4/20
skylines:
Morning Concert
TEBALDI AND BJOERLING
Part one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRRqUaGOM2Q&feature=related
Part two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZJqR_8uE9s
IDEALE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPSVzLHc2DY
NESSUN DORMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWQ-0QLCWwE
JUSSI LIFTS HIS GLASS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ-TdhsjLbw&feature=related

VENEZUELA PUTS ‘SIMPSONS’ BACK ON TV
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7354356.stm

SGT. BURGESS’S FUNSY-WUNSY SEX SLAVE PARTY!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080418/ap_on_re_us/sheriff_sex_charges

INSULT ‘TURKISHNESS,’ GO TO JAIL
Why you. . .you. . .you. . .Turk!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,548114,00.html

HONEY, THERE’S A KNIFE IN YOUR BACK
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?in_article_id=143592&in_page_id=64

WHAT IS THAT ON AL PACINO’S HEAD?
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=143589&in_page_id=7

MORFORD HAS A NIGHTMARE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/04/18/notes041808.DTL
And just then I feel it, I am transported, lifted straight out of my body where I hover just above this bizarre scene, observing all, feeling light and free and I turn to look and oh my God there's Jesus himself, sitting right there, plopped in a cheap plastic lawn chair and wearing a Toto World Tour '91 T-shirt, sipping a Coors Light and munching on a platter of tiny microwave corn dogs dipped in a tub of Kraft liquid cheese, and just as he shoots me a huge dopey grin and a big thumbs up suddenly I'm falling, falling, and come crashing back into my body with a dull thud.

And on to news and comment. . .

BEN STEIN IS CRACKERS,
AND SO IS HIS MOVIE
http://www.reason.com/news/show/125988.html
Stein and the film's producers maintain that belief in evolutionary biology makes societies more likely to succumb to totalitarianism. The flick is replete with grim black-and-white shots of Soviet armies, Nazi thugs, Stalin, Hitler, and concentration camps.

Enviro Wacko
IWO JIMA VETERANS, WE LOVE YOU---
BUT YOU’RE FULL OF FERTILIZER ON THIS
Vets blast Time Mag’s (great) cover on global warming as a “mortal sin.”
http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080417171532.aspx


MONBIOT: FACE IT---WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE VEGETARIAN
http://www.alternet.org/environment/82628/
We eat less beef and more chicken than we did 30 years ago, which means a smaller total impact. Beef cattle eat about 8 kilograms of grain or meal for every kilogram of flesh they produce; a kilogram of chicken needs just 2 kilograms of feed. Even so, our consumption rate is plainly unsustainable.

Iraq and Roll
BUSH’S LEGACY: 320,000 SOLDIERS WITH BRAIN INJURIES
Mission Accomplished!
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/300_000_vets_have_mental_problem_32_04172008.html
SUICIDE BOMBS DOUBLED DURING “SURGE”
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Suicide_bombings_at_highest_numbers_in_0418.html

Israelity
CRAZED REPIGNICAN WANTS CARTER’S PASSPORT YANKED
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/04/18/carter_passport.html
Myrick also wants taxpayer funds to the Carter Center, which conducts humanitarian efforts worldwide, severed. "Why," the lawmaker asks, "should we support his center when he will not support his government?"
CARTER IS PERSONA NON GRATA TO ISRAEL GOV’T.
Bet a lot of Israeli citizens like Jimmy, though. . .
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42025

Electile Dysfunction
OBAMA IN BIG GUN CONTROL MESS
http://www2.nysun.com/article/74947
Mr. Obama's position on guns is drawing renewed scrutiny following Wednesday night's Democratic debate, when the Illinois senator said he never favored a handgun ban, even though a 1996 questionnaire in his name indicated he did. (Christ, what person in his right mind does not favor banning handguns?)
FIGHT HURTING CLINTON MORE THAN O-MAN
http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-gains
O-MAN: ABC NEWS PLAYED “GOTCHA” IN DEBATE
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Obama_says_debate_focused_on_gotcha_04172008.html
LINDORFF:
SMEARS, JEERS, AND THE DEBATE THAT WASN’T
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/134
Clinton and the Disney Channel (ABC is 100% owned by the Disney Corp.) attacked candidate Barack Obama with a vengeance in Wednesday evening’s “debate” in Philadelphia. It’s not clear whether the attack will have any impact on the crucial primary here next Tuesday, but it was clear that the Clintons, now desperate to win big and keep Hillary’s foundering campaign afloat, are ready to resort to McCarthyism, lies and cheap shots and whatever else they can come up with in an effort to crush Obama in Pennsylvania. It’s also clear that the corporate media, as exemplified by ABC’s hatchet men George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson, are going to go after Obama on the lamest of issues from now through November’s election if (as is looking increasingly likely) he wins the nomination.
WATCH: STEWART ON THE DEBATE
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/18/jon-stewart-eviscerates-abcs-hacktacular-debate/

Mashed Media
STEPHANOPOLOUS: I'M NOT DOING HANNITY’S BIDDING
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/04/stephanopoulos.html
Well, you might believe that, George, but you wrong, boy, you wrong. . .And you ain’t got no news background, nuther, pretty boy.
HANNITY: I GAVE GEORGE THE QUESTION
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/18/hannity-steph-question/

Homeland Insecurity
CLINTON’S DIRTY TRICK OVER ‘60’S RADICAL NON-ISSUE
http://www.alternet.org/election08/82703/
In her comments, Clinton created the clear impression that Ayers had either hailed the 9/11 attacks or used the 9/11 tragedy as a ghoulish opportunity to suggest that more bombings were desirable. But none of that is true. The offensive comment that Clinton and Stephanopoulos referred to was from an interview about a memoir that Ayers published earlier in 2001. The comment was included in a New York Times article that appeared in the newspaper's Sept. 11, 2001, edition.
LINDORFF: IN PRAISE OF BILL AYERS AND THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/135
In fact, it's important to remember that while three members of the Weather Underground died at their own hands because of a failed bomb they were constructing, no one else died at their hands. The group scrupulously worked to make sure that their attacks were on property, not people. It's also important to remember that they were targeting a government that was engaged in a criminal war against a peasant country half a world away, that had killed nearly two million Indochinese people, most of them civilians, and that was well on the way to pointlessly sending 58,000 American troops to their deaths.

Jesus H. Christ!
HEY, JEEZOS, KEEP YOUR SCRIPTURES OUT OF POLITICS
And this advice comes from someone who believes in your religion!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0418/p09s02-coop.html
That is not to say that Christians today shouldn't let their Christianity inform their political values and action. They should. But the Bible is not a political playbook. Christians, or adherents of any religion for that matter, should refrain from using holy text to fight politically over human concerns.

Tibet or not Tibet
JAPAN TEMPLE REJECTS OLYMPIC TORCH
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7353809.stm

Enviro Wacko
SF BAY RISING?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/17/MNM9107BIC.DTL
San Francisco Bay Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmVVxhYlp2Y
ARTIFICIAL SNOW HARMING THE ALPS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,548104,00.html

(Lack of) Health
MAGNETS GUIDE CANCER DRUGS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/18/cancer

Lost Angeles
COUNTY WORKERS WHITEWASH L.A. RIVER MURALS
http://www.laobserved.com/echopark/2008/04/vandals_at_the_river.php

And in more important matters. . .

INTERVIEW: TONY CURTIS
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2274258,00.html
At 82, Tony Curtis's mind is lively, his anecdotal talents as sharply honed as ever they were (he's always been the perfect chat-show guest), and he's good company indeed. But age will inevitably tithe its percentage from a man, and Curtis is now a little hard of hearing - I spy no hearing-aid, but find I have to repeat myself here and there, hence the nose-to-nose proximity. He had serious pneumonia a few months ago and is still recovering. The big surprise is that when he finally makes his entry, after I've had time to survey his living room, filled with his Derain-like paintings and mementos of a long life energetically lived, he shows up in a wheelchair.

Musique
Journeys in musical space
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080417/full/news.2008.758.html
Researchers map out the geometric structure of music.

For Art’s Sake
R.I.P. JOSEPH SOLMAN, MODERNIST PAINTER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/arts/design/18solman.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin
MYSTERY OF A LEAF
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/arts/design/17phot.html?em&ex=1208664000&en=ac406196a87c7700&ei=5087%0A

Light reading (so to speak)
WITH A DIFFERENT SUN, GREEN WOULD BE BLACK
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-color-of-plants-on-other-worlds&print=true

Film
INTERVIEW: ‘WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA?’ FILMMAKER
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731831,00.html
REVIEW: “WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA”
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731910,00.html

And in the end. . .
CASTRATO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv-S3uoeTXg

4/17
skylines:
Morning Concert
TEARS OF THE WORLD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj80iPqME_U
Lyrics: http://www.elyricsworld.com/tears_of_the_world_lyrics_george_harrison.html
SAVE THE WORLD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17rXeIGnr2Y
Lyrics: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/george_harrison/save_the_world.html
JUST FOR TODAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qe2ZjD7v6Y&feature=related
RISING SUN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1E5XPzBSBY&feature=related
BEWARE OF DARKNESS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p2hnmgYnhs
Lyrics: http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/b/bewareofdarkness.shtml
BRAINWASHED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ8pjXxNym4
BE HERE NOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNE79HTeJ1A

ALLIGATOR FOUND IN CAR
Not wearing a seat belt, either.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=143423&in_page_id=2

GO TO COLLEGE, GET DEGREE IN BED-SELLING
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7343027.stm

Lost Angeles
L.A. DEVELOPMENT RAPE THREATENS HOLLYWOOD SIGN
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/For_sale_Land_next_to_HOLLYWOOD_sig_04172008.html
 
COSTA RICA PARADISE DEVOURED BY DEVELOPERS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0417/p13s02-sten.html
In the past decade, construction of hotels, second homes, and condominiums has surged in coastal regions, taking advantage of a vacuum in planning and enforcement. The total land area that has been developed grew 600 percent in that time, according to a government report.

HUMANS RESPONSIBLE FOR OAK TREE EPIDEMIC IN CALIFORNIA
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/16/MN79106NJ9.DTL
Scientists also now think the killer organism, which they suspect rode in on nonnative nursery plants, eventually was carried by humans to the two ground zero zones.

And on to news and comment. . .

PIZZO: WHY I AM A BITTER MAN
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__080415_why_i_m_am_a_bitter_.htm

PLEASE  STOP EATING ANIMALS, FOLKS
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1731722,00.html
When an animal with untrimmed horns got stuck in a chute at a California cattle slaughterhouse, employees electrically prodded it repeatedly to get it to move, according to a congressional report on a case that led to the largest beef recall in U.S. history.

Good news!
WATCH: AGING PROCESS PROTEIN DISCOVERED---BUT. . .
(Or just drink 1,000 bottles of red wine per day)
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4547805
Bad news!
. . .PROBABLY DOESN’T MATTER---MELTING ARCTIC IS LEAKING METHANE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,547976,00.html

Electile Dysfunction
HANNITY FED STEPHANOPOULOS
‘WEATHER UNDERGROUND’ QUESTION!
Real objective guy you are, Georgie-Porgie
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/17/steph-hannity-audio/
ABC TAKES FLAK FOR ANTI-OBAMA SLANT IN DEBATE
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/17/abc_news_coming_under_criticism_for
Much of the debate’s first half had Senator Obama on the defensive. ABC News anchors Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos confronted Obama former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and his alleged ties to a former member of the ‘60s radical group the Weather Underground. Obama was even asked about the fact that he doesn’t wear an American flag on his lapel. Obama was also pressed about his recent comments that disenfranchised Americans have turned to guns and religion.
SHALES: CLEAR LOSER WAS ABC
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/17/AR2008041700013.html
MITCHELL: THE FLAG-PIN-AND-PATRIOTISM DEBATE
ABC Decides Top Issues Facing Americans Are Gaffes, Flag Pins and '60s Radicals
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003790556
TIME: TRIVIAL PURSUIT
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1731655,00.html
Last night at the National Constitution Center, at a Democratic debate that was hyped by ABC as a discussion of serious constitutional issues, America got to see exactly what Obama was complaining about. At a time of foreign wars, economic collapse and environmental peril, the cringe-worthy first half of the debate focused on such crucial matters as Senator Obama's comments about rural bitterness, his former pastor, an obscure sixties radical with whom he was allegedly "friendly," and the burning constitutional question of why he doesn't wear an American flag pin on his lapel — with a single detour into Senator Hillary Clinton's yarn about sniper fire in Tuzla. Apparently, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos ran out of time before they could ask Obama why he's such a lousy bowler.
THOMPSON: HILL’S SHILL DELIVERS IN DEBATE
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/6289
ABC news, if that comic exercise in political pandering can be called “news,” sent former Clinton boot-licker George Stephanopoulos in to shill for Hillary Clinton at Wednesday’s so-called Democratic Presidential debate and the result turned into a tabloid debacle that surpasses even the extremes of Fox News.
NYT: “CLINTON USES SHARP ATTACKS IN INTENSE DEBATE”
(Funny, The Rip Post found the O-man’s comments to be excellent, intelligent, and Clinton’s to be disingenuous, asinine.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/us/politics/17debate.html?hp

Analysis
O-MAN: VOTING RECORD MATCHES HIS RHETORIC
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0417/p01s07-uspo.html
Though critics may accuse him of inexperience, bipartisanship – and a hawk's eye for common ground – is one area where his record matches his rhetoric.

Israelity
O-MAN SELLS OUT CARTER, PANDERS TO NEOCONS
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Obama_reassures_Jewish_leaders_on_H_04162008.html
ISRAEL WIPES OUT REUTERS CAMERAMAN
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003790514
Watch: Cameraman’s final footage
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3764160.ece
ISRAEL WIPES OUT KIDS ON BIKES, INNOCENTS IN GAZA
Uses ruse of “terrorists using civilians as shields,” as usual
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/17/wgaza117.xml
NETANYAHU SAYS 9/11 WAS GOOD FOR ISRAEL
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/975574.html

COHEN: WHY HAS THE USA OPENED HOLOCAUST MUSEUM---
BUT NOTHING DEDICATED TO SLAVERY AND SEGREGATION? HMM?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,547937,00.html
Let’s be clear: I am not comparing Jim Crow with industrialized mass murder, or suggesting an exact Klan-Nazi moral equivalency. But I do think some psychological displacement is at work when a magnificent Holocaust Memorial Museum, in which the criminals are not Americans, precedes a Washington institution of equivalent stature dedicated to the saga of national violence that is slavery and segregation.

