Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind: Still More Current Events

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June 3, 2011 - 9:44am

1,297 replies

marye

Joined:
May 26, 2007

Nuclear power! Carcinogenic cell phones! The Stanley Cup! and the usual parade of kids dancing and shaking their bones, politicians throwing stones, etc. Discuss.

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July 19, 2012 - 11:01am

#331

Mike Edwards

Joined:
June 17, 2007

"It's judgment that defeats us"

Earlier in the week, there was a story in the news about a NYC bus driver who caught a 7 year old girl who had fallen from a three story building. Had that bus driver used his better judgment, instead of inserting himself into the space between the 40-50 pound falling object and the ground, the girl would have likely died. Our judgment is mostly a function of our intellect, but reason is only a part of who we are.
July 19, 2012 - 9:56am

#332

fluffanutter

Joined:
February 25, 2012

Who has the moral highground?

"Apocalypse Now" - Colonel Kurtz's monologue at the end "I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us." (Boy, I'm in a mood today)
July 19, 2012 - 7:41am

#333

fluffanutter

Joined:
February 25, 2012

A Major Blip On The Radar

As I've mentioned several times, the ongoing dispute between the US/Israel (backed by other Western nations) and Iran is still picking up steam. Israel/West wants Iran to give up all nuclear ambitions. Iran says these ambitions are only peaceful. Nobody believes that Iran is not involved in uranium enrichment that will ultimately result in the 2nd country to possess an Islam Bomb (Pakistan being the other). The war is well underway. Israel has bombed targets in Iran before suspected of nuclear ambitions, at Osiris I believe, and the US/Israel have engaged in cyber-warfare to destroy centrifuges. Israel has threatened to bomb the suspected sites unilaterally once again but has not done so mainly due to US diplomatic pressure exerted to allow sanctions to work. These sanctions are very severe. The world financial community has even pulled Iran's SWIFT code. This does not allow them to transfer money bank-to-bank anywhere in the world. The latest development is that Iranian-backed militants blew up a bus full of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria yesterday, killing seven and wounding more than a score others. A week or so ago the US engaged in nuclear saber-rattling. This all looks very dark. There aren't many bluffs left for the West/israel to play if they get no deal from Iran. Syria is about to fall. The Middle East is in turmoil. I know I'm only getting bits and pieces of this story. Ominous. Biblical. Don't think we'll have to wait for the end of the Mayan calender for this to play out.
July 18, 2012 - 9:18am

#334

fluffanutter

Joined:
February 25, 2012

3rd. 4th, 5th Parties

The Greens just held their nominating convention last weekend. This group along with the Libertarians have been the most organized and long-standing political entities trying to mount a challenge to the current political paradigm. The Libs has some success this year and they had a number of delegates pledged to Ron Paul to go to the nominating convention with and make some noise. In Massachusetts those delegates had supplanted some long-standing Republicans who were not going to be able to attend. Invoking some made-up rule the Repubs. stripped those delegates of their credential because they had "failed to deliver in time an affidavit swearing, under the penalty of perjury, that they would support Mitt Romney’s nomination for president." My point here is that whenever a third party makes a challenge the Dems or Repubs flex their muscles and throw them out. Jon Stewart made a point of spotlighting how the press ignored Ron Paul. There are so many institutions that marginalize third party candidates that it would seem to be impossible for one to break through. Then there is the argument that Ralph Nader's independent run for the White House only allowed Bush to beat Al Gore in 2000. He got 2% of the vote but the election was so close it is hard to deny the logic of it. Even though it really only becomes true when the election ends up being that close. The point of all this is to say we have the illusion of voting for who rules us. In fact, it takes such a huge amount of money to run a campaign and qualify for the ballot in all 50 states that there really is no way a third party that is not in the "Big Money" circle can mount a serious challenge. It's despicable, And the people who deny this reality are silly and stupid. I liked Johnman when he was on this thread but he was one of those people who really believe we have meaningful choices within the system. It's such a joke. I hate to vent without having anything new or creative to offer up but I just don't see a set of circumstances that would allow a charismatic leader to rise up and be elected by hordes of followers. The powers that be would be calling him/her the anti-christ, among other things.
July 18, 2012 - 8:34am

#335

Mike Edwards

Joined:
June 17, 2007

We The People are supposed to be the Boss...

