Monday, December 31, 2012
democratic presidents 80 years later
Labels: fiscal bluff
auld lang syne
2012 was officially hottest year on record
the top ten science stories of 2012
the 10 best queen songs
Sunday, December 30, 2012
environmental news stories sunday
(reminder to the whiny congresscritters - you can't have a healthy economy if you don't have a healthy populace and healthy environment.)
threats to clean water today. the clean water act has had considerable success over 40 years, but now it faces challenges such as crumbling infrastructure, stormwater overflows, agricultural runoff and lack of enforcement. - living on earth
epa faces legal battles, might take easy confirmation road. regardless of who takes the reins, the u.s. environmental protection agency will likely face continued legal battles in president barack obama's second term as it tries to finalize pollution rules for power plants, analysts said -reuters
as biodiversity declines, tropical diseases thrive. a new paper is a reminder that ecology has a pretty big say in whether pathogens thrive or die off. using a statistical model, researchers predicted that countries that lose biodiversity will have a heavier burden of vector-borne and parasitic diseases - npr
why climate change matters in delaware. a no-name rainstorm that blew through delaware on thursday flooded 40 homes behind an 8-foot high seawall at bayview beach along the delaware river south of wilmington – causing more damage to the little hamlet than did superstorm sandy - wilmington news journal
greens confront own need for diversity. the republican party isn’t the only political force that has a diversity problem. environmental activists say their own movement needs to step up its game if it wants to play much bigger in washington - politico
wood-burning fireplaces may be causing significant health problems for central valley residents. there aren’t many scenes filled with more comfort or nostalgia than curling up on the sofa in front of a warm, crackling flame burning merrily away in a fireplace, especially if the weather is stormy. but that open wood-burning fire could be killing you - lodi news sentinel
extreme weather 101: climate change and precipitation. when it rains, it pours. that’s how we may want to think about the effects of climate change on precipitation - climate central
extreme weather 101: drought & our changing climate. drought has left huge swaths of the united states parched this year. are these dry conditions simply a fluke, or something we many need to get used to in a warming world? - climate central
officials worry that agriculture community will bear burden of water shortages. global warming and increased demand for water by urban and municipal users make shortages of the colorado river inevitable, according to a recently-released study by the bureau of reclamation and the seven colorado river basin states - imperial valley press
mississippi river water levels lowest in decades, threaten shipping. the drought that devastated crops throughout the midwest this summer has made the mighty mississippi dangerously narrow and shallow, threatening to choke off a vital transportation artery that carries billions of dollars of raw materials and commodities through the heart of the country - chicago tribune
Labels: agriculture, california, climate change, drought, environment, epa, fires, global warming, infrastructure, mississippi, obama, pollution, public health, water, weather
gop says to seniors
fiscal cliff discussions break down after republicans demand social security cuts - daily kos
Labels: daily kos, gop, social darwinism, social security
The Cat Food Commission's Willing...
Jared Bernstein, Ph.D., Social Welfare:
I support the change [from CPI-W to Chained CPI]—it’s a more accurate measure of price growth (though a chained index for the elderly would be better)
Duncan Black, Ph.D., Economics:
If the true CPI-E increases faster than CPI, then chained-CPI is worse, not better.
A graphical analysis of the Bernstein claim:
Game, Set, and Match to the economist. No wonder the Obama Administration's first term was such a failure.
sunday afternoon
5 biggest gop fails of 2012
sarah palin's worst moments of 2012
milk prices could double next year
Saturday, December 29, 2012
a modest proposal
batocchio does a bang-up job of continuing the work of our friend, the late, great jon swift.
long-time readers of this space know that jon, aka al weisel, was our partner and co-founder of our yearly salute to the children of the lesser blogs, aka blogroll amnesty day.
but now we must needs give kudos, including a laurel and hearty handshake, to batocchio, who revived and has been continuing jon/al's other salute to the denizens of blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase, the annual blog round-up; best of the blogs from this year, as chosen by the bloggers themselves.
