Thursday Stuff

(I also posted here).

Yeah, the “party of Lincoln” sure learned from that “autopsy” after Willard Mitt Romney lost in 2012, didn’t they – uh huh…



…and isn’t it great to see how our ol’ buddy Vlad Putin is supposedly helping us in Syria – for my money, he’s a bigger butcher than Assad…



…and hey, don’t look now, but the Iraqi Army did something right; the real culprits though, as far as I’m concerned, are the uncharged criminals in this country behind Iraq War II who created the whole damn mess in the first place; now all the Iraqis have to do is hold the ground…good luck…



…and I give you Media Matters’ choices for the worst Islamophobia of 2015 here (and if you guessed that most of it has to do with Fix Noise, then you win a free autographed copy of Billo’s book on The Sainted Ronnie R – and yes, that’s a joke, such as it is)…

…and I think this describes the consequences pretty well (nice work by “The Donald” and his pals on this) – nah, those awful words and sentiments don’t have an impact; not much…U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!...



…and here are the final tunes for the year – the way Scott Weiland left us was tragic, of course, but to me, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t hear from him one more time…



…and this song kind of embodies my hope starting at about 12:01 AM EST…



…and in keeping with recognizing the birthday of Patti Smith, I want to play this tune once more to end the year…never, EVER forget every word of it; best wishes for a happy and healthy (and Democratic!) 2016.

Wednesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Fortunately, karoli wrote a great commentary here to this woman, because otherwise people like her are totally beneath my contempt and don’t deserve a response.

You want to know why our planet continues to melt, our infrastructure continues to crumble, our economy cannot rev up and create jobs the way it’s supposed to, we can't get anywhere on common-sense gun control measures or immigration reform, and our government is basically incapable of doing anything anymore except creating and perpetuating the freak show that enables Republican politicians and presidential candidates and doesn’t do much of anything else?

It’s exactly because of people like this woman. Low-information idiot voters who watch Fix Noise, listen to right-wing radio and either don’t bother to vote or, if they do, dutifully elect Republicans who do absolutely nothing but steal from them. And unfortunately, these people comprise just enough of the population to block the rest of us from accomplishing anything constructive.

Take your bigotry and go parade it somewhere else…



...and I think it’s unintentionally hilarious that the life forms who want a federal database of Muslims recoil in horror when the same thing is proposed for guns, which would actually help (hate to say this, but we’d better get used to the very real possibility that Trump will actually win the Republican nomination, which is appalling but not surprising considering the rest of that utterly sorry field in his party)…



…and given the continued warmth we’ve been having in these parts (as well as the wild weather elsewhere), comparatively speaking, I think it’s time to revisit “This Day In Doomsy History” from 12/29/10 – Reese Halter talks to Sam Seder on “Countdown” about climate change (love the map - a few ads in the beginning…and by the way, there’s a bit of a “Star Wars” goof by Rachel Maddow at the very end if you watch the whole thing)…



…and yes, this is an awful story, but I think Karamo Brown is right to claim that there’s no simple way to analyze it without looking at a lot of other factors (under-staffing, working long hours, patients with no insurance, etc.)…



...and to me, the TPP isn't worth a hill of proverbial beans, but this is progress anyway...



...and I would say that this is a timely question.

Tuesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Yeah, this is pretty awful all right - if nothing else (and this is a poor substitute for charges, I'll admit, which should have been filed against the two officers - more here), this should force all of those damn Airsoft guns off the market once and for all...



...and RIP Acdemy Award-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler...



…and somehow, I don’t think you’re going to hear about this on Fix Noise…



…and this may be the best cover of a Black Sabbath song that I’ve ever heard.

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

RIP Meadowlark Lemon; maybe a bit too much "minstrelsy," if you will, but you know what? He was talented and he made people laugh - not much else to think about as far as I'm concerned...



...and this story is about a human tragedy first and foremost, and all efforts should be made to help those affected by the hellacious weather in the South (here). However, I believe this is a factor also…



…and in a somewhat related vein, apparently USA Today has a series on what is happening to our global groundwater (here) – important stuff…



…and here’s a neat little tune I stumbled upon while I was busy doing my holiday music thing.

Saturday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Kudos to Thom Hartmann for giving it to Apple CEO Tim Cook and his pathetic whining about how antiquated the U.S. tax code is and that’s the supposed reason why he continues to stash money offshore (more here)…



…and kudos also to the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations for this (and again, don’t expect our corporate media to care)…



…and while I was doing my seasonal music thing, a lady named Holly Woodlawn passed away (here), who was the inspiration for this song…



…and I guess this rings down the proverbial curtain on the seasonal stuff – see you next year, I think.

