"Iran: A Nation Of Bloggers"

I hope and pray that Obama understands this. . .


Iran: A nation of bloggers from Mr.Aaron on Vimeo.

Wilco - Jesus, etc.

I know you're digging it Arod. . . Johnny Q. don't fall behind man! Penner, it's time for you to have the Wilco 10:08 rm. 501 conversation. . . Atomictata and Adrian, thank you! I can't get enough of Wilco. . . The rest of you guys enjoy this. . . They're a great band!

Ten things to know if you're having Thanksgiving with Republicans

Got this from 236.com. You might want to prepare yourself. . .

10- President-elect Obama won by 8 million votes.

9- President Bush is probably drinking again.

8- Many media conservatives are furious with President Bush.

7- Experts say that Al Qaeda's recent video shows that the terrorists are afraid of President-elect Obama.

6- President-elect Obama is cocky enough to think he can pull this "economic miracle" shit off.

5- The "socialist" takeover of America's banks happened on Bush's watch.

4- The "Democratic" Senate has been working with a one vote majority, and that vote is Joe Lieberman. If they get to the "Magic 60," that sixtieth vote is still Joe Lieberman.

3- The majority of rich Americans voted to have their wealth spread.

2- President Obama will probably only get to replace liberal judges on the Supreme Court.

1- Cheer up, the GOP still owns the "racist belt!":

The Real Estate "Downfall"

It's real. It's very real. . .

Calexico - Across The Wire (live)

I can't believe I didn't go see them in September. Anyway, this is one of my favortie Calexico songs. . . Great live version. Enjoy.

Tiger Army - Outlaw Heart

I can never get sick of this song. . .

Eddie Vedder - The Kids Are Alright (live)

November 1993. I had this bootleg but never had the visual. Good stuff!



Just in case you haven't heard the original.
THE WHO - THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

Smashing Pumpkins - Soothe

Feeling this right now. . . This is off their "B" side album, "Pisces Iscariot." Don't mind the video. Brings back some old memories. . . Good stuff.

Tom Friedman Wants The Inauguration Bumped Up To Thanksgiving

THIS IS SCARY STUFF:

It’s a huge moment for America and the global economy. I think we should seriously consider moving up the inauguration day. Because I don’t know that we have two months to have a political vacuum at this moment in this economic crisis. I mean, to Neil’s point, the financial system is the heart, it pumps blood to the industrial muscles of the economy. It’s not working. We’re supposed to sit around for two months and wait for the new administration to get in…because this administration has kind of checked out. They’re not going to do anything big. And so, I don’t think people have fully grasped the fact …I tell you, I go to restaurants now and look around, your point earlier….I wanna come up to people and say, “You shouldn’t be here. You should be home having tuna sandwiches. What are you doing here? Don’t you understand there is a storm coming?” Okay? And it hasn’t hit yet. And I believe the decisions made possibly in these next two months could determine the next four years. This administration could be over before it starts. Over in the sense that it will spend the next four years digging out of a hole that has been created right now that may be deeper and darker than anyone realizes.

Olbermann Views The Palin Turkey Slaughter

Can't get enough of this. . .

Citizen Cope - Son's Gonna Rise

This is for Adrian. He continues to "school" me after years of high school. . . He called me from Bend, OR just to tell me about this guy, Citizen Cope. According to Adrian, he is an "f'in genius." So I have no other choice but to take his word. Well I'm diggin' it Adrian. Good stuff. . .

Click here for the offical video of "Son's Gonna Rise."


CITIZEN COPE - LET THE DRUMMER KICK

"Much to His Chagrin, 'Plain Old Barack Is Gone'"

This article is for the political junkie.



Obama nourished his soul on a life of routine in Chicago, friends say. Now they hope he can find comfort in a city he has never embraced.

By Eli Saslow and Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 24, 2008;

During his political rise, Obama safeguarded times of normalcy and credited them for keeping him sane. A run on the treadmill in the early morning. An evening meander through 57th Street Books. Date night with his wife, Michelle, at one of their favorite restaurants. Pickup basketball at a gym downtown.

Obama already has learned that his mundane routine will be difficult to replicate as president, but his friends say that establishing some kind of similar comfort zone is critical to his success in Washington. They consider it one of the most pressing -- and most challenging -- issues of Obama's transition: How can he create a life as president that keeps him happy?

"Look, there are just certain things that he can't do anymore, or he can't do as easily, and that's going to be hard," said Marty Nesbitt, Obama's closest friend in Chicago. "The objective is to just make sure that things stay as similar to the way they used to be as they can. The same routines, the same conversations -- that's what he wants."

