A view from Main Street America by a congenital Democrat and truth-seeking attorney. Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community. Posting on the Internets since 2004.
Liverpudlian brothers Brian and Gary Greer buried a Liverpool scarf and a copy of Kop, the club's fanzine, and a match programme, in a plastic tube when they worked on the England defender's pool.
"While we were there we created a Scouse time capsule under the pool and tiled over the top of it," Brian Greer told The Sun newspaper.
"When his house is dug up in the future, archaeologists will see what a passion he had for the Red men."
People sure do like to pick on Gary Neville. Here's a video of a British show that's like "Punk'd" on MTV, where Rio Ferdinand sets up fellow footballers. Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs are not amused.
I think it [the invasion of Iraq] was unquestionably worth doing, Charlie. ... We needed to go over there, basically, um, and um, uh, take out a very big stick right in the heart of that world and burst that bubble, and there was only one way to do it. ...
What they needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house, from Basra to Baghdad, um and basically saying, "Which part of this sentence don't you understand?"
You don't think, you know, we care about our open society, you think this bubble fantasy, we're just gonna let it grow?
Well Suck. On. This.
Okay.
That Charlie was what this war was about. We could've hit Saudi Arabia, it was part of that bubble. We coulda hit Pakistan. We hit Iraq because we could. That's the real truth.
At HuffPo, Donald Sutherland (yes, the M*A*S*H* actor) points out that Hillary only leads in the popular vote if you ignore that the 11 states & 1 territory that had caucuses rather than votes. (Why didn't I think of that?)
skippy exhorts his readers to boycott Dunkin Donuts (and many already have) after DD's caved to a right-wing protest against a Rachel Ray ad where she was wearing an ugly scarf, which they likened to the traditional Arab headcovering, the kaffiyeh. Go look at the pictures, hilarious.
The Daily Mail has all the pictures of President Clusterfuck's clowning around at the Air Force Academy graduation. Chest bumps all around.
Sadly, No with the story of a crazed right-wing blogger trying to prove that Obama's great uncle wasn't in the division that liberated Buchenwald, and what a WWII soldier had to say back. Rightwing nutjob, meet reality.
That means that not only did Bush put Valerie Plame's life at risk, all the downstream things that happened -- other agents, other informants, tortured, murdered, we don't know -- all consequences flowed from his decision to throw Plame to the wolves.
Or maybe he can go on the cheap, like George W. Clusterfuck, or Dickhead Cheney, or Condolizard, have Obama make a "surprise" visit to Iraq, land at some American airstrip 20 miles of barbed wire and tanks from any actual Iraqis, review a few lines of dusty troops, and on his way again?
I don't think Obama should do anything McCain dares him to do. When McCain went to Shorja Market and pretended it was safe, 21 Iraqis were abducted from the market and executed the very next day. If Obama does go, he should wait until the nomination is his, and go there with some real soldiers, maybe Wesley Clark and Jim Webb.
Here's the Shorja Market visit, as well as some of McCain's other bald-faced lies:
[B]ack in September 2002, with the Bush administration and much of the Beltway media rushing to embrace war with Iraq, Kennedy delivered a passionate, provocative, and newsworthy speech raising all sorts of doubts about a possible invasion. Unlike today, the political press wasn't very interested in Kennedy or what he had to say about the most pressing issue facing the nation. Back in that media environment, being the voice of American liberals didn't mean much.
[]
And looking back, a key turning point during that public rush to war was Kennedy's fervent and thoughtful speech. It was a turning point because it highlighted, months before the invasion even took place, how the press was going to deal with high-profile, articulate critics of Bush's war policy. The press was going to downplay them, marginalize them, and ignore them. Even if those critics included high-wattage political stars like Ted Kennedy.
In retrospect, I can't help thinking that if the media treated Kennedy in 2002 the way they treat him today (and the way the press treated him before 2002), as somebody whose actions command respect and attention, that the doomed public debate about the war would have, or at least could have, been much different. It could have been more critical, more thoughtful, and more illuminating.
Instead, much of the political press in 2002 treated Kennedy as a bystander in the passing Bush parade, and specifically, they treated Kennedy's September 27 speech as little more than a political maneuver that deserved only passing mention -- literally.