Merry Christmas 2015

From me and Nat...

Thursday Stuff

Here is some more good "Obamacare" news...



...and here, the father of the British Muslim family that wasn't allowed to fly to Disneyworld tells us the story (what’s amazing to me is that this man still wants to bring his family here after we treated them like garbage, to our shame)…



…and yeah, those Syrians trying to come to this country sure are scary, aren’t they?...



…and just in time for the day before the big day, I give you Tim the Toy Man…



...and we're just about out of the seasonal selections, but here are some more (we lost this guy this year, by the way).

Wednesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I submit to you that, during this holiday season, we should remember the courage of a young man named Zaevion Dobson, who left us way too soon (here)…



...and it looks like, according to daughter Patti, “Saint Reagan” would not approve of the GOP field (goes immediately to another video I chose not to watch, so I can't really say anything about it)…



…and I don’t have a clue as to whether or not “Breaking the Silence” is being funded by actual terrorist groups or not (kind of like the way I don’t know how our political candidates in this country are funded), but it’s been my experience (such as it is) that charges like those thrown against this group usually turn out to be baseless long after the news cycle has expired - of course, “Bibi” and his people could have an actual dialogue with this group to look more closely at the evidence (yeah, I know…if I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring)…



...and I would say that this is an idea whose time has come...



...and now, time for the seasonal stuff - always liked the quiet, contemplative mood of this one...when people think of great voices in song, it's easy to overlook this guy, but that would be a mistake...



...and I hope the estates of the respective singers in The Drifters get a cut of the royalties for this one...



...and I know the Cosby stuff has lost a bit of luster, but here it is anyway...



...and I just can't get enough of this band, at Christmas time and always.

Tuesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Get a load of this, if you will – our neighbor to the north welcomed some Syrian refugees and nobody ran around with their heads cut off crying OMIGODSCARYMUSLIM! OMIGODSCARYMUSLIM! OMIGODSCARYMUSLIM! OMIGODSCARYMUSLIM! OMIGODSCARYMUSLIM!...



…and I have to admit that I’m having a bit of a hard time keeping up with all of the garbage related to Donald Trump (and it truly is that), but I think we need to dwell on this a little more, as TYT minus Ana and Jimmy Dore explain (and I totally agree with Ben – also, Cenk totally nails it at the end, sadly)…



...well, let's home these seasonal selections cheer us up a bit.

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Rachel Maddow performs a great service here IMHO in her special report on the antics in Michigan under Repug Rick Snyder and how his awful judgment ended up ruining the water in the now-accursed city of Flint - her outrage is totally justified…



…and yes, there’s too much wiggle room here, if you will, on the question of a potential agreement with the butcher Assad in Syria, but as a certain former Prime Minister of Great Britain once said, “jar-jar is better than war-war” (and I don’t know why the hell the decision was made to try in sneak in a plug for Trump with Joe Scar, but kudos to former Russian Ambassador Michael McFaul for putting the whole Trump/Putin thing in the right context – sure, Putin hasn’t been convicted of killing a journalist, kind of like the way Chris Christie hasn’t been convicted of creating a traffic disaster on a certain bridge and lying about it and covering up).

(Oh, and one more thing – I really don’t have much to say about the whole “data breach” thing with the Bernie Sanders campaign, except to wonder why DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz could not have found a way to get both camps to sit down and try to work something out behind closed doors instead of trying to cut off the Sanders campaign and make a public show, but then end up more or less retreating when the Sanders campaign quite rightly IMHO fought back on the right to access their own donor list…D W-S strikes me as generally being tone deaf on this stuff, and this to me is just another example...opposing points of view on this and everything generally are certainly welcome because I'm hardly an expert on this issue.)...



…and now, time for some more seasonal selections.

Sunday Stuff

More seasonal stuff for today – good luck finalizing your holiday party plans, last-minute shopping and other mania for this time of year…hope you enjoy this

Friday Stuff

Thom Hartmann gives us economic and green news for the week (number of signatories on the climate deal as noted here is 190, for those keeping score at home)...



