8/22  "You'll be surprised how often you read it here first."
SKYLINES:
HIT 'REFRESH' FOR UPDATES

Morning Concert
WALKIN’ BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kpz-1qpNBw 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25mnS2Muw-Q 
I’M WALKIN’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqs5gkyH930 
WALKIN’ TO NEW ORLEANS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lICk_uPAPfg 
I WANT TO WALK YOU HOME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnReLhPqgJM 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mny27O6cET8 
WALKIN’ THE DOG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6AZNywvF-s 
WALKIN’ IN THE RAIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DOdqOkYjtA 
WALK RIGHT IN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA0q_4CX9rI 
MINISTRY OF SILLY WALKS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqhlQfXUk7w 

No phoney U.S. Iraq pullout deal news here!

IF YOU KNEW SUSHI. . .YOU MIGHT NOT BUY IT!
High school kids find something fishy about raw fish restaurants
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/science/22fish.html?scp=2&sq=sushi&st=cse

SEINFELD SELLS OUT TO MICROSOFT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2008/aug/22/microsoft.apple 

NEWLYWEDS VICTIMS OF MADRID CRASH
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2602481/Newly-wed-London-couple-died-in-Madrid-plane-crash.html 

BIN LADEN’S BROTHER WANTS TO BUILD A BRIDGE TO ASIA---LITERALLY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,573588,00.html 
Sheikh Tarik bin Laden wants to build a gigantic suspension bridge which would connect Africa to Asia. By 2025, he envisions two brand new cities in the desert.

GREAT: ODDBALL OLYMPICS PHOTOS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/gallery/2008/aug/11/olympics20081?picture=336871759 

And on to news and comment. . .

IOC CHICKENING OUT ON INVESTIGATING
AGES OF CHINESE GYMNASTS?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/22/SP8412GB61.DTL&tsp=1
Gymnasts’ parents “indignant” (heh)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hi4rzBxgMTM92A9p57rUG_iBvQXAD92NAAQG0
The incriminating documents
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/chinese-gymnasts-underage-olympics-3097.html 

CHINESE JAIL BRIT WOMAN WITHOUT TRIAL OVER TIBET PROTEST
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2602512/Beijing-Olympics-British-woman-jailed-by-China-over-Tibet-protest.html 

CHINA OLYMPIC DOMINANCE RELIED ON MASSIVE CENTRALIZED SPORTS SYSTEM
Better to call their participants “athlete apparatchiks”
http://features.csmonitor.com/olympics08/2008/08/21/china-can-olympic-gold-last/ 

IOWA TOWN TURNED INTO ‘OPEN-AIR PRISON’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=726632
 
Enviro Wacko
WAVE GOODBYE TO THE NICE POLAR BEARS
De-iced bears swim until they drown, or are eaten by sharks
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Polar_bear_sightings_stir_climate_debate_0822.html 
11-MILE-WIDE CRACK IN GREENLAND GLACIER
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1834956,00.html 

Iraq and Roll
BUSH, HABBUSH, AND HUSH MONEY
Did Prezboy pay Iraqi “most wanted Jack of Diamonds” $5 million to use his name on forged letter?
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080820_cheney_bush_and_habbush/
Accompanying music: Hush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCIa7lxq2cE 

Georgia, Georgia
THE PUPPET MASTERS BEHIND THE GEORGIA PREZ
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20569.htm 
Saakashvili was brought to power in a US-engineered coup run on the ground by US-funded NGO’s, in an application of a new method of US destabilization of regimes it considered hostile to its foreign policy agenda. The November 24 2003 Wall Street Journal explicitly credited the toppling of Shevardnadze's regime to the operations of "a raft of non-governmental organizations . . . supported by American and other Western foundations." These NGOs, said the Journal, had "spawned a class of young, English-speaking intellectuals hungry for pro-Western reforms" who were instrumental laying the groundwork for a bloodless coup.

BHUTTO WIDOWER TO REPLACE MUSHARRAF?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4589872.ece

Dishonest John
MCCAIN FLOATS PETRAEUS FOR VEEP
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/22/mccain-petraeus-vp/ 
ROBINSON: THE MYSTERY MAN
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080821_the_mystery_candidate/ 
One day he’s soothing, the next he’s abrasive. One day he makes a flat-out pledge not to raise taxes, the next he says that everything is on the table as far as Social Security is concerned. One day the buck stops here, the next he’s not authorized to speak for, ahem, himself.
Accompanying music: Cosmic Debris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm9RqatOby0 
A LITTLE PHOTO TOUR OF ALL OF DISHONEST JOHN’S HOMES
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Homes_McCain_doesnt_remember_having_worth_0821.html 
HILLARY’S BRO MEETS WITH MCCAIN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/johnmccain/2598371/Hillary-Clinton-brother-in-meeting-to-support-John-McCain.html 
LOOK AT THIS CRAP: ‘SELLING MCCAIN’S BRAND’
Reporters write about this as if it is perfectly normal and fine---Look at this sentence, straight from this asinine article:
”The key to all branding, and to this presidential campaign, experts said, is to get people to identify with the candidate, to feel that he represents their values and expectations. For all the policy debates, that identification is deeply emotional.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/22/MNAG12ES4B.DTL&tsp=1 
MOORE: WHAT IN THE HELL IS SO HEROIC. . .
. . .about being shot down while bombing innocent civilians?
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/95906/michael_moore_dares_to_ask%3A_what%27s_so_heroic_about_being_shot_down_while_bombing_innocent_civilians/ 

Man O-Man
KLEIN: OBAMA, THE NEW JOHN KERRY?
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1834389,00.html
"I want somebody ... who shares with me a passion to make the lives of the American people better than they are right now," he said. "I want somebody who is mad right now that people are losing their jobs." And I immediately thought, Uh-oh.
OBAMA’S BIG GUNN
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1834670,00.html

Olympic non-events
OLYMPICS ARE GOLD FOR CHINESE TV NETWORK
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/21/business/cctv.php
OLD OLYMPIANS HAVE IMPROVED WITH AGE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/22/MNIE12DQV3.DTL
"I liken it to a pianist who has done very deliberate practice for 50 years. That individual will know exactly what is needed to perform the piece," Francis said. "The older athlete is aware of how his or her body has changed with age and will anticipate what is needed to perform."

Israelity
ISRAEL TERROR VICTIMS SUE BANK OF CHINA
Their claim: China funded Hamas, Jihad terrorists
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/israeli-terror-victims-sue-bank-of-china-for-millions-3168.html 
ISRAEL AND GEORGIA
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1834785,00.html 
However, the impression that Israel had helped bolster the Georgian military was one the Israeli Foreign Ministry was anxious to avoid. Last Saturday it reportedly recommended a freeze on the further supply of equipment and expertise to Georgia by Israeli defense contractors.
RUSS BACKING OFF SYRIA MISSILE SALES?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0822/p99s01-wome.html 

Light reading
A FUTUROLOGIST LOOKS BACK AT 2008
http://www.alternet.org/environment/95976/apocalypse_later%3A_looking_back_at_2008_from_the_future/ 
And then there were those budget deficits. In 2000, the United States recorded the largest budget surplus in its history: $230 billion. In 2002, even before the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration had already swung the country completely around and $159 billion into the red. By the summer of 2008, we were averting our eyes from the ugly truth that the year would end with the largest budget deficit in U.S. history: $425 billion. Some things are too big to fail, we are told. But what happens when the biggest of them all goes down in flames? No one could save the Zeppelin industry when, in 1937, the Hindenburg crashed and burned.

Enviro Wacko
BERKELEY TREE SITTERS STILL SITTING
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/22/BABG12G2A2.DTL 
SAVE THE OAKS
http://www.saveoaks.com/SaveOaks/Main.html
HUMAN WASTE USED BY 200 MILLION FARMERS
Mmm-mm!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080821-human-waste.html 

Animals in the news!
WATCH: A BARTENDER’S BATTLE TO SAVE LOGGERHEAD TURTLES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/interactive/2008/aug/22/greece.wildlifeholidays
MANES, TRAINS, ANTLERS---HOW SHOWY TRAITS EVOLVED
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080821163848.htm 

(Lack of) Health
FACE TRANSPLANT PATIENT CAN SMILE, BLINK AGAIN
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5il4qlI62UWuVdQ-az7K0N7OvGEoQD92MVKT80 
TWO FACE TRANSPLANT PATIENTS DOING WELL
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/22/face.transplant?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

Unreal Estate
CANDY SPELLING DOWNSIZES
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/us/21condo.html?em=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1219414784-3WGMpYnyBOynnx2lfi5Vlw

Spaced
BLACK HOLES ARE MIDWIVES TO STAR BIRTHS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/21/scispace121.xml 

Oh, by the way. . .
JAPAN’S DARK SECRET---THE SLUMS OF OSAKA
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/22/japan.socialexclusion
TORONTO’S MYSTERIOUS BICYCLE THIEF
What’s he going to do with 2,865 bikes?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/21/america/canada.php

And in more important matters. . .

Lost Angeles
RED CAR RIDES AGAIN---AS A MURAL
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/08/belmont_station_dogs_will_roam_where_trains_once_did.php?o=1

INTERVIEW:
JOANNA LUMLEY---“GIRLS CAN’T SEW ON A BUTTON”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/portal/2008/08/22/ftlumley122.xml 

BRITAIN: THE WORST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD FOR A CHILD
http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_3_otbie-british_children.html

For Art’s Sake
GEHRY OUT AS ARCHITECT FOR NY THEATER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/theater/22gehr.html 
CHINA BREAKS PROMISE TO NEW YORK MUSEUM
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/23/arts/chinart.php 
STUART SUTCLIFFE
http://www.liv.ac.uk/news/press_releases/2008/08/stuart%20sutcliffe.htm 
Watch: Sutcliffe bio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zune3RfO5w 
1960 Beatles rehearsal with Stu “one note” Sutcliffe on bass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d8nFwm35ss 

Musique
EXPLAINING THE LOVE FOR BRUCKNER
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2008/aug/22/microsoft.apple
The music of Bruckner has long had a special meaning for me. During my childhood in Ghent, Bernard Haitink's Concertgebouw orchestra would come to the cathedral to play two Bruckner symphonies each year. Long before I ever thought of a career in music, I would sit motionless, awestruck by the way this music could fill the entire building, making it shine with sound.
Bruckner 4th, end of first movement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds7EpphMu14 
Bruckner 7th, allegro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpvvzwbcSPo 
Bruckner 6th, 1st movement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT24sM49-zc
 
And in the end. . .
PELICANS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hubs/thebigpicture/2595514/The-Big-Picture-competition-round-18.html


8/21  "You'll be surprised how often you read it here first."
SKYLINES:

Morning Concert
BILL EVANS AND MONICA ZETTERLUND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tp-nbchmHU 
AUTUMN LEAVES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89B6OmBuG4A
THE MOON AND YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89B6OmBuG4A
LEROY SHIELD ORCHESTRA: SING-SONG GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IsNkbWcfHI
LOOK AT HIM NOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSOsLWb3dPI 
CLEMENTINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggfyZIsWK10
LEROY SHIELD'S CAMEO APPEARANCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MH-uV4bAlg
CRUMB ON SHIELD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzWxdrBOSxs

PENGUIN GRANTED NORWEGIAN KNIGHTHOOD
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,572425,00.html 

HALLMARK ROLLS OUT GAY MARRIAGE CARDS
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/21/hallmark-gay-marriage/

MAN SEEKS CROC’S “BLESSING,” IS EATEN INSTEAD
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/bangladesh/2595772/Crocodile-eats-Bangladesh-man-who-sought-its-blessing.html 

IRANIAN ACTRESS MAKES HOLLYWOOD FILM---
NOW CANNOT LEAVE IRAN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7574065.stm

THREE KIDS SURVIVE HORRIFIC MADRID AIR CRASH
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/2597098/Madrid-plane-crash-Three-children-survive.html

CLOONEY CAUSES FENDER-BENDER, BUYS ‘VICTIM’ NEW CAR
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2594973/George-Clooney-buys-fan-a-new-car.html 

WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO OWN GRANDCHILD
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/21/international/i040830D41.DTL

And on to news and comment. . .

INVESTIGATE CHINESE GYMNASTS---IOC
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/underage-chinese-gymnasts-ioc-fig-3151.html
CHINESE GYMNASTS ARE 14---OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/chinese-gymnasts-underage-olympics-3097.html 
WOULD-BE BEIJING PROTESTERS GIVEN YEAR IN JAIL
Two elderly women applied for permits---then locked up. They wanted to protest to save their homes.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1834474,00.html

CLINTON SUPPORTERS PLOT TO OVERTURN OBAMA NOMINATION
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10689 

Dishonest John
‘I SPENT YEARS AS A POW WITH MCCAIN---
AND HIS FINGER SHOULD NOT BE NEAR THE RED BUTTON’
http://www.alternet.org/election08/95825/i_spent_years_as_a_pow_with_john_mccain%2C_and_his_finger_should_not_be_near_the_red_button/ 
PREZ-ELECT MCCAIN:
‘I DON’T NEED TO SHOW THAT I’M DIFFERENT FROM BUSH’
Rip Post comment: Compared to Obama, this asshole looks like a ‘man of principle’ to the idiot American public. Obama compromised his “change” image in a lame pandering to so-called “centrist” voters.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_No_need_to_show_that_0821.html
MCCAIN NOT SURE HOW MANY HOUSES HE OWNS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/21/politics/p080858D21.DTL&tsp=1 
MEDIA GIVE MCCAIN FREE RIDE ON DRAFT QUESTION
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/21/media-mccain-draft/ 
MCCAIN AND SENILE DEMENTIA
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10656
He called the Czech Republic "Czechoslovakia." He thought that Pakistan and Iraq share a common border and he said the Vladimir Putin was the current president of Germany. All of this in just the last three months. There are many more examples, even more frightening and dismaying.

Man O-man
COULTER BEAST: OBAMA KILLS CHILDREN WITH BIRTH DEFECTS
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/21/coulter-and-hannity-desperate-much/ 
BROWN: OBAMA BETTER COME UP WITH SOME POW STORIES
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10518 
We know what John McCain hopes will propel him into the White House. It's his 40 year old POW stories (cartoon) and other simplistic tidbits with as much substance as a Twinkie. He used his oft repeated tales from Hanoi to answer several questions at the Saddleback Church Forum and the audience ate it up. Love those Twinkies. No matter that Obama gave more compelling, if complex and nuanced, answers to the same questions. American likes drama in digestible segments, and that's what McCain gave them.
THE RETURN OF AMERICA’S FIRST FAMILY?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,573555,00.html
Edward Kennedy, the family's gravely ill patriarch, has had a huge impact on the nation, and JFK's daughter Caroline is helping Obama decide on a vice-presidential candidate. Could a Kennedy be slated for a role in an Obama administration?

CARTOON: FIORE ON OIL
Hilarious
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/fiore/ 

Enviro Wacko
WALSH: ABOUT MCCAIN’S STUPIDASS ENERGY “POLICY”
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1834265,00.html 
Instead of squabbling over the nickels and dimes of offshore oil, we need to create a national plan to capture the future of energy: wind, solar, electric cars, next-generation biofuels. And this should be America's priority even among those who don't believe a word Al Gore has ever said about global warming. If we have any chance of avoiding a future where we feel nostalgic for $4-a-gallon gas, or where countries with lots of oil (Russia, for example) can make a mockery of our foreign policy, we'll need scaled-up alternatives now. Drilling advocates argue that we need to start exploring now so we'll reap the benefits in a decade, but the same goes for development of renewables — we have no time to waste.
FUTURE OF THE OCEAN IS SLIMY
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/08/20/new-sea-change-forecasts-present-a-slimy-picture/ 
Overfishing, a potential mollusk invasion, and the rise of slime threaten ocean ecology.
GOING. . .GOING. . .POLAR ICE CAP WILL SOON BE GONE
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2605222.ece
And the sharks are apparently eating the polar bears
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10526725&ref=rss 
SLIDE SHOW: ENVIRO PHOTOS OF THE YEAR (beautiful stuff)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/aug/20/climatechange?picture=336799988 

Olympic non-events
U.S. MEN AND WOMEN FUMBLE BATON IN RELAYS
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/21/sports/AS-OLY-ATH-Relays.php
OLYMPICS: SPIRITUAL OPIUM OF CHINA’S RISE?
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/beijing-olympics-spiritual-opium-china-rise-3117.html 
In the 20th century China was forced to sign the Sino-British Nanjing Treaty; its consequences were devastating. Now, a kind of opium is again binding the Chinese people: that only the Chinese Communist Party can ensure China’s rise.
YOU UH, REPRESENT WHAT COUNTRY?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7574379.stm 
MATCH THE PICS WITH THE ATHLETES
Which female bodies belong to which medalists?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2592950/Beijing-Olympics-Can-you-identify-these-female-stars-of-the-2008-Games.html 

We are not making this stuff up
FOX CAVEMAN: ‘POT SMOKERS’ GOING TO DNC
That’s right---they’re all wild hippie commie revolutionary traitors!!!!!!
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Fox_advises_against_marijuana_at_Democratic_0820.html
DENVER COPS: DON’T BUST KIDS FOR REEFER
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Denver_panel_to_cops_Hold_off_0820.html

All-Melty Dollar
WALL STREET JOBLESS MOVING TO NEBRASKA, BAKING CUPCAKES
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/20/business/walljobs.php

Mashed Media
NEWSPAPERS DROPPING A.P. OVER HIGH RATES
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003840644
NEWSPAPER WEBSITES LOSING IN ‘TIME SPENT’
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003840682 
PAPERS REPORTED REP. TUBBS’ DEATH BEFORE SHE DIED
Well, what’s a little technicality, eh?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003841111

(Lack of) Health
PROTEIN COULD SOLVE OBESITY PROBLEMS FOR MANY
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/21/brown.fat.obesity
EAT FISH THWARTS BRAIN DAMAGE
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/health/eating-fish-thwarts-brain-damage-2898.html

Animals in the news!
ELEPHANTS CAN ADD
Perhaps McCain could hire one as economic advisor
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/21/brown.fat.obesity

Auto Motive
A NEW CADDY A YEAR---FOR 53 YEARS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/20/national/a131847D20.DTL
THE CITROEN TURNS 60
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7566750.stm

And in more important matters. . .

ZAPPA WARS!
Widow continues to relentlessly battle tribute festivals, bands. . .
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,573478,00.html 

Film
HOW A POEM BECAME A PRIZEFIGHT FILM
http://www.hudsonreview.com/su08/su08hunter.html 
REMEMBERING ‘DR. STRANGELOVE’
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/08/dr_strangelove_or_how_i_learne.html 

SLIDE SHOW: FRANCE’S TRANSGRESSORS
http://www.iht.com/slideshows/2008/08/20/arts/22blume.php

And in the end. . .
NOT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
http://notthelatimes.com/


8/20  "You'll be surprised how often you read it here first."
SKYLINES:
Morning Concert
POLITICAL SCIENCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl5zf8_VmAo 
GOD’S SONG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpe8Z5pnLAs 
IN DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OldToIF5ZGs 
HIGH WATER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuNaSKs2WiI 
WORKINGMAN’S BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVQqpILfhpY 
WE’LL MEET AGAIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxrWz9XVvls 
AIN’T TALKIN’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NNi4Bb0gXw 

‘LIVING GODDESS’ MUST GO TO SCHOOL
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/20/nepal

SPRAY-ON CONDOMS A HARD SELL
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1832445,00.html

BOY NEARLY FARTS TO DEATH
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2589790/Boy-in-hospital-after-gas-lighting-stunt-backfires.html

SF TOUR BUSES VISIT GAYTOWN
First it was Haight-Ashbury to see the hippies---
Now: go to the Castro and watch the gay men hold hands!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/19/BACM12DALA.DTL

OBAMA’S ‘LOST’ BROTHER LIVES IN SHANTYTOWN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2590614/Barack-Obamas-lost-brother-found-in-Kenya.html

WINEHOUSE IN REHAB, YES YES YES
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=273946&in_page_id=7 

And on to news and comment. . .

LINDORFF:
LOSERVILLE---OBAMA CHANNELS KERRY AND GORE
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/187
Well, it’s happened, and it’s no surprise.Barack Obama, the prospective Democratic presidential candidate, has managed to turn a 5-8 point lead over prospective Republican opponent John McCain into a 7-point deficit—a double-digit slide—in just two and a half months following a campaign that had voters really excited over his candidacy.

POLL: MCCAIN UP BY FIVE POINTS
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_takes_5point_lead_over_Obama_0820.html 

ROBERTS: ARE YOU READY FOR NUCLEAR WAR?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20555.htm 
It is obvious that American foreign policy, with is goal of ringing Russia with US military bases, is leading directly to nuclear war. Every American needs to realize this fact. The US government’s insane hegemonic foreign policy is a direct threat to life on the planet. Russia has made no threats against America. The post-Soviet Russian government has sought to cooperate with the US and Europe. Russia has made it clear over and over that it is prepared to obey international law and treaties. It is the Americans who have thrown international law and treaties into the trash can, not the Russians.

MICHAEL MOORE: OPEN LETTER TO CAROLINE KENNEDY
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=226

Dishonest John
MUST WATCH: MCCAIN IS BUCK TURGISON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nqtL-P8kzo 
CAFFERTY: MCCAIN ANOTHER BUSH?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/cafferty.mccain/index.html
BOYARSKY: NO, HE’S WORSE THAN BUSH
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080815_mccain_more_dangerous_than_bush
He’s Bush but worse. Forget the moderate image, promoted by an admiring media. Forget the so-called straight talk and independence. With the Russian-Georgian war winding down, McCain has firmly established himself as an old-fashioned Cold Warrior and a supporter of the huge oil companies that have a big stake in Georgia and the rest of the Caucasus.
SCHEER: MCCAIN’S WARPED WORLD VIEW
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080819_mccains_warped_worldview/ 
OLBERMANN TO MCCAIN: GROW UP
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Olbermann_special_comment_McCain_needs_attitude_0819.html

Olympic non-events
FIVE AMERICAN PRO-TIBET BLOGGERS HELD IN BEIJING
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/five-americans-held--tibet-protests-3074.html
BRIT WINDSURF CHAMP: ‘I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2589960/Bryony-Shaw-prompts-BBC-apology-by-swearing-after-Olympic-windsurfing-bronze.html
COCA-COLA’S BEIJING BLITZ
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121910643955651579-lMyQjAxMDI4MTE5OTExMDk2Wj.html
Annual average per-capita consumption of soft drinks in China was a mere 35 eight-ounce servings in 2007, according to Beverage Digest, which tracks global drinks data. That leaves a lot of room to catch up with Western markets such as the U.S., where per-capita soda consumption was 789 servings last year.
OLYMPIC NUDIE PICS WERE AIRBRUSHED
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2579479/Olympic-faking-Naked-pictures-of-athletes-were-doctored.html
SF CHINATOWN PUFFED WITH PRIDE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/20/MNC612DSGN.DTL 

Your Corporatocracy at work!
COAL CEO: ‘BLACK IS THE NEW GREEN’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/19/coal-company-ceo-black-is-the-new-green/

ARMY'S VET TREATMENT WHISTLEBLOWER IS FORCED OUT
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/20/fort-sill-firing/

NYC AWARDS ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS $2 MILLION
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/New_York_City_settles_with_protest_0819.html

U.S. ASYLUM FOR MUSHARRAF?
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/19/musharraf-asylum/ 

Saudi Doody
SAUDIS USE CASH AND COUNSELING TO FIGHT TERRORISM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/09/gcses
About 3,200 former militants have completed the ambitious program aimed at persuading them to disavow violent Islamist ideologies.

Mashed Media
RAIMUNDO: JOURNALISM IN THE AGE OF PERPETUAL WAR
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13329
With the entire concept of reporting the "news" already endangered, the hysterical warmongering that followed in the wake of 9/11 completed the process of degeneration begun long ago. In the post-9/11 world, the news, as such, no longer exists: what we have now is a "narrative."
‘PLAIN DEALER’ OFFERS PLAIN DEAL TO 370 STAFFERS: LEAVE
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003840565
WEBCASTING IS ALL BUT FINISHED
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503367.html
R.I.P. ‘FIRST AMENDMENT GUERILLA’
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/us/20landau.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=obituaries&adxnnlx=1219244839-jKmlERr6jKVxOQGJW4lSwQ

Jesus H. Christ!
IT’S OFFICIAL: OBAMA NOT THE ANTICHRIST
---‘CHRISTIAN’ LUNATICS
We are not making this stuff up. . .
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/14/left_behind_authors_obama_not.html 

Allah can’t believe it
CHILD BRIDES OF YEMEN FIGHT FOR DIVORCE
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/child-brides-fight-for-rights-2897.html
After months of being raped and beaten by her husband, Nujood Ali decided that enough was enough and took a taxi on her own to a local courthouse in Yemen in order to get a divorce. She was just 10 years old.

Lost Angeles
FBI IS AFTER D.A.’S WIFE
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/08/its_rockys_wife_theyre_af.php

Animals in the news!
ELEPHANTS KEEP TRACK OF DROUGHTS
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080819-elephants.html 
POOR MONKEY RILES UP JAPAN TRAIN STATION
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7572113.stm

Oh, by the way. . .
DINOSAURS OLDER THAN FIRST THOUGHT
So is Larry King
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,573226,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

Books
THE CHINESE PROMPTED THE RENAISSANCE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/01/bomenzies101.xml
Menzies, 71, could have anointed his bruises, pulled up his stumps and gone to live in Venice on the proceeds of 1421, satisfied that his revisionist view of history had at least got a good airing. Instead, he has ploughed his profits into more research and produced an equally contentious sequel, 1434, claiming that the Chinese, once again sailing under the eunuch Admiral Zheng He, sparked the Italian Renaissance and that Leonardo da Vinci's inventions were directly influenced by Chinese technical drawings.

Musique
GET ‘A’ IN MUSIC---WITHOUT READING NOTES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/09/gcses
SIR GEORGE MARTIN TALKS ABOUT ‘AMERICAN IDOL’
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/arts/story.html?id=aac0a9d4-6d5b-48ce-bdf4-07e64235c31b
"I know American Idol is enormously popular, but it's not my cup of tea," Martin said. "I would never dream of being on it. In spite of the money that's being made. My God, that man (Simon Cowell) is walking around like Croesus. But I'd rather be poor."

WATCH: INTERVIEW---TOMMY CHONG
http://test1.xif.com/time/complayer/?bcpid=1485842900&bctid=1738803399

Where ya goin’?
SZCZAWNICA ZDROJ
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/17/TRG9124QOC.DTL 

Yumyumeatemup
RECIPE: GAZPACHO WITH ANCHOVIES
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0820/p17s01-lifo.html
YUMYUMEATEMUP!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwVVa36q7C4

And in the end. . .
MODERN TOILET
http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/



8/19  "You'll be surprised how often you read it here first."
SKYLINES:
Morning Concert
WE'RE GOING WRONG
Jack Bruce on solo piano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr5OXwy_JSk
CREAM: WE'RE GOING WRONG (LIVE '68)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCMPlptCHP8
CREAM: WE'RE GOING WRONG (LIVE 2005)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3JSDUOcG7M
RIGHT PLACE, WRONG TIME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct4sVVqeoUE
With Clapton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4_jO7a0Kd8
IT'S ALL RIGHT, MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bjqYPH7rAo
IT'S ALL RIGHT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOmd-WkJrSI

TRAILER---“THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL”
Just rent the original. . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/aug/18/daytheearthstoodstill.keanureeves 

CAT HAS NINE LIVES, FOUR EARS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2584105/Cat-with-four-ears-a-target-for-catnappers.html

LUCKY FOLK OF THE DAY
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?in_article_id=270420&in_page_id=64&in_a_source= 

WANTED: WINNIE THE POOH
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2008/08/15/winnie-the-pooh-arrested-for-armed-robbery/ 

TYPO OF THE DAY SAYS IT ALL---ABOUT LIEBERMAN
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003840273 

And on to news and comment. . .

FBI INVESTIGATES L.A. DA DELGADILLO
Guy looks as crooked as Madonna’s original teeth
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/08/19/BADT12DB19.DTL 

COLLEGE PRESIDENTS: LOWER THE DRINKING AGE
Good they have education and sobriety as top priority!
http://www.nysun.com/national/college-presidents-want-lower-drinking-age/84123/

OH YEAH, LET PEOPLE CARRY GUNS INTO NATIONAL PARKS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0819/p03s07-usgn.html

All-Melty Dollar
USA: THE WORLD’S LONGEST YARD SALE
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1832861,00.html
‘WORST OF GLOBAL CREDIT CRISIS STILL TO COME’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/08/19/bcnken119.xml 
BRIT FAMILIES DROWNING IN DEBT
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,571935,00.html

Olympic non-events
EXPLOSIONS NEAR OLYMPICS GO UNREPORTED
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/explosions-near-olympic-venues-go-unreported-3022.html
FIRST LIP-SYNCING, NOW A FAKE PIANO
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/lang-lang-fake-olympics-2829.html 
INSIDE A CHINA GIRL GYMNAST’S LIFE
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/take-care-chinese-gymnastic-girls-2873.html 
During their break, I walked up to a young girl. The coach gave her an angry stare and she quickly shied away. Even though she squeezed a smile at me, I saw the pained expression in her eyes.
BEIJING RESIDENTS SEE BLUE SKY, STARS---MAYBE FOR FIRST TIME
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/blog-entry/

Jesus H. Christ!
CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR ISRAEL AND KILLING, MAIMING IRANIANS
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20544.htm

Iraq and Roll
AL-QAEDA AND THE CUCUMBER
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/2538545/Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq-alienated-by-cucumber-laws-and-brutality.html
Al-Qa'eda is losing support in Iraq because of a brutal crackdown on activities it regards as un-Islamic - including women buying cucumbers.
1.2 MILLION KILLED AS RESULT OF U.S. INVASION OF IRAQ
Give or take. . .
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html 

Man Oh Man
RUTTEN: THE EXTREME RIGHT-WING WAY TO MAKE A BUCK
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rutten16-2008aug16,0,472577.column 
Corsi is frank about his motives for writing "The Obama Nation." As he told the New York Times this week: "The goal is to defeat Obama. I don't want Obama to be in office."That's clear enough from the text. You can pretty well sum the whole thing up this way: The Democratic candidate is a deceitful jihadist drug addict who, if elected, plans to impose a black supremacist, socialist regime.
BIDEN---PROBABLE OBAMA VEEP---
CALLS FOR A BILLION BUCKS FOR GEORGIA
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0808/Biden_calls_for_1_billion_in_emergency_aid_to_Georgia.html
HUGE OBAMA SPEECH: “DON’T EVEN THINK OF QUESTIONING MY PATRIOTISM”
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/speaking_to_veterans_obama_dir.php

Dishonest John
MCCAIN’S FINANCE CHAIR IS CHEVRON LOBBYIST
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/19/mccain-chevron-oil-rig/ 
CREEP RALPH REED BAILS ON CREEP MCCAIN
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/18/a-no-show-looms-over-mccain-fund-raiser/

Animals in the news!
GORILLA GRIEVES OVER BABY’S DEATH
(Warning: this is extremely sad.)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/19/eagorilla119.xml
MAGPIES CAN RECOGNIZE THEIR REFLECTIONS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7570291.stm
SLIDE SHOW: HOW BREEDING IS DESTROYING PEDIGREE DOGS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2008/aug/19/animalwelfare?picture=336751970 
BBC DOCUMENTARY ON PEDIGREE DOG HORRORS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2583235/BBC-may-cut-Crufts-over-disease-riddled-pedigree-breeds.html
TURTLE GETS WHEELS, STARTS MATING
Just like most American males
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2579399/Disabled-turtle-uses-new-wheels-to-find-love.html

(Lack of) Health
FRUIT JUICES STOP DRUGS FROM WORKING
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2585115/Fruit-juices-stop-drugs-from-working-properly.html 

This is not an “Onion” story
SCIENTISTS SEEK TO CONQUER ‘BAD HAIR DAYS’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/17/eabadhairday117.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox

Lost Angeles
KOREAN BUSINESSES TAKING OVER LITTLE TOKYO
First Vietnamese took over Chinatown, now this. . .
http://downtownnews.com/articles/2008/08/18/news/news01.txt 

And in more important matters. . .

SEX AND THE SEMICOLON
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/08/10/sex_and_the_semicolon/
Ben McIntyre, writing in the Times of London a couple of months later, added to the collection of semicolon snubbers: Kurt Vonnegut called the marks "transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing." Hemingway and Chandler and Stephen King, said McIntyre, "wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch with a semi-colon (though Truman Capote might). Real men, goes the unwritten rule of American punctuation, don't use semi-colons."

Musique
NOVELIST/PIANIST EVA HOFFMAN ON. . .
WRITING, PLAYING PIANO
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/19/classicalmusicandopera.poland
I cannot listen to music when I write; it funnels me too completely into itself. But I would find it difficult to live without a piano. However, the piano is there, providing reassurance that music is one of the infinite resources, of which there never need be a shortage; there to draw on for contemplation, consolation, release, and even inner health.
LISTEN: MUSIC AND THE BRAIN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/audio/2008/aug/18/science.weekly.podcast
Science Weekly takes on evolutionary psychologist Stephen Pinker's idea that music is merely "auditory cheesecake" - pleasant on the ear but ultimately not much use. In our Music and the Brain special, James Randerson and the team ask why music evolved, how it is linked to language, how it is understood by the brain and how it can be used to treat patients.
R.I.P. DORI CAYMMI
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/arts/music/19caymmi.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin 

For Art’s Sake
SLIDE SHOW (MUST): IMPRESSIONISM AND SCOTLAND
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2008/aug/19/art.edinburghfestival?picture=336740029

And in the end. . .
JAPANESE GRAPES
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2008/08/18/japanese-grapes-only-900-a-bunch/

on hiatus. . .no news is good news. . .back too soon
8/8  "You'll be surprised how often you read it here first."
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
Jerry Garcia week (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)
GRATEFUL DEAD AT HOME, 1967
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-xNGl0GiRk
GRATEFUL DEAD CAMEO, CONCERT
IN "PETULIA," 1967
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5owegbqcrjo
DON'T EASE ME IN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5HqxpdX5d8
TRUCKIN'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPNgjA4i6gM
UNCLE JOHN'S BAND '74
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsmdKLbJDII
SCARLET BEGONIAS '76
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBPRNcWG9UU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHkleuOumHg
UNCLE JOHN'S BAND, '81
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EoQ3GkH4Zc
TENNESSEE JED, '84
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wETg1f-tZ_8
BROKEDOWN PALACE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyEvsH4_ySU
DEATH DON'T HAVE NO MERCY '89
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sts6I101jpo
STOP THAT TRAIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wE3GXBefvs
SO MANY ROADS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFACDn4reAc&feature=related
THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pku8gg9UU6k
Jerry speaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBlXEGLXlV0

Quotatious: "The problem with history is, the folks who were there ain't talking.
And the ones who weren't there, you can't shut 'em up." - Tom Waits

CLONED PIT BULL OWNER ONCE KIDNAPPED, MANACLED MORMON FOR SEX
(Knew there was something strange about that woman, just from her photo.)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/08/usa

SIR PAUL STILL GETTING KICKS ON ROUTE 66
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/mccartneyroute66.html

WATCH: THIS CAN’T POSSIBLY BE REAL
Can it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcEoDpVp-CE

BEYONCE: WHITE LIKE ME
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2521327/Light-skinned-Beyonce-ad-sparks-outrage-knowles-LOre.html

MORFORD: NINE BEST NEW DRUGS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/08/08/notes080808.DTL
"The Starbucks" has nevertheless proven to be hugely addictive, despite almost complete lack of flavor, effect, pleasure.
Side effects include: obsessive journaling, near-constant wearing of navy blue fleece jackets from REI, inexplicable appreciation for the Dave Matthews Band and/or John Mayer, and launching of personal blog dedicated to twin loves of cats and long blank stares into vast eternal nothingness just past tip of nose.

WATCH: THE OFFICIAL OLYMPICS SONG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XDU3ePlyH8

And on to news and comment. . .

SPECIAL REPORT: OLYMPICS ARE A TRAP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqNaAU2vXlI

NAOMI KLEIN: CHINA DEBUTS FUTURISTIC POLICE STATE AT OLYMPICS
http://www.alternet.org/story/94278/china_unveils_frightening_futuristic_police_state_at_olympics/
It is a potent hybrid of the most powerful political tools of authoritarianism communism -- central planning, merciless repression, constant surveillance -- harnessed to advance the goals of global capitalism. Some call it "authoritarian capitalism," others "market Stalinism," personally I prefer "McCommunism."

CHINA GETS ITS ROCKS OFF
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/sports/olympics/09china.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1218207645-+5ZIC/t6W7kfv6pOkrmG2Q#

Iraq and Roll
FISK: THE LAST MOMENTS OF MARGARET HASSAN
When a renowned British aid worker was kidnapped in Iraq, the world was horrified. Her body was never recovered, but her execution was captured on video and sent to Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite channel.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20452.htm
The "execution" – the cold-blooded, appalling murder of Margaret Hassan, the Care worker who was a friend as well as a contact of mine – is among the least terrible of the scenes that lie in the satellite channel's archives. . . A man's voice prompts her to keep to a text. "I admit that we worked with the occupation forces ..." she says. It is untrue, of course. Margaret was against the whole Anglo-American invasion. She would never have spied on Iraqis.
COCKBURN: WHO’S REALLY RUNNING IRAQ?
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/94285/who%27s_really_running_iraq_/
The best barometer for the real state of security in Baghdad is the attitude of Iraqi refugees, particularly the 2.4 million people who fled to Jordan and Syria. Though often living in miserable conditions and with their money running out, the refugees are generally not coming home to Iraq, and when they do, they seldom return to houses from which they had been forced to flee.

World gone mad
MCCAIN AD PORTRAYS OBAMA AS ANTICHRIST
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_ad_said_to_link_Obama_0808.html
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1830590,00.html
SNOOP DEBUTS IN BOLLYWOOD FILM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7549301.stm
CHART-TOPPING LEZBO LOVE SONG
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/08/popandrock.gayrights
WHITE SUPREMACISTS HOPING OBAMA WIN WILL TRIGGER ‘REVOLUTION’
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10143

CONDY/BARRY LOVE AFFAIR CONTINUES
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_US_would_be_safe_under_Obama_08072008.html

Dishonest John
MCCAIN BLOGGER LIES---
IMPLIES BARRY GOT MORE OIL $$$ THAN JOHNNY
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/08/goldfarb-big-oil-lie/
MCCAIN GETS HIS FACTS WRONG AGAIN
”Facts are stupid things.”---Ronald Reagan.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/08/mccain-hamdan-facts/

All-Melty Dollar
BOFA SUBPOENAED
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1830534,00.html

RUSSIA, GEORGIA SMACKDOWN
People sure like killing each other, don’t they?
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Georgia_warns_of_war_if_Russia_0808.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,570875,00.html

Mashed Media
RANDOM HOUSE PULLS ISLAM NOVEL
Plot concerned child bride of Mohammad
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Random_House_pulls_novel_on_Islam_0808.html
PELOSI BOOK BOMBS
http://drudgereport.com/flashnpb.htm

(Lack of) Health
BREASTFEEDING CUTS HEART DISEASE RISK
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2518035/Breastfeeding-could-help-to-prevent-heart-disease.html
STEM CELL PROGRESS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/07/national/a182537D01.DTL&tsp=1

And in more important matters. . .

WRITER TRIES OUT ONE OF THOSE SLEEK OLYMPIC SWIMSUITS
http://www.slate.com/id/2196569/pagenum/all/
Once vacuum-packed, I am quite a sight. The suit is darkly sheer in many places—all the more so because I am not nearly as lithe as an Olympic swimmer. (I doubt any of them are breast-feeding.)

BEATLES TAPE CONTAINS NEVER-RELEASED SONG
Cover of “Don’t Put Me Down Like This”
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/726followthesun.html

WHAT DID THE GREAT WRITERS SOUND LIKE?
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121763115075105923.html?mod=2_1578_leftbox
The British Library Sound Archive recently started releasing a series of CDs drawn from the BBC's vast library of sound recordings. (To order them, go to www.shop.bl.uk.) Alas, the broadcasts of Beerbohm and Chandler have yet to surface, but no other apology need be made for the first five albums in the Sound Archive's "Spoken Word" series, which contain talks by and interviews with W.H. Auden, Graham Greene, George Bernard Shaw, Evelyn Waugh and H.G. Wells.

Books
THE GREAT FORGER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/books/review/Mallon-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

ANIMAL PHOTOS OF THE WEEK!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/photogalleries/animal-photos-week3/index.html

Light reading
DO MUSIC AUDIENCES UNDERSTAND ANYTHING THEY HEAR?
http://musicology.typepad.com/dialm/2008/08/audience-please.html
UNCOVERING SECRETS OF NEANDERTHAL “EVE”
There were only a few thousand of these creatures, apparently
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/08/evolution.genetics

WOMAN HASN’T CUT HAIR IN 54 YEARS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2522135/Pensioner-hasnt-cut-hair-for-50-years.html

Film
REVIEW: MAN ON A WIRE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/08/DDK1125GRA.DTL

And in the end. . .
LION REUNION
(Turn down the vile, vile music and watch silent.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

8/7  "You'll be surprised how often you read it here first."
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
Jerry Garcia week (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)
U.S. BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbfjnUlhVc4
GARCIA AND WEIR: WHEN I PAINT MY MASTERPIECE/
DEEP ELEM BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bmbUCd7XVg
GARCIA, DEAD, ETTA JAMES---HARD TO HANDLE,'82
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DChW7LtosY
HARD TO HANDLE, '72
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHn6jCYsdo
BERTHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V72qQhm12K8 
ALTHEA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQFeuAbLHro
FRANKLIN'S TOWER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEniyvOtETc
SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbXg3ZuJ7-k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nluf1xfN1-I


TAPE OF FINAL BEATLES CONCERT IN CANADA UP FOR AUCTION
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/807lastcanadaconcert.html

SIR PAUL’S ANONYMOUS DRIVE ACROSS U.S. SPOILED
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/mccartneyroute66.html

BEARD DOESN’T BARE IT---
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/07/SP9L126536.DTL
---BUT CINDY DOES
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=252767&in_page_id=7 

HAHAHA: CHRISTIAN BIKERS VS. HELL’S ANGELS!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/06/state/n084623D69.DTL

LEDGER INQUIRY DROPPED
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7546599.stm

METAL DETECTOR FINDS 7TH CENTURY CROSS OF GOLD
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2510567/Treasure-hunter-finds-25000-gold-cross-with-metal-detector.html

And on to news and comment. . .

OBAMA MUSLIM ADVISOR ‘QUITS’
Questionable involvement in Islamic investment fund, various Islamic groups
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/08/wrong_wrong_wro/

FEINSTEIN RUNNING FOR CALIF. GOVERNOR?
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap7-2008aug07,0,6301597.column

OLYMPIC ATHLETES TO CHINA: RESPECT TIBET
Another huge embarrassment for Beijing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/07/olympics2008.china
KRISTOF:
AN OLIVE BRANCH FROM THE DALAI LAMA
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/opinion/07kristof.html?8dpc
For the first time, the Dalai Lama is willing to state that he can accept the socialist system in Tibet under Communist Party rule. This is something that Beijing has always demanded, and, after long discussion, the Dalai Lama has agreed to do so.
RAPPELLING TIBET PROTESTOR FALLS IN SF---WERE HER ROPES CUT?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/07/BA091269F9.DTL
THOUSANDS OF EXILED TIBETANS MARCH AGAINST GAMES
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/tibetans-march-against-games-2300.html
HOPES FOR CHINA OLYMPIC STOCK BOOM FADE
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/china-stock-market-2027.html 

‘FREE SPEECH ZONE’---AT DEMOCRAP CONVENTION!
Gee, uh. . .we thought the whole country was a free speech zone. . .guess not
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Judge_OKs_free_speech_zones_at_0806.html

LOTS OF ‘ORGANIC’ FOOD. . .ISN’T
http://www.alternet.org/environment/94146/is_your_organic_food_really_organic/

Dishonest John
MCCAIN OFFERS TO PIMP WIFE OUT TO TOPLESS CONTEST
What a card. . .
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=9142316&ch=4226716&src=news
THOMPSON: JOHN MCCAIN, PIMP
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10124
You gotta wonder how suggesting your wife should be in a beauty contest where the winner struts around stage with her hooters hanging out is going to sit with the rabid religious right that McCain needs if he has any shot at winning the Presidential election in November.
POSSIBLE MCCAIN VEEP LIKES OBAMA
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Potential_McCain_running_mate_praises_Obama_0806.html
MCCAIN: EST. 1840
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/usa/2008/08/one_of_john_mccains_campaign.html
PALAST: THE MCCAIN PLAN---HOMER SIMPSON MINUS DONUT
http://www.gregpalast.com/the-mccain-plan-homer-simpson-without-the-donut/
McCain’s ready to spend a hundred billion dollars on nuclear power, no questions asked. But Barack Obama puts a crucial condition on his approval for building new nukes: an affordable method of disposing the new plants’ radioactive waste. That’s not small stuff.
INSANITY: MCCAIN’S “JEW TROPHY WIFE”
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/presidential-campaign-religious-smear/

Billary-goat
THE TRUTH BEHIND HILLARY’S PR EMBRACING OF OBAMA
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1830119,00.html
But behind the united front, says an adviser, "it's not a great relationship, and it's probably not going to become one." In private conversations, associates say, Clinton remains skeptical that Obama can win in the fall. That's a sentiment some other Democrats believe is not just a prediction but a wish, because it would prove her right about his weaknesses as a general-election candidate and possibly pave the way for her to run again in 2012.

