Cancelled! George Bush mosies off into the sunset

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Pardon Me, Mister President? No pardons?

click to enlarge the president

By Pablo Fanque

All This Is That National Affairs Editor

President George W. Bush has now taken his "victory lap." made the rounds to speak to various governmental agencies, and given a televised farewell. Just about all that's left for POTUS to do is issue his pardon and immunity list. I just heard that he will hand out virtually no pardons or immunity blankets? Is that even possible? He never has been big on pardons, unlike his Dad (who had a couple of humdingers). He might even have a record for fewest pardons.

Finally, yesterday, he did grant early prison releases to two ex-U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited a gnarly national debate over illegal immigration.

Bush, caved in to pressure from both sides of the aisle, and commuted the prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The two guards from El Paso, Texas, were each sentenced to more than 10 years for the shooting.

George Bush has given far fewer pardons than most of his predecessors. And yet, many of his former minions, aides, and associates could possibly be prosecuted for their actions. Will the President issue a broad blanket pardon, or cloak of immunity, to many people, or just select a small subset of his loyal henchmen and donors? It looks like neither. Just a couple of border guards. It only took eight years for The ex-President to execute a real class move.
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Painting: Dean & Mary star in The Kiss

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Painting: Pink Plane Plummets

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Female talk show hosts talk about breasts! Tyra Banks and Oprah weigh in on store-bought vs. The Real Deal

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I have to ask (why? I know the answer) what would happen if David Letterman, Jay Leno, or Stephen Colbert were in Oprah or Tyra's boots?

"I love that you have real breasts, because in all the breast scenes, your breasts do what real breasts do," Oprah said to Kate Winslett last week. And Kate played along, fondling her chest and making a joke or two about her award-winning girls.

"Thank you so much. You mean that kind of thing? asked Kate, "And this kind of thing? And the moment when they race for sanctuary under your armpits when you lie on your back?"

Months ago, Tyra Banks said much the same thing, although she actually lunged in for a closer personal inspection when she discussed Katherine McPhee's breasts.

click to enlarge Kate and Tyra
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Poem: The Velvet Glove

1.
With every hesitation,
Trouble widens.
The dragon is unleashed.

You won’t begin what needs to begin
Because you’re searching
For a sign.

2.
You move in the troops
And impose order
With a velvet glove.

3.
When the horse
And the wagon part,
Bloody tears will flow.
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Images of the Kansas City Public Library

The book walls at the Kansas City Public Library. This is pretty cool. At least a couple of walls feature mostly modern classics, and one seems to include popular and genre fiction.

Click the photos to enlarge...

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Poem: Birdwatching

An owl sits in the plum tree
And she doesn't know
I'm glad she's here.

This is as good as it gets
And it gets this good
Every day.
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Poem: Dragons

1.
You may be a bottomless chasm.
But every bucket needs a bottom.

You may be receptive.
But every bucket soon fills up.

2.
The earth's factory setting
Is receptive

She takes on everything we dish out.
So far.

3.
Dragons fight in the meadow
Their blood is black and yellow.
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Poem: Surviving

Your salvation lies
In remaining unblinded

To the treachery

Massing around you:

The enemy without,

Calculating your fall

And the traitor within,
Beating in your chest.

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The Moondoggies tonight at Neumo in Seattle

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If you live in Seattle, you should try to see this show tonight. There seem to be a lot of great rock bands in Seattle right now---like Fleet Foxes, Spook the Horse, Band of Horses, and the MD's are right near the top. They are playing at Neumo Friday night, and the White Eagle Tavern in Portland tomorrow. Check out their tunes on their MySpace page or just go out and buy their record on your lunch break.

The band: Tishiro mifune on jug,caleb quick,kevin murphy,robert terreberry, carl dahlen, and sometimes jon pon(genepool). Rolling Stone loves 'em, and NPR called them one of the top debuts of 2008. I have been playing their album nonstop for the last couple of weeks.

Their record company--Hardly Art--has a great write-up on their website (see below). See you there tomorrow night, where they will be playing right after The Maldives.

"There is a popular chapter of American mythology that pertains to The Highway. It tells of a two-way ribbon of blacktop running endlessly through our past to our future, linking city to country, offering escape and motion and freedom to travel anywhere the imagination might wander. In this chapter, The Highway is both means and end, metaphor and reality.

