Grateful Dead

"I ♥ Non Sequuntur > Kim Jong-Un's uncle was stripped naked and fed to 120 starving dogs as the tyrant watched on, a shocking report has claimed...The human race is better than this and will eventually evolve. I wish I could agree with you, Anna, but there seems to be no evidence for your claim." This was reported 24-48 hours ago by NBC news.

Anna, I wasn't questioning whether Jang Song Thaek had been fed to a pack of starving dogs (although there are those who have questioned whether it went down that way), but rather I was saying that I didn't share your conclusion that "The human race is better than this and will eventually evolve." That's the claim for which I can find no evidence and that's what makes us human: we hope even when there is no reason to do so.

49ers at Seahawks should be one for the ages. I've always been a fan of the NFC West for some reason and at least one of my teams will be in the SuperBowl.

I would definitely say that I am glibly optimistic w/o much evidence...

The World:Sochi Winter Olympics: Likeliness of terrorism Kiev, Ukraine: Weeks of protests turned violent. President wants to side with Russia South Sudan: Hundreds of thousands killed based now on tribe instead of politics. Syria: Stalemate in the war with no end in sight. No unification of the rebels means deadlock. Syrian refugees destabilizing the entire region. Iran eases up on nuclear issue to talk The US: NSA rolls on with minors adjustments, no clemency for Snowden Chris Christy does a belly flop in the Jersey mud. Washington & Colorado: Smokem' while practicing with your AK-47 No extension on unemployment I probably missed a lot of stuff, not paying much attention these days...

Taylor Swift drives me into a wild tizsy! What a great young talented woman.

The 6 Wal-Mart heirs are worth more than 48% of the American people. It's time for the minimum wage to be raised to AT LEAST $10 and more like $15! Obama should roll out some good ideas tomorrow night. What a JOKE to believe that everybody in this country has an equal chance for upward mobility. The Republicans have uttered nothing, no words of worth or value for years. Just crap like Tradle of Florida (R) resigning for buying crack in a Fed sting. Immigration Global Warming Infrastructure What do the Repubs want? Repeal of the estate tax so we all can become bloody peasants again!

ol·i·gar·chy [ol-i-gahr-kee] noun, plural ol·i·gar·chies. 1. a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few. 2. a state or organization so ruled. 3. the persons or class so ruling. Origin: 1570–80; < Medieval Latin oligarchia < Greek oligarchía. See olig-, -archy "oligarchy." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 27 Jan. 2014. Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oligarchy.

As soon as you're born they make you feel smallBy giving you no time instead of it all Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all A working class hero is something to be They hurt you at home and they hit you at school They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool Till you're so ****ing crazy you can't follow their rules A working class hero is something to be When they've tortured and scared you for twenty-odd years Then they expect you to pick a career When you can't really function you're so full of fear A working class hero is something to be Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV And you think you're so clever and classless and free But you're still ****ing peasants as far as I can see A working class hero is something to be There's room at the top they're telling you still But first you must learn how to smile as you kill If you want to be like the folks on the hill A working class hero is something to be If you want to be a hero well just follow me by John Lennon

In a world strung out on terror and greedJonesing for success in excess all succeed Fix me up with coffee, tobacco and weed A working class speedball is all that i need A working class speedball is all that i need The world only imagines things to be bought By souls sold into slavery for a recycled plot I free myself buying coffee, tobacco and pot A working class speedball is all that i need A working class speedball is all that i need All you need is love but they want to see the cash But why bust your nut shagging after flashy trash When you can drink coffee, smoke tobacco and some hash A working class speedball is all that you need A working class speedball is all that you need If the world is a hemorrhoid, a pain in the ass Then, like other things, its days too must pass Until then, i'll take coffee, tobacco and grass A working class speedball is all that i need A working class speedball is all that i need Falling out of bed and into the abyss I heard this whispered by a whiskered walrus: Drink coffee, smoke tobacco and canna-bissss A working class speedball is all that you need A working class speedball is all that you need If you want to be a hero, then don't follow me If you want to be a hero, well don't follow me by Mike Edwards

that pretty much says it all, great lyrics.