PAKISTAN LOOKS TO IMPEACH MUSHARRAF
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/07/asia/07pstan.php

People’s Repugnic
CHINA’S PANDAS AT FOREFRONT OF ‘GREEN REVOLUTION’
Chairman Mao was not an environmentalist. . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/07/eapanda107.xml

Lost Angeles
MASSIVE L.A. HOSPITAL HOMELESS FRAUD
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/FBI_LA_hospitals_used_homeless_in_0807.html 

Technically
‘NET ADDRESS ACHILLES HEEL FOUND?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7546557.st
RUSS GANG HIJACKS COMPUTERS FOR PERSONAL DATA
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/06/technology/hack.php
A criminal gang is using software tools normally reserved for computer network administrators to infect thousands of PCs in corporate and government networks with programs that steal passwords and other information, a security researcher has found.

Obit
ROBERT MAHEU, HUGHES’ RIGHT-HAND MAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/us/07maheu.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin 

Oh, by the way. . .
GERMAN BOMBER FLIES TO ENGLAND TO APOLOGIZE---AND CRASHES
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=254650&in_page_id=34

And in more important matters. . .

MEET S. AFRICA’S DR. DOLITTLE
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/08/06/meet-south-africa%e2%80%99s-dr-dolittle/
And to locals, he is the answer to all variety of animal problems that vex humans in this part of the world. Cheetahs threatening the livestock? Call Brian. A crocodile attacking people? Brian will take it – the way he takes everything – to his Moholoholo Wildlife Rehab Centre.

THE DARK SIDE OF OLYMPIC HEROISM
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,570674,00.html
The Chinese want hurdler Liu Xiang to capture a gold medal in Beijing and make their nation proud. The burden of expectation is heavy -- just as it was for Australian runner Catherine Freeman in Sydney in 2000 and Greek sprinter Kostas Kenteris in Athens in 2004. SPIEGEL looks at three would-be Olympic heroes.

BLIND KIDS LEARN TO SURF
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-blindsurfers7-2008aug07,0,3978300.story

NY LOVES ITS CHRYSLER BUILDING
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121762156747405585.html?mod=2_1578_middlebox

‘HAIR’ IS BACK
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1828301,00.html

And in the end. . .
CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2008/aug/07/1?picture=336221509

8/6
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
Jerry Garcia week (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)
JERRY'S BREAKDOWN (JG ON BANJO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9SkB1yLx5Y
TWO SOLDIERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8GZvoWY9yo
SITTING IN LIMBO (acoustic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1YmrIlRR3E
SITTING IN LIMBO (electric)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np4nyOtXifU
I'M TROUBLED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4at-v1GGhI
HAS SUCCESS SPOILED THE GRATEFUL DEAD?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l3Ghakv8-Y
MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVqArOogY-c
ST. STEPHEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYmIu_njso4
COSMIC CHARLEY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgEXFivR9bY
JACK STRAW 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFivzAR3uDs
RAMBLE ON ROSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PherVI_Ojuk

MAN DIES IN CAKE-EATING CONTEST
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2510328/Student-dies-in-cake-eating-contest.html
Related:
FLASH: KNIGHTLY TO PUT ON WEIGHT
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=250694&in_page_id=7

PERFECT: SPEARS TO PLAY ‘KILLER LESBIAN STRIPPER’ IN TARANTINO MOVIE
No wonder "they hate us."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/celebritynews/2511241/Britney-Spears-Her-life-and-career.html

BRIAN WILSON’S ‘LUCKY OLD SUN’ DUE SEPT. 2
If nothing else, it has a beautiful cover
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/806brianwilson.html

YOKO OPENS ‘WISH TREE FOR PEACE’ IN PASADENA
http://laist.com/2008/08/05/trees_of_peace_yoko_ono.php

WATCH: WING-WALKING MARRIAGE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2507880/Wing-walking-couple-marry-at-1000-feet.html

THE RIP POST CHEERS TEXAS’S LATEST EXECUTION
Such beasts have sacrificed their right to life
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-execute6-2008aug06,0,2738895.story

And on to news and comment. . .

BUSH PAID IRAQI $5 MILLION HUSH MONEY OVER WMD
---SUSKIND BOOK
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/06/suskind-plame/
MORFORD: VOTED FOR BUSH, DID YOU? PAY UP
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/08/06/notes080608.DTL
Really, compared with the disgusting levels of damage wrought by your support of the dark armies of Bush, these suggestions are nothing. You actually owe quite a bit more. OK, a lot more. Incalculable, really.
SEVEN YEARS AGO TODAY:
BUSH GOT “BIN-LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN U.S.” MEMO
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/06/flashback-seven-years-ago-today-bush-receives-bin-laden-determined-to-strike-in-us-memo/

FORECLOSURE VICTIMS ARE ABANDONING HOUSES---AND PETS
Jail these idiots
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_abandon06.30c09b6.html

Obit
REAL LIFE FORGER OF ‘THE GREAT ESCAPE’ DIES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/06/secondworldwar
His son revealed that the father-of-two "wasn't a fan" of the Steve McQueen epic and thought the famous but entirely fictitious motorbike scene was "well over the top".

PILGER: THE LIES OF HIROSHIMA LIVE ON
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/06/secondworldwar.warcrimes
In the immediate aftermath of the bomb, the allied occupation authorities banned all mention of radiation poisoning and insisted that people had been killed or injured only by the bomb's blast. It was the first big lie. "No radioactivity in Hiroshima ruin" said the front page of the New York Times, a classic of disinformation and journalistic abdication, which the Australian reporter Wilfred Burchett put right with his scoop of the century. "I write this as a warning to the world," reported Burchett in the Daily Express, having reached Hiroshima after a perilous journey, the first correspondent to dare. He described hospital wards filled with people with no visible injuries but who were dying from what he called "an atomic plague". For telling this truth, his press accreditation was withdrawn, he was pilloried and smeared - and vindicated.

Israelity
THE NAZI-DESCENDED JEWS OF ISRAEL
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/06/judaism.secondworldwar 
I am walking through the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem, to meet Aharon Shear-Yashuv. He is the son of a Nazi. And yet he was a senior rabbi in the Israeli armed forces. He lives in an apartment in the Jewish quarter, near the Western Wall.

Man O-man
SIROTA: OBAMA MOVING TOWARD CENTER? UH-UH---
HE’S MOVING TO THE CORPORATE RIGHT
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/91931/
Most politicians and journalists who set the parameters of our political debate live in Washington and make six-figure salaries. They are geographically, financially and socially isolated from the blood-and-guts consequences of today's two wars -- the one in Iraq and the one on the middle class. That insulation skews viewpoints. Indeed, the center of opinion in the nation's capital is very different from the center of opinion in the country at large.
WHEN IT COMES TO CHINA, OBAMA SOUNDS LIKE BUSH
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/opinion/china-obama-bush-2202.html
BLUM: OBAMA AND THE EMPIRE
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20438.htm 
I'm afraid that if Barack Obama becomes president he's going to break a lot of young hearts. And some older ones as well. Writer Norman Solomon has written: "These days, an appreciable number of Obama supporters are starting to use words like "disillusionment." But that's a consequence of projecting their political outlooks onto the candidate in the first place. The best way to avoid becoming disillusioned is to not have illusions in the first place."
OBAMA CAMPAIGNING WITH EVAN BAYH
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_campaigns_with_possible_veep_contender_0806.html

Dishonest John
BLACK REPORTER BOOTED FROM MCCAIN RALLY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/05/politics/p141206D27.DTL
DNC CAMPAIGN: EXXON/MCCAIN ‘08
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12337.html
DOWD: MCCAIN’S GREEN-EYED MONSTER
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,570315,00.html
“John’s eaten up with envy,” said one. “His image of himself was always the handsome, celebrity flyboy. “Now somebody else is the celebrity,” the colleague continued, while John looks in the mirror and sees his face marred by skin cancer and looks at the TV and sees his dashing self-image replaced by visions of William Frawley, with Letterman jokes about his membership in the ham radio club and adventures with wagon trains.

People’s Repugnic
TORTURE CAMPS MINUTES FROM OLYMPICS
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/australia/torture-labor-camp-olympic-site-2178.html
WHO PHOTOSHOPPED HU?
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/xinhua-photoshop-hu-jintao-1767.html
HAHAHAHAHA! BEIJING POLLUTION IS ONLY ‘MIST’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/06/olympics2008.china
JIHAD IN CHINA’S FAR WEST
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1829791,00.html
BEIJING IN SECURITY LOCKDOWN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/sports/olympics/06beijing.html?hp
Many complaints involve traffic restrictions that have forced drivers to give up their cars, or security measures that require subway riders to undergo bag searches. Taxi passengers must submit identification at random police stops, and an opening night performance of “Hairspray” was raided by the authorities late last month because the theater, they said, lacked an adequate security plan.

RAIMUNDO: BRUCE IVINS, THE MOVIE
FBI/Media narrative is laughable, and sinister
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13262
FBI ‘STALKED’ ANTHRAX SUSPECT’S FAMILY
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/FBI_said_to_have_stalked_Ivins_0806.html

OLBERMANN ON FAKE SADDAM LETTER ALLEGATION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzVsV5z8mYw 
OLBERMANN INTERVIEWS AUTHOR WHO MADE ALLEGATION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk-VCP7zSG8 

RED CROSS: COLUMBIA MISUSED OUR EMBLEM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7545519.stm
The ICRC said video footage suggested the emblem was used deliberately in July's raid to free Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages from rebel hands.

Jesus H. Christ
LAWSUIT AGAINST GOD IN JEOPARDY
God has friends in high places. . .
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Senators_lawsuit_against_God_could_be_0805.html

Enviro Wacko
EATING MEAT IS WORSE THAN DRIVING A TRUCK---FOR CLIMATE
http://www.alternet.org/environment/94052/eating_meat_is_worse_than_driving_a_truck_..._for_the_climate/

Spaced
IS SPACE FULL OF GERMS?
http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2008/08/galactic_panspermia 
MARS IS COVERED IN ROCKET FUEL INGREDIENT
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-phoenix6-2008aug06,0,3753013.story
ARE ALIENS WATCHING EARTH TV?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7544915.stm
In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, former BBC News website science correspondent Dr David Whitehouse raised the possibility that transmissions from earth could draw the attention of "malevolent aliens", were any to exist.

Oh, by the way. . .
BIG STASH OF WWII WEAPONS FOUND IN BERLIN SAUERKRAUT FACTORY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,570206,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

BEATLES TAPE SELLS BIG
Contains never-reported cover of a Lennon favorite
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=7501
DHANI HARRISON’S FIRST ALBUM RELEASED ON ITUNES
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/410thenewno2.html

CRITICS LIKE DR. WHO’S ‘HAMLET’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/06/bthamlet106.xml
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=252391&in_page_id=7

JANE AUSTEN TO GET TIME-TRAVEL TWIST
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2505615/Lost-in-Austen-ITV-to-give-Jane-Austen-a-time-travel-twist.html

DUBAI BUYS ONE-FIFTH OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Dubai_buys_fifth_of_circus_troupe_0806.html

Obit
R.I.P. TEICHER OF FERRANTE AND. . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/arts/music/06teicher.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

THE NOSE: AN EMOTIONAL TIME MACHINE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/science/05angier.html?em

Hungry? Try Whizin's
A LESSON IN BLUEBERRIES
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0806/p18s01-lifo.html

CHRISTINA APPLEGATE WILL RECOVER FROM BREAST CANCER
This happens to be a very nice person among celebrity jackasses
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7539449.stm 

Where ya goin’?
SWIMMING WITH WHALE SHARKS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/08/06/mexicomix080608.DTL&type=travel
BIKE, WALKING-FRIENDLY PACIFIC GROVE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/01/TRG911N294.DTL

And in the end. . .
DANCING WITH THE UNIVERSE
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/06/27/2396/dancing

8/5
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
Jerry Garcia week (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)
SHADY GROVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayk_qQw0XZg
MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-jImA0uZ0M
THERE AIN’T NO BUGS ON ME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYre5zGZEBY 
DEEP ELEM BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx1LqnIJLj8 
RIPPLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRWxKHV10Bw 
JERRY, PHIL, BOB DO DYLAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_8obCnsw4c 
THRILL IS GONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKvDtWeyO5c 
WHISKEY IN THE JAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8anuunWPIY 

SCIENTISTS CLONE BOOGERS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/05/genetics.korea

3,000 FIREFIGHTERS TO SING ‘HEY JUDE’
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/08/04/singalong-date-for-hey-jude-100252-21458935/

PICTURES OF THE DAY
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/2504409/Pictures-of-the-day-5-August-2008.html 

LEGO THAT OLYMPIC VILLAGE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2498015/Lego-model-of-Beijing-Olympic-village-built.html

GIANT PIG SPOTTED IN FRANCE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,570248,00.html 

NAKED WOMAN CAUSES CAR WRECK
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=250198&in_page_id=2 

And on to news and comment. . .

BUSH ORDERED FAKE SADDAM LETTER LINKING HIM TO 9/11---BOOK
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Suskind_Bush_ordered_fake_letter_linking_0805.html

WATER CANNONS FOR ANTI-BUSH PROTESTORS IN S. KOREA
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/_S._Koreans_fire_water_cannons_0805.html


OBAMA’S TIRE GUAGE SOLUTION HAPPENS TO BE RIGHT
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1829354,00.html
The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right.
LINDORFF: OBAMA IS RIGHT ABOUT DRIVING TIPS
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/182
Two weeks ago, though, I read about eco-driving, and thought I'd give it a try. I filled up the tank, took a lot of crap out of the trunk that I'd been lugging around for no good reason, set the air pressure at the manufacturer's specs, changed the air filter (it was pretty clogged), changed the oil to fully synthetic, and started driving conservatively. I stuck to the posted speed limits on local and highway, used my cruise control wherever possible to avoid needless accelerations, kept a good distance behind other vehicles to avoid unnecessary braking, avoided fast accelerations, turned off the engine altogether when stopped at a light or in traffic jams, and gave myself plenty of time to get to appointments.The result: My mileage leapt from 27 mpg to 38.5 mpg! For the math challenged, that's a 42% improvement in gas mileage!

Iraq and Roll
MUST WATCH: BAGHDAD, CITY OF WALLS
Saddam is looking better and better every day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTMp-YNaDdg

Animals in the news!
125,000 GORILLAS FOUND IN THE CONGO
Translation: new source of ‘bush meat’ discovered. . .
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080805-gorillas-congo.html 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/04/international/i210431D59.DTL&tsp=1 

All-Melty Dollar
HUNDREDS OF BANKS WILL FAIL
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0344130720080803?sp=true
INFLATION TRUMPS TAX REBATES
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/high-inflation-trumps-tax-rebates/story.aspx?guid=%7B5A153311%2D54CC%2D4AEA%2DA26D%2D09F2B841A4AE%7D&dist=TNMostRead 

Your Corporatocracy at work!
OBAMA, MCCAIN ADVISERS TIED TO CORPS. PROFITING FROM CHINA
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/5/american_foreign_policy_brought_to_you
CHEVRON LOBBIES WHITE HOUSE
TO BLOCK $12 BILLION AMAZON POLLUTION SUIT
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/5/chevron_lobbies_white_house_to_pressure

COMMENT: P.C. EDUCATION KEEPS SCIENCE OUT OF SCHOOLS
http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=03hp5gr19z5sb0cdvhtsk5qgp3yhdttf
The antiscience agenda is visible as early as kindergarten, with its infantile versions of the diversity agenda and its early budding of self-esteem lessons. But it complicates and propagates all the way up through grade school and high school. In college it often drops the mask of diffuse benevolence and hardens into a fascination with "identity."

REPUG VOTING ROLLS ARE DROPPING
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/us/politics/05flip.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 

OBAMA: OIL COMPANIES BETTING ON MCCAIN
Not if you keep promoting offshore drilling, Barry
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Oil_giants_betting_on_McCain_Obama_08052008.html
O-MAN: TAP OIL RESERVES TO LOWER GAS PRICES
Let ‘em skyrocket, we say.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/01/politics/p144324D19.DTL
HEDGES: IRAN ATTACK WOULD TRIPLE OIL PRICES
Now tell us the down side. . .
http://www.alternet.org/audits/93882/the_price_of_oil%2C_tripled_an_attack_on_iran_could_make_it_happen/

Dishonest John
MCCAIN WOOS. . .BIKER VOTE!
He can have it!
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10110
THOMPSON: MCCAIN ONE FUNNY RACIST!
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10086
McCain loved to tell jokes about lesbians, blacks, Hispanics and the Vietnamese community that occupied a large section of Arlington County, Virginia, just south of the District of Columbia. Of course, McCain didn't use polite language in the jokes: He used names like "fags" or "queers" or "dykes" or "niggers" or "spics" or "wetbacks" or "gooks."

Enviro Wacko
STINGING TENTACLES OFFER HINT INTO OCEAN’S DECLINE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/science/earth/03jellyfish.html?em

(Lack of) Health
MEMORY, DEPRESSION, INSOMNIA---AND MICROSCOPIC WORMS?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080804222904.htm
VITAMIN C FIGHTING CANCER
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/05/cancer.medicalresearch

Jesus H. Christ!
ISLAMIC SUPERHEROES GOING GLOBAL
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1828732,00.html 

Lost Angeles
LAX FLIGHTS TO DRASTICALLY REDUCE
http://information.travel.aol.com/article/news-feeds/_a/los-angeles-airport-sees-drastic/20080731104909990001?icid=200100397x1207163097x1200364792

And in more important matters. . .

VINYL RECORD STORES HOLDING ON. . .AS CD SALES DECLINE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0801/p13s01-algn.html 
"It's the young kids buying, the ones listening to the indie rock; and it's the older folks, the ones that want the box-sets; and it's the audiophiles; and it's everyone else who's stuck in the middle. I'm not saying there's a turntable in every house in the neighborhood, but vinyl is definitely having a resurgence."

THE PLANET HUNTER
http://features.csmonitor.com/backstory/2008/08/05/qplanet/ 

STRANGE FAMILY HOARDS TREASURE TROVE OF ODDITIES
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2504372/Treasure-trove-of-oddities-found-at-Tyntesfield-House.html

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, CENTRAL PARK!
http://www.americanheritage.com/places/articles/web/20080425-CentralPark-150-Anniversary-Vaux-Olmsted-Sara-Cedar-Miller.shtml

DR. WHO PLAYS HAMLET
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/gallery/2008/jul/31/david.tennant.theatre.shakespeare?picture=336095864

And in the end. . .
ASTOUNDING N. KOREA CARD-FLIPPING, DANCE SHOW
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2505079/North-Korea-celebrates-Arirang-show.html 

8/4
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
Garcia Week
SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEuJqlrfEZ0
PEGGY-O
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX9Vhv4akxc
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U67PVvO7WI
SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nluf1xfN1-I
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM18HENqNbk
I SHALL BE RELEASED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFiIJ4vW2IU
A JOKE FROM GARCIA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU-4ukw2CjY

MERRY JERRY DAY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/04/BALV124KI7.DTL 

GERMAN COPS GET BULLET-PROOF BRAS
The women, that is
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/2497655/Bullet-resistant-bras-for-German-police.html

STRANGE VENTURA COUNTY HOTSPOT
Ground heating up for no apparent reason
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/aug/02/no-headline---nxxfcearthfire02/

OH NO! PARIS HILTON’S MOMMY IS MAD AT MCCAIN
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Paris_Hiltons_mom_takes_offense_at_0803.htm

BOMBS TARGET UC SANTA CRUZ ANIMAL RESEARCHERS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/04/MNMI124HSI.DTL

REVOLTING CELEB PHOTO OF THE DAY
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=247847&in_page_id=

STANDING O FOR KENNEDY AS HE RETURNS TO SENATE---
TO VOTE FOR MEDICARE BILL
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/09/kennedy-medicare/

And on to news and comment. . .

Mashed Media
‘JEWISH NEOCONSERVATIVES’ TRY TO SILENCE TIME’S JOE KLEIN
http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/07/when_extremists_attack.html
I remain proud of my Jewish heritage, a strong supporter of Israel and a realist about the slim chance of finding some common ground with the Iranians. But I am not willing to grant these ideologues the anonymity they seek.
KLEIN: WHY I WRITE WHAT I WRITE ABOUT JEWISH NEOCONS
http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/2008/07/30/1079/joe-klein-why-i-write-what-i-write-about-jewish-neocons/
LOBE: NEOCON FLAP HIGHLIGHTS JEWISH DIVIDE
http://www.israelenews.com/view.asp?ID=2795 
MORE:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/thegodblog/item/joe_klein_continues_defending_jewish_dual_loyalty_claim_20080731/ 

ELEPHANTS WILL BE GONE BY 2020
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=246270&in_page_id=34

LEADING GUN CONTROL ACTIVIST WAS GUN LOBBY SPY
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/mary-mcfate-sapone-gun-lobby-nra-spy.html
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/4/leading_gun_control_activist_exposed_as

LISTEN: WAS GOV’T. FRAMING SCIENTIST FOR ANTHRAX ATTACKS?
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/4/anthrax
RAIMUNDO: THE PATSY
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13251
However, as we sift through the reams of media coverage occasioned by this startling development in a 7-year-old case, we get quite a different story from the alleged objects of his rage: his colleagues on the job at Ft. Detrick.

People’s Repugnic
MUSLIMS KILL 16 CHINESE COPS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7540138.stm
THE TEFLON OLYMPICS
http://features.csmonitor.com/olympics08/2008/08/03/for-chinese-its-the-teflon-olympics/
“I feel very emotional about these Games,” said Li Chunfeng, a young nurse, as she prepared to walk around the edge of the green, which is as close as the public can get to the venues. “China has suffered in history, and this is a moment of glory.”
MASSIVE SECURITY FOR GAMES
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/04/asia/beijing.php
Chinese officials have thrown an almost smothering blanket of security across this capital of 17 million in preparation for the start of the Olympic Games on Friday. Above all else, Chinese leaders say, these Olympics will be safe.
ONE IN FIVE GERMAN FIRMS LEAVING CHINA
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,569861,00.html
PETITION: PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=10010

WHITE HOUSE KILLS BLACKBERRIES
AFTER CHINA SPYING REPORT
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/04/white-house-shuts-off-blackberry-access-following-reports-of-chinese-spying/

Man O-man
INCREDIBLE: O-MAN WOULD ALLOW OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING
Just jaw-droppingly astonishing. . .Where is his principle?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/03/america/campaign.php
"My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post. "If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well-thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage - I don't want to be so rigid that we can't get something done."
OBAMA ASKS THAT FLA. CAST FULL VOTES AT CONVENTION
http://www.truthout.org/article/obama-asks-dnc-let-florida-delegates-cast-full-votes-denver-convention
WATCH: O-MAN HANDLES DISRUPTION BY BLACK PROTESTORS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2008/aug/04/barack.obama.heckled
TIME FOR OBAMA TO GET TOUGH
http://www.alternet.org/election08/93739/it%27s_time_for_obama_to_get_tough/
PELOSI PUSHES CHET EDWARDS FOR VEEP---WHO?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/03/politics/p114622D98.DTL
DOWD: MR. DARCY COMES COURTING
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/opinion/03dowd.html?em
The New Hampshire debate incident in which Obama condescendingly said, “You’re likable enough, Hillary,” was reminiscent of that early scene in “Pride and Prejudice” when Darcy coldly refuses to dance with Elizabeth Bennet, noting, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.”

Dishonest John
POLL: MCCAIN’S SLEAZY, LAME ATTACKS ON OBAMA. . .ARE PAYING OFF
Amerryguns are sooooooooooooo sophisticated!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/03/politics/p150129D09.DTL 

All-Melty Dollar
HERE COMES BIGGER SECOND WAVE OF FORECLOSURES
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/03/business/mortgage.php

Mashed Media
EX-TIMES SCRIBE ANALYZES PAPER’S BREAKDOWN
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/08/extimes_reporter_blogs_wh.php

World Gone Mad
CHILD MATADOR OF SPAIN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/2498721/Mexican-child-matador-Michelito-will-fight-again.html

(Lack of) Health
LUMINOUS MOLLUSC PREDICTS ILLNESS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/04/scipiddock104.xml

Oh, by the way. . .
PENIS EXTENSION BREAKS, WOMAN FILES FOR DIVORCE
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=241571&in_page_id=2
SEWER PLANT ‘TOO USEFUL’ TO BE NAMED AFTER BUSH
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/14/opponents-say-san-francisco-sewer-plant-too-useful-to-be-named-after-bush/
CRAZY SOUTHERNERS STILL FLYING DIXIE BANNER
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0804/p03s02-ussc.html

And in more important matters. . .

R.I.P. SOLZHENITSYN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/books/04solzhenitsyn.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin#
TRIBUTES TO SOLZHENITSYN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7540821.stm
Solzhenitsyn’s literary legacy
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/08/solzhenitsyns_literary_legacy.html

THE NAKED AMBITION OF OLYMPIC ATHLETES
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1509787.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2493837/British-Olympic-cyclist-shows-naked-ambition.html

Film
BURTON MAKING ‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2497508/Plymouth-to-be-location-for-Tim-Burtons-film-version-of-Lewis-Carrolls-Alice-in-Wonderland.html
AUSSIE ACTRESS TO PLAY ‘ALICE’
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/24/2313377.htm?section=entertainment
DEPP TO PLAY MAD HATTER
http://www.agi.it/people/news/200808040959-spe-ren0006-art.html

Books
POEM OF THE WEEK
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/08/poem_of_the_week_48.html
DORIS LESSING CASTS HATED MOTHER AS HEROINE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/31/AR2008073102585_pf.html
100 ALL-TIME GREATEST NOVELS
http://neilbowers.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/a-unified-list-of-the-best-100-novels/

For Art’s Sake
EALING POSTER
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/aug/04/1

And in the end. . .
MERRY JERRY DAY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/04/BALV124KI7.DTL&o=0 

8/1
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
ASTOUNDING: ROSS SISTERS, "POTATO SALAD"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8fokMoXLnE
MARQUIS CHIMPS DO RAGTIME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-918OMwCx6w
KHATCHATURIAN SABER DANCE---GUITAR ORCHESTRA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3JVEbtwJDQ
"HELLZAPOPPIN'"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdWgHtTau48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD1cFVAuY-g
MORE SABER DANCE---THE MARIMBA PONIES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-oazpmqJC0
SPIKE JONES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctEJ-rCkm3c
CEMENT MIXER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_c42dACYIs
WOOLY BULLY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otVh81AV5O4
SABER DANCE---ORGAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eadQ-nHZPiE
SABER DANCE---KING KONG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IllftJM1Tpg

AL GORE PLACES INFANT SON IN ROCKET TO ESCAPE DYING PLANET
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/al_gore_places_infant_son_in

HERE IT IS---‘GET YOUR WAR ON,’ ANIMATED (MUST WATCH)
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Get_Your_War_On_gets_its_0801.html

HERE IT IS---STUPID POLICE ACTION OF THE DAY
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/SWAT_team_kills_2_dogs_in_0731.html 

HERE IT IS---THE WORLD’S OLDEST JOKE
Aside from Barbara Walters
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7536918.stm 

HERE IT IS---THE EARTH, NAKED!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/31/eaearth131.xml

HERE IT IS---PHOTO OF THE WEEK
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=244320&in_page_id=34

HERE IT IS---MORFORD ON REAL INSTANT GRATIFICATION
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/08/01/notes080108.DTL
The tingle, of course, is caused by the iPhone in my pocket, which has not only registered the presence of the desired object, but has, though the wonders of infrared microchip nanotech credit-card wonderdazzle, already tracked down and ordered that item for me online, and is having it delivered straight to my hovel where it will appear on my doorstep in roughly 48 seconds, or in three to five weeks, depending on availability.

And on to news and comment. . .

CHENEY WANTED TO DRESS UP NAVY SEALS AS IRANIANS---
AND SHOOT AT THEM TO START WAR WITH IRAN
---SEYMOUR HERSH REPORT
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/01/cheney-wanted-to-dress-up-navy-seals-as-iranians-and-shoot-at-them-to-get-his-war-with-iran/

BRIT ISLAND IN INDIA OCEAN USED BY USA
FOR TERROR INTERROGATION
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1828469,00.html
The source tells TIME that, in 2002 and possibly 2003, the U.S. imprisoned and interrogated one or more terrorist suspects on Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean controlled by the United Kingdom.

DISNEY IRAQ! THE UNHAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/93251/introducing_disneyiraq%3A_the_unhappiest_place_on_earth/

HEY, GIRLS! JOIN THE ARMY AND GET RAPED!
Four out of ten women vets were sexually assaulted while serving their country
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/31/military.sexabuse/index.html

USA’S ECONOMIC FREE-FALL
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/93509/america%27s_economic_free_fall/
In their haste to do anything Wall Street wants, Congress and the lame-duck President are sowing far more profound troubles for the country.
Musical Accompaniment: Hell in a Bucket
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWiymmc41bE

Your Corporatocracy at work!
WAL-MART MOBILIZES AGAINST OBAMA, DEMOCRAPS
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121755649066303381.html
NEW LINENS-N-SHIT OPENS
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_linens_n_shit_opens

Man O-man
OBAMA AIDE FIRES BACK AT MCCAIN’S BUSH-LEAGUE ‘RACE CARD’ SHOT
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Axelrod_McCain_campaign_injected_race_issue_0801.html
Barack Obama never called John McCain a racist," Axelrod said on "The Early Show" on CBS. "What Barack Obama was saying is he's not exactly from Central Casting for presidential candidates."

Homeland Insecurity
BORDER AGENTS CAN SEIZE YOUR LAPTOP
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/U.S._agents_can_seize_travelers_laptops_0801.html
TELL BUSH: HANDS OFF MY LAPTOP
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/01/hands-off-laptops/

Iraq and Roll
NO MYSTIQUE LEFT---BEING FEMALE IN OCCUPIED IRAQ
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20387.htm
"Immoral" behavior in the "new liberated" Iraq consists of wearing a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt, going out unveiled, wearing make up (unless one is a Green Zone hooker, i.e working for the occupation and its proxies), falling pregnant following rape, dishonoring the family through some love affair, suspicion of adultery, accusations of lewdness, mixing and talking with men...Just about anything really. Anything that ticks the men off...

People’s Repugnic
BEIJING STEALTHILY GAINING POWER IN CENTRAL AMERICA
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/beijing-stealthily-gaining-foothold-in-central-america-1885.html
MISSILES PROTECT OLYMPIC STADIUM!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0802/p01s01-usgn.html
HAHAHAHA! CHINA TELLS WORLD TO NOT POLITICIZE OLYMPICS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7537104.stm
NEW CHINA BULLET TRAIN WILL CARRY ATHLETES
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7536576.stm
BUSH ON CHINA’S HU: “I ENJOY THE MAN”
Just exactly what do you mean by that, prezboy?
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Bush_on_China_s_Hu_I_enjoy_the_man__08012008.html

Mashed Media
DAILY NEWS BANS BLUE JEANS
Gosh, are swearing and chewing gum next?
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/no_more_jeans_or_weinkopf.php

Enviro Wacko
PELOSI BLOCKS VOTE ON OFFSHORE DRILLING
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/01/MNSH122TA3.DTL
WHAT’S A TREE, DADDY?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/08/have_children_lost_touch_with.html
100 MONTHS TO SAVE THE EARTH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/01/climatechange.carbonemissions

Spaced Out
THIRSTY?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2481877/Nasa-finds-proof-of-water-on-Mars.html
SCIENTISTS SIMULATE EARLY COSMOS, FIND GIGANTIC STARS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0802/p01s01-usgn.html

(Lack of) Health
THE MYTH OF MODERATE EXERCISE
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827342,00.html
EXERCISE IN A PILL
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080731135918.htm

Lost Angeles
COMMUTING TO WORK IN L.A.---ON A BIKE
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121755531308403265.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
Paula Rodriguez, who lives in the San Fernando Valley, got so disgusted with soaring fuel prices last spring that she stopped driving, sold her SUV and bought a bike. But pedaling the 15 miles home from her job, the 30-year-old Ms. Rodriquez has encountered something more frightening than $4.50-a-gallon gasoline: the mean streets of L.A., home of the nation's most entrenched car culture. "Drivers scream at me to get off the road," says the medical-billing clerk.

Obits
R.I.P. HOLLYWOOD BOWL FIREWORKS DESIGNER GENE EVANS
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-evans1-2008aug01,0,7567754.story

And in more important matters. . .

WATCH: RARE AUSTRALIAN SNUBFIN DOLPHINS FILMED FOR THE FIRST TIME
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/aug/01/raredolphin

ARE THE SEMICOLON’S DAYS NUMBERED?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/04/france.britishidentity

Hey, Be-attle!
BEATLES TAPE UP FOR AUCTION
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7536866.stm
RENSE COMMENTS ON HOW TO SOLVE ‘LET IT BE’ PROBLEM
(Scroll down)
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/725letitbeagain.html

Cheap gossip
SCULLY HATES MULDER
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=244320&in_page_id=34

HOW DO INSECTS BREATHE UNDERWATER?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080730155354.htm

SAVING THE MANUSCRIPTS OF TIMBUKTU
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,569560,00.html

INTERVIEW: EXTREME MOUNTAINEERING
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,569589,00.html

BRIT PUBS: THE LAST PLACE YOU WANT TO BUY A DRINK
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/07/29/do2904.xml

Light reading
WHAT’S BECOME OF ART CRITICISM?
http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2008-07/DuelingDuo.html
Art makes unusual demands on the viewer, and art criticism makes unusual demands on the writer, who must now fill several roles: that of a stock analyst at the art fairs and auction houses; a gossip columnist at the openings; a sports announcer at the museums and galleries; and a lifestyle guru in the popular press.

Books
”THE FORSAKEN”
http://www.nysun.com/arts/banished-the-forsaken-by-tim-tzouliadis/82839/
This is a very sad book, the story of thousands of Americans who, during the Depression, lured by sham Soviet propaganda and pro-Soviet falsehoods spread by the likes of George Bernard Shaw and the corrupt New York Times Moscow correspondent, Walter Duranty, migrated to the USSR in search of jobs and a role in the "building of socialism." It was, in the words of the author, "the least heralded migration in American history" and a period when "for the first time in her short history more people were leaving the United States than were arriving."

Where ya goin’?
SURREAL HOTEL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/31/NST611L2U7.DTL

And in the end. . .
THINGS YOUNGER THAN JOHN MCCAIN
http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com/the-top-25-posts/

7/31
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
GUS ARNHEIM ORCHESTRA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etgRjnxj-fs
YOU SAID IT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCWvTe8ZrhQ
GREAT DEPRESSION BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCWvTe8ZrhQ
DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Uln-tjpcM
A HOT DOG, A BLANKET, AND YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkbLZrndttA
WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpZB5BfAkHE
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvBkeabFvH8
YOU GAVE ME THE ANSWER (PAUL MCCARTNEY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xek647AAIeg
X-RATED VIDEO: GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQCPDY_ZJpM

GIANT LAKE FOUND ON SATURN MOON
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jul/31/titan.saturn.water.nasa

CHEECH AND CHONG BACK TOGETHER
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7534586.stm

SAY IT AIN’T SO: NO TOPLESS SUNBATHING ON FRENCH BEACHES?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/2475214/Topless-sunbathing-goes-out-of-fashion-on-French-beaches.html
And, in a related story:
BRITISH WATERMELON THIEVES RESCUED FROM WELL
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2476450/British-watermelon-thieves-rescued-from-well-by-Greek-police.html 

CRAZY STARBUCKS EXPANDS IN BRITAIN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/31/starbucks.fooddrinks

PAUL NEWMAN HANGING ON
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2479070/Paul-Newman-in-a-wheelchair-after-latest-hospital-visit.html 

MORFORD ON THE END OF THE SUV
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/07/30/notes073008.DTL
GM is trying desperately to dump the Hummer brand (maybe on China), SUV sales are nosediving faster than Miley Cyrus' career into the land of anorexia and Olsen Twin-certified rehab. Already small cars are outselling SUVs and pickup trucks for the first time in years. Hybrid sales are soaring.

And on to news and comment. . .

BARACK LOVES CONDI!
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003833865

HARDWORKING AND HOMELESS
Telemarketer sleeps in a tent in the park
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/31/BAPB1227KF.DTL
A telemarketer, Sepa hits the phones at 7 a.m., working out of Zephyr Cafe in the Richmond District. He uses his laptop and a cell phone headset to make over 100 cold calls each morning. Currently, he's trying to get companies to take a meeting with a software firm he's representing. He gets paid via his PayPal account, and owns an iPod and a guitar. When he says he is going to take you out to see "my version of a shopping cart," he means a late model Chevy. What he doesn't have is four walls and a roof. Instead, he's been living in a tent deep on the back trails of Golden Gate Park for three months.

Your Corporatocracy at work!
RISING OIL PRICES SWELL EXXON, SHELL PROFITS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/business/01oil.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

FORGET STEROIDS---OLYMPIC COMMITTEE WANTS TO FIGURE OUT IF YOU ARE A BOY OR GIRL
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jul/30/olympicgames2008.gender 

QUANTAS WILL REPAIR JET WITH GAPING HOLE---AND FLY IT AGAIN
Make reservations now!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/2478649/Qantas-to-repair-jet-with-hole-in-fuselage.html

THOMPSON: IT’S STILL THE ECONOMY, STUPID CANDIDATES
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10067
Besides Bennigans and Steak & Ale, the list of closed businesses reads like a who's who:
Starbucks: Closing 600 stores nationwide.
Sharper Image: Chapter 7 liquidation.
Mervyn's Department Stores: Chapter 11 reorganization.
Linens 'n Things: Closed. Chapter 7.
Some 25 towns, counties and cities have filed for some form of bankruptcy protection. Police Departments park their cars because they can't afford the gas to go on patrol. More banks have failed in the last month than in the last five years.

SCHEER: OBAMA, MCCAIN SUCK UP TO BANKERS
http://www.alternet.org/story/93318/obama_and_mccain_suck_up_to_the_bankers/

Dishonest John
RUSSIA TO MCCAIN:
THREATEN US AFTER YOU’RE ELECTED, JACKASS
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=65082&sectionid=351020602 
MCCAIN’S SPOKESMAN CONTRADICTS BOSS:
SAYS MADEYE WILL NOT RAISE TAXES
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_spokesman_McCain_doesnt_speak_for_0730.html
CARTOON: BOLOGNA TALK
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/07/cartoon_bologna_talk_express.html

Man O-man
BROWN: CLARK AS OBAMA VP?
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10066

Mashed Media
JEWISH JOURNAL: ZELL’S WRECKING OF TIMES IS A CRIME AGAINST THE CITY
http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/sell_it_sam_20080730/
ZELL CALLS TRIB TAKEOVER ‘DEAL FROM HELL’
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/zell_calls_tribune_takeov.php
LAT EDITOR’S FALSE BRAVADO
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/pep_talk_from_la_times_ed.php 

People’s Repugnic
DEPARTING COLUMNIST MULLS CHINA
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/31/asia/letter01.php
Events of recent months have revealed this to be a deeply reactionary government, a state with manifold reasons for self-confidence, and yet one that seems spooked by its own shadow. How else to explain the embarrassing need to carefully censor the Internet during the Games, as detailed in this newspaper on Thursday, or the need to jail lawyers, or buy off parents whose children were killed in flimsy schoolhouses during the recent Sichuan earthquake, or to tightly censor journalists, or to ban protests of all sorts? What this all points to is the emergence of China as a new kind of Potemkin state: a place that invests heavily in the very old-fashioned idea that if you manipulate appearances and control the field of view, reality will gradually bend in the desired direction.

Enviro Wacko
HAVE A NICE CUP OF PURIFIED SEWAGE?
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/07/30/water%e2%80%99s-odyssey-from-sewer-to-cup/
It’s washed through microfiltration, pressed through rows of reverse osmosis membranes, and then blasted with ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide. After 45 minutes, out comes clean, drinkable water. The final product doesn’t go directly to the tap. Instead, half of it flows into a seawater barrier and the other half into a freshwater pond that replenishes the county’s groundwater basin. In the end, the recycled water makes up about 20 percent of the drinking water for roughly 2.3 million people.

Spaced
SPACE PROGRAM OFFICIAL BACKS UP ASTRONAUT’S CLAIMS OF E.T.
http://www.stargate-chronicles.com/release_mitchell.html

Obit
R.I.P. NOBLE ‘MAN OF THE FOREST’---
DROWNED IN GERMAN ZOO
Orang was chasing bread roll that some asshole tourist threw at her
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,569266,00.html

Oh, by the way. . .
ATLANTIS-LIKE FIND OFF N. IRELAND COAST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7532771.stm
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ BELGIAN PROTEST:
SITTING IN CONSTRUCTION CRANES
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,569299,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

MRS. LATTANZIO AND HER 600 CATS
http://features.csmonitor.com/backstory/2008/07/31/qcats/

INTRODUCING WORLD'S FIRST PRACTICAL JETPACK
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/07/30/new-jetpack-jumps-one-step-closer-to-our-high-flying-dreams/

For Art’s Sake
SLIDE SHOW: THE ART OF THE FAMILY DOG
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1827839_1743497,00.html

PROFILE: SMILEY, THE MEGALOMANIAC
What a giant nothing this guy is.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/08/04/080804fa_fact_sanneh 

Light reading
HERODOTUS, INVENTOR OF HISTORY
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/04/28/080428crbo_books_mendelsohn?currentPage=all

WORKINGS OF ANCIENT ‘COMPUTER’ DECIPHERED
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/31/europe/31computer.php

Batman
DEPP TO PLAY BATMAN BAD GUY
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/films/article.html?in_article_id=243641&in_page_id=27 
JOLIE WILL PLAY ‘CATWOMAN’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2467427/Angelina-Jolie-tipped-as-next-Catwoman.html

Where ya goin’?
DISCOVERING VENICE WITHOUT THE TOURISTS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/27/TRRR11QRMH.DTL
WORLD’S LARGEST FOOD FIGHT
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,569339,00.html

And in the end. . .
PRINCE VS. BEE
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=242269&in_page_id=34
VIEW ONLY WITH THIS MUSIC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW2ToBgFqMY
 

7/30
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
I’M FOLLOWING YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_FruGFtwFA
ROMANCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAcZh71Lkl8
UNDER A ROOF IN PARIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gAoreM2yFQ 
(And here they are)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf4wUmBM6gk 
TO WHISPER DEAR, ‘I LOVE YOU’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5HvYrG9YmQ 
JUST ONE MORE CHANCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL0mJ8i93Hg 
I’M GONNA GET YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9XHHv19vsg 
DANCING ON A RAINBOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHWGyA_-LxA 

WATCH: NEW ‘POTTER’ PREVIEW
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7532279.stm

JERRY LEWIS CITED FOR UNLOADED GUN IN LUGGAGE
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/30/jerry.lewis.gun.ap/index.html?eref=ib_topstories

DOZENS BLINDED IN INDIA WHILE LOOKING FOR VIRGIN MARY---IN THE SUN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1581424/Dozens-blinded-in-India-looking-for-Virgin-Mary.html

NO NEW FAST-FOOD OUTLETS FOR ONE YEAR---IN SOUTH L.A.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1827400,00.html 

And on to news and comment. . .