People’s Repugnic
CRAZED CHINESE NATIONALISTS IN USA
BRAND CHINESE-AMERICAN TRAITOR
Her crime: she tried to get pro and anti-Tibet student factions to talk.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/17/america/student.php
The next day, a photo appeared on an Internet forum for Chinese students with a photo of Wang and the words "traitor to your country" emblazoned in Chinese across her forehead. Wang's Chinese name, identification number and contact information were posted, along with directions to her parents' apartment in Qingdao, a Chinese port city.
CHINA BLOGS FULL OF BRAINWASHED ANTI-WEST RANT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7347821.stm
OLYMPIC TORCH PROTESTS IN INDIA
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/17/olympicgames2008.india

The Torture Never Stops
BUSH OKAYED TORTURE, SO WHY IS STORY BEING IGNORED?
http://www.alternet.org/rights/82483/
We now have confirmation that the President of the United States gave the OK to torture. Where is the media? Where are the Democrats?
WATCH: LYING BITCH CONDI MUST GO
(Before McCain grabs her as veep choice.)
http://www.metro.co.uk/media/viral.html?in_page_id=6&in_mediaext_item_id=142963

Commentary of the week
WWZD?
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/6267

HIRSCHHORN: THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN AMERICA
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19752.htm

SCHEER: AMERICA SLEEPS WHILE CORPORATIONS PLAY
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19754.htm
There is no national outrage, or even seriously sustained media interest, over the fact that Cheney's old company profited enormously from ripping off US tax dollars going into the Iraq occupation. Nor is there even much curiosity about the shenanigans of Halliburton, which is doing business with Arab oil sheiks at a time when the US banks these Middle Eastern oil interests bought into are moving to foreclose on American homeowners.

Iraq and Roll
MOURNERS ATTEND FUNERAL, 45 GET BLOWN UP
(Convenient!)
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/45_killed_in_Iraq_suicide_bombing_04172008.html

(Lack of) Health
BIRD FLU SPREADING FAST IN S. KOREA
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/S_Korea_culls_3_mln_birds_as_bird_f_04162008.html
AMERICA CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT HEAD MEDS
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/82455/

Science
BIG BRAINS PROTECT AGAINST MEMORY LOSS
Most Americans in trouble
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415154223.htm
GALAXY GHOSTS!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415160358.htm

Enviro Wacko
AS AUSTRALIA DRIES, GLOBAL SHORTAGE OF RICE
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/17/business/17warm.php
THE NOT-SO-FERTILE CRESCENT
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,547763,00.html
The Middle East's famous Fertile Crescent was the birthplace of agriculture, the first settlements and civilization. But a new study shows that climate change will dry up the area's rivers and destroy its agriculture -- with devasting effects for the region.

Obit
EDWARD N. LORENZ, A FATHER OF CHAOS THEORY
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/us/17lorenz.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

Oh, by the way. . .
WHAT TO DO WITH HITLER’S SUBMARINE BUNKER?
Blow it up. . .
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,547820,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

We are not making this stuff up
PUNJAB DANCE PARTIES SWEEP SF
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/17/NSLN103BNK.DTL

EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT OCTOPUS SEX
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/16/BAGF1060FF.DTL

Musique
GRAMAPHONE MAG EDITOR’S TOP NEW RELEASE PICKS
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/listPage.jsp?list_id=1141&page_size=100

HOTELS, CONSIDERED
http://www.reason.com/news/show/124982.html
In contrast to the humble taverns they replaced, early hotels were sweeping architectural statements. As plans for the country’s first hotel were revealed in 1793, one journalist declared that D.C.’s Union Public House would be “the most magnificent building in America, perhaps in any other country.”
Amazing Hotel of the Day
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/apr/17/morocco.hotels

Books
DARWIN’S FIRST DRAFT GOES ON-LINE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/7351980.stm

For Art’s Sake
FATHER OF CHINESE PAINTING
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/11/arts/jessop.php

Film review
JACKIE CHAN IN ‘FORBIDDEN KINGDOM’
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=434049

And in the end. . .
RARE MADONNA VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5LS0ALFA8s

4/16
Morning Concert
A SCOTTISH SOLDIER---ANDY STEWART
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sAitY3y9mY&feature=related
GREEN HILLS OF TYROL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMgH0c3iKmo&feature=related
THE MUCKIN’ O’ GEORDIE’S BYRE---ANDY STEWART
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XgMxKP_Jcs&feature=related
Lyrics: http://texasian.blogspot.com/2006/10/muckin-o-geordies-byre.html
LINTON PLOUGHMAN JIG---JIMMY SHAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kISZ3vGJ2AA&feature=related
AUCHTERMUNCHTY---JIMMY SHAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIG9evq2RqM&feature=related
I HEART JIMMY SHAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOf4i2Sl5W4&feature=related
DON’T SIT ON MY JIMMY SHANDS---RICHARD THOMPSON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXDqaMNL-h0
A RED, RED ROSE---Andy M. Stewart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBCQMWMbeMU

DYLAN’S ‘FOREVER YOUNG’ TO BE CHILDREN’S BOOK
Reviewer calls it “banal poem.” Now that’s cynicism.
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2273897,00.html
Joan Baez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=favgoOn-U1I

OH, GREAT: VITAMINS WILL KILL YOU
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/16/medicalresearch
In 47 trials with 180,938 people and a low risk of bias, the "antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality", the authors wrote. When the antioxidants were assessed separately and low risk of bias trials were included and selenium excluded, vitamin A was linked to a 16% increased risk of dying, beta-carotene to a 7% increased risk and vitamin E to a 4% increased risk.

MEN, YOU’RE THROUGH!
Women now have no need for you whatsoever
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/415/2?etoc

FRENCH ANGRY OVER SONG WITH ENGLISH WORDS
The French, they are a funny race. . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7350193.stm

CRUISE PAL ABANDONS SCIENTOLOGY
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=143264&in_page_id=7

SLIDE SHOW: BRITISH TEARS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2008/apr/16/britishtears?picture=333553397

And on to news and comment. . .

We are not making this stuff up!
BRIGITTE BARDOT PROSECUTED FOR ‘MALIGNING’ ISLAM
Guess they don’t have free speech in France
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1731098,00.html
The current charge against Bardot was lodged by the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP), citing a letter Bardot wrote to French officials in 2004 in which she alluded to Muslims as "this population that leads us around by the nose, [and] which destroys our country." (That sounds about right.)

People’s Repugnic
COWARDLY CNN APOLOGIZES TO CHINA
Even though Chinese leaders actually are “goons and thugs”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article3756437.ece
CHINA CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF FRANCE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,547508,00.html
CHINA NOW #1 CARBON POLLUTER, USA # 2
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/China_surpasses_US_as_top_carbon_po_04152008.html
PRAVDA: USA USING OLYMPICS TO CAST CHINA AS EVIL
(You don’t need the Olympics to do that)
http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/14-04-2008/104877-olympics_china-0
CHINA BUYS $2 BILLION IN BP
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/15/bp.sovereignwealthfunds


FOUNDER OF BET: FERRARO WAS RIGHT
"Obama is where he is because he’s black"
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/clinton-surroga.html

SEX ABUSE VICTIMS NOT SATISIFED WITH POPE’S “SHAME”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/us/nationalspecial2/16victim.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Iraq and Roll
QUEEN CONDI: I’M ‘OFFENDED’ BY DIPLOMATS WHO WON’T WORK IN IRAQ
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/15/rice-diplomats-iraq/
INDONESIAN WORKERS TRICKED INTO GOING TO IRAQ
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7347861.stm
Darmianti said that dozens of Indonesians had been sent to Iraq as migrant workers by the same agency. One of them told Darmianti she had seen her employer shot in the head by a stray bullet as they walked along the street.

Your Corporatocracy at work!
INTERVIEW: THE HIDDEN BATTLE FOR THE WORLD’S FOOD SYSTEM
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/8/stuffed_and_starved_as_food_riots

All-Melty Dollar
BRITISH HOUSING RATES PLUNGE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/apr/15/houseprices.housingmarket

Amerryguns
A YEAR AFTER VA. TECH, NO CHANGE IN GUN LAWS
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1731195,00.html

Electile Dysfunction
INSANE, ASININE, CRAZED COMMENTARY OF THE WEEK!
You read stuff like this, and you wish the Internet would go back to hell.
http://www.rense.com/general81/slip.htm
JOHN MCCAIN IS. . .
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/04/cartoon_john_mccain_is_eraserhead.html
MCCAIN: ‘MAYBE I’M DIGGING FOR THE PONY’ IN IRAQ
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/15/mccain-digging-for-pony/
DIG A PONY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4wc8Fq7Beu
MCCAIN’S GASSY ECONOMY PRATTLE
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/4/15/103137/456

DOWD ON O-MAN’S “ELITISM”
(She’s as nutty as the rest of ‘em)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,547732,00.html
His mother got her Ph.D. in anthropology, studying the culture of Indonesia. And as Obama has courted white, blue-collar voters in “Deer Hunter” and “Rocky” country, he has often appeared to be observing the odd habits of the colorful locals, resisting as the natives try to fatten him up like a foie gras goose, sampling Pennsylvania beer in a sports bar with his tie tight, awkwardly accepting bowling shoes as a gift from Bob Casey, examining the cheese and salami at the Italian Market here as intriguing ethnic artifacts, purchasing Utz Cheese Balls at a ShopRite in East Norriton and quizzing the women working in a chocolate factory about whether they could possibly really like the sugary doodads.

LINDORFF: NOTES FROM ‘BITTER AND FRUSTRATED’ HEARTLAND
Read what Pennsylvanians are saying about (true) Obama remarks
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/133

LISTEN: Kevin Phillips on the state of the economy
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89642189&sc=emaf

(Lack of) Health
APPENDIX REMOVED THROUGH MOUTH
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=143272&in_page_id=34
VIOXX MAKER DELIBERATELY DISTORTED DATA
Charge Merck CEO with murder, we say
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041502086_pf.html
INCREDIBLE! LADIES TURN TO ‘THE DIARHHEA DIET’
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/82347/
LOST WITHOUT THEIR HEAD MEDS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/health/15mind.html?em&ex=1208491200&en=39cdae9c5f69a415&ei=5087%0A
FINALLY, A BETTER HEARING AID
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/health/15well.html?em&ex=1208491200&en=10e80c94f46cc56d&ei=5087%0A
“I’ve grown up on medication,” my patient Julie told me recently. “I don’t have a sense of who I really am without it.”
GET ERECTION, EARS GO FLACCID
http://www.naturalnews.com/023008.html

Mashed Media
GOODMAN: KATIE COURIC, HANG IT UP!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/16/DD9P105OE3.DTL
And at this moment, you're that Grateful Dead fan out in front of the stadium.You need a miracle. In fairness, the Grateful Dead don't really play much anymore, so that's a bad metaphor. But people don't really watch the "CBS Evening News" much anymore, either. At least not since you started anchoring.
MODESTO BEE OFFERS BUYOUTS TO QUARTER OF ITS STAFF
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003789769

Enviro Wacko
EU TO ABANDON BIOFUELS?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,547609,00.html
CALIF. COMMUNITIES EMPOWERING SELVES, LITERALLY
Fighting PG&E with solar, wind alternatives
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/16/MN1K105A81.DTL

Animals in the news!
THE ‘CONSERVATION REFUGEES’ OF INDIA
Thousands being “displaced” to protect animal habitats (good idea!)
http://www.guernicamag.com/features/556/post_1/
FREE THE DINGOES, CAGE THE HUMANS (good idea!)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1730723,00.html
THE CHICKEN PROTECTOR OF BRITAIN
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=143264&in_page_id=7

Oh, by the way. . .
ANOTHER EXILED PM COMES HOME TO PAKISTAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/16/Pakistan
THE BASKETBALL-PLAYING WOMEN OF SAUDI ARABIA
(Note Monitor’s incorrect use of “flaunt” in headline)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0416/p04s01-wome.html

And in more important matters. . .

R.I.P. THE GREAT OLLIE JOHNSTON
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gQEVsnYz7DkzKQBtLPySm4JKqNEgD902IKT81
FRANKANOLLIE.COM
http://frankanollie.com/OurWork.html

Books
FICTION GETS MORE AND MORE OUTLANDISH
Tougher the times, crazier the escape
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/12/bochadbourn.xml
The genre went from strength to strength, but today we're in the middle of an unprecedented fantasy boom. Sales continue to rise year on year and it is now the biggest genre in publishing, dwarfing its former powerhouse cousin, science fiction, and the once-ubiquitous romance. The more rational the world gets, with super-science all around us, the more we demand the irrational in our fiction.

Musique
WHY SHE DOESN’T LIKE BRAHMS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/21/AR2008012102394.html

Light Reading
OPRAH, EXAMINED
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=15d21968-03ba-437e-a5fd-f2712b592b21

And in the end. . .
DEFINITION OF TIME AND SPACE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY_Ry8J_jdw

4/15
SPECIAL PIGGIE EDITION!
Morning Concert
PIGGIES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEQeRLT1HNQ
THE PIG SONG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pWVdduxygQ
GOODBYE PORKPIE HAT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXcRFAJDF0c
POLK SALAD ANNIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRF24LY5pvw

NO POK AT ALL!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdguyMJprsA

MAN EATS VOTE
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL1313250820080414

MONROE FILM TO STAY PRIVATE
Fat chance
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2273741,00.html

THE SCUNTHORPE PROBLEM
And Penistone, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_Problem

WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE,
MADAME PRIME MINISTER
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,30649,00.html

MUST WATCH: THE THREE TRILLION DOLLAR SHOPPING SPREE!
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/15/how-would-you-spend-3-trillion/

NO POK AT ALL---ILLUSTRATED VERSION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sePwvIyzMp4&feature=related

And on to news and comment. . .

THOUSANDS OF U.S. STORES GO BANKRUPT
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/business/15retail.html?partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
FOOD COSTS RISING FASTEST IN 17 YEARS
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080414/inflation_squeeze.html?.v=4
RECESSION? PIGS STILL IN CLOVER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/nyregion/14partying.html?ex=1208836800&en=b3811c8bd072ac7f&ei=5070&emc=eta1
And, in a related story. . .
KUWAIT POSTS RECORD $72 BILLION INCOME
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=25403

WHITNEY: U.S. FINANCIAL COLLAPSE WILL END IRAQ FOLLY
http://www.rense.com/general81/dhhe.htm
The Iraq War signals the end of US interventionism for at least a generation; maybe longer. The ideological foundation for the war (preemption/regime change) has been exposed as a baseless justification for unprovoked aggression. Someone will have to be held accountable. There will have to be international tribunals to determine who is responsible in the deaths of over one million Iraqis.

70 PERCENT REJECT BUSH
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402842.html

We are not making this stuff up
OTTAWA WILL PAY PORK PRODUCERS $50 MILLION TO MURDER 150,000 PIGS
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iSMncueqK8aXsX56BCX6dCvkw82Q

PORKY AT THE CROCADERO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdvOw5TRicE

NADER: PRESS FIDDLES AROUND WHILE USA BURNS
http://nader.org/index.php?/archives/1269-Substance-Not-Sound-Bytes.html
On the Sunday talk shows, it is the same couple dozen members of the opinion oligopoly. There is Bill Kristol bringing home the neocon bacon with dreary frequency. There is the James Carville/Mary Matalin spouse show featuring their squabbling over ideology. Meanwhile the daily struggle of the American people, absorbing the results of the power abuses by the rich, powerful and corporate, continues outside this inbred force field of insipid coverage and commentary.

HEROIC JEWISH LIBERALS LAUNCH COUNTER TO AIPAC
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402647.html
Some of the country's most prominent Jewish liberals are forming a political action committee and lobbying group aimed at dislodging what they consider the excessive hold of neoconservatives and evangelical Christians on U.S. policy toward Israel.

