Thursday, December 31, 2009

Seattle may have let pro basketball go to Oklahoma City, but in their stead, we got pro soccer and the Lingerie League's Seattle Mist


click to enlarge

Seattle may have allowed/enabled the SuperSonics to depart for Oklahoma City (!), but in their stead, we do have the pro soccer Seattle Sounders, and, of course, the Seattle Mist of the Lingerie League. The Mist play in the suburbs of Seattle, in Kent--a few blocks from where I grew up. Unlike the departed SuperSonics, the resident Seahawks and Mariners, and the UW's Husky football team, the Seattle Mist actually win!
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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A salute to President Barack Obama, George W. Bush's magnificent clean-up man, or, the man with the broom following the elephant


by Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

As you probably know, I frequently criticize Barack Obama. I voted for the man and I like the man, but have been disappointed by his compromising and centrist stance on the issues of the day. His cool, cerebral approach is often just a little too cool. And there have been odd moments of distraction--two that come to mind are the beer party he held for his old Professor and the cop who busted him, and flying thousands of miles to throw a Hail-Mary for a Chicago Olympics bid. But that is, really, pretty small stuff.

Barack Obama has inherited and masterfully begun to tackle hundreds of problems that President George W. Bush either left behind, or actually created. This hit home this week with the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a passenger jet. And, once again, BHO is left to clean up his predecessor's mess. One expert says that the billions of dollars we have spent on airport security have been virtually worthless. Security expert Bruce Schneier wrote this week:

"For years I've been saying 'Only two things have made flying safer [since 9/11]: the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers.'"


President Barack Obama said U.S. intelligence agencies missed “red flagsthat would have put the Nigerian bomber on a no-fly list before Christmas Day, when he is accused of trying to blow up an airliner. He called this lapse a "systemic failure."

Our government failed to heed warnings that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab could pose a terrorist threat even after his father warned U.S. authorities about his concerns, the president said yesterday. President Obama said: The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America. Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, is charged with smuggling explosives onto a Northwest Airlines jet and trying to blow up the plane as it prepared to land in Detroit. The TSA's absurd response? Not let passengers leave their seats the last hour of a flight.

Obama said he expects results tomorrow from investigations he ordered into the nearly tragic failure of aviation security and terrorist intelligence gathering.

On top of everything else he assumed, The President now has to deal with cleaning up the entire national airline security system. If Bruce Schneier is correct, and it looks like he is, the President will need to rebuild that laughable system from the ground up. Between a two-front war, a teetering economy, and the other bits and pieces he must pick up, it's an absolute miracle Barack Obama was able to focus on health care reform. I'm glad to see he was able to get anything accomplished on that front. For now, he has to return to the job that will consume his next seven years in office: cleaning up the messes left behind by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
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Spotting a concealed weapon: how to tell if someone is packing a heater

Thanks to Jeff Clinton for sending along another great tidbit. This fascinating page from an NYC police training document. A couple years ago, a Seattle cop told me that he thought the majority of those leather fanny/front packs you see contain a heater of some sort.


click to enlarge
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Old Seattle photograph


click to enlarge

This photo is probably from about 1900 (the flags are 45 star, which they were from 1896-1908), taken at the corner of Seattle's 2d Avenue S. and South Jackson St. in Pioneer Square. The street doesn't look much different today. The buildings still exist. One was damaged in the 2001 earthquake but was restored. This corner is now leased by--surprise--a coffee shop. Photo courtesy Allen, of Vintageseattle.org. He bought the photo used. Note: Everyone in the photo is wearing a hat.
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Monday, December 28, 2009

Young Fresh Fellows Live in Europe: If you believe in Cleveland

The YFF toured Europe in late fall performing tunes from their excellent new album (we were at the release party at The Tractor). One of the strongest new tunes is "If you believe in Cleveland..."


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The Smoking Gun busts TMZ over photos of JFK with a crowd of naked women


click to enlarge

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

The Smoking Gun busts TMZ over their bogus photo/story of JFK frolicking with a bevy of naked women. The picture was actually from a 1967 Playboy story...