WOMAN SPENDS YEAR DOING EXACTLY WHAT OPRAH INSTRUCTS---
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/30/celebrity.women 
She's creating her "vision board", has taken part in a "21-day cleanse" and cooked the turkey burgers Oprah insisted everyone try. But after the all-important de-cluttering, Okrant is now replacing it with new things she didn't know she needed, such as a fire-pit. "We don't have a backyard so I'm encouraging the cat to sleep in it."
---AND HERE IS HER BLOG, ‘LIVING OPRAH’
http://www.livingoprah.com/

OBAMA: I WILL REVERSE (SOME) BUSH EXECUTIVE ORDERS
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_vows_to_reverse_executive_orders_0729.html

People’s Repugnic
CHINESE MAN SENT TO LABOR CAMP---
FOR TAKING QUAKE PHOTOS OF COLLAPSED SCHOOLS
This country should never have gotten the Olympics
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7532813.stm
CHINA WILL CENSOR INTERNET DURING OLYMPICS
What a fine, fine country!
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/In_reversal_China_to_censor_Internet_0730.html
INTERVIEW: BEIJING STADIUM ARCHITECT
Says he created “subervise space” where people could meet without being monitored
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,569011,00.html

Israelity
PALESTINIANS FILMING ISRAEL ABUSE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/30/israelandthepalestinians
10-YEAR-OLD PALESTINIAN BOY SHOT TO DEATH
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinian-boy-10-killed-by-israelis-at-separation-wall-880435.html
U.S. TO UPGRADE ISRAEL MISSILE SYSTEM
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=65132&sectionid=351020202

Lost Angeles
EAST L.A. CITYHOOD?
Why not just declare it a separate country instead?
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/east_la_cityhood_sized_up.php

World gone mad
FERTILITY TOURISM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/30/familyandrelationships.healthandwellbeing
The baby she is due to give birth to in September has no genetic link with Aleksandrova. The colour of its eyes, length of its legs and slope of its nose will be determined by a man and a woman who are strangers not only to her, but also to each other. Her baby's biological parents live 7,000km apart, and are separated by language, culture and currency.
THEY’RE EATING MUD IN HAITI
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20375.htm

Your Corporatocracy at work!
CROOK TED STEVENS BRIBED PAKISTAN
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/30/ted-stevens-reportedly-bribed-pakistan/

RAIMUNDO: THE SURGE (PROPAGANDA) IS WORKING
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13225
Yes, but you have to admit – avers my imaginary interlocutor, the skeptical reader – that the situation on the ground has gotten better. Well, no, I don't admit any such thing, because one has to ask: better than what? Better than before the war? Surely not – and that's the only standard that has real meaning to the Iraqis. More than anything, they want a return to normalcy – and a low-level civil war punctuated by eruptions of shocking violence is anything but normal.

BENEN: TERRORISM IS CRIME, NOT A WAR
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/29/john-kerry-will-probably-accept-bushs-apology/#more-31415
A terrorist plot was disrupted in Germany last fall thanks to the combined efforts of intelligence gathering and law-enforcement operations. The alleged plot at JFK airport was discovered after the combined efforts of intelligence gathering and law-enforcement operations. The alleged plot at Fort Dix was discovered after the combined efforts of intelligence gathering and law-enforcement operations. The alleged British hijacking plot was discovered after the combined efforts of intelligence gathering and law-enforcement operations. The list goes on and on. We catch the bad guys, prevent terrorism, and save lives through these combined efforts. Why anyone would find this controversial is a mystery to me. Why John McCain continues to embrace such a flawed counter-terrorism strategy is even more odd.

Dishonest John
MCCAIN CHANGES TAX POSITION AGAIN
This guy has no hard-and-fast positions on anything.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/29/john-mccain-flip-flops-on-taxes-on-social-security/

Impeachy-keen
TIME FOR BUSH TO PAY FOR HIS CRIMES
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/10061
LINDORFF: VICTORY, AND A CHALLENGE
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/179
That Pelosi buckled and permitted a hearing on impeachable crimes by the Bush/Cheney administration is a major victory for the impeachment movement, but it must not be the end of the line. Impeachment activists need to now redouble their efforts to make Congress do its Constitutional duty, and initiate a formal impeachment proceeding. As former Republican representative Bob Barr, now the Libertarian candidate for president, told Friday’s hearing, “We had a nuclear clock during the Cold War. In the ‘90s we had a debt clock. Now we have a Constitution Clock.” That clock is getting close to midnight, and it is ticking.

Mashed Media
NYT NEXT FOR SLAUGHTER?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003832871

(Lack of) Health
ALZHEIMER’S BREAKTHROUGH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jul/30/medicalresearch.health
HAVE A NICE BIALY-SHAPED NANOPARTICLE
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080729234308.htm
‘TRANSSEXUAL GENE’ FOUND
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=241605&in_page_id=34

Oh, by the way. . .
INDIA WEAVERS DISPLACED BY MARKET DEMAND
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0731/p07s01-wosc.html
Diminishing demand for handwoven saris coupled with competition from power looms – which belt out several garments a day – in other parts of India as well as China have left the 300,000 hand loom weavers of Varanasi, a city in northern India, wretchedly poor. Once prosperous, craftsmen like Mr. Majid are now struggling to survive.
UFO HACKER TO BE EXTRADITED TO USA
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=241542&in_page_id=34

And in more important matters. . .

Musique
HERE’S A BEATLES RECORDING YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW ABOUT. . .
James Ray’s “If You’ve Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody”
http://wogew.blogspot.com/2008/07/majestic-ballroom-luton.html
INSANE NEW PRODUCTION OF ‘PARSIFAL’ AT BAYREUTH
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/arts/music/30tann.html?ex=1218081600&en=d14767ddc1d3f88a&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Film
LOST SCENES RESTORE LANG’S VISION OF “METROPOLIS”
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,563936,00.html 
It is a cinematic sensation: Long lost scenes from Fritz Lang's masterpiece Metropolis have been discovered in a Buenos Aires museum 80 years after the film was made.
MAN ON A WIRE’S TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/films/article.html?in_article_id=239814&in_page_id=27&in_a_source=

TeeVee
‘BRIDESHEAD REVISITED’ REVISITED
http://www.slate.com/id/2195923/
DR. WHO’S NEW ENEMY
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2473376/Doctor-Who-to-be-challenged-by-new-Cyberman-enemy.html

And in the end. . .
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?
http://gawker.com/5030531/dead-monster-washes-ashore-in-montauk

7/29
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
HILDEGARDE---TROUBLE IN PARADISE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYnXOD3Go1U
THE ADAMS SISTERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae8CoBbtT-A
TIPTOE THROUGH THE TULIPS (1929)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZMHJX4b9bU
PAINTING THE CLOUDS WITH SUNSHINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZMHJX4b9bU 
TILL TIMES GET BETTER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDLx6uF0wg8
I’M SAILING ON A SUNBEAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zca2XiRAtU 
HILDEGARDE---DARLING JE VOUS AIME BEAUCOUP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RblMSHULNXU 

SHOCKER! L.A. BOOKSTORE. . .EXPANDS!
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/skylight_books_expands_th.php

STOLEN SHAKESPEARE FOLIO FOUND---TEN YEARS LATER
Bookstore owner arrested. . .He drove Lamborghinis, Ferraris. . .
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4316464.ece

MORE ARGUMENT FOR CAREFULLY LICENSING GUITARS. . .
And prosecuting people for narcissism, stupidity
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/07/28/DDS811VPGO.DTL&o=0

PREVIEW OF STONE’S SILLY-LOOKING BUSH BIOPIC
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/usa/2008/07/this_summer_fall_in_love_all_o.html

CARLA BRUNI COMPARES SELF TO JACKIE O.
And she’s modest, too.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/2469254/Carla-Bruni-I%27m-more-Jackie-Kennedy-than-Madame-de-Gaulle.html

WATCH: HARRY SHEARER IN ‘THE TURD BLOSSOM SPECIAL’
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/28/open-thread-881/

WINEHOUSE OBVIOUSLY O.D.’D
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=239690&in_page_id=7

And on to news and comment. . .

THROW THIS BEAST TO THE DOGS
And let them chew on his bones
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/29/state/n052945D34.DTL&tsp=1
Authorities think the man may have been illegally breeding and selling the dogs as purebreds to buyers in San Jose and San Francisco, even though he didn't have permits to keep unaltered dogs or operate a kennel.

CRAZY WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO 18th CHILD
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/28/national/a123741D25.DTL

OH WOW---‘TEKKIE’ MCCAIN CAN READ E-MAIL!
What a progressive fellow he is!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/29/MNQS120PDK.DTL&tsp=1

ARMY LURES YOUR KID WITH KILLER VIDEO GAMES
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121721198768289035-XKUYzOoHkddCrYY9JcEZnn4h4yc_20080826.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
They jump into Humvees or Black Hawk helicopters and use fake firearms to hunt down "genocidal indigenous forces." They shoot at huge video screens.
"I like that I got to use a gun!" said 13-year-old Spencer Padgett, after trying the "Virtual Army Experience." His dad, Scott, from Laporte, Ind., said he wanted his son to gain an appreciation of the sacrifices being made by the Army. The Virtual Army Experience -- a traveling exhibit of the U.S. Army -- has been touring the country for the past year and a half, stopping at amusement parks, air shows and county fairs.

JUSTICE DEPT.’S UNJUST, INSANE HIRING POLICIES REVEALED---
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/9993
The report found that qualified candidates for jobs were rejected because a spouse was involved in Democratic politics or because either the candidate or a candidate's wife was believed to be a lesbian.
---AND FOX DOESN’T EVEN COVER THE STORY
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/29/rampant-politicization-of-the-justice-department-gets-total-silence-from-fox-news/

CHURCH SHOOTER MAD AT “LIBERALS, GAYS”---
ENJOYED READING O’REILLY, SAVAGE, HANNITY
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/OReilly_Savage_Hannity_on_accused_church_0728.html

Your Corporatocracy at work!
RICHARD “DRACULA” PERLE SET TO ENTER IRAQ OIL INDUSTRY
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/29/perle-oil/

All-melty dollar
EHRENREICH: DEBT GOT YOU DOWN? KILL YOURSELF!
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/93077/suicide_spreads_as_one_solution_to_the_debt_crisis/
WHITNEY: THE LAST HURRAH FOR THE BANKING SYSTEM
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20373.htm
So, while your bank still has money and can process your checks, it may be time to pay down debts, pay quarterly taxes and mortgage payments in advance, and think of having money outside of banks (gold, foreign currencies), etc., before your money is inaccessible or even evaporates! Don’t think all your investments outside of banks are immune from all this turmoil. For example, money market mutual funds, where Americans have invested $3 trillion, are not covered by FDIC insurance (however, money market accounts offered by banks are covered). Recent losses in some of these money market mutual funds have caused some companies to rush to plug the losses. For example, Legg Mason Inc. and SunTrust Banks Inc., recently pumped $1.4 billion each into its money market funds. Bank of America Corp. has injected $600 million.

PELOSI: “I’M TRYING TO SAVE THE PLANET”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/12122.html
With fewer than 20 legislative days before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, the entire appropriations process has largely ground to a halt because of the ham-handed fighting that followed Republican attempts to lift the moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration. And after promising fairness and open debate, Pelosi has resorted to hard-nosed parliamentary devices that effectively bar any chance for Republicans to offer policy alternatives. “I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she says impatiently when questioned. “I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy.”

Man O-Man
NADER: OBAMA SUPPORTERS TRAPPED IN “POLITICAL SLAVERY”
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Nader_Democrats_are_political_slaves_Obama_0728.html
Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader claimed that liberals and Democrats who will vote for Sen. Barack Obama as the "least worst candidate" are actually trapped in "political slavery."
KAINE O-MAN’S VEEP?
http://thepage.time.com/

Iraq and Roll
IRAQ SET TO EXPLODE
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/339676
GATES: WAR WITH IRAN WOULD BE ‘DISASTROUS’
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006129.html 

People’s Repugnic
WATCH: BEIJING SHROUDED IN POLLUTION
Athletes training in Japan, S. Korea to avoid Beijing smog
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080728-pollution-video-ap.html
ATHLETES WEARING RED CONTACTS---
TO SCREEN OUT SMOG GLARE
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/other/article.html?in_article_id=239682&in_page_id=52 

(Lack of) Health
EVERYBODY’S GOING IPOD DEAF
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827159,00.html
JAPANESE FISH DIET EXPLAINS HEALTHY HEARTS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080728192645.htm

Technically. . .
CUIL (COO-UHL) IS NO THREAT TO GOOGLE
Sounds like a Japanese monster movie. . .
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1827331,00.html

Science
MICROSCOPE ON A MICROCHIP
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080728192813.htm

Oh, by the way. . .
LEMURS WERE ONCE THE SIZE OF BABOONS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080728192653.htm

And in more important matters. . .

WHO MADE IT TO AMERICA FIRST, COLUMBUS OR THE POLYNESIANS?
Chicken bone could provide the answer!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080728-polynesia-chicken.html

REMEMBERING ‘THE CHILDREN,’ BY RUDYARD KIPLING
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/07/poem_of_the_week_the_children.html 
If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied.

ADAPTING THE GARDENS OF VERSAILLES TO GLOBAL WARMING
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/29/gardens.france
Faced with a changing weather patterns that are wreaking havoc on plants and wildlife, the chief gardener has decided to defy the traditionalists and turn his back on centuries of horticultural practice. It is imperative, he says, to move with the times.

Archictecture
GERMAINE GREER ON ‘VERNACULAR HOUSING’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/jul/28/architecture.ecotowns
Once upon a time, when most people in rural Ireland were poor, Irish houses were lovely to look at. They were horrible to live in, which is why when EU subsidies kicked in, everyone who lived in a whitewashed grass-roofed cottage, with a dungheap steaming before the door, knocked it down and built himself a hideous villa.

Musique
REVIEW: THE GREAT TOM WAITS IN EDINBURGH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/29/1
Stamping his feet and causing billows of dust to rise from the stage, moving in exaggerated gestures, punctuating his songs with hilariously odd vaudevillian monologues, Waits is an utterly magnetic performer, capable of drawing you into the most difficult material.
WHY THE BEATLES’ “LET IT BE” FILM HAS NOT BEEN RE-RELEASED
And is not likely to be.
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/725letitbeagain.html

SLIDE SHOW: THE MAGNIFICENT PUFFIN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2008/jul/28/wildlife.endangeredspecies

And in the end. . .
THE COUNTRY JOE CAFÉ
http://www.countryjoe.com/cafe/

7/28
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
TITO SCHIPA: TORNA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f4WLXdzWtQ
LOVER PLEASE (COME BACK)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3HHHdI9ziE
HE’S GONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEke7x4CKSM 
SHE’S GONE, GONE, GONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwRfSuzqSL0 
NUN WILL DIE SONN’ SO HELL AUFGEH’N
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXtiNEiNTsI
IDEALE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPSVzLHc2DY 
BACK IN THE GOOD OLD WORLD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8xTShS56HU 
TITO SCHIPA: TORNA PICCINA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIIuxwciUPM

DID STEVE FOSSETT FAKE HIS DEATH?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2462912/Adventurer-Steve-Fossett-may-have-faked-his-own-death.html

FLASH! HOW U.S. TROOPS WILL TRAIN IRAQI ARMY
http://thegallopingbeaver.blogspot.com/2008/07/transition-from-combat-to-training.html

Mashed Media
HERE IT IS, FOLKS: NOT THE L.A. TIMES
Former staffer does great spoof site of Zell Hell
http://notthelatimes.com/
AND. . .MR. ZELL’S NEIGHBORHOOD
http://downtownnews.com/articles/2008/07/28/news/news02.txt

FASCIST CHEF NEARLY DIES
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=237485&in_page_id=7

HERE’S WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS: BEER WITH MORE ALCOHOL!
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1826878,00.html

MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/2464790/Porn-film-made-at-First-World-War-memorial.html

And on to news and comment. . .

INNER CITY FARMS
USA starting to grow its own on every available plot
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1826271,00.html

GORGEOUS ENTRANCE TO YOSEMITE IS ASHES NOW
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/27/national/a144521D38.DTL

People's Repugnic
BEIJING STINKS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/sports/olympics/29china.html?hp
But on Monday, China’s official English-language newspaper, China Daily, ran a front-page story under a boldfaced headline: “Emergency green plan for Games.” The article warned that officials may force far more vehicles off city streets — possibly 90 percent of the city’s total — and temporarily close more factories.
SERIES OF BUS BOMBS IN CHINA
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/28/china1
MUSLIM ASSHOLES THREATEN OLYMPICS
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826953,00.html

Iraq and Roll
AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE:
THE SURGE---THE NEW LOYALTY TEST
http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2008/07/26/surge-the-new-loyalty-test/
Are we to believe that reducing the violence of an insurgency that our own government and its surrogates were content to deny until it absolutely, positively couldn’t be ignored any longer, down to the level it should have been in Spring 2003 when in military terms, we should have been doing things right already, neutralizes the fact that we blew apart a country, sent 4 million people from their homes, helped to create a brain drain in which there are hardly any doctors or teachers left in the cities and an unemployment rate that could reach 50 percent depending on who one talks to? Not to mention that if we had done things right in the first place, thousands of US soldiers and Marines would be alive and full-bodied today, their brains not rattled from IED blasts, their dreams not stalked every night by the ghosts of dead Iraqi children and fallen comrades, their homes not broken and their chances for normal livelihoods more hopeful.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER WAVE OF DEATH, MAIMING
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/28/iraq.terrorism
$40 MILLION IRAQ PRISON SITS EMPTY
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/9921
In the flatlands north of Baghdad sits a prison with no prisoners. It holds something else: a chronicle of U.S. government waste, misguided planning and construction shortcuts costing $40 million and stretching back to the American overseers who replaced Saddam Hussein.

The Other War
NATO KILLING MORE AFGHAN CIVILIANS IN TALIBAN FIGHT
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,568492,00.html

The Torture Never Stops
22,000 VETS USED SUICIDE HOTLINES LAST YEAR
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Suicide_hot_line_got_calls_from_0728.html

Homeland Insecurity
CHALMERS JOHNSON:
OUTSOURCING SPYING IN THE USA
http://www.alternet.org/audits/92933/the_vast_and_dangerous_transfer_of_american_spying_to_mercenary_companies/
Not only, he claims, has the privatization of intelligence made it easier for enemies to penetrate American intelligence and greased the slippery slope to the loss of professionalism within the community of intelligence analysts, but, perhaps most serious of all, it has ensured the loss of the most valuable asset any intelligence organization possesses -- its institutional memory.

Man O-Man
HILLARY AS OBAMA’S VEEP?
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/9796
OBAMA CAMPAIGN: MCCAIN AD IS ‘DISHONORABLE’
Well, it’s a dull-witted cheap shot bit of lowbrow crap, but “dishonorable” will do
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/McCain_camp_Obama_shortchanged_injured_troops_0726.html
Republican John McCain's campaign on Saturday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, contending Obama chose foreign leaders and cheering Europeans over "injured American heroes."
RICH: ACTING PREZ OBAMA
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27rich.html?em&ex=1217390400&en=32eaa0d45f6c0280&ei=5087%0A
The growing Obama clout derives not from national polls, where his lead is modest. Nor is it a gift from the press, which still gives free passes to its old bus mate John McCain. It was laughable to watch journalists stamp their feet last week to try to push Mr. Obama into saying he was “wrong” about the surge. More than five years and 4,100 American fatalities later, they’re still not demanding that Mr. McCain admit he was wrong when he assured us that our adventure in Iraq would be fast, produce little American “bloodletting” and “be paid for by the Iraqis.”
O-MAN ‘HUSTLED’ BY GERMAN JOURNALIST
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,568532,00.html

Dishonest John
MCCAIN RATTLING SABER AT RUSSIA
This crazy bastard just thrives on bellicosity
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=64953&sectionid=351020602

Mashed Media
PARENTS OF AUTISTIC KIDS DEMAND SAVAGE’S FIRING
Hell, why not tar and feather him, too?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/28/BAOU120FGO.DTL&tsp=1

And in more important matters. . .

PROFILE: RANDY NEWMAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/28/popandrock.usa
On the close-knit, overheated circuit of singer-songwriters in Los Angeles during the late 60s and early 70s, Newman was the outsider, the man who watched several of his peers - Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young - reap millions, while his own career followed a more quixotic, cultish path. Four decades on, he thinks he got the better deal. "Some of them got through it and now they're fine," he continues, "and some of them died, and some of them are assholes, and some of them don't have money any more. But no one was the same person."

Words, words
‘ELITISM’ IS NOT A DIRTY WORD
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-elite27-2008jul27,0,4343896.story

Cheap gossip
JASON CONNERY: MY POP IS NO MONSTER
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2464409/James-Bond-actor-Sean-Connery-is-not-a-monster%2C-insists-son.html
DID MEDUSA HELP WRITE BRO’S TELL-ALL BOOK?
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=237486&in_page_id=7

And in the end. . .
BELUGA WHALES BLOWING BUBBLES
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/2464554/Beluga-whales-blowing-bubble-rings.html

7/25
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning Concert
SHAKE A HAND---Elvis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QupjePuBirM
SHAKE A HAND---Igor Prado
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9doGG1QAnE
WILLIE AND THE HAND JIVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYpkbSarV08
HANDS OF TIME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ylGN5StFw
KOMM GIB MI DEINE HAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiidNcUEIfo 
KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY BABY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBMXydGLPlc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMUZnfNFzg4
PUT IT THERE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaI8so2D3n8
MY HANDY MAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20IMrEhVi2k 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1WWH82EqZg 
HANDY MAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBTmMjT-48c 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIpqrAkcCT8

LISTEN: ASTRONAUT ED MITCHELL ON E.T.
Sixth man to walk on the moon talks about visitations
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RhNdxdveK7c
”There’s more nonsense out there about this than there is real knowledge.”

CAR CRASH KITTY GETS NEW FACE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2459263/Car-crash-cat-has-face-rebuilt---for-%C2%A37%2C500.html

CHINESE WOMEN POLE-DANCE FOR FITNESS
by Jimmy Wang
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/25/asia/25pole.php
and, in a related story. . .
SPANIARD PROJECTS PENIS ON TO BUILDINGS
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=235424&in_page_id=2

CONDI CAN’T WAIT TO GET BACK TO SHOPPING
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7524939.stm

MORFORD: KILL YOURSELF IN LAS VEGAS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/07/25/notes072508.DTL

And on to news and comment. . .

U.S. LET BIN-LADEN’S TOP BODYGUARD SKATE
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/45505.html

WATCH: QUANTAS FLIGHT WITH HOLE IN ITS SIDE LANDS SAFELY
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/2458270/London-to-Melbourne-Qantas-plane-emergency-landing-Passengers-speak-of-terror.html

LITTLE JOEY LIEBERMAN: U.S. SHOULD ATTACK IRAN BECAUSE. . .
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Lieberman-At-Hagee-Confere-by-Gustav-Wynn-080723-34.html
Lieberman also told the audience he preferred Hagee and his supporters over the tens of thousands of anti-war petitioners, organized chiefly through the pro-Israel advocacy group J Street.

HAGEL TO CANDIDATES: QUIT DISCUSSING THE SURGE, PAST VOTES
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Hagel_scolds_candidates_Quit_talking_about_0725.html

Man O-Man
O-MAN REBUTS MCCAIN'S CHEAP SHOT
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Obama_swipes_McCain_before_heading__07252008.html
OBAMA’S “COOLY CALCULATED” SPEECH IN GERMANY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,568121,00.html
On Thursday evening he delivered a masterpiece in the art of political magic. He promised to heal the wounds of the world, from Israel to the melting polar ice caps. He wants to reconcile the world's religions, bring black and white people closer together, Europeans and Americans too. The genocide in Darfur should be brought to an end and he wants to end the problems of globalization with global trade that is not just free but also fair. It’s possible to be impressed by all this---or find it shameless.
PROMINENT GERMANS REACT
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,567926,00.html 
PRESS REACTION TO OBAMA’S SPEECH
Also full text of speech
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080725.htm
O-MAN PERPETUATES ‘WAR ON TERROR’ AGENDA
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/24/international/i102846D67.DTL
PILGER: OBAMA, WAR-MONGER IN DISGUISE
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20347.htm
Those who write of Obama that "when it comes to international affairs, he will be a huge improvement on Bush" demonstrate the same wilful naivety that backed the bait-and-switch of Bill Clinton – and Tony Blair. . .Barack Obama is the American Blair. That he is a smooth operator and a black man is irrelevant.
FOX JERK “CONFUSES” OBAMA AND OSAMA TWICE IN FIVE SECONDS
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/24/foxs-kilmeade-confuses-bin-laden-and-obama-twice-in-five-seconds/
OBAMA TROOP VISIT CANCELLED
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/obama-skips-visit-with-troops/index.html?hp
MICHELLE OBAMA: ‘I’M NOTHING SPECIAL’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2008/07/26/sm_obama126.xml

Dishonest John
MCCAIN CANCELS OIL RIG VISIT---AFTER SPILL
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/McCain_cancels_trip_to_oil_rig_0724.html
MCCAIN DENIES BOTCHING ANWAR TIMELINE
But. . .but. . .it’s on tape, Senator
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/25/mccain-denies-botching-anwar-timeline/

PETITION TO SEND ROVE TO JAIL
FOR IGNORING SUBPOENA GETS 100K SIGNATURES
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/07/send_rove_to_jail_petition.html

‘BATMAN’ A COMMENT ON 9/11 FEAR-MONGERING?
http://www.alternet.org/movies/92385/batman%27s_take_on_9_11_era_politics_drop_the_fearmongering/

Mashed Media
FOR SALE: SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003831638

People’s Repugnic
THE WIND FARMS OF CHINA
Wind energy output is trumping targets, and competition between operators is fierce, but coal still reigns supreme
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/25/renewableenergy.alternativeenergy

Enviro Wacko
GOODBYE, BERKELEY OAKS---HELLO STADIUM
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/24/BA5911V405.DTL&tsp=1

Auto Motive
THE CHEVY VOLT---HYBRID PLUG-IN SENSATION OF 2010?
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200807/general-motors

Oh, by the way. . .
WORM FOSSILS TELL OF ANTARCTIC’S WARM PAST
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080725-antarctica-fossil.html
WOMEN LEAD DISSIDENT FIGHT IN CUBA
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0725/p01s02-woam.html
JAPAN’S NEWEST GROWTH INDUSTRY: ASIAN TOURISTS
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/25/business/wbtourists.php

And in more important matters. . .

DID YETI ACTUALLY EXIST? HAIRS SUGGEST MAYBE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7525060.stm
SHE LIKE TO BE MARRIED WITH YETI
He grooving such cookie spaghetti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqzon3sTDzs

RY COODER KEEPS L.A. SOUND ALIVE
by John Rogers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_en_mu/music_ry_cooder

Where ya goin’?
IN NORTHERN ITALY, A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE RESTORED TO LIFE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0725/p15s01-algn.html
SLIDE SHOW: BRITISH NATIONAL PARKS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/gallery/2008/jul/25/uk.shortbreaks?picture=335948093

WHY DO THE NORTHERN LIGHTS BRIGHTEN SUDDENLY?
Scientists figure it out. . .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/24/MND111UVSM.DTL

TENNANT SWITCHES FROM DR. WHO TO HAMLET
And he should stick with Shakespeare. . .time for a new Doke-tah
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2455841/Doctor-Who-fans-see-David-Tennant-switch-from-Time-Lord-to-Hamlet.html

GRETA SCACCHI IS DONE WITH BEING NAKED ON SCREEN
Such integrity!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/07/25/bfgreta125.xml

And in the end. . .
THE REAL MCCAIN!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/24/well-do-it-live-the-mccain-version/

7/24
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning concert
BLACK MUDDY RIVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsZ5aBPKAM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeQJjeHeMwA
BIG RIVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sw8bvZJkRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBLgtKVwptA
BEYOND THE SEA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEIDep_UMmk
LA MER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd_nopTFuZA
WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nViPOfr1MeU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5-mX1OLdOs
DOWN BY THE RIVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v5E27Fp59c
LAKE OF FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oVvkNp4GdA
DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xzr_GBa8qk
RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KkMSkmx7sM

WOMAN FORECLOSES SELF
Loses house, faxes suicide note to mortgage co.
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Woman_kills_herself_over_home_foreclosure_0723.html

COPS TASER KID---TO DEATH
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080723.wtaserupdate0723/BNStory/National/home

NOTHING WILL SMITH IS HIGHEST PAID ACTOR
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/default.stm
Guess that Scientology really works!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/19/usa.filmnews 

UKRAINE’S STRANGE MALANKA FESTIVAL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,567133,00.html

SLIDE SHOW: TALL SHIPS IN SF BAY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/07/23/BAAE11TAJT.DTL&o=0

EMPHYSEMA AMY’S LOOKIN’ GOOD!
Give her six or eight months, max
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=233387&in_page_id=7

MAN PISSES HIS LIFE AWAY
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=229490&in_page_id=2

And on to news and comment. . .

APOLLO 14 ASTRONAUT:
ALIENS HAVE MADE CONTACT MANY TIMES
They are “little people who look strange to us”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1037471/Apollo-14-astronaut-claims-aliens-HAVE-contact--covered-60-years.html



Animals in the news!
SCORE TWO FOR THE BEARS
Well done, fellas!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/24/russia.wildlife
Poaching has led to a dramatic decline in the bear's main food source - the Pacific salmon. Kamchatka is home to a quarter of the world's salmon. But the fish is now disappearing. Poachers have cleaned out entire species by netting rivers. Last year hunters also shot dead at least 300 bears - picking off most of the large ones. At least another 600 were killed illegally, conservationists estimate.

LINDORFF: NATION OF LEMMINGS
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/178
And yet, people are not just going about their business as usual—they are actually, for the most part, complaining not about the lack of highly energy-efficient transportation, the lack of alternative and less energy-wasting public transit, and the lack of government funding for a crash program into researching carbon-free energy solutions, but rather about the high price for carbon fuels. People are clamoring for solutions to make gasoline cheaper!

SCHEER: OBAMA JUST ANOTHER POLITICAL HACK?
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/23/10544/
Barack Obama is betraying his promise of change and is in danger of becoming just another political hack. Yes, just like former maverick John McCain, who has refashioned himself as a mindless rubber stamp for the most inane policies of the miserably failed Bush administration. Both candidates are embracing, rather than challenging, the fundamental irrationality of Bush’s “war on terror,” which substitutes hysteria for rational analysis in appraising the dangers the country faces.

OBAMA AND BIG MEDIA IGNORE ISRAEL APARTHEID
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=714&Itemid=1
The Big Media correspondents who breathlessly cover Obama at home and abroad are not stupid or ignorant people. They (or someone in their offices) all read Ha'aretz daily, and none are ignorant of the facts of Israeli apartheid. They are professionals who know their jobs, and their boundaries. Each and every one realizes it would be career suicide to directly or indirectly ask the proud son of black African and white American parents, accorded the rights of full US citizenship through one parent, how he can uncritically support an apartheid state in Israel which awards and denies a host of citizenship rights on ethnic and religious grounds, from property ownership, education and the freedom to live where one likes to separate license plates (enable police profiling at a distance), bans on new Palestinian wells, water and electrical use, to Jewish-only roads and Palestinian-only checkpoints.

WHY IS THE PRESS IGNORING
EDWARDS’ LOVE CHILD AND MISTRESS?
http://www.slate.com/id/2195869/

MACHIAVELLI NORQUIST: PUT RONNIE REAGAN ON THE TEN-SPOT
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/24/norquist-time-is-right-to-put-reagan-on-the-10-bill/
RENSE: REAGAN ON THE TEN-DOLLAR BILL? HERE’S A BETTER IDEA
http://www.riprense.com/reagandollar.htm

CELL PHONES CAUSE CANCER---U.S. CANCER RESEARCH HEAD
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7523109.stm

Enviro Wacko
A GREEN REVOLUTION---OFF GERMANY’S COAST
(How about seagoing wind turbines instead of oil drilling. . .)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,567622,00.html
BIG MUDDY? BLACK MUDDY RIVER
http://news.aol.com/article/huge-oil-spill-shuts-mississippi-river/97364
BREATHE DEEPLY! AIR FRESHENERS, LAUNDRY PRODUCTS ARE POISON
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080723134438.htm

People’s Repugnic
CHINA PRESSES GRIEVING PARENTS TO TAKE HUSH MONEY
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/asia/24quake.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
U.S. DELAYS ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN
Kowtowing to China in making deals about N. Korea and Iran?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0724/p99s01-duts.html

World gone mad
RUSSIA WANTS CUBA FOR NUKE PLANE REFUELING STATION
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/24/russia.usa
HEY, WHAT’S ANOTHER $12 BILLION TO THROW AT OBSOLETE MISSILE DEFENSE?
http://www.alternet.org/story/92574/bush_seeks_%2412_billion_to_waste_on_obsolete_missile_defense/ 

Mashed Media
LINA NEWHOUSER, CO-FOUNDER OF COMMONDREAMS.ORG, DIES
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/21/10498/
NOVAK, WHO HATES JAYWALKERS, PULLS A HIT AND RUN
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003830608

Spaced
ASTRONOMERS FIND DISCS SURROUNDING BLACK HOLES
Sounds like the average American record collector’s closet
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080723142119.htm

Oh, by the way. . .
THAT IMAGE IN THE MIRROR IS HALF-SIZE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/science/22angi.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
GRANDMOTHER YELLS AT PUNKS, IS CHARGED WITH RACISM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2453866/Grandmother-charged-with-racism-after-telling-off-gang.html
FRENCH WINEMAKERS IN AN UPROAR OVER RECLASSIFICATION
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/23/europe/journal.php

And in more important matters. . .

For Art’s Sake
MEET EMPEROR HADRIAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/interactive/2008/jul/24/hadrian
WEREWOLVES, HERMITS VIE FOR ART PRIZE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/jul/23/john.moores.art.prize

Books
THE INVENTION OF SCOTLAND
http://www.nysun.com/arts/hugh-trevor-ropers-the-invention-of-scotland/82417/
Much of what has passed for the truth about Scottish history, Trevor-Roper suggests, is actually the product of this same mythopoetic impulse. Consider the case of Hector Boece, a 15th-century scholar and humanist from Dundee who wrote a hugely influential "History of the Scots." Boece was not content with the truth about the Scots — that they were an Irish people who migrated to western Scotland in the fifth century C.E. ("Scotus," in Latin, originally meant "Irish.")
TOP TEN BOOKS ON BEIJING
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jul/23/bestbooks
ROWLING IS ONE RICH GLAMORPUSS
Quite a makeover she’s had. . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/24/richlists.jkrowling

Musique
INTERVIEW: SIR GEORGE MARTIN
http://www.thedeadbolt.com/news/104805/georgemartin_interview.php
”We will not see the Beatles again. We will probably see something different, which will be maybe not as quite as successful, because The Beatles are like George Gershwin or Cole Porter, they go on forever and you’ll be hearing Beatle music in 2050. Most of the groups coming along today don’t get the chance to build up that longevity. I mean there will be great acts of course, but nothing quite like Beatle Mania.”
BRIAN WILSON TO OFFER REFUND FOR ‘BAD’ SHOW?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/07/brian_wilson_fans_not_wearing.html

Where ya goin’?
OTTER SPOTTING IN NORTHUMBERLAND
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jul/24/wildlifeholidays.shortbreaks

And in the end. . .
KITTENS!
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=kittens

7/23
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning concert
WORKIN' ON A GROOVY THING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K253P_0vMNA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1wDdsuMOtw
WORKIN' IN A COAL MINE---Lee Dorsey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP4OSg2ugAs
WORKIN' IN A COAL MINE---DEVO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXdfLuSBaCc
IF IT DON'T WORK OUT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZirMGdR2u0
WORKING CLASS HERO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG7p6CSbCU
WE CAN WORK IT OUT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ij6nBQfQoo
WORKIN' ON THE RAILROAD---UKELELE AL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stZj-iqzb3c
I'VE BEEN WORKIN' ON THE RAILROAD---PAUL TREMAINE ORCH. (Great.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcrgvSpfFgU

CONGRATS: USA # 1 IN POT, COKE, CIGARETTES
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/92434/u.s._ranks_%231_in_consumption_of_pot%2C_cocaine%2C_smokes/

MEET MR. METHANE, THE NEW LE PETOMANE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/jul/23/edinburghfestival.comedy
He calls himself Mr Methane, and his singular skill is to augment a series of well-known musical pieces by breaking wind in the style of the famous 19th-century French vaudevillian Le Pétomane.

MEET THE PALESTINIAN TV BUGS BUNNY
“What’s up, Doc? I’m going to kill and eat Jews!”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/2447895/Islamic-Bugs-Bunny-programme-spreads-extremism.html

ELVIS FOUND IN 2,000-YEAR-OLD SCULPTURE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2447019/Elvis-lives-in-2%2C000-year-old-carving.html

WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO BLACK AND WHITE TWINS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2447948/Black-and-white-twins-a-million-to-one-chance.html
 
And on to news and comment. . .

VANITY FAIR PARODIES NEW YORKER COVER
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/22/vanity-fair-parodies-new-yorker-cover/

THREE YEARS ON, PARENTS WANT PFC. JOHNSON’S DEATH INVESTIGATED
Raped, beaten, tortured by KBR?
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/23/suicide_or_murder_three_years_after
Three years ago, on July 19, 2005, Army Private First Class Lavena Johnson, was found dead in Balad, Iraq. Her body was found in a tent belonging to the private military contractor KBR. She had abrasions all over her body, a broken nose, a black eye, burned hands, loose teeth, acid burns on her genitals, and a bullet hole in her head. The Army labeled Johnson’s death a suicide.
VET WON’T MAKE SPEECH ABOUT VET SUICIDES---
BECAUSE SHE KILLED HERSELF
Sixth suicide this year of vet in Spokane, Wash.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003830329
Yesterday's Spokesman-Review piece by Kevin Graman opened: "A distraught 26-year-old Navy veteran who had a history of mental illness hanged himself within three hours of seeking help at Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The July 7 death of Lucas Senescall was the sixth suicide this year of a veteran who had contact with the Spokane VA, a marked increase in such deaths.
TIME TO OVERHAUL THE V.A.
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/9652
Time and again over 30 years, government investigators documented the VA's unconscionable and ever-mounting delays in processing veterans' benefits claims and requests for medical treatment. Time and again, the experts went on to prescribe the cures. Time and again, nothing was done -- and the delays became far worse.
HOW ONE VET’S PERSISTENCE PAID OFF
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0723/p02s01-usmi.html
He decided to fight – and unwittingly started a chain of events that would lead to improvements in the local San Diego VA system, benefiting thousands of others. They are the kinds of improvements called for by Congress, veterans groups, and the public as the VA system comes under increased scrutiny with the arrival of a new generation of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

BHUTTO WITNESS MURDERED
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4382179.ece

Man O-man
WATCH: DAILY SHOW ON MEDIA LOVE AFFAIR WITH OBAMA
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Daily_Show_reporter_Obama_gives_me_0722.html
WATCH: MCCAIN VIDEO ON MEDIA LOVE AFFAIR WITH OBAMA
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/usa/2008/07/mccain_mocks_the_medias_love_f.html
OBAMA SNUBS GORDON BROWN?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2448592/Barack-Obama-snubs-Gordon-Brown-for-Tony-Blair.html
RAIMUNDO: IS OBAMA THE ANTI-WAR CANDIDATE?
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13183
So, you thought we'd be rid of the endless "war on terrorism" once we got George W. Bush out of the White House, and ensconced a Democrat in his place? Well, think again, and get ready for an escalation of the Other War – the one in Afghanistan, a much tougher and more intractable prospect than Iraq by a longshot.

Dishonest John
PRE-ALZHEIMER’S MCCAIN PILES UP GAFFES
Calls Afghanistan “Iraq,” etc.,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080722/pl_politico/11939;_ylt=Amw4V1U_UmEeIUG4t6HqalGs0NUE
MCCAIN FALSELY CLAIMS SURGE BEGAN WITH ANBAR
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/22/mccain-anbar-history/
MCCAIN: “I HATE THE GOOKS. I WILL HATE THEM AS LONG AS I LIVE”
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/92465/gook%3A_john_mccain%27s_racism_and_why_it_matters/
MCCAIN FRUSTRATED BY OBAMA ‘STAR STATUS’
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,567536,00.html
MORFORD ON MCCAIN’S INABILITY TO USE COMPUTERS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/07/23/notes072308.DTL
CARTOON: THIS MODERN WORLD---MCCAIN MANIA!
http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2008/07/22/tomo/index.html

All-melty dollar
BUSH’S ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: ‘WALL STREET GOT DRUNK’
At last he speaks on a topic in which he has expertise
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Bush_in_leaked_fundraiser_video_Wall_0722.html
HOME PRICES STILL FALLING
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/22/business/22home.php

Jesus H. Christ!
LITTLE JOEY LIEBERMAN COMPARES PASTOR PIGBOY HAGEE. . .TO MOSES!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/23/lieberman-hagee/ 
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Lieberman_praises_pastor_repudiated_by_McCain_0723.html

Mashed Media
A REPORTER’S POETIC FAREWELL
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/another_reporters_poetic.php

Enviro Wacko
SAHARA SUN TO POWER EUROPE?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/23/solarpower.windpower

Spaced
NEW RUSS-EUROPE MANNED SPACECRAFT UNVEILED
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7519723.stm

Animals in the news
POOR CHIMP FLEES ZOO, DISARMS ZOOKEEPER
Too bad he didn’t shoot him (with tranquilizer dart)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/jul/23/chimp

Oh, by the way. . .
REMOTE CONTROL ‘DRAGONFLY’ TAKES WING
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080722085558.htm
TOTAL ECLIPSE AUG. 1
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080722-solar-eclipse.html 

And in more important matters. . .

JAPAN OLYMPIC HOPES RIDE ON WOMEN
http://features.csmonitor.com/olympics08/2008/07/22/japan%e2%80%99s-olympic-hopes-ride-on-women/

LOST IN NEW BEIJING:
WONDERFUL OLD CHINESE HOUSES
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/arts/design/27ouro.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Now, as they labor to protect what remains, Chinese preservationists are facing a new, equally insidious threat: gentrification. The few ancient courtyard houses that survived destruction have become coveted status symbols for the country’s growing upper class and for wealthy foreign investors. As more and more money is poured into elaborate renovations, the phenomenon is not only draining these neighborhoods of their character but also threatening to erase an entire way of life.

Obit
ARTIE TRAUM
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/arts/music/22traum.html?ref=obituaries

BEATLE EXPERT LEWISOHN WEIGHS IN ON NEW SETLIST DISCOVERY
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/722vintagesetlist.html

And in the end
WATCH: HOW MAGIC WORKS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/2445090/Magic-tricks-make-people-doubt-their-own-eyes.html

7/22
SKYLINES:
(hit "refresh")
Morning concert
Morning Dew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM_oqVscv3M
Morning Dew---Grateful Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca5N5kXAgrc
Morning Dew (GD) part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqsI9RlfKAg
Morning Dew (GD) part two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro5DCEAvZqU
Morning Dew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD_3CnaeCoM
Morning Dew (Ratdog)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gASZTn1vOKw
E'Ku Morning Dew (with explanation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCdDOS4lZpQ
DO WACKA-DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6vsvUAtuXM

TWO-BUCK CHUCK CHAMPION DIES
Brought happiness to millions
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-berning22-2008jul22,0,7061912.story

DWARF BURGLAR BUSTED!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2445086/Dwarf-recruited-by-burglary-gang-to-break-in-through-small-holes.html

MAN BUSTED FOR DRIVING WHILE EATING SAUSAGE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,566998,00.html

1963 BEATLES SET-LIST TURNS UP
http://wogew.blogspot.com/2008/07/beatles-at-azena-sheffield.html

HOLY IRONY, BATMAN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7519689.stm

MICHAEL SAVAGE SAVAGED OVER DUMBASS AUTISM REMARKS
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyauti0722,0,4585333.story

SINGAPORE TO LEGALIZE KIDNEY TRADE?
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=5414875 

And on to news and comment. . .

OH, BOOOO HOOOOO:
MILEY CYRUS “CAN’T HAVE A NORMAL LIFE”
Oh, woe, woe, woe. . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2440231/Hannah-Montana-star-Miley-Cyrus-I-cant-have-a-normal-life.html
YOU KNOW, LIKE THESE NORMAL KIDS!