Enviro Wacko
OH, GOOD---LET’S PUT TREES IN THE GAS TANK
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,547312,00.html

PORK AND COKE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2eEw26J0z8&feature=related

People’s Repugnic
CNN ANCHOR: CHINA RUN BY “GOONS,” PRODUCTS ARE JUNK
And China demands an apology
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/China_demands_CNN_apology_for_goons_04152008.html
DALAI LAMA U.S. VISIT WILL STIR UP ANTI-CHINA FEELINGS
Good!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0415/p99s01-duts.html
EUROPE: CHINA BIGGEST THREAT TO GLOBAL SECURITY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,547492,00.html
FDA TO OPEN CHINA OFFICE!
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1730931,00.html
BEIJING TRIES TO SHUT OF SMOG FOR OLYMPICS
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1730918,00.html
The government has ordered work stoppages at construction sites, chemical plants, cement manufacturers and mines by July 20. Beijing Eastern Petrochemical will suspend production until September. The city will also ban spray painting and crack down on printing, furniture production and motor vehicle repair outlets that don’t meet city standards.
MMM-MMM! HOW ‘BOUT SOME NICE PESTICIDE-FLAVORED CHINESE TEA!
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/15/asia/tea.php
They complain about its hard edges - too bitter - and the chemicals that are regularly sprayed to keep away bugs, viruses and fungus."The pesticides come through in the taste," Yao said.

World gone mad
OHIO COLLEGE STUDENTS TO CARRY GUNS?
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/15880186/detail.html

PORK CHOP MAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwWln354-YA

Mashed Media
OLBERMANN BEATS O’ REILLY
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/04/tv_news_10_most_powerful.php 
THE PLAGIARISM CASE AGAINST ALAN DERSHOWITZ
http://www.counterpunch.com/menetrez02122008.html

PORK AND COKE 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X7rf21dB68&feature=related

Electile Dysfunction
LITTLE JOEY LIEBERMAN ECHOES KRISTOL, CALLS OBAMA A COMMIE
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/14/lieberman-its-a-good-question-to-ask-if-obama-is-a-marxist/
DUMBASS REPUG REP CALLS OBAMA “BOY”
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_hits_back_at_inexperience_charge_0414.html
CROWD BOOS AS BILLARY ATTACKS O-MAN
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Audience_responds_as_Clinton_critical_of_0414.html
NOW BILLARY IS OVERHYPING HER ROLE IN IRISH PEACE ACCORD
Historian: "She just was not there.”
http://www.alternet.org/election08/82337/

Enviro Wacko
SF TO BE SPRAYED WITH POISON
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/15/BA6I105DG1.DTL

PORKY PIG IMPRESSION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzqPjUpETaQ&feature=related

God isn’t good
BABY WITH TWO FACES WORSHIPPED AS HINDU GOD
Well, at least the poor creature will get lots of attention
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/02/windia102.xml

Science
TESTOSTERONE FUELS DERANGED STOCK TRADING
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/15/medicalresearch.gender

Spaced out
SOLAR ‘BELCHES’ RIP TAIL OFF COMET
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7348064.stm

Religion
THE FLESH OF SWINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtmD2UHn8L8

Obit
WIDOW OF GENE TUNNEY DIES AT 100
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/sports/othersports/15tunney.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

Oh, by the way. . .
EGYPT JAILS 25 ISLAMISTS FOR 10 YEARS
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=25404
BUSH TALKS PORK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww1ap7sgrYs

And in more important matters. . .

DOG EATS PORK (Chicken watches)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ5Ql6G5T9k

Musique
WAGNER HALF-SISTERS TO RUN BAYREUTH
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/04/wagners_war_over_the_future_of.html
DYLAN FANS NOT HAPPY WITH BOB’S PULITZER
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/14/arts/dylan.php
If you were apprehensive, you were in the good company of Dylan aficionados still grappling with the trickster mystique of the 66-year-old singer-songwriter who see the Pulitzer as another chapter in his complicated history with the establishment, an ongoing dance of distancings and détentes.

Light reading
ELEVATING EXPERIENCES
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_paumgarten?currentPage=all
Before long, an elevator-maintenance team arrived and, over the intercom, coached him through a set of maneuvers with the buttons. White asked what day it was, and, when they told him it was Sunday at 4 P.M., he was shocked. He had been trapped for forty-one hours.

(Lack of) Health
IF YOU EVER EAT A PIG AGAIN, YOU’RE NUTS
http://www.animalsvoice.com/PAGES/writes/editorial/investigations/farmed/tyler_getting_away1.html

And in the end. . .
PORKY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI4otTziYjk&feature=related
 

4/7 skylines
Morning Concert
ARTHUR BROWN---FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOErZuzZpS8&feature=related
JOHNNY CASH---RING OF FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlj5vjp3Ko
DOORS---LIGHT MY FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baLDbZds_4k
OHIO PLAYERS---FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF25KEloF5g
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE---SLEEP NOW IN THE FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz8wU9DdbqU
JERRY LEE---GREAT BALLS OF FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQMYtUB2Y_k
KORIKKI---NIGHT OF FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1o1LgGlV88
EWF---SERPENTINE FIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_NnxHfQxe0
WAGNER---MAGIC FIRE MUSIC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzJ73Dp7Sx4&feature=related

LLAMA MATES WITH CAMEL, PRODUCES ‘CAMA’
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=136134&in_page_id=34

COUNT THE CROOKS!
REPUBLICANOFFENDERS.COM
http://www.republicanoffenders.com/

PAVAROTTI MIMED AT LAST PERFORMANCE
http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/story/0,,2271470,00.html

PARALLEL SOLAR SYSTEM FOUND
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7333155.stm

COUPLE SUES GOOGLE FOR INVASION OF PRIVACY
Good idea!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/04/financial/f131545D52.DTL

SLIDE SHOW: IDIOTIC INVENTIONS
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,30332,00.html

And on to news and comment. . .

OLYMPIC TORCH EXTINGUISHED BY PARIS PROTESTERS
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?in_article_id=136574&in_page_id=64

OLYMPICS HEAD CALLS FOR TIBET RESOLUTION
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7333955.stm

CHINA DENOUNCES “DISGUSTING”
OLYMPIC TORCH DEMONSTRATIONS
Boycott the Olympics. . .Boycott China. . .
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,545807,00.html

WILL OLYMPIC TORCH BURN CHINA?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1728274,00.html
COHEN: PASSAGE TO TIBET
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/06/opinion/edcohen.php
If a Tibetan monk grabs the Olympic torch in San Francisco this week and immolates himself, nobody should be astonished. And if the 19th anniversary on June 4 of the Tiananmen Square crackdown passes quietly, everyone should be surprised.

PEOPLE’S REPUGNIC:
LAND OF BUILDING CRANES
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/arts/2008/04/05/babeijing105.xml
Cranes have long been considered sacred in China, cherished by Buddhists, Taoists and the Manchu: black-necked, sandhill, red-crowned. Now a different type of crane dominates Beijing's skyline: Positech, Manitowoc, Pegasus.More than half of the world's construction cranes are presently in China. I can count 34 of them from the windows of my apartment alone.
THE RICHEST REDS IN CHINA
Look at these houses (that all look like ticky-tack)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1728126,00.html
Welcome to the Chinese countryside — or, at least, to its richest village. Located in rural Jiangsu province about 85 miles up a dusty highway from Shanghai, Huaxi's 60,000 residents earn a per capita income seven times the national average. They have health insurance, pensions and two-car garages. And soon, also, a chance to live in one of the world's tallest buildings.

Armageddon outta here
TELEVANGELIST HAGEE GIVES ISRAEL---LIKUD, THAT IS---$6 MILLION
The craziest Jesus Boy in the USA
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/US_evangelist_gives_6_million_to_Is_04062008.html

Electile Dysfunction
BILLARY CRASHING AND BURNING---PENN DISMISSED
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/us/politics/07hillary.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
BILLARY HAS WEIRD NEW SPIN ON IRAQ OPPOSITION
Obama’s opposition shouldn’t count, she says, until he joined the senate in 2005
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/in-oregon-clint.html

Your Corporatocracy at work!
WHAT DID BILL CLINTON DO TO GET $15 MILLION FROM RON BURKLE?
(Not much!)
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/81436/

RICH ON MCCAIN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/opinion/06rich.html?em&ex=1207713600&en=69a497cbcb9b0a43&ei=5087%0A
Everything else Mr. McCain has to say about Iraq is more troubling, and I don’t mean just his recent serial gaffe conflating Shiite Iran and Sunni Qaeda. The sum total of his public record suggests that he could well prolong the war for another century — not because he’s the crazed militarist portrayed by Democrats, but through sheer inertia, bad judgment and blundering.

World gone mad
ANTI-MUSLIM FILM DRAWS MASSIVE PROTESTS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,545802,00.html
INDIAN-GERMAN FAMILY FLEES. . .GERMANS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,545492,00.html
Insulted, spat at and attacked -- by ordinary Germans. Unable to bear the daily racism, a pastor's family fled from a small town in eastern Germany back to the their former home in the west.
MADONNA TO ADOPT INDIAN GIRL
I’ll have one of those, and one of those, and one of those. . .
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=136393&in_page_id=7

Mashed Media
TIME’S FIRST ANNUAL BLOG INDEX
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1725323_1725329,00.html
BLOGGING CAN KILL YOU
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
MOVIE CLIP ABOUT BLOGGING MADNESS
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/06/open-thread-771/

Enviro Wacko
GOOD GOD: TREE-HUGGERS VS. ENVIROS?
One neighbor plants trees, the other solar panels---it all winds up in court
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/07/healthscience/07redwood.php
TURN YOUR ASPHALT SPACE INTO A GARDEN!
http://www.alternet.org/environment/80579/

(Lack of) Health
WOMAN DEPRESSED FOR 20 YEARS
(The Rip Post has her beat)
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/wellbeing/story/0,,2271525,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF METEORS
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080406114742.htm
"These meteorites were bringing in what I call the 'seeds of chirality,'" stated Breslow. "If you have a universe that was just the mirror image of the one we know about, then in fact, presumably it would have right-handed amino acids. That's why I'm only half kidding when I say there is a guy on the other side of the universe with his heart on the right hand side."

JOE BAGAENT: THE AUDACITY OF DEPRESSION---or---
THE NEW DARK AGE IN THE USA
http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2008/04/the-audacity-of.html
One of the best things about the hundred or so book festivals in America is that, with luck, a writer can manage to get drunk with some of his or her readers. And with more luck, the readers pick up the tab. Bear in mind that 90% of all real writers, people for whom writing is their sole income, spend much of their time counting their change in the rest room of the hotels where they are being put up while on tour. Believe me, there are better rackets than writing.

Musique
L.A. OPENS ‘FESTIVAL OF NEW AMERICAN MUSICALS’
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0404/p12s01-almp.html
CROWD BOOS, WALKS OUT ON LAURIE ANDERSON
http://music.guardian.co.uk/electronic/story/0,,2271495,00.html
“Take the way George Bush recently retold his Iraq story about the evil dictator and weapons of mass destruction. It went over just fine because it really doesn't seem to matter whether it's a true story. It matters whether it's a good story, with evil people and a plot.”

For Art’s Sake
THE ENIGMATIC EDO PERIOD IN JAPANESE ART
What gave rise to sudden moments of imagination?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/04/arts/melik5.php

Hey, Be-attle!
PAUL WRITES REMEMBERANCE OF LINDA
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3666255.ece
And his daughter’s tribute
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/photography/story/0,,2270547,00.html

New “Dr. Who” sidekick “not that bad”
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/article.html?in_article_id=136391&in_page_id=9

Is the food still Italian if the chef is not?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/07/europe/07food.php

And in the end. . .
TEASERAMA!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UqDT5VRLv4A&feature=related

4/4 skylines
Morning Concert
WATERMELON IN EASTER HAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBQPkLuwy80&feature=related
DEBUSSY, ARABESQUE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDfLZSWlKI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY9XFQxqx34
YES, THAT CANON IN D
Played slowly, for once
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Af372EQLck
BROKEDOWN PALACE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKD078kM3I

PEACE SIGN TURNS 50
but no signs of peace
http://www.happybirthdaypeace.com/

TOP TEN TV CATS!
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2008/04/take_ten_tv_cats.html

HO HO HO. . .BILLARY JOKES WITH LENO ABOUT SNIPER FIRE
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Clinton_jokes_about_sniper_fire_on_0404.html

FORECLOSURES TRIPLE---um, in Barstow
Why would anyone have bought a home there anyhow?
http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/barstow_2986___article.html/foreclosures_triple.html

And on to news and comment. . .

MORFORD FALLS FOR OBAMA
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/04/04/notes040408.DTL
Nope, it's not what you might think. The best thing about Barack Obama has almost nothing to do with him as a person or as a leader or even as Oh My God The First Black President Who Could Really Change Everything I Mean Wow.

GINA NAHAI: UNPERSUADED BY THE O-MAN
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=19178
I don't think Obama is a bigot or malicious. I think he's someone who's risen too high too fast, on the merit of some exceptional oratorical skills and some natural charm and charisma, at a time when this nation is hard-pressed to find a person in whom it can put its faith. I think he hasn't even had a chance to examine his own loyalties and politics enough to know where he has stood up to now and how he can reconcile his "base" -- the Louis Farrakhans and the Rev. Wrights of the world -- with his new, much wider constituency. So instead of explaining why he belongs to a church that gave Farrakhan a lifetime achievement award, he talks about his white grandmother and black adopted uncle and manages to get away with it because the media and the general population in this country are just too smitten with the idea of a savior to demand real answers.

KELLOGG, BROWN, AND RAPE
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080421/houppert

GEN. ODOM: GET OUT OF IRAQ NOW
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19671.htm
Naysayers insist that our withdrawal will create regional instability. This confuses cause with effect. Our forces in Iraq and our threat to change Iran’s regime are making the region unstable. Those who link instability with a US withdrawal have it exactly backwards. Our ostrich strategy of keeping our heads buried in the sands of Iraq has done nothing but advance our enemies’ interest.

THERE’S A NEW SHARIF IN TOWN
Meet Abu Yahya al-Libi, the new Al-Qaeda boogieman
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/03/asia/qaeda.php

FABUOUSLY WEALTHY CLINTONS’ MURKY TAX RETURNS
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/ABC_investigates_Clinton_income_offshore_accounts_0403.html

The Torture Never Stops
INSIDE GITMO WITH DETAINEE 061
http://www.alternet.org/rights/80859/
The Pentagon knew that Murat Kurnaz was an innocent man at Guantánamo Bay, but they kept him there for five years anyway. This is his story.

Poll: 81 Percent Think US on Wrong Track
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gNpUhHI3vSmaLFR-Xli0AsbnuSlwD8VQSSD80

KRUGMAN: VOODOO HEALTH ECONOMICS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/opinion/04krugman.html?em&ex=1207454400&en=af86cd2cf2a089b4&ei=5087%0A
Elizabeth Edwards has cancer. John McCain has had cancer in the past. Last weekend, Mrs. Edwards bluntly pointed out that neither of them would be able to get insurance under Mr. McCain’s health care plan.