"TMZ claimed to have consulted with "multiple experts," including a forensic photo expert and two unnamed JFK biographers, as it sought to confirm that the late president was photographed surrounded by a quartet of naked women."



---o0o---

Friday, December 25, 2009

A christmas sort-of-shaggy-dog story

A Shaggy Dog Story from the Atlanta Daily

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I'm a very good looking girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, cosy winter nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. Rub me the right way and watch me respond. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me. Kiss me and I'm yours. Call (404) 874-7421 and ask for Petra.

Over 10,000 men called the Atlanta Humane Society about this 6-week old Labrador puppy.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The Doors' LA Woman


I forgot just how much I loved LA Woman by The Doors until last weekend when it came up in the dance music at the Hokit-Roberts annual blowout, and we danced our asses off! It's my favorite LA song of all time--I also like it because I can sing along perfectly with Jim Morrison on this last record. We had the same register but I could never confidently sing along until he'd ravaged his voice.



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Lord Buckley's Scrooge - audio and text



Since the first time I heard it in California in 1985 [ed's note: I know it was '85, because I wrote the date I bought his "Hiporama of the classics" on the inside cover], this is my favorite Christmas story of all time (it's all in the rendition, friends). Take ten and a half minutes to listen to this. For once, I am being serious. You know how the story ends, but Lord Buckley makes that ending sing hosannahs to the heavens. Th...e Lord (a title he annointed himself with) is one of those writers and performers whose work is shot through with his love of all of us, high, low, and in between. . .



A Hip Christmas Carol
by Lord Buckley


"Yes, me, I'm Scrooge and I got all Marley's barley,
and I'm the baddest cat in all dis world.
I been studyin' all my life how to Scrooge people,
and I guarantee I done some fine work in dat direction.
"Cratchit!"

"Yes, sir."

"You busy?"

"I shorely is, sir."

"See dat you keep busy.
Don't want no danglin' wanglin' around here.
Keep everybody tight.
And tell dem two cats come in here want to get some money
I ain't givin' no money away.

"Dey messin' wit Scrooge.
I'm takin' it in. I ain't puttin' it out.
Issat clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, keep it clear. People comin' around here
wantin' my gold dat's all, tryin' to pry into my vault.
Every time I turn around somebody's tryin' to snap...

"Tell my nephew I don't want to have no dinner wid him
an' if he never comes in here again dat'll be too soon."

"I'll tell de cat."

"See dat ya do.

"I don't understand dese people who are after my gold.
I close up dis here place and den dey ...

"What, what? Yeah, let me tell you somethin else -
You think that you gonna get off Christmas day?"

"Well I was hopin', sir, dat you'd let me knock off just a little while
for Christmas Eve cause I want to go home and cool da goose."

"Well if you gonna get off Christmas Eve
you gonna have to work aaalllll day Christmas.
You hear me?"

"I hear ya, sir. I'm wid it."

"Well I guess I'll go on home here."

So Scrooge takes off and he cuts on down the street.
And the snow's blowin' and da winds is wooooooooin',
and Scrooge is goin' along in his loose soul
and his loose clothes and his hard cash box
and his big money mind goin' on in his wig
and he ding ding ding up da stairs
and he open his door and he gets inside
and he puts a double lock on da door
cause he a little bugged tonight.
He bein' sayin' "Humbug" so long, "Humbug dis," an' "Humbug dat,"
he done give himself a natural Humbug.
He's got da bug hummin' in him, see.
So he double-lock da door.

And he sit dere and all of a sudden
dere's an old bell layin' over dere in the corner
and da bell goes, "ding-ding-ding-ding"
and Scrooge say, "Whassat?"
Dang- dong. "Whassat?"
Bell started ringin' "DING DONG DOONG DOONG"
Pretty soon all da bells all over the house started ringin'
"Ding Ding Dang Dang Dong
Ring Dong Boom Boom, Ding dong,
Boom boom"

And he hear somethin'
like some chain cats are pullin'
all da chains from the chains of time
up the hill 'a strife ringing' and dinglin'
wid his whole head ringin' and dingin' wid dem chains.

