=???

Remembering Tiananmen

Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times was in Beijing during the events of 1989 which culminated in the June 4th Tiananmen Square massacre. In a series of short audio recordings, he recounts the events as he remembers them.

Also from the Times, a discussion of the famous Tank Man photo (more accurately, photos), can be found here.

As the 20th anniversary of the massacre approaches, the Chinese Government has closed Tiananmen Square, and blocked such internet sites as YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail, HuffPo, Blogspot, and others. 

Update: The Tank Man from a never-before-seen angle.

ZOMG! Obama's a socialist!

Proof yet again that the Right doesn't understand the meanings of words.

Some Good Questions...

Jack Balkin over at Balkinization raises some good questions about how we ought to respond to the domestic terrorism of Scott Roeder seen over the weekend:

(1) Should the United States be able to hold Roeder without trial in order to prevent him from returning to society to kill more abortion providers? If we believe that Roeder and other domestic terrorists will plan further attacks on abortion providers and abortion clinics if we let them free, can we subject them to indefinite detention?

(2) The Obama Administration is currently considering a national security court to make decisions about the detention of suspected terrorists, with the power to order continued preventive detention. Should this court be able to hear cases involving U.S. citizens, whether they are Muslim or Christian?

(3) The U.S. government has argued that at least some terrorists should not be tried through the criminal process with its various Bill of Rights protections but instead can and should be tried through military commissions, where the standards of proof and various procedural protections are lowered. If Roeder is a domestic terrorist, can the U.S. government subject him to trial by a military commission instead of a criminal prosecution? Although the current version of the 2006 Military Commission Act does not bestow jurisdiction to try citizens, could we or should we amend it to include citizens who we believe are likely to commit or have committed terrorist acts?

(4) One of the most important reasons for detaining terrorists (suspected or otherwise) is to obtain information about future terrorist attacks that may save lives and prevent future bombings. To procure this information, can the government dispense with the usual constitutional and legal safeguards against coercive interrogation? Should it be able to subject Roeder to enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding and other methods, to determine whether Roeder knows of any other persons who are likely to commit violence against abortion clinics or against abortion providers in the future? Would your answer change if you believed that an attack on an abortion provider or a bombing of an abortion clinic was imminent?

(5) Terrorists and terrorist organizations need money and resources to operate effectively. Often the only way to stop them is to dry up their sources of financial and logistical support. Can the U.S. government freeze the assets of pro-life organizations and make it illegal to contribute money to a pro-life charity that it believes might funnel money or provide material support to persons like Roeder or to organizations that practice violence against abortion providers? Can the government arrest, detain, and seize the property of anti-abortion activists who helped Roeder in any way in the months leading up to his crime, for example by giving him rides or allowing him to stay in their homes?

Reno 911 Lotto Clip

This is an (NSFW) unaired clip from Reno 911.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

via.

A Decent Article on Sotomayor

There has been a lot of hand-wringing on the right about Sonia Sotomayor, claiming that she is a judicial activist and a racist. Daniel Larison from the American Conservative handily refutes these charges.

Glenn shares his experience.

Also, some of the quotes gettingthe right so flustered express sentiments voiced by two of their SCOTUS darlings, Alito and Scalia.

Update: Tom Goldstein over at SCOTUSblog examines Sotomayor's record on racial discrimination cases:

Of the 96 cases, Judge Sotomayor and the panel rejected the claim of discrimination roughly 78 times and agreed with the claim of discrimination 10 times; the remaining 8 involved other kinds of claims or dispositions. Of the 10 cases favoring claims of discrimination, 9 were unanimous. (Many, by the way, were procedural victories rather than judgments that discrimination had occurred.) Of those 9, in 7, the unanimous panel included at least one Republican-appointed judge. In the one divided panel opinion, the dissent’s point dealt only with the technical question of whether the criminal defendant in that case had forfeited his challenge to the jury selection in his case. So Judge Sotomayor rejected discrimination-related claims by a margin of roughly 8 to 1.