Electile Dysfunction
SHRUM: HILLARY SHOULD STAY IN
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,545356,00.html
MCCAIN PROUD OF DEBAUCHED YOUTH
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1727868,00.html
MCCAIN HOLDS BACK MED RECORDS---AGAIN
Who needs records? Look at him.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_delays_releasing_medical_records_again_0404.html
MCCAIN REJECTS SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040303774.html?hpid=topnews


NEW TIBET RIOTING BREAKS OUT IN CHINA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7330827.stm

KRISTOF: CHINA AND USA’S TANGLED ROMANCE
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/03/opinion/edkristof.php
America and China get on each other's nerves partly because they are so similar. Both are big, self-absorbed, and insular nations; both are entrepreneurial overachievers; both are infused with nationalism and yet tread clumsily on the nationalism of others - whether in Vietnam or Iraq, or Tibet and the Muslim region of Xinjiang.

Israelity
RABBI: LIFE OF ONE JEW WORTH 1000 ARABS
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3527410,00.html

Oh, by the way. . .
IRAQ VET STARTS RELIEF ORG TO HELP BAGHDAD ORPHANS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0404/p01s01-ussc.html
WILL TRADITIONAL FARMERS SAVE POLAND’S FARMING?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/03/europe/poland.php
He keeps his livestock in a straw-floored "barn" that is part of his house, entered through a kitchen door. He slaughters his own pigs. His wife milks cows by hand. He rejects genetically modified seeds. Instead of spraying his crops, he turns his fields in winter, preferring a workhorse to a tractor, to let the frost kill off pests residing there. While traditional farms like his could be dismissed as a nostalgic throwback, they are also increasingly seen as the future - if only they can survive.

And in more important matters. . .

FRENCH IN UPROAR OVER THE SEMICOLON
(Really)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/04/france.britishidentity

Books
WRITER GETS RICH---BY TURNING TO PORN
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/dirty-sexy-money-the-writer-rupert-smith-on-his-lucrative-pornlit-sideline-801572.html
A few years ago, I was complaining to a fellow writer about my inability to find a publisher for my second novel. It was a fairly typical outpouring of frustration and incomprehension at the state of British publishing. "Have you ever thought of writing porn?" he asked. "It's easy to get published, and you sell a lot of books." Erotic fiction has a purpose, and it's not a very highbrow one. James Lear's novels are designed specifically as aids to masturbation: two good orgasms per chapter for younger readers, one for the over forties. Each encounter gives the reader a variation on the theme, keeping the interest fresh. The plot exists to carry the reader from one orgasm to the next.
THE VALUE OF ROGET
http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/bauerlein/the-value-of-roget?utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

WATCH: TEN QUESTIONS WITH HELEN MIRREN
http://www.time.com/time/video/?bcpid=1214055407&bclid=1342094282&bctid=1485802979

BROOKER WINS BACK ‘PALE’ RIGHTS
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2271072,00.html

For Art’s Sake
DISPUTE RAGES OVER ART LOOTED BY NAZIS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,545392,00.html
The dispute over a number of works of art in Vienna's Leopold collection that were stolen by the Nazis reveals the extent to which art institutions are trying to avoid returning looted art. Many museums and private collectors continue to hold onto cultural assets that were confiscated from their Jewish owners after 1933.
LEAD THIEVES DESTROYING CHURCHES OF ENGLAND
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/03/business/metal.php

And in the end. . .
GREAT STAND-UP COMEDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkDQhhQo1hg&feature=related
LATINO CINEMA CLASSIC OF THE WEEK!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zg0QAOxQNI

4/3 skylines
Morning Concert
TOM WAITS
Kentucky Avenue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvZK8Wl7RQ8
On the Nickel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdL-fOFNVFs&feature=related
Never Let Go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea8qsGDNZ6Q
Take it With Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oGVDLcpXQ8
Soldier’s Things
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwg3y_FnLmg

CLOONEY ROBBED BY KIDS WITH MACHINE GUNS
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=133494&in_page_id=7

‘BOND’ ACTOR DIVES OUT OF WAY OF CRAZED CHILEAN MAYOR’S CAR
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=132674&in_page_id=7

Jacko moves to Britain
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=132695&in_page_id=7

He stole the wrong cable
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,545107,00.html

Man jumps on croc’s back, saves wife’s life
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7327984.stm

Motel manager asks for quiet, is brutally beaten
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/03/BA8QVV19L.DTL

Don’t tase me, bro
KANSAS MAN TASERED, DIES
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/03/ks-man-dies-after-being-tased-at-goodyear-plant

BUSH MISTAKES GLUE STICK FOR CHAPSTICK
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/04/cartoon_bush_glue_stick.html

And on to news and comment. . .

People’s Repugnic
CHINA ACTIVIST JAILED FOR WRITING ESSAYS
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/03/asia/china.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/03/china
CHINA SPY ‘SLEPT’ IN U.S. FOR 20 YEARS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/02/AR2008040203952.html?nav=csmonitor
For two decades, the bespectacled Chinese-born engineer lived quietly with his wife in a Los Angeles suburb, buying a house and holding a steady job with a U.S. defense contractor, which rewarded him with promotions and a security clearance. Colleagues remembered him as a hard worker who often took paperwork home at night.
Howard French: Letter From China
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/03/asia/letter.php
The propaganda means of the Chinese state remain overwhelming, as is its inclination not just to shape opinion, but to corral it, playing on what the documentary filmmaker Tang Danhong called the "great Han chauvinism," referring to the dominant ethnic group, a chauvinism that has been evident throughout the Tibetan crisis.

SCHEER:
HOW BUSH WASTES TRILLIONS ON USELESS WEAPONS
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/81099/
In the horror of that moment, the floodgates were lifted and the peace dividend promised with the end of the Cold War was washed away by a doubling of spending on ultra-complex military equipment originally designed to defeat a Soviet enemy that no longer exists, equipment that has no plausible connection with fighting stateless terrorists. Example: the $81-billion submarine pushed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, presumably to fight al-Qaida's navy.

PENTAGON OVERSPENT (giant) BUDGET BY $295 BILLION
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0403/p99s01-duts.html

Pentagon is hunting your sons and daughters
Wants to turn them into Iraq corpses
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/pentagon-wants-student-directories/

OBAMA RAISED $40 MILLION IN MARCH
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_raises_40_million_in_march_0403.html

All-Melty Dollar
GOOGLE LAYS OFF 30,000
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/03/BUA2VUNAO.DTL&tsp=1

Bordering on madness
THE PATCHWORK U.S.-MEXICO FENCE
There are as many kinds of fences as there are ways around them
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0403/p01s02-usgn.html

Israelity
HART: IS THE “ISRAEL LOBBY” LOSING ITS GRIP?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19668.htm
A more accurate (but not completely accurate) description of the particular phenomenon is “Likud lobby”, terminology which conveys the correct impression that the lobby is rightwing and very hardline, even extreme, and opposed to peace on any terms the vast majority of Palestinians and most other Arabs and Muslims everywhere could accept.

Jesus H. Christ!
IRAQI CHRISTIANS FLEE TO GERMANY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,545125,00.html

Animals in the news!
RANDY OCTOPI
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/03/animalbehaviour
WOLVERINES INVADE CALIFORNIA
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/03/BA52VUR7Q.DTL

(Lack of) Health
MM-MM! THIS TASTES FOOD-LIKE, HONEY!
An interview with nutritionist Michael Pollen
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/80868/
Most of what Americans consume isn't food. He calls it "edible foodlike substances." He also says that the way we consume it is not really eating. It's something we do pretty unconsciously as we work or drive or watch TV.
‘SMOKING GENES’ IDENTIFIED
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1727624,00.html
EAT YOUR GREENS
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/exclusives/eat-your-broccoli/
Listen: Eat Your Greens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOuAV-R9Qm8

Mashed Media
RON KAYE FIRED AS DAILY NEWS EDITOR
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/04/ron_kaye_out_as_la_daily.php

Obit
SHERRY BRITTON, BURLESQUE QUEEN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/arts/dance/03britton.html?ref=obituaries

And in more important matters. . .

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE HUMAN FECAL MATTER THAT IS. . .SNOOP DOGG
Read and be horrified
http://music.guardian.co.uk/urban/story/0,,2270399,00.html
If Obama were in the room, I get the sense Snoop would let him share the mirror. "In America's eyes, that muthafucker's gonna be the president 'cos [John] McCain can't fuck with him. Hillary [Clinton] can't fuck with him. He's winning over white people, white ladies."

Jagger in lifts---well, his girlfriend is six-four
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=133287&in_page_id=7

OUTLANDISH SCIENCE FICTION COULD BECOME FACT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/02/sciencenews.physicalsciences

FROM GERMANY TO CAMBODIA IN A COMMIE JALOPY!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0403/p20s01-wosc.html
The team of four Americans and four Europeans (from England, Spain, and Hungary) drove their long-suffering jalopies across Central Europe to Turkey, then across Central Asia, on through Siberia, Mongolia, and China before limping wearily, via Laos and Thailand, into Cambodia in February. It took them 173 days, 16,000 miles ,and countless breakdowns.

Film
GAD ELMALEH’S ‘HORS DE PRIX’
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/03/arts/dupont.php
‘TOOTSIE’---IT WAS MADE TO BE MEMORIZED
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/03/news/02wwlnmediumt.php

And in the end. . .
SPOON-FACE!
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=133354&in_page_id=34

4/2 skylines
Morning Concert
CHENEY’S TOY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sesZ4LRia7c
TROPICAL HOT DOG NIGHT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4wT85EglUs

BILLARY, OBAMA FINALLY GET TOGETHER

"We shall overcome. . .some day. . ."

‘DR. WHO’ FOURTH SEASON ROLLOUT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7325727.stm

ATTACK OF THE COW PEOPLE!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/apr/02/medicalresearch.ethicsofscience

SIR PAUL FROLICS IN SURF WITH GALPAL
Get on a weight machine, Paulie
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=552328&in_page_id=1773&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5

Protest on the set of new “Bond” film
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7326582.stm

MORFORD: A HOOKER FOR EVER SENATOR
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/04/02/notes040208.DTL

And on to news and comment. . .

U.S. HAD 9/11 ATTACK EVIDENCE
BEFORE 9/11---ATTY. GEN.
(The administration deliberately allowed the attack to happen, as we’ve said for years.)
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Mukasey_US_had_attack_evidence_before_0401.html
----AND OSAMA IS PLANNING AN OCTOBER SURPRISE
That’s Osama, not Obama (let's call the whole thing off. . .)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,544921,00.html

MAD-EYE MCCAIN DOESN’T LIKE AMERICANS
(Hell, who does?)
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/McCain_says_many_Americans_too_cyni_04022008.html
U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain believes many Americans are cynical about their country, and their idea of liberty is "the right to choose among competing brands of designer coffee."
ELIZABETH EDWARDS: MCCAIN’S HEALTH PLAN FUNDED BY CUT BENEFITS
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/elizabeth-edwards-mccains-health-care-plan-keeps-the-costs-low-by-cutting-benefits/

WEIRD NEW COMPUTER ATTACK VIA GOOGLE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/02/BU77VU1VU.DTL

All-melty dollar
BERNANKE: ECONOMY ‘MAY SHRINK’
Haaahahahahahahahahaha---it done shrunk, pal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/02/useconomy.creditcrunch

Electile Dysfunction
TONY SNOW PUTS OUT LIE ABOUT OBAMA
These guys do this deliberately to grab headlines, then later retract the statements
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/snow-obama-present/
MURDOCH DAUGHTER HOSTS OBAMA BASH
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/02/barackobama
WILD BILL’S TIRADE AT SUPERDELEGATE MEETING
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Redfaced_Clinton_tirade_stuns_superdelegates_behind_0402.html
DOWD: BILLARY IS O-MAN’S TRAINER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/opinion/02dowd.html?em&ex=1207281600&en=255f416f7b772007&ei=5087%0A
Obama had not been hit hard until this campaign; he sailed through his Senate race. Without Hillary, he never would have learned to be a good debater. He never would have understood how to robustly answer distorted and personal attacks. He never would have been warned about how harmful an unplugged spouse can be. He never would have realized how a luminous speech can be effective damage control.
WATCH: JON STEWART ON MEDIA OBSESSION WITH OBAMA’S BOWLING
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/election08/#81067

BUSH, PUTIN PLAY CHICKEN OVER UKRAINE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/02/nato.georgia
RAIMUNDO: COLLISION COURSE WITH RUSSIA
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12618
When the neoconservatives launched their campaign to exclude Russia from the G-8 summit, in retaliation for their arming of Syria and refusal to get on board the Iraq war-wagon, Russo-American relations took a steep dive. Vice President Dick Cheney was quick to join the refrain, accusing the Russians of using oil as a "weapon" against Ukraine in what is presumably a new cold war. Bush, who had previously gazed into Putin's eyes and found a fellow spirit, is now championing NATO membership for Ukraine and – incredibly – Georgia.

Enviro Wacko
BUSH CONTINUES TO POISON THE WORLD
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0403/p17s01-sten.html
But what administration officials see as responsible deliberation – seeking public comment later this spring before acting under the federal Clean Air Act – critics charge is foot-dragging. Rep. Ed Markey (D) of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, calls it "running out the clock" before the next president takes over in 10 months.

Homeland Insecurity
PENTAGON TO CLOSE OFFICE THAT SPIED ON QUAKERS (QUAKERS!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/washington/02intel.html?ex=1364875200&en=0739153f87c69420&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

KENNEDY IN UPROAR OVER GENDER BIAS LAW
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1727162,00.html

Lost Angeles
TWO GRANDFATHERS EXECUTED IN EAST L.A.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-eastla2apr02,0,4338054.story

Revolting Development
DEVELOPER RAPES HALF-MOON BAY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/01/BALVVTVIB.DTL

Spaced out
‘BABY PLANET’ FOUND
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7326318.stm

Oh, by the way. . .
SARKOZY TRIES TO FREE INGRID BETANCOURT
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,544855,00.html

And in more important matters. . .