we urge you to go peruse the list, and the posts themselves; it's not only the best way to see the best of the best of the blogs, but to honor the memory of the best friend blogtopia ever had.
saturday night fish fry
the racist origins of the second amendment
fbi monitored occupy wall street, records show
5 cartoons about the fiscal cliff
Friday, December 28, 2012
happy cat blogging friday
Labels: cat blogging friday, humour
friday at five
rassmussen: alcohol perceived more dangerous than pot
banks want to roll back a nevada law that forces them to prove they own a property before they can foreclose on it
it sounds like a tv show: fbi: art theft division
Thursday, December 27, 2012
thursday afternoon
workers' rights must be strengthened nationwide
chritian college president really cranky about queer bloggers on campus
some choice quotes from the late robert bork
deal or no deal
Labels: fiscal bluff
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
2012 video of the year nominee
Labels: romney
wednesday jam
the nra has more blood on its hands than al qaeda
is this the most racist restaurant in america?
joe gandelman, over at the moderate voic, on the petition to deport piers morgan
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
never let it be said we are not keeping pace with the kids and their rock and their roll.
just to shake things up, we present
florence & the machine and billy bragg - fairy tale of new york
this one's for you, kristy, where ever you are on this christmas night...
blazing django
gung hay fat chanukkah
good king wencenslas
when even santa claus can't get a job
we could end homelessness for what americans spend on christmas decorations
the first christmas in tweets
ppp poll finds 42% of americans think that santa is a democrat
and sad news for christmas: rip oscar madison and quincy, m.e., jack klugman
addemdum: even more sad news, veteran character actor (and veteran of wwii, where he won 3 purple hearts) charles during has also died
happy xmas
Monday, December 24, 2012
The Only Modern Xmas Story
I arrived, headed for my favorite barbecue stand and, en route, noticed that Mel Tormé was seated at one of the tables.
Mel Tormé. My favorite singer. Just sitting there, sipping a cup of coffee, munching on an English Muffin, reading The New York Times. Mel Tormé.
I had never met Mel Tormé. Alas, I still haven't and now I never will. He looked like he was engrossed in the paper that day so I didn't stop and say, "Excuse me, I just wanted to tell you how much I've enjoyed all your records." I wish I had....
I waved the leader of the chorale over and directed his attention to Mr. Tormé, seated about twenty yards from me.
"That's Mel Tormé down there. Do you know who he is?"
The singer was about 25 so it didn't horrify me that he said, "No."
I asked, "Do you know 'The Christmas Song?'"
Again, a "No."
I said, "That's the one that starts, 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...'"
"Oh, yes," the caroler chirped. "Is that what it's called? 'The Christmas Song?'
"That's the name," I explained. "And that man wrote it." The singer thanked me, returned to his group for a brief huddle...and then they strolled down towards Mel Tormé. I ditched the rest of my sandwich and followed, a few steps behind. As they reached their quarry, they began singing, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." directly to him.
A big smile formed on Mel Tormé's face — and it wasn't the only one around. Most of those sitting at nearby tables knew who he was and many seemed aware of the significance of singing that song to him. For those who didn't, there was a sudden flurry of whispers: "That's Mel Tormé...he wrote that..."
As the choir reached the last chorus or two of the song, Mel got to his feet and made a little gesture that meant, "Let me sing one chorus solo." The carolers — all still apparently unaware they were in the presence of one of the world's great singers — looked a bit uncomfortable. I'd bet at least a couple were thinking, "Oh, no...the little fat guy wants to sing."
But they stopped and the little fat guy started to sing...and, of course, out came this beautiful, melodic, perfectly-on-pitch voice. The look on the face of the singer I'd briefed was amazed at first...then properly impressed.
On Mr. Tormé's signal, they all joined in on the final lines: "Although it's been said, many times, many ways...Merry Christmas to you..." Big smiles all around.
And not just from them. I looked and at all the tables surrounding the impromptu performance, I saw huge grins of delight...which segued, as the song ended, into a huge burst of applause. The whole tune only lasted about two minutes but I doubt anyone who was there will ever forget it.