Ugly America
CANDY SPELLING "DOWNSIZES" MANSION TO $47 MILLION CONDO
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/07/downsizing-to-a.html

LINDORFF:
MUKASEY’S EXCELLENT IDEA: WAR ALL THE TIME, AND EVERYONE’S AN ENEMY
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/177
Finally, Congress could declare a real war on poverty. We had one of those back in the mid-‘60s, but we lost. Not for lack of trying, but poor people kept getting poor again and dragging the rest of us down. If Congress would declare war, the government could start rounding up the enemy combatant poor, and locating them away for the duration. I understand Halliburton is already building camps around the country which could be used for this purpose.

Man O-Man
OBAMA’S IRAQ POSITION: “CHILLINGLY CONSISTENT”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/22/barackobama.uselections20081
Tactical differences and issues of style aside, Obama's message on occupied Iraq is deeply troubling - not because it has U-turned but because it has been consistent. His 300 foreign policy advisers are making sure that he will not stray from protecting US imperialist interests, even if it does mean launching new wars and bolstering puppet regimes and corrupt dictatorships throughout the "greater Middle East".
Man Oh Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI07kPtiz40

Dishonest John
NYT REJECTS MCCAIN OP-ED PIECE---
Sends it back, asks for new version
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/21/mccain.nyt/index.html
---AND MURDOCH’S NY POST PICKS IT UP!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/22/mccain-oped-post/
RIGHT-WING ASSHOLES FALSELY CLAIM MCCAIN REJECTION WAS UNPRECEDENTED
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/22/bolton-nyt-mccain/
OF COURSE GRAMM IS STILL ADVISING MCCAIN
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/22/forbes-on-gramm/

Your Corporatocracy at Work!
WHO’S PAYING FOR CONVENTIONS? COKE, MOTOROLA, COMCAST. . .
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/22/whos_paying_for_the_conventions_corporate
Campaign Finance Institute’s Stephen Weissman dissects it all with Amy Goodman.

Mashed Media
HEDGES: INTERNET IS NO SUB FOR NEWSPAPERS
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/92284/?ses=d16c3c36142e94b7aee438f3fecd0d3a
The decline of newspapers is about the rise of the corporate state, the loss of civic and public responsibility on the part of much of our entrepreneurial class and the intellectual poverty of our post-literate world, a world where information is conveyed primarily through rapidly moving images rather than print.
JAPAN NEWSPAPER DROPS FAKE SEX COLUMN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2443937/Japanese-newspaper-admits-infamous-sex-column-was-untrue.html

KARADZIC’S ARREST IS TOO LATE
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1825366,00.html

RUSSIA SENDING BOMBERS TO CUBA?
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Report_Russia_mulls_sending_bombers_to_0722.html

Enviro Wacko
THE HINDU PRIEST WHO WOULD CLEAN UP THE GANGES
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0723/p01s01-wosc.html
MEXICAN COASTAL RESORTS DOOMING TREES, FISHERIES
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080721-mangroves.html

(Lack of) Health
POSSIBLE PROSTATE CANCER BREAKTHROUGH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/22/health.cancer

Lost Angeles
L.A. HOMES NOW $155K OFF PEAK, INVENTORY FLAT
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/07/listing-prices.html

Oh, by the way. . .
8-YEAR-OLD CHILD ‘WEDS’ SWEETHEART, DAY BEFORE HE DIES OF LEUKEMIA
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=228084&in_page_id=34
BOB THE PARROT SAVES OWNERS FROM FIRE
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=228069&in_page_id=34

And in more important matters. . .

WHAT IN THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO ‘FORMAL’ DANCING?
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=229506&in_page_id=34

For Art’s Sake
WATCH: TIME LAPSE FILM---HOW TO ASSEMBLE INSANE FRANK GEHRY BUILDING
http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/architecture/watching_gehry_assemble_the_serpentine_in_just_seven_minutes_flat_89815.asp?c=rss
SLIDE-SHOW: ‘STAR WARS’ CHARACTERS TURNING UP IN CLASSIC ART
Star Wars characters are being depicted inside classic works of art in a new online craze that is captivating science fiction fans and art buffs alike.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2444719/Star-Wars-classic-artwork-But-can-you-identify-the-original-paintings.html

Musique
SYMPHONY OF MILLIONS
Taking stock of the China music boom
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2008/07/07/080707crat_atlarge_ross?currentPage=all
“For the past fifteen or twenty years, classical music has been very à la mode in China,” Chen told me, in French. “The halls are full. There are many students. There might also be some difficulties. But there is a very powerful phenomenon at work in the education system. When I visited my old primary school, I found that, out of a class of forty students, thirty-six were studying piano. This points to the future.”
LANG LANG’S TERRIBLE MUSIC LESSON
Not terrible enough, considering his hollow style. . .His teacher was on to something
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121630894082362295.html?mod=Books

Books
MASTER SWINDLER
A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071702348.html
‘POTTER’ TO BE DISCOUNTED INTO OBLIVION?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/07/is_this_the_end_for_harry_pott.html

TeeVee
Woman discovers the great joys of “As Time Goes By”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/jul/22/television2

And in the end. . .
NICE PICO-UNION MURAL
See it now, before it is covered by taggers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jam_works/2271887863/in/pool-75129402@N00

7/21
Morning Concert
WITCH DOCTOR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbeeD77vSiM
OOH POO PAH DOO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4zHKAFPBXQ
I WONDER WHY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZBSGaWrEn4
WHO PUT THE BOMP?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSp3zqqpvMo 
WHOLE LOTTA LOVIN’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANuclsaCx7U 
LOOK KA PY PY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANuclsaCx7U
I WANT TO TAKE YOU HIGHER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3QEyMeEfqM
SEPTEMBER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfLEc09tTjI 
PAPA OOM MOW MOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0BobaiIjt0

NATION DEMANDS NEW BUBBLE
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/recession_plagued_nation_demands

WINEHOUSE’S HUBBY JAILED FOR TWO YEARS
Can Amy be far behind?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/21/entertainment/e070454D16.DTL&tsp=

ITALIAN SUNBATHERS UNFAZED BY CORPSES OF DROWNED GYPSY GIRLS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/21/italy.race

SWAYZE: “I’M A MIRACLE”
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=227692&in_page_id=7

HUMANITY HITS NEW PINNACLE OF EVOLUTIONARY ACHIEVEMENT
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=227442&in_page_id=7

We are not making this stuff up
PEOPLE SHOOTING DONKEYS TO AID CHINESE FEMALE LIBIDO
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=227466&in_page_id=2

And on to news and comment. . .

Israelity
RAIMUNDO: A BRAZEN EVIL
Benny Morris’s NYT op-ed calls for nuke genocide in Iran
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13168
Evil usually hides its face, because the sight of it repulses all but the depraved. However, in the case of Benny Morris, writing in Friday's New York Times, we see something new: a proud evil, glorying in pure malevolence.
MORRIS’S INSANE RANT
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/opinion/18morris.html?_r=3&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
EXCERPT: Israel will almost surely attack Iran’s nuclear sites in the next four to seven months — and the leaders in Washington and even Tehran should hope that the attack will be successful enough to cause at least a significant delay in the Iranian production schedule, if not complete destruction, of that country’s nuclear program. Because if the attack fails, the Middle East will almost certainly face a nuclear war — either through a subsequent pre-emptive Israeli nuclear strike or a nuclear exchange shortly after Iran gets the bomb.
WATCH: ISRAELI SOLDIER SHOOTS HANDCUFFED,
BLINDFOLDED PALESTINIAN PRISONER---WITH RUBBER BULLET
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20320.htm

LISTEN: GALLOWAY---STOP THE ATTACK ON IRAN
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/375.html

COUNTRY VERY ILL---HANNITY MAKES $100 MILLION
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3i95ee102b686b5378800eea2a3791e496

Man Oh Man
O-MAN BARS NEW YORKER WRITER
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/07/obama-newyorker.html
ANOTHER WEIRD GAFFE BY OBAMA
His malaprops are worthy of Bush
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/07/18/gaffemaster-alert-the-pearl-harbor-bomb/
OBAMA CHOOSES GERMAN “VICTORY COLUMN” FOR SPEECH---GERMANS UPSET
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/20/europe/berlin.php

Enviro Wacko
GOODMAN: DON’T DRINK THE NUKE KOOL-AID
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080716_dont_drink_the_nuclear_kool_aid/
While the presidential candidates trade barbs and accuse each other of flip-flopping, they agree with President Bush on their enthusiastic support for nuclear power. Sen. John McCain has called for 100 new nuclear power plants. Sen. Barack Obama, in a July 2007 Democratic candidate debate, answered a pro-nuclear power audience member, “I actually think that we should explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix.” Among Obama’s top contributors are executives of Exelon Corp., a leading nuclear power operator in the nation.
CHINA BANS HALF OF ALL CARS FROM BEIJING---
ON ALT DAYS DURING OLYMPICS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/21/china.olympicgames2008

All-melty Dollar
EHRENREICH ON THE USA, OBAMA
http://books.guardian.co.uk/interviews/story/0,,2291935,00.html
Ehrenreich can hardly bear to listen to these days. She writes: "I flinch when I hear Woody Guthrie's line, 'This land belongs to you and me'. Somehow, I don't think it was meant to be sung by a chorus of hedge-fund operators."

Asinine article of the week!
CAN OXYCONTIN EASE SHYNESS?
Sure. So can heroin!
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1820828,00.html

Dishonest John
MCCAIN’S RECORD SHOWS LITTLE PRESIDENTIAL METTLE
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/20/mccains-record-shows-little-reason-why-he-would-be-suited-for-presidency/
SO MUCH FOR DOBSON’S VOW TO NOT VOTE FOR MCCAIN
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/21/so-much-for-dobsons-principles/
MCCAIN: NO CLUE ON TECH ISSUES
Well, he doesn’t even use a computer. . .
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/92039/?ses=3ea7617355a94207306a9648468ad991
Obama has positions on broadband access and using the Internet as a tool to increase government accountability. McCain? Big nothing.
MCCAIN WILL MAKE THE CHUPACABRA THE NATIONAL MASCOT
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/07/cartoon_mccain_the_chupacabra_president.html

Mashed Media
CHI TRIB TESTS NEW-LOOK
As if graphic design can revive circulation!
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003829670

Science
BIG BRAINS EVOLVED IN MULTPLE PRIMATE GROUPS
How did they miss Bush?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080718-bigger-brains.html
STRANGE THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD MUMMY FOUND IN PERU

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080717-mummy-video-vin.html

Religion
HOW JEFFERSON CUT AND PASTED THE BIBLE
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beliefs5-2008jul05,0,7730914.story
Then, relying on a cut-and-paste technique, he reassembled the excerpts into what he believed was a more coherent narrative and pasted them onto blank paper -- alongside translations in French, Greek and Latin.

Obits
JO STAFFORD
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/arts/music/19stafford.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

Oh, by the way. . .
LAST NAZI CAMP COMMANDANT DIES IN PRISON
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/2310828/Last-Nazi-concentration-camp-commander-dies.html
MCCANNS TO BE CLEARED IN DAUGHTER’S DEATH
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/2310447/Madeleine-McCann-police-clear-Kate-and-Gerry-as-they-shelve-case.html

And in more important matters. . .

We are not making this stuff up. . .
PIRATE DESCENDANTS KEEP FLA. TOWN MALL-FREE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0722/p03s01-usgn.html
A direct descendant of the 19th century pirates who first settled here in these 10,000 islands, Brown is like many residents in Everglades City. Together they've managed to engineer a modern day coup in Florida: keeping out the crush of condos and chain stores.

QUEENAN’S ANTI-NEW MUSIC COMMENT REBUTTED
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121641638586866257.html?mod=opinion_journal_leisure_art
Mr. Queenan's jeremiad will have a familiar ring to those who recall "The Agony of Modern Music," a book in which Henry Pleasants, a CIA agent turned music critic (no, I didn't make that up), said much the same thing. "Serious music is a dead art," Pleasants wrote. "The vein which for 300 years offered a seemingly inexhaustible yield of beautiful music has run out. What we know as modern music is the noise by deluded speculators picking through its slag pile."

Film
REIMAGINING ‘BRIDESHEAD’
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/22/arts/brideshead.php
‘DR. WHO’ WRITER DENIES HE QUIT SPIELBERG
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7517423.stm

WHO IS WORLD’S OLDEST MARATHONER?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/21/london.healthandwellbeing
When he ran the London Marathon this year at the reputed age of 101, he was hailed as the oldest person ever to complete one. Then it emerged that he might be 'only' 94. So who is he?

Where ya goin’?
MUSIC FESTIVAL AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jul/21/norway.festivals

And in the end. . .
SECRET STICKY TOFFEE RECIPE ON YOUTUBE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2309796/Secret-sticky-toffee-pudding-recipe-on-YouTube.html


7/18
Morning Concert
I’M DOWN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEaCwUnJSZA
GOIN’ DOWN TO THE RIVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TyzAAwJnIw
HANG DOWN YOUR HEAD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5xXf43yleg 
DOWN AND OUT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n-kQQl8zEo 
OVER UNDER SIDEWAYS DOWN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLv7viCMGo8 
NOBODY LOVES YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN AND OUT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLv7viCMGo8 
GOING DOWN TO GOLDERS GREEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNe7VuwuvLw 
DON’T LET ME DOWN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O7PnvVgQvA 
DOWN IN THE VALLEY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7-AfasYhvQ 

FILM DUE ABOUT LENNON’S CHILDHOOD
”Nowhere Boy” is based on his half-sister’s book
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2291610,00.html 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7513589.stm

CRAZY QUEBEC NATIONALISTS PROTEST SIR PAUL SHOW
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7513148.stm

MEET BROTHER CESARE, THE HEAVY METAL MONK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7513571.stm

HIDEOUS N. KOREAN HOTEL RISES AGAIN
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080717/lf_nm_life/korea_north_hotel_dc

HAHAHA: SEN. WIDESTANCE SAYS---
“Don’t’ let foreigners jerk us around by the gas nozzle.” Paging Dr. Freud.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/17/sen-larry-craig-dont-let-foreigners-%e2%80%9cjerk-us-around-by-the-gas-nozzle%e2%80%9d/

WEBSITE TOUTS DEEDS OF ‘EVERYDAY HEROES’
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/07/17/online-tales-of-everyday-heroes/

And on to news and comment. . .

MORFORD: HERE’S OIL IN YOUR EYE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/07/18/notes071808.DTL
I admit to a bit of total confusion mixed with a certain level of stupefied awe and teeth-rattling frustration as to why anyone with the mental acuity of more than a housefly would think that stabbing more holes into Alaska and the eastern seaboard in the search for a few remaining precious drops of oil is a good idea, would solve anything at all, is anything more than the equivalent of hurling matches at the devil.

Homeland Insecurity
ROBERTS: ABOUT THOSE
“ONE MILLION TERRORISTS” ON U.S. WATCH-LIST
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20302.htm
What we are witnessing with the one million person “watch list” is bureaucracy run amok. One Million Terrorists makes the danger seem overwhelming. Such overwhelming danger rationalizes the aggressive behavior of the bullies and thugs attracted by the power of confiscating your toothpaste and bottled water and riffling your belongings in your luggage. . . Don’t complain about being searched without a warrant or you will miss your flight. You might be arrested, handcuffed, kicked and otherwise abused--the fate of many American citizens.
LINDORFF: I WAS A VICTIM OF THE GOV’T’S OVERHYPED WAR ON TERROR
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/176
I was injured thanks to the government’s ridiculous airport security program last week on a US Air flight from Chicago to Philadelphia. I also saw how pointless the whole thing is, if the supposed goal is really to prevent airline hijackings.

World gone mad
FOOD: SOON TO BE A LUXURY ITEM?
http://www.alternet.org/story/91614/?ses=25bca33b86018f733fa7cab657425fad
Last year, the owners of the world invested $134 billion in the industry of death -- arms manufacturing -- a 45% increase from just ten years ago, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI

Enviro Wacko
GORE’S CHALLENGE FOR ‘GREEN’ AMERICA IN TEN YEARS
Edison spokesman says it’s impossible, of course---with that kind of “American spirit,” we would never have reached the moon
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/18/MN2711QRVL.DTL
"We cannot do the job with renewables and energy efficiency alone," he said. "We have to have a balanced energy portfolio that includes all those things in even higher percentages, but also has to include nuclear. And we frankly think that nuclear should be increased."
LIGHTNING AND DROUGHTS AND FIRES---OH, MY!
In California there were 8,000 lightning strikes in one event, and that was months before fire season. There is more of that in store across the West.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/91757/?ses=25bca33b86018f733fa7cab657425fad
According to a study published in Science last year, the Southwest region of the United States will enter permanent drought by 2050, and that's being optimistic. The seven states dependent upon the Colorado River Basin -- Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and California -- will most likely war over what remains of its diminishing water resources. The region's thirsty population will also be beset by rampant firestorms, as portions of the snowpack that remains bypass the liquid stage and evaporate into thin, dry air.
NEW ICEBERGS SCOURING SEABEDS, DESTROYING LIFE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/18/eaiceberg118.xml
WATCH: MASSIVE STORM HITS SOUTHERN TAIWAN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7513934.stm

Your Corporatocracy at work!
KATRINA TRAILER CONTRACTOR KNEW ITS TRAILERS WERE CARCINOGENIC
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/07/katrina-trailer-contractor-failed-to.asp
Gulf Stream Coach -- the politically connected company handed a $500 million federal contract to manufacture trailers for Hurricane Katrina victims -- knew its product was contaminated with dangerous levels of cancer-causing formaldehyde in early 2006.

Mashed Media
COLUMNIST: JOURNALISTS SHOULD GO ON STRIKE
http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/dont_bean_count_me.php
I’m sick of hearing about the bottom line. About cost benefit analysis, bean counting, profit margins, and soft markets. I’m sick of newsroom cuts, of reporters sent home, of newspaper teams—families, really—broken and torn. I’m sick of buyouts, of slashes, of cutting the fat. Why do journalists put up with this? I’d love for every single reporter, from the tiny three-reporter office in a small town in Ohio to the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, to lay down their pens and notebooks, turn off their computers and recorders, and strike. Stand up, walk out, and show that we are a force. And we’re pissed.

Iraq and Roll
SHOCKING U.S. IRAQ MILITARY BASES---LITERALLY
Shoddy work by contractors is electrocuting and burning troops, noncombat personnel
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/world/middleeast/18contractors.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Man O-Man
OBAMA ‘INFURIATED’ BY ATTACKS ON MICHELLE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/17/politics/p100036D65.DTL
OBAMA’S WAR ZONE GUIDES
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1824090,00.html
Reed and another Army veteran — Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who received two Purple Hearts in Vietnam — will accompany Obama, not only to Iraq, but also to Afghanistan, where Obama has pledged to intensify the miliary effort.
OBAMA, THE HALF-BILLION DOLLAR MAN
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1822819,00.html

People’s Repugnic
BEIJING LAWYER FIGHTS FOR POLLUTION VICTIMS
She took China pollution for granted until she saw the skies of Europe
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/07/17/beijing-lawyer-fights-for-pollution-victims/
CHINA BARS ENTERTAINERS IT DEEMS A THREAT
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/sports/olympics/18china.html?em&ex=1216526400&en=727c4020fbff6e28&ei=5087

Plame-Out
FITZ: ROVE TRIED TO FIRE ME
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Fitzgerald_says_Rove_was_trying_to_0717.html

Bush Leagues
PELOSI: BUSH IS A ‘TOTAL FAILURE’
You’re not so hot yourself, Nancy
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Pelosi_calls_Bush_total_failure_who_0717.html
BUSH SEWAGE PLANT NAMING IS ON THE BALLOT!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/18/BA7A11QU1S.DTL
ISRAEL CLAIMS TO HAVE FOILED PLOT AGAINST BUSH
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ayywKJ5ZlkS8&refer=home

Animals in the news!
WATCH: VET PULLS MASSIVE HOOK FROM SHARK’S STOMACH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/jul/18/shark

Auto Motive
PLUG-IN HYBRIDS TO THE RESCUE?
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/07/18/can-plug-in-hybrids-ride-to-america%e2%80%99s-rescue/
Laboring in near anonymity in his garage-style laboratory on a leafy byway of the University of California at Davis campus, Dr. Frank has for three decades focused on developing plug-in-hybrid technology. With his students, he has built nine plug-in vehicles since the 1990s, winning several vehicle contests sponsored by the Department of Energy and automotive companies.

Oh, by the way. . .
SACRE BLEU! MCDONALD’S IS NOW EUROPE’S KIND OF PLACE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,566619,00.html
And voilà, today McDonald's Europe is sizzling. "The European business is growing much faster than the US," says Steve West, restaurant analyst with St. Louis brokerage Stifel Nicolaus.

And in more important matters. . .

Film
SCOTT: OBNOXIOUS STREEP MUGS IN “MAMMA MIA”
http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/movies/18mamm.html?8dpc
It is safe to say that Ms. Streep gives the worst performance of her career — safe to say because it is so clearly what she intends, and she is not an actress capable of failure. There is a degree of fascination in watching an Oscar-winning Yale School of Drama graduate mug and squirm, shimmy and shriek and generally fill every moment with antic, purposeless energy, as if she were hogging the spotlight in an eighth-grade musical.
THE END OF SEX SCENES IN CINEMA
Let’s hope so.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/18/1

AMAZING WORK OF ‘DR. WHO’ THEME COMPOSER SAVED FOR POSTERITY
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2306745/Work-of-the-woman-who-created-the-Doctor-Who-theme-tune-saved-for-posterity.html

For Art’s Sake
INTERVIEW: REM KOOLHAAS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,566655,00.html
Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas talks about new trends in architecture and urban development, the end of the European city, the rise of Dubai, Russia and China, the obsession with XXXL and the difference between the people who design buildings for a living and "star architects."

Books
HOW BAD WAS J.M. BARRIE?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/07/13/sv_jmbarrie.xml
An obsessive stalker, an impotent husband, a lover of young boys... to some, the creator of 'Peter Pan' was an evil genius; to others, a misunderstood ingenue. Ever mindful of the J.M. Barrie 'curse', Justine Picardie investigates.
A DICKENS OF A SUMMER
Well, at least this kid is watching Dickens
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0718/p19s04-hfes.html

Where ya goin’?
FRANCE REDISCOVERS ITS LOVE OF TRAMS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,566419,00.html

And in the end. . .
DANCER PERFORMS FROM HOT AIR BALLOON
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=223980&in_page_id=34


7/17
Morning Concert
THE LETTER---Box Tops
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD9mCp8SifM 
THE LETTER---Joe Cocker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RnjWLVyMps
P.S. I LOVE YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w6FmuzSzEQ
LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7TTkmC7HX8
DEAR JOHN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqvZ0zDJunk
DEAR ONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0PzBE76Gj0 
DEAR HEART
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR7WOoQ70iA
SINCERELY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfDVvt_x3zk 

Taco trucks reportedly used in drug sales
(Or is it the other way around?)
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/16/taco-trucks-reportedly-used-drug-sales/

Catfish go for a walk
(Which are slimier? Fish or news anchors talking about them?)
http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/8853124

DISNEY BOWS TO P.C. TYRANTS IN BLACK PRINCESS ANIMATED FEATURE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2305515/Disney%27s-first-black-princess-leads-to-race-row.html

BEATLE RELEASES SOLO ALBUM
Not Paul or Ringo, either. . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2303581/Fifth-Beatle-Pete-Best-releases-first-solo-album-40-years-on.html

We are not making this stuff up
BREAST MILK JEWELRY!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2305239/Jewellery-made-from-human-milk-Photos.html

INDIA TEMPLE WORSHIPS NEWSPAPERS
Good that somebody still does. . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2304067/Indians-worship-shrine-to-newspapers.html

REV. JESSE: O-MAN IS ‘TELLING THE NIGGERS HOW TO BEHAVE’
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/17/america/NA-POL-US-Jesse-Jackson-Racial-Epithet.php

And on to news and comment. . .

U.S. POISED TO INVADE PAKISTAN
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20292.htm

People’s Repugnic
‘CHINABOUNDER’ REVEALED!
Brit Shanghai sex blogger writes book that disparages China
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/17/blogging.internet1
CHINA CLEANS UP ITS MENUS FOR OLYMPICS
Not to worry, though, they’ll be eating dogs again soon
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/nibbles/story/0,,2291113,00.html
Say goodbye to traditional Chinese fare in Beijing this August. Scorpion brochettes and goat lung with red pepper will not be available to our orient-bound athletes. The Xinhua News Agency reported that all dog meat - known in Chinese as 'xiangrou', or 'fragrant meat', and eaten by some for its purported health benefits - had been taken off the menu.

World gone mad
S. KOREA/JAPAN ROW OVER ISLANDS, CONDOMS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/17/korea.japan
A simmering territorial row between South Korea and Japan today threatened to spill over into Korean bedrooms after transport authorities in Seoul ordered the removal from subway trains of posters advertising Japanese condoms.

FOUR MADRID BOMB SUSPECTS CLEARED
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7511457.stm

All-melty dollar
U.S. DEBT EQUAL TO HALF-MILLION BUCKS PER HOUSEHOLD
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/17/MN8Q11OT2M.DTL&tsp=1 

Man O-Man
BROWN: THE HIGHER THE PEDESTAL, THE HARDER THEY FALL
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/9548
The Harder They Come
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjtXfkHCEkY
SOLOMON: OBAMA AND THE PROGRESSIVE BASE
http://www.truthout.org/article/obama-and-progressive-base
Under a McCain presidency, we'd be back to square one, where we've found ourselves since January 2001. Putting Obama in the White House would not by any means ensure progressive change, but under his presidency, the grassroots would have an opportunity to create it.
NETWORK ANCHORJOKERS TO TRAVEL WITH O-MAN
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/17/america/17anchors.php

Mashed Media
MORE L.A. TIMES SLAUGHTER DETAILS
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/more_la_times_exits.php
HONOLULU ADVERTISER LAYS OFF 54
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003828765

Lost Angeles
PUNK VILLARAIGOSA GRILLED BY WARREN OLNEY
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/olney_takes_on_villaraigo.php

Enviro Wacko
CAN HUMANS ENGINEER A COOLER EARTH?
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/07/16/can-we-engineer-a-cooler-earth/

Religion
BLACKS CONVERTING TO JUDAISM
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0717/p03s05-ussc.html

(Lack of) Health
BLACK TEA CUTS DEMENTIA RISK
(Oh yeah, how do you explain the China government?)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2305516/Tea-halves-the-risk-of-dementia%2C-study-shows.html

Animals in the news!
FROGS WITH DISEASE-RESISTANT GENES MAY ESCAPE EXTINCTION
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715204750.htm

Spaced
MARS WAS WARM, WET, MAY HAVE HOSTED LIFE
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080716-mars-life.html

Auto Motive
BLAME DETROIT---AND STUTTGART, TOKYO, SEOUL
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/FREE/783092700/1028/FREE

Oh, by the way. . .
SF THE MOST ‘WALKABLE’ CITY IN USA
Move to SF, ditch your car
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/17/MN3J11Q3N8.DTL
PENIS COSTUME MAN APOLOGIZES
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=223089&in_page_id=2
DOG FOUND AFTER FIVE YEARS ON THE ROAD
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=221322&in_page_id=34

And in more important matters. . .

KAY RYAN NAMED USA POET LAUREATE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/books/17poet.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

WINDMILLS ARE COMING AROUND AGAIN IN THE NETHERLANDS
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/16/europe/journal.php

THE MAN WHO DESIGNED THE 20TH CENTURY
An urbanist who lived in a fishing cottage, an iconoclast who invented the highrise, an architect who wanted to be a painter ... Steve Rose goes in search of the man who designed the 20th century. . .
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/architecture/story/0,,2290988,00.html
LE CORBUSIER COMES TO LIVERPOOL
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/architecture/story/0,,2291167,00.html 

For Art’s Sake
THE WORLD’S OLDEST OIL PAINTINGS?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7508917.stm

Where ya goin’?
TOP TEN PARIS BISTROS ON A BUDGET
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jul/17/paris.restaurants

And in the end. . .
YOU’RE A BASTARD, MR. MOOSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmO79dhWrco


7/16
Morning Concert
MOBY GRAPE
Omaha---On Mike Douglas Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r6eGG6Y-zs
It’s a Beautiful Day Today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vviAimAmY38
Hey Grandma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHc1pJ9RMLk
Seeing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gbIju4sL8Y
Right Before My Eyes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVT5UOqL-vs
Motorcycle Irene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxg7ELgv8_s

SLIDE SHOW: JAMES BROWN’S JUMPSUITS UP FOR AUCTION
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7509000/7509526.stm

RONNIE WOOD IN REHAB
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7510223.stm

FLASH! PARKER REMOVES MOLE!
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=221068&in_page_id=7

WOMEN ARRESTED IN ORAL COMPETITION
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN1441724120080714

S. AFRICA TO LEGALIZE PROSTITUTION DURING WORLD CUP
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7509357.stm

MORFORD: THE REMOTE CONTROL WANG
We are not making this stuff up. . .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/07/16/notes071608.DTL


And on to news and comment. . .

FEDERAL COURT: BUSH CAN INDEFINITELY IMPRISON. . .YOU
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Federal_court_Bush_can_indefinitely_detain_0715.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/washington/16combatant.html?em&ex=1216267200&en=d3c315e2b68a7317&ei=5087%0A

HAYDEN: O-MAN WANTS TO SHRINK IRAQ,
INCREASE AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN ACTION
http://www.alternet.org/audits/91645/?ses=37cb3d1843351413fffcbcddae2d43d2
On Iraq, Obama said nothing especially new in his July 14 New York Times op-ed piece and his foreign policy speech in Washington today. In both, he forcefully restated his commitment to combat troop withdrawals after his recent statements suggesting that he would "refine" his views when he consults military commanders on the ground. He neglected to address how many American "residual forces" he would leave behind in Iraq to fight Al Qaeda and "protect American service members," though he made additional US trainers conditional on the Iraqis making "political progress." It is a proposal that seems to promise a phased diminishing of the American military presence, not a complete withdrawal.

INTERVIEW: NAOMI KLEIN
FUEL, FOOD, BANKING, HOUSING CRISES GIVE BUSH MORE TO EXPLOIT
Prezboy will continue ramrodding through all sorts of insane decisions, with panicked public approving---such as offshore oil drilling. . .
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/91656/?ses=37cb3d1843351413fffcbcddae2d43d2
”There really is a kind of a tsunami of shocks facing not just the economy but people's lives, people's real lives. They're all intersecting. They're making each other worse. And I think we really are seeing some very live examples of what a write about in the book, which is how there is a strategy. And this is what I mean by "the shock doctrine." There is a clear political strategy, and has been for several decades, to exploit these moments when people are desperate for quick-fix solutions and more inclined to believe in a kind of a magical cure, to push through very, very unpopular policies that don't actually solve the crisis at hand, that don't actually help people, but are incredibly profitable for multinational corporations.”

Enviro Wacko
THE THREE BIGGEST MYTHS ABOUT OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING
http://www.alternet.org/environment/91588/?ses=37cb3d1843351413fffcbcddae2d43d2

The Torture Never Stops
FEITH: REMOVAL OF CLOTHES IS DIFFERENT FROM NAKED
(Who are these assholes?)
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/16/feith-naked/

Impeachy-Keen
LINDORFF: IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS---A WIN IS A WIN
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34806
Call your representative today and every day (at 202-224-3121) and demand that he or she co-sponsor some or all of Rep. Kucinich's 36 bills of impeachment, and join the call for real impeachment hearings. Send them an email. And sign the petition calling for impeachment hearings. (Links at end of article.)

OBAMA PICKS HACK---ER, EXPERIENCED VETERAN---
FOR MIDEAST ADVICE
Gee, if we spent half the energy on this country as we waste on “Mideast peace,” we’d be in good shape here. . .
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1823145,00.html
Ross, a career foreign service officer, was lead negotiator on Israeli-Palestinian issues for Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and he got the two sides as close as they've come to a peace deal before stepping down after the 2000 election. His presence alongside Obama in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan is designed to signal the senator's intent to resume the active pursuit of the peace process, which Obama claims President George W. Bush has derailed through inaction.

Electile Dysfunction
O-MAN IS TIRED---SAYS HE’S BEEN TO 57 STATES (SO FAR)
Confuses USA with Heinz Ketchup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws
MCCAIN’S 1986 RAPE JOKE
What a wit he is!
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_once_joked_of_woman_enjoying_0716.html
MCCAIN: TWO GAYS EQUAL ONE PARENT
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_Two_gays_only_count_as_0715.html 
A FEW TRUTHS ABOUT MCCAIN
http://www.excons.org/2008/07/15/the-truth-about-john-mccain-sourced-version/ 
BRIT TORY LEADER BACKS OBAMA’S SPEECH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/16/davidcameron.conservatives1

THOMPSON: SO MUCH PARTISANSHIP, SO LITTLE TRUTH
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/9577
Until we stop thinking of ourselves as Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, right or left and start remembering that we are all Americans the problems will continue to grow and there will be nothing that any President - Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or Green - can do to fix them.

World gone mad
YOUNG GIRLS: CUTTING YOURSELF IS JUST STRESS RELIEF
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4327233.ece
SCHOLAR QUITS FOR COMPARING
TURK IMMIGRANTS TO WWII JEWS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,566190,00.html
A leading expert on Turkish-German relations, Faruk Sen, has resigned from his post at an institute he helped create. His misstep was comparing the status of Turkish immigrants in Europe to the plight of the Jews before the Holocaust. . .The Center in Essen is run with public money from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Sen has directed it since its foundation in 1985. Its board argued that Sen's article contributed to racial friction in Germany, rather than integration -- but even Jewish leaders have jumped to Sen's defense.

People’s Repugnic
WELCOME TO CHINA’S ‘BACKWATER’
POPULATION: FIVE MILLION
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/16/china
Hefei is nowheresville. Even in China, lots of people have never heard of it. Yet arrive at the airport, an hour's flight south of Beijing, and it will take you 40 minutes to drive down a six-lane highway and into the heart of a city of 5 million people that is twice the size of Paris.

Mashed Media
HULKING DOPE BRIT HUME TO LEAVE FOX
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/16/bye-bye-hume/
LOPEZ ON THE LAT MAYHEM
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-lopez16-2008jul16,0,6727405.column
ATLANTA CONST.-JOURNAL TO CUT 134 JOBS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7509000/7509526.stm
NEWSPAPER WEBSITES DOING BETTER
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003828017

Spaced
MEET THE SECOND BRIGHTEST STAR IN OUR GALAXY
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2008-13/release.shtml

Oh, by the way
BELGIUM: THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL FAILURE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,566201,00.html
Chaos has returned to Belgium's capital: The government has collapsed, the prime minister has offered his resignation. German newspapers on Wednesday wonder if the linguistically divided country will ever get its act together.
VOLKSWAGEN TO OPEN U.S. PLANT AFTER 20-YEAR ABSENCE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,566193,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

DR. WEIL’S WELLNESS DIET
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1115696,00.html

JAPANESE-STYLE ‘TORTURE’ GAME SHOWS COMING TO USA
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/07/16/apop.DTL

THE NEW CHIC FOOD OF FRANCE? HAMBURGERS
Hold the Freedom Fries. . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/dining/16paris.html?em&ex=1216353600&en=152f3a2583a758a3&ei=5087%0A

PHOTO TOUR OF THE ‘SUMMER OF LOVE’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/interactive/2008/jul/16/sanfrancisco.photography 

Film
REVIEW: “DARK KNIGHT”
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1821365,00.html
PAULINE KAEL AND TRASH CINEMA
Will Smith’s films are the endgame of her contention regarding “Bonnie and Clyde”
http://www.nationalpost.com/story-printer.html?id=5f09359a-f961-4c63-86aa-da0d2741a100
Not long before she died, Pauline Kael remarked to a friend, "When we championed trash culture we had no idea it would become the only culture."

Light reading
DO MONKEYS UNDERSTAND MONEY?
Maybe not. Look at the U.S. economy.
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/cultural-animal/200807/the-evolution-economic-rationality-do-monkeys-understand-money

Where ya goin’?
BRITISH LIGHTHOUSES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/gallery/2008/jul/15/travel?picture=335708670

And in the end. . .
WHISKERS
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=whiskers
 

7/15
Morning Concert
COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH
Sweet Lorraine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4WeqP2G6pI
Section 43
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYwH3XBtfo8
Who Am I?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg6KLK07Tlk
The Masked Marauder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAX8Rvt19OE
Sad and Lonely Times
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi649BEnDS4
Here I Go Again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bktdmHr3FI0
Country Joe explains the banana-smoking phenomenon of the ‘60’s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bktdmHr3FI0
Morning (Afternoon EST) Concert coming. . .

ASTOUNDING NEW MARS PHOTOS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/15/scimars115.xml

‘EMPHYSEMA AMY’ LIGHTS UP
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2302363/Amy-Winehouse-defies-doctors-on-smoking-ban.html

MEET SEVEN BABY WHITE LIONS
Who now look forward to a life in captivity. . .
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,565978,00.html

WORLD’S SMALLEST HOTEL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,565817,00.html

CRUISE BLIMPS ARE BACK
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=217613&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=

STRANGE RETARDED MAN FOUND IN WHITE HOUSE
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Bush_blames_Democrats_for_oil_prices_0715.html

And on to news and comment. . .

NO WATER FOR 50 YEARS---BECAUSE THEY WERE BLACK
Waterless Ohio families lived next door to white folk watering lawns
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1822455,00.html

THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR---ONE MILLION ‘SUSPICIOUS NAMES’
Psst. Hey, honey, whatsat guy with the gray ponytail do all night with the lights on, anyhow?
http://www.horsesass.org/?p=5198
Tom Waits: What’s He Building in There?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaLjwSpZ6Cs

Animals in the news!
FABULOUS ARCTIC FOXES THREATENED BY MELTING ICE
Thanks, human race!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/15/climatechange.wildlife
KOALA OK AFTER HIT BY CAR, STUCK IN GRILL
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7507127.stm

People’s Repugnic
GOOD OL’ CHINA BUYS MASSIVE STOCKPILES OF (POACHED) IVORY
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/14/conservation.wildlife
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF HOUSTON
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/08/chinese_architecture200808
DON’T SWEAR OR GO NAKED AT BEIJING OLYMPICS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/07/15/nbeijing115.xml

World gone mad
RAYTHEON INVENTS MISSILE-SHOOTING ‘LASER GUN’
Now you see what video games have been training kids for. . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/frontline/2301164/Star-Wars-style-laser-technology-to-reach-battlefield.html
CANADA TO DEPORT POOR GUY WHO DID NOT WANT TO FIGHT IN IRAQ
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080714.wwardeserter0714/BNStory/National/home
WATCH YOUR COUNTRY INTERROGATE 15-YEAR-OLD
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Gitmo_interrogation_video_of_15yearold_detainee_0715.html
WHY ARE WE BOMBING AFGHAN WEDDINGS?
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/91457/?ses=e22c3de491635294f2c19033d3b2209d
TERRORISTS DESERTING JIHAD?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,565750,00.html

LINDORFF: TORTURE FOR THE TORTURERS
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/173
But back to my desire to see some torture inflicted. My profound wish is that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, former Department of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Canadian Prime Minister Harper all be subjected to no less than a month of torture, to include water boarding, at least 2-3 weeks of sleep deprivation, a variety of 24-stints of being forced into stress positions (Rumsfeld’s should be standing), some violent slapping around, and a bit of creative sexual humiliation. Since we don’t know at this point that anal sodomizing was officially sanctioned, or just was something that the torturers on the ground came up with that was then ignored by superiors, I’m willing to let that one be left up to those performing the torture, but I sure won’t object if it happens.

Enviro Wacko
‘GREEN’ RESORT THREATENS UNSPOILED BULGARIAN COAST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/14/greenbuilding.climatechange

Man O-Man
OBAMA COMMITS TO ENDING IRAQ MESS
Of course, he commits to a lot of things. . .
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080714.wwardeserter0714/BNStory/National/home
FLIP-FLOPPING O-MAN LOSING GROUND
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN1337262320080713
HAROLD FORD: OBAMA NOT RUNNING FOR PREZ OF MOVEON.ORG!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/15/harold-ford-barack-obama-is-running-for-the-president-of-the-us-not-the-president-of-moveonorg-the-president-of-any-liberal-group/

Electile Dysfunction
NOBODY’S LAUGHING AT OBAMA
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/us/politics/15humor.html?em&ex=1216267200&en=eb5806c4fae3982b&ei=5087%0A
NY’ER COVER: IT’S SATIRE, FOLKS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/14/EDSS11P0IR.DTL
NY’ER ED. DEFENDS COVER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/15/MNID11P4V2.DTL

Mashed Media
AP WASH BUREAU CHIEF CHUMMY WITH ROVE
Wrote “keep up the fight” to Pigboy in an e-mail---now that’s objectivity!
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Keep_up_fight_Top_AP_editor_0714.html
WHAT EXACTLY IS PIGBOY DOING ON A NEWS PROGRAM, ANYHOW?
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/15/wallace-rove-fox/

Light reading
CAN ISLAM ACCOMMODATE DEMOCRACY, OR VICE-VERSA?
http://www.resetdoc.org/EN/Barber-Istanbul.php
There is a powerful rhetoric around today that claims Islam – not just fundamentalist or Wahhabist or Safalist Islam, but Islam itself is a religion hostile to democracy. Hostile not only to liberty, pluralism and the open society, but to modernity itself as it is defined by liberal values. The attitude evident in Samuel Huntington’s discredited notion of a “clash of civilizations” in which the West and the rest are locked in a struggle for survival, so foreign to discussions like our here in Istanbul, in fact remains ubiquitous in Western politics and media.

(Lack of) Health
TROUBLED? TRY A LITTLE LSD
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/90958/?ses=595d5d8d2e9e5882e5d1cd719d81a074
Try a little bit of LSD---the commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j80HZNtOUJA
BASEBALL---ER, THAT IS, MARIJUANA---THE AMERICAN PASTIME
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1821697,00.html
Reefer Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D44pyeEvhcQ

Obits
LES CRANE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/arts/television/15crane.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin
CHARLES H. JOFFE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/movies/15joffe.html?ref=obituaries

Oh, by the way. . .
‘FUNERAL BUDDHISM’ DYING OUT IN JAPAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/world/asia/14japan.html?ex=1216699200&en=8f303f9d5be7b416&ei=5070&emc=eta1
U.N. CUNEIFORM CYLINDER:
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS? OR STATEMENT OF TYRANNY?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,566027,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

Lost Angeles
RON KAYE’S ‘SAVE L.A.’ PROTEST FIZZLES
(Good idea, but it’s about 50 years too late.)
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/the_bastille_stands.php

Bye-bye
BYE-BYE, YANKEE STADIUM
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0715/p03s01-usgn.html
BYE-BYE POLAROID
http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article02220801.aspx

SLIPPERY TURKS!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,565780,00.html

Musique
VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS’S COMPLEX LEGACY
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/16/arts/ralph.php

Where ya goin’?
MADEIRA
http://www.guardianholidayoffers.co.uk/details.aspx?DAT=&RET=&COU=&SUP=&PRI=0&FLX=0&DUR=0&PAX=0&SEA=madeira&ORD=VIEDES&CAT=&TID=6C52DDC0-1099-4E94-8284-35CC8E7713B2
USING OLD MAPS TO FIND NEW USA
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/15/america/town.php
Retracing some of the routes of the American Guide Series, with the old books as companions, reveals how much the nation has been reshaped, from the decline of bustling manufacturing towns in New England to the rise of California into a global center. The guides were conceived as part of a jobs program, born out of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration. But they became something more: literary windows into an era and its aspirations.
PERU: DESERT TO RAINFOREST
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/14/travel/13explorer.php

Humans
MEET THE MATH-LESS TRIBE OF BRAZIL
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080714111940.htm
GERMAN VILLAGERS DESCENDED FROM NEARBY CAVEMEN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/15/scidna115.xml

And in the end. . .
700-YEAR-OLD MUMMY WITH A STOMACH ACHE
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080714192606.htm

7/14
back after computer crash. . .
Morning Concert
JOE COCKER
Hymn for My Soul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZhXV1EIev8
Darling Be Home Soon (Woodstock)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMYJ6yZHwGc
Darling Be Home Soon (album)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf5FaGS62K0 
The Infamous “A Little Help. . .” from Woodstock, captioned
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4_MsrsKzMM
She Came in Through The Bathroom Window
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQVqIqjAYhw
Yes, it’s Joe Cocker and Pavarotti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29zQGhnKQck 

CUSACK’S ‘WAR, INC.’ GATHERS BOX OFFICE STEAM
http://www.alternet.org/movies/91114/?ses=cc9ed80ea16148afdfc90ddee4faed6a
Cusack's anti-war polemic, War, Inc., continues to defy expectations, despite the traditional media's dismissive reception.