A verse for the new century. Still, my soul is with John Lennon on top of Mt. Royal in Montreal(site for famous anti-war protest around 1970)

'Imagine one thousand suns in thesky at the same time. Let them shine for one hour. Then, let them gradually melt into the sky. Make one tunafish sandwich and eat.' by Yoko Ono

Wow, thanks for the quote RL. Never was much into Yoko but this one blew me away! I'll have to try the meditation some time (as long as the tuna is dolphin-free!) (%);~}

While Obama will try to salvage some of his presidency this evening nothing eventful is going to happen except what he can do himself without the approval of an obstructionist Congress. He may take the opportunity to fire up his base for mid-term elections and 2016. Lord knows his ideas are certainly worthwhile. The middle-class is like a boat collapsing in the middle with people hanging on to either side. There is a lot of poor people freezing in the cold this year, one 20 miles from me. But what brings a soul-less rage to my mind is the inability to effect change by basic Americans. The damn right to vote is under attack in almost every red state. And that is if you believe the power of the ballot would ever change anything in a two party system. In effect, this two-party system draws off the people who would otherwise be the capable ones in effecting some real change. The Supreme Court rearranges the Constitution and Bill of Rights like pieces on a chess board according to how the winds are blowing. There are good people in this country but very few have the power or cojones like Ed Snowden to effect even a ripple of change in the abomination that is and has been American foreign and domestic policy. I'm tuning out the ritual of the State of the Union tonight. I already know the state: SOUL-LESS!

After the POTUS' SOTU address last night, there was some high drama involving a Republican Congressperson and a representative of the media that played out on the balcony of the US Capitol building, and wouldn't you know it, there were cameras rolling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz8W309TKfA

"Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation." - Henry A. Kissinger

At 9am and called him a thug and and said he should be charged for threatening murder and thrown out of Congress. After saying I wasn't a constituent they hung up on me. Brooklyn manners, typical. This was a disgrace and the capitol police should press charges. This guy needs anger management at the least and benzodiazapines at worst. His scared and humble response was such a crock later in the day. CNN is playing a tape this morning where he asks CNN not to play the footage! There are good politicians but they are the 10% for sure.

Yesterday, Edward Snowden was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by two Norwegian politicians. Snowden's story is still being told, so its cultural significance has not yet been determined, but I do find this nomination to be notable because it provides an alternative to the narrative being promoted by the US government. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/29/us-norway-nobel-snowden-idUSBREA0S0SR20140129

There is already a campaign underway to paint Snowden, Greenfield & Assange in the same political colors. The last reformation of the NSA was brought about 40 years ago by whistle-blowers who broke into a government office building and removed sensitive files. Pleading to any kind of reduced charge on Snowden's part would be a cop-out and unseemly. Obama should grant him executive clemency -- there are too many hardliners in the military-intelligence community who consider him the USA's most damaging spy ever and feel that he has to be made an example of. Of course, giving him the Nobel Peace Prize would piss-off America enough to throw Norway out of NATO!

Berocca Obama, the President of effervescence.

Holy Crap this Ukraine thing is heavy! Sochi Olympics? Wouldn't go if I had free tickets and an all inclusive paid trip!! Looking forward to the curling though...

I was snowed in today, btw. Current events.

shall we go, you and I, while we can?...

You and I while we can?

it's safe to say, they won't be getting 100% today :)))

A man who started out out in a boat for El Salvador in September of 2012 ended up in the Marshall Islands. He is recovering nicely after his 16 month ocean sojourn where he said he survived on birds, fish and turtles. He was lost for 16 months He was a Lost Sailor He spent far too much time at sea

Given current events, I don't know if it's irony or just synchronicity that brought this year's 2 teams together but it should be a good game!P.S. Oh, and happy Groundhog's Day. Anyone know if Punxatawny Phil saw his shadow?

Even though it was cloudy in Western Pa.. Even Puxatawney Phil is corrupt! Anyway, we're expecting 6-12 inches of snow Wed-Thu in interior NE. Wish it would snow in the Sierra - no snowpack means no water for the Central Valley means higher veggie prices. All of Cali on water conservation. Counting the days till our winter Alabama Getaway (just below in Fla.).

"The Super Bowl will provide a venue to acclimate the American people to the presence of the military." (prisonplanet.com) The government will provide F-16's, at a cost of millions of $, to enforce a no fly zone over New Jersey's MetLife stadium, with a $100K fly over of Blackhawk helicopters. Seriously?????????? I guess with so many educated people still not being able to find a decent job, you never know when an unemployed white, middle-aged engineer whose Lithium prescription ran out two weeks ago will decide to fly a suicide mission with his Cessna on 3rd and down. It could happen. Millions of $ for the Super Bowl. But cut unemployment bennies to those most desperately in need. It's not hard to see where priorities lie in the Land of the Absurd. GO BEATLES!!!

No Bolivian marching powder for you! The oligarchy has no use for the middle-class in the automated age.

...the NFL is tax exempt. I actually learned that on CSPAN this morning, and that the MLB is not!

From the first play of the game when the center snapped the ball past Denver's Peyton Manning into the end-zone for a safety you knew it was going to be one of those super blow-outs. The militarization of security plus squadrons of helicopters doing a flyover after the national anthem seemed hyped for the world's most violent game. Fans were delayed for hours getting to their seats due to elaborate searches.

Denver should've played Bradley Manning instead.