…and I give you a brief trip for “This Day In Doomsy History” going back about a year to 12/12/14; definitely a loss for us all when FAIR TV went down (though the site is here), and there’s no question that Rolling Stone didn’t follow best practices under any stretch of the imagination in the UVA story, but of course this gives the wingnuts the excuse to blow off the volumes of great work by that magazine, notably Matt Taibbi, Tim Dickinson, and the late Michael Hastings (and as noted previously, speaking of Rich Lowry)…



...and good for Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo here (NSFW because of the wingnuts)...



...and anyone out there who wonders whether or not this country is slowly turning into a third-world autocracy should watch this video...



...turning to the seasonal stuff, I give you a bit of culture from Eugene Ormandy & The Philadelphia Orchestra ("O Come O Come Emmanuel" - works for Easter too)...



...and nothing like a little Friday soul...



...along with a jazzy take on another seasonal standard...



...and I offer the following without comment.

Thursday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

It’s still beyond shocking to me that one of these life forms could potentially be elected president next year - we would be just as big a laughingstock on the world stage as we were during Dubya’s sorry reign, or maybe worse (and of course our ol’ buddy Vlad Putin would like to see this too – kudos to Rachel Maddow for speaking truth to stoo-pid…I’m also shocked that Hugh Hewitt asked such a good question, so I reluctantly have to give him kudos also…Trump’s answer should scare the hell out of everybody)…



…and this is the stuff of nightmares also…



…and this is difficult stuff as well; this video may be a bit upsetting; a Reuters report on mothers who take opioids and the effect it has on their offspring, and some of the penalties these mothers are facing as a result – yes, provide the proverbial stick when we have to, but provide carrots as well (I’d totally forgotten about our former Congressman Jim Greenwood, but it’s nice to see him as an advocate here – this is a step in the right direction, but not much more than that without any federal dollars for treatment of both mothers and their babies…where’s the “family values” crowd when you need them?)…



…fortunately, I can add something here that is a bit more upbeat; the latest in the fight against AIDS w/Bono (I pretty much completely hated Jesse Helms and felt only slightly less hostile to Dubya, and I never liked the way Bushco administered - for lack of a better word - PEPFAR, but again credit where it's due)…



…and now time for the seasonal stuff - I guess Harry is ready for his closeup…



…and I still think Pearl Bailey is on the right track here…



…and good for Dino for reminding us of more seasonal weather…



…and it’s not Christmas without this number, speaking only for myself of course.

Wednesday Stuff

Want to know why I didn’t waste my time with that farce in Las Vegas last night? I think the Young Turks crew minus Ana sums it up pretty well (again, Jimmy Dore makes this NSFW, but he’s right)…



…and leave it to John Oliver to offer seasonal re-gifting tips as only he can (here)…



…and this can be a great time of year, but it can also be a stressful one – I think James Pennebaker has some great ideas here…



…and Seth Meyers had a good segment here IMHO on the recent climate deal (typical for the Foxies and Not Your Father’s Republican Party to be utterly wrong, of course)…



…and turning to the seasonal stuff, I give you the sacred…



…and the secular…



…and what would Christmas be without the funniest math professor of all time?...



…and I don’t know of any other seasonal tune that quite captures the time of year like this one.

Tuesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I applaud Newtown, Connecticut Police Chief Michael Kehoe here on trying to be smarter about guns, but unless cops take the lead on this issue, we’re never going to get anywhere (yes, we need a lot more players involved too, I admit)…



…and Thom Hartmann gives us economic and labor news for the week…



…and I don’t know what is going on in that Las Vegas mess tonight, but I think Cenk Uygur is typically spot-on to call out Les Moonves of CBS on his fawning support for “The Donald”…



…who turns out to be comic fodder for Jon Stewart once more here (bit runs a little long, though)...



…and time to return to the “teen idol” era for tonight’s seasonal selection…



…though leave it to Louis to ask the question that really matters…



…and it looks like Bing went all the way to our 50th state to get his damn figgy pudding…



…and it’s hard to believe that this version of this tune is 50 years old – sigh.

Monday Stuff

Kudos to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Dem U.S. House Rep (and wounded vet) Tammy Duckworth for this - this video needs a lot more than 182 views, by the way...



...and do you want to know how an American should treat a Muslim (or anyone else regardless of their faith, or lack thereof)? Sen. Bernie Sanders shows us how...