Lost Angeles
HUNTINGTON TO HOST TRIBUTE TO LATE COLUMNIST JACK SMITH
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/04/jack-smith-on-w.html

For Art’s Sake
ALYCE FRANK
http://www.marin-price.com/Marin-Price%20Galleries%20Alyce%20Frank.htm
Book of her art:
http://www.amazon.com/Magical-Realism-Mexico-Magazine-Artist/dp/0937206571
ART MUSEUMS STRUGGLE WITH PROVENANCE ISSUES
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0402/p13s01-alar.html

SLIDE SHOW: CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING IN NORWAY
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/flash/page/0,,2269988,00.html

Musique
DID 19TH CENTURY PIANO PLAYERS HAVE MORE FUN?
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/Free-the-Piano-Player-11278
Golden-age pianists generally treated the written score as a guide to interpretation rather than a definitive set of instructions. Many of them added unwritten embellishments of various kinds to the pieces they played. Vladimir Horowitz, the last major classical pianist to play with such textual freedom, recorded versions of works like Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 that deviated so dramatically from the score as to amount to substantially original compositions.
WATCH: RAKOCZY MARCH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x38NQFk5OCc
RAY DAVIES TALKS ABOUT REUNITING THE KINKS
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-davies31mar31,0,4718707.story
ABBEYRD.COM MYSPACE PAGE
http://www.myspace.com/abbeyrdsbeatlespage

Books
THE ART OF DOING SOMETHING WELL
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120658371177467629.html?mod=2_1167_1
CHILDREN’S BOOK COVER AWARDS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2008/mar/31/booktrust.big.picture.award?picture=333313171

And in the end. . .
WORLD’S TALLEST MAN GETS CUSTOM-BUILT CAR
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,544950,00.html

4/1 skylines

Morning Concert
BOX OF RAIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HDUxPH4LMA
BOX OF RAIN ORIGINS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQbURirZSRY
Annotated “Box of Rain” lyrics
http://arts.ucsc.edu/Gdead/AGDL/box.html
WHISPERING GRASS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_uVLfnKpKg

HAPPY SIDD FINCH DAY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidd_Finch
http://www.bostonbaseball.com/whitesox/baseball_extras/sidd.html

WINEHOUSE TO STAR IN ‘DR. WHO?’
Got to be An April Fool’s Joke
http://www.nme.com/news/amy-winehouse/35547

DEM OLD BUMS COME BACK TO DODGER STADIUM
Beautiful opening day reunion
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/only_thing_missing_was_th.php

Oldest gold necklace in North America found
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7323351.stm

TEN STORIES THAT COULD BE APRIL FOOL’S---BUT AREN’T
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7324127.stm

CLOONEY’S GIRLFRIEND’S ‘BONDAGE PARTY’ PICS
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=130714&in_page_id=7

MCCARTNEY, MILLS DO RAP SONG
(Yeah, sure.)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/getting-down/2008/04/01/1206850851107.html

RIP POST TAKEN SERIOUSLY!
April Fool!

R.I.P. BLACKLISTED DIRECTOR JULES DASSIN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/movies/01dassin.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin


And on to news and comment. . .

SHOCKER: OBAMA DEFENDS ‘PATRIOT’ ACT
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_no_secret_trade_deals_0331.html
"Most of the problem that we have had in civil liberties were not done in the Patriot Act they were done in executive order by George W. Bush...I will reverse them with the stroke of a pen," he said, listing the establishment of Guantanamo Bay, warrantless wiretaps and the suspension of Habeas Corpus.

THE INDEPENDENT DECLARES ‘GREAT DEPRESSION’ IN USA
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/usa-2008-the-great-depression-803095.html
Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive – a sure sign the world's richest country faces economic crisis.
Oakland luxury condos unloaded at discount
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/01/BUJJVTBTK.DTL
Copper pipes are worth more than the homes they inhabit!
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Some_homes_worth_less_than_their_co_04012008.html

All-Melty Dollar
USB WRITES DOWN ANOTHER $19 BILLION OVER SUBPRIME CATASTROPHE
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/01/business/01ubs.php
PAULSON’S FINANCE PLAN BLASTED
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120697114969676991.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
"It reads like amateur hour and it's because none of those guys ever worked in a regulated, chartered bank," said Camden Fine, president and chief executive of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a Washington trade group representing small banks, referring to the authors at Treasury. "A bunch of guys from Wall Street decided this was going to be their proposal."
KRUGMAN: THE DILBERT STRATEGY
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/opinion/31krugman.html?em&ex=1207195200&en=c2547ed31f19974f&ei=5087%0A
You now understand the principle behind the Bush administration’s new proposal for financial reform, which will be formally announced today: it’s all about creating the appearance of responding to the current crisis, without actually doing anything substantive.

Homeland Insecurity
U.S. MILITARY: HIRE, CO-OPT BLOGGERS
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/03/report-recruit.html
A study, written for U.S. Special Operations Command, suggested "clandestinely recruiting or hiring prominent bloggers." Since the start of the Iraq war, there's been a raucous debate in military circles over how to handle blogs -- and the servicemembers who want to keep them.

Tibet
PELOSI TO BUSH: SKIP OLYMPIC CEREMONY
Such a spineless protest, of course, will have no real impact. . .but sometimes all you can do is give somebody a bad afternoon
http://www.abcnews.go.com/print?id=4560253
JOURNAL: AN AMERICAN BUDDHIST NUN IN TIBET
http://www.alternet.org/audits/80893/
I follow the news from around the world. I am stunned to read what Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Christensen said in response to whether the U.S. would boycott the Olympics, that the "Olympics are an opportunity for China to show progress on human rights..."
YOUNG TIBETANS QUESTION NON-VIOLENCE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0401/p01s01-woap.html
ATHLETES STRUGGLE WITH PROTESTING GAMES
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/01/sports/01athletes.php

Mess o' potamia
CONDI IS FURTHER HUMORED BY MIDDLE EAST LEADERS
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1726715,00.html

Electile Dysfunction
BILLARY’S LONGSHOT STRATEGY
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9298.html
If the fight over whether to count the results in Florida and Michigan makes it to the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton will not have enough pledged votes on the 169-member Credentials Committee to deliver a majority decision in her favor, according to an analysis conducted for Politico. Her only hope of getting the key committee to vote out a “majority report” supporting her position rests on her ability to persuade an as-yet-undetermined number of the 25 members appointed to the committee by party Chairman Howard Dean to cast votes for her position.

Mashed Media
SEATTLE P.I. CARTOONIST TARGET OF ‘ANTI-SEMITIC’ WITCH HUNT
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003783209
POST-DISPATCH APOLOGY FOR BOGUS ‘HOMELESS’ STORY
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003782718

Animals in the news
HOPE FOR CANCER-RIDDEN TASMANIAN DEVILS
Contagious facial cancer threatens species---you’re next, humans
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7323794.stm
SWITZERLAND TO OUTLAW CAT FUR TRADE
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/01/europe/01cats.php
The cats, Nydegger and others are convinced, were shot by hunters near this central Swiss city and sold to tanners for their fur, which is used in garments and blankets in the last West European nation where such a trade is still legal.

And in more important matters. . .

OLYMPIAN RETURNS TO GAMES AFTER 40 YEARS!
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120693030391776147-lMyQjAxMDI4MDM2MTkzMzEwWj.html
In 1964, Hiroshi Hoketsu, then a 23-year-old equestrian show jumper, placed a disappointing 40th at the Tokyo Olympic Games. He went on to a career at a drug company. Now, Mr. Hoketsu, a 67-year-old retiree, is making an Olympic comeback. In January, he qualified for the Beijing Olympics to compete in dressage, a sport also known as "horse ballet." Dressage contestants -- wearing top hats and tails -- are judged for how well they make their steeds twirl, skip and walk sideways.

Light reading
MICHAEL KINSLEY ON AGING
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/07/080407fa_fact_kinsley?currentPage=all
The oldest boomers, born in the late nineteen-forties, are just turning sixty, and the last boomer game is about to start—the game of competitive longevity. So how are you doing? Let’s say you’re sixty. To begin with, you’re still alive, which gives you a leg up. Or are the real winners in our youth-obsessed generation the boomers who died young, like John Belushi? Well, perhaps, but you’ve missed that boat. There may be glamour in dying in your early twenties. There is no glamour in dying in your late fifties.

Be seeing you
40th ANNIVERSARY NEARS FOR GREATEST TV SERIES EVER MADE
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/feature-news/2008/03/29/cult-viewing-91466-20682995/
Rare Interview With Patrick McGoohan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkWqeM-o1sA&feature=related
Original Uncut Opening Sequence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZUz88-xoqY&feature=related

Musique
DHANI HARRISON: THENEWNO2
http://www.myspace.com/thenewno2

Books
GOODBYE TO POOR DUTTON’S
How fitting that the epitaph was written by its great employee and poet, Scott Wannberg
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-duttons31mar31,1,7658591.story 
THE TRUE STORY OF JUMBO THE ELEPHANT
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0401/p16s02-bogn.html

And in the end. . .
THE WORLD’S TINIEST MAN
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=130280&in_page_id=34
THE WORLD’S TALLEST HORSE
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=130279&in_page_id=34

3/31 skylines
Morning Concert
POPS: THE SAINTS (slow)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLjbMBpGDA&feature=related
POPS: THE SAINTS (speedy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpTSPFoGO-w&feature=related

SO LONG, DUTTON’S
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/it_takes_a_bookstore.php#more

BUSH LOUDLY BOOED AS HE THROWS OUT FIRST PITCH
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Bush_booed_as_he_throws_inaugural_0330.html

WATCH: ELEPHANT PAINTS SELF-PORTRAIT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LHoyB81LnE

SLIDE SHOW: AMY WINEHOUSE---BEFORE SHE WENT NUTS
http://www.metro.co.uk/galleries/gallery.html?in_gallery_id=1580&in_page_id=3&in_image_id=197013#gallery

CELL PHONES ‘MORE DANGEROUS THAN CANCER’
But you just keep yacking into them, pinheads
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/mobile-phones-more-dangerous-than-smoking-or-asbestos-802602.html?r=RSS

R.I.P. THE GREAT DITH PRAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/nyregion/31dith.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003782588
Dith Pran, the Cambodian-born journalist whose harrowing tale of enslavement and eventual escape from that country's murderous Khmer Rouge revolutionaries in 1979 became the subject of the award-winning film ``The Killing Fields,'' died Sunday, his former colleague said.

And on to news and comment. . .

HUMANS COULD DISAPPEAR INTO MAN-MADE BLACK HOLE
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/29/europe/physics.php
None of these headlines will matter a bit, though, if two men pursuing a lawsuit in a court in Hawaii turn out to be right. They think a giant particle accelerator that will begin smashing protons together outside Geneva this summer might produce a black hole that will spell the end of the Earth - and maybe the universe.
And by the way, the good old Milky Way is on a collision course with Andromeda
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/black-holes.html
"It appears that our Milky Way, with its modest-sized black hole, has absorbed only a few smaller galaxies and has never fueled a quasar. However, a fearsome collision looms. The closest large galaxy, called Andromeda, is on a collision course with the Milky Way. The two will start to merge about two billion years from now, gradually forming a massive galaxy that Loeb and his Harvard-Smithsonian colleague T. J. Cox call 'Milkomeda.' "

And in news of human squabbling and scurrying. . .

SENIOR DEM LEADERS MULL GORE NOMINATION
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/30/wuspols130.xml
GORE LAUNCHES $300 MILLION GLOBAL WARMING ADS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/31/algore.uselections08.climate

Homeland Insecurity
GOOGLE---YOUR FRIENDLY AMORAL SPY SERVICE!
First it sells out to China, now Google partners with NSA and CIA
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CIA_creates_miniGoogle_0331.html
RAIMUNDO: ANOTHER 9/11 INEVITABLE? YES
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12607

Enviro Wacko
DID YOUR SHOPPING LIST KILL A SONGBIRD?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/30/opinion/edstuchbury.php
The imported fruits and vegetables found in our shopping carts in winter and early spring are grown with types and amounts of pesticides that would often be illegal in the United States. In this case, the victims are North American songbirds.

MERKEL SNUBS OLYMPIC CEREMONY
Big deal---she should pull Germany entirely out
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/29/germany.olympicgames2008

ISLAM IS NOW WORLD’S LARGEST MADNESS, ER, RELIGION
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1726561,00.html
INTERVIEW: ‘MODERATE ISLAM IS A CONTRADICTION’
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,544347,00.html
Right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders wanted to provoke an international scandal with his anti-Islam film "Fitna." He succeeded. He talks to SPIEGEL about his crusade against Islam.

BUSH CROOK QUITS HUD
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/31/jackson-resign/

Electile Dysfunction
OBAMA WINS IN CRAZY TEXAS DELEGATE BATTLE
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/32023.html
BILLARY CAN’T PAY HER BILLS AGAIN
http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=864
CHILLY WILLY
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/31/MNRHVT2FP.DTL
RICH: HILLARY’S ST. PADDY’S DAY MASSACRE
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/30/opinion/edrich.php
PACKER: NATIVE SON
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/03/31/080331taco_talk_packer/?yrail
But it was Nixon’s Checkers speech, with its cheesy confession that he owed his parents thirty-five hundred dollars with interest (and loved America), that carried the day in 1952, and has more or less defined successful campaign rhetoric ever since. It isn’t clear that Obama’s elevated dialogue last week is in the long-term interest of his campaign.
PACKER: OBAMA’S WEAK IRAQ SPEECH
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/2008/03/its-not-just-ra.html
Obama offers Iraq as the bad war that we have to end if we want to win the good war in Afghanistan and turn around the economy at home. There’s more than a little truth to this, but I can’t help wishing that his speech on Iraq in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Wednesday, had anything close to the level of complexity and depth shown in his historic speech on race the day before, in Philadelphia.
NADER TO CLINTON: STAY IN
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/29/nader-to-clinton-stay-in/
LORD VOLDEMORT CARVILLE
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/03/cartoon_lord_voldemort_carville.html

Israelity
ISRAEL ELBOWING OUT THE BEDOUIN
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/117/story/32086.html

Jesus H. Christ!
WATCH: JESUS WAS A BLACK MAN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKpCH7OS2nc
‘JESUS WAS A NEGRO’
Some people really need to believe this crap
http://www.zimbio.com/RBG+Afrikan-+Centered+Cultural+Development+and+Education/articles/61/Jesus+Negro+African+Origins+Christ

Obit
ROBERT FAGLES, TRANSLATOR OF CLASSICS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/books/29fagles.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

Oh, by the way. . .
JAPANESE COUPLES PUT SLEEP AHEAD OF SEX
(Good idea!)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/30/japan

And in more important matters. . .

Light reading
ASTOUNDING STORY OF HOW GREIL MARCUS FOUND HIS REAL FATHER
http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/marcus_sp08.html

WAITRESS TELLS ALL!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/03/30/st_waitress.xml&page=1
After years pandering to the whims of the rich and famous at New York's best restaurant, Phoebe Damrosch has turned the tables - by writing a tell-all book

SPACEY KNOCKS BBC ‘AMERICAN IDOL’-LIKE SHOWS
Actor is director of the Old Vic
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7318812.stm

Books
A PIPSQUEAK SNEERS AT STEINBECK
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21264

And in the end. . .
SOLOMON BURKE PICKS THE BEST BBQ IN L.A.
Stay tuned for his “best bypass” list
http://theguide.latimes.com/profiles/1492/lists/160866

3/28 skylines
Morning Concert
Ombra mai fu (Franco Corelli)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_5lcNPrOgM&feature=related
Ombra mai fu (Tito Schipa)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrHHrNc3C0c&feature=related
Vissi d’arte (Leontyne Price)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbusDhwVJuU&feature=related
Jed is que rien ne m’epouvante (Angela Gheorghiu)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Dnu5NaFmM&feature=related
Nessun Dorma (Jussi Bjoerling)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWQ-0QLCWwE&feature=related

Story of the week!
WOMBAT RAPE CHANGED MY ACCENT!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/27/wwombat127.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox

JESUS NUTS PRAY 11-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER TO DEATH
May they be raped by wombats
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Parents_Pick_Prayer_Over_Docs_Girl_0328.html

HEY, LET’S DECAPITATE A SHEEP AND USE IT FOR A FOOTBALL!
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=128976&in_page_id=34

FROG BREAKS WRIST, GETS CAST
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=128956&in_page_id=34

STEROID SUSPECT LO DUCA WON’T CATCH BUSH’S FIRST PITCH
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/28/nationals-replaces-lo-duca-to-catch-bushs-first-pitch/

McCAIN’S SOLUTION FOR FORECLOSURE VICTIMS!
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/03/cartoon_mccain_foreclosure_plan.html

Don’t tase me, bro!
DEPUTIES TASER 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL
http://www.local6.com/news/15721677/detail.html

MORFORD: LET’S FIX THIS BORING OLD WAR
Free iPhone with every outrage?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/03/28/notes032808.DTL
Indeed, the possibilities for alleviating our boredom are endless. Free tank of gas with every anti-war comment you post to FoxNews.com whenever they lie about the troop surge. New Starbucks coffee drinks named after various Shiite and Sunni leaders so you never forget that no one in the Pentagon has the slightest clue as to what their religious war is really all about. "Hi, I'd like a double vente caramel macchiato Abdallah Suleiman Omary, with lots of room for cream." Will it help? Will it make it all less boring?