TEENS HAVE SEX, ONE IS RULED ‘PREDATOR’
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/07/13/sex_offender.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab 

OLYMPICS SUCKING UP CHINA’S WATER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/14/MNUK11GD0J.DTL

TODAY IN PICTURES
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7505401.stm

BUSH GOING GOLFING, WAR OR NO WAR
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/14/bush-fundraiser-golf/

HE’S A PROUD LESBIAN!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,565354,00.html 

And on to news and comment. . .

THE TEEN PHILANTHROPISTS OF SILICON VALLEY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/14/MNON11I593.DTL 
In 18 months, they raised nearly $26,000 from students, enough to build a classroom for Kenyan children who were going to school in a horse barn, put 60 desks in an empty classroom in Malawi, buy two milk cows for a Kenyan orphanage and ship 452 bicycles to Africa so children wouldn't have to walk for miles to get to school.

HUSBAND-WIFE TEAM SAVE ABANDONED BABIES OF PAKISTAN
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0714/p01s02-wosc.html
In more than a half-century of work, they have rescued tens of thousands of babies and – despite prejudice against such children – placed an estimated 16,700 in adoptive homes.

Lost Angeles
AMERICAN DREAM? TRY CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN DREAM
Parts of the San Fernando Valley feel like Guatemala, Mexico. . .
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_9864894
"Sometimes it feels like I didn't leave Central America at all," he says. "I look around at Pacoima - and it seems like 90 percent of Pacoima are emigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador - and it's as if Central America has immigrated here, and I think it's a different world than the one I came to live in."
FORMER DAILY NEWS EDITOR WANTS TO ‘SAVE L.A.’
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_9863243?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com

THE MAN WHO BEHEADED HITLER
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1821742,00.html 

26,000 ‘DETAINEES’ ON U.S. ‘GHOST SHIPS?’
http://www.neverinournames.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2256

Israelity
BUSH BACKS ISRAEL PLAN FOR IRAN STRIKE
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4322508.ece
RAIMUNDO: AMBER ALERT! HERE COMES IRAN ATTACK
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13130
It seems, however, that the Israelis have already been using U.S. bases in Iraq to train for the coming attack. There have been denials all around – from the Iraqis, the Americans, and the Israelis – but both the Iraqi media and the Israeli media have reported, as the New York Post put it, that "Israeli warplanes have been flying over Iraq and landing at U.S. bases there in preparation for an attack on Iran."
RUSSIA, IRAN TO SIGN GAS/OIL DEAL
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080713/113855321.html

SACBEE DOES SERIES ON LOWERED STANDARDS---AND CRIMINALITY---AMONG MILITARY RECRUITS
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003827041
The Series:
SUSPECT SOLDIERS---LINK BETWEEN PTSD AND CRIME?
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1080273.html
Lance Cpl. Briones' criminal history in Kings County began long before he experienced the stress of a combat zone, and that criminal history is directly connected to his ending up in Iraq."He wasn't a person who I would classify as a real upstanding citizen, before or during the military," said Kings County Deputy District Attorney Adam Nelson.
BIOS OF 16 SUSPECT-SOLDIERS
http://www.sacbee.com/1129

Iraq and Roll
BAGHDAD, CITY OF MINI-BERLIN WALLS
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/07/iraq-in-one-bla.html
OBAMA’S PLANS FOR IRAQ
by Barack Obama
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/opinion/14obama.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Unlike Senator McCain, I would make it absolutely clear that we seek no presence in Iraq similar to our permanent bases in South Korea, and would redeploy our troops out of Iraq and focus on the broader security challenges that we face.

The Other War
OBAMA WANTS MORE TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/14/america/obama.php

Mashed Media
HOW ‘BOUT THAT NEW YORKER OBAMA COVER?
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/New_Yorker_cover_angers_Obama_supporters_0713.html
IS NEW YORKER DOING RIGHT-WING’S WORK?
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/91355/?ses=cc9ed80ea16148afdfc90ddee4faed6a
Unfortunately the impact of this image will extend far beyond the reading audience of the New Yorker; cable news and the right-wing media noise machine will amplify the derogatory image to millions more. And the New Yorker of course will reap enormous publicity, clearly translating to increased sales and notoriety for the brand, and for corporate owner Conde Nast -- one of the largest and most powerful media companies in America.
WORLD’S OLDEST BLOGGER DIES AT 108
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7505029.stm

Enviro Wacko
BUSH LIFTS FATHER’S BAN ON OFFSHORE DRILLING
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/14/bush-lifts-his-fathers-ban-on-offshore-oil-drilling/
SCHWARZENEGGER AS OBAMA’S ‘ENVIRO/ENERGY CZAR?’---
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1080192.html
---MAYBE THE JACKASS COULD START WITH HIS HUMMER
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?in_article_id=217267&in_page_id=64

Your Corporatocracy at work!
THIS BUD’S FOR BELGIUM
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1822398,00.html

LINDORFF: KRUGMAN’S BLINDNESS ON THE WAR AND ECONOMY
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/172
Oddly, Krugman does say that a key cause of economic problems has been rising energy prices, but he then attributes these to “growing demand from China and other emerging economies,” and suggests that prices might have been at least a bit lower had the US, after 9/11, adopted “higher gas taxes and fuel efficiency standards,” a failing he attributes to Bush. The gaping hole in Krugman’s logic is the Iraq War, which the columnist, incredibly, doesn’t even mention. Yet clearly, the invasion and subsequent war and occupation of Iraq which was purely the result of Bush/Cheney machinations, has been a major, if not the major cause of oil price increases.

Animals in the news!
BOLD BIRDS GET THE GIRL
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708200655.htm
WOMAN FINDS BAT IN BRA
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=209737&in_page_id=2

Oh, by the way. . .
CHESS-BOXING HITS IT BIG
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1821639,00.html
NOW YOU, LADIES, CAN BE A VIRGIN AGAIN!
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1822297,00.html
STATE FUNERAL FOR MARGARET THATCHER
Uh, but she’s still alive, isn’t she?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/14/past.margaretthatcher

And in more important matters. . .

Musique
QUEENAN: MOST NEW ORCHESTRAL MUSIC STINKS
http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/story/0,,2289751,00.html
In New York, Philadelphia and Boston, concert-goers have learned to stay awake and applaud politely at compositions by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun. But they do this only because these works tend to be short and not terribly atonal; because they know this is the last time in their lives they'll have to listen to them; and because the orchestra has signed a contract in blood guaranteeing that if everyone holds their nose and eats their vegetables, they'll be rewarded with a great dollop of Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn.
MAN GRAPPLES WITH WHAT MUSIC TO PLAY---FOR BABY
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/07/12/cant_get_it_out_of_my_head/?page=full
I've never felt so paralyzed standing before my CD collection as the day I brought my newborn son home from the hospital and decided to play him his very first music. So much was at stake. Should it be modern or Baroque? Orchestral or opera? Would Mozart make him smarter? Would Schoenberg instill in him revolutionary tendencies? Would Wagner make him loathe his Jewish roots?
82-YEAR-OLD GEORGE MARTIN HONORED BY GRAMMY FOUNDATION
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25663412/

MEET SIVA BABA, THE YOUTUBE GURU
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/07/14/findrelig.DTL

For Art’s Sake
THE SEARCH FOR THE HIDDEN DA VINCI
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121570593117842857.html?mod=2_1168_1
THE LAMPS OF ISAMU NOGUCHI
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/14/arts/DESIGN14.php
DAILY MAIL ID’S MYSTERIOUS LONDON STREET ARTIST
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2008/07/so_what_if_banksys_cover_has_b.html

And in the end. . .
A MAN AND HIS SHEEP
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=215427&in_page_id=2


6/27
skylines:
Morni

ng Concert
Morning Cartoon
FLOWERS AND TREES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOadTflvdBg
IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE ROSES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74sSeZ64N30
WHISPERING PINES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLr0aRU8Wwk
IN THE PINES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91VNilV2XyQ
GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQhKqlOccHE
YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXyVENc05_c
FIELDS OF GOLD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UppX6vP3c4g
RUN FOR THE ROSES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skzHcYWc4UM
SCARLET BEGONIAS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzxjVYi5a30
ROSE OF TRALEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0sOZTl7w3M

Amy Winehouse, you’ve just been diagnosed with drug-related emphysema!
Where are you going now? “I’m going to buy booze!”
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/festivals/article.html?in_article_id=195085&in_page_id=82

WIDOW WANTS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLER OF HUSBAND, TWO SONS
Rip Post comment: Make it a slow, painful death penalty.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/27/MNV711FT7I.DTL

AWARD-WINNING ILLUSTRATOR’S SECRET: RAT PISS
We are not making this stuff up.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2287832,00.html

NYC SLAVEOWNER GETS 11 YEARS
She's in for some fun!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7476927.stm

MEDUSA TO DUMP HER GUY?
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=195142&in_page_id=7

HAILSTORM WRECKS VOLKSWAGENS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,562478,00.html

FLASH! MINI-ME SUES OVER SEX TAPE!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2205045/Mini-Me,-star-of-Austin-Powers,-sues-over-dwarf-sex-tape.html

And on to news and comment. . .

ASPARAGUS ON MARS!
Well, not yet---but it could grow there
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7477310.stm
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-phoenix27-2008jun27,0,6858366.story

JOHN YOO, TORTURE LAWYER:
I JUST INTERPRETED---I DIDN’T TORTURE ANYBODY!
http://www.slate.com/id/2194326/
The Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department, where he worked when he wrote his infamous memos, "was not involved in the making of policy decisions," he asserts. He continues, "Those policy choices—adopting particular techniques within the lines that OLC had determined to be lawful—were not mine to make, and I did not make them."

Kim Nook Yoo
BOLTON SLAMS N. KOREA FOR DE-NUKING!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/27/hannity-flip-flop/
CHENEY PISSED OVER TAKING N. KOREA OFF TERROR LIST
Well, any good Likud employee should be!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/27/cheney-hints-at-disapproval-with-administration%e2%80%99s-decision-on-north-korea/

Jesus H. Christ!
WHY SERENA WILLIAMS WON’T VOTE FOR OBAMA
Jesus told her not to, you see. . .
http://www.slate.com/id/2194321/

JAPANESE CHILDREN TAUGHT THAT
WHALE SLAUGHTER IS “CULTURALLY IMPORTANT”
On another planet, maybe whales are slaughtering humans. . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/2200175/Japanese-10-year-olds-taken-on-school-trips-to-whale-slaughter.html

ER, UH. . .NO ICE AT NORTH POLE THIS SUMMER
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/06/27/eaice127.xml

VENEZUELA, COCAINE HIGHWAY 101
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/2205687/Hugo-Chavez%27s-Venezuela-%27supplies-half-of-Britain%27s-cocaine%27.html

FRENCH WINEMAKERS ON RAMPAGE!
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/europe/fuel.php

Man O-Man
MCCAIN’S INCREDIBLY LAME ANTI-OBAMA ‘DR. NO’ AD
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/27/dr-no-is-almost-as-old-as-barack-obama/
SWIFT BOAT PUBLISHER NOW TARGETS OBAMA
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/27/swiftboat-publisher-targets-obama/
Conservative journalist David Freddoso’s “The Case Against Barack Obama” will offer “a comprehensive, factual look at Obama,” according to Regnery Publishing president and publisher Marjory Ross.
OLBERMANN FLIP-FLOPS ON OBAMA’S WIRETAP FLIP-FLOP
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/26/olbermann/
Is that really what anyone wants -- transferring blind devotion from George Bush to Barack Obama? Are we hoping for a Fox News for Obama, that glorifies everything he says and whitewashes everything he does?
OBAMA REVERSES HIMSELF ON GUN-BAN ISSUE, HAILS SUPREME COURT DECISION
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/27/barackobama.usa
AFL-CIO ENDORSES OBAMA
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/AFLCIO_endorses_Obama_for_president_0626.html
HINDU GOD ENDORSES OBAMA
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=191109&in_page_id=2

Enviro Wacko
MCCAIN THE ENVIRONMENTALIST
SHILLS FOR OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,562467,00.html
PALAST: COURT REWARDS EXXON FOR VALDEZ DISASTER
http://www3.gregpalast.com/court-rewards-exxon-for-valdez-oil-spill/
“If I had a machine gun, I’d shoot every one of those white sons-of-bitches.”---Henry Makarka, Tatitlek native.

Mashed Media
CLEAR CHANNEL CENSORS ADS
FOR NEW BUSH-MOCKING HARRY SHEARER CD
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/27/clear-channel-censors-ads-for-harry-shearers-new-bush-mocking-cd/
LATEST ON L.A. TIMES LAYOFFS
http://www.tellzell.com/2008/06/flotsam-and-jetsam.html

(Lack of) Health
DID ASPARTAME MAKE CARLIN’S HEART CONDITION WORSE?
http://www.rense.com/general82/gcar.htm
ECSTASY FOR PTSD?
(Better to use LSD---Ecstasy is a short-lived thrill ride, nothing more.)
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/89625/?ses=198cf2ed4f922e1574ac8fc0ea3a4715

People’s Repugnic
NEW PHOTO BOOK SHOWS LIFE UNDER CHINESE COMMUNISTS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,562506,00.html

R.I.P. NEW YORKER CARTOONIST ED ARNO
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/books/27arno.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

And in more important matters. . .

HEY, WHAT’S ON THE CHINA OLYMPICS MENU?
http://www.slate.com/id/2194074/
The menu items in question include "bean curd made by a pockmarked woman," "ants climbing a tree," and "chicken without sexual life."

800 MINUTES OF GEORGE CARLIN
http://www.slate.com/id/2194327/
Carlin lost a step or two over the years, but to his credit, the substance abuse and heart trouble that plagued him offstage never really managed to slow him down when he was on it. Physical comedy remained part of Carlin's repertoire throughout his career, as did his special brand of scatological humor. He got almost 30 years of mileage out of examinations of the words cornhole and dingleberry.

AMAZING PICS OF THE DAY
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/2205363/Pictures-of-the-day-27-June-2008.html

WELCOME TO THE WORD MUSEUM
http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2008-05/Word_Museum.html
In my day there, I went from Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten lists of his slaves to Maurice Sendak’s original sketches, then spent an hour deciphering Emily Dickinson’s elegantly illegible letters, slowly gaining new glimpses of her prose and voice. From there, I went over the extensive collection of baseball books in the complete living room of the great American poet Marianne Moore, which has been moved, in full—chairs, shelves, chachkas, and all—from Greenwich Village to the museum’s third floor.

Musique
HEY HEY, WE’RE THE (CLOISTERED) MONKS!
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/europe/austria.php
New Classical CDs of the Week
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/06/21/bmclasscds121.xml

Hey, Be-attle!
ALL THE NEWS ABOUT THE NEW BEATLES FOOTAGE
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/626raremmtfootage.html

Lost Angeles
ANOTHER OLD BOOKSTORE BITES THE DUST, SORT OF
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/dawsons_book_shop_cuts_ba.php

And in the end. . .
SLIDE SHOW: THE WORLD’S WEIRDEST HOTELS
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,32855,00.html

6/26
skylines:
Morning Concert
MATTINATA---BJOERLING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=525o_MPTXc0
WOOLY BULLY---SAM THE SHAM AND THE PHAROAHS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJOvCHD1uHY
PHAROAH SANDERS---THEMBI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgBVWx_1TKs
LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7TTkmC7HX8
THE LETTER---THE BOX TOPS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD9mCp8SifM
THE LETTER---JOE COCKER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RnjWLVyMps
LEAVING ON A JET PLANE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa3h3pnhg8s
JET
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWREAaIqs8Y

GANG VERMIN BUSTED FOR SF TRAFFIC KILLING OF DAD, TWO SONS
Just inject him
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/26/MNH411F12H.DTL

SIGNATURES GROW FOR “GEORGE W. BUSH SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/24/MNPQ11A3T7.DTL

2 BERKELEY TREE SITTERS SURRENDER AFTER 18 MONTHS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/26/BA8E11F6S0.DTL

MCCAIN DISCOVERS THE INTERNETS!
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/06/cartoon_mccain_discovers_the_internets.html

‘FINDING NEMO’ PROMPTS
CLOWNFISH NEAR-EXTINCTION
They’re all in fish tanks, thanks to the movie
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=192366&in_page_id=34

MOBILE BROTHEL OF MIAMI BUSTED
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=193168&in_page_id=2

NEW BEATLES FOOTAGE FOUND---FROM 'MYSTERY TOUR'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7474139.stm

Jesus H. Christ!
MARK FIORE ON NEW PREZ CANDIDATE
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/fiore/

And on to news and comment. . .

OH MY GOD---NOW YOU CAN ‘STUDY’ HIP-HOP AT UCLA
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/features/beat_scholars/ 

SPANISH PARLIAMENT: APES DESERVE “HUMAN RIGHTS”
Does this include Limbaugh and Karl Rove?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/26/humanrights.animalwelfare
|
All-Melty Dollar
ATTY. GEN. JERRY BROWN SUES COUNTRYWIDE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/25/BUKN11EUDQ.DTL
THE SHRINKING INFLUENCE OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,562291,00.html
After years of growth, the United States is now on the brink of a recession, one that is more likely to be deepened than softened by a tight money policy. Investments will automatically become more expensive, consumer spending will be curbed and economic growth will slow down, immediately affecting unemployment figures and wages.

MUCH OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA IS BURNING
If you live in SF or above, don’t breathe
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/26/BA9611F182.DTL&tsp=1
Astounding satellite photo
http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/resources/2008176/ca-north-000/crefl2_A2008176215900-2008176220510_250m_ca-north-000_143.jpg

RUSSIA’S ‘WAR ON TERROR’ AGAINST INGUSH MUSLIMS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7473645.stm

Kim Nook Yoo
N. KOREA HANDS OVER NUKE INFO TO CHINA---
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7474952.stm
---AND PREZBOY LIFTS ‘AXIS OF EVIL’ STANDING, BUT. . .
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVlkPA4gZ8ZjSNiN7of68Sbvzpfg
WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20147.htm

Dishonest John
MAD MCCAIN WANTS ‘LEAGUE OF DEMOCRACIES'
Cold war, anyone?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20173.htm

Homeland Insecurity
SEN. ORRIN “BOOBY” HATCH: WIRETAP CRITICS ARE NUTCASES
They wear tin-foil hats and think 9/11 is inside job, says senator
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/hatch-compares-fisa-critics-to-those-who-wear-tin-foil-hats-and-think-911-was-an-inside-job/


DOWD: MORE PHONEY MYTHS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/opinion/25dowd.html?em&ex=1214625600&en=8368c115b6d559d0&ei=5087%0A
Rove was doing a variation on the old William Buckley line: “I would rather be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston telephone book than by the 2,000 members of the Harvard faculty.”Conservatives love playing this little game, acting as if the “elite” Democratic candidates are not in touch with people like themselves, even though the guys doing the attacking — like Rove, Limbaugh, O’Reilly and Hannity — are wealthy and cosseted.

RAIMUNDO: IS WAR GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY? NOPE
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1817989,00.html
Wars are expensive propositions, especially the sort of all-embracing, the-sky's-the-limit, multi-generational conflict envisioned by the War Party's editorial board commandos. Our $3 trillion war, as Nobel-prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes have dubbed it, is an albatross hung round the neck of the American giant, whose great neck is bowing under its weight. The unipolar moment the neocons once exulted in will go down in the official record as the briefest incident in human history, albeit not the noblest.

LINDORFF: USA’S DOUBLE-STANDARD ON KIDS
Victims in prostitutes, terrorists if caught fighting the U.S.
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/163

Asinine Commentary of the Day!
YELLOW SCIENCE
WSJ shills for the “junk science” crowd with hifalutin’ BS. . .
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121433436381900681.html


Mashed Media
ZELL WANTS TO SELL LAT BUILDING---
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/today_in_sam_zell_3.php
---BUT IS IT WORTH ANYTHING?
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/times_building_virtually.php
CUTBACKS COMING AT BALTIMORE SUN---
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003820904
---AND HARTFORD COURANT
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003820573
KARL THE PIG OINKS AT THE NYT
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/25/rove-critical-of-ny-times-for-outing-cia-agent/

Animals in the news!
STEM CELL TREATMENTS FOR PETS
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1817572,00.html
GIANT SQUID WASHES UP IN SANTA CRUZ
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/26/state/n054024D90.DTL&tsp=1
NAME A SEA SLUG
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/25/want-to-name-a-sea-slug-a-nonprofit-might-let-you/

(Lack of) health
SLEEP APNEA LINKED TO MEMORY LOSS
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/exclusives/apnea_memory_loss/
SHOWER CURTAINS, COMPUTERS LOWERING SPERM COUNTS
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/89453/

R.I.P. IRA TUCKER OF DIXIE HUMMINGBIRDS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/arts/music/26tucker.html?ref=obituaries

Oh, by the way. . .
NICARAGUA FIGHTS OVER A HAT
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1817989,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

RAY BRADBURY DENOUNCES
THE END OF BOOKSTORES IN LOS ANGELES
Speaks at legendary Acres of Books in Long Beach---yes, which is threatened with extinction
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/ray_bradbury_mourns_acres_1.php
“If this place could be kept here, if you're going to build a mall, they should build it around here. They should be the center of the mall. They should be a shrine. They should have a crucifix up in front. I will come and bless the goddamn place.”

NEW CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2287541,00.html

TeeVee
BBC: TOO MANY BLACKS, ASIANS ON TV
Politically correct “overcompensation” has distorted minority presence, says exec,
who then says that “white cultural elite” is still in charge of “creative power.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/26/bbc.television
Samir Shah, a member of the BBC's board of directors, said this had led to a "world of deracinated coloured people flickering across our screens - to the irritation of many viewers and the embarrassment of the very people such actions are meant to appease".
FANS REVIVE LOST ‘DR. WHO’ EPISODES FROM 60’S
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/26/bbc.doctorwho

Spotes
GWEN KNAPP ON SHAQ’S DESPICABLE RAP
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/25/SP9T11EUCA.DTL

Where ya goin’?
VISIT THE WATERFALLS OF NEW YORK CITY
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-06-25-new-york-waterfalls_N.htm 

And in the end. . .
SEA SLUGS!
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=sea+slugs

6/25
skylines:
Morning Concert
DIAMOND IN THE BACK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myCDlel_Ek8
LEAN ON ME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kTrkpPXYsM
LEAN LIKE A CHOLO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqsrq34qDyk
STORMY WEATHER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCG3kJtQBKo
RIDERS ON THE STORM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMvfAYEaE8c
GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsfw9CEQITA
BLUE SKIES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X12aKztV9jM

WATCH: THE AMAZING ESCALATOR SPINNER!
http://theridiculant.metro.co.uk/2008/06/heres-to-you-es.html

IMPORTANT NEWS FOR BLACK LESBIAN FEMINISTS!
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/lorde/feminist.htm

Lost Angeles
COLISEUM TO WHORE ITSELF FOR ‘NAMING RIGHTS’
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/la_coliseum_naming_rights.php
"People don't get how valuable these naming rights could be," said David Israel, chairman of the Coliseum Commission.
STRANGE DOMES RISE IN FASHION DISTRICT
http://downtownnews.com/articles/2008/06/23/news/news05.txt

THIRD VICTIM OF CRAZED SF TRAFFIC SHOOTING DIES
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/25/BAT011EC2M.DTL

THE TITANIC TOILETS OF TOKYO
Japanese toilets can warm and wash one's bottom, whisk away odors with built-in fans and play water noises that drown out potty sounds. They play relaxation music, too. "Ave Maria" is a favorite.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR2008062401285.html?referrer=emailarticle

And on to news and comment. . .

Asinine Commentary of the Week!
TIME WRITER CALLS HIGH SCHOOL
PREGNANCY PACT A SIGN OF MATURITY!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080622224438.htm
“Surely they deserve more sympathy and support than shame and derision, if the trend they reflect is not a typical teenager's inclination to have sex, but rather a willingness to take responsibility for the consequences.”

The Torture Never Stops
WATCH: ABUSE ON U.S. PRISON SHIPS
WORSE THAN ABU GHRAIB---REPORT
http://collateralnews.tv/index.php/collateral-news/5/149
RETIRED U.S. GENERAL: BUSH HAS COMMITTED WAR CRIMES
http://www.alternet.org/rights/89141/?ses=cb45d272f56fa5427902f888b8a97e3f

Israelity
ISRAEL LEANING ON U.S. TO ATTACK IRAN---CBS NEWS
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/eveningnews/main4206201.shtml

Mashed Media
WOW---ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
OUTSOURCES COPY EDITING TO INDIA
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/register_outsourcing_edit_1.php
TRIBUNE CO. PINHEAD DIDN’T KNOW LAT HAD REPORTERS IN IRAQ!
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/yes_another_lee_abrams_bo.php

Enviro Wacko
THE END OF CALIFORNIA PLANT LIFE?
Redwoods could be on the way out.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/24/MNJ811EEAC.DTL&tsp=1
MCCAIN: OFFSHORE DRILLING IS GOOD FOR PSYCHOLOGY!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/24/mccain-psychological-offshore/
EXXON VALDEZ PENALTIES CUT FROM $2.5 BILLION TO $500 MILLION
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Court_cuts_judgment_in_Exxon_Valdez_06252008.html
REMOVING SUGAR CO. WILL SWEETEN EVERGLADES
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1817390,00.html
MORFORD: WE’RE DOOMED---SORT OF
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/06/25/notes062508.DTL

Electile Dysfunction
NADER ON OBAMA: HE’S NOT DOING MUCH FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS
Spoiler also asks, “Is it because he wants to talk white?”
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/25/nader-critical-of-obama-for-trying-to-talk-white/
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/25/ralph-nader-barack-obama-wants-to-talk-white/

Man O-Man
PRESTO-CHANGEO---IT’S THE NEW OBAMA!
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1817679,00.html
To some observers, Obama's transformation from upstart candidate to presumptive nominee has made him begin to look dangerously like the typical Washington politicians he so often rails against. Worried about his patriotism? He now wears a flag pin daily. Worried about his church? He left it. Think he's inexperienced? Don't fret; he's got lots of renowned advisers. Too liberal? Well, just look at his recent policy statements on defending Israel and protecting warrantless wiretapping. And for a man who last week flip-flopped on his pledge to stay within the public financing system, his planned meeting tomorrow with Hillary Clinton's fat cat donors seems to be Obama's way of saying, 'I may not like your game, but I'll take your money.'
SURPRISE! OBAMA GOES SOFT ON FREE TRADE
Why is this not surprising?
http://www.alternet.org/election08/88754/
O-MAN TAKES ON JACKASS DOBSON
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/politics/main4206668.shtml?source=mostpop_story
WHAT’S IN THE O-MAN’S IPOD?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/06/the_meaning_of_obamas_ipod.html
MAN OH MAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apqJrbPfmlo

Dishonest John
WHY DOES MCCAIN HATE AMTRAK?
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/What_2008_is_all_aboutAmtrak.html
McCain's longstanding jihad against Amtrak is no secret -- except maybe to voters in the 2008 election. I was just searching around and found only a couple of recent articles, mostly in obscure places or in the British media, that mention the Republican's positions against funding rail. In fact, I'm a little surprised that the Obama campaign hasn't spotlighted this issue in Pennsylvania, since Amtrak has higher ridership here than anywhere else.
FLASH! MCCAIN IS ‘AWARE OF THE INTERNET’
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/89394/

Homeland Insecurity
MESSAGE TO FEDS: NO, YOU CAN’T SEARCH MY LAPTOP
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/swire-laptop/

MCCLELLAN DENOUNCES CHENEY
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/mcclellan-cheneys-memoir-could-be-called-i-upped-halliburtons-income-so-up-yours/
McClellan who is clear that he has no great admiration for Cheney, joked to the audience that his national book tour has given him some ideas for book titles Cheney might consider: “The Lies I Told,” or “I Upped Halliburton’s Income - So Up Yours.”
MCCLELLAN TO LEAVE GOP?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/25/MNLL11EE58.DTL

Wold Gone Mad
INTERVIEW: THE INCREDIBLE HORROR OF DARFUR
http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/610/crisis_darfur/

(Lack of) Health
AGAVE SYRUP IS GOOD FOR YOU
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/18/FDEJ116TOH.DTL&hw=agave&sn=001&sc=1000

Spaced Out
MARS AIR HAD MOISTURE
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080625093242.htm

Animals in the news!
CAT SURVIVES 18 HOURS ON POWER LINE
8 lives to go
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=191182&in_page_id=34
MAN SAVES BEAR, IS PROSECUTED FOR BOTHERING WILDLIFE
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=189728&in_page_id=34
SLIDE SHOW: BIRD ATTACKS ON HUMANS ARE UP
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/jun/25/wildlife.photography?picture=335244304

Oh, by the way. . .
MORE MEN DIE IN FLOODS
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1817603,00.html
A PLANE WITH WINGS OF GLASS?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080622224438.htm
ITALY IS NOT BIG ON ‘CULTURAL DIVERSITY’
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/25/arts/25abroad.php
VISIT TO A SOUTH KOREAN CRAM SCHOOL
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/25/asia/cram.php

And in more important matters. . .

GEISHAS MAKING A BIG COMEBACK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/25/japan.internet

THE BEIJING OLYMPICS’ NOT-SO-WARM WELCOME
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0625/p01s08-woap.html
Fearful of terrorist attacks and of embarrassing protests, the authorities are draping a security blanket over Beijing so thick that many residents fear it will stifle the Games. "They are not taking any chances, whatever the impact on ordinary people, either local or foreign," says Gilbert van Kerckhove, a longtime Beijing resident who is advising the city on Olympic issues. "They are totally paranoid; there is no other word for it."

JACKIE CHAN: FIGHT TO HELP PEOPLE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7473318.stm

Where ya goin’?
TRAIN TRIP 3: RUSSIA TO TAIWAN (BY BOAT)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/25/japan.russia.ferry

For Art’s Sake
MONET SETS MONEY RECORD
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/26/arts/melik26.php

Musique
TWO OLD MOTHERS KEEP INVENTING
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/arts/story.html?id=dd5edd28-12c5-4e41-80b5-e483939b6a8c
MEAT LOAF: WHAT AM I GONNA DO, RUN A HOT DOG STAND?
http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2287261,00.html

And in the end. . .
LEAN LIKE A GORDO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAODF9eCq58

6/24
skylines:
Morning Concert
HELLO HELLO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bLTZPaS2U
HELLO GOODBYE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QShSmpI0r9k
GOODBYE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbhEtYdZ3Wo
GOODBYE
(McCartney and fake Beatles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbhEtYdZ3Wo
HELLO I LOVE YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x34wa2jehek
HELLO DOLLY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd4HPipfceU
GOODBYE BLUE SKY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE_yNPNCflk
GOODBYE PORKPIE HAT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU_RxWXijz0
HELLO, I MUST BE GOING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCvz8y_DUSY

SURVIVING BEEGEES TO TOUR?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7466377.stm

BOY GEORGE DENIED U.S. VISA
Well, he is pretty terrifying. . .and shouldn’t he be Man George by now?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7470608.stm

HEINZ PULLS AD SHOWING GAY COUPLE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/24/asa.advertising

WOMAN SAVED BY SPORTS BRA
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/23/sports.bra.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

PULL MY FINGER!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,561007,00.html

CARLIN: IT’S BAD FOR YA
“And f--- Dr. Phil, too!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRCKoT1HY3U
INCREDIBLE: BLOGGER ASKS IF CARLIN WAS ANTI-SEMITE
Simply because a GREAT Carlin rant about the power elite---no references to Jews---is posted on a nutball website
http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3302
HERE IS THE GREAT RANT: "THEY OWN US"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMqJvhmD5Yg
TWO GREATS: CARLIN AND OLBERMANN---
"THIS COUNTRY IS FINISHED."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UVXj8F9Fmk

(More Carlin links below)

And on to news and comment. . .

MCCAIN: STRAPPED FOR CASH? GET ON EBAY!
Computer-illiterate echoes Bush advice
(How can we elect a guy president who does not know how to use a computer???)
http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/001039.htm

NASA SCIENTIST:
OIL EXECS SHOULD BE TRIED FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
Hear, hear. . .
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-james-hansen/twenty-years-later-tippin_b_108766.html
CEOs of fossil energy companies know what they are doing and are aware of long-term consequences of continued business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature. If their campaigns continue and "succeed" in confusing the public, I anticipate testifying against relevant CEOs in future public trials.

LIPOSUCTION---THE REAL ENERGY SOLUTION!
http://www.alternet.org/story/89127/
The average liposuction removes about half a gallon of liquid fat, which may not seem like much. But think of the vast reserves our nation is literally sitting on! Thirty percent of Americans are obese, or about 90 million individuals or 45 million gallons of easily available fat -- not from dead diatoms but from our very own bellies and butts.

ISRAELI SOLDIER KILLS SELF AS SARKOZY, OLMERT BOARD PLANE
Sarkozy’s wife rushes into plane ahead of husband
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080624/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_sarkozy

Enviro Wacko
MEAT INDUSTRY TO BLAME FOR POISON TOMATOES
http://www.alternet.org/environment/89015/?ses=4cb883581dc7af1f09193e5401163d20
You read that right: Cow shit is in your tomatoes. Actually, cow shit is in everything: the water, hamburgers, other plant life, and if one ascribes to the hippie New Age belief that we are all one pulsating organism upon Mother Earth, then cow shit is in all of us. . . A 2006 United Nations report described the devastation caused by the meat industry as "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." Aside from global warming, meat production is a large factor in deforestation, wasted land, and air and water contamination.

Mashed Media
RETIRING WASHPOST ED: IT’S LIKE ‘CONDUCTING GREAT ORCHESTRA’
Who are these pretentious jokers, and how did they become editors?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003819838
HORRID STORY OF CRIME REPORTER WHO KNEW WHO DUN IT---BECAUSE IT WAS HIM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/24/pressandpublishing.internationalcrime

Religion
MALAY MUSLIMS TO WOMEN: LOSE LIPSTICK AND HIGH HEELS, AND AVOID RAPE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/24/malaysia.religion
NEW MUSLIM MAG: INTEGRATE INTO U.S. SOCIETY
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0624/p04s01-usgn.html
They are not headlines one sees at the grocery store checkout. "A Jihad for Love" or "There's Something About Rumi."
OBAMA (WISELY) SHUNNING MUSLIM-AMERICANS
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/24/america/24muslim.php

Electile Dysfunction
HAHAHA---MCCAIN AIDE SAYS TERRORIST ATTACK WOULD HELP THEIR CAMPAIGN
How many minutes before this guy is canned, do you suppose. . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/24/johnmccain.uselections2008
CLARKE: MCCAIN MUST FIRE BLACK IMMEDIATELY
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/24/clarke-black/
ELIZ. EDWARDS: MCCAIN’S HEALTH PLAN DISCRIMINATES AGAINST WOMEN
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/24/elizabeth-edwards-mccains-individual-market-for-health-insurance-discriminates-against-women/
BROWN: OBAMA’S A MUSLIM, MCCAIN WILL KEEP US SAFE. . .
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8913
If gullibility was indicated by back stripes America would look like a zebra. We are not a particularly skeptical nation. We tend to believe what we're told by our authority figures. Often we simply believe the illogical because that's what we want to believe.

Iraq and Roll
EU TRIES TO STOP FLOOD OF IRAQI REFUGEES
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,561674,00.html
The ongoing terror in Iraq is driving an increasing number of refugees to Europe. Now the EU is being forced to make some tough decisions: Who will be allowed to stay in Europe, and will Iraqi Christians have greater chances here than Muslims?
RAIMUNDO: Imperial 'Justice'---
The Haditha massacre and what it means to be an empire
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13031
When the Marines came into the house they just started shooting, going from room to room, killing all where they found them. When they were done, they went on to the next house in the Iraqi village of Haditha, which they attacked with hand grenades, methodically executing everyone inside. When they were done, they had killed 24 people, including two babies, a 5-year-old, a mother who had recently had an appendectomy, and an elderly couple.

Oh, by the way. . .
FATBOY HASTERT VISITS SEVEN COUNTRIES---ON YOUR TAB
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/23/hastert-wastes-20000-in-taxpayer-money-on-lavish-trips-during-last-11-months-in-office/
INCREDIBLE: SWORN TO VIRGINITY AND LIVING AS A MAN IN ALBANIA
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/23/europe/virgins.php
MICROBES EATING CAMBODIAN HISTORY
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/24/healthscience/24micr.php

And in more important matters. . .

Bye, George
CARLIN’S LAST INTERVIEW
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200806/george-carlins-last-interview
Originally it was slated to run as a 350-word Q&A on the back page of Psychology Today. But I was so excited to talk to him—and he was so generous with his time—that I just kept on going. By the end I had over 14,000 words.
TRIBUTES TO CARLIN POUR IN
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/24/lkl.carlin/
“I bet you if he was here now, what he would be saying is, 'Why do people say nice things when you die? That's the stupidest thing to do. They can't hear you, you know?' " Maher said.
FROM COMIC TO ICON
(He would have hated that headline)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_en_ce/obit_george_carlin
PROVOCATEUR FOR THE AGES
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/23/DDQR11DS5A.DTL
CARLIN WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR MORE THAN SEVEN WORDS
http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/676280.html
You’d be hard-pressed to find a comedian who doesn’t think George was the most profound philosopher in modern history.”
CARLIN: I MAKE PEOPLE COMFORTABLE WITH DELVING
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/arts/story.html?id=3cc9849c-6344-40e9-a8cf-9bbb87895a94
CARTOON REFERENCES CARLIN JUST BEFORE DEATH
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003819666
A CARLIN LETTER TO THE EDITOR, FIRING BACK AT CRITIC
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003819880
CARLIN’S ‘ZEAL FOR FREEDOM’
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theatre/2008/06/george_carlin_a_comic_with_a_z.html

Film
SPIELBERG GOES BOLLYWOOD
Makes huge deal with India’s Reliance Entertainment
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1817222,00.html
But this deal is more about money than any hybrid art form. Dreamworks gets at least half the funding it would need to get out of its troubled marriage with Paramount, ensure its independence and still make six or so movies a year.
INTERVIEW: ACTRESS JANE HORROCKS
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/drama/story/0,,2287169,00.html
ISRAELIS FLATTERED BY ‘ZOHAN’ FLICK
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/24/arts/Film-Israel-The-Zohan.php

Books
CONSERVATIVE PUBLISHER STOPS SENDING BOOKS TO NYT
http://www.nysun.com/arts/encounter-books-crosses-times-off-mailing-list/80530/ 

Where ya goin’?
GREAT TRAIN RIDE 2: MOSCOW TO VLADIVOSTOK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/24/railtravel.transsiberian.russia

And in the end. . .
WORLD NETTLE EATING CHAMPIONSHIPS
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=189302&in_page_id=2


6/23
skylines:
Morning Concert
BE HERE NOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUGa0v0bz1w
GEORGE CARLIN.COM
http://www.georgecarlin.com/
GEORGE CARLIN EXPLAINS HIMSELF
(Just listen to Carlin and ignore the doofus who has used this to promote his sorry ass.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL5c-LGtHQU
GEORGE CARLIN ON RELIGION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o
GEORGE CARLIN ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyWEBbFwU1o
GEORGE CARLIN ON VOTING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u6lCBnRoHQ
LEON REDBONE: LAUGHING BLUES/POLLY WOLLY DOODLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziucmWCzcl0

Insane Amy Whitehouse has emphysema from smoking
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7468655.stm

RUSSIAN SPA OPENS MONUMENT TO THE ENEMA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080619/ap_on_fe_st/russia_enema_monument
Related:
THE ILLINOIS ENEMA BANDIT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOeOlcR_CgE

And on to news and comment. . .

SAY IT AINT’ SO. . .GEORGE CARLIN IS DEAD
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/bushbeat/archives/2008/06/say_it_aint_so.php
HOW CARLIN CHANGED COMEDY
(Well, he wasn’t exactly a comedian. . .a commentator. . .a philosopher. . .who was funny.)
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1817192,00.html
WATCH: GEORGE CARLIN ON DEATH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PiZSFIVFiU
THE EVER-RELEVANT GEORGE CARLIN, R.I.P.
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_popmachine/2008/06/george-carlin-w.html
GUESS HIS KENNEDY CENTER AWARD WILL BE POSTHUMOUS
At least he knew about it. . .
http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/06/18/carlin_to_be_honored/
JAY BOOKMAN DOESN’T UNDERSTAND CARLIN’S LOVE OF PLAIN TRUTH. . .
What a dope.
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bookman/entries/2008/06/23/george_carlin_will_never_rest.html
NYT OBIT
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/arts/24carlin.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
1973 INTERVIEW: CARLIN IN TRANSITION TO TRUE CHARACTER
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0623/p25s08-usgn.html
"In my own experiences, my own observations, my own childhood. Like, for instance, the cliches that all parents seem to use in dealing with their children. You see, my gift is that I see the absurdities and ironies of life, and have the ability to verbalize and mimic them. I'm the class clown. I made faces at the teacher and then did my routines on the street corner. In the end, I'm just the guy who thought of the stuff and got hold of a microphone. Once I'm on stage, my wits are my only defense against ignominy. It amounts to pure self-defense."

In far less important news:

STORY OF THE DAY: PRISON ORCHESTRAS OF VENEZUELA
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/22/america/journal.php

A.P. COMMENTARY:
IS EVERYTHING SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL?
by Alan Fram and Eileen Putnam
http://www.marinij.com/ci_9658387

Your corporatocracy at work!
COMO SE DICE, ‘FILL ‘ER UP?’
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/23/mexico.gas/index.html
AS AMERICANS SUFFER AT THE PUMP,
ENERGY INDUSTRY BASKS IN LUXURY
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/23/as-americans-suffer-at-the-pump-energy-industry-basks-in-luxury/
Maserati sales way up. . .Chanel doing well. . .

Man O-Man
THE MYSTERIOUS BARACK OBAMA
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25328351/
Still, sixteen months after announcing his candidacy, and after twenty-six Presidential debates and thousands of public-speaking engagements, Obama remains a puzzle to many voters. Almost as dedicated a policy wonk as Hillary Clinton and arguably more centrist in his economic beliefs, he offers plenty of specifics about what needs to be done. But his captivating eloquence and his slogan—“Change We Can Believe In”—have seemed to lift him dangerously high above the concrete. He has proved his steadiness of purpose without clearly defining his priorities. What, above all, does he intend to accomplish if he is elected President?
OBAMA, FRIEND OF ETHANOL
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/23/america/ethanol.php
Obama is running as a reformer who is seeking to reduce the influence of special interests. But like any other politician, he has powerful constituencies that help shape his views. And when it comes to domestic ethanol, almost all of which is made from corn, he also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the parties and their presidential candidates. In the heart of the Corn Belt that August day, Obama argued that embracing ethanol as a substitute for gasoline "ultimately helps our national security, because right now we're sending billions of dollars to some of the most hostile nations on earth." America's oil dependence, he added, "makes it more difficult for us to shape a foreign policy that is intelligent and is creating security for the long term."

N. KOREA DEVELOPED NUKES FOR IRAN AT BOMBED SYRIA PLANT?
Or is this another “aluminum tube”/yellowcake report?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20147.htm
According to intelligence reports seen by SPIEGEL, the Syrian facility at Al Kibar that Israeli jets bombed last September was the site of a secret military project. The report states that North Korean, Syrian and Iranian scientists were working side by side to build a reactor to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

Military Industrial Complex
HOW CHENEY’S BUDDIES SUPPORT THE TROOPS. . .
U.S. TROOPS ACCUSE KBR OF EXPOSING THEM TO TOXIN
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/21/9792
“These soldiers were bleeding from the nose, spitting blood,” said Danny Langford, an equipment technician from Texas brought to work at the Qarmat Ali Water treatment plant in 2003. “They were sick.”
WHITE HOUSE SHOOTS DOWN ARMY EFFORT
TO INCREASE OVERSIGHT OF DEFENSE CONTRACTORS
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/23/waste-army-proposal/

Electile Dysfunction
MCCAIN OFFERS $300 MILLION FOR NEW CAR BATTERY
(We’re not making this stuff up)
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1817173,00.html
MCCAIN TO PICK PAWLENTY FOR VEEP?
That would be Pawlenty stupid, so please do it. . .
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4187549.ece
The Case Against Tim Pawlenty
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/06/the_case_against_tim_pawlenty.html?hpid=topnews
"She loves football, she'll go to hockey games and, I jokingly say: Now, if I could only get her to have sex with me."