…and of all of the utterly pointless anti-Obama obstruction going on on Capitol Hill, this may be the most pointless of all (God, I wish Number 44 himself would highlight stuff like this every week – I realize he has far better things to do, but shaming these idiots, at a minimum, is all they understand...and yes, Sen. Sherrod Brown's new grandson truly is adorable)…



...and speaking of stupid - this would actually be funny if these clowns weren’t so serious; sorry if you end up needing Pepto-Bismol after watching this (one response is here – “Savage hordes,” huh? Overdose on your angry pills, Dana? And “abandoning immigration law”? Really? “Where is the honest discussion” indeed? - click on Dana's angrily contorted mug to start and stop)…



...and boy, do I need some holiday videos after that one - first the guys who have left the treadmills far behind...



...and I keep forgetting to add this every time at Christmas, but I remembered for a change (goes immediately to the next tune)...



…and in the past I’ve featured Silver Bells from this guy, but this year I thought I’d change this up a bit here too..



...and I think these snowmen were watching Dana also.

Sunday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I think this report from Rachel Maddow speaks volumes about the disconnect between our Beltway courtier media and the Republican "base," frothing over every utterance from "The Donald," no matter how preposterous...



…and kudos to Fareed Zakaria for this…



...and it looks like the Foxies want to blow up everything that they can, and the hell with whoever they manage to take with them (here), something believed by this life form also apparently...



…and happy 90th birthday to the one and only Dick Van Dyke (I’ll go fall over an ottoman in his honor)…



...and turning to the seasonal stuff, I always liked the fact that this guy managed to come up with an original Christmas song before he left us...



...and particularly with the warmer weather in these parts, I guess we could even head to the beach for some sun n' surf too - cool, but a little weird too.

Saturday Stuff

Sorry, no politics today - just a happy what-would-have-been 100th birthday to Mr. S! (here also).

"I've Got You Under My Skin" (nobody knew how to swing quite like Sinatra and Nelson Riddle)...



..."It Was A Very Good Year" (gorgeous Grammy Award-winning orchestration from Gordon Jenkins)...



...and since it is that time of year after all, I offer the following selections.

Friday Stuff

God Bless the United States of Fedex, Exxon-Mobil, Koch, etc (sigh)...

To begin, kudos to Chris Hayes for blasting the typical right-wing political suspects and their media sycophants in the case of Saadiq Long (more here)…



…and I’m a little behind on my Rachel Maddow videos; here she is interviewing Dem U.S. House Rep Adam Schiff on why those utter wastes of space on Capitol Hill haven’t even taken up debate, let alone a vote, on the war with ISIS (Schiff comes perilously close to favoring ground troops here, though, which concerns me a great deal)…



…and I give the Rev. Rob Schenck credit for breaking from the “party of Lincoln” on guns (here), even though he and his fellow evangelicals were utterly played…he won’t admit that, though Schenck is being more honest here than the rest of that bunch (I’m glad this video includes that disgustingly smug commercial from The Sainted Ronnie R as well as Caribou Barbie’s equally repulsive remark about waterboarding)…



…and I gotta tell ya’ that this is one smart bird (the symbolism writes itself)…



…time for the holiday stuff – really like this number from John Legend in particular….



…and yeah, I still have to put up the Doomsy tree – hope all the lights work…



…and leave it to The King to hit just the right note on this, as they say…



…and if you have to fall down drunk somewhere, please do so responsibly and give the keys to somebody else – hugs.

Thursday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Point…



…Counterpoint (have to crank the volume a bit)…



Update: Somewhere, William Paley, Edward R. Murrow, Don Hewitt, Mike Wallace and others I'm sure are doing somersaults in their graves (here).

...also, Shep Smith opines on Trump here along with John Bussey of the Murdoch Street Journal; on the one hand, I'm happy to see Trump do his best to ensure that the Repugs utterly crash and burn, but on the other hand, to be honest, this really is't a good development for our democratic form of government...



…and I don’t know what’s more shocking; Bushco covering up one of these items for seven years, or the fact that The Daily Tucker actually broke a legitimate news story (though Number 44’s DoD has something to answer for on stuff like this also – I guess I’d take the pants-wetting admiral over the self-pleasuring VA guy, though)…



...and here are a couple of seasonal selections.

Wednesday Stuff

Ever heard of the so-called “Dickey Amendment” (here)? That’s the congressional mess that prevents the CDC from researching gun violence – yep, every bit as stoo-pid as it sounds (Thom Hartmann explains in an interview with Dr. Alice Chen)…



...and I thought this report was full of good advice from someone who escaped these ISIS crazies and gives us, I think, a better plan for defeating these lunatics than the one we have now (of course, it involves "soft power" and hard, difficult work that doesn't generate any headlines, which is why it probably won't be followed)...