And bloooop!

In come a cat, da wildest lookin' cat ya ever see in his life.
Real gone cat.
And Scrooge does a real wild take

"I know who dat stud is - dat's Marley!
I know dat's Marley!
What's he doin' here? Say, Marley?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Man, you sure chained up dere,
man, you got chainsville all over you dere!"

"Well, I put em on myself, dat's da way I lived it.
I chained myself. I hung myself up wid all dese chains, you know,
bein' parsimonious, ya understand what I mean?
I can't get 'em off now.
I been luggin' dese chains all over da country
for the past seven years."

"Dat's a long time.
What's you want wit me dere, Marley Marley?
cause I got your barley."

"I don't mess wid no barley no more.
I wish I'd given it all away when I had it
and I'm gonna tell you somethin' else, too,
I'm a spook, you know dat."

"You tellin' me. I know dat.
You a spook, man, an' I wanna get straight."

"I'm gonna tell you somethin else, too, Mr. Scroogie Scrooge,
Dere gonna be three more gas lightin' spooks comin' in to see you."

"Three more gas lightin' spooks.
Say, one spook's enough.
Can't I have 'em all at one time?"

"No. Dey comin' one at a time.
First one be eleven,
next one be twelve,
next one'll be one."

"Man, if I had known this..."

"Tell you what. You dig, Scrooge, it's what you puttin' down.
You been a real sorry cat all dis time.
You gonna be gassed now by dese spooks."

"Well, dey say if I gotta be gassed..
Ain't gonna cost me no money, is it?"

"Cost you more 'n dat, Scrooge."

"Dey ain't no more den money!"

"You find out."

Brrrrt.

And Marley split.

And old Scrooge is sittin' dere sweatin' and dinglin' danglin'.

And all of a sudden, man,
he hears some crazy wild kind of a thing goin' on.
He don't know just what it is and all of a sudden . . .

Boom

Here comes a great big fat spook,
look like takes a hundred and seventy wings
lift him off over da house top
and he's got de old beat up cat and spandly legs,
and strangly arms and pedicured eyes,
and a whole out of his skull wiggin' up a storm
and he looks at old Scrooge and he says...

Scrooge is standin' dere in the corner
he feel like a disrupted small disregarded
and unclaimed white mice midget-style,
he's sittin' over dere.

And dis spook say, "Come wid me
'cause I is The Ghost of da Christmas Past!"

And Scrooge say, "Do I hafta?"

Say, "You certainly do!"

And he got on the ghost's wing and - brrt - they took off.

And he's flyin' old Scrooge over da top of da mountain
da wind is blowin', da wind is partin' his way,
and he's lookin' down, and seein' all dese crazy scenes goin' on.

Zoom!

He goes over a few more miles
Takes him down to a sun-lit pasture.
And da sun-lit pasture's full of children,
and de're singin' and dancin' and lovin' and goin' and swingin'
and Scrooge say, "Look, look, look! Dat's me down dere!"

"Yeah, dat's you, dat's you."

"I look pretty good"

"Yeah but ya don't look good now,"
He say, "I wanna hip you gotta get yourself ?

Zoom!

He takes him over to another place
and he shows him a pretty little chick
got dimples, three dimples on each chin,
and she got three little dimpled children,
and the next little dimple on da way,
and dere's a real swingin' cat around there,
and it's a happy time,
looks like seventeen carnivals takin' off.

An' Scrooge look at dis chick and say,
"I remember dat chick. I could 'a married her once."

"Yeah, you coulda if you wasn't so tight wid your purse.
You all was thinkin' about yourself, dat's what happened."
Say, "Let me hip you further, Mister Scrooge,
Let me tell you one thing:
you better get everything straight that you wanna
and you better straighten up."

"An' take me home."

"Yeah, I will."

Brrrrm Boom

And he's home again.

So man, that was a shaker.

This whole thing, this whole thing is shakin' me up pretty bad.