That night on NBC's Nightly News, just 32 words from the Kennedy address were excerpted. On ABC's World News Tonight, it was 31 words. And on the CBS Evening News, 40 words. In all three instances, the brief mention of the Kennedy speech was part of a larger report on the looming possibility of war. Meaning, on none of the networks did Kennedy's speech qualify as a stand-alone news event.
The address was given on a Friday. Two days later on the Sunday talk shows, where Iraq was discussed in detail, Kennedy's name never came up on NBC's Meet the Press, on CBS' Face the Nation, or on ABC's This Week. For the network pundits, Kennedy's anti-war speech did not exist. It was irrelevant to the around-the-clock media chatter about a looming war.
Timlin after winning the 2007 World Series wikipedia: Mike Timlin A great way to be remembered.
It's gotten to the point where I hate seeing Mike Timlin coming in to close games for the Red Sawx. He's like gasoline on a fire most of the time these days. Tuesday night he came into the 3-3 game in the 9th and promptly gave up two hits and the walk, and got the loss.
Francona had been tossed. So who decided not to use Papelbon? 9th inning, a game to steal on the road, why not use the ace? These are the things that mystify fans.
I love this post from The House That Dewey Built. Coach Mom will too; Stan Musial was/is her favorite player.
In what has become an annual rite of spring, I have once again become categorically convinced that Mike Timlin should no longer be pitching for this team.
In years past, I have made similar assessments, typically before he strings together a handful of decent outings in low leverage situations, boosting his numbers and making my claims seem excessive.
.333/.382/.540
This is what hitters have done against Timlin thus far in 2008. He’s essentially turning every batter he faces into Stan Musial.
Military families were targeted as customers during the boom in subprime lending because their frequent moves, overseas stints, and low pay meant they were more likely to have weak credit ratings, said Rudi Williams of the National Veterans Foundation in Los Angeles. In 2006, at the peak of U.S. subprime lending, the number of VA loans fell to barely a third the level of two years earlier, according to VA data.
VA loans totaled 135,000 last year, its fourth consecutive annual decline.
An Army or Marine Corps sergeant with four years of experience makes $27,000 a year, plus combat pay of $225 a month, according to the 2008 Military Authorization Act, which increased basic pay rates 3.5 percent from a year ago.
Soldiers authorized to live off-base also receive a housing allowance that this year starts at about $500 a month, 7.3 percent higher than in 2007, paid even when they are deployed. Counting the stipends, they still fall short of the 2007 median U.S. household income of $59,224 as measured by the National Association of Realtors in Chicago.
Asia Times is reporting that “a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community” are alleging that the Bush administration “plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months” :
The source, a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community, speaking anonymously, said last week that the US plans an air strike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The air strike would target the headquarters of the IRGC’s elite Quds force. With an estimated strength of up to 90,000 fighters, the Quds’ stated mission is to spread Iran’s revolution of 1979 throughout the region.
This must be the Republican plan for victory in 2008. Launch another war based on lies and expect the people to line up behind George W. Clusterfuck. God help us.
George W. Bush: The Boy Who Cried Wolf. To paraphrase George W. Clusterfuck: Lie us into a war one time, shame on, shame on you; lie us into a war -- we won't get fooled again.
Phil Gramm is McCain's man on economic issues. Gramm is one of the most loathesome of the former Republican officeholders advising McCain. He's on the board of Swiss bank UBS and was registered as a UBS lobbyist until April 18th of this year. His wife Wendy was on the board of Enron when Enron imploded, stealing millions of tax dollars from California taxpayers. And Phil Gramm pushed legislation that helped Enron steal their money. The Gramms are Republican corporate slime of the highest order. Oh yeah, and they're rich from all the corporate money they've been pulling down.
As Senate Banking Chairman in the 1990s, Phil Gramm authored the bill that repealed the Depression-era mortgage regulations, and allowed basically any kind of corporation to give loans, without regulation, which lead directly to the mortgage crisis. The he quickly left the Senate and sold the remnants of his soul to Swiss banking giant UBS.