…and like it or not, it’s time for another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” in which we go back about eight years to 12/5/07; this video provides a cautionary tale of how we were lied into war with Iraq and very nearly into the same thing with Iran – basically, I don’t know of any credible network with initials for names (even though Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films quite rightly take aim at Fix Noise here) that we can trust given this sorry track record when it comes to issues of war and peace, something to consider in light of their opining on ISIS and also in light of this…



Update: Uh, yep.

..and kudos to Catholic Charities for this (and a pox on Mike Pence and Greg Abbott each – the vetting process to emigrate into this country takes TWO YEARS, unless you’re talking about the VISA Waiver Program; if you’re going to put restrictions into place anywhere, do it there first)…



..and turning to seasonal selections, I give you a bit of a bebop Christmas carol...



...as well as something that I'm sure we can all relate to - right? :-)

Tuesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I thought I’d change things up a bit and lead off with a holiday selection…



...and sorry to immediately bring things down, but here’s today’s science lesson on the coming global catastrophe, assuming we don’t manage to do something about in the meantime…



...also, I thought this was an interesting interview Alex Witt conducted with Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times on how ISIS is funded…



…and a hat tip to TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz for pointing out that today would have been the 100th birthday of legendary Hollywood screenwriter Ernest Lehman, who gave us a bunch of great movies; here is an excerpt from one in particular…



...and if it seems like I'm preoccupied with this topic, it's because I am (click on video to start and stop)...

...in no small part because of today's remembrance.

Monday Stuff

We may just finally have the debate on drones that we should have had all along; tragic that it took the sacrifices of these young men to make that possible, though (something to consider in light of this utterly revolting development)...



...and it looks like somebody spiked Tweety's Geritol again - kudos (though Trump isn't a "mixed bag" as far as I'm concerned - he offers NOTHING to indicate that he gives a damn about me or people like me; also, Obama really isn't a progressive, which shouldn't be a news flash to anyone...more here)...


Chris Matthews slams Donald Trump - Tells... by ewillies

...and yeah, I often can't believe it either (here)...



...and of course, since we're talking about Fix Noise, the network responsible for this, you can count on this hairdo named Angela whatever interrupting Joe Lestingi, who happens to be making a well-reasoned, legitimate point...oh yeah, liberals are responsible for crime...screw you, bitch...



…and I try to work in some new selections for this time of year, and here’s one – I probably shouldn’t like this little number, but I do; I think it’s a nice tune…



…and this will put a little spring in your step, I'm sure (a bit NSFW at end).

Sunday Stuff

This number goes out to everyone celebrating the festival of lights, which begins tonight…



…and here is another seasonal selection.

Saturday Stuff

Kyle Kulinski of Secular Talk tells us of how those smiley-faced bastards screwed yet another worker (NSFW – here)…



…and RIP Scott Weiland…the seasonal stuff will return probably tomorrow.

Friday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Looks like Trevor Noah gave "Calgary" Cruz the treatment he deserves (well, a bit) here...



...and MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Spike Lee about his new film “Chi-raq,” which I would say is a bit more timely given the recent gun atrocities in this country (would have been nice if Hall had mentioned that the movie is inspired by this – also a song by Todd and Utopia)…



…and on this day 70 years ago, the U.S. Senate approved U.S. participation in the United Nations, a body of countries that is hardly perfect, though vastly preferable to the alternative, which is no such structure with even more chaos than we have now (here)…



...and as long as we're looking at history, we should probably watch this from Thom Hartmann about our 32nd president (made even more timely in light of this depressing but predictable development - and by the way, to support Bernie Sanders, click here)...



...and here are some seasonal tunes.

Thursday Stuff

Despite the horrors in San Bernardino, there was actually some good news; Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was found guilty of conspiracy (here – Cenk explains why this matters)…



…and those nitwits in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” also passed a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Law and (wait for it…) defund Planned Parenthood (here and here)…if it costs about $50 million to schedule repeal votes in the House, imagine what it costs to do that in the U.S. Senate (and this is a dangerous development from these fools and frauds also – this may be even worse)...



...and it looks like Larry Wilmore went after Fix Noise and the usual political suspects on the Planned Parenthood shootings (here - not even going to try and unpackage the crazy from the other side on this)...



