I don't mind you coming here and wasting all my time 'cause when you're standing oh so near I kinda lose my mind it's not the perfume that you wear it's not the ribbons in your hair I don't mind you coming here and wasting all my time I don't mind you hanging out and talking in your sleep it doesn't matter where you've been as long as it was deep you always knew to wear it well you look so fancy I can tell I don't mind you hanging out and talking in your sleep I guess you're just what I needed I needed someone to feed I guess you're just what I needed I needed someone to bleed ---o0o---
1) An Ex-Aide Loses Faith in the President. Matthew Dowd joined George W. Bush’s in 1999, jumping from the Democratic Party. He believed in George Bush, and was one of the top aides who built the flip-flop strategy that tarred John Kerry throughout his Preidential bid. He was Bush's 2004 chief campaign strategist. In an interview, Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed extreme disappointment with The President. Dowd has even considered writing an editorial "John Kerry was right."
2) D. Kyle Sampson calls A.G. Gonzales a liar, and by extension, The President. Gonzales' credibility is already in the toilet due to changing stories, and damaging document disclosures. Now, he may have taken a fatal hit when Sampson told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the attorney general had been long and deeply involved in an action that Gonzales has said he knew little or nothing about.
3) At least five other stories surfaced this week depicting mayhem in The White House. The President is slowly becoming President in name only and his bellicose sabre-rattling has become just irritating background noise. The mood of the country seems to be "let's just get through this next 21 months with as little damage as possible." ---o0o---
I have dumped on Tony Snow quite a few times here, both "editorially" and in a couple of parodies. I disagree with probably 89% of everything that comes out of his mouth. When he was on the radio (I caught his show when I could), he was far more rational than he could ever be in his role as President Bush's Number One Defender, flak catcher, and information vector. Frankly, I still don't know why he took on this role, which must be at least a million dollar pay cut. But to his credit, he had done a good job for a bad President. Even before the White House, Tony Snow was one of the good guys. Our hopes are with him as he battles a recurrence, and spread, into his liver, of the cancer he first fought three years ago.
I have been a big fan of Elizabeth Edwards since I saw a speech she gave in the last campaign when John was running as Vice-President. She is probably my second favorite political spouse (just behind Bill Clinton). I believe her husband will emerge from the pack as the democratic front-runner. I don't know how the recurrence of her cancer, that is now "incurable," will affect his standings. It doesn't seem to hurt in the polls so far, but what people say to the pollsters and what they do in the voting booth are two different things. I don't know. People have been blogging, writing and talking about the ethics of the Edwards' decision to go ahead with the presidential race. But isn't really up to them? Reading between the lines, it sounds like it will be an uphill battle. I am pulling for her. ---o0o---
Unfortunately, this 1994 video is the oldest one I could find. In my booklet, The Stones by 1994 were about twenty years past their prime. This is unquestionably one of their greatest songs. Also unfortunately, they did not sing my favorite part of the song--the woo woo choruses--and left that part to the organ. I remember what a drill-job it was when this tune originally appeared. The first time I heard it I was floored. And I still dig the tune nearly forty years later. Aside from the blitzkreig references, I don't think an American could have written such a literate tune. A first person narrative and commentary from a sly and sophisticated Lucifer! The lyrics outline some of the greatest outrages we (e.g., humanity) have performed against each other over the centuries.
The Stones got off the hook from the fundamentalists and others when a song from the same album, Street Fighting Man, was linked to The Watts Riots and other street actions of the late 60s.
Rolling Stone was right on this one. They placed the tune at No. 32 in their list of the 500 greatest rock songs. I might have put it a little higher.
Sympathy For The Devil
by Jagger-Richard
Please allow me to introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste I've been around for a long, long year Stole many a man's soul and faith
And I was 'round when Jesus Christ Had his moment of doubt and pain Made damn sure that Pilate Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet you Hope you guess my name But what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game
I stuck around St. Petersberg When I saw it was a time for a change Killed the Czar and his ministers Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank Held a general's rank When the Blitzkrieg raged And the bodies stank
Pleased to meet you Hope you guess my name, oh yeah What's puzzling you Is the nature of my game,
I watched with glee As your kings and queens Fought for ten decades For the Gods they made
I shouted out "Who killed the Kennedys?" When after all It was you and me
Let me please introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste And I laid traps for troubadors Who get killed before they reached Bombay
Pleased to meet you Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah But what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
Pleased to meet you Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah But what's confusing you Is just the nature of my game
Just as every cop is a criminal And all the sinners saints As heads is tails Just call me Lucifer 'Cause I'm in need of some restraint
So if you meet me Have some courtesy Have some sympathy, and some taste Use all your well-learned politics Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah
Pleased to meet you Hope you guessed my name, um yeah But what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game, um baby, get down
Woo, who Oh yeah, get on down Oh yeah Oh yeah!