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was signed by Bill Clinton in 1999, BTW, another of his centrist moves that I have a big problem with, like NAFTA and welfare reform. Why am I to believe that Hillary Clinton will not be just as much of a centrist, despite the very liberal positions she takes in front of Democratic audiences? But I digress. Now we are the middle of the subprime mortgage crisis, loans having being given to people who didn't have the income to pay them or the house not being worth what they were borrowing, and now the government is giving bad actors like Bear Stearns $30 billion bailouts. So what was John McCain's (and his lobbyist pal Phil Gramm's, as Gramm advised him on the speech) solution to the problem? Let the homeowners lose their houses, said McCain in March:
“I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers,” McCain said. “Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy.”
...Gramm, the great crusader against government spending, has spent his entire life on the government tit. He was born at a military hospital, raised on his father's Army pay, went to private school at Georgia Military Academy on military insurance after his father died, paid for his college tuition with same, got a National Defense Fellowship to graduate school, taught at a state-supported school, and made generous use of his Senate expense account. In 1987, a Dallas developer named Jerry Stiles flew a construction crew to Maryland to work on Gramm's summer home. Stiles spent $117,000 on the project but was kind enough to bill Gramm only $63,433. When Stiles got in trouble for misusing funds from a savings and loan he owned, Gramm did him some "routine" favors with regulators. Stiles was later convicted on 11 counts of conspiracy and bribery.
As a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the recipient of enormous banking contributions, Gramm did an even bigger favor for the financial industry in 1999 when he sponsored the Financial Services Modernization Act allowing banks, securities firms, and insurance companies to combine. The bill weakened the Community Reinvestment Act, which requires banks to help meet the credit needs of low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Gramm described community groups that use the CRA as "protection rackets" that extort funds from the poor, powerless banks. The bill is also a disaster for the privacy of bank customers and weakens regulatory supervision. As Gramm proudly declared, "You're not going to find a single bank, insurance company, or securities company that will say they were hurt financially by this bill."
To be fair, Gramm occasionally found it in his heart to assist the poor -- like the time he suggested that mothers on welfare would be better off working for $2.50 an hour. A more typical Gramm vote, though, came on an energy bill that benefited oil and gas companies at the expense of consumers. "There are winners and losers in every economic decision," Gramm said portentously. He was then getting more oil and gas money than any other member of the Senate....
In this April 19, 2006 file photo, President Bush, right, walks with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, right, at the White House in Washington, after McClellan announced that he is stepping down as White House press secretary. It's being reported that an upcoming book by McClellan says that President Bush relied on a propaganda campaign to sell the Iraq war in the place of honesty and candor. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)
Former White House Spokesman Scott McClellan has a new book. He says -- wow, who would have guessed this -- that the Bush White House sold the war through a propaganda campaign.
This is apparently surprising to the corporate media, which didn't realize that it was Ginger Rogers in 2003 and that Bush and his cronies were Fred Astaire'ing them across the War Dance floor.
McCain newest commercial is redefining bipartisanship. His supporters are actually -- Obama supporters. You can see a woman with whom McCain is speaking is already wearing a Barack Obama t-shirt. Check it out [she appears at the very end of the 30-second spot]:
McCain tried to have a secret fundraiser in Phoenix last night, but the media caught him at the airport saying goodbye to his BFF George W. Clusterfuck. First watch Obama hit McCain on his secret fundraiser, and his support of Bush's disastrous policies:
"Today, John McCain is holding a fundraiser with George Bush, behind closed doors, in Arizona."
"No cameras!"
"No reporters!"
"And we all know why!"
"Senator McCain doesn’t want to be seen, hat-in-hand, with the President, whose failed policies he promises to continue for another four years," [at this point, the audience roared with laughter!!].
President Bush is accompanied by Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his wife Cindy, seen reflected on the car, before Bush boards Air Force One at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, after Bush attended a private campaign fundraising event for McCain in Phoenix, Tuesday, May 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
U.S. President George W. Bush gestures next to Republican Presidential candidate John McCain at Sky Harbor Airport after Bush spoke at a McCain campaign fund raising event in Phoenix, Arizona, May 27, 2008. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
One of the great pleasures of going to English Premier League soccer games in person is getting to hear and decipher the fans' chants. On TV we can never hear the words. We came out of White Hart Lane last fall singing "Sacked in the morning! You're getting sacked in the morning!" (to the tune of "Guantanamera"); Martin Jol survived for a few more games. The BBC collects the best fan chants and jibes of this season:
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