He say, I want to tell you right now . . .

Boom!

Here comes another big spook

Ooooohhhh He's a wild lookin' spook.
He's a crazy lookin' spook.

He's a far-out spook, he's a gas-light spook.
He's got a gas light right on the top of his wig
goin' around like one of them dramatic ? pilot lights
in a light house and he's there gassin' up the whole scene.

He say "Come with me. I'm The Ghost of Christmas Present"

And Scrooge look around and sees
the joint is loaded with apples and bananas and oranges and,
and credalies and acralonchs and ripalips
all kinds of crazy wild grapes and crazy Chistmas scenes
and nuts and candy.

And he say, "Come wid me."

Brrrrrttt.

Done took off again,

He said "I am The Ghost of Christmas Present."
He say, "I'm gonna show you what's goin' on in dis world
and how to dig Christmas and how to all enjoy

And he took him up to a little old outcast.

And there sittin on a small beat-up rock
was two studs chompin' up on a can 'a beans singin',

"Merry Christmas widch you,
Merry Christmas widch you.
Merry Christmas to the whole world"

And so on and so forth.

And he showin' him the people jumpin' for joy,
see how the cats that ain't got nothin' got somethin' anyway,
and they're all jumpin' for joy singin' "Merry Christmas," and da bells is ringin'.

Now you get yourself straight and see how things is ....

So they fly over da Cratchit's place,
there little old Tiny Tim, He's sittin' over in the corner
crochetin' a little crazy scene,
fiddlin' around, ya know what I mean?
An carryin' on, see,
and they are all talkin' about this here goose,
and dey look down here and this little goose
about the size of a beat up retarded sparrow,
and everybody's ooohin' and aahhhin' all over dis goose,
and day sayin' when are we gonna spread it,
and Tiny Tim say, "God bless everyone,
and even up to and including Scroogy Scrooge.
God bless everyone!" That's what Tiny Tim say.

And old Scrooge got red-eyed.

Brrrrt .

Took 'im back again.
Sound like the whole side 'a the buildin' open up
and in come a long angular spook
seventeen gas lights and stove pipes
hung together with
jingle jangle bells all over
Scrooge takes a look at this cat,

Says, "Do I have to go with you?"

He says, "You certainly do, 'cause I'm The Ghost of Christmas Future."

He say, "Come wid me."

Say, "Where we goin'?"

"None 'o your business!"

He takes old Scrooge they cut off flyin' around
the moonlight is shinin' down.

Booom!

They're in the grave-yard.
Oooh a wild OOOOoooohhhh
crazy spooky graveyard
and Scrooge is walkin' around
and finally something stepped out at him
like he was struck with the force of his eye lids,
some sort of an electronic pitchfork,
and he reads on one of them billboards in that grave-yard,
it say, "Dis is Scrooge, the baddest cat that ever lived.
He don't have nothin' he ain't got nothin' and he ain't got nothin now."

Period

And Scrooge looked at it and . . .

They're going to another place,
and there's a cat say "You goin' to the funeral?"
and he say, "Not me, man, I wouldn't go near that cat, dead or alive.
They couldn't pay me to get near that cat."
Say, "What cat is that?"
And suddenly Scrooge is takin' in the coffin factory
and seeing all these coffins layin' around,
and see one coffin,
all the rest of 'em got flowers around
'n 'dis poor little coffin got nothin on it but just some pinewood boards
an' old Scrooge look up and over and he's lookin' at this and that
and look all away 'cause he knows who is in dat coffin.

Zooooommmm.

He's swings on back again and the ghost puts him down
and old Scrooge is shakin' and shiverin'
and he finally falls into a real wild, crazy miser's coma.
And he falls out for how long he don't know
when and he wakes up and
Mornin'!

Aaaaahh, the sun was shinin' on the glorious snow
and old Scrooge is feelin' so groovey 'n so wired
and he tip tip tip tip tip toes over to the window.
He open the window, see a little cat, he say, "Hey, boy."

"Yes, sir."

"You know that great big giant king-size bird
down in Doodley's window?"