Seattle won the game with incredibly tough defense. Keeping Denver's offense off the field was a work of art, although time of possession reveals Seattle with 31:53 and Denver with 28:07. Sure seemed like Peyton Manning was on the bench for much of the first half while Russell Wilson and Percy Harvin were running all over the field.Demaryius Thomas, Denver's wide receiver, set a Super Bowl record with 13 receptions, so there was the one Bronco highlight. BTW, Chelsea Manning is in the military prison in lovely Leavenworth KS, just north of KC on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. Leavenworth also has a federal penitentiary and 2 or 3 state corrections facilities. Eagles quarterback Micheal Vick was a guest of the federal pen a few years back.

Just as Janet Yellen is sworn in as Federal Reserve Chairperson.... Yellen has sworn to follow Bernanke's policies and was VP to Bernanke since 2010. After pumping money into the economy for FIVE years by buying 85 Billion in Treasuries a month after 4 monster stimuluses since 2008 one wonders how corporations could POSSIBLY be losing money. It was laughable hearing Yellen say her role as Fed Chair was to help all of the American people. No, not all; far from all. She works for the 2%. It has been well-proven now that a rising tide will not lift all boats. Except for those boats along both coasts that will be lashed by global-warmth driven storms. American banking has returned to it's speculative ways after insisting on being bailed out and gutting new regulatory laws. Instead of doing things like building and re-building infrastructure and other investment in new start-ups and pouring some of it's king-ass pile of foliage into venture they are again resorting to derivatives and other ways of making money from thin air that is connected to no real, tangible goods. One wonders about the road ahead. A correction is merely a correction and I look forward to a good old bull rally till May, minus any major crises. But a house of cards ievitably falls. ~ Sell in May; Go away ~

Thank you Gr8fulTed.I really should've remembered the change to Chelsea. How terribly remiss. Denver still should've played her though.

It is little known that Europeans celebrate about 30 paid holidays per year. American proles are entitled to be paid 8 hours (if they work full time) for a total of six, count'em, 6 holidays. They are:Jan 1 Memorial Day 4th of July Labor Day Thanksgiving Christmas On the other hand, there is a class of people composed of Federal and State Municipal employees, Bankers/Lawyers/Insurance professionals (& elements of other professions), Teachers and students who also celebrate: Martin Luther King Day Washington's/Lincoln's B'day; President's Day; Mattress Day Columbus day Veteran's Day Day After Thanksgiving If you live in the South, this class might also get: Lee-Jackson Day Confederate Heroes Day Robert E. Lee Day Thomas Jefferson's Birthday Confederate Memorial Day The point is, is addition to an unfair minimum wage, the proles in this country have only six days in a year where they get a paid holiday. In a supposedly classless society the middle to upper-middle class manage to grab another 5. The whack-jobs in the South get another 5. In none of these cases do the number of paid holidays reach that of the other modern industrialized countries. Why must American workers suffer this indignity? Is it really so much to ask for 30 paid days off a year in addition to 2-6 weeks of paid vacation along with 7 personal days, 7 sick days and 6 months of paid maternity/paternity leave? Is that socialism or just a normal, decent way to treat those who create wealth? I hate to say what I consider those who feel this to be socialism. By the way, Happy Mattress Day!

For not moving quickly enough to turn in all known pedophiles within the ranks of priests and Bishops and Arch-Bishops and Cardinals. Bergoglio has no doubt shown many positive actions, many of them seemingly genuine. I, for one, was greatly moved by reports in the media that he went out into Rome and ministered among the poor during the nights. But, when reports of such heel-dragging come to light it has to make one wonder if a genuinely motivated, simple priest was promoted too far through the ranks and his very humble actions are being cynically manipulated by a corrupt hierarchy of entrenched Cardinals to re-brand the church and keep the faithful throwing into the collection plate, especially among the Hispanics of South America to Mexico. Bergoglio will have to show a forceful hand among that cabal of Cardinals who presume to plot the strategy of the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Francis makes the cover of The Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/pope-francis-the-times-they-are-a-changin-20140128

never heard of that one or all the others that you have mentioned in your post, what part of the south celebrate these days, I lived in the south 39 years, never heard of any of these holidays, especially paid holidays. Believe it or not, a lot of people in this country never get any paid holidays, any part time employee does not get paid holidays, or paid vacations, or even pay that you can live on. It's only gonna get worse for these people. Now that there will be a flood of new workers out there since their unemployment has been cut, there will be a lot more part time workers out there getting no pay and no benefits, including paid holidays. Amerika, what a country.

Admittedly, this is not a typical company, but the one my spouse works for gives part-time employees health insurance after a qualifying period of working 1000 hours in a one year period. They give 2 weeks of vacation (@22 hours per week or more) after working at least 2400 hours in two years. Oh yeah, they get 4 hours paid on the obligatory 6 holidays, though they might have to work the actual holiday There are a small percentage (less than 10%) of companies that do the right thing and treating their part-time employees with the dignity and respect they deserve. My spouse works full time and gets family health insurance for $225 a month with reasonable co-pays.