Spurrier, Tactful as always

I am sure most of you have heard about the moron that Tennessee hired as their head football coach. Well there were a few sparks at the SEC spring football coaches meeting in Florida this weekend. The OBC still has it. FUCK TENNESSEE!!

Prototype

Video Game - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

Un-Broke: The Seth Green Cribs Edition

Un-Broke: The Seth Green Cribs Edition - watch more funny videos

Post #900, ya'll.

BoozeTown

In the early 1950's, Mel Johnson embarked on a quest to create a city whose sole purpose was to cater to the needs of drunks. BoozeTown, as it was to be called, would have its own police, whose job was to assist drunks, its own currency, backed by whiskey reserves, and a network of fallout shelters connected to a distillery in order to keep the party going in the event of nuclear war. This man, clearly, is a genius on the order of Hawking and Einstein. 

The Problem With Young People Today Is...

Every word this man says is true.

Via Metafilter.

Gilmour with the Tap

Big Bottom

Jack Bauer and Ticking-Time Bombs

Mortimer Hayden Smyth of the Center for American Free Thought (click title for more videos).

Spinal Tap meets Lego

Jesse Ventura on that Hannity show

I am sad that Ventura seems to have washed his hands of politics. 

From the same link:

Yeah, it's from The View. Don't worry, you won't get cooties.

Obama's Bad Week:

From Glenn Greenwald:

Monday - Obama administration's letter to Britian threatening to cut off intelligence-sharing if British courts reveal the details of how we tortured British resident Binyam Mohamed;

Tuesday - Promoted to military commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChyrstal, who was deeply involved in some of the worst abuses of the Bush era;

Wednesday - Announced he was reversing himself and would try to conceal photographic evidence showing widespread detainee abuse -- despite the rulings from two separate courts (four federal judges unanimously) that the law compels their disclosure;

Friday - Unveiled his plan to preserve a modified system of military commissions for trying Guantanamo detainees, rather than using our extant-judicial processes for doing so.

A Forensics Charlatan Gets Caught in the Act

Christopher Ploud, a lawyer and legal specialist in forensic science, angerd by the misuse of bite-mark analysis in courtrooms, manages to expose a prominent fraud:

In October 2001, working for Plourd, a private investigator named James Rix sent West the decade-old photographs of the bite marks on Ancona’s breast. Rix told West that the photos were from the three-year-old unsolved murder of a college student in Idaho. Rix then sent West a dental mold of his own teeth, but told him that they came from the chief suspect in the case. He also sent a check for $750, West's retainer fee.

Two months later, West sent Rix a letter and accompanying 20-minute video. In the video, West meticulously explains the methodology he uses to match bite marks to dental molds. Using the photo of Ancona’s bitten breast and Rix's own dental mold, West then reaches the conclusion Plourd and Rix suspected he would: That the mold and the photos were a definite match.

Obama Seeks to Block Release of Detainee Photos

The President today said that he would attempt to block the release of photographs of detainee abuse by American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. His rationale was that these photos could endanger the troops, while adding nothing to our knowledge of what occurred. While he may be correct that the publication of such pictures would inflame anti-American sentiment (though whether the open acknowledgement of such wrong doing by our government would have the same effect as the knowledge of the wrong doing itself is questionable), practical expediency does not seem to be a legitimate reason for this sort of action.

The ACLU had won a motion at the Federal District Court level related to the release of these photographs, and the Obama administration, along with the DOD, had agreed to release the photos, reasoning that they could not succeed in convincing the Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter. Obama's decision today is a reversal of his own position from last month, and is in opposition to the lower court ruling (I am guessing that the administration intends to make an appeal to the high court in this matter).

The long and short of this is that Obama is engaging in a cover-up of Bush-era policies that, by now, are hardly disputable as crimes. He is reneging on his campaign promise of transparency, and is doing so not by appealing to firm legal grounds, but by appealing to national security (the sort of rationale that lay behind much of the Bush administration's attempts at secrecy). By now, the country, and the world, knows that the US engaged in abuse - torture and worse. The release of these photos isn't necessary to prove that. But it would be helpful in establishing the extent to which these things occurred, and could help justify in the minds of Americans the need for investigations. Their release would also signal to the world that the US has changed course, and is attempting to regain its place among the decent, lawful nations of the world. Preventing their release, on the other hand, would be inimical to investigations (and perhaps this is one of the motives) and would signal to the world that the US will, above all else, protect its own, justice be damned.