"You mean the prize bird?"

"No," he say, "I mean that great big king-size bird."
Say, "Go get that bird. Here's a twenty."

He knocks a twenty on him. "Go get dat bird.
And here's ten more for a cab,
an here's five dollar for your sister,
and here's twenty-two-fifty for your uncle's new bicycle.
Tell anyone who wants anything, 'See Scrooge.'
I'm flyin' this here Christmas.
I want to see Cratchit swing out
with a great big swingin' happy dinner.
I'm wid it all da way!"

An' old Scrooge get dressed and he's walkin' down the street,
and Ding Dong, Ding Dong Ding, the bells is ringin'.
Scrooge got a big smile on his face,
and people he's seen for twenty years never said hello,sayin'
"Good morning, Mr. Scrooge."

"What you say, Baby?"

An' he carryin' on, carryin' on, happy as the day is long.
And he finally fell into old Bob Cratchit's place
and he's got Christmas toys and Christmas joys
and Christmas presents for everybody.

And they'd just opened the goose,
and then little Tiny Tim see him comin',
he say, "God bless Mr. Scrooge.
He done did the turn about.
He's the Lord's boy today."

And that's the story of Scrooge.
You can get wid it if you want to.
There's only one way straight to the Road of Love.
---o0o---

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

President Barack Obama Is A Muslim?



By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That Nati0nal Affairs Editor

This was interesting, and spooky.

If you read All This Is That regularly, you probably know I like a fight, and like to take on The President. He has made mistakes, and I find it good sport to call him out on them, although many of my left-wing/progressive brethren believe one should never be [publicly] critical of Barack Obama (although many of them merrily vilified and demonized BHO's predecessor). As irritated as I get with Barack Obama, and All The Presidents Men And Women, I know he is a decent, passionate, eloquent, and driven man who means right, and is usually, right. But, as the poet John Berryman once wrote:

Between what we see
And what we be
Is blinds.
Them blinds is on fire.


So today I received an email from Paul Jones. I was interested, initially, since I am half Jones...but believe me, you don't get far going down the Jones road...there's a couple million of them, and probably many more millions like me, with a large volume of Jones blood. OK, I've already digressed and redigressed.

Paul Jones wrote after somehow landing on this blog. And because I took some exception to something BHO did or said, he sensed a kindred spirit and sent along an old internet warhorse, proving that Barack Obama is a Muslim, and doesn't even have a birth certificate, or, at least, one he will show in public.

Really? I wondered if I need to become a mindless cheerleader for BHO. Is this what people think? Sorry, my cousin Paul Jones. I do not believe anything you passed along in your email. It has been often debunked as right-wing hokum. Snopes.com has a step by step refutation of every contention in this cheesy smear-piece.

It is really hard to fathom how these emails and hit pieces are still making the rounds. Or that millions of people still secretly and openly believe the charges of "The Birthers."

You've probably read this before:

"If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to all your contacts...this is very scary to think of what lies ahead of us here in our own United States...better heed this and pray about it and share it.

Who is Barack Obama?

Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita, Kansas. Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii.

When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia. Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta. He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school." Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that he is not a radical.

Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.

Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta. Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.

Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the flag and slouches.

Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's presidential candidacy.

The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level - through the President of the United States, one of their own!!!!

Barack Obama served as an Illinois state senator for several years, and in 2004 he won a seat representing that state in the U.S. Senate. His keynote address before the Democratic National Convention in June 2004 brought him national prominence, and he is currently one of the leading contenders for the nomination to represent the Democratic Party in the 2008 presidential election. He is a dangerous, camouflaged radical Muslim.
---o0o---

Monday, December 21, 2009

Alien Lore No. 165 - UFO Hovers Over The Kremlin


[Thanks to Jeff Clinton for suggesting this story]

The hottest video on the Russian YouTube site is film of an alleged UFO hovering over the Kremlin. Some say the triangular craft could be up to a mile in length. As you see in the video clips below, it has been seen in both daylight, and at night.