And on to news and comment. . .

WATCH:
PROOF THAT BILLARY DID LAND UNDER SNIPER FIRE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHVEDq6RVXc

WATCH: IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR BEN BERNANKE, U.S. CONGRESS, ALL PRESIDENTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Aykze2Xy9Q

DEMOCRAPS THREATEN PELOSI
OVER SUPERDELEGATES
http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=341

KRISTOF: OBAMA, CLINTON, ECHOES OF NADER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/opinion/27kristof.html?em&ex=1206849600&en=1dc7cb47f5a1ca4a&ei=5087%0A
Meanwhile, the big winner of the Democratic fist-fighting is Senator McCain. A Gallup poll released Wednesday found that 19 percent of Mr. Obama’s supporters said they would vote for Mr. McCain in the general election if Mrs. Clinton were the nominee. More startling, 28 percent of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters said they would defect to Mr. McCain if Mr. Obama were the nominee.

KRUGMAN: CANDIDATES ECONOMIC PLANS AT ODDS WITH IMAGES
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,543916,00.html
I was pleased that Mr. Obama came out strongly for broader financial regulation, which might help avert future crises. But his proposals for aid to the victims of the current crisis, though significant, are less sweeping than Mrs. Clinton’s: he wants to nudge private lenders into restructuring mortgages rather than having the government simply step in and get the job done.

PALAST: HOW BANK BAILOUT, SPITZER ARE INTERTWINED
http://www.gregpalast.com/elliot-spitzer-gets-nailed/

Electile Dysfunction
GET THIS: BILLARY COZIES UP TO RICHARD MELLON SCAIFE!
He was essentially the architect of the 'right wing conspiracy' to get the Clintons
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/03/7761_clinton_sleepin.html
BILLARY: DON’T WRITE MY OBITUARY YET
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Sen._Clinton_Nobody_should_be_writing_0327.html
PAT LEAHY: GET OUT, HILLARY
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Leahy_says_Clinton_should_withdraw_03282008.html
ONE IN TEN THINK OBAMA IS A MUSLIM
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Poll_1_in_10_get_Obama_s_religion_w_03272008.html
PA.’S CASEY TO ENDORSE OBAMA
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/the-early-word-casey-to-endorse-obama/index.html?hp

Iraq and Roll
CONDI: GEE, I DIDN’T KNOW IRAQ WOULD BE ‘THIS TOUGH’
Gimme a bucket. . .
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/28/rice-this-tough/
IRAQ IS FALLING APART
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/03/28/iraq-is-falling-apart/
HAGEL: BUSH IRAQ SPEECH IS ‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Hagel_Bush_Iraq_speech_like_Alice_0327.html
RAIMUNDO: WHY ARE WE PROPPING UP PRO-IRAN MALIKI FACTION IN IRAQ?
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12596
OUR BILLION-BUCK EMBASSY IS ‘UNDER HARD COVER’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/27/us-embassy-in-baghdad-told-remain-under-hard-cover-due-to-violence/

Mashed Media
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/31/080331fa_fact_alterman?currentPage=all
The columnist Molly Ivins complained, shortly before her death, that the newspaper companies’ solution to their problem was to make “our product smaller and less helpful and less interesting.” That may help explain why the dwindling number of Americans who buy and read a daily paper are spending less time with it; the average is down to less than fifteen hours a month.
INTERVIEW: THE CARTOONIST WHO MOCKS MUHAMMAD
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,544052,00.html

RICE PRICES UP, ASIA WORRIES
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/28/business/AS-FIN-Asia-Pricey-Rice.php
Philippine activists warn about possible riots. Aid agencies across Asia worry how they will feed the hungry. Governments dig deeper every day to fund subsidies. A sharp rise in the price of rice is hitting consumer pocketbooks and raising fears of public turmoil in the many parts of Asia where rice is a staple.

All-melty Dollar
GERMAN BANKS BLEEDING $111 BILLION
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,543932,00.html

(Lack of) Health
VACCINES TO BE TESTED ON ARTIFICIAL IMMUNE SYSTEM
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1725904,00.html

Enviro Wacko
CHICAGO, 24 CITIES AROUND THE WORLD TO TURN OUT LIGHTS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0328/p02s01-usec.html
---EVEN IF IT DOES NOT CUT GREENHOUSE GASES
http://www.theage.com.au/news/environment/lightsout-event-aims-to-generate-greater-acts-of-conservation/2008/03/28/1206207412980.html
LIGHTS OUT FOR WORLDWIDE CONSERVATION
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/03/28/lights_out/

Oh, by the way. . .
KARL ‘PIGBOY’ ROVE’S NEW HOUSE
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rosemary_Beach_Karl_Roves_next_move_0328.html
GERMAN MAGNETIC LEVITATION TRAIN TECH SOLD OFF TO CHINA
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,543986,00.html
HUMAN ASHES WILL BE FLOWN TO THE MOON
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?in_article_id=129325&in_page_id=64

And in more important matters. . .

RESEARCHERS PLAY TUNE RECORDED LONG BEFORE EDISON
Astonishing story of the man who first recorded sound (hear it!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/arts/27soun.html?ex=1207281600&en=5657a5508af06d36&ei=5070&emc=eta1

HUMAN NOSES CAN SMELL DANGER
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7318673.stm

Books
JULIE ANDREWS LOOKS BACK ON ROUGH CHILDHOOD
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/28/arts/IDLEDE29.php

Film
THREE-PIC ‘TINTIN’ ON THE WAY
Too bad it’s done by Spielberg
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2268832,00.html
RAINER: THE FIVE BEST BASEBALL MOVIES EVER MADE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0321/p14s13-almo.html

And in the end. . .
YOKO ONO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp-bhNyHOoU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfe2II_V_Ic

3/27 skylines
Morning Concert
I SHALL BE RELEASED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEg41k3Shq0&feature=related
WHISKEY IN THE JAR
Jerry, guitar; David Grisman, mandolin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8anuunWPIY&feature=related
SANTANA, GARCIA, JORDAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhX9DJIZ1NU&feature=related
THRILL IS GONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKvDtWeyO5c

A JOKE FROM JERRY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU-4ukw2CjY&feature=related

VIKING FEAST: PASS THE TESTICLES
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2008/03/thorrablot.html
3. Hákarl (putrefied shark) - gut your shark and safely dispose of the innards, cartilage and head. Clean. Chop up into bits. Far away from human habitation dig a hole in some gravel and bury the pieces, making sure they're well pressed together. Leave for a couple of months for full putrefaction to set in. Remove once the beast has softened and smells strongly of ammonia, then hang out to dry. After another couple of months, cut off the brown crust that has developed, dice, and serve.

SPITZ-BOY HAD ANOTHER GALPAL
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03272008/news/regionalnews/and_there_he_hos_again_103741.htm?page=0
Round, round, get around, I get around. . .

DIVORCE IS MORE POPULAR THAN EVER
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/mar/27/socialtrends.gender
Robin Williams is doing it
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/27/DD7AVQHPA.DTL

AL FRANKEN INTERVIEWS JERRY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KldqYNV2Hwg&feature=related

HERE IT IS, FOLKS---
THE CROSS-DRESSING HILLARY CLINTON DWARF!
http://www.metro.co.uk/imetro/blogs/article.html?in_article_id=126296&in_page_id=6

Mashed Media
HUGE L.A. TIMES EMBARRASSMENT (AGAIN)
Paper apologizes for saying Combs was involved in Shakur murder. . .Can you saw “lawyers?”
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/philips_and_editor_apolog.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7316055.stm

And on to news and comment. . .

KLEIN: NOMINATE GORE
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1725678,00.html
It's the moment when pundits demand action—"Drop out, Hillary!"—and propound foolish theories. And so I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I'm slouching toward, well, a theory: if this race continues to slide downhill, the answer to the Democratic Party's dilemma may turn out to be Al Gore.

DO THE MATH: BILLARY APPEARS ALL BUT DONE---
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_8702117?source=most_emailed
---BUT SHE HINTS ABOUT TAKING IT TO THE CONVENTION
(Well, that’s what a convention is supposed to be for, isn’t it?)
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Time_Cheery_unapologetic_Clinton_vows_to_0326.html
Watch: Clinton Family Fights On
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7143960&ch=4226716&src=news

NEW CLINTON POLL LOW; OBAMA RESILIENT
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/26/821438.aspx
Considering the doom-and-gloom some predicted for Obama with regard to the Wright controversy, the overall tenor of the electorate appears to still be favorable for him. He's mortal, but he's survived ... for now. It's not clear whether he'd be this resilient if another controversy exploded as big as Wright, but it appears that voters are giving him the benefit of doubt.

LIMBAUGH URGING PA CITIZENS TO REGISTER AND VOTE FOR HILLARY
http://www.csmonitor.com/patchworknation/csmstaff/2008/0327/rushing-to-register-limbaugh%e2%80%99s-efforts-not-yet-showing-signs-of-big-effects-in-pennsylvania/


CONDI RICE SPEAKS AT CREEPY, SECRET NORQUIST MEETING
Sniffing around for Veep position?
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/03/breaking_condi/
NORQUIST WAS CLOSE PAL OF ABRAMOFF
http://www.democracynow.org/2006/10/2/a_swashbuckling_spectacle_of_corruption_bill
Abramoff was their outside man, outside the White House, outside the infrastructure but he was very welcome inside the government. [Abramoff had] very good ties with Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform–it was all part of an apparatus that was designed to launder money.”

All-melty Dollar
PAULSON: TEN DAYS THAT CHANGED CAPITALISM
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120657397294066915-lMyQjAxMDI4MDI2NzUyNzczWj.html
But something big just happened. It happened without an explicit vote by Congress. And, though the Treasury hasn't cut any checks for housing or Wall Street rescues, billions of dollars of taxpayer money were put at risk. A Republican administration, not eager to be viewed as the second coming of the Hoover administration, showed it no longer believes the market can sort out the mess.

Iraq and Roll
BUSH ON NEW IRAQ VIOLENCE: “A VERY POSITIVE MOMENT”
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/27/bush-iraq-positive/
MAJOR OIL PIPELINE BLOWN UP
What a joke. . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/27/iraq
JOINT CHIEFS TELL BUSH: YOU’RE STRAINING THE MILITARY
http://www.military.com/news/article/jcs-tells-bush-war-straining-military.html
IRAQ SOLDIER ASKS: WAS I A TORTURER?
http://www.alternet.org/rights/78649/

Mission Accomplished
ANTI-WAR CAMPAIGN TO CHANGE TACTICS?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/26/antiwar.iraq
Neither Clinton nor Obama has a real plan to end the occupation of Iraq, but they could be forced to change position

EXPERTS ALLEGE MULTIPLE SHOOTERS IN RFK KILLING
Can an Oliver Stone movie be far behind?
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Scientists_Multiple_shooters_in_RFK_assassination_0326.html

SF MAYOR: COPS WILL NOT STOP OLYMPIC PROTESTS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/26/BA2LVR0I7.DTL&tsp=1

Your Corporatocracy at work!
BIG TOBACCO TAINTS CANCER STUDY?
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1725719,00.html

Animals in the news!
POOR KNUT THE POLAR BEAR MISSES HUMANS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,543145,00.html
Hand-reared celebrity bear Knut should leave Berlin Zoo, says one of his keepers -- he's had so much contact with humans that he doesn't realize he's a polar bear. The zoo star has been howling plaintively because his keepers are no longer allowed to play with him.

Jesus H. Christ!
WATCH: MARGARET ATWOOD ON RELIGION
http://gods4suckers.net/archives/2008/03/25/3340/

Obits
WIDMARK GETS GOOD, LONG LIFE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/arts/27widmark.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

And in more important matters. . .

DODGERS PLAY THE COLISEUM THIS WEEKEND
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/sports/baseball/26coliseum.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=los+angeles&st=nyt&oref=slogin

90-YEAR-OLD PHOTOG VIVIAN CHERRY CLICKS AHEAD
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0326/p20s01-ussc.html
Twice a week, Vivian Cherry – a veteran street photographer – leaves her midtown Manhattan apartment and gets on a bus. "I never have any idea what I'm going to shoot," she says of her routine. But she does have a destination in mind – maybe East Harlem, where she was born, or the Lower East Side.

JON CARROLL: WHAT, ME HAPPY?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/27/DD9VVQAVO.DTL
Jerry's advice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBlXEGLXlV0

Musique
STONES ALLOWED BACK IN BLACKPOOL---44 YEARS LATER
http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/music/article.html?in_article_id=127696&in_page_id=25

Film
TAVERNIER’S ADVENTURE IN HOLLYWOOD
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2268320,00.html
French auteur Bertrand Tavernier always wanted to make an American movie. Then he went to Hollywood - and came up against lawyers, producers and a lead actor who refused to eat.
AUDREY TATOU PLAYS GOLDDIGGER IN NEW FILM
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2008/03/27/tautou_plays_gold_digger_in_new_film/

For Art’s Sake
NEW ABU DHABI GUGGENHEIM WILL BE ‘PHARAONIC’
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,543601,00.html
“What I have planned in Abu Dhabi is so much bigger than what I've done so far. It'll be the kind of thing we've never seen before. The only expression I can think of to describe it is pharaonic.”
See amazing computer model:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,grossbild-1133415-543601,00.html
THE PAINTINGS OF JERRY GARCIA
http://www.jerrygarcia.com/art-tour-new.html
Garcia talks about his art
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM64QhtDWGo&feature=related

And in the end. . .
NO MORE JOKES FROM JERRY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrYhRQZFWZQ&feature=related 

3/26 skylines
Morning Concert
DEBASH BHATTACHARYA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r_mRktR-68
More on Debash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veAgnn2xCbU&feature=related
http://www.debashishbhattacharya.com/
WHAT’S THE UGLIEST PART OF YOUR BODY?
http://www.maniacworld.com/ugliest-part-of-your-body.html

Tom Baker ponders 'Doctor Who' return
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a92170/tom-baker-ponders-doctor-who-return.html
‘Dr. Who’ fan turns to Jesus
He was better off with the doctor
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=126597&in_page_id=34

McKellen will play Gandalf in “Hobbit”
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2268132,00.html

MRS. SARKOZY VISITS BRITAIN
(ALONG WITH HER FRENCH PM HUSBAND)
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/2008/03/nicolas_sarkozys_state_visit_l.html
AND HERE SHE IS, STARK NAKED
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=126554&in_page_id=34

MAN IS FIVE MONTHS’ PREGNANT
Well, quasi-man, anyhow
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=127295&in_page_id=2

Bulgarian Teens Rescued from Piranha Circus
(Now there’s a headline)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/26/italy

SEPARATED AT BIRTH?