RICH: NOW THAT WE’VE ‘WON,’ LET’S COME HOME
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/opinion/22rich.html?em&ex=1214366400&en=2501a171c026ac0b&ei=5087%0A

Oh, by the way. . .
YESSIRREE! I WANT TO RIDE A PHILLIPINE FERRYBOAT!
When will these people figure out that high seas are not conducive to safe trips?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7468493.stm
‘POSITIVE PROOF’ THAT LECH WALESA WAS COMMUNIST SPY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,561414,00.html
9 PEOPLE SHOT TO DEATH OVER WEEKEND IN SF AREA
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/23/BAL411DD99.DTL&tsp=1

And in more important matters. . .

ANOTHER LEGENDARY BOOKSTORE CLOSES
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/23/MNH711DDT0.DTL

INDIA TOWN GOES NUTS EVER YEAR ON DYLAN’S BIRTHDAY---
It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe. . .
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/23/arts/23dylan.php
---WHILE ANOTHER IS FULL OF MAGICIANS
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1816792,00.html

Light reading
WHY IS MARIJUANA ILLEGAL? A HISTORY
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html
"Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice."

Where ya goin’?
GREAT TRAIN RIDE: FROM COLOGNE TO MOSCOW
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/23/moscow.cologne

And in the end. . .
JOE COCKER WITH SUBTITLES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4_MsrsKzMM

6/20
skylines:
Morning Concert
HI-DE-HO---Cab Calloway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hovtGsLPYeA
HI HI HI---Sir Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5D_e2j9q-w
HI HI---Puffy Ami Yumi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-T59L4n-Jo
HIDEY HO---Stumblebum Brass Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLKXNX7hilc
HI-DE-HO---Blood Sweat and Tears
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-zeSPEz3kg
HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY---Beatles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNMhPQoEbJE

POLICE HELICOPTER CHASES UFO
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2160814/Police-chase-UFO-over-Cardiff.html

HEATHER BANS SIR PAUL---FROM IPOD
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/49002/Mills-is-more-out-of-tune-with-Paul
Related:
COMING SOON: THE PORN IPOD
Talk about phone sex. . .
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1815933,00.html

INTERNET ADDICTION NOW A CLINICAL DISORDER
Help! Help!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2152972/Internet-addiction-is-a-%27clinical-disorder%27.html

MARTHA STEWART BARRED FROM BRITAIN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7465460.stm

WATER ON MARS. . .NO ELVIS YET
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/06/mars-phoenix-tw.html

ASTONISHING PICTURE OF BRAD PITT
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/films/article.html?in_article_id=183270&in_page_id=27

CARTOON: THIS MODERN WORLD
http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2008/06/17/tomo/index.html

And on to news and comment. . .

PRESTO! NO CHANGE-O!
OBAMA APPROVES MORE BUSH DOMESTIC SPY POWERS
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/21/obama-ill-fight-to-strip-telecom-immunity-from-fisa/
http://www.nj.com/njvoices/index.ssf/2008/06/obama_caves_to_bush_on_domesti.html

Lost Angeles
CITY GREASES WAY FOR YET ANOTHER DEVELOPER-RAPIST
Little Anthony’s pet Mid-Wilshire project under scrutiny
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-midtown20-2008jun20,0,2327083.story

EX-STATE DEPT. OFFICIAL: HUNDREDS OF “DETAINEES” DIED---
AT LEAST 25 WERE MURDERED
Honey, I’m going to be late. I’ve been detained. . .
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20128.htm

ROBERTS: JOHN YOO, TOTALITARIAN
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20133.htm
Yoo believes that the Constitution and liberty rank below “the nation’s security.” Fortunately, Yoo wrote, a fix is at hand. “The advancing age of several justices” means that President McCain can give us more judges like Roberts (no relation) and Alito who will make certain that mere civil liberties don’t get in the way of arbitrary executive power justified by national security. In a Yoo-McCain regime, the terrorists you will have to fear are those in your own government, against whom you will have no protection whatsoever.

MITCHELL: TEXAS WOMAN SOLIDER DIED FROM FRIENDLY FIRE---NOT
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003819038
Forget friendly fire. It turns out that Spc. Block was actually murdered, and the killer, another soldier, Staff Sgt. Brandon Norris, then turned the gun on himself. And more: Her parents were misled at the start, and only after the mother noticed a suspicious head wound at the funeral (it turns out she was shot five times) and asked why, were they informed a few days later about the murder angle.

CANADA WILL DEPORT ARMY DESERTER TO U.S.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/05/21/guardsman.deserter/?iref=hpmostpop
Glass, who's still on active duty and is considered absent without leave, applied for refugee status at the Canadian border in August 2006 on the grounds of objection to military service.
COUNTRY JOE PLAYS BENEFIT FOR DESERTER---
UNITED AIR LINES SMASHES HIS GUITAR
From Leah Garchik's column in the San Francisco Chronicle, June 10:
Country Joe McDonald was in Canada the first weekend in June playing a benefit for Corey Glass, who fled to Canada to escape being court-martialed for desertion from Iraq. Glass is being deported to the United States. When McDonald returned, his baggage claim ticket for his guitar case had "Luv Yr Stuff" written on it in marker, apparently by a baggage handler. But when he opened the case, it looked as though his 1960s Gibson guitar had been bashed with a hammer. A supervisor at United told him, "I have decided not to file your claim for damage as the case is not really harmed ... just the guitar." An airline representative confirms this practice, although she says the situations are reviewed "on a case-by-case basis .... The airlines do not open bags and inspect them. Has your reader filed a complaint with the TSA? That is what we recommend travelers do in these scenarios."

BUSH'S LATEST POWERS---
COURTESY OF DEMOCRAP CONGRESS
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/19/telecom/
So all the Attorney General has to do is recite those magic words -- the President requested this eavesdropping and did it in order to save us from the Terrorists -- and the minute he utters those words, the courts are required to dismiss the lawsuits against the telecoms, no matter how illegal their behavior was.

LINDORFF:
KEEPING AMERICA SAFE FROM CHILD TERRORISTS
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/162
When they went to check on him, the critically injured, yet miraculously still living Khadr reportedly pleaded, “Shoot me!” Reportedly, some of Sgt. Speer’s buddies were ready to do just that. Apparently the “clicking” of injured captives by American forces (a war crime) is not uncommon, and even has its own slang word. But a medic with the group interceded and stopped the battlefield execution, and took action to save Khadr’s life.Khadr was eventually shipped off to Guantanamo, at the age of 15. . .

Bordering on madness
THE GREAT WALL OF AMERICA
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1816488,00.html

Man O-Man
O-MAN’S HUGE FLIP-FLOP ON PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCING
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8883
O-MAN CONSIDERING EDWARDS FOR VEEP?
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Obama_team_weighs_Nunn_Edwards_as_r_06192008.html
OBAMAISMS!
http://www.slate.com/id/2194015/
MICHELLE ON ‘THE VIEW’
http://www.slate.com/id/2193857/
TENNESSEE DEM: FOX NEWS MADE ME THINK OBAMA WAS TERRORIST
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/20/tennessee-dem-fox-news-made-me-believe-obama-was-terrorist-connected/

Plame-Out
MCCLELLAN: BUSH TOLD ME TO LIE ABOUT PLAME
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/20/georgebush.usa1
MCCLELLAN: DON’T PARDON SCOOTER
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/20/mcclellan-dont-pardon-scooter-libby/

Mashed Media
BIG ZELL ASSAULT ON L.A. TIMES IN WORKS. . .
HIS NEW-LOOK ORLANDO SENTINEL IS ALL GRAPHICS
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/zells_influence_kicks_in.php
DAILY NEWS SLUMPS FURTHER TOWARD OBLIVION
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/daily_news_shrinks_some_m.php

BOB “BOZO” BUGLE SPECIAL: IRAN
Ray McGovern: Bomb Iran? What's to Stop Us?
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/061908c.html
It’s crazy, but it’s coming soon – from the same folks who brought us Iraq.
Ray McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years.
U.S. Says Exercise by Israel Seemed Directed at Iran
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/washington/20iran.html?hp
More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June,
Bush's Deadly "Diplomacy"
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/87962/?ses=81cd29e40c2adabc4769de4998590599
Bush's rhetoric on Iran is frighteningly similar to his pantomime of diplomacy in the build-up to the Iraq war. And the media is eating it up.
IAEA chief ElBaradei: If you attack Iran, I quit
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=60539&sectionid=351020104
How Iran would retaliate if it comes to war
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0620/p07s04-wome.html
McCain on Iran: Bush all over again
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/06/19/mccain_iran/

People’s Repugnic
CHINESE ATHLETES ARE PUSHED BEYOND THE LIMIT FOR GOLD MEDALS
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/20/asia/20olympics.php

Animals in the news!
WANTED: YOUNG URBAN GERMAN BEEKEEPERS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,561001,00.html

Oh, by the way. . .
RAPE CLASSIFIED AS ‘WAR TACTIC’ BY U.N.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7464462.stm
ANOTHER POT-DEALING GRANNY BUSTED
If more people smoked this stuff once in a while, the world would be a better place.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,561046,00.html
MILITARY INVENTIONS HIT THE CIVILIAN MARKET
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/06/19/built-for-battle-but-perfect-in-peacetime/
Since 2006 the company has sold its thermal imaging technology to the public, making systems for boats and cars. Today, motorists can purchase select BMW models with one of FLIR’s imaging systems for an additional $2,200. Five years ago, the least expensive imaging device from FLIR cost $50,000.Prices have dropped in large part because of the volume of military orders. By introducing products to massive automobile and boat markets, FLIR hopes to keep prices low long after US troop withdrawals.

And in more important matters. . .

DID ‘JUNO’ PROMPT 17 PREGNANCIES
AT MASS. HIGH SCHOOL?
Stupid film pandered to “controversial” topic, and glorified teen pregnancy
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815845,00.html

THE MYTH OF MULTITASKING
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of-multitasking
Multitasking might also be taking a toll on the economy. One study by researchers at the University of California at Irvine monitored interruptions among office workers; they found that workers took an average of twenty-five minutes to recover from interruptions such as phone calls or answering e-mail and return to their original task. Discussing multitasking with the New York Times in 2007, Jonathan B. Spira, an analyst at the business research firm Basex, estimated that extreme multitasking—information overload—costs the U.S. economy $650 billion a year in lost productivity.

Light reading
HITCHENS: REVISIONISTS SAY WWII NOT WORTH FIGHTING---THEY'RE WRONG
http://www.newsweek.com/id/141501/output/print
But Pat Buchanan, twice a candidate for the Republican nomination and in 2000 the standard-bearer for the Reform Party who ignited a memorable "chad" row in Florida, has now condensed all the antiwar arguments into one. His case, made in his recently released "Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War," is as follows. . .
CIRCUMCISION:
Mutilating male members may mar men’s mischievous matings
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11579114
Circumcision does not have quite such clear-cut effects. But there are several ways it may affect fertility: most obviously, the lack of a foreskin could make insertion, ejaculation or both take longer. Perhaps long enough that an illicit quickie will not always reach fruition.

MAN TRIES TO BE VEGAN FOR WEEK---FAILS
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2008/06/my_vegan_hell.html

UA ALTERS PHOTO OF WOULD-BE HITLER ASSASSIN---
TO LOOK LIKE TOM CRUISE!
http://www.slate.com/id/2193467/

Film
NEW GOLDEN AGE FOR ITALIAN CINEMA?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/20/arts/itfilm.php
R.I.P. FRENCH FILMMAKER JEAN DELANNOY
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/movies/20delannoy.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin
‘LOVE GURU’ EVEN WORSE THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE
http://www.slate.com/id/2193942/
‘AN EXPERIENCE THAT MAKES YOU WONDER IF YOU WILL EVER LAUGH AGAIN’
http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/movies/20guru.html?8dpc

For Art’s Sake
RARELY SEEN MONET GOES ON DISPLAY
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7465627.stm
AUCHENTALLER: FORGOTTEN WOMAN ARTIST OF VIENNA
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/21/arts/conway.php

Auto Motive
ELECTRIC CAR DEBUTS---MADE OF WOOD
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=184371&in_page_id=34

And in the end. . .
WHAT HAPPENED TO COUNTRY JOE’S CAR?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk_r_Nmov8U

6/18
skylines:
Morning Concert
MAGIC BUS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHge4ElsC14
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3pfEVT9CU
OLD BLACK MAGIC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_KNmHYYARI
OLD BLACK JOE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suBMyAZueaU
GOOD OLD DAYS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvGj_1Y1S8Y
GOOD TIMES BAD TIMES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m6RlTSKY-0
TIME WON’T LET ME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GndBwOPKnOA
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua8JrNMzc2g
LET ME ROLL IT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w30K1GUpYwI

WILL YOU STILL NEED ME, WILL YOU STILL FEED ME, WHEN I’M. . .66?
Happy Birthday, Sir Paul McCartney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ8kMbMpQbo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-tRpbRhDdQ

WATCH: JOAN RIVERS BLOWS IT ON BRIT TV
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/18/carboncapturestorage.carbonemissions

ROYAL ASCOT ON ‘ANTI-CHAV’ DRIVE
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=180632&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=

A MODERN MONA LISA?
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=180070&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=

Lost Angeles
PARKING FINES GOING UP TO $35!
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9617797

MORFORD: THE YEAR, SO FAR
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/06/18/notes061808.DTL
Honey, grab the camera. Hell appears to be completely frozen over. Wait, better switch to video mode, because I believe I see some pigs flying, too. What a thing. Also: cool camera.

ICELAND IDIOTS KILL ANOTHER POLAR BEAR
Poor thing had drifted there on an ice floe. . .Perhaps someone should take the killers and put them adrift on pieces of ice. . .
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,560441,00.html

And on to news and comment. . .

SWANSON: THE BIGGEST ELECTION STORY NOT ON TV
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65116
George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed", has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, conspired to undermine and tamper with the conduct of free and fair elections, and to corrupt the administration of justice by United States Attorneys and other employees of the Department of Justice, through abuse of the appointment power.

RAPE THE OCEANS MORE, SAYS FIEND BUSH
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7460767.stm
DRILLING OPPONENTS SELL OUT
Got to keep those SUVs up and running. . .
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-offshore18-2008jun18,0,3372420.story
AH, YES, LET’S JUST PUMP CARBON EMISSIONS INTO THE DEEP BLUE SEA!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/18/carboncapturestorage.carbonemissions

WATCH: McCAIN ON ENERGY---DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL HE’S TALKING ABOUT
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/18/cnn-notices-mccains-energy-policy-confusion/

HARVARD SHRINK GETS RICH BY LABELING KIDS “BIPOLAR”
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/88333/
Due in part to Biederman's influence, the number of American children and adolescents treated for bipolar disorder increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003, and as Bloomberg News reported (September 2007), "The expanded use of bipolar as a pediatric diagnosis has made children the fastest-growing part of the $11.5 billion U.S. market for anti-psychotic drugs."
Related:
SCHOOL OMITS AUTISTIC KIDS FROM YEARBOOK
http://www.clickondetroit.com/education/16639257/detail.html

Your Corporatocracy at Work!
WAR PROFITEER GETS BAIL
http://www.wnbc.com/investigations/16634682/detail.html
Just days after a convicted CEO faked his own death and fled to avoid prison, a federal judge on Long Island reduced bail conditions for a separate CEO accused of a massive fraud even though prosecutors maintain he is a "flight risk" and "dangerous.". . . Brooks is accused of looting funds and committing securities fraud to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Prosecutors said he then funneled his ill-gotten gains to accounts overseas.

The Other War
BRIT WOMAN SOLDIER KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/18/afghanistan.military

Electile Dysfunction
MICHELLE OBAMA JOINS ‘THE VIEW’
Always thought that big “V” stood for “Vagina”. . .
http://thepage.time.com/
MICHELLE’S SUBTLE MAKEOVER
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/18/america/18michelle.php

Mashed Media
CBS’S LARA LOGAN:
“WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW THE BODY OF A DEAD U.S. SOLDIER?”
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/18/cbss-lara-logan-tell-me-the-last-time-you-saw-the-body-of-a-dead-american-soldier/
FOUR CHARGED IN KILLING OF RUSSIA JOURNALIST ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/18/russia
LINDORFF: KILLING NEWS IN IRAQ, LITERALLY
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/161
Reuters may be “satisfied” with the Pentagon’s investigation concluding that US troops were “justified” in their slaying of the news organization’s working journalist Waleed Khaled back in 2005, but the rest of us shouldn’t be.
RITTER:
WHY ARE CORPORATE JOURNALISTS AFRAID TO QUESTION AUTHORITY?
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/87625/?ses=d8875c2d76e0676ad93c473110fe82dc
GANNON/GUCKERT NOW ‘MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING’---OF NAT’L. PRESS CLUB!
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003817747
Creep was one-time White House plant in press corps who ran gay escort services
OBAMA SMEAR-MERCHANT HAS LENGTHY CRIMINAL RECORD
But is still speaking at the National Press Club!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/18/obama-smear-merchant-has-lengthy-criminal-record/

RAIMUNDO:
ENOUGH ALREADY! RUSSERT WAS SOUNDING BOARD FOR THE WAR PARTY
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13006
As Bill Moyers pointed out in Buying the War, his trenchant PBS documentary on how the War Party successfully sold us on the invasion of Iraq, Russert's show was a favored venue for the administration to publicize stories they had planted in the media. Administration officials would get booked on Meet the Press and point to their phony reports as "proof" of Saddam's WMDs.

BISHARAT: OBAMA’S MISSTEPS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/17/EDOQ11A1L3.DTL&hw=BISHARAT&sn=001&sc=1000
In promising U.S. support of Israel's claims to all of Jerusalem, Obama couldn't have picked a better way to offend the world's 325 million Arabs and 1.5 billion Muslims.

Enviro Wacko
‘SAVE THE OAKS’ ACTIVIST
HAULED OUT OF TREE AFTER 18 MONTHS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/18/BAEC11AJ2P.DTL
Photo: Tree Sitter Swings Wire-Cutter at Workers Trying to Grab Her
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=0&f=/c/a/2008/06/18/BAEC11AJ2P.DTL
THE GULF OF MEXICO IS DYING
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0%2C8599%2C1815305%2C00.html?cnn=yes
When the spring rains come, fertilizer from Midwestern farms drains into the Mississippi river system and down to Louisiana, where the agricultural sewage pours into the Gulf of Mexico. Just as fertilizer speeds the growth of plants on land, the chemicals enhance the rapid development of algae in the water. When the algae die and decompose, the process sucks all the oxygen out of the surrounding waters, leading to a hypoxic event — better known as a "dead zone." The water becomes as barren as the surface of the moon. What sea life that can flee the zone does so; what can't, dies.

FORMER SS CAMP GUARD COULD BE TRIED IN GERMANY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,560402,00.html

TAIWAN LEADER URGES INCREASED ECONOMIC TIES WITH CHINA
Probably too bad. . .It will corrupt Taiwan’s wonderful character
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/18/asia/taiwan.php

Spaced Out
WATCH: 45 YEARS OF WOMEN IN SPACE
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1815494,00.html

Oh, by the way. . .
JAPAN’S LATEST PORN RAGE: SENIOR SCREWING
We’re not making this stuff up. . .
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815509,00.html
JAPANESE-BRAZILIANS MARK 100TH ANNIVERSARY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/06/15/MN34116QBR.DTL
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7459448.stm

And in more important matters. . .

Spotes
BILL “ONE SENTENCE PER PARAGRAPH” PLASCHKE---
KOBE BRYANT TO BLAME FOR LAKERS MELTDOWN
http://www.latimes.com/la-sp-plaschke18-2008jun18,0,5112683.column
SIMERS: LAKERS ARE ‘EMBARRASSMENT’
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers18-2008jun18,0,7403132.column
Their greatest claim in the NBA Finals is the fact the Celtics didn't clinch the title in Staples Center, the Lakers' closing mantra: "Not in our house," and how pitiful is that?
NYT: CELTICS SHOW THAT BRYANT IS NO JORDAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/sports/basketball/18araton.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Obit
R.I.P. CYD CHARISSE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/arts/dance/18charisse.html?ref=obituaries
CYD CHARISSE: ANTIDOTE TO LAP DANCING
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theatre/2008/06/cyd_charisse.html

For Art’s Sake
BOB DYLAN, (VERY FINE) PAINTER
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/arts/artexhibition-20644888-details/Bob+Dylan:+Drawn+Blank/artexhibitionReview.do?reviewId=23493781

Where ya goin’?
THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY OCCUPIED CITY IN NORTH AMERICA
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/da-ancient-citadel.html
The 365-foot-high outcropping, about 60 miles west of Albuquerque, is home to the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America—an isolated, easily defensible redoubt that for at least 1,200 years has sheltered the Acoma, an ancient people.
A HIKE BACK THROUGH (CHUMASH) TIME
http://www.theacorn.com/news/2008/0522/community/033.html
The four-mile round-trip walk through a portion of the Ventura County-owned 436-acre park is an easy one, much of it shaded by large, lush oaks. Although the park is open to the public, a portion of the park, the site of a former Chumash village, including the cave, is only accessible with a docent.

Film
VAN DAMME, FINE ACTOR?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/06/jean_claude_van_damme_the_crit.html

And in the end. . .
‘THE FUGITIVE’---AT PACIFIC OCEAN PARK
http://youtube.com/watch?v=p1lVVYv0TIQ

6/17
skylines:
Morning Concert
WHOA MULE---Andy Griffith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpKhWePGNPc
SHADY GROVE---Jerry Garcia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayk_qQw0XZg
BLUEGRASS MEDLEY---Johnny Cash and John Hartford
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USGAvfxfmvU
LORENA---John Hartford
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjhp93XG0SU
SIX LEVELS BELOW PLANT LIFE---Vassar Clements and Gatemouth Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGf39gqDTsQ
E.M.D.---David Grisman Quintet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGf39gqDTsQ
I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR---Peter Rowan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoT_Tb132Mc
BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY---Bill Monroe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffhqOy_A8KM
Paul, George, and Ringo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa2ljhur4WY

‘SGT. PEPPER’ DRUMHEAD TO BE AUCTIONED
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3PyQsWqSiLq0OfOH0xyDcHI40og

BRIT UFO FANATIC WHO HACKED PENTAGON COMPUTERS TO BE EXTRADITED TO U.S.?
Faces 60 years in prison if he is “renditioned”
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/ufo-fanatic-fights-extradition-bid/2008/06/17/1213468371073.html
The 44 year old, who is a cult hero on YouTube, has spawned a website called FreeGary and has inflamed the twilight world of UFO fanatics.

MORE FEET WASHING UP ON CANADA SHORELINE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7458468.stm

CELIBATE MONK GIVES SEX ADVICE TO CATHOLICS
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?in_article_id=177581&in_page_id=64&in_a_source=

WAITER, THERE’S A FROG IN MY SALAD
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=177626&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=

And on to news and comment. . .

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT:
IF YOU CRITICIZE ISRAEL POLICY, YOU ARE AN ANTI-SEMITE!
Excerpt: Anti-Semitism has proven to be an adaptive phenomenon. New forms of anti-Semitism have evolved. They often incorporate elements of traditional anti-Semitism. However, the distinguishing feature of the new anti-Semitism is criticism of Zionism or Israeli policy that—whether intentionally or unintentionally—has the effect of promoting prejudice against all Jews by demonizing Israel and Israelis, and attributing Israel’s perceived faults to its Jewish character.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/102406.htm#contemporary
That "intentionally or unintentionally" leaves a lot of lattitude for "hate speech" prosecution. . .

Reactionary Commentary of the Week!
LETTER: WEINSTEIN TO OBAMA
http://www.icjs-online.org/index.php?eid=4221&ICJS=5849&article=1547
"You invited Zbigniew Brzezinski to become your chief political advisor. Brzezinski signed a letter demanding dialogue with Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel’s destruction. He has also an interesting view on Communism that I am afraid you may share: “Communism has the intellectually tantalizing possibility that for the world at large. It was … a blessing in disguise”. WOW! “Blessing in disguise?” Half of my family was murdered in Gulags. My beloved grandfather died after a stroke at the KGB headquarters."

Electile Dysfunction
OBAMA HIRES FORMER HILLARY CAMPAIGN MANAGER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/b/a/2008/06/16/nov05election-after_this_expl.DTL
FRENCH BLACKS CRAZY FOR O-MAN---
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/17/arts/17abroad.php
---FOR THAT MATTER, SO IS THE REST OF FRANCE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/opinion/15dowd.html?em&ex=1213848000&en=9e212f675c47c59a&ei=5087%0A

BUSH GIVES IRAQI INTERPRETERS VISA PREFERENCE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0618/p04s01-wome.html

Mashed Media
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW---
ABOUT TV NEWS AND THE WHITE HOUSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEL_hndb0kA
IS THE GREAT OLBERMANN CHANGING TV NEWS?
Sure hope so.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/23/080623fa_fact_boyer?currentPage=all
SAUNDERS: THE RUSSERT WEEKEND, R.I.P.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/17/EDMT11A0S7.DTL
Overall, however, the hours and hours of tributes across the cable spectrum show the news media at their worst. For me, the Russert weekend only served to confirm my suspicion that in 2008, cable TV stations can only do one story at a time - and then they overdo it, and beat it silly. You now know more about Tim Russert than Vladimir Putin.
OH, NO! ‘TU CIUDAD,’ AIMED AT ‘UPSCALE LATINOS,’ FOLDS!
Whatever shall we do???
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/tu_ciudad_publishers_clos.php
MCCLATCHY HATCHET CUTS DEEP
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003816952
BILL MOYERS: REKINDLING THE PATRIOT’S DREAM
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/16/9670/
Democracy without honest information creates the illusion of popular consent while enhancing the power of the state and the privileged interests protected by it. Democracy without accountability creates the illusion of popular control while offering ordinary Americans cheap tickets to the balcony, too far away to see that the public stage is just a reality TV set.

Enviro Wacko
MASSIVE ICE SHELF BREAK IN ANTARCTICA
Captured by satellite photo
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080616-ice-shelf-photo.html

(Lack of) Health
THE BIG BUSINESS OF BREAST CANCER
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/88117/?ses=4e3387a92dab314a2e8044bb1eed5a85
LEGAL DRUGS KILL MANY MORE THAN ILLEGAL
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/us/14florida.html?ex=1214107200&en=b5dbcc1c2b68ddea&ei=5070&emc=eta1
METABOLISM 101
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/15/CMR210PLPM.DTL
When most of us discuss metabolism, however, we are referring to calories (as a measurement of energy) burned each day. Some people are convinced that they have a "fast" metabolism (these are the folks you envy who can devour huge portions of pasta and dessert without gaining an ounce), while others are convinced that they have a "slow" metabolism (these are generally the people who insist that they gain weight just looking at a piece of cheesecake).

GANG MEMBER WINS $2.5 MILLION, GOES BACK TO PRISON
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-munoz17-2008jun17,0,7292818.story
The Anaheim gang member raised by a single mother had received a second chance -- or maybe it was his first -- to turn his life around when he settled a lawsuit against the city and police for $2.5 million. In December, he was waiting for the check and paving his future with good intentions. But four months later he was back in prison for violating parole; he had been caught associating with other gang members.

People’s Repugnic
CHINA COULD USE ANOTHER TWO MILLION TENTS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0617/p01s02-woap.html
NOW A MILLION PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED BY FLOODS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/14/international/i031221D71.DTL

Oh, by the way. . .
NASA FINDS NEW COMET DUST MINERAL
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612194945.htm
RECUMBENT BIKES AND THEIR RIDERS
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-recumbent16-2008jun16,0,2780272.story

And in more important matters. . .

WORLDWIDE WEB WAS INVENTED IN BRUSSELS IN 1934 (REALLY)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/17/healthscience/17mund.php

Light reading
ATTENTION, AGENTS, EDITORS: EITHER READ IT, OR SEND IT BACK!
(First-person account of a manuscript editor. . .These people are hired to do what agents and editors are supposed to do---evaluate. Writers send manuscripts to agents, and are sometimes charged---charged---$500 or $1000 just to have their manuscript “evaluated.” What a scam.)
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/06/2008061701c.htm

Books
JAMES JOYCE VS. MASS MEDIA
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/arts/16bloo.html?ex=1214280000&en=3305bb3429d49a1c&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Musique
BOB WEIR, WEIRD GUITARIST
http://www.acousticguitar.com/article/default.aspx?articleid=22116 

Science
THE PORNO BRAIN RESPONSE
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14147-mirror-neurons-control-erection-response-to-porn.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news8_head_dn14147

For Art’s Sake
DRAWN IN 60 SECONDS
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2008/06/fast_art_drawn_in_60_seconds.html

And in the end. . .
HANDS
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=hands&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

6/16
skylines:
Morning Concert
THIS OLD HEART OF MINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGyszX-Hs30
PIECE OF MY HEART
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tenV9Din7K4
FOOLISH HEART
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0QBXqHhwIs
MY FOOLISH HEART
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2LFVWBmoiw
BAD LIVER AND A BROKEN HEART
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tPymxhwaEE
HEARTBREAK HOTEL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPjEFvr4-_A
HEART OF THE COUNTRY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DqMl0shEtw
HEART OF GOLD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CcOx1ixzJw
HEART ON MY SLEEVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph5cgMY4Yj4
HEART OF STONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQgyd39F8Y8

COW-HUMAN BORN IN THAILAND!
http://www.hemmy.net/2008/06/12/alien-like-being-born-from-a-cow-in-thailand/

Headline of the day!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/sports/baseball/16yankees.html?ref=sports
(Note: Ah, they tried to fix it! The headline originally read, "YANKEES LOSE WANG. . ." The rewrite, however, is almost as funny.)

Sir Paul premieres live “Mrs. Vanderbilt,” old ’73 track, in Kiev
For some reason, this was a Russia fave. . .must be the ho-hey-ho stuff
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/615paulkiev.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7455300.stm

WILL ITALY JAIL PROPHYLACTIC PROPHET?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7456040.stm

OPRAH ADDRESSES STANFORD GRADS?
THE COUNTRY IS DISEASED
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/15/BAJN119PDS.DTL

And on to news and comment. . .

Lost Angeles
BICYCLISTS RIDE JAMMED L.A. FREEWAY
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/freeway_bikers.php

YOUR TIRES COULD EXPLODE---THANKS, CHINA!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0616/p02s01-usec.html
Poisonous pet food. Lead paint on children's toys. The latest potentially defective Chinese import to hit American shores: tire-valve stems, the rubber shafts that allow motorists to fill their tires with air. There are at least 36 million of the imported valve stems on tires on American roads. Any of them could cause dangerous tire failures this summer.

GAY, FEMALE BRAINS ARE THE SAME---SCIENTISTS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/16/neuroscience.psychology
Theme music for this story!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zKnOV16WuQ

CRAZY GEORGE WILL: U.S. CITIZENS ARE BETTER OFF THAN EIGHT YEARS AGO!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/16/will-americans-are-economically-better-off-today-than-they-were-eight-years-ago/

PAKISTAN FREES BHUTTO BOMBER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/16/international/i075635D73.DTL

Man O-Man
INCREDIBLE: OBAMA RUMOR-MONGER TO SPEAK AT NAT’L. PRESS CLUB
Failed polygraph about coke and gay sex with O-man
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/14/sinclair-obama/
OBAMA-SEBELIUS?
http://www.slate.com/id/2192829/

Dishonest John
MCCAIN TO INTRODUCE BILL UNDERCUTTING
SUPREME COURT GITMO DECISION?
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/15/kristol-court-guantanamo/
MCCAIN, WAR HERO---NOT
http://www.usvetdsp.com/mccainpic.htm
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WHEN HE WAS A POW?
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn04192008.html
MCCAIN’S NEOCON ROOTS
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080612_john_mccains_chilling_project_for_america/
John McCain’s connection to PNAC can be traced back to before its formation in 1997. In fact, he was president of the New Citizenship Project, founded by Kristol in 1994. This organization was parent to PNAC, and served as its chief fundraising organ.
MCCAIN CANCELS FUNDRAISER AT HOME OF TEXAS OIL JERK---
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003816651
Questions from the media prompted Republican John McCain to cancel a fundraiser at the home of a Texas oilman who once joked that women should give in while being raped.
---WAIT A SECOND, NO, HE JUST POSTPONES IT!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/15/mccain-event-with-fundraiser-who-joked-about-rape-has-been-postponed-not-canceled/
MCCAIN CAMPAIGNS AT SMALL VENUES---CAN’T AFFORD MORE
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1814902,00.html
FOX’S ‘FAIR AND BALANCED’ PIGBOY ROVE IS MCCAIN ADVISOR
How is it that ex-government jokers suddenly turn into journalists, anyhow?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/16/rove-engaged-in-more-than-just-chit-chat-with-mccain-campaign/

Mashed Media
BUSH, BROWN DINE WITH KING OF ALL MEDIA MURDOCH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jun/16/antiwar.georgebush?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
Exclusive footage of the meeting (Bush is seen sitting on Murdoch’s lap)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZy6H4u1r18
RFK JR. WARNS CANADA ABOUT CORPORATE MEDIA
http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=72400
When U.S. President Ronald Reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine in 1988, he killed a piece of American democracy, says Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The duty to inform was taken from the media and replaced with the aims of corporations, to deliver people to advertising and to hell with balance, fairness and critical thinking.

Israelity
RAIMUNDO: YOU WANT CHANGE? IT’S GOING TO BE A WHILE
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12995
An even sadder fact is the likelihood that the next president of the United States, whoever he may be, will discuss and consult with the Israeli government before going to war with Iran, without bothering to extend the same courtesy to the elected representatives of the American people. And don't bother citing the Constitution. If that archaic document stands in the way of Israel's objectives, then it was clearly authored by vicious anti-Semites and is no more credible or worthy of note than the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Besides which, didn't David Duke once cite the Constitution? Case closed.
ISRAEL MINISTERS MULL STRIKE AGAINST IRAN
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,559925,00.html

Electile Dysfunction
AL-SADR RUNS FOR OFFICE
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1814674,00.html

Impeachy Keen
WHY IMPEACHMENT IS GOOD ELECTORAL STRATEGY
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/15/why-impeachment-is-good-electoral-strategy/
SLIDE SHOW: EUROPE CARTOONS SKEWER BUSH
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,32386,00.html

Spaced Out
TONS MORE PLANETS DISCOVERED
How many, one wonders, are screening “I Love Lucy” reruns. . .
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080616081723.htm

Auto Motive
HONDA PRODUCES FIRST ZERO-EMISSION HYDROGEN CAR
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7456141.stm

Animals in the news
ORPHANED BIRDS LEARN TO SING FROM CDS
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=176717&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=
SCORE ONE (OR TWO) FOR THE BULL
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?in_article_id=177253&in_page_id=64

Oh, by the way. . .
THE CIA’S SECRET BERLIN TUNNEL
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-52-no-1/turning-a-cold-war-scheme-into-reality.html
We started building the tunnel in August 1954 and completed it in February 1955. It was 1,476 feet in length; 3,100 tons of soil were removed; 125 tons of steel liner plate and 1,000 cubic yards of grout were consumed. This was not a small operation!
HARVARD RETURNS BELLS TO RUSSIAN MONASTERY
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0614/p15s01-alar.html
For the past 78 years, the 18 bells have hung high above Harvard's buildings, chiming on Sunday afternoons and every year at commencement. This summer, the bells will return home to ring at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow from which they were rescued in 1930 at the height of the Stalinist era, at a time when antireligion campaigns sought to destroy monasteries and melt down their ironwork.

And in more important matters. . .

THE FUNNIEST (WHITE) MAN IN CHINA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7452496.stm
Most Chinese people cannot master "crosstalk", let alone foreigners. Since then, Mark Rowswell has successfully marketed his alter ego - Dashan, the inoffensive foreigner who looks like the guy next door.

HOW TO TAKE A PROPER NAP
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/naps/

WHO ALTERED BRITISH TV? ‘WHO’ INDEED?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/arts/television/15lyal.html?ex=1214193600&en=8205d5c8d8be7363&ei=5070&emc=eta1

ROBOT SEX RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER
Honey, you’re so mechanical
http://www.physorg.com/news132727834.html

Books
HMONG IMMIGRANT WRITES MEMOIR
(And the Asian-chic market cleans up again)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0616/p20s01-ussc.html
Although she is already well on her way. At the age of 28, with the recent release of "The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir" Yang became the first Hmong writer to publish a full-length book in the United States. It's a remarkable achievement for a young woman who, as an immigrant child, struggled painfully with the English language. But it's also a fitting milestone for a would-be reformer who believes that words can help to make a better world.

Decadence
NUTTY WOMEN WEARING BIG BOOTS AGAIN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2008/jun/16/fashion?picture=335039097

And in the end. . .
SMILE!
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&fkt=1969&fsdt=3859&q=smile&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

6/13
skylines:
Morning Concert
GOING HOME---PAUL ROBESON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBrEQYRcizk
SANTA LUCIA---MARIO LANZA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpP7heFjr0g
OMBRA MAI FUL---FRANCO CORELLI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_5lcNPrOgM
VISSI D’ARTE---MONTSERRAT CABALLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNp_m_EJKEQ
ROSE OF TRALEE---JOHN MCCORMACK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWZw6jIE_7k
SCHUMANN, ‘SCENES FROM CHILDHOOD’---HOROWITZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq7ncjhSqtk
AKA TOMBO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G2fFHKdyws
WAGNER, LIEBESTOD---BIRGIT NILSSON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mOA8pZ_I4M

SUSAN ATKINS, DYING OF BRAIN CANCER, TO BE RELEASED?
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/susan_atkins_considered_f.php

EGYPT STOPS MARRIAGE BETWEEN TEENAGER AND 92-YEAR-OLD MAN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7452456.stm

MEXICAN CITY CELEBRATES POPS’ DAY WITH VIAGRA, CONDOMS
What, no hookers?
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Mexican_Mayor_Hands_Out_Free_Condoms_0613.html

DAVE TO MCCLELLAN: ‘YOU TOLD ME BACKSTAGE THAT CHENEY WAS A GOON’
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/12/letterman-dick-cheney-couldnt-care-less-about-americans/

ANN COULTER: BUSH ‘ONE OF GREATEST PRESIDENTS EVER’
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003816273
Poster for Coulter’s upcoming film
http://www.logoi.com/notes/img/blonde-vampire.jpg
Recent pic of Mad Annie:
http://tizona.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/ann_coulter02.jpg
TALK SHOW HOST REAGAN: SHOOT 9/11 TRUTHERS!
http://www.vloggingtheapocalypse.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=617&title=TALK_HOST_MICHAEL_REAGAN__SHOOT_9_11_TRUTHERS
BUSHISM OF THE DAY
http://www.slate.com/id/2193338/

NOW IT’S THE ‘SOCK OBAMA’ TOY---O-MAN AS AN APE
http://www.thesockobama.com/index.html

SIEGFRIED---AND ROY---WELCOME NEW TIGERS
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080613/ap_en_ot/people_siegfried_and_roy_6

And on to news and comment. . .

Man O-Man
REZKO: FEDS WANTED DIRT ON OBAMA
(You know these orders came right from the top)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11041.html
LATEST ‘FIGHT THE SMEARS’
Obama brilliantly sets up on “Snopes”-like site. . .
http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/therealquote
IDIOT FOX BIMBO LOSES SHOW
AFTER ‘TERRORIST FIST BUMP’ REMARK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/13/television.barackobama
KAUS ON OBAMA’S JIM JOHNSON EMBARRASMENT
http://www.slate.com/id/2192801/

Dishonest John
DOZENS OF REPUGS REFUSE TO BACK MCCAIN
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/12/gop-support-mccain-tancredo/
MCCAIN PADDED ‘TOWN HALL’ WITH SUPPORTERS
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/13/fox-admits-mccain-stacked-town-hall-with-supporters/

HOUSE DIVIDED: SCHWARZENEGGER, SHRIVER BACK DIFFERENT CANDIDATES
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/13/america/13split.php

Iraq and Roll
MUST WATCH: THE UGLY AMERICAN
How U.S. troops in Iraq are winning hearts and minds! See Americans ask Iraqis if they enjoy anal sex with one another! See Americans taunt little children with bottled water! See Americans kill puppies for sport! What fun-loving people we Americans are! This will fill you with pride!
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20077.htm

MILBANK: WHY TOMATOES HATE AMERICA
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/12/AR2008061203771.html

UH-OH, HERE COMES CUBAN OIL
Can weapons of mass destruction be far behind?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/12/business/cubaoil.php

AMERRYGUNS RALLY TO KEEP BUDWEISER
Why, it’s un-American to let them Frenchies steal our beer. Okay, Belgians. Whatever.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jun/13/fooddrinks.mergersandacquisitions

All-Melty Dollar
73,000 HOMES FORECLOSED LAST MONTH
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/13/real_estate/foreclosures_may/index.htm?cnn=yes
Related?
VIDEO GAME SALES UP 37 PERCENT
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080613/D918T9JO0.html

People’s Repugnic
DIRECT TAIWAN-CHINA TRAVEL AGREED
Too bad, too bad. . .Taiwan is a much nicer country. . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7452097.stm
CHINA IS LEADING CARBON DIOXIDE EMITTER
Congrats!
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/13/business/13emit.php
CHINA HACKED CONGRESS COMPUTERS?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0612/p99s01-duts.html
QUOTATIOUS: “Is there any evidence? Do we have such advanced technology? Even I don't believe it.”---China's Foreign Ministry spokesman QIN GANG, denying accusations by two U.S. lawmakers that Chinese hackers broke into congressional computers containing information on Chinese dissidents

Impeachy-Keen
GORE VIDAL'S ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/12/9579/
But then I have known for a long time that the media of the U.S. and too many of its elected officials give not a flying fuck for the welfare of this republic, and so I turned, as I often do, to the foreign press for a clear report of what has been going on in Congress. We all know how the self-described “war hero,” Mr. John McCain, likes to snigger at France, while the notion that he is a hero of any kind is what we should be sniggering at. It is Le Monde, a French newspaper, that told a story the next day hardly touched by The New York Times or The Washington Post or The Wall Street Journal or, in fact, any other major American media outlet.
CAFFERTY: WHY WON’T CONGRESS IMPEACH?
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Cafferty_Why_wont_Congress_consider_impeachment_0612.html

Israelity
DEADLY FALLOUT FROM OBAMA’S AIPAC SPEECH
http://www.counterpunch.org/abourezk06102008.html
Presidential candidates have been kowtowing to the Israeli Lobby for decades, so what else is new? Well, what is new is that the world has come to realize that all such blind, unquestioning support for Israel’s most criminal objectives is a real threat to world peace. Such rhetoric is no longer confined simply to the Jewish vote in America. It has actual impact on the lives of people in the Middle East.
ISRAEL FAMILY BEATING PALESTINIANS CAUGHT ON TAPE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0613/p99s01-duts.html
The BBC reports that the video, recorded last Sunday, shows four men attacking an elderly shepherd, his wife, and his nephew after the four told the shepherd to move his flock, which was grazing near the settlement of Susia in the West Bank. The BBC describes the film, which is available on its website:
A TERROR TOUR OF ISRAEL
http://www.slate.com/id/2186143/entry/2186148/
According to Shaked, Israel's success rests on several decades' worth of experience infiltrating Palestinian society. Shaked even brought with him living proof: Sami, a Palestinian collaborator from Hebron, who had worked with Shin Bet for more than three decades.

OLBERMANN: THE UNIMPORTANCE OF BEING JOHN MCCAIN
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/12/countdown-special-comment-the-unimportance-of-being-john-mccain/

RAIMUNDO: IRAQ, OUTPOST OF EMPIRE, STRIKES BACK
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12980
There is little resistance in Congress to the imperial delusions of our rulers, but in the parliament that convenes in the Green Zone, a storm is brewing. The object of contention is the "status of forces" agreement the Bush administration is trying to impose on the Iraqis. The administration has long been moving to formalize the frankly colonial relationship between the U.S. and Iraq, and now those efforts are moving swiftly to a conclusion, with U.S. officials predicting an agreement sometime in July – but I wouldn't count on it.

Animals in the news!
HUMANS, PLEASE LEAVE ANIMALS ALONE. . .
http://meview.metro.co.uk/?id=30420
‘UNICORN DEER’ SEEN IN ITALY
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080612-AP-unicorn-photo.html
WAVE GOODBYE TO THE NOBLE LIONS, KIDS
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080612-lions-killings.html

Oh, by the way. . .
JAPAN SLIMS UP!
New state-prescribed limit for male waistlines is 33.5 inches!
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/13/asia/13fat.php

And in more important matters. . .