...but we're too strung out to achieve that kind of function. In his Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Karl Marx notes that "Religion is the opium of the people (Die Religion... ist das Opium des Volkes)." Marx' statement rings true to me, only what's changed now is that we worship at the altar of commerce much more than we did in Marx' time. At this point, I'd say it's highly unlikely that the People will ever take back the power because we've become dependent on the system to which we've ceded our authority; it'd be like a junkie trying to get clean by killing his or her dealer.
July 17, 2012 - 6:42pm

#336

Mr. Pid

Joined:
December 22, 2007

"Somebody has to do something

and I think it's incredibly pathetic that it has to be us." - Jerry Garcia "Representative" democracy creates consolidation of political power, and that creates the financial equivalent of mechanical advantage. So called "special interests" buy legislators votes for backing the proposed legislation that their own staffers write which is designed to enhance their own market position and presence. And it only works because it's economically viable to make it happen. Remember, with these special interests, the bottom line is always dollars, specifically the Net Present Value of those dollars. For those of you not familiar with the term, NPV is math, not philosophy. It's nothing more than a calculation. It's the Lowest Common Denominator for how MBA types look at the universe. The founding fathers had a pretty good idea, although I suspect they would scarcely recognize what it's turned into. I won't pretend to speak for them, but I have a strong inkling given their contemporaneous writings that they would be appalled by what has evolved as the Legislative branch. I choose to believe they opted for the representative model rather than the Athenian model of strict pluracracy to address the the inherent latency in communications extant in their time. That latency no longer exists. I believe that the next phase of the American Revolution should be focused on this issue in particular. I may be naive, but I'm prepared to have some faith in the rank and file population to choose to do the Right Things, and eschew the Wrong Things, like war in support of enhanced corporate profits marketed under the banner of Patriotism. It's high time people started pointing out that that particular emperor has no clothes. It is economically unviable to buy off a majority of a national direct electorate. Problem solved in the only terms these types understand and respect. Our government here in the USA has long since stopped fearing its citizens, and that's the first thing that has to change. We The People are supposed to be the Boss, and it's high time we started acting not only like we understood that, but that we actually meant it.
July 17, 2012 - 6:13am

#337

fluffanutter

Joined:
February 25, 2012

Presidential Politics (Yukkkaroonies)

It is so very hard to be interested in anything that comes out of either candidate's mouth these days. You just want to scream "Give me fresh air!" Nobody is talking about anything remotely interesting and the debate is so very carefully framed. The level of discussion has fallen to such a low point that it takes barely a sentence from the moderator's mouth before the two sides go at it tooth and nail. This has turned everybody off to such a degree that nobody wants to discuss it. And I don't blame anybody for that attitude, At the midpoint of summer the campaign still appears to be a close contest if it were based on the popular vote. Unfortunately, under our arcane system, it is the electoral college, the elite 535 (435 Reps. & 100 Senators) that actually determine the next ruler. This gives greater weight to the more populated states. Representatives are apportioned per 500,000 people, Given this system, the managers of campaigns split the country into sure win, sure lose and those states that have a chance to go either way. In the 12 swing states this year Obama has a healthy lead in the majority of them and the undertone of the campaign is a heady optimism on the side of the Obamites and general hand-wringing on the part of the Romulans. While it appears that Romney has only a very slight chance of winning the election Obama would be well advised to read the lyrics of Uncle John's Band: "When life looks like easy street there is danger at your door". Current events can undo the most carefully laid plans and it certainly is a minefield out there. Negativity rules the day. Why it is human nature to respond to negativity rather than ignore it and pay attention to positivity is beyond me. I think people feel so unempowered and disenfranchised by the current system where there are two parties for the rich and corporate elite. The only debate among them is how much alms to give to the poor. It is really outrageous that our "republican' form of "democracy" has come to this. And a sad joke for the rest of the world churning in our wake. Will I vote this year? No, because the state I live in makes it a certainty that it doesn't matter. If I had a chance to vote in a critical swing state would I? Yes, because I believe I am my brother's keeper and I want more alms to go to the poor. It is sadly reduced to this. I wish I had choices that made more of a difference. I think the common people picking their own leaders has always been an elaborate hoax,
July 15, 2012 - 3:50pm

#338

marye

Joined:
May 26, 2007

anyway

I hope they got the rest of it on good video.
July 15, 2012 - 3:49pm

#339

marye

Joined:
May 26, 2007

pretty nice girl

that she is!
July 15, 2012 - 3:07pm

#340

Mr. Pid

Joined:
December 22, 2007

Talk about yer buzzkill!