Beaver         billary

MORFORD: TAX MY RICH WHITE TORTURER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/03/26/notes032608.DTL
Because your tax money is right now also funding the Fed's unprecedented and rather shocking multibillion-dollar bailout of rich bankers and fund managers who have, through their greed and excess and with the implied blessing of former Chairman Alan Greenspan (whom many consider the architect of the collapse in the first place), helped bring about what is shaping up to be the worst fiscal crisis since World War II. There now. Don't you feel better?

And on to news and comment. . .

HERE IT IS---THE CORPORATE HALL OF SHAME
http://www.stopcorporateabusenow.org/campaign/hall_of_shame_2008

DUTCH ANTI-ISLAM FILM DELAYED---BY U.S. COMPANY
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0326/p01s03-woeu.html

God damn, America!
BILLARY: I WOULD HAVE LEFT WRIGHT’S CHURCH
She has a point
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/26/america/clinton.php
LINDORFF: BILLARY’S PASTOR IS AN ANTI-SEMITE
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/?q=node/125
But wait a sec. Putting aside the matter of whether what Wright said was even “hateful,” this same Hillary Clinton chose the rabidly anti-semitic Rev. Billy Graham for spiritual mentor in her time of troubles during wayward hubby Bill’s impeachment scandal, and welcomed his offer of support for her senate and presidential bids. This, of course, is the same Billy Graham who was caught on tape telling President Nixon that he thought Jews had a “stranglehold” on the American media, and that if something weren’t “done about it,” the “country’s going down the drain.”

Enviro Wacko
TOY STORY
Or---How did toy soldier wind up on Midway Island?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7312777.stm
And the cost is grisly. The island is littered with the bodies of albatrosses that haven't made it. Their stomachs are brimming with plastic.
GIANT ANTARCTIC ICE SHELF COLLAPSES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/26/poles.antarctica
SCIENTISTS WARN AGAINST RUSH TO BIOFUEL
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/25/biofuels.energy1
"If one started to use biofuels ... and in reality that policy led to an increase in greenhouse gases rather than a decrease, that would obviously be insane," Watson said. "It would certainly be a perverse outcome."

Iraq and Roll
BUSH’S 60,000 AMERICAN P.O.W.’S
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/80461/
He was referring to those who have been the victims of stop-loss, the device by which the president can, "in the event of war," choose to extend an enlistee's contract "until six months after the war ends." The "War on Terror" is this president's excuse for invoking that clause.

Electile Dysfunction
DEM OFFICIAL: BILLARY MUST TAKE THE “TONYA HARDING OPTION”
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/dnc-official-cl.html
McCAIN, CLINTON SLAP O-MAN WITH L-WORD
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032503082_pf.html
OBAMA UPPED CHARITY DONATION TO QUARTER-MIL BEFORE PREZ RUN
Canny fellow. . .
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Obama_increases_charitable_giving_03252008.html
O-MAN BACK UP IN POLLS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/MN9NVQGO2.DTL&tsp=1

Homeland Insecurity
MUSLIMS IN U.S. TURN TO HOME SCHOOLING
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/26/america/26muslim.php
MIAMI COPS TO USE HOVERING SPY DRONE
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Spyinthesky_drone_sets_sights_on_Miami_0326.html
BOMB UNDETECTED OUTSIDE U.S. CAPITOL FOR THREE WEEKS
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Police_US_Capitol_gunman_had_bomb_03262008.html

Olympian Greed
CHICKENS***T PELOSI: NO OLYMPIC BOYCOTT
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gu7XCB9dm_RYn53C7FOowS0TJJiA
CHINA CALLS PELOSI ‘DEFENDER OF ARSONISTS, LOOTERS, KILLERS’
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3qjsNx4qW4iqhe_-nM4wCAVMgzA
EUROPE PRO-BOYCOTT MOVEMENT GROWING?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,543478,00.html
APPLEBAUM:
OLYMPIC BOYCOTT WOULDN’T SOLVE ANYTHING?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/24/AR2008032402297.html
The chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, was also quick to declare that "a boycott doesn't solve anything" -- just as he was quick to dismiss the demonstrators who waved a black banner showing interlocked handcuffs, in mockery of the Olympic symbol, at yesterday's lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece. And no one was surprised: Companies that have invested millions in sponsorship deals and Olympic bureaucrats who have spent years trying to justify their controversial decision to award the 2008 Games to Beijing are naturally inclined to use those sorts of arguments. But that doesn't mean the rest of us have to believe them.

THOMPSON: LYING AIN’T NO BIG DEAL TO BILLARY
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/5413

WHY WASN’T THE TRUTH GOOD ENOUGH FOR BILLARY?
Why didn’t she just tell Bosnia trip story straight?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_campaignplus/20080325/ap_ca/on_deadline_bosnia;_ylt=AgVby27byL04VvOUoFEFekSs0NUE?
The fact is that Clinton and her entourage were warned in advance that Bosnia was hostile territory and that there had been sniper fire reported in the hills surrounding the tarmac at some point before the trip.

DOWD: BILLARY OR NOBODY?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,543444,00.html
One Hillary pal said she wouldn’t want to go back to a Senate full of lawmakers who’d abandoned her for Obama. And even if she could get to be majority leader, would it be much fun working with Nancy Pelosi, whose distaste for the Clintons has led her to subtly maneuver for Obama?

WHY WE SHOULD FEAR MCCAIN
(You need to be told?)
http://www.newamerica.net/publications/articles/2008/why_we_should_fear_mccain_presidency_6940
Reflecting the neo-conservative programme of spreading democracy by force, Mr McCain declared in 2000: “I’d institute a policy that I call ‘rogue state rollback’. I would arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and democratically elected governments.” Mr McCain advocates attacking Iran if necessary in order to prevent it developing nuclear weapons, and last year was filmed singing “Bomb, bomb Iran” to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann”.

Rabid Commentary of the Week
OBAMA SPEECH INSULTS OUR INTELLIGENCE
This is why the guy is probably now unelectable
http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd351.htm
On March 18, 2006, Barack Obama gave what dullards in the dominant media have dubbed as his "race" speech in response to the fire storm over his long time association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. This speech was damage control, a carefully crafted oration full of all the right words and phrases in an effort to stop Caucasian voters from running away from his campaign.

DIONNE: OBAMA MUST FEEL KINSHIP WITH JOB(E)
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=0303ffd1-50c3-4019-9923-71e12c23cf81
Jeremiah Wright, the preacher who brought Barack Obama to Jesus, also brought him the week from hell. Anyone within reach of even the most primitive forms of media now knows that Wright, the retired pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ, has preached sermons that veered into the swamp of anti-Americanism and indulged in wild conspiracy theories. So, after being subject to a rumor campaign that pronounced him a stealth Muslim, Obama was now widely deemed to subscribe to a defective brand of Christianity. What other politician has been so plagued by matters involving God? It would not be surprising if Obama felt a sudden kinship for Job.

Animals in the news!
THE FASTEST EVOLVING REPTILE ON EARTH!

NO, NO, NOT DICK. . .
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/03/24/tuatara-evolution.html
GORGEOUS FINCHES RETURN TO BRIT GARDENS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/26/finches.birdwatch
SEA GULLS ARE NASTY S.O.B.’S
Wolves of the bird world
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=127357&in_page_id=34

Obits
R.I.P. ART ARAGON
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/golden_boy_art_aragon_80.php


And in more important matters. . .

Beatles author remembers Aspinall
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=545528&in_page_id=1770

Lost Angeles
COUPLE WON’T COME BACK TO SANTA MONICA
Vacation ruined by well-dressed bike thieves
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/they_wont_return_to_santa.php

HAMBAGOO, ANYONE?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/26/style/26japan-food.php
In New York or Los Angeles, fans of Japanese cuisine can rattle off orders for uni and o-toro, or urbanely express a preference for soba over udon. But what about "Napolitan," cooked spaghetti that is rinsed in cold water, then stir-fried with vegetables in ketchup? Or "menchi katsu," hamburger covered in bread crumbs and deep-fried? Or "omu rice," an omelet lying over a mound of ketchup-flavored rice?

BRIT LOOKS FOR 1968 IN TOPANGA CANYON
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/mar/26/losangeles.usa
Touted by contemporary Angelenos as the neighbourhood where you're most likely to find "old hippies" in their natural habitat, Topanga Canyon is still championed for its idealistic, free-spirited, all-natural allure. But just how much of that allure is exaggerated, or refracted through the rainbow-tinted, round-rimmed spectacles of nostalgia? We set off on a day trip, to find out.

Film
KAPUR TAKES OVER MINGHELLA FILM PROJECT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7314134.stm

Books
IAN FLEMING’S OWN ‘MONEYPENNY’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7314336.stm

Light Reading
DID COLERIDGE PUBLISH BLANK-VERSE TRANSLATION OF ‘FAUST?”
http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=xbzfpk9f62pbzx68nqkfhccq3y8v0bsy

And in the end. . .
WORLD CLOCK
http://www.chippynews.com/worldclock.htm

3/25 skylines
Morning Concert
HENDRIX DOES CREAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2TSpusRV-8&NR=1

Cambodian Girl Gets Heart Fixed
http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_8686976?source=rss_viewed

EXPERTS: GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/21/medicalresearch.usa
DONICETHINGS.COM 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0325/p01s01-usgn.html

STRIPPER HIRED FOR FUNERAL
Talk about raising the dead
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2008/03/23/stripper-hired-to-dance-at-funeral/

WATCH: CHINA CELEBRATES STATUS AS NO. 1 AIR POLLUTER!
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/china_celebrates_its_status_as

STRANGE BLACK GUY ASKS FOR CHANGE
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/black_guy_asks_nation_for_change

TIGER WOODS GOES F-----G NUTS
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/other/article.html?in_article_id=126103&in_page_id=52

JAPAN TRAINS PATROLLED BY ‘ETIQUETTE POLICE’
We could use them on freeways
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7312672.stm

And on to news and comment. . .

WATCH: BILLARY BACKPEDALS
AFTER LYING ABOUT SNIPER FIRE
Her credibility---what credibility?---is shot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BfNqhV5hg4
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7116582&ch=4226716&src=news

BARRY O.’S TRINITY UNITED CHURCH IS STILL AT IT
Still blowing hot air and hatred
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1724976,00.html
McKissick thundered: "Fox News, CNN, ABC ... they're so stupid that they don't even know the word 'damn' is not a profanity but a Hebraic proclivity, meaning God's curse will fall on all those who defy his love. They know not with whom they are messing. Jeremiah Wright might have retired in body, but just like Jesus, he's coming back more powerful than ever! Damn you! Damn anyone who messes with the anointed."

All-melty Dollar
MUTUAL FUND SCHWAB YIELD-PLUS CRASHES
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/BUNPVPMK8.DTL&tsp=1
MORTGAGE-RESCUE SCAMS NOW A BIG BUSINESS
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/FedCrimes/story?id=4512279&page=1

GREEN: HOW LETHALLY STUPID CAN ONE COUNTRY BE?
(Prettttty stoooopid. . .)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19596.htm
Watching George W. Bush in operation these last couple of weeks is like having an out-of-body experience. On acid. During a nightmare. In a different galaxy.
As he presides over the latest disaster of his administration, (No, it’s not a terrorist attack - that was 2001! No, it’s not a catastrophic war - that was 2003! No, it’s not a drowning city - that was 2005! This one is an economic meltdown, ladies and gentlemen!) bringing to it the same blithe disengagement with which he’s attended the previous ones, you cannot but stop and gaze in stark, comedic awe, realizing that the most powerful polity that ever existed on the planet twice picked this imbecilic buffoon as its leader, from among 300 million other choices.

HERBERT: O-MAN’S CHALLENGE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,543152,00.html

Homeland Insecurity
ONLY 1 PERCENT OF FLIGHTS HAVE AIR MARSHALLS
As we’ve been long saying, the government has done nothing to increase security since 9/11
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/03/25/siu.air.marshals/index.html
AL-QAEDA GROWING IN N. AFRICA---GERMAN INTELL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,543129,00.html

Electile Dysfunction
WHY PA. ISN’T OHIO OR WISCONSIN
http://www.csmonitor.com/patchworknation/csmstaff/2008/0324/breaking-down-the-rust-belt-how-pa-is-different/
The Pennsylvania primary on April 22 – a pivotal moment in the presidential contest – will be determined in part by a demographic question: Is the Keystone State more like Wisconsin, which Barack Obama won by a landslide, or like Ohio, where Hillary Rodham Clinton coasted to a convincing victory?

POST-ELECTION TAIWAN MARKETS STRONGEST IN DECADE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7310972.stm

Iraq and Roll
MORRIS: A NEW COMBAT LEXICON
http://www.vqronline.org/webexclusive/2008/03/20/morris-contradictionary
CNN Solipsism: tendency of newly-arrived, Ivy League-educated reporters from major outlets to view the war in exclusively news-cycle terms. This person has no idea of why someone would enlist in the military and has never before visited the Middle East. Such individuals think nothing of chatting up privates about the political fallout from the lack of up-armored Humvees in theater.
ONLY TWO PAPERS PUT 4,000 U.S. IRAQ DEATHS ON PAGE ONE
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/#80528

SAUDI KING CALLS FOR DIALOGUE AMONG JEWS, CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/03/25/africa/OUKWD-UK-SAUDI-RELIGION-DIALOGUE.php

People’s Repugnic
TWO KILLED AT TIBET PROTEST IN SICHUAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/25/tibet.china

Animals in the news!
MASSIVE DIE-OFF OF BATS IN N.Y. STATE
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/science/25bats.html?em&ex=1206590400&en=659fa34c5520a36c&ei=5087%0A
In what is one of the worst calamities to hit bat populations in the United States, on average 90 percent of the hibernating bats in four caves and mines in New York have died since last winter.
WOLVERINES THRIVING NEAR LAKE TAHOE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/BAHKVPL1V.DTL

Enviro Wacko
Melting Glaciers Will Shrink Harvests in China and India
http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2008/Update71.htm

(Lack of) Health
HORMONE REPLACEMENT FIGHTS ALZHEIMER’S?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7312252.stm

IS HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE BAD FOR YOU?
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/80512/
Superstars like Sylvester Stallone not only take it to bulk up for films like his latest Rambo roid rage-fest, but also advise anyone within range that they should hop on its juice as well.

Oh, by the way. . .
HOW HITLER WOULD HAVE REBUILT BERLIN
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1725102,00.html
The building that best illustrates Hitler's megalomania is the so-called Volkshalle (People's Hall). Around 320 meters (350 yards) in height and covered with a giant dome, it would have been the largest domed building in the world — able to accommodate 180,000 people at once. A 3-D model of Germania, originally made for the film The Downfall, a German movie about Hitler's last days, makes its dimensions visible.
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BESUBORU GAME
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0325/p04s07-woap.html

And in more important matters. . .

Light reading
HOW MUCH CLOUT DOES THE DALAI LAMA REALLY HAVE?
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/03/31/080331crbo_books_mishra?currentPage=all
As Pico Iyer writes in his new book, “The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama” (Knopf; $24), it is easy to imagine that the Dalai Lama is “the plaything of movie stars and millionaires.”