Russia has become a hotbed in recent years of UFO news, UFO records and investigations made public, and indeed. . .numerous purported alien craft sightings. . .

The video clips, probably shot from a passing car, have gone viral, particularly in the former Soviet Union.













Nick Pope, who has worked on MoD's UFO Desk [ed's note: MoD is the British Ministry of Defense] for three years, called it "one of the most extraordinary UFO clips I've ever seen."\
He said: "At first I thought this was a reflection, but it appears to move behind a power line, ruling out this theory."

Web theorists suggested an air balloon or stunt, but a spokesman for aerospace experts Jane's News said: "We have no idea what it is."






---o0o---

A page from the CIA sabotage manual used against The Sandinistas--> Threaten The Boss!


Click to enlarge

---o0o---

Friday, December 18, 2009

Poem: Mathematics




1
I can convince myself
Of the veracity

Of almost anything
I want to believe

2
My family, friends,
And co-workers

Will tell you
That anything I say

Must either be divided
Or multiplied by three

The trick is knowing
Which one to do.
---o0o---

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Dr. Juma can fix anything!


click to enlarge

This photo is a sign from a "clinic" in Bucerias, Nayarit, a Mexican town I have stayed in many times. I haven't been to see the Doctor, yet, but it is very tempting. The Doctor can pretty much tune-up everything in your life, without the need for specialists.
---o0o---

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Snubbing Dr. Dean--one more bone-headed mistake by BHO


By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

Howard, Howard, Howard. You're doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Don't go over to the dark side with Arlen Specter and Crazy Joe Lieberman.

Undoubtedly, Dean coming out against the health care plan, while intellectually and politically grounded, had something to do with his cavalier treatment at the hand of Obama and his henchmen. My biggest question for President Obama is: why did you give Joe Lieberman the red carpet treatment, and ignore a Yellow Dog loyalist like Dr. Dean? What were you thinking?

NBC's Mark Murray thinks it does, too:


"Here's something else to think about: In retrospect, was Barack Obama's conspicuous snub of Howard Dean a big mistake, given the former DNC chairman's opposition to the Senate health-care bill moving through Congress?

"Remember that when Tim Kaine was tapped to be the new DNC chairman, Dean wasn't at the Obama-Kaine press conference announcing the move. Instead, he was in American Samoa, but his allies maintained he would have canceled that trip had he been given a heads up about the press conference.

"What's more, Dean never got a plum position in the Obama administration. Possibly adding insult to injury, few DNC aides who worked for Dean initially got top jobs in the Obama administration."


Whatever the case, Howard Dean still has a lot of pull in the party ('though some think this is debatable), and this was a boneheaded mistake by an administration scrambling for every single vote it can find. To alienate one of the most passionate national advocates for health care reform? Not so smart.
---o0o---

self portrait: The Great Escape


click to enlarge
---o0o---

Creepy Santa photo roundup


click to enlarge

Some pretty spooky pictures of Santa Claus. Try these:
or on Quumf ,
or check out Sketchy Santas.
---o0o---

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

I guess David Beckham is an All This Is That reader?


click to enlarge
---o0o---

Our thoughts go out to Anthony Vietti and Katie Nolan, somewhere on Mount Hood


Mount Hood photographed from Mount Saint Helens
Photo courtesy of the United States Geodetic Survey
November 23, 2005, by John Pallister - click to enlarge

We are hoping for the best for the missing climbers on Mount Hood. One of the climbers, Luke Gullberg, was found dead at around 9,000 feet last weekend.

24-year-old Anthony Vietti and 29-year-old Katie Nolan are missing, and we hope, are holed up in a snow cave somewhere high on the mountain. The climbers left at 1 AM Friday, and hoped to summit and return before nightfall. The weather has been so abysmal, and the avalanche danger so high, that no one can go up on foot. Black Hawk helicopters have been circling the mountain, but have so far seen no signs on the missing climbers. The Associated Press reported there would likely be no further flights over the mountain, but the Black Hawk was back Monday. They saw no sign of the climbers.