Officious dweebs like that should be chained to the front of the "It's a small world after all" exhibit at the Disney park least convenient to them for a week. And then billed for the airfare, transfers and entrance fees required. You'd think Sir Paulie could have requested Special Dispensation from his pal Her Majesty...

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

News and Talk

Nuclear power! Carcinogenic cell phones! The Stanley Cup! and the usual parade of kids dancing and shaking their bones, politicians throwing stones, etc. Discuss.

hey, it's a press release

email 'em and ask for yourself! Seriously, never hurts to raise this stuff as an issue.

good idea!

good idea!i'll have to wait until their website is up and runnin' as i don't use Facebook.

--------------------------------(-----@

Alright! Thank you marye, xo!The Sweetwater Music Hall read was fantastic! Very special to have such a historic site in good hands. ----------------------------------(----@ Woo Hoo Indeed, xo! How about a new thread called the Newspaper. Trouble ahead and Trouble behind---isn't very fitting for such a great read. Current Events - does it but---(eye's crossed) only -kinda, xo. Okay, 1,000 other things to say but only time to say.... I love you, all, xo! Congradulations Bob and The Other Ones! @smmmmm- Sweetwater -@smmmmmmm

from the Marin Independent Journal

Jonapi, I saw this while surfing around the 'net this morning: Sweetwater Music Hall tickets are available at http://sweetwatermusic hall.inticketing.com. From the same article, Phil Lesh announced that he's bought the Seafood Peddler restaurant in San Rafael and an adjacent ballroom he's transforming into a concert hall called "The Grate Room." Is this to be the Terrapin Crossroads?

where crickets and cicadas sing

yep, that is certainly Terrapin Crossroads, Gr8fulTed!!!!see here - http://terrapincrossroads.net/home/ absolutely fantastic news, i think we all agree. and yes, i saw that address for inticketing; had a quick search to look into them but can't yet confirm whether that's all they're going to use. i really hope so. be splendid to think that both enterprises will be independent. i know i know, it sounds like more kvetching, but i really don't mean it in that way; just believe that, as both are one-off venues, how wonderful would it be if they kept everything in-house and handled all their own sales. a perfect opportunity, right? (can't seem to find any contact email for Terrapin either, but maybe that will come in due course). i recently read your article Mary, Burners Without Borders, and your musings about wishing 'Shakedown Street' was more Burning Man-like; "...would turn into–a group of creative, skilled people assembled for a common purpose to accomplish a shared goal". just would love to see that these two ventures maintain or generate such a spirit. but am really excited about what lays ahead. both venues are fantastic news.

Lancaster, Calif., Mayor Thinks Bird Song Reduces Crime

This is a headline from today's Wall Street Journal We all know it's a great song, but I was very happy to hear it also reduces crime.

show me all that you know

on the nights they nailed it, i think that song could cure cancer.

cutest new arrival

Gotta love those aardvarks

Samantha Fish is coming to Europe!

This young lady is phenomenal!! Samantha plays a Telecaster and sings the blues. She'll be in Germany, with visits to France, Switzerland, Romania and Denmark. I'll see here at a bar down the street tomorrow in Overland Park, KS, her last U.S. show for awhile. http://www.samanthafish.com/

and now a message from Bob Weir about The Cove race car...

Bob Weir I wanted to share this project with you, which is very important to me personally and desperately needs help now: On behalf of dolphins everywhere, my sister in law Leilani has teamed up with the Oceanic Preservation Society (makers of the Academy Award winning documentary "The Cove") to bring awareness to mainstream America about the captivity and slaughter of our friends in the sea. There are many recorded incidents throughout history of dolphins saving the lives of people, and now it's time for us to return the favor. This will be the first ever ocean awareness themed race car to race the high banks of Daytona, and you can help make it happen! Anything you can donate is greatly appreciated and tax-deductible: RACE CAR DRIVER & ECO ACTIVIST LEILANI MUNTER IS GETTING IN GEAR TO TAKE "THE COVE" MOVIE TO THE HIGH BANKS OF DAYTONA: Activist Raising Funds For a "The Cove" Themed Race Car to Help Raise More Mainstream Awareness of Dolphin Captivity and Slaughter WHERE: Daytona International Speedway, FL WHEN: February 18, 2012 WHAT: #1 Spectator Sport in America WHO: Leilani Munter, race car driver and passionate environmentalist TRACKSIDE AUDIENCE: 100,000 TV: Live on SPEED, available in 79 million homes in USA FUNDS ALREADY RAISED: $15,000 REMAINING FUNDS NEEDED: $30,000 HOW TO HELP WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION: http://www.opsociety.org/donate/DaytonaCarDonation.htm Full story here: http://leilanimunter.com/12-01.03.htm

the babbster, the babbsmeister, the babbs-in-the-wood, the....