Commentary by Andrew Sullivan and Glenn Greenwald (as per usual). Chris Cillizza weighs in with whatever it is he does. 

zombie ants

This is furkin awesome! Just one question? What problems are these zombie making flies gonna cause? If one crawls in my ear at night then what? Sorry, two questions.

R.L. ain't gonna lend you no 40 nickles for a bag of chips

RATM Covering Cypress Hill

Cameo by an old lady.

Jesse Ventura has some opinions on stuff...

From Ventura's appearance on Larry King's show.

A highlight:

"I'll put it to you this way, you give me a water board, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders."

Dranks

Yesterday I found myself with a powerful desire for some ginger ale, Blenheim, preferably. But being as I live in America's Wang™, I am unable to purchase any. There is plenty of the Seagram's/Canada Dry stuff, but I wanted something a bit more robust. Anyway, whilst browsing the tubes, I came across this site, which details how to make ginger beer in one's own kitchen. Given the simplicity of the instructions, and that I have some free time on my hands, I cooked up a batch (which is fermenting as we speak).

The above site also clued me into OpenCola, the open-source soda. 

Wanda Sykes Causes the Right to Have a Hissy Fit

More Rush jokes here. My favorite: "Q: What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg? A: One's a flaming Nazi gasbag, the other's a dirigible."

Damned hippies

Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway

Vice President Biden ditched a day of presiding over the Senate to "give the twin cannons some sun."

Shieeeeeeeeeeeet

Anthony Jeselnik impersonates Dane Cook

Hanns Scharff, Chief Interrogator for the Luftwaffe

Hanns Scharff was an interrogator for the Luftwaffe during World War II. Eschewing violence, his methods were so successful that the United States began teaching them during the post war period.

From the wiki:

After a prisoner's fear had calmed, Scharff continued to act as a good friend to the prisoner, including sharing jokes, homemade food items, and occasionally alcoholic beverages. Scharff was fluent in English and knowledgeable about British customs and some American, which helped him to gain the trust and friendship of many of his prisoners. Some high profile prisoners were treated to outings to German airfields (one POW was allowed to take a German aircraft for a trial run), tea with German fighter aces, swimming pool excursions, and luncheons among other things. Prisoners were treated well medically at the nearby Hone Mark Hospital, and some POWs were occasionally taken from captivity to visit their comrades at this hospital for company's sake as well as the better meals provided there. Scharff was best known for taking his prisoners on strolls through nearby woods, first having them swear an oath of honor that they would not attempt an escape during their walk. Scharff chose not to use these nature walks as a time to directly ask his prisoners obvious military-related questions, but instead relied on the POWs' desire to speak to anyone outside of isolated captivity about informal, generalized topics. Prisoners often volunteered information the Luftwaffe had instructed Scharff to acquire, frequently without realizing they had done so.

Justice Cincinnatus

Kermit Roosevelt, former clerk for Supreme Court Justice David Souter, attempts to shed light on the retiring jurist.

The Supremes respond to the announcement of Souter's retirement.

The Nith U.S. Circuit Court has ruled on the Jeppesen case

The court makes short work of the Obama administration's invocation of States Secrets to quash legal actions against the government:

"According to the government's theory, the judiciary should effectively cordon off all secret government actions from judicial scrutiny, immunizing the CIA and its partners from the demands and limits of the law."

The upshot of this is that the court has (re-)affirmed that the only legitimate use of the State's Secrets privelege is for individual pieces of evidence which are evaluated by the courts.

A stirring victory for government accountability and transparency. 

As always, Glenn has more.

Best Movie Review Ever

Paul Constant, writing for The Stranger, reviews Crank 2.