FIVE DAYS OF DISNEY
http://www.slate.com/id/2187177/
After spending the past five days here, I've come to the conclusion that Disney World teaches kids three things: 1) a meaningless, bubble-headed utopianism, 2) a grasping, whining consumerism, and 3) a preference for soulless facsimiles of culture and architecture instead of for the real thing. I suppose it also teaches them that monorails are cool. So there's that.

CHEAP GOSSIP
New Connery autiobiography, etc.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/14/arts/peepsat.php
Clooney’s Ex already “dating” creepy “Ed Hardy” guy
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=175379&in_page_id=7

Light reading
DID SHAKESPEARE REALLY WRITE “A LOVER’S COMPLAINT?”
http://www.slate.com/id/2193477/

Film
AUDREY TATOU: “IT DOESN’T TAKE MUCH TO CATCH A MAN”
Doesn’t take much (money) to catch a woman, either.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2285011,00.html
HULKING WASTE OF FILM
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/14/arts/flik14.php

Books
‘THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD,’ AND OTHER REVIEWS
http://features.csmonitor.com/books/
PATRICK BUCHANAN’S KNOW-NOTHING HISTORY
http://www.nysun.com/arts/patrick-j-buchanans-know-nothing-history/79722/

And in the end. . .
MADKANE.COM
http://www.madkane.com/
6/12
skylines:
Morning Cartoon
MUST WATCH, OPRAH FANS: STEADMAN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQMQ7Usqisg

Morning Concert
OLD FOLKS BOOGIE---Little Feat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjDvwGxJ0Yc
THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY---Aznavour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7qyMBDDjvU
OLD RIVERS---Walter Brennan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ9-F_eguoE
OLD TIME RELIGION---Mahalia Jackson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrJVF_cROSc
OLD BROWN SHOE---Them Beatles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg9nVYo0VOs
MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME---Paul Robeson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yJaz74q05M
GOOD OLD DAYS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JiHuVDHFKs
GROW OLD WITH ME---John Lennon (George Martin orchestration)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1NZg2GJI5Y

WATCH: MAN HAS ENOUGH OF CUBIE EXISTENCE
http://gizmodo.com/5012983/security-cam-footage-of-cubicle-rage-to-the-extreme-is-every-cube-dwellers-fantasy

MAN CUTS IN LINE, MURDERED
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jun/12/9

GARDEN GNOME THIEF BUSTED BY FRENCH POLICE!
How would Clouseau pronounce “gnome?”
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,559251,00.html

GERMAN KID DRIVES GRANDMA’S CAR---TO PARIS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,559252,00.html

THE AMAZING CLOUD SCULPTOR!
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=172075&in_page_id=2&in_a_source=

And on the news and comment. . .

ZIMBABWE “CONFLICT RESOLUTION”---
MUGABE BURNS OPPONENT’S WIFE ALIVE
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4116638.ece

OBAMA’S ‘FIGHT THE SMEARS’ WEBSITE
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/
And here are some of the smears:
http://theobamafile.com/

O-MAN’S TAX PLAN OFFERS THREE TIMES
AS MUCH TO MIDDLE CLASS AS MCCAIN
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/12/obama-v-mccain-tax-plans/

WATCH: THE GREATEST HEIST IN HISTORY
Or. . .How Bush and Cheney threw away $23 billion U.S. tax dollars (Ah, but don’t impeach them.)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20071.htm
There are contracts for caterers, tanker drivers, security guards and even interrogators, many of them through companies with links to the White House. Now more than 70 whistleblower cases threaten to reveal the scandals behind billions of dollars worth of waste, theft and corruption during the Iraq war. Gagging orders A total of $23bn is under scrutiny. (Nah---no need to impeach.)

BUSH CAN’T AFFORD TO ATTACK IRAN
(Yeah, but it didn’t stop him from going into Iraq.)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1813706,00.html
If wasn't clear before it should be now: the Bush administration can't afford to attack Iran. With gas already at $4 a gallon and rising almost every day, Iran figuratively and literally has the United States over a barrel. As much as the administration is tempted, it is not about to test Iran's promise to "explode" the Middle East if it is attacked.

Electile Dysfunction
MCCAIN ANTHEM: “JOHNNY B. GOODE”---
BUT CHUCK BERRY SUPPORTS OBAMA
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/no-johnny-no-chuck-berry-joins-chorus-of-musicians-snubbing-mccains-campaign-844215.html
Perhaps McCain should switch to this little anthem instead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a50gPRSi3Ic
DAILY SHOW: EXPERIENCE YOU C***TS CAN COUNT ON
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/12/daily-show-mccain-accused-of-dropping-c-bomb/
COLBERT: THE ELISTIST MENACE AMONG US!
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Colbert_Report_The_elitist_menace_among_0611.html
GORE VIDAL ON MCCAIN’S N. VIET POW STATUS: “THAT’S WHAT HE TELLS US”
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003815866
CUSACK: CAN’T TELL BUSH FROM MCCAIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J130fBQwCLA
HANNITY ADMITS HE’S A ‘SURROGATE’ FOR MCCAIN
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/12/hannity-the-mccain-surrogate/
SUPPORT MCCAIN! BUY YOURSELF A NICE MCCAIN FATHER’S DAY GOLF PACK!
http://store.johnmccain.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=FDR2583
OR BETTER YET---AN ‘AFRICAN-AMERICANS’ FOR MCCAIN BUTTON!
Bet these are selling like hotcakes!
http://store.johnmccain.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=92

All-Melty Dollar
ROBERTS: WHY THE OIL PRICE IS HIGH
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20072.htm
NADER: WALL STREET GAMBLERS PLAY WITH YOUR MONEY
http://www.counterpunch.org/nader06112008.html
THE $46 BILLION BEER---THIS BUD’S FOR BELGIUM
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,559231,00.html

Man O-Man
DEM CONGRESSMEN SHAKY ABOUT WANTING OBAMA SUPPORT
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8513
CHOOSING A RUNNING MATE AIN’T EASY
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8511
Hillary Clinton's supporters vehemently argued that because she finished a close second that she has earned the right to the vice-presidential nomination. We actually tried something like that in the early days of the Republic, when the winner of the general election got to be president and the runner-up vice president. We ended up with two guys in office who hated each other (Adams and Jefferson) and the Founding Fathers quickly rectified their error.
FRANK: WHY I CAN'T SUPPORT OBAMA
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/06/why-i-cant-support-barack-obama/
Obama’s advisory team includes Harvard economist Jeffrey Liebman, a former Clinton adviser, who believes we ought to privatize social security. Then we have the renowned David Cutler, another Harvardite, who believes our economy can be boosted through an increase in privatized health care costs. Writing for New England Journal of Medicine in 2006, Cutler explained, “The rising cost … of health care has been the source of a lot of saber rattling in the media and the public square, without anyone seriously analyzing the benefits gained.” And that’s just the tip of a very large iceberg.
ZUNES: OBAMA'S RIGHT TURN?
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5289 
Israeli analyst Uri Avneri, in an essay entitled “No, I Can’t!”, expressed the bitterness of many Israeli peace activists for “a speech that broke all records for obsequiousness and fawning.” Avneri goes on to observe the irony of how Obama’s “dizzying success in the primaries was entirely due to his promise to bring about a change, to put an end to the rotten practices of Washington and to replace the old cynics with a young, brave person who does not compromise his principles. And lo and behold, the very first thing he does after securing the nomination of his party is to compromise his principles.”

Jesus H. Christ!
PASTOR MELISSA SCOTT, EX-PORN QUEEN
Rich widow of Dr. Gene Scott now gets on knees for Jesus
http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=2029

Mashed Media
MAINSTREAM MEDIA FINALLY FINALLY. . .
PICKS UP IRAQ PERMANENT BASES STORY
http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/the-msm-picks-up-on
ANOTHER BLACK EYE FOR NEWSPAPERS:
MUSIC WRITER HIRED PROXY TO WRITE HIS COLUMNS
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003815861
COLUMNIST DIES AFTER 87 YEARS OF WEEKLY WRITING
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003815875

Animals in the news!
AIN’T NATURE GRAND?
The ugly truth about Komodo Dragons
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/12/Indonesia
97 PERCENT OF MEDITERRANEAN SHARKS ARE GONE
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/11/europe/sharks.php

UC BRACES FOR BIGGEST FRESHMAN CLASS EVER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/12/BAJQ1183L8.DTL

Unreal Estate
THE MEGA MANSION MONSTROSITIES OF LOST ANGELES
Cities just becoming playgrounds for the rich.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mansions12-2008jun12,0,6491528.story

Obit
R.I.P. ‘THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE’ CREATOR MITTON
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/arts/television/12mitton.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=obituaries&adxnnlx=1213283047-gOUkV5tJJWawagQGT1JBHw

Oh, by the way. . .
FRENCH FIRST LADY SINGS OF ’30 LOVERS,’ HARD DRUGS
Can Laura Bush really compete?
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/music/article.html?in_article_id=173355&in_page_id=25

And in more important matters. . .

Light Reading
THE SCOURGE OF MILITARISM
By Chalmers Johnson
http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2003/09/we_546_01.html

BBC OPENS VAULTS TO EMI
Thousands of hours of material are to be made available, including
unheard sessions from EMI artists such as Pink Floyd, Kylie and the Beach Boys.
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2284928,00.html

‘DEAD CELEB’ BILL GETS LIVE CELEB SUPPORT
http://timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?StoryID=695189&LinkFrom=RSS

LISTEN: AUDREY TATOU ON ‘AMELIE,’ ‘PRICELESS’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/audio/2008/jun/11/1

Where ya goin’?
CORSICA’S DESERT BEACHES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/12/corsica.beach

And in the end. . .
ROSES
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=roses&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

6/11
skylines:
Morning Concert
BOB AND GEORGE:
WORKINGMAN’S BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVQqpILfhpY
NETTIE MOORE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYC2wMfPo7c
SPIRIT ON THE WATER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTu__gj-1cQ 
LONESOME DAY BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLBHPbwsuss
RISING SUN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1E5XPzBSBY
STUCK INSIDE A CLOUD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-pfOKPX4Cs
RUN SO FAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmUOUWOBDkM
IF NOT FOR YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdvjoIfGViU
ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLtfadzloZs
SOMETHING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHq_8X3BOXs

PAUL NEWMAN SUFFERING FROM LUNG CANCER
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7447668.stm

‘BOND’ SLICES OFF FINGERTIP
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/films/article.html?in_article_id=171635&in_page_id=27

POPULAR NAME FOR CHINESE KIDS: “OLYMPIC GAMES”
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080611/tod-china-oly-2008-children-offbeat-575248e.html

UNINTELLIGENT DESIGN: STUPID FLIES LIVE LONGER
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080604/tod-switzerland-science-animal-7f81b96.html

COLOSSAL STRUCTURES DETECTED BEYOND THE UNIVERSE
Feel better now?
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14098-hints-of-structure-beyond-the-visible-universe.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news1_head_dn14098
The structures stretch beyond the edge of the observable universe, which is essentially confined to a region with a radius of 14 billion light years, since only light from within that distance has had time to reach us since the big bang. The entire "global" universe is about 10100 times as large as the universe we can see.
Here’s a little “Beyond the Universe” theme music!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxTm7fkIhSk

And on to news and comment. . .

JOHNSON QUITS O-MAN'S VEEP-VETTING TEAM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080611/ap_on_el_pr/obama_veepstakes;_ylt=AtcJw3lbB5IUuie8Lf6nTSGs0NUE
SIGN OF WEAKNESS IN OBAMA CAMP?
Well, it ain't a sign of sound judgement
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/06/analysis_vetter_laid_low_by_ve.html?hpid=topnews
OBAMA'S ETHICAL TONE-DEAFNESS
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2008/06/11/barack-obamas-mounting-ethical-tone-deafness-now-with-jim-johnsons-mortgage-scandal.html
JOHNSON SCANDAL RAISES QUESTIONS
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/11/obama_defense_of_johnson_raise.html
All of this will be sorted out in the days ahead. But in the meantime, for Obama to suggest that Johnson is floating in some outer orbit of his campaign raises questions about the candidate's willingness to deal forthrightly with controversy.
RERUN
$5 MILLION A YEAR SALARY---BUT VERY GENEROUS WITH YOUR MONEY
http://www.slate.com/id/2423/ 
JOHNSON BIO
Crony of Bilderberg, Trilateral Commission
http://www.perseusllc.com/bios.htm#johnson 
"As of 2006, Johnson is a vice chairman of the private banking firm Perseus LLC, a position he has held since 2001. He is also a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission."

FRANK: WHY I CAN'T SUPPORT OBAMA
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/06/why-i-cant-support-barack-obama/
Obama’s advisory team includes Harvard economist Jeffrey Liebman, a former Clinton adviser, who believes we ought to privatize social security. Then we have the renowned David Cutler, another Harvardite, who believes our economy can be boosted through an increase in privatized health care costs. Writing for New England Journal of Medicine in 2006, Cutler explained, “The rising cost … of health care has been the source of a lot of saber rattling in the media and the public square, without anyone seriously analyzing the benefits gained.” And that’s just the tip of a very large iceberg.
ZUNES: OBAMA'S RIGHT TURN?
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5289
Israeli analyst Uri Avneri, in an essay entitled “No, I Can’t!”, expressed the bitterness of many Israeli peace activists for “a speech that broke all records for obsequiousness and fawning.” Avneri goes on to observe the irony of how Obama’s “dizzying success in the primaries was entirely due to his promise to bring about a change, to put an end to the rotten practices of Washington and to replace the old cynics with a young, brave person who does not compromise his principles. And lo and behold, the very first thing he does after securing the nomination of his party is to compromise his principles.”

HUH? OBAMA APPOINTS WAL-MART
CHAMPION AS ECONOMIC DIRECTOR!
Is he a globalist/free trade Trojan horse?
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/10/9534/

Israelity
WATCH: JOHN STEWART---AIPAC PICKS U.S. PREZ
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20064.htm
ABOUREZK: OBAMA’S GROVELING TO AIPAC
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20063.htm
Watching the candidates pandering to the AIPAC crew makes one wonder if those in the Israeli Lobby’s audience felt any embarrassment at all by forcing such groveling for support on what were then three potential presidents of the United States. From what I saw on television, at least the leadership of AIPAC seemed to be reveling in the groveling as each of the three willingly handed over their dignity on national television as they bent over to kiss the behinds of the leaders.
RAIMUNDO: ISRAEL FOMENTING IRAN ATTACK
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12972



Astounding
TAIWAN ENVOYS ARRIVE IN CHINA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7447536.stm

Iraq and Roll
U.S. WANTS 58 NEW BASES IN IRAQ
Aw, but this isn’t a permanent occupation, is it!
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/40372.html
HAHAHAHAHA---
U.S. SAYS IT WOULD BE ‘TENANTS’ IN PERMANENT IRAQI BASES! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/07/engel-permanent-bases/
IRAQ IS TWO COUNTRIES AWAY FROM WORLD’S MOST CORRUPT ‘NATION’
Mission Accomplished, Mr. Prez!
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20060.htm

Electile Dysfunction
O-MAN SEEKS TO MOLLIFY JESUS CRAZIES
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Christian_leaders_meet_privately_wi_06102008.html
DOWD: TIME TO DEMONIZE MICHELLE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,558988,00.html
She’s going to take her big microphone on “The View” as a co-host next week, when she will no doubt try to put her remark about her belated pride in her country in context. And she clearly scored a pre-emptive hit both with her chic style -- Vogue’s André Leon Talley declared in The Times the dawn of “a black Camelot” -- and with her playful fist pump that now has older white guys, like North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, awkwardly trying to do it with Obama.
MCCAIN: ECONOMICS REMARK TAKEN ‘OUT OF CONTEXT’ HAHAHAHAHAHA!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/10/mccain-economy-context/
How out of context is this, Ygor? “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,” but “I’ve got Greenspan’s book.”

Impeachy Keen
MAINSTREAM MEDIA (TYPICALLY)
IGNORES IMPEACHMENT STORY
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Mainstream_media_snooze_as_Kucinich_offers_0610.html
CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERT: ‘TIME TO PONY UP’
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Turley_on_impeachment_Its_time_to_0610.html
Law professor and constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley says that America's founders "would have been astonished by the absolute passivity, if not the collusion, of the Democrats in protecting President Bush from impeachment."
OLBERMANN/TURLEY ON IMPEACHMENT
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/10/countdown-the-impeachment-of-george-w-bush/
POLL: 89 PERCENT WANT IMPEACHMENT
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/from/ET/

Mashed Media
HOWARD ROSENBERG ATTACKS COURAGEOUS KEITH OLBERMANN
Hmmm. . .is this why he came out of retirement?
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-comment7-2008jun07,0,6590521.story
WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THE FASCINATION WITH WEATHER BIMBOS (MALE AND FEMALE)?
It’s the cover story---cover story!---of the L.A. Weekly!
http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/sunny-and-mild-getting-to-know-our-fair-weather-friends-of-local-news/19030/
LAOBSERVED.COM BAFFLED BY JACKIE JOHNSON POPULARITY
I think it has to do with her large meteorological insights. . .
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/kcal_babes_meet_joe_franc.php
HUGE LAT MESS OVER FUTURE OF THE MAGAZINE
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003814280
The new editor, according to the New York Times, is Annie Gilbar, a former host of a program on the Home Shopping Network and a former editor of InStyle magazine who has written or co-written a number of advice books, including “Wedding Sanity Savers.” The New York Times reported that the new editor, art director and photo editor had been hired for the magazine without anyone in the news department being informed.

For Art’s Sake
PORNOGRAPHER: BESTIALITY,
FECES FILMS “PROTECTED FORM OF ART”
Yeah, who needs Van Gogh?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/10/AR2008061002449_pf.html

The Other War
U.S. AIRSTRIKE KILLS 11 PAKISTAN SOLDIERS
Uh-oh. . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/world/asia/12pstan.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Animals in the news!
HOW CAN JAPAN MURDER THESE MARVELOUS CREATURES?
And why doesn’t the world stop it?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7447994.stm
SLIDE SHOW: BIRDS AT RISK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/jun/11/wildlife.conservation?picture=334746158
DOLPHINS IN ‘MASS SUICIDE?’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/11/wildlife.conservation1
WHERE HAVE ALL THE FISH GONE?
Gone to bellies, every one. . .
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/10/where-did-all-the-fish-go/
“Today’s oceans have got far less in the way of biomass than they used to,” says Professor Roberts. “We’re altering ecosystems in a way that reduces the level of productivity they can support.”

Enviro Wacko
GIANT BRIT GREENHOUSE WILL INCREASE FRUIT BY TEN PERCENT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/jun/11/thanet.earth?picture=334719107

Wild Bill
FLOWERS AND JONES WHORES RIDE
SLIPSTREAM OF CLINTON VANITY FAIR ARTICLE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/11/clinton.usa

Bush Leagues
GERMAN COMMENTATORS EXCORIATE DUBYA
“The memory of Bush will darken America’s image for years to come.” (Make that decades.)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,559056,00.html

Spaced Out
The Milky Way Gets a Facelift
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/603/1
Gamma Ray Telescope to Launch Soon
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/06/10/with-new-telescope-a-fresh-view-of-the-cosmos/

Old Time Religion
INSANE MUSLIM WOMEN GET ‘VIRGINIZING’ SURGERY
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/10/europe/virgin.php

Oh, by the way. . .
JAPANESE SALARYMEN SLAVES FIGHT BACK
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/11/business/11suits.php

And in more important matters. . .

Musique
FOUND: TREASURE OF WILLIAM KAPELL---PIANIST WHO DIED YOUNG
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/11/arts/kapell.php
Then, in 2004, came news that during the Australian tour in 1953 a Melbourne department store salesman and lover of classical music, Roy Preston, had made recordings of several Kapell performances. Preston, a loner, obsessively recorded concerts transmitted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on a home machine that cut grooves with a needle on acetate discs. On his death in 2003, at 88, he bequeathed his collection - more than 10,000 LPs, CDs, 78s and acetate discs - to a much younger friend, Maurice Austin, also a music enthusiast.

DUTCH SMOKING BAN MEANS ONLY PURE CANNIBAS
Such a hardship. . .
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,559030,00.html

YOGURTS OF THE WORLD!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0611/p17s01-lifo.html

Film
IDIOTIC FILM REVIEW OF THE WEEK!
Man reviews cretin comedy as if it is of great sociological importance
http://mobile.latimes.com/detail.jsp?key=163731&rc=ent&full=1

For Art’s Sake
ALBERT HERBERT, R.I.P.
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,,2284759,00.html
Herbert’s paintings
http://www.englandgallery.com/artist_group.php?mainId=54&media=Paintings
THE WONDERFUL INK PAINTINGS OF GAO XINGJIAN
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/11/arts/seno.php

Books
BOTH SIDES ARE WRONG IN RACE DEBATE
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10187

And in the end. . .
PIG-IN-BOOTS
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=170047&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=

6/10
skylines:
Morning Concert
ART TATUM: ART’S BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVuE0ywwBO0
NEW ORLEANS FUNERAL FOR TUBA PLAYER KERWIN JAMES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krJW2qMVv4M
DR. JOHN AND JOOLS HOLLAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fs_oTzIPg
VICTORIA SPIVEY: TB BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b56femgj90E
KING OLIVER AND VICTORIA SPIVEY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfMS1dMjwmU
JOE OLIVER/ JELLY ROLL MORTON: TOM CAT BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygP0bunx2Tm
KING OLIVER: MABEL’S DREAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKCJHzWi7Ho
COUSIN JOE PLEASANT: GRANADA BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDBSAi6regI
JELLY ROLL MORTON: HESITATION BLUES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n20U8hWHSE

PREGNANT ‘MAN’ WANTS MORE BABIES
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/09/pregnant-man-wants-to-have-more-babies/

ATTACK OF THE ZOMBIE VOTERS!
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/09/dead-voters-fox-continues-to-push-voter-fraud-claims/
Exclusive footage!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLZhPpiOygo

INCEST PRISONER WAKES FROM COMA
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/10/joseffritzl.austria

MAN DRIVES FIRE ENGINES FOR 20 YEARS---WITH NO LICENSE
Hey, where’s the fire?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7445929.stm

MURDOCH STANDS CORRECTED
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/06/cartoon_rupert_stands_corrected.html

GERMAN OBAMA DOLL LOOKS A LITTLE TOO MINSTREL. . .
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,558768,00.html

WATCH: CELL PHONES POP CORN!
Imagine the fun they have with your puny brain!
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/4969270/

And on to news and comment. . .

OBAMA’S JAMES JOHNSON PROBLEM
http://frontpage.americandaughter.com/?p=1754
The fresh-faced man who promises to change the establishment for the better has an icon for establishment corruption close to his bosom. Obama selected the erstwhile Fannie Mae CEO James Johnson as one of his three VEEP search advisors. And Johnson comes with serious baggage.
Related:
BARACK O’ BILDERBURG
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20080609&articleId=9270
Notable among this year’s Bilderberg guests are Kansas Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, who the Financial Times reported was on Johnson’s short list of nominees.
Obama Recruits Team to Tackle Web Smears
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/10/barackobama.johnmccain
“With Obama, it is particularly vicious," Jackson said. He added that one of the most persistent is that Obama, a Christian, is "some kind of Muslim Manchurian candidate, planted by Islamic fundamentalists to betray the country and it is very widespread".

ANOTHER SHADOWY QUASI-GOV’T. WAR AGENCY---
AND MCCAIN IS IN CHARGE
http://www.counterpunch.org/kozloff06092008.html
Though Arizona Senator John McCain seldom talks about it, he has gotten much of his foreign policy experience working with a cloak and dagger operation called the International Republican Institute (IRI). Since 1993, McCain has served as Chair of the outfit, which is funded by the U.S. government and private money.

YOUR CHECK, MRS. CLINTON. . .
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/06/09/2008-06-09_hillary_clinton_paid_a_heavy_price_for_p.html
Eighteen million votes: $212 million. Some 1,926 delegates: $109,823 a pop. Blowing the biggest head start in presidential history: priceless.

BAY AREA IS PRESIDENTIAL DONATION CENTRAL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/09/MN07115R66.DTL&tsp=1

People’s Repugnic
CHINA DOUBLE-CROSSES DALAI LAMA, POSTPONES MEETING
Quake gives country all sympathy it needs, pre-Olympics, so who needs the Lama?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1813120,00.html


Impeachy Keen
KUCINICH INTRODUCES ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT---
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Kucinich_presents_Bush_impeachment_articles_0609.html
---BUT DOESN’T HAVE THE CLOUT
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8443
Kucinich is the Congressional equivalent of a flea climbing up an elephant's leg with rape on his mind.
BUSH MET JACKOFF MORE THAN PREVIOUSLY ADMITTED
See new photos
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/the_house_committee_on_oversig.php
Exclusive footage of impeachment proceedings!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gL3P377BQA

Iran from the truth
BUSH, EU THREATEN IRAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/10/eu.usa

ISRAEL SOLDIER HELD FOR TWO YEARS PLEADS FOR HIS LIFE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/10/international/i073325D54.DTL&tsp=1

FISK: GROVELING TO AIPAC, ONCE AGAIN
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20055.htm
Yes, Israelis deserve security. But so do Palestinians. So do Iraqis and Lebanese and the people of the wider Muslim world. Now even Condoleezza Rice admits – and she was also talking to Aipac, of course – that there won't be a Palestinian state by the end of the year. That promise of George Bush – which no-one believed anyway – has gone. In Rice's pathetic words, "The goal itself will endure beyond the current US leadership."

OBAMA/MCCAIN: CLASH OF THE GENERATIONS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,558800,00.html

Mashed Media
ANOTHER HARD-HITTING, TOUGH L.A.TIMES EDITORIAL STANCE ON GANGS!
(NOT)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-crime10-2008jun10,0,5524532.story
What a namby-pamby, silly newspaper. . .
WATCH: STEWART EXPOSES NETWORKS IGNORING BUSH IRAQ STORY
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/10/jon-stewart-slams-media-for-blacking-out-iraq-war-lies-report/

Enviro Wacko
ABANDONED CHINA TOWN SACRIFICED TO LAKE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/world/asia/11quake.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Lost Angeles
L.A. RESERVOIR BLACKBALLED---LITERALLY
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-balls10-2008jun10,0,5878575.story

Animals in the news!
FUNERAL FOR PANDA CRUSHED IN CHINA QUAKE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/10/international/i054219D16.DTL&tsp=1
FANCY NEW ELEPHANT PRISON AT COPENHAGEN ZOO
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/architecture/story/0,,2284682,00.html
HORRID RABBIT MURDERS IN GERMANY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,558859,00.html

Spaced Out
MARS SAMPLES PROVING TOO CLUMPY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/10/MNHV115TFG.DTL
DOG SPOTTED ON PLANET!
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=168654&in_page_id=2&in_a_source=

Oh, by the way. . .
WORLD ENDING JUNE 12TH
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=169830&in_page_id=2
NEW AIR FORCE LEADER LOOKS LIKE 50-YEAR-OLD TEN-YEAR-OLD
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1813068,00.html
LEAVE UNCONTACTED INDIGENOUS AMAZON PEOPLE ALONE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/10/brazil
SOCIAL SECURITY DEBIT CARDS DEBUT
http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/10/social-security-debit-cards-debut/
94-YEAR-OLD SF STREETCAR GOES BACK TO WORK
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/10/BAPV113EF7.DTL

R.I.P. ‘WONDERFUL LIFE’ CHILD ACTOR BOB ANDERSON
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/movies/10anderson.html?ref=obituaries

And in more important matters. . .

SHATNER: STILL CONQUERING FRONTIERS
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/366228_shatner08.html
To sit and talk with Shatner over a meal is its own multimedia show. You start by marveling about the familiar voice you're hearing. By and by, you begin paying attention to what he's saying, which is a theme park of topics. This is a guy who, in his new autobiography "Up Till Now," rhapsodizes about a gas station where he found "the best tire air I've ever encountered."

88-YEAR-OLD RAVI SHANKAR ON FAREWELL TOUR
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/gig-419931-details/Ravi+And+Anoushka+Shankar/gigReview.do?reviewId=23490523

‘MR. DARCY’ TO BE AUCTIONED OFF
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7445997.stm
And here is a fine companion piece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/7408368.stm

‘Harry Potter’ prequel to be auditioned for charity
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Harry_Potter_prequel_to_be_auctione_06102008.html

Hey, Be-attle!
BEATLES MEMORIES AS BRAIN STUDY
http://www.magicalmemorytour.com/
Sir Paul to produce young Liverpool band?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/music/newsid_7444000/7444623.stm

Science
MUSIC HALLUCINOSIS
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn13968-interview-music-of-the-hemispheres.html
Musical hallucinosis may take any number of forms. It is very common for the music or songs to be familiar or have special significance to the individual experiencing them.One elderly man, who was quite deaf, reported hearing familiar hymns or songs from his early adulthood. He initially felt they originated from the next-door neighbour's record player, but soon realised they were not real and was able to ignore them.

Where ya goin’?
SLEEPER TRAINS IN GREAT BRITAIN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/10/railtravel.transport1

And in the end. . .
A HARD DAY’S NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIWsMKZt3Eg

6/9
skylines:
Morning Concert
WHAT’S NEW IN BALTIMORE?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4uW5ujGUyk
HONOLULU BABY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ar0sphE9gQ
THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bVw0DKdK-o
FLYING DOWN TO RIO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUv4m2AcbVI
GOIN’ BACK TO NEW ORLEANS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knJP4eSzsZE
ARRIVEDERCI, ROMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-prQ8AE_nvY
VIENNA, CITY OF MY DREAMS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu9M8NSys2Y
MY LITTLE GRASS SHACK IN KEALAKEKUA, HAWAII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQrj05LAVmw
LONDON TOWN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3j4xKYiz-Y

Slide Show: World Naked Bikeride Day
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,32277,00.html

PHOTO: $350 MIL FOR IRAQ HOMELESS---$73 MIL FOR NEW ORLEANS
http://miaculpa.blogspot.com/2008/06/priorities.html

MAROONED AND FIGHTING OFF KOMODOS
http://www.deeperblue.net/newsfull.php/1874

BUTTOCK INCIDENT
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=160832&in_page_id=2

And on to news and comment. . .

RACIST PUNK SPIKE LEE TO EASTWOOD:
‘WE’RE NOT ON A PLANTATION, CLINT’
In P.C. Amerika, it’s fine to be a racist if you are a minority. . .
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2284542,00.html

CRAZY FOX ASSHOLE CALLS OBAMA ‘FIST POUND’ A ‘TERRORIST FIST JAB’
Rupert Murdoch is Satan
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/09/fox-news-anchor-calls-the-obamas-fist-pound-a-terrorist-fist-jab/

WILD BILL WON’T CAMPAIGN FOR OBAMA?
Why would Obama want him to, anyhow?
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8392

Not-so-secret Conspiracy
WHAT’S NEW AT BILDERBERG?
Monsters gather to plot world influence
http://www.nolanchart.com/article3995.html
BILDERBERG BOY WILL PICK OBAMA’S VEEP
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/3395
MORE BILDERBERG FUN FACTS!
http://www.peacereporter.net/dettaglio_articolo.php?idc=0&idart=11246
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=317104
THE BILDERBERGERS
Here's Ozzie Bilderberger, and of course, his lovely wife, Harriet. . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bilderberg_attendees

RENT-A-CIA!
Blackwater now offers spy "services" to Fortune 500 companies, for the right price
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/87200/

Plame-out
WHITE HOUSE WORRIED THAT MCCLELLAN BOOK
WILL REIGNITE PLAME INVESTIGATION
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/08/duffy-waxman-plame/

Electile Dysfunction
JESUS CHRIST ENDORSES OBAMA
http://mediabloodhound.typepad.com/weblog/2008/06/the-wounded-c-1.html
MCCAIN LIVES IN ‘CITY OF SATAN’
http://wonkette.com/365473/mccain-shocker-he-lives-and-loves-with-dc-satanists
MCCAIN WEBSITE CALLS HILLARY A ‘BITCH’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/09/mccain-website-posts-commentary-calling-hillary-clinton-a-btch/

Your Corporatocracy at Work!
SPANISH TRUCKERS BLOCK STREETS IN FUEL PROTEST
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/world/europe/10fuel.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
IRS GOING AFTER OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS?
We’ll believe it when we see it
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0609/p15s01-wmgn.html

KRUGMAN: DE-RACIALIZATION OF AMERICAN POLITICS?
(We don’t think soooo. . .)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,558495,00.html
Fervent supporters of Barack Obama like to say that putting him in the White House would transform America. With all due respect to the candidate, that gets it backward. Mr. Obama is an impressive speaker who has run a brilliant campaign -- but if he wins in November, it will be because our country has already been transformed.

RICH: BATTLE OF THE TWO AMERICAS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/opinion/08rich.html?em&ex=1213156800&en=9bb946b39201ed81&ei=5087%0A
Obama has never deviated from his much-quoted formulation in “The Audacity of Hope,” where he described himself as aloof from “the psychodrama of the baby boom generation” with its “old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago.” His vocabulary is so different from that of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain that they often find it as baffling as a foreign language, even as they try to rip it off.

MORFORD FALLS FOR THE OBAMA MYSTIQUE
Stick to humor, Mark.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/06/DDLG113BVC.DTL&hw=mORFORD&sn=001&sc=1000

Joe Bageant: Breaking the Beer Barrier
http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2008/06/breaking-the-be.html
It is also uncomfortable for middle class people in media, even the most idealistic ones, to take serious risks. Especially when they are safely occupied among their own kind, even if their kind is only 20% of the American public these days. Yet, there is a battle going on for America's soul. We can no longer afford to remain inside the politics of the comfort zone.

‘GIVE UP THE OIL AND GAS DRUG’
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,558549,00.html

Iraq and roll
VIETNAM VETS NOW COUNSELING IRAQ/AFGHAN VETS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0610/p01s01-usmi.html

Mashed Media
BLOGGER SCOOPED WORLD ON WILD BILL TIRADE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/08/AR2008060801832.html?referrer=emailarticle
WATCH: MOYERS AMBUSHED BY O’ REILLY TOADIE
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Producer_of_OReilly_Factor_ambushes_Moyers_0608.html
WATCH: MOYERS ADDRESS
http://www.metro.co.uk/media/viral.html?in_page_id=6&in_mediaext_item_id=156704

Don’t tase me, bro
NYPD ADDS TASERS TO THEIR BELTS
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/NYC_police_adding_stun_guns_to_offi_06082008.html

Oh, by the way. . .
JAPAN PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZES AINU NATIVE PEOPLE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0609/p04s01-woap.html
‘LOST’ PYRAMID DISCOVERED BURIED IN EGYPT
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080605-new-pyramid.html

And in more important matters. . .

Lost Angeles
BRENTWOOD GETS A NEW BOOKSTORE
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-diesel8-2008jun08,0,669094.story

REMEMBERING JIM MCKAY
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0610/p01s01-usmi.html

ITALIAN FILM DIRECTOR DINO RISI DIES
http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSL0773336020080607

ADVICE TO AGING STARS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/06/PK001100Q0.DTL

Books
THE COMANCHE EMPIRE
http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/mclynn_06_08.html

For Art’s Sake
HADRIAN GETS A NEW SUIT
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/heritage/story/0,,2284520,00.html

Where ya goin’?
QUEBEC
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/09/canada.quebec
ON GREEK ISLAND OF CHIOS. . .FIREWORKS WARS!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,558584,00.html

And in the end. . .
TROUBLE IN PARADISE
http://www.radswiki.net/main/images/thumb/0/0e/Large-dildo-001.jpg/600px-Large-dildo-001.jpg

6/6
skylines:
Morning Concert
ROCKIN DOPSIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a_0BAW71E8
CLIFTON CHENIER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVCn2WQ-cNk
C.J. CHENIER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjjmflnYSLA
HUEY ‘PIANO’ SMITH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeFV4Kcanmc
PROFESSOR LONGHAIR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeRWu7WMDso
JAMES BOOKER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7fnaH4JvF4
THE METERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhHYoq-e218
DIXIE CUPS---IKO IKO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n04ws2nzXpk
DR. JOHN---IKO IKO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rEg_7xT6Xm
GRATEFUL DEAD---IKO IKO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K5mVDRkN1c
Same song on acid in Egypt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwx-UGSvqCQ

LAKERS WILL LOSE SERIES
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_9483812

HOW TO WIN THE NEW YORKER CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST
http://www.slate.com/id/2192564/
The first line of defense at The New Yorker is the cartoon editor's assistant, a twentysomething from Texas named Farley Katz. The cartoon assistant reads every single caption—at least 6,000 per week—and passes his favorite 50 or so to the editors, who narrow the list down to three. If you don't make it past Farley, you will never get your name in print. The astute captioner will note that he used to be a rollercoaster operator at Six Flags and a telemarketer.

INDIA GROUNDS ‘FAT’ AIR HOSTESSES
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7439894.stm

VIDEO: HOW STEALTH BOMBER CRASHED
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/video-stealth-b.html

WHY WE R THE WAY WE R
The story of the most noble letter in the English language
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0606/p18s01-hfes.html
How one little sound came to be the hallmark of 'standard American' speech.

CHINA QUAKE: FRANK DUNNE OF VIRGINIA TO THE RESCUE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0606/p01s05-woap.html

And on to news and comment. . .

RAIMUNDO: OBAMA CAPITULATES TO THE ISRAEL LOBBY
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12944
Don't look to Barack Obama for deliverance from this looming conflict. In his speech to AIPAC, he clearly signed on to the Lobby's latest project, departing from his prepared text to declare: "I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Everything in my power. Everything." "Everything" includes murdering tens of thousands of Iranians, mostly civilians – driving the price of oil up above $300 a barrel and destroying the US economy – and involving us in a war that will make the Iraq conflict look like a Sunday school picnic. And for what? The irony, of course, is that Iran is nowhere near obtaining nuclear weapons, as the President's own intelligence agencies recently informed him: but no matter.

ARABS SHOCKED AT OBAMA AIPAC SPEECH
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/93FE247B-452D-4022-8374-088D8704C1DE.htm

O-MAN APPARENTLY ATTENDS BILDERBURG
MEETING OF WORLD INFLUENCE MONARCHS
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Bilderberg_meeting_attracts_prominent_politicians_businessmen_0606.html
Who the hell are the good guys anymore?

IRAN NUKE SITES ATTACK ‘UNAVOIDABLE’---ISRAEL OFFICIAL
(Of course, it’s avoidable if they avoid it.)
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Israel_to_attack_Iran_unless_enrich_06062008.html
A little special theme music for this story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7fnaH4JvF4

PORTUGAL LAUNCHES WORLD’S
LARGEST SOLAR ENERGY ‘FARM’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/06/renewableenergy.alternativeenergy
Portugal, without its own oil, coal or gas and with no expertise in nuclear power, is pitching to lead Europe's clean-tech revolution with some of the most ambitious targets and timetables for renewables.

U.S. IN $50 BILLION IRAQ EXTORTION
Holds Iraq’s money to pressure Iraq “government” to agree to permanent U.S. presence
(But considering that we are spending hundreds of billions to prop up Iraq in the first place, how is this Iraq’s money?)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/365962_iraqonline06.html

20 PERCENT OF U.S. TROOPS ON ANTI-DEPRESSANTS
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/06/time-nearly-20-of-soldiers-in-iraq-afghanistan-on-anti-depressants/

2 TOP LEADERS OF AIR FORCE OUT IN NUKE SCANDAL
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/washington/06military.html?em&ex=1212897600&en=0134fd234e05a59b&ei=5087%0A Last year, the Air Force disclosed that it unwittingly let a B-52 bomber carrying six armed nuclear cruise missiles fly from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana last August. About 36 hours passed before the missiles were properly secured, officials have said.

LINDORFF:
TIME FOR CONGRESS TO STAND UP AND IMPEACH
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/158
The nation is at a dangerous crossroad. Either Congress reasserts its authority now, via impeachment, drawing a Constitutional line in the stand in defense of Article I of the Constitution—the article that defines the power of Congress as absolute in terms of passing legisation—or it forever surrenders that role, leaving us with what can only be called a dictatorship.

Billary Goat
CLINTONS ARE SAID TO BE VERY BITTER
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8314
"The Clintons thrive on revenge," says a former Clinton aide. "Payback will be a bitch." (No pun intended.)
WOMEN VOTE COST HILLARY THE NOMINATION
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1812050,00.html
As expected, Clinton captured the over-65 vote, and Obama won over younger women. But women in the middle split almost evenly between the two.
CLINTON SUPPORTERS WOWED BY WARM RECEPTION AT OBAMA RALLY
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/06/04/2100/clinton_supporters_wowed_with_warm_reception_at_obama_rally
"He shook my hand and said, 'Thank you for being here; I'm sure it's not easy,' '' said Stevenson of her meeting with Obama. "I thanked him and said that everyone involved in his campaign had been so gracious. I didn't know what to say, so I mentioned that my daughter works for a federal health clinic. And he knew right away which program I was talking about. He said, 'Oh that's wonderful.' ''

Mashed Media
YOUNG FCC HOTSHOT IN FRAUD INQUIRY
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/business/05fcc.html?ex=1213243200&en=6dea1ed440bd2d67&ei=5070&emc=eta1
CREEP SAM ZELL CONTINUES THE CHEAPENING,
IF NOT RUINATION, OF THE L.A. TIMES
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/zell_acknowledges_new_cut_1.php

Enviro Wacko
ER. . .UH. . .ANYBODY GOT $45 TRILLION TO SAVE THE PLANET?
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/45_trillion_needed_to_combat_warming_0606.html
HOW WATER HAS BECOME A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE
http://www.alternet.org/water/87224/
MASSIVE FOREST FIRE IN CHINA
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/29/content_4618130.htm

Oh, by the way. . .
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FIST BUMP
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1812102,00.html
WHO WILL RULE THE NEW INTERNET?
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1811814,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

Animals in the news!
CHEEP THRILLS: HEAR TOP TEN MOST WONDERFUL BIRD SONGS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/06/wildlife.birdsong

Film
EASTWOOD FIRES BACK AT SPIKE LEE’S RACIST B.S.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2283921,00.html
"He was complaining when I did Bird [the 1988 biopic of Charlie Parker]. Why would a white guy be doing that? I was the only guy who made it, that's why. He could have gone ahead and made it. Instead he was making something else."
KEIRA KNIGHTLY IN TALKS TO DO ‘MY FAIR LADY’
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2284320,00.html

Books
WHAT, OH WHAT, HAS HAPPENED TO LITERATURE?
“Wetlands” is just puerile porn
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/05/europe/taboo.php
"Wetlands" opens in a hospital room after an intimate shaving accident with a detailed topography of Helen's hemorrhoids, continues into the subject of anal intercourse and only gains momentum from there, eventually reaching avocado pits as objects of female sexual satisfaction and - here is where the debate kicks in - just possibly female empowerment.
THE MAN WHO LOVED CHINA
The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/07/arts/IDLEDE7.php

Light reading
THE SCIENCE OF SARCASM
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/health/research/03sarc.html?em&ex=1212897600&en=6814a661b1cf587d&ei=5087%0A

Musique
INTERVIEW: JIMMY CLIFF
http://music.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2284219,00.html

Question of taste
CALIF. VS. CHICAGO---FOOD, THAT IS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0606/p20s01-ussc.html
Retired advertising executive Larry Moss, who moved from Chicago to Marin County 29 years ago, says one of the first things he noticed about the cross-country change was that there were "no plates overflowing with food."

Auto-Motive
A LOOK AT THE WORLD’S CHEAPEST CAR---THE NANO
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7423737.stm

Where ya goin’?
GERMANY’S BLACK FOREST CARNIVAL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,553326,00.html

And in the end. . .
HAHAHAHAHAHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXQabwBSKwk

6/5
skylines:
Morning Concert (for Hillary)
THE FAT LADY SINGS
Deborah Voight---from “Elektra”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cgPaxBWZGE
Jane Eaglin---from “Tristan und Isolde”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs5txL3Wqow
Rosemary Clooney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmKqbjQBG0I
Etta James
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z2wuVp00-o
Big Mama Thornton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XUAg1_A7IE
Birgit Nilsson---“Vissi D’arte”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRjBpJ0ZECo
Olga Borodina---from “Don Carlo”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwSX3DG1l-o
(Congratulations to Norman, Voight, James, and Borodina for taking off weight.)
And finally. . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfZ_gXCHaMw

PRINGLES INVENTOR BURIED IN PRINGLES CAN
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1811730,00.html

GERMAN PAPER HEADLINE OVER WHITE HOUSE: “UNCLE BARACK’S CABIN”
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,557861,00.html

WORLD’S LARGEST CONFEDERATE FLAG TO FLY IN TAMPA
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/05/confed-flag-in-tampa/

BUSH STUNNED BY OBAMA BUTTON
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/04/bush-knows-obamanow/

Virtual dinner with Sir Paul
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2283788,00.html

ANOTHER WOMAN DOES HER GENDER CREDIT
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=163020&in_page_id=34
Related:
BEARDED TIT SPOTTED AT NUKE STATION
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=164216&in_page_id=34

And on to news and comment. . .

