Grateful Dead

Ahh, savor your victory! Too bad the 'snow' cup didn't make it to Barcelona, but I'm sure the party will go on...

I meant "Plow" in my other post. Jeez, I'm losing it!

You gotta love Chicago. The Daily mayoral machine, Skokie nazis and the Cubs! Now handgun legislation that makes sense too. Not familiar with the story? In a nutshell, there has been a law regulating handguns in Chicago for 28 years that was recently struck down by the Supremes. Chicago turned around and passed another law that said "Yeah, you can own the gun, but you can't come outside the house with it." I like that law! Wish we had it right here in Vermont. It would stop my crazy neighbor from emptying his pistola in 2.3 seconds in his own backyard. The chances of Vermont passing a law like Chicago's are exactly 0 (zero). If we outlaw criminals only handguns will have criminals. And, as always, support your right to arm bears!

500,000 gallons a day between the time the old containment cap came off Saturday and the time the new one is put on some time this week. Frightening, isn't it? Y'know, it strikes me that it was rather hard to buy an American car that got more than 30 mpg combined until last year. How could the car industry have been that screwed up for that long? The simple answer is that they wern't screwed up. They were the alternative to every other manufacturer in foreign countries where gas costs more money. Finally Detroit got it that people want well made cars with great gas mileage that could go 300,000 miles if you took care of them. I hope they new containment cap captures 95% of the oil until the relief wells are dug. I hope they are making contingency plans for when a hurricane whips the spill into a hell froth.

Apparently they were targeting the Ugandan government's decision to send those peacekeepers. Somalia and Yemen and almost the entire land of Arabia is a hotbed of Wahhabi ideology. One American died in the bombing.

It is possible that within 36 hours all the vents will be closed and the leak will be stopped. Although BP sucks for what it did in the name of profit and the whole industry is culpable for doing this kind of drilling without having adequate emergency response, they do deserve some credit for working as quickly as possible and maybe getting this thing capped in 90 days. If this were Nigeria they would have done next to nothing. An elite makes all the oil money over there and they don't rock that boat. Different story here though. Maybe some good will come out of this -- namely a greater awareness of of our codependent relationship with Big Oil and and the realization that the status-quo is not sustainable. Or maybe the understanding that it's really too late and you might as well buy a used Hummer, Denali or Yukon and go out in an orgy of fossil fuel gluttony. Make sure to top off the freon yourself and kill the ozone layer. As well, top off the tank to the last drop and let a gallon or two evaporate into the atmosphere... Ye Gods! We are so screwed on this planet!

I was in the store today to buy Stephen King's new novel. It's 1074 pages long. I was really feeling guilty about buying this book. The planet can't afford to lose even one more tree. Should I use a kindle? I don't even know what the energy footprint of a kindle is. How long it lasts, what is made of etc.. Does anybody out there reading this use a kindle? Do you like it? Can you really bring one to the beach without ruining it (by getting sand in it or something)? Is it more environmentally responsible to use a kindle rather than a scarce resource like wood? I'd love to hear what other people think. I'm never the first to jump on new technologies but I really want to do the responsible thing... Maybe this was my last book purchase.

...about books being more friendly and familiar. I never even thought about jobs at printing companies being lost because of Kindles. I've heard that some authors have been hoodwinked into losing royalties on e-books (mostly books that were published before the advent of this technology). Good point about recycling, never thought of that. Now I'm wondering about eye strain with a Kindle.

Obama has really opened up a presidency by committee and the Clintons are a pretty integral part of that committee. Bill & Hillary are everywhere on Earth these days, doing the empire's bidding. Not that I'm complaining. If there was ever a time when our country needed smart, seasoned people it's right now. I give Chairman Obama high marks for his stewardship thus far. There are a lot of open question marks for the future like Afghanistan, the economy, the national debt and such but I would be very sorry to see this commission go out of business in four years. I never thought I'd say that about Democrats but looking at Bush's legacy I am truly horriified that we almost lost our country to a bunch of neo-cons. Barak is an acceptable alternative to that. (now waiting for appearance by scathing dewlover)

DATA ENTRY IS A F****** BITCH!!!

The NAACP is a profit-mongering organization deserving to be thrown on the ash-heap of history? NOT! Not all tea-party activists are racist. Many of them are well-meaning fiscal conservatives but they have created the space for the frightening flaming freaks of the right wing. You know, the people who stay up late at night sharpening the weapons of hate. What is truly frightening is that they could field a sleeper candidate for the presidency. Less frightening but all-to-real? Derailing the Obama presidency. This latest knee-jerk attack on the NAACP is beyond the pale. They are revealing their true colors. All the NAACP is asking the tea party to do is repudiate the racists within their ranks and they won't do that. Substitute jews for blacks and we see these extremists for what they really are -- fascist-like Nazis . Beware and vote. If good, decent people don't vote then the crazies might win..

...should read "nazi-like fascists".

...bring your electronics to a place that will responsibly reuse as much as possible and dispose of the rest instead of throwing it in the general trash. Though it would be nice to just blip it out of existence with a keystroke, less time and fuel cost n'all that.

Weak and watered down. Obama is hollering victory and it is better than nothing but not nearly enough. The banks are already crying and threatening to cut off free banking. Take a listen: 'All this will mean that banks will impose fees on existing consumers to try to make up for cash they need to store as capital or spend on levies, and consumers who cannot pay the fees will have to give up on banking services, Bove said. He estimates that "at least 10 million people" will lose banking services in the US after the new financial regulations come into force, because "they just won't be profitable for banks and banks won't keep them." ' -- Dick Bove, Rochdale Securities Want to bet this doesn't happen? If you're not part of a small community bank with conservative lending values maybe you should consider bailing from the big boys who are the only ones likely to impose the above measures.