"It's like if Michael Bay and John Waters had breakup sex and made a little ADD baby who hated humanity. Awesome! Awesome!"

via Crooks and Liars.

The Decemberists on the Report

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes in Waves
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage Commercial

Here's a movie Nick and I did.

Susan Boyle World Record Internet Views

Susan Boyle World Record Internet Views from Bob Odenkirk

Denny Chitterbottom (Bob Odenkirk) has viewed Susan Boyle's video more than anyone else has. He's her biggest fan.

Meet Maggie

Black Bevis and Butthead.

check it ( might need to let it buffer)

GI Joe: Resolute

Warren Ellis has written a new GI: Joe miniseries for the Cartoon Network. Parts 1 - 8 are currently available, and parts 9 and 10 are scheduled to be released later today.  The finale will be aired on the Cartoon Network on April 25th at midnight.

Part 2 contains some serious Snake Eyes action.

The Georgia Guidestones

In 1979, a mysterious stranger claiming to represent a secret organization commissioned the construction of a gigantic monumental structure whose purpose is to aid the survivors of the apocalypse in rebuilding society. The monument contains written instructions in the world's major languages, a clock, compass, and calendar.

via Metafilter.

How Obama Excused Torture

"The evidence is now undeniable. President Barack Obama is flouting his unflagging constitutional obligation enshrined in Article II, Section 3 to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” He is also reneging on his signature campaign promise to restore the rule of law, transparency, and accountability to the White House. He is displaying the psychology of an arrogant empire as opposed to a modest republic in continuing and escalating the Bush-Cheney duumvirate’s global and perpetual war against international terrorism heedless of foreign sovereignties or the lives of civilians."

Bruce Fein, constitutional lawyer and former Associate Deputy Attorney General under Reagan, discusses the Obama administration's record on torture, secrecy, and the rule of law.

Update: Andrew Sullivan on Obama, Bush, and the Rule of Law: "...Obama's refusal to investigate war crimes is itself against the law."

Update II: Regarding Torture (via Glenn).

http://gobacktoohio.com/

Finally!!!!!!!!

John Madden retires.......

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9462768/Boom!-Madden-announces-retirement-from-booth?GT1=39002

Spanish Prosecution Update

Spain's Attorney General has apparently decided to quash the prosecution of the "Bush Six," despite earlier reports that National Court prosecutors intended to bring charges. 

Since the Obama administration, despite its legal obligation to investigate these matters, seems determined to let this go, this might be the end of the matter. 

Civil War General Quote of the Day

"If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas and Live in Hell."

                              - Philip Sheridan

This one's for you, Rick Perry! 

via Metafilter. With apologies to all of the good Texans.

The Ballad of Catan

The Party of Fiscal Discipline

In honor of the April 15th "Teabagging," I present to you colorful representations of the national debt under Republican presidents:

Source: zFacts - US National Debt Graph

Source: zFacts - Presidents and the Federal Debt

Spanish Prosecutors to Indict the "Bush Six"

The indictment will charge that six members of the Bush administration sanctioned the torture of five Spanish citizens held at Guantanamo.

The indictees are:

Fmr. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Fmr. Asst. Attorney General Jay Bybee
Fmr. Deputy Asst. Attorney General John Yoo
Fmr. Defense Department Counsel William J. Haynes II
Fmr. Chief of Staff for the Vice President David Addington
Fmr. Undersecretary of Defense Douglas "Dumbest Fucking Guy on the Planet" Feith.

More of the same...

On the heels of the Obama administration's decision to embrace some of the more egregious elements of the Bush administration's policy on secrecy (see here and here), the Justice Department has appealed a district court ruling that granted Habeas Corpus rights to prisoners held at Afghanistan's Bagram Airforce Base.

In essence, the Obama administration is arguing that prisoners of the United States can be flown from anywhere in the world to Bagram and imprisoned without due process, indeed, without rights of any kind.

Keep in mind that the Obama administration isn't merely continuing a Bush-era lawsuit on this matter - it is actually appealing the ruling of a conservative Bush appointee who claimed that this procedure was as unconstitutional as what was happening at Guantanamo. In fact, the judge claimed that detainees at Bagram received fewer rights than detainees at Guantanamo.