Film
THE ANGRY MONK OF TIBET
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2007/02/28/the-angry-monk/
http://www.himalmag.com/2006/october/review_1.htm
http://www.angrymonkthefilm.ch/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCpb4cfytT4

TOM STOPPARD ON 1968
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3558639.ece
A small incident which must have confirmed some people’s worst suspicions about me occurred when I was asked to sign a protest against “censorship” after a newspaper declined to publish somebody’s manifesto. “But that isn’t censorship,” I said. “That’s editing. In Russia you go to prison for possessing a copy of Animal Farm. That’s censorship.”

THE WOMAN WHO WALKS BAREFOOT!
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/wellbeing/story/0,,2267873,00.html
BAREFOOTIN’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ttapoO71EM

BEATLES FAMILY GRAVEYARD IS GETTING FULL
R.I.P. Neil Aspinall
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7312672.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/arts/music/25aspinall.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin
MORE ASPINALL:
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/323neilaspinall.html

For Art’s Sake
MAN ‘PAINTS’ WITH DISCARDED SF MUNI PASSES
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/BAV7VLBNL.DTL

And in the end. . .
STAR EXPLODES, SCIENTISTS BLAME GALAXY
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s5i32388

3/24 skylines
Morning Concert
WHEN THE MUSIC'S OVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slvPMU-7OyI&feature=related
BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7FGrOnHgfY

BID NOW: THE WORLD'S GREATEST RECORD COLLECTION
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320230084120

THE MONSTER BUNNY BREEDER OF GERMANY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,543036,00.html

Don’t tase me, bro
FLA COPS TASER NAKED MAN TO DEATH
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/03/21/5071821-ap.html

DOG PRAYS IN JAPANESE TEMPLE
And who can blame him?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7310993.stm

POOR OLSEN’S RETURN TO PRISON HAS TO BE POLITICAL
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/state_recalculates_olsons.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/24/usa.humanrights

LIVERPOOL ECHO: SHUT UP, HEATHER
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/our-view/2008/03/18/now-shut-up-heather-100252-20639421/
Did Paul hide anti-Heather message in song? (No, you don’t play it backwards.)
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=125537&in_page_id=7

MCCAIN WOULD BE 6TH CIVIL WAR VETERAN PREZ
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/03/cartoon_mccain_civil_war_verteran.html

SURGERY DAY FOR 9-YEAR-OLD CAMBODIAN GIRL
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/surgery_day_for_davik.php

And on to news and comment. . .

BUCHANAN:
AMERICA HAS BEEN ‘BEST COUNTRY
ON EARTH FOR BLACK FOLKS’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/24/buchanan-america-has-been-the-best-country-on-earth-for-black-folks/
The Full Column
http://buchanan.org/blog/?p=969
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks — with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas — to advance black applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks. We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?

Barack and Roll
OBAMA STRUGGLES TO RECOVER---
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/22/uselections2008.barackobama
---BUT LEADS AGAIN IN POLLS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/24/wuspols124.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox
THE O-MAN’S TOXIC ADVISORS
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3602710.ece
“Nothing could be more dangerous to Mr Obama’s aspirations than the revelation that he, the son of a white woman, sat Sunday after Sunday – for 20 years – in an Afrocentric, black nationalist church in which his own mother, not to mention other whites, could never feel comfortable,” said Shelby Steele, a Stanford University historian and author of a book on Obama.
FOOTAGE OF WRIGHT YOU WON’T SEE ON FOX
(He still looks like a ranting Jesus nut to me.)
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/election08/80481/
Can O-Man Preside Over “New Majority?”
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/23/america/liberal.php

Iraq and roll
U.S. THREATENED ALLIES IF THEY
DID NOT JOIN ‘COALITION OF WILLING’
Join up, or we hit you with a trade war, said Bush
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19584.htm
97 PERCENT OF 4,000 U.S. DEATHS CAME AFTER ‘MISSION ACCOMPLISHED’
How did this human turd ever get eight years in office?
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/97_percent_of_US_death_toll_0324.html
Or is it more than 4,000?
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2008/03/21/02286.html
NUMBER OF IRAQIS KILLED
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

WATCH TONIGHT: FRONTLINE---‘BUSH’S WAR’
See preview:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/

LISTEN: JFK SPEECH EERILY APPLIES TO TODAY
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/374938/john_f_kennedy_speech_on_secret_societies/

Your corporatocracy at work!
GAS NEARS $4, CHENEY PRAISES SAUDIS
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/As_oil_prices_rise_Cheney_praises_0324.html
AND THEN HE JUMP-STARTS PEACE PROCESS!
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/03/cartoon_cheney_detonates_atomic_grenade.html

Mashed Media
THE CRUDDIEST MOMENT OF THE CRAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE ON EARTH. . .
happened as I found myself watching five televisions simultaneously, each containing a different political pundit opining on the same subject. When I looked down toward my computer screen to see what the bloggers were saying about it, I noticed that a button on my shirt had come undone.There I was, literally contemplating my own navel. But I didn't even crack a smile because, in the relentless drone of insipid opinion, irony no longer held any meaning.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/18/AR2008031802463_pf.html

Little Joe Gotta Go
CONN. PAPER SORRY FOR ENDORSING LITTLE JOEY LIEBERMAN
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=ebf24507-9e00-405c-96ed-a82fb2f5373b

BHUTTO AIDE IS NEW PAKI PRIME MINISTER
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/24/asia/pakistan.php

TIBET PROTESTORS DISRUPT OLYMPIC TORCH CEREMONY
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/24/tibet.olympicgames2008

Jesus H. Christ!
ASPIRING POL CHANGES NAME TO ‘PRO LIFE’
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/03/24/aspiring-idaho-politician-changes-name-to-pro-life/

Corazon Aquino diagnosed with colon cancer
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/24/asia/phil.php

And in more important matters. . .

ZUCKERMAN PLAYS MOST EXPENSIVE INSTRUMENT IN THE WORLD
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2267686,00.html

WHY WON’T PHONE BOOKS DIE?
http://www.slate.com/id/2187035/pagenum/all/

Books
HOW NOBEL LIT PRIZE-WINNER’S CRUELTY KILLED HIS WIFE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/21/nnaipaul121.xml

Film
TEKKON KINKREET
http://www.internetweekly.org/2008/03/art_tekkonkinkreet.html

MAN GIVES UP 17 YEARS OF HIS LIFE
TO LOOK FOR LOCH NESS MONSTER
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/privatelives/story/0,,2267752,00.html

THE MASTER OF SCIENCE AND MYSTICISM: AN APPRAISAL OF CLARKE
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120597453581750513.html?mod=opinion_journal_leisure_art

And in the end. . .
DOES A MUNCHKIN COMMIT SUICIDE IN ‘WIZARD OF OZ’?
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_016.html

3/22 newsette:

KUOMINTANG FINALLY TAKES BACK TAIWAN
After eight years of travesty under Chen
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=393804
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1724947,00.html

OBAMA SEEMS INEPT AT ‘PATRIOT GAMES’
http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=392200
Obama's post-racial, culturally transcendent candidacy suddenly became vulnerable to the deep-rooted racial anxieties of many white voters who could swing either Democrat or Republican in November. . .His comment on Thursday to a Philadelphia radio station -- that his racially suspicious grandmother was a "typical white person" -- poured new fuel on a controversy that he seemed to be bringing under control.
HIS LEAD OVER BILLARY DISAPPEARS
(The O-man is through, folks. Either that, or it’s Mad John McCain in Nov.)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/22/uselections2008.barackobama
http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=386258
HE DEFENDED WRIGHT, BUT BLASTED IMUS
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_wright_imus/2008/03/19/81557.html?s=sp&promo_code=4795-1

BILLARY: NO CHANCE OF WINNING THE GENERAL ELECTION?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9149.html

MORE CHINA FUN:
CHINA ORCHESTRATING WEB ATTACKS ON THOSE WHO ARE PRO-DARFUR?
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/china-and-darfur-2/?ref=opinion

Then there's the small matter of China holding somewhere around $980 billion in U.S. dollars.
But even that could backfire
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=112655
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/966762.html

3/21 skylines:
Morning Concert

HEY, MAN, I DIG YOUR EYELINER
http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/80142/
 
THE BITCH IS BACK: ELTON TO PLAY FOR HILLARY
http://www.observer.com/2008/elton-and-hillary-one-night-only-coming-radio-city-music-hall

RACIST “STUFF WHITE PEOPLE LIKE” WEBSITE
GETS $350K BOOK DEAL
And you want to be an author?
http://www.observer.com/2008/stuff-white-people-book-sold-random-house-least-350-000

OLSON RELEASED FROM PRISON
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-olson21mar21,1,1338288.story

STARBUCKS BARRISTAS GET $100 MILLION TIP!
Judge rules they did not have to share tips with bosses
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/20/BAGAVNG6O.DTL

Filipinos mark Good Friday with customary whips and nails
http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnMAN344779.html

MORFORD TO CHINA: WILL YOU PLEASE JUST IMPLODE?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2008/03/21/notes032108.DTL
The odds of Bob Costas cutting away from hyping our cute perky Coke-drinking gymnastics team to show a shocking image of a dead monk lying in the street of Lhasa? About one in a billion.

And on to Obama news and comment. . .


SHOTS OF BILL CLINTON, “REV.” WRIGHT IN NYT
---CLINTON CAMP OUTRAGED
Heh heh. . .
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Clinton_camp_raps_Obama_camp_for_0321.html
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/photograph-of-bill-clinton-and-rev-wright-surfaces/

CONDI APOLOGIZES TO OBAMA OVER PASSPORT SCANDAL
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080321/ap_on_el_pr/obama_passport
Ex-Inspector General:
Nefarious political purpose behind passport breach?
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Former_Inspector_General_sees_political_motivation_0321.html
Snooping on Barry O.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1724520,00.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/03/20/politics/p174307D21.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1

RICHARDSON ENDORSES O-MAN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7308518.stm

WHY TARGET WRIGHT AND NOT WHITE?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/different-standards-for-b_b_92337.html
Jerry Falwell said America had 9/11 coming because we tolerated gays, feminists and liberals. It was our fault. Our chickens had come home to roost, if you will. John McCain proudly received his support and even spoke at his university's commencement.
The Origin of Obama and Wright
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723990,00.html

ANOTHER POLL PUTS CLINTON AHEAD OF OBAMA
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Clinton_takes_lead_over_Obama_in_Ga_03202008.html

OBAMA SPENDING $1.5 MILLION A DAY
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Obama_spends_1_5_million_a_day_03202008.html

The Speech
FORMER MCCAIN AIDE PRAISES OBAMA
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/what-obama-said-revisited/?ex=1206763200&en=70c6dee7a365d661&ei=5070&emc=eta1
The senator from Illinois reminded us of his talents not just as an orator, but as a leader, and he has received deserved credit for his willingness to take on this difficult subject in such a historic and high-profile manner. Watching him even from across a sizable ideological and partisan divide, it was clear that no other contemporary political figure could have broached this difficult subject with such skill.
JACKASS NEOCON KRAUTHAMMER MAKES SOME POINTS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032003017.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
BLUES FOR OBAMA
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=300422
Win or lose, whatever happens next, Barack Obama is now established as one of those rare, courageous teachers who leads the country onto new ground.
OBAMA’S PROGRESSIVE PATRIOTISM
http://www.alternet.org/election08/80390/
I saw a man who for days had appeared somewhat at sea, buffeted by waves that relentlessly pushed him off course, seem to find his compass and chart a course directly into the eye of the storm.
MAHER: OBAMA IS THE JACKIE ROBINSON OF POLITICS
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/election08/80378/
SPEECH KEEPS SUPERDELEGATE ON THE FENCE
http://www.observer.com/2008/obama-race-speech-keeps-maine-superdelegate-fence
ACADEMICS REACT TO THE SPEECH
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723442,00.html

Inhuman race
HERE’S WHAT OBAMA IS UP AGAINST, ON THE ONE HAND. . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA8z39Z8PJY&feature=related
AND ON THE OTHER. . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr7WbC6mXM8
AND STILL ON THE OTHER. . .
http://www.wikio.com/comments/?groupid=49371932&wfid=49371932 

DAILY MAIL HIT-JOB: OBAMA’S DRUNKEN, BIGOT FATHER
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=431908&in_page_id=1770

Electile Dysfunction
WILL DEAN COST THE DEMS FLORIDA?
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1724374,00.html

Now back to our regularly scheduled newslinks. . .

CHINESE TROOPS SWARM TIBET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080321/ap_on_re_as/china_tibet;_ylt=An5GzM7sVdVx05uapj1PDDes0NUE
THE DALAI LAMA’S MOMENT OF TRUTH
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,542886,00.html
TIBET IS BIG FOCUS IN TOMORROW’S BIG TAIWAN ELECTION
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7308125.stm
PELOSI CALLS FOR TIBET INQUIRY
Lot of good that will do---why not an Olympic boycott, Nancy?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/21/tibet.pelosi

RAIMUNDO:
WE NEED A FOREIGN POLICY BASED ON USA’S REAL INTERESTS
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12558
If we withdraw from Iraq, the sectarian violence delayed for so long will no doubt be terrible, exacerbated by the recent turn in US policy of encouraging the Sunnis and even arming them – supposedly against al Qaeda – which further postpones and complicates the resolution of Iraq's internal crisis. Yet the blame for this rests squarely on the shoulders of the War Party. It is just like the neocons to blame others for the consequences of their own policies, and that's just what they're doing – even as they call for the acceleration of the very policies that led us to the present disastrous moment.

Israelity

MCCAIN, NEOCONS, AND THE ISRAEL LOBBY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfLeZXrluZw

Mashed Media
GERMAN JEWISH GROUP SUES YOUTUBE FOR ANTI-SEMITIC CONTENT
They’re right---there is a lot of filth on Youtube
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,542842,00.html

CUBA SHOULD BECOME THE HONG KONG OF LATIN AMERICA?
I don’t know. . .all those great old cars would have to go. . .
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=5c8b72dc-092d-4ded-bab7-20633223bf80&sponsor=

Oh, by the way. . .
AUTHOR DIES BY EUTHANASIA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7308618.stm

And in more important matters. . .

Science
REGROW YOUR NOSE---NO, REALLY
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=regrowing-human-limbs&print=true

DON’T TEXT AND WALK AT THE SAME TIME
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1724522,00.html

‘I YEARN FOR 1968’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/21/1

How did Converse get all wrapped up with rock ‘n’ roll?
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/fashion/story/0,,2267185,00.html

Film
A.O. SCOTT ON ‘HORTON’
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/21/arts/flik22.php

For Art’s Sake
DUBAI REINVENTS ITSELF AS ARTS CENTER
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,542874,00.html
Thirty years ago, Dubai wasn't on the international art map. Today, Art Dubai 2008 serves up a cocktail of private equity firms and expensive art, where Land Rovers and seven-star hotels swaddle international art buyers in a simulated Arabian paradise.

And in the end. . .
WELCOME, TINY GIANT TORTOISE!
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=123335&in_page_id=34
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBPRNcWG9UU