probably the wrong topic for this but it's a current interview so i'm gonna clutch some straws here!! great little interview with Ken Babbs - http://www.jambands.com/features/2012/01/21/kesey-cassady-meatspace-and…

blue coral sway

that's great news about The Cove. the film definitely needs more widespread attention, especially in Japan where a lot of people really weren't aware of the situation. (Japanese media notorious for not reporting anything that shames or embarrasses it's own people).i just really hope that the government deals with it in a sensible, practical way. it's a bit like the whaling issue; simply stopping the hunting outright will not work. these people have families and responsibilities. you can't suddenly take it away without some serious planning and forethought. employing the hunters as conservationists or educators as they did in the nature reserves in Africa with the poachers would be a great start. involve them in contributing towards scientific and marine biology data. involve the tourism industry. turn the cove into a reserve. offer help with relocation maybe for those who want it and integrate them into other areas of the fishing industry (maybe not the best time for this considering the still appalling and vastly under-reported radiation that is still being found-in cement used for construction and in school playgrounds, let alone the ocean and it's inhabitants). some of these dolphins were used for marine parks in the U.S. and around the world. this also needs to be addressed. personally, i'm not a fan of zoos or these kinds of attractions. if you can't see an animal or mammal in it's natural surroundings i'm afraid that's too bad. (i remember the great Alexei Sayle noting that children in London have no right to see tigers up close; just like a child in Africa has no right to see a Chelsea Pensioner!!). but i fear pride will get in the way of such advancements and common sense. i think the Japanese have had enough of America telling them what to do and interfering that they will drag their heels and be stubborn out of sheer bloody-mindedness. not an intelligent way to act but understandable i guess. hopefully this car will come to fruition. anything to publicise this is greatly appreciated. never mind the mercury levels in the meat, now we have radiation to consider too. so sad. by the way, someone has posted the entire film on dailymotion. the first part is here - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbc9ds_the-cove-part-1_animals also, a quick shout out should be given to Bill Kreutzmann for highlighting this film a long long time ago on his website (ya a bit behind Bobby, even when you first mentioned it ha ha!!!!!). I'd highly recommend checking out his 'Tribes' section; there is a lot fantastic ocean related conservation links. http://www.billkreutzmann.com/

Super Bowl 46

or is it XLVI ? Wonder who Lamagonzo(not verified) will be rooting for (LOL). I'm leaning toward the Patriots; however, the Giants are on a roll w 2 impressive road victories.

i couldn't agree more

well worth supporting everyone.sweet-vibed new song to highlight and protest against Walmart invading downtown Athens, GA. don't let them gut the heart of a vibrant community. more details can be found here - http://protectdowntownathens.com/

no reason or rhyme but the mattress was my defense

not sure about the Super Bowl Gr8fulTed.but let's hope it doesn't descend into the horrific spectacle that recently occurred in Egypt between two rival football teams. what is the world coming to? let there be chili dogs, jalapeño laced nachos, philly cheese steaks and cold cold beer....not missile propulsion, violence and death. mmmmmmm nachooooooosssssssssssssss...... mmmmmmmmmm beeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......... man, brings back memories of American Football first being broadcast in the U.K. in 1982. obsessed as a youngster. my first ever real American football saw plenty of action in that sleepy suburb.

SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!!!!

My friend SImone and I will be watching it, with our sons! GO GIANTS!! Midnight snacks, and am looking foreward to it! :D

melted smoked cheese in the wee wee hours

gonna be some mental scheduling here in the UK too but i'll do my best!is there anything better than midnight snack-aroos? i don't think so.....