More from Glenn Greenwald.

Pygmy Marmoset!

That is all.

Wolfgang's vault

Yeah I know you got to create a fake sign in name and all but just do it and hit play. Maybe even search around if you like.
http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/dt/muddy-waters-blues-band-concert/131-9950.html

Civil War Quote fo the Day

"Send for a clergyman, I wish to be baptised. I have been basely murdered." - The last words of the aforementioned General William Nelson.

Sam Watkins was one of only seven men who survived from the First Tennessee Infantry, Company H, out of an original number of 120. His take on the war:

I always shoot at privates. It was they that did
the shooting and killing, and if I could kill or wound
a private, why, my chances were so much the better.
I always looked upon officers as harmless personages.

Civil War Colonel's Quote of the Day, Pt. I

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF TENNESSEE,
In the Field, October 12, 1864.

To the Officer Commanding U. S. Forces at Resaca, Ga.:

SIR: I demand an immediate and unconditional surrender of the post and garrison under your command, and should this be acceded to, all white officers and soldiers will be paroled within a few days. If the place is carried by assault no prisoners will be taken.

Most respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. B. HOOD,
General.

HDQRS. SECOND BRIGADE, THIRD DIVISION, FIFTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Resaca, Ga., October 12, 1864.

General J. B. HOOD:

Your communication of this date just received. In reply I have to state that I am somewhat surprised at the concluding paragraph, to the effect that "If the place is carried by assault no prisoners will be taken." In my opinion I can hold this post; if you want it come and take it.

I am, general, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

CLARK R. WEVER,
Commanding Officer.

Civil War General's Quote of the Day, Part 2

Union Major General William "Bull" Nelson to his subordinate, Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis in regards to Indiana soldiers, whom Gen. Davis had commanded at the beginning of the war:

"(Indiana soldiers are) uncouth descendants of poor trash from the mountains of Kentucky."

Shortly thereafter, Gen. Davis confronted Nelson in a hotel lobby and shot him dead.

Your Civil War General's Quote of the Day

From York, South Carolina native, Confederate Major General Daniel Harvey Hill in response to Federal General John Foster's reprimand for the burning of Plymouth, NC in order to prevent it's capture:

"A meddling Yankee troubles himself about everybody's matters but his own and repents at everybody's sins but his own. Should the Yankees burn a village in Connecticut or Massachusetts, we would bid them Godspeed in their work of purifying the atmosphere."

Get it G-Ma

The Land Walker

via Metafilter.

Rush Limbaugh is leaving NYC

Due to the threat of increased taxation on those making in excess of $500,000 per year (which Rushbo certainly does), Rush Limbaugh has threatened to leave New York City. New Yorker Jon Stewart responds:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Rush Limbaugh Leaves New York
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Obama's domino theory

Juan Cole, Professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, discusses Obama's rhetoric on Afghanistan.

"Obama's dark vision of the overthrow of the Afghanistan government by al-Qaida-linked Taliban or the "killing" of Pakistan by small tribal groups differs little from the equally apocalyptic and implausible warnings issued by John McCain and Dick Cheney about an "al-Qaida" victory in Iraq. Ominously, the president's views are contradicted by those of his own secretary of defense. Pashtun tribes in northwestern Pakistan and southern Afghanistan have a long history of dissidence, feuding and rebellion, which is now being branded Talibanism and configured as a dire menace to the Western way of life. Obama has added yet another domino theory to the history of Washington's justifications for massive military interventions in Asia. When a policymaker gets the rationale for action wrong, he is at particular risk of falling into mission creep and stubborn commitment to a doomed and unnecessary enterprise."

Update: Added link to wikipedia's entry on the domino theory.

The Imperial March played with a Tesla coil and a Faraday suit.

via Metafilter.

New Nanogenerator May Charge IPods And Cell Phones With A Wave Of The Hand

Hitler's response to this year's football season

I think we all saw last year's response. I gotta say, I think he took it well.