Go read the whole thing. The rest of us have to abide with this:
If you liked this, please consider joining me in donations to Oxfam America or Heifer in honor of others. Which will still deliver an e-card in time for anything today.
'twas the night before christmas
how christianity became a lucrative brand
discovery channel kicks ted nugent to the curb
it's the walking dead christmas special!!!
menorah carey
this is borderline offensive...and we are not exactly sure which side of the border it comes down on...but we lofao'd
hot box comedy - all i want for christmas is jews
i am confused by this
Sunday, December 23, 2012
the true meaning of christmas
this was written in 1959, so...nothing's changed
a christmas carol - tom lehrer
actors on actoring
from snl - you're a rat bastard, charlie brown
merry christmas
i'm dreaming of a white christmas - clyde mcphatter & the drifters
sugar on sunday
1 in 3 americans believe extreme weather is a sign of biblical end times
and, atheists suffer discrimination and persecution around the world
and be sure to bookmark the new address for avedon carol's the sideshow
Saturday, December 22, 2012
happy holidays
now the usual angry rant. this evening i saw a segment on cnn in which they asked someone at a shooting range what he thought of NRA spokesperson wayne lapierre's moronic remarks that america's school should be populated with people with guns so that, in case of an attack, there will be more bullets flying from multiple directions. the gun nuts response was that he agreed because "the only way to fight fire is with fire." that gun nut is unfamiliar with the more accepted methods of fighting fire with water or chemical extinguishers.
and, again, happy holidays.
tea bagging trou dropping dana loesch
conservative talk radio host and commentator dana loesch sued the owner of the conservative website breitbart.com friday, claiming that although her relationship with the news and opinion aggregating website had gone “tragically awry,” breibart.cοm llc refused to let her work for the company or anyone else, forcing her into “indentured servitude in limbo.” - st. louis dispatchoh, but wait....doesn't she work for cnn now? and, doesn't she have a radio show?
seems to me that she is working for other people. maybe she needs money after her three month disappearing act from cnn after her "drop trou" remarks.
Labels: breitbart, cnn, gop, tea baggers
saturday night fever
follow the money behind the newtown massacre
do armed civilians stop mass shootings? actually, no
wal-mart vs. the huffington post
romney - price gouger in chief
it is standard procedure for presidential campaigns to arrange and prepay for meals, bus travel, and charter flights, then bill the news outlets afterward for their share of the cost. in order to travel with the candidate, reporters and their editors must agree upfront to pay for the cost of the trips, as determined by the campaign. but many of the bills from the romney campaign — which have continued to trickle in since election day — are much higher than during other campaigns.
for example, on oct. 11, each reporter was charged $812 for a meal and a rented "holding" space, where the press waited before moving to the next event. on oct. 18, the bill for a similar set of expenses was $461. and on the night of the vice presidential debate, the campaign planned a "viewing party" for the reporters with romney, complete with a large rented room with a patio, massage tables, fresh cut flowers, and lots of food and booze. one campaign aide told buzzfeed that campaign officials' orders were to "go big" — a nice gesture, perhaps, but one that wasn't discussed with every media outlet.
the tab for the party: $745 per reporter. - buzzfeed
Labels: 2012 elections, multi-millionaire media, romney
Friday, December 21, 2012
skippy's friday night music club
Labels: christmas, music, skippy's music club
nra
for shame, nra. for shame.
Labels: nra
milk prices are going to go up, up, up
lost in the political standoff between the obama administration and congressional republicans over the budget is a virtually forgotten impasse over a farm bill that covers billions of dollars in agriculture programs. without last-minute congressional action, the government would have to follow an antiquated 1949 farm law that would force washington to buy milk at wildly inflated prices, creating higher prices in the dairy case. milk now costs an average of $3.65 a gallon.i have come to believe the gop enjoys watching people, not in d.c. or employed by major lobbyists, to suffer. they need to get over the fact that our president is black. the need to come to grips with the fact that their lousy candidate lost. and they need to do that before they take this country completely over the cliff - financially, socially or whatever way.