Photographs found in Luke Gullberg's camera showed the climbers were roped up at some points during their climb. Gullberg's body, however, was not roped.

As it happens, I am reading Jim Curran's K2 Triumph and Tragedy now (you probably don't know this, but I am an armchair mountaineer, and have probably read around 50 expedition books over the last ten years). Despite the 13 climbers who died on K2 (out of 27 who reached the top in 1986), the survivors withstood incredible epics and nightmare bivouacs. It no longer seems likely that Vietti and Nolan have survived, but it is not at all impossible. One thing reading those fifty mountain books taught me is that fit, experienced and resourceful climbers CAN survive against incredible odds.
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Monday, December 14, 2009

Alien Lore No. 164 - An interstellar portal opens up over Norway: The Greys crave Lutefisk


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Thanks to Jeff Clinton for pointing out this story on altaposten.no. The quotes are [shaky] Google translations of the Norwegian web pages.

Spectacular phenomenon in
the skies over northern Norway



"In the morning rush hour, at 07.47, showed the special phenomenon in the sky. Thousands of people across northern Norway has been joined by the phenomenon, and the phone lines to both Altaposten, most other northern Norwegian media, and also the capital of the newspapers have glowed."

"The phenomenon described as a glowing ball in the sky, which rotated and "thrown out" luminous rings. The phenomenon grew rapidly in a spiral, with bright white rings towards the edges and blue, bright rings in the center. Helio was growing, until it eventually was significantly greater than both the moon and other things it will be normal to find in the sky. "Spiral" also walked across the sky, leaving a bright blue track."


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The whole thing lasted just under one minute and then the spiral in the sky appeared to collapse, leaving a dark, circular "hole" in the night sky.

"It was a very special sight, a kind of white spiral, giant, who lit up the sky. Eventually, it was a big, black ring with a bright green (aurora colored) tail behind him. In the end, only the tail again, and it could be seen in the sky about 10 minutes afterwards as well, writes Liv Reidun Tverelv in an e-mail to Altaposten. "


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Of course, as happens with every paranormal story, there are debunkers and "rational" explanations, e.g., spoilsports. One came from CBS news, claiming the portal was merely a missile gone awry:

"According to CBS News and other media, the Russian authorities confirmed on Thursday that it was a Bulava missile, which failed and ended his days in the spin far up the atmosphere Wednesday morning. Seven of the 12 test launches of the "Bulava" missile has been unsuccessful, according to the Russian Defense Ministry."

A reader, Anders, offered up a more scientific explanation:

"Posted by Anders Olav Bjørkavåg 09/12/2009 18:54:13

"This fun lysfenomenet NOK has an electrical origin. Discharges in plasma organizes itself as "Birkeland Cables" and can therefore lead the electric charge over large distances. These are configured as coils of cables - "tornado shape" if you will. At low power, these are invisible. Increases energy intensity, it begins to glow as the fluorescent and the Northern Lights. With increasing intensity, these self-organized wires push themselves further along in what is called z-pinch effect. This causes a further konsentrereing of electrical energy and a get-glowing plasma arc (as in lightning and sparks). They organize themselves again often in special formations where some typeiske varieties are precisely the spiral shape (Galaxy Form) and ring structure (such as some planetary nebula).

"The reason that meterologer and astronomers do not recognize this right away is that they are not trained in plasma physics. Plasma Physicists will recognize phenomena from plasma (electricity) experiments in the labs and in the simulations."
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Maybe the best physical comedy scene ever in a movie - Harpo and Grouch in the Duck Soup mirror scene

One of the very best pieces of physical comedy in a movie...ever. Grouch and Harpo Marx in "the mirror scene" in Duck Soup. . .

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

The Obama Peace Prize Imbroglio



By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor


After listening to The President justify a two-front war in his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, I've heard everything. I like Barack Obama, mostly. I even voted for him. But all I can think after that speech is:

a) Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa, Albert Schweitzer and the other laureates must be rolling in their graves;
b) "OK, you've won the peace prize. Now go out and earn it!"; and
c) war is not the only road to peace.
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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Stealth squatter: a woman secretly living (and eating) in a guy's apartment

A fascinating and creepy story. A woman had been living in the crawlspace of a guy's NYC apartment for weeks. He started to notice food was missing and set up a video cam.