And if this little girl wasn't so damn cute, I would whip her ass.

Chamberlin responds!

Jimmy Chamberlin responds!

March 24, 2009 | 6395 views

Jimmy Chamberlin has crafted his own response to the news that he has left The Smashing Pumpkins.

I will say, without going into any unnecessary details that this represents a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess. I won't pretend I'm into something I'm not. I won't do it to myself, you the fan, or my former partner. I can't just, "Cash the check" so to speak. Music is my life. It is sacred. It deserves the highest commitment at every level and the Pumpkins are certainly no different. I'm sorry but it really IS that simple. There is no drama, bad blood, or anything else but a full commitment to music. My best goes out to Billy and I'm glad he has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right. I will continue to make music with the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex as well as pursuing other musical interests. I feel that I have a long way to go and a lot to give



I think the "cash the check" comment is telling.

Dr. Feelgood

The Last of the Real Gunslingers

Dave gets married.

Absolute complete and total bullshit.

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS' BILLY CORGAN ANNOUNCES THE DEPARTURE OF JIMMY CHAMBERLIN FROM THE GROUP

CORGAN SET TO HEAD INTO THE STUDIO TO CREATE NEW SMASHING PUMPKINS MUSIC

The SMASHING PUMPKINS' guitarist, singer, songwriter and founding member Billy Corgan has announced that drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has left the group. Chamberlin joined the band Corgan founded in Chicago in 1988 and played on all their albums except Adore (1998). Corgan will continue to write and record as SMASHING PUMPKINS with plans to head into the studio this spring.




I know most of you will simply shrug your shoulders. But people, know that this is a sad day for me. And fuck Corgan for still calling it the Smashing Pumpkins.
Goddamn it! 2009 has not been a good year so far.

Hey Paul Krugman

I first got wind of this video a few days ago, but didn't get around to watching it until I saw it over at Crooks and Liars.

Wargames via E-mail

I was thinking about out gaming discussion and ran in to this program on the internet. It's called cyberboard, and it allows you to play games via e-mail. The catch is that you still the need the game for the rules, combat tables, etc. and it's not live action. However, the coolest part is that this cat also made a designer program so that you can make your own boards and game pieces. I made a replica of the Tactics 2 game board this weekend. Pretty rad.

Battlestar Galactica Fools!!

I don't know if you guys are watching the finale, but it's about to get sick ya'll!!!

Steven Colbert vs. RNC Chair Michael Steele: The Rap Battle

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Michael Steele's Rap Battle Response
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Mark Sanford

The Obama administration is screwing Chris Dodd over the AIG bonus scandal

Glenn Greenwald lays it out:

"There is a major push underway -- engineered by Obama's Treasury officials, enabled by a mindless media, and amplified by the right-wing press -- to blame Chris Dodd for the AIG bonus payments. That would be perfectly fine if it were true. But it's completely false, and the scheme to heap the blame on him for the AIG bonus payments is based on demonstrable falsehoods."

I guess that this wouldn't be as terrible if Dodd wasn't facing an uphill battle for his seat in the next election cycle. It would still be craven and dishonest, but less treacherous. 

Calvin does Capitalism

via Crooks and Liars.

Axis and Allies, the Early Years

So I was going through some old pictures. In my search, I came across this one - further proof that the South is still fighting the war.

And a handsome pair, don't you think?

AIG Tax

Chris and I were just talking on the phone, and he asked me about the plan to tax employees of AIG who received some of that $165 Million in bonuses. I said that it seemed to me that the plan wouldn't be constitutional, as it seemed to be an example of a bill of attainder, which is explicitly prohibited by the US Constitution. 

Marc Ambinder  of The Atlantic thought the same thing. Then he asked Lawrence Tribe of Harvard what he thought. Here is Tribe's take on it.

Back home

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that I had a good time seeing all of you this last week. As I was entering Gainesville proper, I noticed a young couple standing on the sidewalk, looking skyward. I did the same in time to see the plume from the Shuttle launch streak into existence. It is the second time that I've seen the launch from Gainesville, but the first time was during a very overcast day, and the plume was barely visible against the cloud-cover. Today, however, the skies were clear, and the smoke from the boosters was the only thing visible. 