...the senate passed a farm bill in july. a house version of the bill made it out of committee, but house leaders have yet to bring its version to the floor.- nytimes
why do they hate america?
friday after next
want to boycott the koch brothers while shopping? there's an app for that
5 wars more important than the war on christmas
the year's best media errors and corrections
cat blogging friday
Labels: cat blogging friday
Thursday, December 20, 2012
skippy's thursday night music club
Labels: christmas, music, skippy's music club, youtube
thursday 11
great lakes levels low enough to reveal old shipwrecks
the mayans did not predict the apocalypse
pictures of snowflakes, right before they melt
wsj lies about education: in which i name names
i commented in the wall street journal's comments section for that article at the time. my comment is no longer on the site. not only are the wall street journal and stephanie banchero not to be trusted, but they apparently remove comments that contradict their false hoods. i have tried to locate an email or other address for the wall street journal's ombudsperson, but i haven't been able to find one.
update: found the wsj corrections address, so i wrote to that address.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
skippy's wednesday night music club
Labels: christmas, elvis, music, skippy's music club
florida
michael jock, a 52-year-old resident of st. petersburg, was standing in line behind 49-year-old randall white at a local little caesars on sunday when jock grew angry over white’s complaints about the speed of service. the two got began to shove one another, prompting jock to pull out a .38 taurus ultralight special revolver that had been concealed on his person and fire twice, hitting white both times in the lower torso. - think progress
sorry bryan, but the state that you live in is truly whackadoodle.
tweet of the day

— @jesseltaylor via Twitter
Labels: tweet of the day, twitter
wednesday girl
how the war on drugs became a real war
right to work leads to poverty
did the right-wing film obama's america miss out on an oscar nomination because of liberal bias or because it was a really bad flick?
and tho we hated all 3 original films, we're digging the old navy "natlamp's vacation" commercials w/chevy chase, a very lovely beverly d'angelo, and lots of the actors who played the kids (including juliette lewis & anthony michael hall)!
time's 2012 person of the year
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
why aren't these guys in jail
ubs, the swiss banking giant, announced a record settlement with global authorities on wednesday, agreeing to a combined $1.5 billion in fines for its role in a multiyear scheme to manipulate interest rates.
in a sign that officials are increasingly taking a hard line against financial wrongdoing, the justice department also secured a guilty plea from the bank’s japanese subsidiary, sending a warning shot to other big banks suspected of rate rigging. the ubs subsidiary, which agreed to plead to a single count of wire fraud, is the first unit of a big bank to agree to criminal charges in more than a decade. - nytimes
Labels: banksters, criminal, economy, liars, wall street
skippy's tuesday night music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
call now! operators are standing by
Labels: obama, republicans, social security
barely out of tuesday
80% of antibiotics in this country are given to meat animals
worried republicans are stocking up on gold coins
and rip hawaiian senator daniel inouye
Monday, December 17, 2012
we should all cry for our country...our society
they were slaughtered.
do we want to live in a country that allows continued slaughter of our citizens?
i don't have children. i can't pretend that i know the grief the parents are going through. i just want to make sure that no more parents have to grieve.
i also can't believe the level of racist hate exists in this country shown when monday night football was pre-empted.
this stirring up the hate pot has got to stop. this telling of blatant lies has got to stop.
the killing has got to stop.
now.
Labels: connecticut, mass murder
skippy's monday night music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
pro-murder dead-enders
the debate is over. it ended the moment twenty 6 and 7 year old children died in a classroom in newton, connecticut. the next time someone tries to argue for their "gun rights", let them to go to the graves of those twenty children and tell it to those kids. if those children climb out of the ground to march on washington in support of "gun rights", the "gun rights" argument has merit. if those children remain in the ground, the "gun rights" argument is dead too.
moody monday
of the 61 shootings since 1980 not one gunman was stopped by a civilian with a gun
36 reasons you should thank a union
wall st journal: fiscal cliff not so steep
Sunday, December 16, 2012
springtime on sunday
water found on mercury
the war on women rages on
10 characters whose genders were swapped in production
Saturday, December 15, 2012
saturday night divas
there have been 15 mass shooting w/84 dead in the us in 2012
and here's a list of the deadliest shootings in u.s. history
does the nra represenrt gun owners or gun manufacturers?