"Yes, I found out the hard way that I had an uninvited guest living in my apartment, sharing my food and drinks and pissing in my sink. Talk about a creepy situation... only in the big apple...."

The hooligan in me can somehow appreciate the whole notion of a stealth squatter. Maybe those weren’t really rodents we heard in the walls when I lived in NYC?

You can read more on YouTube, or here on N*akedApartments.


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Drawing: Anne, Lemuel, Susan, Fred, Johnnie, Mona, Bobbie, Connie, Fredo, Robert, Cheech, Heather, Otto, Porter, Kent, and Doc


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You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.
- Dean Martin
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Drawing: The French


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Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Jack Brummet Painting: The King


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Painting: DNA Transit


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This is a painting I did a couple of years ago. About 2 x 3 feet, acrylic, pen, and mixed media on raw canvas.
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Jack and Keelin painted by Barnaby Ruhe


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This is the painting NYC painter and professor (and Shaman!) Barnaby Ruhe did of me and Keelin at the painting marathon we attended a couple weeks ago. He finished it in less than an hour. It was awesome to watch (and hear) him at work. Thanks Barnaby!
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Monday, December 07, 2009

Drawing: QFC personnel


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Barack Obama's Facebook Message on Pearl Harbor Day (with counterpoint)


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Barack Obama

Video: The Milo Petersen trio live at Jack Straw Studios

A recording of the Milo Petersen Trio at Jack Straw Studios in Seattle, WA 9/20/08.

I've known Milo ,a/k/a Chris, since we were one year old--our parents were friends, and we were sometimes babysat together way back when. His band, The Jazz Disciples, released a CD "Visiting Dignitaries" a few years ago. It even includes a great tune he wrote for me and Keelin ("The Good") that clocks in at eleven minutes. He performed the song at our wedding, with Loch Clark (trumpet), Doug Ostgaard (sax), Cheryl Hardwick (piano), and--I think?--Moise Lucas on drums. I can't remember who played the bass.

Milo Petersen - Guitar
Chuck Kistler - Bass
Brad Boal - Drums
Doug Haire - Production
Brad Boal - Video Edit
Sonarchy Radio is a Jack Straw Production




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Drawing: management team, marketing team, and others


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Drawing: With six hirsute guys, Golda Meir, A Robot, and seven women


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Saturday, December 05, 2009

Drawing: Stories


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Narboo's blog & his Flickr photostream



Narboo is a Seattle artist who always makes me smile. I bought two of his painting this fall. His Flickr photo stream is here, and his blogspot blog is here.
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Drawing: Neighbors


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Mr. President: repeal the second amendment


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By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

After seeing the assassinations of four local police officers in a coffee shop, preceded by another cop-killing on Capitol Hill, on top of all the other recent shootings, snipings, assassinations, and cold-blooded murders, you really have to wonder how we haven't reached the absolute saturation point.



It's a recurring nightmare, or an awful slasher movie with a dozen sequels. The National Rifle Association is like a twisted Energizer Bunny. Every time we see an office shot up, or episodes like the recent murders of four northwest cops, or just the mundane, run-of-the-mill "father kills family, self" headline, the NRA releases a new statement about how the tragedy might have been avoided had one of our good citizens been nearby, and packing.

Despite Columbine, Fort Hood, the recent assassinations of five Seattle police officers [ed's note: the number went up to six (and almost seven) recently], and dozens of other tragic cases of carnage in America, the NRA continues to herald its resurgence. The NRA's membership rolls have swelled as people fear President Obama will send in jackbooted thugs to confiscate your guns.

Mr. President, you have not been afraid to tackle the other fractious and thorny issues. We urge that you propose the repeal of the second amendment. Sure, you'll lose some votes from the gun nuts and NRA, but, then, none of them ever voted for you in the first place.
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