NCAA tournament expands.

NCAA Expands March Madness To Include 4,096 Teams

Frank Schaeffer kicks the Republican party straight in the balls.

Former Republican and member of the Religious Right lays the smack down.

"You Republicans are the arsonists who burned down our national home. You combined the failed ideologies of the Religious Right, so-called free market deregulation and the Neoconservative love of war to light a fire that has consumed America. Now you have the nerve to criticize the "architect" America just hired -- President Obama -- to rebuild from the ashes. You do nothing constructive, just try to hinder the one person willing and able to fix the mess you created."

Happy Mardi Gras!!!

The Onion at its finest. NSFW:Language

Haha

Damn, I wish the future was here

This is the kind of car I'm tlaking about. The thing has a range of 280 miles. Honda is even working on a solar powered hydrogen enine that can fuel people's home.
I want to believe in American car companies but it always seems to me that Toyota and Honda are a step ahead.
I know its hydrogen but the stuff really isnt any more dangerous than regular fuel. The lead paint is what blew up the Hindenburg. Not so much the Hydrogen.
Anyways i jsut don't see a bright future for GM and Dodge probably should have died a long time ago. They're fighting with one hand tied behind their back.

From way, way out of left field...

So you all know I have a thing for snacks; a somewhat unnatural obsession some might say. Well I was thinking about how much I miss one of my all time favorite - seriously a favorite not one of those transient obsessions - snacks: doo-dads. I thought, "Well fuckin'-a, self! There's that new-fangled intra-net thang, and maybe, just maybe I could order doo-dads online and relive the magic one more time!!" I am not at all alone in my quest to relive the god-like state of snacking one experiences when enjoying a box of doo-dads. Here's what I found:



Craving Doo Dads?



If you remember the snack mix Doo Dads then you probably know ChexMix is no replacement. Doo Dads was discontinued by Nabisco several years ago and until recently there was no replacement.

Well over the holidays I stumbled on something new from Nabisco. They’re called Mixers and they come in Traditional and some Cheese thing. Stay away from the cheese and buy the Traditional, it has a spicy taste just like Doo Dads.

Buy some salted peanuts and dump them in the bag. You’ll have to eat around the Ritz crackers though.

38 Comments follow, including:
#5. TheDingoo8yourBaby wrote:

I would KILL a bus-load of kittens and orphans for a package of Doo Dads!!!! I’d murder the last unicorn for a mere lick of one of those corn Chex from the original Doo Dads! Doo Dads were the best snack ever made. The Canadians have taken our Doo Dads!!!

Take up arms, people! Take back the Doo Dads! I propose an invasion of Canada. Liberate the Doo Dads! Don’t worry, the Liberals will convince everyone it is “all about the oil” while we are stuffing our faces with the salty goodness of the real deal.

Forget Chex’s watered-down substitute.

Liberate the Doo Dads! Bomb Canada Today!!!!

PS. And Ritz crackers? WTF were they thinking?


#12. alan's friend wrote:

Once while walking through a supermarket on the snack aisle I encountered a box of doodads upside down on the shelf. As you will remember, the brand name “doodads” was spelled in lower case letters. You can imagine my surprise at seeing a product on the shelf named “spapoop.”



#19. Brian Lee Lewis wrote:

I searched the internet 5 years ago for information on DooDads and found nothing. I emailed Nabisco then. Now I have found all these posts of people also wanting doodads. I have thought about doodads on average once or twice a week for the last 5 years. Well, perhaps longer, because I thought about them when they were still available as well. The last time I ate DooDads was with my ex-girlfriend of three + years past. I have a picture of her nude with the box of DooDads covering her face which makes me feel sort of mixed up because otherwise I relate the DooDads to my great aunt Mable who brought them to me every time time she baby sat me and my siblings. I broke up with my girlfriend when Nabisco stopped selling DooDads. I didn’t have the same feelings for her suddenly. My life is sh*t without DooDads.
I’m a little bit confused about this Canada thing that people keep mentioning. Are there DooDads in Canada? If so, I am moving there.