Tell me baby, what's my name Tell me honey, baby guess my name Tell me baby, what's my name I tell you one time, you're to blame
Ooo, who Ooo, who Ooo, who Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Oh, yeah
What's my name Tell me, baby, what's my name Tell me, sweetie, what's my name
Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Ooo, who, who Oh, yeah ---o0o---
Ex-Republican mayor of 9/11, Rudolph Giuliani, was endorsed by Steve Forbes today in his 2008 presidential bid. The billionaire publisher, failed Presidential candidate, and flat tax proponent will also help co-chair the campaign according to the Giuliani Campaign.
So now, the scariest looking politician of the late 20th century throws in with Rudy. As if Giuliani doesn't have trouble enough! It couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.
All This Is That has been in contact with Charles Manson in Corcoran State Prison in California, in hopes we can induce him to also endorse the former mayor.
Giuliani is perhaps best known as being Mayor of New York City the day of the September 1, 2001 WTC attack. He is also widely-known as the man who kept his mistress on one floor and his family on another floor of the mayor's home, Gracie Mansion. Since leaving office, Giuliani has exploited his popularity--and enriched his bank balance--through a security consulting firm where he markets his expertise in being attacked.
The Republican front-runner, who has amazingly yet to lose his temper in the early race, has about six weeks left before his candidacy implodes. With Senator John McCain's shockingly anemic performance, it will only be about two months before Ex-governor Mitt Romney surges into the lead.
According to an article yesterdayin Music-news.com "Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert, according to reports. "
Jackson has apparently moved back to Sin City from Dubai, and is contemplating yet another comeback attempt.
The article says "If built, the metal monster would apparently be visible to aircraft as they come in to land in the casino capital. " The robot will also include numerous lasers that should look fantastic, firing into the dark desert skies.
Tony Snow, the White House Press Secretary who beat colon cancer two years ago, revealed Tuesday that the cancer has returned and spread to his liver, delivering another jackhammer blow to family and friends, and of course, to a White House already staggering from a stunning barrage of bad news.
Tony Snow's cancer was the latest in a never-ending torrent of bad news for The President: the conviction of a former White House aide, a guilty plea by another former official, mass defections from within his own poltical party, resignations of other functionaries, and a shotgun blast of revelations of lying and skullduggery that now jeopardize the attorney general's job.
Studying the odds, it is bizarre that so much has bad luck has befallen this White House. But, alas, The President seems unable to catch a break. His house of cards is about to hit the deck.
According to the Associated Press, an aide to Sen. Jim Webb was arrested yesterday when he entered the Russel Senate Office Building with a loaded pistol belonging to the senator.
The aide—Phillip Thompson, an old friend and employee of Webb—was caught by an X-ray as he attempted to enter the Senate building. "A congressional official briefed on the incident said Webb gave the gun to Thompson when the assistant drove him to an airport earlier in the day. Thompson, upon entering the Senate building, forgot he was carrying the weapon. "
Editorial comment: We agree that Thompson probably forgot he was packing heat. Only the developmentally challenged would believe they could slip through the X-ray machines. Take my word for it: I can't even sneak my stainless steel hip through the scanners.
Are you as shocked as I am to know that Senator Webb, an anti-war candidate, routinely walks around with a fully-loaded pistol? And two more loaded clips? He's not only loaded for bear, he's ready for a herd of bears (technically, a sleuth of bears). I understand why a high profile Senator might be skittish about security. I even understand why he expects trouble. But a fully loaded gun, and two more clips? This guy is not just looking to defend himself; he's looking for a firefight. He's expecting serious trouble, and needing to reload two times? I don't know, but if it ever comes to that at my job, I think I'll find another line of work.
What about the Washington gun control laws? Washington, D.C., law says it is illegal for anyone to own a handgun unless he or she is a police officer or has owned a gun registered prior to 1976. And even those allowed to possess a gun must keep it unloaded. I guess Webb may have been a gun owner for thirty years, but I don't really believe that. Why is he allowed to flout the law in The District? ---o0o---
NEW YORK—Supporters of the former mayor praised Giuliani for his "early and unwavering commitment" to 9/11
With Rudy, it's all about numbers. Six marriages, nine/eleven. The soaring numbers in his checking account, as he ruthlessly exploits his expertise in being attacked. If the measure of a hero is how many photo opportunities you race around to in the middle of a disaster, Rudy Giuliani is a hero.