artist satirizes nypd, gets arrested
Friday, December 14, 2012
demand a plan
if 4 or 5 nuclear reactors melted down in the period of 3 months, killing dozens of people, would they say "now is not the time to discuss nuclear regulation"?
if a brand of automobiles began exploding for no reason, killing several families in a space of a few weeks, would they say "now is not the time to examine this brand of automobile"?
if 20 children died from tainted peanut butter, would they say "now is not the time to regulate peanut butter"?
now is the time.
sign the petition
Making It Personal
We're not the only ones. Before the first time Lance Mannion and I met in person, we had both been there on the same day.
The Blue Colony is in Newtown, CT. We've probably met or sat near the parents and grandparents who have had their day interrupted for All the Wrong Reasons today.
May Bryan Fischer burn in Hell.
kangaroo blogging friday
.
maryjane--will the feds lighten up now?
the hubbub has not been politics, i believe, but simply that the united states is a signatory to the single convention on narcotic drugs of 1961, an international treaty. the feds can't legally support marijuana legalization without withdrawing from that treaty, which isn't a simple thing at all. still, you can have laws that you don't enforce. that would be the simplest way to get around the treaty.
this morning i was pleased to read that president obama says prosecution of 420-friendly citizens in colorado and washington will not be a priority. finally some sense is coming to the federal position on marijuana. the fact is, prosecution of marijuana user has been more frequent under the obama administration than under the bush administration. i still blame bush, of course, because a)he was the worst president ever and b) the federal prosecutors who have been busting dispensaries in california, for instance, were bush appointees. here's hoping they pay attention to the president's priorities.
best bond movie ever
javier bardem was phenomenal as the bad guy in skyfall.
this was the first time i saw a movie in an imax theater. i was deeply unimpressed. also, this may have been the last movie i watched in a theater. although i remembered to bring my ear plugs, it is still annoying to have to wear them. noise induced hearing loss is one of the most common causes of hearing loss, and if you have been in a movie theater in the past x years, you know that the noise level is damaging. i've experienced the same problem in sports arenas where the crowd noise is fine, but the sound system is absurdly loud.
UPDATE: the same day i wrote and posted this, 20 six and seven year old children and six adults were murdered by automatic weapons fire in newton, ct. i have thought a lot about this movie review the past few days. i felt awful because i enjoyed a movie that was so steeped in violence, much it via automatic weapons. i have asked myself if violent films somehow contributed to the lack of empathy that mass murderers feel or perhaps, at least, to the insensitivity and cruelty of the pro-murder crowd that so loves its automatic weapons. i don't know the answer to anything, but i do think i need to warn people, unnecessary as it may be, that skyfall is a very violent movie and people are shot and killed casually and graphically. i don't know if i can watch that movie again and, while i am certainly a non-violent person, i don't know when i will be able to watch another violent program. this last mass murder feels different than the others. 20 six and seven year old children. that should mean something to everyone.
freaky friday baby one more time
are social networks good for your health?
wall street bank cuts 11,000 jobs after paying millions to ousted execs
meditation changes the way your brain proceses emotions
Thursday, December 13, 2012
this thursday
what's really driving our interest in celebrity pregnancies?