4:50pm -- The Weather Chaninnel confirms that NBC confirms what everybody can already see on the spillcam. It's over. And yeah GTed, BP's stock surged almost 4% today. To think we could have had it when it was circling the drain at 27. I thought long and hard about it and even was told point blank to buy it but I'm just not a slimy bottom-feeder making money off the misery of others and watching as BP hires every unemployed insurance claims bunghole in the Southeast to stonewall Gulf residents on legitimate claims.

BP finally plugging the hole had no emotional relief to it. Just a sense that the bleeding had stopped because the temporary bandage was now in place. The bandage could slip any time before the stitches (relief wells) are applied. At least the oil is stopped even if a hurricane causes them to cease operations again for whatever reason. I get indigestion just thinking about the amount of oil in the gulf -- approximately 809,423 barrels of oil (x 42 for the gallon amount). I know I have been forced to look very hard at how I can reduce my oil consumption by 75%. That would bring me in line with what the average European uses... which is just too frightening to think about.

...For dancing in the streets. Yahooo! The whole fam damily will be in town for Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, CT at the end of this month. That means Furthur & Rhythm Devils, plus a whole lot more. Maybe they'll all get on stage and jam!! This is going to be great time as long as it's not hot as hell. Even if it is you can still jump in the ocean to cool off. It's like 100 yards from the stage. Have a great weekend everybody! Endless summer is in full swing!

Leggo recap was cool. Like the sliding, tripping and slo-mo goal.

The US military in Afghanistan suffered a rash of suicides in the last month, 31 in all. It is more than alarming that an average of over one per day is occurring. The question of WHY must be asked. If the mission is just and this is an all-volunteer force why is morale so low that soldiers feel compelled to take their own lives? I have asked several vets and they all say the same thing: They don't know... If they don't know then the military must be having a hard time mounting any response to this problem. And this has been a problem for quite a while, years in fact. I guess conjecture is in order here, though any from a non-vet is a shot in the dark. Obviously the stress and tension of war must be great. The difficulty of the weather and the terrain must also weigh in. But these are all factors that soldiers have faced in all wars. So what is different about this one? I would suggest the obvious -- the glaring contradiction between the rationale for war laid out in the propaganda and the actual reality on the ground.

Don't understand why they waste their time on this site. I don't even undertsand why they do it at all, you have to work really hard at it. The links have to stay up long enough and people have to hit on them. I wish people wouldn't encourage them by hitting the links.

Seepage from the floor of the Gulf has been detected, as well as other problems, and the US is telling BP to submit a procedure for opening the cap back up. Though the flow rate has not been determined it is estimated that over 184,000,000 gallons have spilled into the Gulf. This is a nightmare that never seems to go away. It is depressing and disheartening for people all over the country who have an iota of empathy, not to mention the people who have to live on the Gulf Coast. One bright spot -- no hurricanes on the horizon.

What a joke! Since Ronnie Ray-guns the repub presidents have taken a record amount of time off.

I'm only throwing stuff out there for conversation openers.

No need to go out and use more energy so the USA is #1 again. This is not good news. The Chinese see no need to put the breaks on it's consumption as long as the US does nothing to reign it's piggery. Legislation to limit energy usage is shot down continually by a cabal of repulsivecan senators. The problem, as I have pointed out several times, is that more than 60% of the Chinese power comes from dirty coal-burning power plants. The superpowers are in a clinch and nobody wants to given an inch. I won't state the obvious here, it's too depressing. Unbelievable, really, as we experience climate change symptoms such as record rainfalls that are flooding major US cities on a regular basis.

...What? Was soliciting a good job in exchange for the candidate of their choice in the US Senate from Illinois a crime? I guess this shows that you don't have to be smart to be elected the governor of Illinois. It also shows that Blago is the ultimate media whore.

p 38 of the new Rolling Stone...Justin Timberlake wearing a SYF (THAT'S ok, but)...the blurb says "He hopes to collaborate with Umphrey's McGee on a new Dead-themed mash-up record: RippleSex/JerrySounds". Justin, Justin, Justin... It can't be that bad that you have to dump this on us. I hope Marye is right and this is just RS's lame attempt at humor after being had by Stanley McChrystal.

In a recent post I mentioned the high rate of suicide among US soldiers. I alluded to the reality on the ground there as being different then the propaganda. Well, here is some of what they are seeing. A couple of days ago The Himalayan Times had a story about the Royal Gorkhas of the British Army. They are Nepali mercenaries. They have a small knife known as a kukuri. It looks like a very sharp boomerang. It is their national weapon. So, a week or so ago, a Taliban commander had been killing some NATO troops and the word was put out that they wanted the Taliban commander. If that person was killed in battle they wanted some proof. So a gorkha soldier killed him but couldn't drag his body off the battlefield. Heeding his commander's wish, he cut the Taliban commander's head off and brought it back to the British officer. Who was, of course, horrified at this violation of the Geneva Convention. The Gorkha was recalled to Britain to possibly face charges. Shit happens in a war zone. Stuff that is very hard to sleep with in a land faraway from home.

...over there it seems ridiculous to single out a Gurkha for this action. Gurkhas are the cream of the cream of Nepali warriors. They can basicaly run over mountains since that is their native territory. They are fiercely loyal also. That is an excellent description of a kukuri, Johnman. My Nepali wife has one in the kitchen drawer and whips it out to cut up whole chickens. She also brings them back as presents for people. I always caution people to put the thing on a high shelf if they have young kids.