…and returning to the San Bernardino carnage, it looks like Shep Smith went off-script again; not taking sides, which would be expected, but well done all the same (here)…



...and RIP Cynthia Robinson of Sly and the Family Stone...



…and I’m having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit with the song selections, but I will soon – for now, this is the only seasonal tune I want to hear.

Wednesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I know you’re as sick of this garbage as I am – don’t know what else there is to say at this point that hasn’t already been said…



…and kudos to Laura Pitter of Human Rights Watch for this…



...and yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat (here)...



…and in light of this sad news, can we please put the nonsense noted here to rest once and for all?...



...and I don't feel particularly festive given the news of more gun insanity, but maybe it's a good idea to hear these tunes anyway.

Tuesday Stuff

This report from Al Jazeera America tells us about China's efforts to combat smog (not that we have bragging rights either of course, but if nothing else, this report shows the trade-offs that have to be made while pursuing the goal of "going green")...



...and in keeping with world stuff, I should note that I haven't checked in with Vice News for a little while, but it looks like our ol' buddy Vlad Putin is causing some people to be a bit on edge in Russia's area of the world, Estonia in particular...



…and Lawrence O’Donnell tells us about the latest success of the KIND (Kids In Need of Desks) fund in Malawi in Africa, which is sponsored by his show (kudos)…



…the latter being a joyful story for a change that puts me in the mood to hear this in particular.

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I call this some terrific "connecting of the dots" by Cenk Uygur on the issue of terrorism (this should knock The Sainted Ronnie R off his bleeping pedestal once and for all, but I'm sure it won't)...



...and apologies for being a bit behind on the latest economic and labor news from Thom Hartmann...



...and "Unsafe At Any Speed" hit bookstores 50 years ago today (here)...there are those who have made the somewhat plausible argument that Ralph Nader rigged his tests to show that the Chevy Corvair would "roll" with the wheels locked in a turning motion more easily than other vehicles, but to me, the bottom line is that the book sponsored the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act the next year, which made seat belt usage mandatory in 49 states, among other reforms - of course, as of about 15 years ago, Nader will be remembered much more infamously for his role in the presidential election that foisted Dubya into the White House...



...and I know Nader was once a crusader against cars, but I don't recall that he ever had anything to say about a sleigh.

Saturday Stuff

Alex Witt talks to Dawn Laguens of Planned Parenthood in the wake of the cowardly, murderous attack in Colorado Springs (I know there’s a lot that still needs to be sorted out concerning the latest homicidal lunatic with a gun in this country, which kind of pushed this from the headlines…so many crazies, so little time…but I would call this pretty damn incriminating)…



Update 11/30/15: And while we're on this subject, I think it's important to keep this in mind (which more or less dovetails with this).

…and sorry, but no seasonal stuff tonight – I had this tune in mind for obvious reasons, also in consideration of this.

Friday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I admit that I should start paying a little more attention to the budget crisis in our beloved commonwealth, so in an attempt to do that, I’m going to focus on “Helicopter Scott” Wagner (here and here), a Teahadist State Senator who has gone on record as saying that he supports no tax increases whatsoever and, as noted in the clip, thinks that convenience store workers should start out at the “generous” wage of about $9 an hour and be “fast-tracked” to about $10 an hour (oh, and I have no idea of what Wendell Young’s compensation is, and I don’t care because the topic is irrelevant – apparently more important for Wagner to lecture workers than to do something that is even remotely fair…how much did Wagner make in waste disposal before he was elected to Harrisburg, I wonder?).

If you want to blame Governor Wolf for the budget crisis, fine. But as far as I’m concerned, you’re “shooting dirty pool” if you don’t also blame characters like Wagner, as well as the people who vote for him (oh, and how nice of him to “appreciate” the other side)…



...and silly Lawrence O'Donnell, trying to do the right thing and get our corporate media to do their jobs (good luck trying to get right-wing BS out of what passes for our political discourse - commendable attempt by Lawrence, though, here)...

…and the Bucks County Courier Times actually published a “Vent” this morning (for the uninitiated, these are rants than are slightly longer than a Twitter post) from a nitwit who used the phrase “Black Friday Lives Matter” – I offer this in response (more here and here)…



…and just as a reminder (particularly with the Al Jazeera America clip in mind), I thought I’d present this video from about five years ago as a reminder of how we have arrived at a state as sorry as this…



…and in the spirit of what most people will be doing this day, I offer a hosanna to crass commercialism…



...because, as we know, that time of year is upon us again - oy!