10 outrageous tactics the cops can get away with
first ladies-in-waiting
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
skippy's wednesday night music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
wednesday evenin' blues
how the middle class wealth collapsed to a 40 year low
anti-obama food chains pay big price for nasty attitude
real life snakes on the plane
and rip sitar maestro ravi shankar
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
skippy's tuesday night music club
Labels: football, michigan, music, skippy's music club
united states of alec
amidst massive pro-labor protests, michigan gov. rick snyder has signed sweeping legislation attacking private and public sector unions, just hours after passing the lame-duck legislature. the operative language in the bills is nearly identical to the american legislative exchange council's "model" right to work act. - pr watch
Labels: alec, gop, governor, lobbyists, michigan, union, workers
when you're a tuesday girl
why powerball is a terrible way for states to raise money
the latest victims in mortgage modification diffulties: widows
today's gop is incapable of beating hillary clinton for prez in 2016, sez newt gingrich
Monday, December 10, 2012
monday's rain
corporate profits hit record high while worker wages hit record low
the slimy world of james o'keefe
workers unpacking frozen meat discover a gun and ammo inside the box of ribs
Sunday, December 09, 2012
big medias power play
in 1983, 50 corporations controlled a majority of american media. now that number is six. and big media may get even bigger, thanks to the fccs consideration of ending a rule preventing companies from owning a newspaper and radio and tv stations in the same city. such a move — which they’ve tried in 2003 and 2007 as well –would give these massive media companies free rein to devour more of the competition, control the public message, and also limit diversity across the media landscape. bernie sanders, one of several senators who have written fcc chairman julius genachowski asking him to suspend the plan, discusses with bill why big media is a threat to democracy, and what citizens can do to fight back. - bill moyers
Labels: fcc, multi-millionaire media, radio, senate, tv
some sunday morning
livestock falling ill near fracking regions
open enrollment at work: which health insurance plan is right for you?
one quarter of republicans want to secede
Saturday, December 08, 2012
skippy's saturday night music club
.
Dear Brad, Don't Be an Idiot; or Never Trust an Economist to Believe Democracy is a Good Idea
Phrases such as "just war," "proportionate response," and "Mutually-Assured Destruction," in the best of times, make people feel better about killing people. Apparently Walter Russell Mead really is not one of those. He discusses at length:
Theoreticians of “just war” say that in order for war to be justifiable, two tests must be met. You have to have a legitimate cause for war (self defense, for example, rather than grabbing land from a weaker neighbor) and you must fight the war in the right way. You must fight fair (that is, fight a just war), and you must fight nice.Mead then goes on to discuss that Americans aren't even that sensible, even noting that the preferred "Jacksoninan" American response "is the same logic by which...Osama bin Laden...could justify his attacks on civilians at the World Trade Center [or] indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilian targets." (Mead perpetually confuses Hamas with Islamic Jihad; instead of correct him, I omit his errors.)
One of the criteria for jus in bello (fighting nice as opposed to jus ad bellum which is about whether it is just ) is proportionality....
[lengthy bucketing of shades of 'just war' omitted]
[M]ore moderate critics of Israel (including many Israelis) focus on jus in bello, and in particular they look at the question of proportionality. When the Palestinians flick a handful of fairly crude rockets at random across Israel, these critics say, Israel has a right to a kind of pinprick response: tit for tat. But it isn’t entitled to bring the full power of its industrial grade air force and its mighty ground forces into an operation designed to crush Hamas at the cost of hundreds of civilian casualties. You can’t fight slingshots with tanks.
For many people around the world, this seems patently obvious: Israel has a right to respond to attacks from Hamas but it doesn't have an unlimited right to respond to limited attacks with unlimited force. Israeli blindness to this obvious moral principle strikes many observers as evidence of hardheartedness and national moral decline, and colors their perceptions of many other Israeli policies.
What happens to this when it gets into the hands of Someone Who (Especially Since He's an Economic Historian) Should Know Better:
Ariel Sharon withdrew from Gaza as a dry-run for withdrawal from the West Bank…There are not more errors than words in those two sentences, but that's only because there are a lot of words. But let's just look at the framing: Gaza was run by a party that attempted to work with the Israeli government that was "withdrawing" for years. During that time, life got noticeably worse for the people.
And Gaza was taken over by crazies who want to destroy Israel and launch rockets over the border to try to kill civilians whenever they can.
So they voted the bastards out, and they voted Hamas in.
And everyone pretended to be surprised that collaborators who gained nothing for their constituents were replaced by an electorate whose life was getting worse. And they said, "Go abuse them," so the Israel "security forces" have killed 213 people just at the border fence between Gaza and Israel itself.