Radiohead - Street Spirit (live)

Sometimes we need to be reminded. . . Good stuff!

SNL - Obama Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, Has A Message For You

This is funny. . .

Thom Yorke Discussing Neil Young and After the Goldrush

Thom Yorke talks about meeting Neil Young and playing him After the Goldrush. This is an outtake of a BBC documentary on Neil Young.

Neil Young: Don't Be Denied



Here's the song. . . Good stuff! You can download this version at itunes.

Norah Jones - Jesus, etc.

This is the first night of the Bridge School Concert (2008). Hey, it took a lot for her to do this since Wilco was backstage. Good times. . .

A Better Brew - The rise of extreme beer

Must read for the beer lover! (New Yorker Magazine)

Beer has lagged well behind wine and organic produce in the ongoing reinvention of American cuisine. Yet the change over the past twenty years has been startling. In 1965, the United States had a single craft brewery: Anchor Brewing, in San Francisco. Today, there are nearly fifteen hundred. In liquor stores and upscale supermarkets, pumpkin ales and chocolate stouts compete for cooler space with wit beers, weiss beers, and imperial Pilsners. The King of Beers, once served in splendid isolation at many bars, is now surrounded by motley bottles with ridiculous names, like jesters at a Renaissance fair: SkullSplitter, Old Leghumper, Slam Dunkel, Troll Porter, Moose Drool, Power Tool, He’brew, and Ale Mary Full of Taste.

Accountability Mr. President. . . (part 2)

FROM ANDREW SULLIVAN:

To paraphrase Hitch: torture poisons everything.

And people wonder why I seem so angry and concerned about this issue, about its centrality to this election, and about the unique, once-in-a-century chance to put it behind us before it infects us beyond cure. It is, in my judgment, the biggest single crisis we now face, because it does not simply affect our wealth or our safety, but because it affects who we are.

We cannot know hope until we end torture.

Photo: a detainee killed by US forces in Abu Ghraib prison, after being beaten and forced into a position with his arms bent back over and behind his head, with a hood restricting his breathing. All the techniques used against him were authorized by president George W. Bush.

Obama Impersonation - "Ba-L-Ack Obama"

SNL Is looking for a new person to play Obama. I vote for this guy. Hilarious!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Too Funny! Sarah Palin Interview

You can't make this stuff up! Saturday Night Live isn't this funny! Here's an interview of Sarah Palin while turkey's are being slaughtered in the background. I'm not kidding. . . She's an idiot!

"From Pickin’ Cotton to Pickin’ Presidents"

Cotton production in 1860 with the 2008 presidential results.
Here's the article

CLICK ON THE MAPS



Combine the TWO maps - - AMAZING!!!

The Who - Blue, Red and Grey

ONE OF MY FAVE'S. . .

This off the WHO BY NUMBERS album (1975)

THE WHO - BLUE, RED AND GREY
Some people seem so obsessed with the morning
Get up early just to watch the sun rise
Some people like it more when there's fire in the sky
Worship the sun when it's high
Some people go for those sultry evenings
Sipping cocktails in the blue, red and grey
But I like every minute of the day



I like every second, so long as you are on my mind
Every moment has its special charm
It's all right when you're around, rain or shine
I know a crowd who only live after midnight
Their faces always seem so pale
And then there's friends of mine who must have sunlight
They say a suntan never fails
I know a man who works the night shift
He's lucky to get a job and some pay
And I like every minute of the day
I dig every second
I can laugh in the snow and rain
I get a buzz from being cold and wet
The pleasure seems to balance out the pain

And so you see that I'm completely crazy
I even shun the south of France
The people on the hill, they say I'm lazy
But when they sleep, I sing and dance
Some people have to have the sultry evenings
Cocktails in the blue, red and grey
But I like every minute of the day
- Pete Townshend

The Virgin Mary

A statue of the Virgin Mary is seen among the rubble of burned out mobile homes at the Oakridge mobile home park in Sylmar, California, on November 18, 2008. The fire near the suburb of Sylmar devastated nearly 500 properties in the Oakridge mobile home park and has burned around 10,000 acres. By Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty

John Lennon at 30

Happy Birthday Arod. . . Lennon was just getting started man!!

John Lennon - Crippled Inside

The Moral Cost Of Leaving Iraq

This will not be an easy decision. Obama has a lot of cleaning up to do. Pray for him.