Rudy is poised to be the Republican McGovern, Mondale, and Dukakis, all rolled into one. Heh heh.
According to Claudia Joseph in The Daily Mail scientists have created the world's first human-sheep chimera, with the body of a sheep and sheep-human organ hybrids.
These sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells. Clearly, their evolution raises the prospects of even more animal organs being transplanted into humans. Professor Esmail Zanjani, of the University of Nevada, spent seven years and 7 million dollars perfecting the technique of injecting adult human cells into sheep's fetuses.
Saturn's largest moon—Titan—was discovered on March 25, 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, and was the first satellite in the Solar System to be discovered after the Galilean moons of Jupiter. So, I guess it's not really its 352nd birthday after all, but the 352nd anniversary of its discovery. On the other hand, stars, planets, and moons don't really get a chance to celebrate their birthdays, so we'll give this one to Titan.
Titan has a lot of brothers and sisters too: Saturn has 34 known moons. Titan is one of the few moons in our solar system with its own atmosphere.
Titan itself is bigger than the planets Mercury and Pluto (in fact, didn't Pluto just get defrocked with the advent of the 10th planet?). The photograph above is, naturally, from the Cassini voyager.
Other recent All This Is That articles on the solar system:
These poems are loosely based on the Book of Changes a/k/a I Ching. Numbers 29 - 47 are new since the last index (January 20th, 2007). There are about 17 left to write.
This index includes all the poems published here, except the Changes poems, which are indexed here. Only the top five poems are new since January 20, 2007. The other poems written since January 20 were all in the Changes Series.
Former Gov. Fife Symington says now that those strange lights that appeared over Phoenix a decade ago were from another world and he admitted having a close encounter with an alien craft on March 13, 1997. At the time, however, he publicly mocked the very idea at a press conference. The Arizona Daily Star has an interesting article about his new revelations.
Symington, who was in his second term as governor of Arizona during the Phoenix Lights incident, recently told a UFO investigator making a documentary that he had kept quiet about his personal close encounter because he didn't want to panic the populace.
Symington repeated his story Thursday on CNN, saying the craft he saw was "enormous. It just felt other-worldly. In your gut, you could just tell it was other-worldly."
France opened its files on UFOs Thursday when their space agency rolled out a website documenting 1,600 sightings in the last fifty years.
The archive will be updated as new cases are reported. It includes reports from obviously delusional crackpots to cases that still have scientists scratching their heads. The U.S. has been notoriously stingy with their files. Over the years, only a few documents have appeared under the Freedom of Information Act.
As you well know, UFOs have always engendered conspiracy theories about government cover-ups of findings of things so horrible and frightening that the public Must Never Know.
Of the 1,600 cases since 1954, nearly 25 percent are classified as "type D", meaning that "despite good or very good data and credible witnesses, we are confronted with something we can't explain."
The website appears to be seriously overloaded, but things should be better in a few days: www.cnes-geipan.fr
If you've known me long, you probably know that I am a life-long Richard Nixon afficionado. Not that I actually liked the misanthropic thug. . .but I respected him, despite his many many faults. I spent a little time at his house (albeit standing in the cold outside)--see the post below on Visiting Richard Nixon. Some recent posts here on President Nixon:
Early next week, I will be in Newport Beach, California on business, and I have arranged an afternoon to achieve a lifelong dream. . .I am going to the Nixon Library and birthplace in Yorba Linda. And I even get to see the Elvis-Nixon exhibit, which has been running since January. I well remember the numerous times we stopped by Nixon's townhouse on the upper east side, and how the Secret Service never even hassled us, despite our loud laughter and brewski tilting. I guess President Nixon didn't want any "incidents." Maybe on our trip to NYC this spring, I can revisit the scene of that old crime! Below this is an article from the Nixon Library on the Nixon-Elvis Exhibition I will be seeing next Tuesday. . .
The Day Elvis Met Nixon
The historic 1970 White House meeting of Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon will be commemorated in a special exhibit opening on Elvis’ birthday, Monday, January 8, highlighted with the sartorial choices of the President and the King.
Opening day events included a lecture by special guest Egil “Bud” Krogh, the assistant to President Nixon who staffed the Elvis-RN meeting and recalled the events in his book, The Day Elvis Met Nixon, writing: “I had prepared a memo for the President with a summary of Elvis’ letter and some talking points for their visit, but who knew where this was going to go? We got the memo back from Bob Haldeman – he’d written on it, ‘You Must Be Kidding,’ but approved the meeting anyway, and I called Elvis back over.”