But those aren't casualties of a declared war, even if "154 who were not taking part in hostilities, 17 of them children." so Brad pretends that Sharon "withdrew" and that Gaza was "taken over."
Of the "crazies" comment, I can't say it better than This is Not Jewish:
Don’t demand that Jews publicly repudiate the actions of settlers and extremists. People who make this demand are assuming that Jews are terrible people or undeserving of being heard out unless they “prove” themselves acceptable by non-Jews’ standards. (It’s not okay to demand Palestinians publicly repudiate the actions of Hamas in order to be accepted/trusted, either.)But that is what Brad would have us do, even as ronan in comments points out the truth of Sharon's "withdrawal":
Yeah, Sharon was gonna bulldoze all the settlements and hundreds of thousands of Israelis were gonna walk hand in hand singing kumbaya to their new lives in small, overpriced Tel Aviv flats.Moving your soldiers from pointing guns in their territory at people to pointing guns at people who try to move from one part of your state to another isn't withdrawal; it's ghettoization at best, or, more likely, apartheid. Under no condition is it a sign of democracy.
But democracy, apparently, is not something Sensible Economists believe in.
saturday night bop
obama "voter fraud" examined in detail
20 reasons to support unions
the deficit did not cause the recession; the recession caused the deficit
to kill the educational mockingbird
american literature classics are to be replaced by insulation manuals and plant inventories in us classrooms by 2014
a new school curriculum which will affect 46 out of 50 states will make it compulsory for at least 70 per cent of books studied to be non-fiction, in an effort to ready pupils for the workplace - the telegraph
Labels: books, education, literature
Friday, December 07, 2012
skippy's friday night music club
Labels: michigan, music, skippy's music club, youtube
go lions!
george atallah, the association’s assistant executive director for external affairs, told thinkprogress in a phone interview. “our leadership and players are always proud to stand with workers in michigan and everywhere else. we don’t think voters chose this, and we don’t think workers deserve this.” - think progress
less than zero dark thirty
"kathryn bigelow would be considered a mildly interesting filmmaker if she was a man but since she's a very hot woman she's really overrated," posts the writer of lindsay lohan's "the canyons."
december 7, 1941
freaky friday
how iceland recovered from the recession so quickly
the cost of tax cuts for the wealthiest americans since 2001
lost, anyone? island shown on maps and on google earth does not exist
Thursday, December 06, 2012
psy vs. ray parker, jr - gangnam busters
ghostbusters gangnam style...perfect synchronicity
this ordinary thursday
the internal polls that made romney think he'd win
the u.s. is no longer one of the best countries to be born in
readers of 1936 predict which authors will endure
and rip jazz great dave brubeck
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
skippy's wednesday night music club
Labels: jazz, music, passings, skippy's music club, youtube
happy zappadan!
as zappadan lasts for 18 days (starting yesterday), we symbolically present billy the mountain in its entirety, which seems like it lasts 19 days.
wanna get some clams?
wednesday car
dick armey resigns from freedom works
wal-mart, sears and a mass grave in bangladesh
how the obama whitehouse won the hashtag wars
don't listen to wall street - taxing the rich would be good for the economy
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
happy national cookie day
Labels: cookie monster, cookies, holiday, youtube
disabled gop commentator charles krauthammer
originally signed by then-president george w. bush in 2006 and re-signed by president barack obama in 2009 shortly after he took office, the treaty has been championed by former sen. bob dole (r-ks), the one-time gop presidential nominee who suffered a disability while serving in the army in world war II. dole was on the senate floor tuesday ahead of the ratification vote, in a wheelchair, accompanied by his wife, former sen. elizabeth dole (r-nc). - talking points memo
Labels: disabled, gop, right hypocrisy
december 4. national cookie day
tuesday's waiting
jim crow's drug war
did the republicans deliberately crash the us economy?
phones at dinner? try the phone stack game
Monday, December 03, 2012
skippy's monday night music club
obama is an awful socialist pinko commie
corporations are currently making more as a percentage of the economy than they ever have since such records were kept. but at the same time, wages as a percentage of the economy are at an all-time low - think progressbut you probably won't hear that on the faux newsbubble.