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

I got a kick out of this (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos)...

...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...



...and here's more holiday fun...



...and I kind of liked this also (hat tip for this to Daily Kos)...



...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.




Update 1: And here is another late addition.



Update 2: Might as well add this too.



Update 3: Imagine all the people that can be fed for $35 grand (here, getting serious for a minute).

Update 4: And since I add to this list every year, I might as well include this too (hasta la vista, baby!).

Wednesday Stuff

This story is infuriating, maddening and totally predictable (and I’m sure it makes this life form even more pleased with himself than he already is)…



…and I think this is a terrific idea from Media Matters, though I must confess that I’ll be with people tomorrow who, just about entirely, DO NOT share my political inclination, so I’ll try to hold my fire (if challenged, though, then I’ll use some of this material)…



…and I predict that “The Donald” will say something xenophobic, demagogic and/or just plain wrong…oh, at any moment now (here)…



…and here is something I’m definitely thankful for, and that’s great new music from Jeff Lynne.

Tuesday Stuff

Once again, if you’re looking for hard-hitting, insightful commentary on a news story being reported on all over the place, turn to a comedian (here...he sneaks in a real dig at about 4:10, which is true, unfortunately)…



...and Chris Hayes & Jim Rich of the New York Daily News call out Wayne LaPierre on the latter's opposition to a bill to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists (background is here – I thought the last minute and a half of this was particularly important, and scary too)…



...and as long as you-know-who is getting mentioned again (NSFW of course)...



…and it looks like the “one percent” is crying poor mouth again; spare me this “one hand tied behind our back” garbage…the generics are cutting into your profit margins, not U.S. taxes, you weasel…



…and once more, it’s time for another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 11/26/10, with something we all should keep in mind as shoppers overall and particularly for later this week…



…and I know Jackson Browne wrote this in the ‘80s in response to an entirely different group of refugees, but somehow I think there are at least some parallels to those trying to enter our country now too.

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Lawrence O’Donnell was cut off here a bit at the end, but I thought he made a good point about some of the word games of the cable news networks in the wake of the Paris attacks…



…and I’m not sure what Harry Smith is doing on MSNBC, but I thought this was a good interview with George Takei about the current anti-Syrian hysteria and how this harks back to the Japanese-American internment camps of World War II – the latter story is told in the play “Allegiance” currently on Broadway…



…and MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Dallas, TX Mayor Mike Rawlings on the question of settling Syrian refugees in this country; Rawlings believes whites are more of a threat, and I agree with him (see?)…



…and I guess all the stuff about Syria, as well as O'Donnell's report (as well as this) has put me in the mood to hear this tune.

Friday Stuff

I think Thom Hartmann provides some important historical context here on our fight with ISIS…



...and I also think it’s appropriate to let Sen. Elizabeth Warren have the last word this week on the Syrian refugee crisis (here)…



...and with the terror stuff going on, I admit that I haven't paid a lot of attention to the budget funding crisis (and I think that's the correct word) in our beloved commonwealth - I think this video provides something important to keep in mind (more here, and an update is here)...



Update: Gee, instead of having the school kids write to Gov. Wolf here, maybe Mikey the Beloved and Archbishop Chucky could tell the kids to write to Tea Head state Sen. Scott Wagner, quoted in this story as saying that he won’t vote for a single tax increase, expecting all of the supposed budget savings to be realized by slashing services (appropriate for Wagner that he formerly made a living in waste disposal – fits the profile for this prick).

(..oops, the story went behind the still-utterly-ridiculous pay wall for the Courier Times and Intelligencer - wonder how many subscribers they lost this week?)

Update 11/26/15: So, it looks like "Helicopter Scott" is a real expert on our schools - sure he is (here).

…and I wish this were just another fish story, but I’m afraid it’s for real…



…and I know I need to pay attention to myself first and foremost on spiritual matters, but if I were this guy, I’d be doing a hell of a lot of tithing ("elevate" this - NSFW)…



…and what the hell – it’s Friday night; time to rock.

Thursday Stuff

While Dems quibble about HRC vs. Bernie Sanders (and yes, that’s part of the process I know), let’s not lose sight of who our REAL adversaries are (here, particularly in light of this too, and a pox on the “Democrats” who caved on today’s sorry vote)…



…and sticking with that, I apologize for inflicting the idiots Ted Cruz and Rand Paul on you here, but it’s almost worth it to hear the voices of sanity from Independent Sen. Angus King and Dem U.S. House Rep. Ted Lieu in response (great point by King about the visa waiver program)…



...and speaking of hysteria, why am I not surprised by this from the guy starring in this video...