Midnight snacks

are the BEST! Since it's so cold, I am making mushroom and wild rice cream soup with garlic bread for ours :D Maybe some jerk chicken wings too

monchichi says cheesy smoke, monchichi says cheesy smoke

do you do takeaways?two portions of your very best to our humble establishment if you please!! ours, maybe hot onion soup with sunken french bread dripped in Stinking Bishop cheese! some Gruyère possibly also. corn chips, garlic comfort and scotch bonnet heat; smoked paprika amongst the cheesy lava flow. garlic chutney says the Giants to win! crackers and crispy biscuit snap. did i mention cheese? finger dips and horizontal gait. i raise cold ones to the winners. but, tee hee, i have garam masala tuna and dwarf bean savoy cabbage curried pasta to introduce first. well.....it IS only 6.00pm here...... snack-aroonies come later. much later.....

really!

sounds like a feast at TL's!

Super Bowl and flame retardant chemicals

I truly am a Giants fan. I truly am a Patriots fan. It's a long story, but here I am. 100% sure that the team I'm rooting for will win the Super Bowl. 100% sure that the team I'm rooting for will lose. Can't win for losing. What's a body to do? I spent the day in a small workshop listening to Arelene Blum tell us why flame retardants are killing us. And then brainstorming ways to make it all stop, as if we can magically make these persistent organic pollutants all disappear out of our bodies, out of our homes, out of this hunk of plastic that I'm typing on right now. Sometimes this stuff is so energizing, and sometimes it's just so overwhelming. Today it was both. Somehow, these two stories are connected. Maybe I'm just a little toasty around the edges today. Or burnt to a crisp. Early flight home tomorrow. Maybe I just need some sleep.

Superbowl & Flame Retardants

Interesting combination, Ted! :) Honestly I don't care who wins, I just wanna see a good game. Am just leaning towards the Giants, cuz my son is favoring them, and a buddy in Ireland is a life-long Giants fan. But you are right, one will win and one will loose, and who will butcher the National Anthem this time? Quite a descriptive food-flow Jonapi! :)

earplugs, i need earplugs...

bring back Roseanne Barr, TL..........!!

Isn't Roseanne

but you still might need your earplugs, I heard this morning it's gonna be Madonna!!! Luckily the German network doesn't broadcast the halftime show. I guess it costs a couple more million that they don't want to dish out. We get to watch game analysis instead.

pass the bucket

come on sniper, where are you?!!!!!!! maybe Bob Weir is pleased though; he liked wearing Madonna shirts in that cheeky little tight shorts combo! very Shoreline, dahhhling......

Jeez TL

I know I haven't been around here much lately, but don't confuse me with Ted. You can call me Al, if you'd like. So I found another little crack in the wall my company's servers have erected around this site. Maybe it's a backdoor that I can use, or maybe I just get lucky now and again. We'll see. It's fun trying, if nothing else. So the Giants win, Pats lose, and as exciting as the game was, I spent the entire time half-wishing for a blowout so that I could stop the incessant push-pull over which team to cheer for. The next time that these two meet in a Super Bowl, remind me that I've vowed NOT to watch... Meantime I need to 'splain this flame retardant stuff to my bosses. I'm not going to be making myself particularly popular, I think.

Flame retardant stuff?

Does it work for forum posts too? If so, you could probably sell some to jonapi, or Gonz if he ever comes back...

FR stuff?

Not a bad idea, Mr Pid. If it could reduce the online flamethrowing that goes on, while spreading its associated toxicity in a digital format -- as opposed to spreading it through the biosphere -- well, food for thought. BTW, I'm blaming the "spreading through the biosphere," in large part, on a 1975 (or so) regulation in California called "Technical Bulletin 117." As a result of that ineffective regulation (ineffective at reducing fire deaths) that became a de facto national standard (big state, big market, big influence), we've been spreading organohalogens all over this planet of ours for decades, but mostly in North America, and especially in CA. So if you see some legislation to rescind this regulation, make sure your representative listens to the scientists instead of to the scare tactics from the FR chemical manufacturers' lobby ("Californians for Fire Safety") when casting his/her vote. SB147 went down in flames last year due to that lobbying effort...don't let it happen again! Soapbox moment ended.

flaming nerve

Just what are you suggesting, Mr. Pid?How very dare you, Sir!!!! Am i to understand that you regard my posts as some form of verbal flame thrower?!!! that i pour molten verbiage upon the open forum of the very most High?!!! Why, drop and give me twenty you fiend!!! I haven't posted a diatribe or rant-asaurus, inflammatory language-bomb in quite a while now, i'll thank you!!!! You are a dastardly cad my dear fellow! the only retardation has been proffered on behalf of multiple entheogenic enlightenment and no mistake! I offer a hand of shake-ability in your direction and hope your handicap, in the very most golfing terms, is lowered to facilitate maximum birdy potential. check your PM for aural accompaniment you P-meister, you.