Labels: corporations, economy, obama, two americas, workers
monday sweetheart
with the death of larry hagman, the solar industryloses one of tis biggest advocates
losing republican senatorial candidate areested for domestic assault
20% of all military deaths last year were suicides
Sunday, December 02, 2012
environmental news stories sunday
sad, really.
fern lake fire doubles in size overnight to more than 3,500 acres. the fern lake fire, burning in rocky mountain national park since oct. 9, more than doubled in size overnight friday, forcing the evacuation of 583 homes early saturday - denver post
renewable energy laws in cross-hairs of conservative groups. renewable energy advocates made an unsuccessful push last year to expand missouri’s green power law and help lessen the state’s dependence on fossil fuels - st. louis post dispatch
sweden: the land of the rising coastline. in contrast to worries from the maldives to manhattan of storm surges and higher ocean levels caused by climate change, the entire northern part of the nordic region is rising and, as a result, the baltic sea is receding. - reuters
anti-fracking activists drill home message with parliament protests. anti-fracking activists plan to erect a mock drilling rig outside the houses of parliament as part of a series of protests on saturday against the controversial technique to extract shale gas. - the guardian
dept. of justice mysteriously quits monsanto antritrust investigation. the doj ended the investigation into possible anticompetitive practices by monsanto in the u.s. seed market without taking any action—and did so with a near-complete lack of public information. the doj didn't even see fit to mark the investigation's end with a press release - mother jones
megastorms could drown massive portions of california. portions of california's central valley have dropped 30 feet in elevation because of extensive groundwater pumping, making those areas even more prone to flooding. huge flows of vapor in the atmosphere, dubbed "atmospheric rivers," have unleashed massive floods every 200 years, and climate change could bring more of them - scientific american
uk may give frackers tax breaks. days after refusing to commit to a target for reduction of carbon emissions, chancellor of the exchequer for the united kingdom, george osborne, is expected to announce tax breaks for shale gas companies - wired
clean-up chemical made bp deepwater horizon oil spill 52 times more toxic - treehugger
medications, pesticides still seep into river. medications, pesticides and hormones are emptying into the st. lawrence river from montreal’s water-treatment plant, but a new disinfection system that would remove significant amounts of those substances won’t be up and running until 2015 - montreal gazette
epa tells judge it will impose stricter water pollution standards on florida. fourteen years after the federal government acknowledged that florida had a serious water pollution problem, the u.s. environmental protection agency on friday agreed to impose new pollution rules to clean up the state's algae-choked waterways — but it may have created a new mess - tampa bay times
pharmaceuticals difficult to treat in drinking water. the emerging threat of pharmaceuticals, everyday chemicals and personal care products in drinking water may be the most difficult that water treatment plants have faced - great lake echo
bottled water on thanksgiving menu in tainted california region. jessica sanchez couldn't use the tap water for cooking Thanksgiving dinner because east orosi, calif., is one of many central valley farm communities where the supply is tainted – by nitrates, arsenic or bacteria traced to decades of agricultural runoff. - latimes
did you save some turkey fat? other oils? some people are aware that our thanksgiving effluent has potential as biofuel. and as it turns out, several cities across the united states are running public or privately run fat, oil, and grease recycling drives. - latimes
fracked beef: it's what's for dinner? while many communities investigate what we drink and breathe for answers, one new report from the nation and the food & environment reporting network highlights a key yet overlooked complication – fracking chemicals could affect our food - mother jones
Labels: brush fires, climate change, drugs, energy, epa, fire, florida, food, fracking, global warming, missouri, ocean, pollution, solar, sweden, thanksgiving, water
it's the holiday season
six ways to sunday
out of every 100 rapes only 3 rapists will spend a day in jail
unbrealable wwii code found on a long-dead pigeon
all we are saying is give pot a chance
Saturday, December 01, 2012
saturday night beneath the plastic palm trees
raising retail wages would boost the economy
in some british asian communities its more acceptable to be possesed than have a mental illness
7 reasons climate change is even worse than we thought it was