On special loan from Graceland, the exhibit will highlight the black velvet suit, boots, wing-collared white shirt and gold, diamond-studded belt worn by Elvis Presley during his White House drop-by December 21, 1970. The statesmanlike gray suit and tasteful tie worn by the 37th President also will be displayed.
Elvis would have been 72 on January 8, and President Nixon 94 on January 9. The iconic photo of their White House meeting is the most requested image from the National Archives.
The King requested the meeting in a hand-written letter on American Airlines stationery, which he presented to a startled guard at the northwest gate of the White House. Dear Mr. President, he wrote: First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and have great respect for your office . . . Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out…
The display also will include the gifts exchanged by the two iconic figures, from Elvis a commemorative World War II Colt 45 pistol in a presentation case, as well as family photos, and from RN, a set of Presidential cufflinks and an honorary Bureau of Narcotics Special Assistant badge requested by Elvis for his collection.
A Wisconsin man who argued that he could not be prosecuted for having sex with a deer because the animal was dead at the time, has been convicted. 20-year-old Bryan James Hathaway received probation and jail time after he was convicted of having sexual contact with a dead deer. Hathaway was found guilty in April 2005 of felony mistreatment of an animal after he killed a horse with the intention of having sex with it. He was sentenced Tuesday in Douglas County Circuit Court. "The type of behavior is disturbing," Judge Michael Lucci said. "It's disturbing to the public. It's disturbing to the court."
It's a bit of a twist on the old political adage, "Never be caught in bed with a dead woman or a live man."
You can read about the battles between Tomlin and Director Russell in an article in the New York Times from 2004. It is only in the last few days that the long-rumored video clips of some of the blowups have surfaced on the video sharing sites. A couple of the clips are below (at least until Tomlin or Russell's "people" remove them.
Sharon Waxman wrote in the New York Times article: "To get the performances he was after, Mr. Russell did all he could to raise the level of tension on set, unapologetically goading, shocking and teasing his actors. Sometimes these techniques prompted reactions that were less than photogenic. And in perhaps the most un-Hollywood move of all, Mr. Russell allowed a reporter to watch."
WASHINGTON, DC-Almost a year after the cessation of major combat and a month after the nation's first free democratic elections, President Bush unveiled the coalition forces' strategy for exiting Iraq.
The President And Advisor Karl Rove During Happier Times
The Associated Press reportsthat The White House on Tuesday offered to make political strategist Karl Rove, former counsel Harriet Meiers, and a couple of lesser-knowns available for congressional interviews in the investigation of the U.S. Attorneys firing scandal. The President proffered Congress some face time with his two closest aides, but will not allow testimony
—in public
—under oath
—under subpoena
—recorded (or, at least they said, no transcripts)
—more than once. No follow-ups, or additional interviews.
The White House move was announced after the Senate voted by a large margin to end the administration's ability to unilaterally fill U.S. attorney vacancies. The vote came as blowback over Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' firing of the prosecutors. Gonzales—or, more likely, his soon to be named successor—can no longer name attorneys to fill the vacancies. They must now be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The spanking measure passed the Senate with only two no votes!
All This Is That translation: The president says they can only testify if they can't be prosecuted for lying. He learned his lesson with Scooter Libby.
Gonzales got a morale boost with an early-morning call from President Bush. It was their first conversation since a week ago when the president said he was unhappy with how the Justice Department handled the firings. The President took his old friend, Gonzales, to the woodshed and yet because he is an old friend, POTUS said he would stand by him. And he told it to all of America last night. So we see The President again leaps to the aid of yet another morally bankrupt P.O.S. Of course, who knows what that really means? You saw how long he stood by Harriet Meiers when the chips were down? The President's show of support for Gonzales paints himself into the corner. Can he tiptoe his way over around and through this one?
The Politico broke the news today that "Republican officials operating at the behest of the White House have begun seeking a possible successor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose support among GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill has collapsed, according to party sources familiar with the discussions."
On the short list to replace Gonzales are Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (it looks like he survived the Katrina blowback); the White House anti-terrorism coordinator, Frances Townsend; Ex-Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson; and Ex-Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson (whose wife, Barbara, you may remember was killed on the jet that crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001).
Perhaps the strongest sign that Gonzales's goose is cooked was Press Secretary Tony Snow's feeble defense when asked if Gonzales would stay on the job: "We hope so," Snow said. "None of us knows what's going to happen to us over the next 21 months." Least of all, The Administration.
Gonzales's fatal move was lying to Congress over the eight dismissed U.S. Attorneys, on top of general ineptitude and an inability to effectively manage the Justice Department.