FROM ANDREW SULLIVAN:
An Iraqi man weeps next to the body of a dead child killed in an explosion at the morgue of the general hospital in the northeastern town of Baquba some 60 kms from Baghdad on November 16, 2008. A suicide car bomb exploded at a police checkpoint in Iraq's volatile Diyala province today, killing at least 15 people, including seven policemen, a security official said. Police Major Hassan al-Kurawi said another 20 people were wounded. STR/AFP/Getty Images.

This must be the most heart-rending and disturbing face of the day I've ever posted. My policy is to err on the side of showing everything - from the Nick Berg beheading to the worst abuse of prisoners under the Bush-Cheney interrogation policy. We need to see the evil that we unwittingly unleashed in Iraq and the evil that will doubtless take hold the minute we leave. It is part of the moral equation in deciding what must be done now. And it is not easy. As an advocate for withdrawal, I do not want to deny the moral costs it may involve.

Nebraska's Safe-Haven Law

I told my students about this Nebraska law and how parents are literally dropping off their teenage kids. One student responded, "Is there a place where we can drop off our parents?" Man, that was funny. It reminded me of why I wanted to be a teacher. . . :)

Here's an article from the Washington Post.

Palin 2012

Obama's Inheritance

Rachel Maddow Show: Risks of Keeping Joe Lieberman

Rachel Maddows makes a great point! You have to see this.

Accountability Mr. President. . .

"There are bound to be casualties when any nation veers from its domestic and international obligations to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law. Those casualties are etched on the minds and bodies of many of the 62 former detainees interviewed for this report, many of whom suffered infinite variations on physical and mental abuse, including intimidation, stress positions, enforced nudity, sexual humiliation, and interference with religious practices.

Indeed, I was struck by the similarity between the abuse they suffered and the abuse we found inflicted upon Bosnian Muslim prisoners in Serbian camps when I sat as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, a U.N. court fully supported by the United States. The officials and guards in charge of those prison camps and the civilian leaders who sanctioned their establishment were prosecuted—often by former U.S. government and military lawyers serving with the tribunal— for war crimes, crimes against humanity and, in extreme cases, genocide," - Patricia M. Wald, foreword, Human Rights Center's report on former Gitmo detainees.

John Lennon - Mother (live)

This is from Lennon's first solo album "Plastic Ono Band". His best solo album by far! Lennon traced much of his unhappiness back to a sense of rejection by his parents. And now, to free himself of that baleful legacy, he must in turn say goodbye to them. Powerful stuff!

"That Burger You're Eating Is Mostly Corn"

By David Biello

If you thought you were eating mostly grass-fed beef when you bit into a Big Mac, think again: The bulk of a fast-food hamburger from McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's is made from cows that eat primarily corn, or so says a new study of the chemical composition of more than 480 fast-food burgers from across the nation.

The Side Effects of the Sarah Palin Media Blitz

This is what happens to your dog when they watch too much Sarah Palin. . . :)

Peter Schiff Was Right

He predicted this economic crisis. And he was ridiculed for it! This will blow you away!

Orange Mocha Frappuccino

Sometimes you need that orange mocha frappuccino. . . :)

Pearl Jam - Falling Down (live)

Staying on the bootleg trip. . . Red Rocks 1995. I was there for both shows (6-8 rows up). They've only played this song once. A lot of fans were expecting "Falling Down" to be released on their "B-side" album "Lost Dogs". This is definitely a Pearl Jam gem for the hard core fans. And it's a very good song! Enjoy. . .

Jeff Tweedy - New Madrid (live)

One of my favorite Uncle Tupelo songs 15 years later. . . Good stuff:



Here's the original
UNCLE TUPELO - NEW MADRID

Pearl Jam - Baba O'Riley

WOW! JUST FOUND THIS ON YOUTUBE. THIS IS PEARL JAM REHEARSING BABA O'RILEY IN 1992.



HERE'S THE ORIGINAL. TURN THIS UP!! AND USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW YOUR BOY HOW TO DO THE PETE TOWNSHEND WINDMILL. . . :)
THE WHO - BABA O'RILEY

November 11, 1918

British World War One veteran Henry Allingham, 112, (L) reacts after placing a wreath, during an Armistice Day commemmoration ceremony in Whitehall in London on November 11, 2008. Europe on Tuesday marked the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I, with the handful of surviving veterans at the vanguard of commemmorations for the fallen of the 'War to End All Wars'.
By Shaun Curry/AFP/Getty.

Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis

HERE'S AN INTERVIEW OF ROWAN JACOBSEN WHO WROTE THE BOOK, Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis. THIS IS SCARY STUFF. HE DISCUSSES WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO HUMAN CIVILIZATION IF BEES COMPLETELY DIED OFF. HERE'S AN EXCERPT:

What would happen to us if honeybees were to completely die off?
More than 100 crops, about a third of the calories we eat, require cross-pollination by honeybees. The grain staples such as corn, rice, and oats are wind-pollinated, but most of the stuff that adds color to our plates and vitamins and antioxidants to our diets—apples, pears, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, plums, melons, cucumbers, zucchini, almonds, macadamia nuts, and so on—would disappear. Plants like lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and onions, which don’t make edible fruits but need to make seeds for next year’s supply, also rely on bees. Bees also cross-pollinate the forage crops, like alfalfa and clover, that are vital to many dairying and beef cattle operations. And don’t forget honey, of course.

Bob Dylan - Chimes Of Freedom

Definitely feeling this song right now. . . This is Dylan with Joan Osborne (1999). You can find the original song on ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN (1964). Powerful lyrics. . . Enjoy.

CHIMES OF FREEDOM

Far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

- Bob Dylan

Wilco - What Light

And if the whole world’s singing your songs
And all of your paintings have been hung
Just remember what was yours is everyone’s from now on
- Jeff Tweedy

"Finishing Our Work"

GREAT EDITORIAL! A MUST READ!

November 5, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist (NYTIMES.COM)

Finishing Our Work

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
And so it came to pass that on Nov. 4, 2008, shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern time, the American Civil War ended, as a black man — Barack Hussein Obama — won enough electoral votes to become president of the United States.

A civil war that, in many ways, began at Bull Run, Virginia, on July 21, 1861, ended 147 years later via a ballot box in the very same state. For nothing more symbolically illustrated the final chapter of America’s Civil War than the fact that the Commonwealth of Virginia — the state that once exalted slavery and whose secession from the Union in 1861 gave the Confederacy both strategic weight and its commanding general — voted Democratic, thus assuring that Barack Obama would become the 44th president of the United States.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE

"Real" Americans

I guess this only happens in "real" America. . .

"Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,"

OH MAN THIS IS GETTING GOOD!!!
FROM NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

A Palin aide said: "Governor Palin was not directing staffers to put anything on their personal credit cards, and anything that staffers put on their credit cards has been reimbursed, like an expense. Nasty and false accusations following a defeat say more about the person who made them than they do about Governor Palin."

McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.

Palin and the "Country" of Africa

The gift that keeps giving:

World Reaction 2

INDIA


INDIA

FRANCE

Dakar, Senegal

Basra, Iraq

Denmark
China

Feeling Good And Keeping It Real

An email to Andrew Sullivan:

Nothing in my life has actually changed in the 30 minutes since it was announced Obama will be our next president. I have the same bills, the same amount of money in the bank, my dishwasher is still broken, and my 5 month old beagle won't stop peeing on my carpet. Everything in my life is exactly the same as it was 30 minutes ago; and yet I feel as though everything is different.

I feel so much hope. I feel so much pride. I feel like my one vote was a single drop of water in a great Tsunami of change. I feel like I was one of a million voices screaming in the night, " I love my country and I'm taking it back!" I'm so proud of the country that I love and have so much hope in my heart that we can together heal the wounds that have been such a source of pain and anger to us all.

I know Obama isn't going to fix the economy overnight, I know he won't be able to provide healthcare to all Americans by February '09. I know Obama isn't a Messiah who four years from now will have turned this country into a fabled utopia. But I also know Obama will make moral decisions. I know Obama will try to unite where others try to divide. I know Obama will help to make America the beacon of hope it once was to others. I know that at 27 years of age, I witnessed one of the most important and hopefully glorious chapters in American history.

I know hope.

World Reaction to Obama Presidency

Drinking in Ireland. According to Sullivan, "Historians have unearthed records showing Obama's maternal ancestors lived, worked, married and had children in the Moneygall area more than 150 years ago. Fulmuth Kearney, who is Obama's third great-grandfather, left Moneygall for New York in 1850 to eventually settle in Ohio."



Jakarta, Indonesia

Jerusalem, Israel

Athens, Greece

Sydney, Australia

GO VOTE!!

Sarkozy Calls Palin

Oh man this is hilarious!!!!!

CLICK ON THIS LINK!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/01/masked-avengers-prank-cal_n_140023.html

The Strokes w/ Eddie Vedder - Mercy Mercy Me

Download the single! This song does have a special meaning leading to Tuesday. . . Enjoy.

PRESS PLAY AND THEN "REPLAY."

Dave Grohl & Will Ferrell - Leather & Lace (live)

This is funny. Make sure the kids are not around. Enjoy!