Bye Bye Birdie

Retardant would be used to deter flames, not promulgate them. I'm a big free speech proponent. Don't like what others have to say? It is possible to choose to not listen, or read, as the case may be. My son in law is a Marine, and perhaps he can put together shaking your hand while doing push-ups, but I guarantee you that's well beyond my physical abilities at this stage of the game. So I'll pass on the push-ups, toss you the missing R from fiend and meet your outstretched hand. No longer strangers, k? Canyon Critter is the resident golf pro around here. I'm just a hacker, and that's okay by me.

left, right, left, right, left

just realised that i didn't reply to your post, Mr. P!!!too busy cozying up to you in a PM stylee; couldn't drag myself away from the mirror either (well it was Valentine's day yesterday)......my appearance takes time, ya know? because i'm worth it, yessir! disappointing to hear you're not in tippity-top press-up condition. you really must try harder, babes. personally i can push-up on one little finger but i won't brag about it here...... can't think of anything topical to post. lots of death and destruction and famine and silliness around but then what's new? true to form, there was a typically ghastly front page headline in that toilet paper of a tabloid (i won't even type it's name in case my fingers get dirty) here in the UK, about Whitney Houston...."Whitney's Death Bath", accompanied by a blurred picture of a bathtub and an even blurrier-eyed Whitney. How utterly ghastly and contemptuous. luckily, a fantastic documentary on the Berber people in my wife and i's beloved Morocco, cheered me up. thank the Lord for small mercies. anyone interested in the Arsenal vs AC Milan game tonight? No? Just me then.

I'm not here

To cast aspersions on the deceased, but am I the only one who's dismayed about Whitney Houston's death (aside from its real and all-too-familiar tragic nature) because I'm once again being barraged by that finger-nails-on-the-chalkboard sound of "I Will Always Love YOUUUUUUUUUU-oooooo-ooo-ooo" a couple of decades after its first time around? Must be the Mean Al in me coming out, but I've always loathed that song and can't...take....hearing....it....EVER....again!

seppuku, if you please

no, you are not the only one.personally, i simply cannot STAND that abysmal song. inadvertently, she spawned a whole host of appalling singers who have habitually ruined any notion of real emotion. it's beyond poison; the devil's utterances and no mistake. but that isn't her fault of course. she is most certainly not to be held accountable for others (even if she is patently guilty of inflicting such babbering and histrionic caterwauling in the possibly the worst and most wasted 4:35 in history). a crime against the tympanic membrane!! but, she as an individual, had some demons. and that's a sad thing. lurid reportage only reduces her very spirit to a state of worthlessness. fodder for the educationally challenged. i am only commenting on the music, not the person. (i'm happy to admit that a tear was shed when footage of her singing the star mangled banner was shown. even if those performances have the tendency to make the rest of the world laugh, i'm a sucker for that kind of sentimentality. i inadvertently felt myself getting to my feet and yelling "Go, girl!!!". and i make no apologies for it). i think it's a crying shame that another human being's life (this life, anyway), is cut short. i hope she now finds the peace that she was always, perhaps inevitably, looking for. she did have some powerful lungs; (and no, that punctuation isn't meant as a "wink") she had some strength inside her, she had some battles and she expressed herself, perhaps not enough, through music. a disappointing aside was LL Cool J's probably planned, forced, goaded and dare i say trite opening at the grammys. starting with a "prayer". i wonder just how much of a "sister" she was to everyone before she died prematurely. i will, of course, stand completely corrected if respect was always there and i've let my annoyance, suspicion and cynicism get the better of me. i hope she rests in peace and the hacks leave her alone in perpetual memory and refrain from digging up exploitative and sensationalistic tidbits to feed to the hungry, stupid masses. lets remember her, if applicable, for the music that may have entertained us so. not for human frailty or alleged "faults". i for one, do miss her on the physical plane. the planet is emptier. let's hope she isn't hounded posthumously. it isn't nice.

now personally

I love the song, though not particularly Whitney's version. The Dolly Parton/Vince Gill version caused me to pull the car to the side of the road till it was over so I could listen to it better and find out what it was, and go buy it. That Dolly is a hell of a songwriter, and if Whitney made her another boatload of money with that movie, good for her.