#26 mullall9 wrote:

I have dreams about Doo Dads…happy, beautiful dreams that I never want to wake up from! My very last box was stolen by my roommate at the time and she thought they could replaced….SHE WAS WRONG! Needless to say, we are no longer friends! How can we get them back? Some sort of petition? We have to make it happen!

Leahy, Specter, Feingold, Kennedy Introduce State Secrets Legislation

In light of Obama's recent invocation of the states secrets act (see below), a bi-partisan group of Senators have reintroduced a bill which would limit the President's authority in this regard.

“The State Secrets Protection Act will help guide the courts to balance the government’s interests in secrecy with accountability and the rights of citizens to seek judicial redress. The bill does not restrict the Government’s ability to assert the privilege in appropriate cases. In light of the pending cases where this privilege has been invoked, involving issues including torture, rendition and warrantless wiretapping, we can ill-afford to delay consideration of this important legislation. I hope all Senators will join us in supporting this bill.” - Patrick Leahy

via Glenn Greenwald.

Spokesman for Eric Cantor, House Minority Whip, sends a video spoof of AFSCME to Greg Sargent

NSFW: Language

Apparently, this was in response to AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) running ads against Cantor for opposing the stimulus package. I guess this was supposed to portray AFSCME in a bad light, but I think it is pretty badass.

More of the same, Part II

Well, Tim Geithner is going to release his Bailout plan today. According to the NY Times, it contains the following provisions:

1) Exisiting bank execs will be allowed to remain in power and will not experience salary caps.
2) Bank shareholders will be protected at taxpayer expense.
3) The government will not dictate what the banks do with the money they receive.
4) The creation of an entity which will guarantee mortgage backed assets for private investors, putting taxpayer money on the line (likely, the only way to encourage private investors to buy these things at a rate acceptable to the current holders of the securities would be to guarantee them at or near the holder's current valuation, regardless of what their true value is).

Yippee.

Firedoglake's Ian Welsh discusses the plan.

Update: Naked Capitalism.

Update II: Martin Wolf from the Financial Times.

Obama DOJ invokes states secrets to quash rendition lawsuit

Not change, just more of the same.

Nasty......but funny.

dope dizzle d

Steven Pearlstein, WaPo's Business Columnist, discusses the ignorance of congressional leaders

"My modest proposal is that lawmakers be authorized to hire personal economic trainers over the coming year to sit by their sides as they fashion the government's response to the economic crisis and prevent them from uttering the kind of nonsense that has characterized the debate over the stimulus bill during the last two weeks."

A fantastic piece that should be read by everyone.

Colbert remix

The original.



Reviving an oldie but a goodie.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Green Screen Challenge - The Finalists

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Paul McCartney Appearance

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The Prisoner, online, free, and legal

AMC is offering all 17 episodes of the 1960's cult classic The Prisoner online at their website. The surreal setting, treatment of various social issues, and thrilling main arc make this series well worth watching.

The Daily Show responds to those members of the GOP fretting about GITMO prisoners being transferred to the US.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Guantanamo Baywatch - The Final Season

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Fucking Seizures

Wanted to share some cool shit related to epilepsy surgery that is out there.

This is a video about a guy who underwent surgery at Detroit Medical Center. They have some cool shots of the brain.




Chris Wells - this one's for you. Called Diffusion Tensor Imaging. They use functional imaging and overlay it on an MRI to actually map the fiber tracts. Fucking awesome.




This one is for those medical marijuana advocates out there - you know who you are.

Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake Explains The Employee Free-Choice Act

Like many people, I imagine, I was confused as to what was at issue here, and didn't understand why the Right was up in arms about this until just recently. This post helps explain the situation.

Fearing Another Quagmire in Afghanistan

Can President Obama succeed in that long-lamented “graveyard of empires” — a place that has crushed foreign occupiers for more than 2,000 years?

From NYT's Week in Review.

Grow Tower

Have fun.