POOR POLAR BEAR SWIMS 200 MILES TO REFUGE---
IS SHOT ON ARRIVAL
Iceland cops pose proudly with noble animals’ corpse. . .
Rip Post comment: Stupidass humans deserve all coming catastrophes. . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jun/05/animalwelfare.animalbehaviour

TABLOID JOURNALISM? OR DID CHINA NUKE BLAST CAUSE QUAKE?
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-6-3/71353.html
STRAIGHTER SCOOP: 32 'RADIATION SOURCES' BURIED BY CHINA QUAKE
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080520-AP-china-earth.html

SECRET BUSH PLAN
TO KEEP IRAQ A U.S. VASSAL
Tyrant “president” plans 50---fifty---U.S. bases in the country. . .
Like The Rip Post said from before the invasion---this is permanent occupation
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-secret-plan-to-keep-iraq-under-us-control-840512.html
70 PERCENT OF IRAQIS WANT YANKEE TO GO HOME
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/04/iraq-parliament/

IRAQ VETS SHARE ATROCITY STORIES
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42622
Other veterans told of lax rules of engagement that led to the slaughter of innocent civilians in Iraq. "We were told we'd be deploying to Iraq and that we needed to get ready to have little kids and women shoot at us," Sergio Kochergin, a former Marine who served two deployments in Iraq, told the audience. "It was an attempt to portray Iraqis as animals. We were supposed to do humanitarian work, but all we did was harass people, drive like crazy on the streets, pretending it was our city and we could do whatever we wanted to do."

WATCH: AIPAC BULLIES AL-JAZEERA REPORTER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPJsx5dG0tc

Man O-Man
OBAMA KISSES AIPAC’S RING---
What choice does he have? To criticize Israel policy is to lose the election. . .
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42666
---PLEDGES TO KEEP BUSH'S PROMISE OF
$30 BILLION FOR ISRAEL IN NEXT TEN YEARS
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/05/israel_backers_hear_obamas_vow_of_fidelity/
OBAMA CORNERS LIEBERMAN
After Little Joe made spurious accusation about O-Man’s policy
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15766.html
O-MAN AND DISHONEST JOHN WILL DEBATE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/05/MNK01139AC.DTL
O-MAN: NO LOBBYIST MONEY TO DNC
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/DNC_bans_lobbyist_money_06052008.html
HOW OBAMA DID IT
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1811857,00.html
Run the campaign with respect; build it from the bottom up; and finally, no drama. Myers was struck by how closely Obama had studied the two campaigns of George W. Bush. "He said he wanted to run our campaign like a business," says Myers. And in a good business, the customer is king. Early on, before it had the resources to do much else, the campaign outsourced a "customer-service center" so that anyone who called, at any hour of the day or night, would find a human voice on the other end of the line.
O-MAN’S QUIET CELEBRATION
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,557605,00.html
THE O-MAN’S VICTORY SOUNDTRACK
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06/barack-obamas-v.html

Electile Dysfunction
BET ON MCCAIN SWIFT-BOATING OBAMA WITH REZKO SCANDAL
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8279
PINHEAD (RACIST?) CLINTON BACKERS TURN TO MCCAIN
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Some_committed_Clinton_backers_declaring_McCain_0605.html

LINDORFF:
WHINERS, POOR LOSERS, AND WHY HILLARY SHOULD NOT BE VP
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/156
It’s kind of bizarre reading about supposed “feminists” who are reportedly claiming they’ll vote for McCain rather than Obama, now that “their” candidate, Hillary Clinton, is out of the running for the presidential nomination. First of all, John McCain is clearly the candidate of the anti-abortion crowd, but that’s not the half of it. He’s also the candidate who says Anthony Scalia, John Roberts and Sam Alito are his kind of judges. We’re talking here about guys (yeah, guys) who think a woman’s place is in the home, and who only recently ruled that if she’s discriminated against on the job, and doesn’t learn about it for a decade or more, a woman can’t do anything about it, because the original offense of underpaying her happened more than 180 days ago.

Plame-Out
FITZ TO TESTIFY ABOUT ROVE EFFORT TO PUSH HIM OUT?
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/05/fitzgerald-indicates-he-may-be-ready-to-testify-on-roves-efforts-to-push-him-out/

Recommended Reading
Walden Bello: Manufacturing a Food Crisis
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080602/bello

Israelity
EYE FOR AN EYE---ER, MAKE THAT. . .
A MAN FOR A SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/05/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Palestinians.php

Jesus H. Christ!
MORE ‘CHRISTIAN’ MADNESS---
SEND E-MAIL TO THOSE ‘LEFT BEHIND’
Jesus Christ would be the first to condemn modern Christianity
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/service-lets-yo.html
FORMER NUN HELPING WOMEN OF ANPARA---
WHERE HUNDREDS HAVE BEEN MURDERED
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0606/p01s01-woam.html
In the past 15 years, some 450 girls and women have been murdered in and around Ciudad Juárez and the state capital, Chihuahua, with nearly a quarter of them first sexually assaulted, according to Amnesty International. Mexico has been widely faulted for inadequate investigations, prompting scathing, international criticism – and leaving a culture of defenselessness among women here.

Sanity
MAY I BORROW A MUSLIM?
LIVING LIBRARIES CUT PREJUDICE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0605/p01s02-wogn.html

Animals in the news!
SHARKS TURN CALIF. COAST INTO HUNTING GROUND
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/01/SP231107UP.DTL
PETER RABBIT MUST DIE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/garden/05animals.html?em&ex=1212811200&en=c1e05ebfb6e9d673&ei=5087%0A

Auto Motive
THE ULTIMATE APOCALYPSE-MOBILE
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/what-is-the-ult.html

And in more important matters. . .

Cheap gossip
Q&A: CILLA BLACK
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/interviews/article.html?in_article_id=164186&in_page_id=11

STAR TREK’S ‘HOLODECK’ ON WAY TO REALITY?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080604195058.htm

WHY TYPEWRITERS BEAT COMPUTERS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7427237.stm

Books
FRANCE’S ‘BRIDGET JONES’
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2283753,00.html
Faïza Guène's first novel, the semi-autobiographical tale of a young woman in Paris's deprived suburbs, was an instant publishing sensation.

SLIDE SHOW: WHY ARE SF OPERA’S ‘RHEINGOLD’ GODS IN 19TH CENTURY EVENING WEAR?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/multimedia?&o=0&f=/c/a/2008/06/05/DDFK1136JE.DTL

For Art’s Sake
NYT ALTON KELLEY OBIT
This art is towering American iconography, nothing less
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/arts/design/04kelley.html?ref=obituaries

TeeVee
DENNIS POTTER'S CRUEL CHILDREN
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2008/06/tv_blog_by_peter_bradshaw.html

And in the end. . .
BEARDED TITS!
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=bearded+tits

 

6/4
skylines:
Morning Concert (for Hillary)
WOMAN
(Paul McCartney wrote it as “Bernard Webb”)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk7QDfL9wZ0
AIN’T GONNA BUMP NO MORE WITH NO BIG FAT WOMAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga5xsCqbP5s
DEVIL WOMAN (Marty Robbins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7hCuDL8j2M
DEVIL WOMAN (Ringo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHVPhIZrz0c
EVIL WOMAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R20f-TPKjzc
AMERICAN WOMAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1x6NNNfVJc
OH WOMAN OH WHY?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHnD2ZiXxKo
200 POUNDS OF HEAVENLY JOY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9hHMyFWGYU

ED MCMAHON FIGHTS FORECLOSURE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/04/entertainment/e041400D04.DTL&tsp=1

MCCAIN’S HEALTH STATUS LEAKED
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/05/cartoon_mccains_health_status.html

GIANT CATFISH TERRORIZES SWIMMERS!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,557636,00.html

GAS SHORTAGE? SURE. WATER? YAWN. BUT NOT. . .ICE CREAM!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,557642,00.html

MEET WONDERFUL MOLLY, THE THREE-LEGGED PONY
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=160920&in_page_id=34

And on to news and comment. . .

HUMANS SET TO PILLAGE THE OCEAN FLOOR
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,557487,00.html

BARDOT FINED $23,000 FOR FREE SPEECH
Evidently, it does not exist in France
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/article3764291.ece
Former French film star Brigitte Bardot has been convicted of provoking discrimination and racial hatred by writing that Muslims were destroying France. (Which is probably true.)

GM CLOSING TRUCK PLANTS---MAY DISCONTINUE HUMMER!
Hahahahahahahahaha
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/03/gm-may-discontinue-making-hummers/
ARE AMERRYGUNS FINALLY DROPPING THE STUPID USURPING VEHICLE?
http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/opening_bell_will_americans_dr_1.php
The NYT has an interesting bit of page-one analysis that estimates the total cost of a vehicle based on an average five years of use. Adding in gasoline makes the F-250 and Lincoln Navigator look much more expensive than they do on the lot. Over five years, with gas, they’ll cost about $100,000—or as the Times helpfully puts it, 20 percent of the average family’s income. And that’s pre-tax income.

Jesus H. Christ!
PIGMAN HAGEE HAD (HAS?) LINE TO THE WHITE HOUSE---MCCLELLAN
So-called pastor could “get someone on the phone quickly”
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/04/mcclellan-hagee-bush/
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PIGMAN
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/6/2/65153/85555
Hagee described the Antichrist as a seductive figure with "fierce features." He will be "a blasphemer and a homosexual," the pastor announced. Then, Hagee boomed, "There's a phrase in Scripture used solely to identify the Jewish people. It suggests that this man [the Antichrist] is at least going to be partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler, as was Karl Marx." This "fierce" gay Jew, according to Hagee, would "slaughter one-third of the Earth's population" and "make Adolph Hitler look like a choirboy."

WORLD WELCOMES OBAMA
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/World_welcomes_Obama_win_06042008.html
CARTER GIVES OBAMA GOOD ADVICE:
DON’T PICK HILLARY
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/04/uselections2008
“I think it would be the worst mistake that could be made," said Carter. "That would just accumulate the negative aspects of both candidates."
TEXT OF O-MAN’S SPEECH
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8217
LIMBAUGH: OBAMA CAN ONLY WIN ‘BECAUSE HE’S BLACK’
Nice, Rush. . .real classy. . .intelligent. . .analytical. . .a credit to commentary. . .
http://mediamatters.org/items/200806020006

HOW BILLARY BLEW IT
First of all, the woman never, never says anything other than empty rhetoric and pathetic slogans
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/04/hillaryclinton.uselections20084
Invokes lame, lame, lame “Rocky” reference in non-concession speech
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/04/MNF3112DS1.DTL

DOWD: SHE’S STILL HERRRRRRE. . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/opinion/04dowd.html?em&ex=1212724800&en=82513e4995f35fab&ei=5087%0A
Even as Obama got ready to come out on stage for his victory party, the Clinton campaign announced that it had won a Wyoming superdelegate and Terry McAuliffe introduced her at Baruch as “the next president of the United States.”

RAIMUNDO: WILL OBAMA STAND UP TO THE WAR PARTY? (NOT SO FAR)
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12942
What Obama is signaling is nothing. Seeking to avoid the impression of weakness, he succeeds only in projecting it. As I write, he has yet to actually deliver his much-awaited speech to the AIPAC conclave, but there is little doubt Obama's appeasement of the Lobby will continue. He shares with John McCain the view that the U.S. government cannot and should not take an attack on Iran "off the table," to repeat the phraseology invariably utilized by politicians and pundits when this subject comes up. As if the Iranian people, who will suffer enormously in the course of an attack, are mere cards in a deck shuffled by U.S. policymakers. And you wonder why they hate us.

O-MAN AT AIPAC: BLOW-BY-BLOW
http://elections.jta.org/2008/06/04/377/barack-obama-live-and-with-an-israeli-american-flag-pin-on-his-lapel/
‘I’M A FRIEND OF ISRAEL’---OBAMA
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_Dont_believe_email_rumors_I_0604.html

Rerun
OBAMA’S VEEP-VETTER:
JUST ANOTHER CORPORATOCRACY FASCIST
He also was the veep-vetter for Kerry and Mondale---gee, that worked well. . .
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121158607794919005.html?mod=googlenews_wsj 
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/05/obamas_running_mate_hunt_jarre.html 
$5 MILLION A YEAR SALARY---BUT VERY GENEROUS WITH YOUR MONEY
http://www.slate.com/id/2423/ 
JOHNSON BIO
Crony of Bilderberg, Trilateral Commission
http://www.perseusllc.com/bios.htm#johnson 
"As of 2006, Johnson is a vice chairman of the private banking firm Perseus LLC, a position he has held since 2001. He is also a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission."

People’s Repugnic
‘SUBVERSIVES,’ PEOPLE WITH STDS
BARRED FROM ATTENDING OLYMPICS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/04/china.olympicgames2008

UN FOOD SUMMIT TONES DOWN MENU
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4058305.ece
The 2002 summit had set itself the target of halving the number of hungry people in the world by 2015. It began by feeding the heads of state lobster and foie gras and letting them wash it all down with an array of fine wines.

Madeye
MADEYE MCCAIN REJECTS IRAN TALKS---
MALIKI TO GO THERE ANYWAY
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/03/steve-schmidt-iran/
MADEYE: ‘I’D SECRETLY SPY ON AMERICANS, TOO’
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/mccain-id-spy-o.html

Iraq and Roll
CAR BOMB KILLS 16, THREE MORE U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED
Mission (yawn) accomplished, Mr. Prez
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1811669,00.html
WHY AUSTRALIA IS LEAVING IRAQ
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0603/p04s01-wome.html

INTERVIEW: SEN. CHUCK HAGEL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,557514,00.html
"We have responsibilities, no doubt about it. We invaded Iraq, we are occupying Iraq and we have made Iraq dependent on us. By our actions we have done terrible damage to our own country and undermined our interests in the world."

Animals in the news!
HOW BEES COMMUNICATE WITH FOREIGN BEES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/04/animalbehaviour.wildlife

Enviro Wacko
AMERICA’S GONE SELF-STORAGE CRAZY
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/86998/
A strange new shadow land has grown up in America. It's a world of cinderblock villas and plywood hallways, garish under halogen security bulbs. It clings to the underside of Western towns like Roman catacombs, pushes up funereal fault blocks in urban centers, and festoons suburban freeways with palaces styled after castles and forts. If you could peer inside those locked rooms, you'd see, well, practically any object you could imagine: a pair of skis, five toadstool-style cookie jars, twelve years' back issues of Martha Stewart Living, a single broken bed frame, all waiting like Egyptian tomb dressing to serve in some afterlife. But you'd rarely see a person, because all these new, gray places are for stuff.
REPUG FIEND SEN. SAYS GORE MOVIE IS NOW ENTIRELY REFUTED
Compares environmental awareness to Third Reich. . .who are these assholes?
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/03/inhofe-everything-in-gores-science-fiction-movie-has-been-refuted/

Racial Wacko
PROGRAM GREASES MINORITIES’ PATHS TO PROFESSORSHIPS
http://www.signandsight.com/features/1703.html
Since its formation in 1994, The PhD Project has helped triple representation of these groups among the faculty of American business schools – from 294 to 903. Another 400 are working toward their doctorates.

(Lack of) Health
CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME FINALLY GETTING LEGITIMACY
The Rip Post had it for three years---it’s real, folks
http://health.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-chronicfatigue-ess.html?ref=health

Obit
R.I.P. MEL FERRER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/arts/04ferrer.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

And in more important matters. . .

‘BORAT’ WAS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO KAZAKHSTAN
So says daughter of the Kazakhstan prez
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1811669,00.html
And in other Kazakhstan news. . .
KAZAKH YOUTH ORCHESTRA DREAMS OF CARNEGIE HALL
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/04/asia/journal.php

IT MIGHTA CHOKED ARTIE. . .
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0604/p17s01-lifo.html

Light reading
BIRDBRAIN
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=all
Once, when she rushed in the lab door, obviously harried, Alex said, “Calm down”—a phrase she had sometimes used with him. “What’s your problem?” he sometimes demanded of a flustered trainer. When training sessions dragged on, Alex would say, “Wanna go back”—to his cage. More creatively, he’d sometimes announce, “I’m gonna go away now,” and either turn his back to the person working with him or sidle as far away as he could get on his perch. “Say better,” he chided the younger parrots that Pepperberg began training along with him. “You be good, see you tomorrow, I love you,” he’d say when she left the lab each evening.

Books
WHEN HEMINGWAY TURNED TO VERSE
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2283540,00.html

For Art’s Sake
ART CRITICS READ LIKE SELF-PARODY
http://www.signandsight.com/features/1703.html

And in the end. . .
MARMOSETS!
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=marmosets

6/3
skylines:
Morning Concert
STUPID GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9y0F16iWRk
GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYl0iMSlMQg
JERSEY GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-ZRf0PH5R8
GEORGIE GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSVfLNCW4Fs
MY GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltRwmgYEUr8
BEAUTIFUL GIRL
Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZghpUY0sTQ
Studio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYT0gx1eHD8
GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY
’64: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN6_Ymd3NxQ
’68: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1JZly_jHeQ
YOU’RE GONNA LOSE THAT GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSPmb0a5Vza

India to build own “Statue of Liberty”---Shivaji
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7433486.stm

BIG FLORIDA CAT HOUSE
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/02/florida-woman-runs-a-sanctuary-for-big-cats/
When Judy Berens took a neglected ocelot into her home in 1993, she never actually planned on finding it a companion. But as author Ernest Hemingway, who once kept 57 felines, famously observed: “One cat leads to another.”

PHALLUS FIGHTS!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,557207,00.html

CHENEY MAKES A LITTLE INCEST JOKE
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/03/cheney-insults-west-virginia-with-incest-joke-spokeswoman-apologizes/

DRUNK WIPES OUT CYCLISTS
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=160731&in_page_id=34

MAN TEACHES ORPHANED HERON TO FLY
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=159110&in_page_id=34

And on to news and comment. . .

FLASH! SCIENTISTS GIVE UP EXPLAINING THE UNIVERSE
Zappa figured it out long ago---it’s a big musical note
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/science/03dark.html?8dpc

NO, CLINTON WILL NOT CONCEDE IN TONIGHT’S SPEECH
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=26977

MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL MEXICANS STAY---
BUT 4.0 VALEDICTORIAN FROM ARMENIA IS DEPORTED!
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/637728.html

People’s Repugnic
CHINA COPS DRAG GRIEVING PARENTS FROM PROTEST
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/world/asia/04china.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0603/p01s08-woap.html
NAOMI KLEIN: CHINA’S ALL-SEEING EYE
With the help of U.S. defense contractors, China is building the prototype for a high-tech police state. It is ready for export.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20797485/chinas_allseeing_eye/print
Shenzhen is once again serving as a laboratory, a testing ground for the next phase of this vast social experiment. Over the past two years, some 200,000 surveillance cameras have been installed throughout the city. Many are in public spaces, disguised as lampposts. The closed-circuit TV cameras will soon be connected to a single, nationwide network, an all-seeing system that will be capable of tracking and identifying anyone who comes within its range — a project driven in part by U.S. technology and investment.
CHINA POSTS RULES FOR FOREIGNERS VISITING OLYMPICS
Behave or else!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/03/MND0111R45.DTL

40 YEARS LATER, OPEN QUESTIONS IN RFK ASSASSINATION
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/03/MNN110S5KH.DTL

HEDGES: CORPORATE STATES OF AMERICA
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/86973/
The country I live in today uses the same words to describe itself, the same patriotic symbols and iconography, the same national myths, but only the shell remains. America, the country of my birth, the country that formed and shaped me, the country of my father, my father's father and his father's father, stretching back to the generations of my family that were here for the country's founding, is so diminished as to be nearly unrecognizable.

Israelity
HUGE PROFITS CAST SHADOW
OVER HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR ORGANIZATION
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,557447,00.html
Through the sale of property Nazis stole from Jews in eastern Germany that was later signed over to the organization, the Jewish Claims Conference has made a profit of about €1.5 billion. But not all of that money has been given to Holocaust survivors. Criticism of the powerful organization is growing in Israel and many are calling for greater transparency.
AND THE WINNER IS. . .THE ISRAEL LOBBY
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JF03Ak01.html
Republican presidential candidate McCain is opening this year's AIPAC jamboree; Clinton and Obama are closing it on Wednesday. Walt and Mearsheimer's verdict on the dangerous liaisons between presidential candidates and AIPAC remains unimpeachable: "None of the candidates is likely to criticize Israel in any significant way or suggest that the US ought to pursue a more evenhanded policy in the region. And those who do will probably fall by the wayside."

RICE: NO POINT IN TALKING TO IRAN
No point in talking to Rice, either. . .
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/03/america/US-Israel.php

PAKISTAN NUKE DEALER GAINING POWER
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1811224,00.html
As President Pervez Musharraf's grip on power weakens, so have the restrictions on the disgraced nuclear scientist still widely hailed as a national hero. Last week, Khan recanted the nationally televised confession he made four years ago, suggesting it had been forced. And calls for his freedom are growing in Pakistan.

Wild Bill
WILD BILL GOES NUTS OVER VANITY FAIR ARTICLE
Calls reporter “sleazy,” “scumbag”---then regrets it
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Bill_Clinton_regrets_language_used__06022008.html
MOOD SWINGS SINCE SURGERY---STAFF
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/06/03/clinton-vanityfair.html
MAYBE HE REALLY IS A PUMPHEAD
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.sport.football.college/2008-04/msg06009.html
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/142

Jesus H. Christ!
ONO LOSES SUIT TO BLOCK ‘IMAGINE’ FROM USE IN
FIENDISH ANTI-EVOLUTION MOVIE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7432860.stm

WATCH: MORE AMERICANS TAKING THE BUS
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4147702n&channel=/sections/eveningnews/videoplayer3420.shtml

Unreal Estate
BUY ONE HOUSE, GET ONE FREE
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/06/in-escondido-bu.html
NO KIDDING---FREE LAND IN JAPAN!
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/03/asia/03shibetsu.php

Enviro Wacko
USDA STILL HASN’T FUNDED BEE RESEARCH
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/colony-collapse-disorder-55052101
WAVE GOODBYE TO NEW GUINEA, KIDS
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Half_of_Papua_New_Guinea_s_forests__06022008.html

Animals in the news!
MONTANA BISON PLAN BUFFALOED
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/03/in-montana-bison-plan-paused/

(Lack of) Health
THE PROTEIN MYTH
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/86942/
Beans, nuts, seeds, lentils, and whole grains are packed with protein. So are all vegetables as a caloric percentage, though they don't have enough calories to sustain most people as a principal source of sustenance. And these protein sources have some excellent benefits that animal protein does not -- they contain plenty of fiber and complex carbohydrates, where meat has none. That's right: Meat has no complex carbs at all, and no fiber. Plant proteins are packed with these essential nutrients.

Oh, by the way. . .
A MELTDOWN FOR ARGENTINA’S ‘HILLARY’
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1811257,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

UNIVERSAL FIRE DAMAGE OVERSTATED
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/universal_music_damage_ov.php

R.I.P. ALTON KELLEY, ARTIST
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/03/BAQS111UJ4.DTL

R.I.P. BO DIDDLEY
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2283476,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/arts/music/03diddley.html?em&ex=1212638400&en=6d13ebb2d82579e3&ei=5087%0A#
JAGGER PAYS TRIBUTE TO BO DIDDLEY
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7432827.stm

ASININE Commentary of the Week!
‘SEX IN THE CITY’ WILL MAKE
HOLLYWOOD STOP IGNORING WOMEN
(Yes! Movie that demeans and degrades women will lead to more movies that demean and degrade women---But that, apparently, is just what women want!)
http://www.alternet.org/movies/86939/

Books
CHURCHILL REGARDED GHANDI AS A FAKIR
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/gandhi-and-churchill-by-arthur-herman-11381
CARS FOR COMRADES---THE STORY OF SOVIET AUTOMOBILES
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/story/185451/

Musique
GRATEFUL DEAD’S DONNA JEAN IS DEAD AGAIN
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/03/DDVU1100MG.DTL
Now back in music, Godchaux-Mackay linked up with a former Grateful Dead tribute band called the Zen Tricksters and is touring and recording her original songs with the band. Her husband and both her grown sons are also musicians and they all live together on 4 acres in rural Alabama with a recording studio and a grandchild on the way.

And in the end. . .
STUPIDITY
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=stupidity&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

6/2
skylines:
Morning Concert
A DAY IN THE LIFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMCeN6ZA3V4
Why didn’t he do the full song? By the way, that’s George Harrison’s garden---created by George---in the background. . .
IN LIVERPOOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri8m0B5FXZQ
PENNY LANE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHBKAyn17vw
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COMsKPeWAsw
IN MY LIFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym0x3vTw6yc
FREE AS A BIRD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s332Tt0zxYs
A DAY IN THE LIFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZez_k4vAzU

SIR PAUL COMES HOME TO LIVERPOOL
Plays “Hippy Hippy Shake” for first time since 1963
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7427464.stm
Hippy Hippy Shake 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_fKKRhvsgE
Hippy Hippy Shake 1963
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XswonspsHs

DONUT LADY TAKES PUERTO RICO

Quite a wide margin, there, Hillary. . .

KURT COBAIN’S ASHES STOLEN
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2283380,00.html

TATUM O’ NEAL BUSTED FOR CRACK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7431721.stm

BRIT GETS REFUND FOR HAVING TOO MANY GERMANS IN HOTEL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,557139,00.html

GREAT NEWS! OPRAH’S RATINGS ARE DROPPING!
http://www.time-blog.com/tuned_in/2008/06/why_is_oprah_sliding_dont_blam.html

UNIVERSAL FIRE BURNS MUSIC HISTORY
Films all had dupes, but master tapes of Garland, Crosby are gone
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/update-universal-fire-burns-music-history/

R.I.P. THE GREAT BO DIDDLEY
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080602/ap_en_ot/obit_diddley
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/06/02/ap5070632.html
watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=979rwnVPG4A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8PIbrMh6vo
The Bo Diddley Beat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7sNSduf7Gc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEeeGMpM_Nk

R.I.P. PSYCHEDELIC POSTER ARTIST ALTON KELLEY
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/alton-kelley,414826.shtml
KELLEY REMEMBERS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/20/MNSOLKELLEY20.DTL
ART
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=ALTON%20KELLY&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

And on to news and comment. . .

AND NOW. . .GITMO AT SEA!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/02/usa.humanrights
The United States is operating "floating prisons" to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an attempt to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees.

People’s Repugnic
THE GREAT LEAP NOWHERE
An astounding look at modern China (Well, Mao wiped out past China,” so it’s all modern)
http://alumni.berkeley.edu/California/200805/gargan.asp

BUSH’S IRAQ PEP TALK: “KILL THEM! KILL THEM!”
Nobody apparently read Gen. Sanchez’s memoir. . .
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174938/kill_them_we_are_going_to_wipe_them_out
"'Kick ass!' [Bush] said, echoing Colin Powell's tough talk. 'If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! . . .We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!'"

Electile Dysfunction
FEAR GROWS: OBAMA CAN’T WIN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/01/barackobama.uselections2008
CRAZED CLINTON SUPPORTER: “GOD DAMN THE DEMOCRATS”
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Irate_Clinton_supporter_God_Damn_Democrats_0601.html
“An inadequate black male who would not have been running had it not been a white woman that was running for President! And I'm not going to shut my mouth anymore!"
BROWN:
THE HORROR---CLINTON SUPPORTERS VOW TO VOTE FOR MCCAIN
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8127
OBAMA: CLINTON ‘WILL DO THE RIGHT THING’
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4045934.ece
BILLARY MOVES TO ‘STEAL’ DELEGATES---
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/8142
---YET CUTS STAFF
http://timesonline.typepad.com/uselections/2008/06/clinton-campaig.html

RIDING HIGH WITH WILD BILL CLINTON
Travels around the world with Burkle on “Air F--k One”
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807?currentPage=1
Old friends and longtime aides are wringing their hands over Bill Clinton’s post–White House escapades, from the dubious (and secretive) business associations to the media blowups that have bruised his wife’s campaign, to the private-jetting around with a skirt-chasing, scandal-tinged posse.

The Other War
AFGHAN PREZ: ‘I WISH I HAD THE TALIBAN AS MY SOLDIERS’
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,557188,00.html
AFGHAN VIOLENCE PICKING UP
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/02/rate-of-violence-skyrocketing-in-afghanistan/

Homeland Insecurity
TRAIN SAFETY FIGHT LOOMS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0603/p03s01-usgn.html
Every day, hundreds of rail tank cars carry tons of chemicals that, if released, could create toxic plumes. These tank cars traverse more than 300,000 miles of railroad tracks through major cities and small towns across America.

Jesus H. Christ!
HAGEE: ANTI-SEMITE? ANTI-HUMAN
http://www.baltimorechronicle.com/2008/053008Baroud.shtml
Hagee was allowed to foment hateful, dark views of Muslims, Catholics, and others, while still being welcomed into the fold of politicians and statesmen. He was only criticised when his madness touched on the Holocaust. But isn't it true that his book and speeches help promote a regional Holocaust in the Middle East, one which would actually encompass numerous nations? Shouldn't the vow of 'never again' include the many millions that Hagee wants to see incinerated in his quest for Armageddon?

Lost Angeles
ORLOV ON LITTLE ANTHONY’S SILLY TRIP TO ISRAEL
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9450000

Guns, guns, guns
MOTHER OF SIX SHOT TO DEATH ON SF FREEWAY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/02/state/n054250D07.DTL&tsp=1
BRIT ANTI-GUN ACTIVIST MURDERED
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=158965&in_page_id=34

Obit
R.I.P. WAR CRITIC GEN. WILLIAM ODOM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/31/AR2008053102193_pf.html

Sad as sad can be
CHINA’S ‘CHILDREN’S DAY’ A DAY IN MOURNING
But holiday is hypocrisy in view of millions of child laborers in country, anyhow
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1811001,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

Books
GEE, DO YOU SUPPOSE ANY ACTUAL LITERATURE WILL EVER BE PUBLISHED AGAIN?
Not with agents, publishers looking for pureile pop-crap like this
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/where_isjules_asner.php
A BIOGRAPHY OF THE KAMA SUTRA
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052903264.html
Indonesian book promo: money from heaven
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=158979&in_page_id=2

Light reading
Gore Vidal: Literary feuds, his 'vicious' mother,
and rumours of a secret love child
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/gore-vidal-literary-feuds-his-vicious-mother-and-rumours-of-a-secret-love-child-832525.html
"So what hope do you have for what you've described as the American Empire?" "None. It's finished."

For Art’s Sake
GRAFFITI SNAILS
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=156464&in_page_id=34

Where ya goin’?
SUSAN SPANO LOVES ROME
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/06/susan_spano_adopts_roma.php

And in the end. . .
PINWHEELS
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=pinwheels&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

5/30
skylines:
Morning Concert
Am I Blue?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2b5eM7lrDw
Blue Turning Gray Over You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlMGGQJQgW8
Red Sails in the Sunset
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBG9ITmf_OQ
Green Green Grass of Home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdltO_eeBQY
Paint it Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYRajKfZYb0
White Room
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud1Y7rXFEQg
Old Brown Shoe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg9nVYo0VOs
Yellow Bird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBbgZauYL1Q
Orange Blossom Special
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f_QySKfsgI
Purple Haze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hSW67ySCio
Barry White
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS2Fve72AZg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL0WFcygdWY

HOMELESS WOMAN SNEAKS INTO MAN’S HOME,
LIVES IN HIS CLOSET FOR YEAR
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7426950.stm

MURRAY DRUG, BOOZE ADDICT---WIFE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7427280.stm

TOAD APHRODISIAC KILLS NYC MAN
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1809206,00.html

LESBIANS TOLD TO STOP TONGUE-KISSING OR LEAVE BASEBALL GAME
Good.
http://pageoneq.com/news/2008/lesbians_mariners053008.html

FOUR YAKUZA CRIME BOSSES
GET UCLA LIVER TRANSPLANTS
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla30-2008may30,0,717284.story

And on to news and comment. . .

WATCH: BEIJING’S REPLY TO HORSE’S ASS SHARON STONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgRoE6bCEio
BAD KARMA BITES DUMBASS SHARON STONE
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/05/it_is_one_of_the.html
A little karma music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqP3wT5lpa4
CHINA TO EVACUATE ANOTHER 1.3 MILLION
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1810582,00.html

MARS WATER APPEARS TOO SALTY TO HAVE SUPPORTED LIFE
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529141404.htm

SWEDISH CARS RUN ON SEWAGE
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/27/business/greencol28.php

Enviro Wacko
WE MIGHT HAVE TO CHANGE THE COLOR OF THE SKY
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23724412-2,00.html
ASIA RICE CRISIS EASING?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0531/p25s05-wosc.html

U.S. CANCELS FULBRIGHT GRANTS TO PALESTINIAN SCHOLARS
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/29/africa/gaza.php

PENTAGON PUSHING 9/11 TRIAL---
TEN DAYS AFTER MCCAIN’S NOMINATION
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/30/9-11-trial/

Man O-man
OBAMA INEXPERIENCED?
http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/is_obama_experienced.php?page=all
Before this notion gets hammered into the narrative of the race any further, it would be a good idea for the press to independently assess its validity. Because, although Obama undoubtedly has less political experience than McCain (who’s been in Congress since 1982 and in the Senate since 1986), he doesn’t have much less than the last two presidents did when they took office. And in terms of foreign policy, which is the issue at the center of the inexperience charge, he has more.
MORFORD: THE OBAMA INSURRECTION
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/05/30/notes053008.DTL
It almost cannot be understated: Barack Obama's steady, astounding, almost inexplicable rise to the top to not only become the presumptive Democratic nominee but also to overtake one of the strongest, smartest, most well-funded, tenacious rival candidates in American history — and also to out-poll his deeply connected Republican opponent — is both remarkable and historic on a number of fronts.
WHAT IS RUPERT UP TO, PRAISING OBAMA?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/30/rupertmurdoch.wallstreetjournal
"We're on the verge of a complete phenomenon," Murdoch said. "Politicians are at an all-time low and are despised by 80% of the public, and then you've got a candidate trying to put himself out above it all. He's become a rock star. It's fantastic. "There are a lot of problems. The education system in this country is a total disgrace."

McCLELLAN TRIED TO QUIT WHITE HOUSE EARLIER
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/053008dntexslater.40b37509.html
McCLELLAN WARNS: BE SKEPTICAL OF PERINO ON IRAN
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McClellan_would_be_skeptical_of_White_0529.html
RAIMUNDO ON MCCLELLAN
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12918
Karl Rove's response – that McClellan "sounds like a left-wing blogger" – is hardly a refutation of the former White House official's contention. Indeed, it underscores the irony: after all, here is someone who was, in his words, a "believer," a loyal foot-soldier in the War Party's relentless campaign to drag us into an unnecessary and disastrous war. If he now sounds like Atrios – or, more credibly, Glenn Greenwald – then what does that say about this White House?
HAHAHA---BUSH WON’T READ MCCLELLAN’S BOOK
Hell, Bush won’t read any books except Louis L’Amour’s
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/30/bush-doesnt-plan-to-read-mcclellans-book/

And in more important matters. . .

DICK CAVETT VISITS A CHILDHOOD PAL
http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/a-la-recherche-de-youthful-folly/?hp

Lost Angeles
THE GUERILLA GARDENERS OF L.A.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-hm-guerrilla29-2008may29%2C0%2C3470087.story?track=rss
LAKE WILL BE FILLED WITH BALLS
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/05/ivanhoe_reservo.php

World gone mad
BLOOD SPORT COMES TO PRIME TIME
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1810558,00.html

Books
THE RESCUE OF JOHN STEINBECK
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21264
STEINBECK---“ARTLESS,” “SENTIMENTAL”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050703994.html

Decadance
HE’S SWEET ON BITTERS
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/30/arts/trwine.php

And in the end. . .
AWWWW. . .
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=155874&in_page_id=34

5/29
skylines:
Morning Concert
APE CALL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV94Wc0hink
TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO4JBaiFUkI
FLASH GORDON’S APE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZGrwDCEJNk
KING KONG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p6yUvQBXSY
JUNGLE BOOGIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmtJEE1_AMo
BUNGLE IN THE JUNGLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWgH85TyJQ
THEY ALL ASKED FOR YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pioHaHSGL1o
ANIMAL FAIR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MIscp62MM8
EVERYBODY’S GOT SOMETHING TO HIDE. . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBOUZT_5ODc
Quotatious:
“I read where members of the so-called intelligentsia, some professors, urge a strong President. They are deluding themselves, their readers, and everyone else, with this idea of an all-powerful Chief Executive. A strong President is one who will be concerned about doing things in a constitutional way, respecting the legislative and the judiciary. Yet some writers are beginning to worship this concept of ‘strongman’ government. This has a very serious connotation for America. It means autocracy in the long run.”---Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1966.

Q&A: THE GREAT TOM WAITS
http://www.antilabelblog.com/?p=288
Q: You are fascinated with irony, what is irony?
A: Chevrolet was puzzled when they discovered that their sales for the Chevy Nova were off the charts everywhere but in Latin America. They finally realized that “Nova” in Spanish translates to “no go.” Not the best name for a car… anywhere “no va”.

‘WOODSTOCK’ IS NOW A MUSEUM
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/nyregion/29towns.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Sebastian Watches Sebastian
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/05/29/nyregion/29towns_CA0.ready.html
Darling Be Home Soon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cdlix4Cfjg

PHOTO OF THE DAY!
http://www.chamberstoves.net/JohnChambers-Cookout.jpg

NUDE MAID CLEANS UP
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/28/national/a120317D74.DTL

SEN. WIDESTANCE IS WRITING A BOOK
"The Art of the Bathroom Blowjob"
http://pageoneq.com/news/2008/Larry__0529.html

SPACE SHUTTLE TOILET BUSTED
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7425180.stm

DIOR DROPS DUMBASS SHARON STONE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/29/chinaearthquake.china

No “Sex and the City” news here!

And on to news and comment. . .

NO, ALESSANDRA STANLEY,
BUSH DID NOT WIN THE 2000 ELECTION
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/86585/
"In 2001 painstaking postmortems of the Florida count, one by the New York Times and another by a consortium of newspapers, concluded that Mr. Bush would have come out slightly ahead, even if all the votes counted throughout the state had been retallied." Alessandra Stanley, New York Times, May 23, 2008, in a review of the HBO television movie, "Recount." That's not true.

Proud to be an American!
111 NATIONS BAN CLUSTER BOMBS---U.S. NOT AMONG THEM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/05/28/ST2008052803176.html

YOUR SUV SOON WON’T BE WORTH THE PRICE OF SCRAP METAL
(We hope)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/28/BUV310UTIJ.DTL&tsp=1

Impeachy-Keen
McCLELLAN: PLAME CASE WAS TURNING POINT FOR HIM
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McClellan_I_have_higher_loyalty_to_0529.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-mcclellan29-2008may29%2C0%2C1577659.story
FOX THREATENS MCCLELLAN---
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/29/fox-and-friends-carlson-warns-mcclellan-he-better-not-have-any-skeletons-in-his-closet/
---AND, OF COURSE, BLAMES HIS PUBLISHER
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/29/fox-news-mcclellan/

Iraq and Roll
108 SOLDIERS COMMITTED SUICIDE LAST YEAR
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Army_suicides_reported_at_2_decade__05292008.html
A Little Festive Suicide Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X91izMzSpeA
QUEEN CONDI: IRAQ WAR WAS ‘RIGHT THING’
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Rice_says_Iraq_war_was_right_thing__05292008.html
COST OF ‘RIGHT THING’
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home
DEATH TOLL OF ‘RIGHT THING’---IRAQIS
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
DEATH, INJURY TOLL OF ‘RIGHT THING’---U.S. TROOPS
http://icasualties.org/oif/
WATCH: FIORE ON ‘THE PRETTY GOOD GENERATION’
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/fiore/
ARAB STATES DON’T WANT TO INVEST IN IRAQ
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0530/p04s01-wome.html

The Other War
BY THE WAY, AFGHANISTAN IS FOLLY. TOO
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,556304,00.html
Forty nations are embroiled in an unwinnable war in Afghanistan. Anyone who travels through the country with Western troops soon realizes that NATO forces would have to be increased tenfold for peace to be even a remote possibility.

Man O-Man
O-MAN ADVISOR BREZINSKI:
AIPAC USING ANTI-SEMITISM CHARGE LIKE MCCARTHYISM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/2033694/Barack-Obama%27s-consultant-accuses-Jewish-lobby-members-of-McCarthyism.html

Mashed Media
LAID-OFF JOURNALISTS HAVE NOWHERE TO GO
Some get no severance, some commit suicide
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/05/call_to_action_over_laido.php
ANOTHER WILDLY CRAZED MEMO FROM TRIBUNE ‘INNOVATIONS EDITURD’
Be glad you don’t work for a newspaper, kids
http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13355
CNN’S YELLIN: NEWS EXECS PRESSURED HER TO MAKE BUSH LOOK GOOD
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/29/jessica-yellin-on-cnn-says-news-execs-pressured-her-to-make-bush-look-good/

INTERVIEW: CRAZY PAT BUCHANAN---
CHURCHILL KILLED 6 MILLION JEWS
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/29/the-situation-room-buchanan-and-hitler/

Enviro Wacko
U.S. CITIES: CARBON FOOTPRINT TOP 100
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/05/29/how-does-your-city%e2%80%99s-carbon-footprint-stack-up/
NOCAL WINERIES GOING SOLAR
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/29/MNFS10VCNQ.DTL
Take nearly 1,000 photovoltaic panels and mount them on 130 pontoons floating in a Napa Valley irrigation pond, and what do you have? A first-of-its-kind solar power array and the latest example of why Northern California's wine industry - with its scores of entrepreneurs and mavericks - is a leader in embracing solar power.

Bordering on madness
RADIO HOST ‘PIOLIN,’ CHAMPION OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, BECOMES CITIZEN
Bring back assimiliation
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/sotelo-immigration-million-2049592-people-spanish
MEANWHILE, BIG DUMB U.S. RAIDS IOWA MEATPACKING PLANT
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1809727,00.html

(Lack of) Health
GUT SUPERBUG GROWING MORE LETHAL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/28/national/a060521D93.DTL

Animals in the news!
CELEBRATED HORSE ‘THEODORE O’ CONNOR’ KILLED
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/28/sports/OLY-EQU-Theodore-OConnor.php
AND THEY’RE OFF. . .TO THE SLAUGHTER
“Humanely killed” must be the oxymoron of the century
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/25/tr-and-their-off-to-slaughter/
ONLY 16 PERCENT FAVOR HORSE-RACING BAN
Too much fun to be had by raising freak racehorses, then throwing them away
http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/05/gallup-poll-fin.html
LOSS OF SPECIES WILL HAMMER WORLD’S POOR
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7424535.stm
NO PRIVACY FOR POOR RHINOS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/29/endangeredspecies.wildlife

Oh, by the way. . .
VIETNAMESE MAN SHELTERS UNWED MOTHERS
Has unfortunate name of Phuc
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0528/p04s01-wosc.html
WAX HITLER IN BERLIN MUSEUM
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,556267,00.html
BEER FROM OUTER SPACE!
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/29/news/Japan-Space-Beer.php

And in more important matters. . .

COMING SOON: ‘AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH’---THE OPERA
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/La_Scala_to_stage_Gores_An_0529.html

Film
BRITS IN BOLLYWOOD
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2282607,00.html

Books
THE JEWISH KEY TO HENRY KISSINGER
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article4019901.ece
OH, GOD, NOW A FEMINIST VIEW OF SHAKESPEARE’S WIFE
http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/05/28/to-the-defense-of-ann-shakespeare/

Light reading
SONS OF SARTRE
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5c945872-2608-11dd-b510-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
There is no doubt that the role of the intellectual in France has diminished since the heady days of May 1968, when protestors seemed to hang on every word uttered by the inheritors of France’s long history of intellectualism – figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

And in the end. . .
UFO MARRIAGE PROPOSAL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,556365,00.html