I watched

AC vs. Arsenal, and YAWN! Shouldn't Henri be retiring soon, instead of being on loan?

what a surprise

another class act from the Arsenal defenders!!!!why they are there is completely beyond me; two of them in particular routinely make mistakes. my young nephew's team defends better than that!!! bye bye champions league.... and yes, i'm with you mary!! i love Dolly Parton!! classic writer and performer. still going strong!

Not so much the song

As the performance. I'm also in Dolly Parton agreement. But that over-the-top over-faux-emoted singing style, that let loose the Celine Dion and Mariah Carey set onto the world: I could have lived without that. Actually, with today's laser-edge segmentation of the rock/pop world (as opposed to my 60s youth -- remembering the days of hearing both the Supremes and the Vanilla Fudge versions of "You Keep Me Hanging On" on the same radio station), by and large I HAVE been able to live without coming into much more than casual contact with it. But still, some of it filters through. So we're talking about some kind of sporting event? Have you caught onto "Lin-sanity?" Much preferable to "Tebow-mania," IMHO.

gooners gone

Us Tottenham fans greet Arsenal's thrashing with unconfined delight. I hope Arsenal fire Arsene Wenger and they make him England manager so we can keep Harry "Houdini" Redknapp.

C.B.

My footie-friend (remember mythicalethicalicycletricycle) posted me this on FaceBook last night, when I asked him if he were watching the game. His observations about soccer never cease to crack me up! "Yeah, with the sound down. Arsenal are pathetic in both the big and the small picture. Wenger gets 'em a stadium built to accommodate 22K additional fans per home match and then serves 'em up a bunch of second-tier chinadoll continentals who can't handle the brio of the English game and are out hurt for club internationals. When they finally hit bottom, will they hear themselves go :splatt!: ?"

and yeah, Dean

a soccer match last night was the other topic. Sorry also about the name confusion before!

arsehole-nal more like....

yep, that about sums Arsenal up.will never understand why they signed Miyaichi (a fine player) and then gave him a sporadic kick-around before loaning him to Bolton!!! the age old tactic of letting him make a coupla mistakes and giving him experience at some other club's expense before (hopefully), taking him back in top form. we'll wait and see.... if it wasn't for CSKA Moscow being relentless pricks, Wenger might've signed Honda (now THERE'S a player). Atsuto Uchida is unhappy at Schalke, and he's probably cheap too, so start doing a bit of signing action, Arsene!!! and Badger, deny all you like, but we all know that Harry will eventually leave Spurs!! he could use that money in...ohhh, where is it?...on the tip of my tongue....errrrm...oh YEAH, Monaco!!!! (i was actually a Spurs fan back in the days of Ossie Ardiles and Ricardo Villa!! used to pretend i was from Argentina in my garden!!! that back fence took many a right-footed strike!!).

Being from New Cross/Peckham

Being from New Cross/Peckham I used to go to Millwall as a boy, but it got so violent there I was not allowed to go and my dad took me up to Spurs to get me away from it. There I saw Jimmy Greaves etc and there I stayed (but I always look for the Millwall results too). As for Harry..how he got away with that tax evasion charge I do not know! But his admission in court that he had never written a letter in his life, is useless with money and can hardly read and write is remarkable since he runs a multi million pound business. Last of his kind.

'ave a banana....

yeah, Harry is a classic!! some of his interviews are priceless!but we all, and certainly, methinks, smells a rat ha ha!!! but Spurs are looking pretty happening; Bale is world class amongst others, so good luck to 'em. and yeah, i thought i spotted the badger throwing bricks from the Millwall terraces...brings it all back now. nothing like a bit of casual racism to get the game rolling!!!

Eagles in Iowa

A nesting pair of eagles are nesting in Decorah IA. Check out Mom eagle rippin' apart a grey squirrel, too. She should be laying her first egg any minute. Raptor Resource Project has placed a camera high up in a cottonwood tree. http://www.ustream.tv/channel-popup/decorah-eagles

star mangled banner

looks good

cookies and beer

i'm missing johnman today. i want him to smack me upside the head with some cookie logic in the religious topic and make the world feel better again! anyone any further news? wherefore art thou, brother? hope you and your son are hangin' in there. i miss you, man. and clean up those crumbs, dammit!!!!!