...and congratulations to a true American icon, Willie Nelson, for this.

Wednesday Stuff

I continue to be impressed by Obama’s EPA head Gina McCarthy as noted here (never forget that it’s a testimonial to the type of leader we have that they appoint skilled people in their jobs – something which drove me absolutely nuts about Number 43 – and McCarthy is a pro as far as I’m concerned)...



…and I would say that Col. Jack Jacobs does a pretty darn good job here of spelling out exactly what we’re up against in trying to defeat ISIS…



…and I present this video to show that it wasn’t that long ago when we were pulling this “freedom fries” and “freedom toast” nonsense to protest the fact that French President Jacques Chirac told a certain Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History that he was full of crap over his Not So Excellent Adventure in Mesopotamia (a stand that looks pretty prescient now of course).

Well, despite the horrific violence suffered by that country this year, President Francois Hollande has promised to take in 30,000 Syrian refugees over the next two years (here). Meanwhile, in this country, 31 Republican governors have proven themselves to be utter cowards on this issue (here), along with some Democratic politicians also (here and here).

I don’t know if there are any restaurants featuring what you might call American cuisine in the “city of light,” but if there are, they should feature a cut of beef on their menu called “run-and-hide rump roast” – just a thought…



…and really, were you surprised by this?

Tuesday Stuff

With all of the political posing going on, to say nothing of what appears to be a quite-justifiable military response, I thinks it’s important to note the totally obvious fact that what recently happened in Paris was, first and foremost, a human tragedy (with a video brought to us by that supposedly "terrist"-loving network)…



…with people such as Linda Sarsour caught up in the bigotry, as she explains here to Chris Hayes (the last 30 seconds of this overall fine interview are incredibly important to remember IMHO)…



..and "an interview with "ISIS Magazine"? There's something utterly surreal about that and the video - a whole new brand of crazy, as if the old brand wasn't bad enough...



…and this video doesn’t have anything to do with any of this – maybe think of it as a palate-cleanser of sorts.

Monday Stuff

In the matter of the Paris attacks, I took this as a plea for caution and restraint from Fareed Zakaria, which I think is exactly the right message (here)…



…and I wouldn’t exactly call these great words by Shep Smith (going off-script once more) a ringing endorsement of accepting Syrian refugees, though I think that is exactly what we should do – typically ridiculous for Republican politicians to claim that we should only accept Christians, as if that can be proved or couldn’t be faked in order to get in (this tells us which states will grant and which will deny admittance, and kudos to Gov. Wolf for doing the right thing in PA)…



…oh, and if massive amounts of blood have been spilled somewhere and carnage has visited its ugly head, then you can count on Bill Kristol to call for more of our sons and daughters to be killed, maimed or wounded to satisfy his sick desire for more war (here...if Kristol ever saw violence for real, he's wet his pants)…



…and every once in a while at times like these, I feel like I have to hear this song.

Saturday Stuff

I think this is an appropriate clip; another nationalist response of pride from the French in the face of tyranny (might have to crank the volume a bit - more here also)…



…and I think there’s a bit of editorializing going on here particularly in the last 30 seconds – I mean, RT has to toe the Putin line, let’s not forget, or someone may get shot execution style in a dank elevator of a run-down apartment complex (here) – but I think the reporting on the ground by Lizzie Phelan is pretty spot-on, to say nothing of courageous…I take RT with the proverbial grain of salt as I do with the corporate media in this country…



…and shifting gears (because we need to laugh, after all), I thought this was a good commentary from Bill Maher, who had been in a bit of a slump recently as far as I’m concerned (NSFW of course)…



…and apparently, these guys are all OK, thank God.

Friday Stuff

All thoughts, prayers and best wishes go out to the people of Paris tonight in the wake of another horrific terrorist attack far worse than Charlie Hebdo, which was awful by itself (this is one source to go for the latest information).

I realize these videos are trivial by comparison, but they’re still important in their own way, so here they are - to begin, this tells us about the "million student march" protests, including Philly also (more here)...



…and another day, another tale of police abuse against a person of color in These United States…



…and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week…



…and I put this up earlier this year, and sadly, I have a reason to do so again (and once more, the literal English translation is “No, I Regret Nothing”).