For the Republicans to punt. Whether their constituency wants "colored" people in the great American ascendency or not -- they ARE! Just like the Jews, Italians, Irish, Swedes and every other color of people who ever passed through Ellis Island. We all want our orange juice for $3 a half gallon and other similar citrus and farm products like milk (yes, milk!) at around the same rate. It is only by discriminating against illegal aliens that we get those prices. Think the price of food is high right now?? Here in Vermont we've got Mexicans down on the farm who can't get driver's licenses who risk their semi-legal status just to go to the store to send money or go see a prostitute after being on that snow-bound farm for three months. More than that, the children of these workers become naturalized citizens and they enter the "ascendency' and go to school and compete for spaces among the professional classes with white people. They work twice as hard and they totally deserve those jobs and they add immeasurable joy to the broken arms, hands and bodies of those parents who dreamed that their child might some day make it, the son or daughter of an agricultural immigrant. The Republicans just show themselves for the selfish, prejudiced people they really are. The elitist scum who have forgotten their own recent generational history.

Most state workers had the day off because it was a Georgia government holiday, Confederate Memorial Day. The official date isn't until Thursday, April 26, but the state observes it on a Monday to provide employees with a three day weekend. Confederate Memorial Day was first declared an official Georgia holiday in 1874 and has been observed ever since. Six other southern states also celebrate it: Florida and Alabama (April 23), Mississippi (April 30), North and South Carolina (May 10) and Texas (January 19). The holiday was set aside to remember those who died fighting for the Confederacy, many of whom are buried in several local cemeteries. (Texas takes the case for insensitivity, celebrating this holiday 4 days after MLK Day)

Having been a southern man for a few years, you left out Fat Tuesday: folks in south Louisiana, and maybe along the gulf coast as well, get the day off to go party!For all you yanks, Fat Tuesday is synonymous with Mardi Gras and falls each year before Ash Wednesday. 35 years later, I've retired from federal service. While working for the USDA, the Friday after Thanksgiving was never a paid holiday.

a change from the venal side of US news. thanks to Mark Gatiss for bringing it to my attention.

Thank you, Anna. Your assessment of the illegal immigrant agricultural labor force is spot-on. Same situation here in WI. I've worked with Latino families in agriculture for the last 8 yrs here and there are at least a few recurring themes as to why they risk making an honest living here and risk deportation: 1. Most Mexican families leave Mexico for the lack of employment opportunities, but even more so, for the very serious corruption, mostly from police, organized crime, and gangs. Justice has not much meaning there or expense and young people are very serious targets for gang recruiting. The parents want their children to have a future and they know that can happen here. 2. The avg. American will not even apply for the positions that the Mexican families will apply for - thus assuring a steady and stable form of employment here. There is a greenhouse operation owner in Alabama who claims that in the last 33 yrs of his operation, not one caucasion person has even so much as filled out an application for employment. But that doesn't sell TV commercial space. We do get to hear about Mexican gang members and marijuana growers, though. That shit sells airtime. 3. Working long days in the fields, risking exposure to pesticides, is something that even minors can do and is it a not-so-well-known fact that [many] American employers overlook age so that they can have entire families employed, often for minimum wage (or less) or just slightly higher. They are some of the most family oriented, happy-go-lucky people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. And you're right, if they were paid what they were worth, our food prices would easily double. From what I can see after 8 yrs of observation, these native Central Americans simply want a chance to have a future for their family and they're willing to do the work here that no one else wants to do with low pay and often no benefits in order to achieve that goal.

Congratulations to Lizzy Yarnold on her Sochi Olympics Gold Medal in Skeleton.Focused, polite, sincere, humble, determined, inspiring. Now away to those waffles and muffins. You probably deserve it, I reckon....

I am looking for suggestions of original acoustic songs that were done by Mother Mcree's Uptown Jug Band, and the Warlocks, and for which clean recordings exist.Scott Ward, the Minister of Music for 1st Unitarian Church in Wilmington, DE, is planning to let the various incarnations of the band provide the musical accompaniment to the worship program in an upcoming April service. Toward that goal, Scot asked for my help, and I in turn, am asking for your help - leveraging the power of the collective, so to speak. There will be 4 or 5 musical interludes, and we have potentially covered 2 - 3 of them with Sage & Spirit from he Blues for Allah sessions, and Heaven Help the Fool from the Warfield run (although a clean quality recording would be helpful). Scott is really interested in getting something from the early years and lineups, which is well before my time and outside of my experience. Any and all input and ideas are greatly appreciated and gratefully received. Please post back and / or reach out directly (2briang@comcast.net). Great thanks to all, Brian