"And down that mythical Highway there is a Bar. Inside that Bar is a Stage. On that Stage is a Band. That Band is the Moondoggies.

"The Moondoggies are a four-piece band from Seattle that plays timeless American music. Warm three-part harmonies, gothic Rhodes organ, and wanderlust guitar mark a sound rooted in boogie blues and cosmic country; whip-smart songwriting leads to hook-heavy tunes that bristle with originality. Led by 22-year-old singer/guitarist Kevin Murphy, the Moondoggies are intent on artistic balance. They're a serious band with a silly name. They play music that speaks of travel but is strongly connected to its place of origin. They're young musicians continuing a legacy that goes back generations. Songs that unravel over seven sinuous minutes are somehow catchy and compact.

"Murphy and his band mates—Robert Terreberry on bass, Carl Dahlen on drums, and Caleb Quick on keys—started making music together as teenagers (all but Quick graduated from Cascade High in Everett, a Seattle suburb). The Familiars, their first band, was a noisy, garage-rocking outfit that gained minor notoriety locally, but the boys soon realized their passion lied in vocal harmonies, not power chords.

"Seeking the inspiration of new surroundings, Murphy lit out for Ketchikan, Alaska in the summer of 2005. It was there, in a dusty attic with an acoustic guitar and four-track recorder, that he zeroed in on the Moondoggies' sound. Upon his return to Seattle, the band took up residence at the Blue Moon Tavern, a notorious University District dive that for over 70 years has boozed up a rogue's gallery of writers, poets, artists, student radicals, and other drunks. The Moondoggies and the Blue Moon were made for each other. Before long they accrued a dedicated following drawn to the band's woozy, spirited live shows and a new Northwest phenomenon was born.

"That same spirit shows up on Don't Be A Stranger, the Moondoggies' debut. Shades of gospel, blues, rock, and country commingle; wall-of-sound harmonies radiate joy and passion; songs remain in the mind long after the record ends. The influence of the Band, the Byrds, and especially early Grateful Dead is evident, though the Moondoggies’ lyrical economy and compositional sensibility render these 13 tracks fresh and unique. From the hard-charging garage boogie of "’ol Blackbird" to the mournful, hand-clapped spiritual "Jesus on the Mainline" to the anthemic rock 'n' soul of "Changing" to the rollicking, bar-room singalong "Bogachiel Rain Blues," each of these songs earns a slot in the great American jukebox.

"I don’t think sitting down and playing guitar is an old-time thing," Murphy recently told The Seattle Times. "Our sound is what seems to happen when we sit around and sing and play. It's never going to get old. People will always do that."There will always be a Band that sings the song of The Highway. For us, for now, that band is the Moondoggies."
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All This Is That Hero of the Year: Sully! Chesley Sullenberger's amazing qualifications for pulling off a miracle

The Pilot who landed his disabled jet in the Hudson yesterday and then helped get everyone off the plane (even walking up and down the plane twice and looking under every seat) is truly an American Hero. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III is a captain for American Airways with over 40 years of flying experience. But get this. . .of all the people who could have flown that plane, he may have been singular in that he was the best trained of almost any pilot for an emergency. He is a scholar of air disasters, and even has a company that teaches and consults on air safety.

From the SRM web site, read his amazing qualifications:

SRM Founder Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III is a captain for a major U.S. airline with over 40 years of flying experience. A former U.S. Air Force (USAF) fighter pilot, he has served as an instructor and Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) safety chairman, accident investigator and national technical committee member. He has participated in several USAF and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident investigations. His ALPA safety work led to the development of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circular.

Working with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists, he coauthored a paper on error inducing contexts in aviation. He was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Crew Resource Management (CRM) course used at his airline and has taught the course to hundreds of his colleagues. Sully is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy (B.S.), Purdue University (M.S.) and the University of Northern Colorado (M.A.). He was a speaker on two panels at the High Reliability Organizations (HRO) 2007 International Conference in Deauville, France May 29-31, 2007. He has just been named a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

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Prince solos wth Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, etc. on While My Guitar Gently Weeps

This solo is effortless and unbelievable. Prince starts soloing at around 3:30 or so and it is just unbelievable. He blows the doors off the hall and probably sucker punches every other guitarist on stage (and there are plenty). A real mind-F’er of a solo, and in general, a great performance of the tune by the gang, including Harrison's old Wilbury bandmates Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.




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Obama Stumbles, Again, and the F-ups are beginning to accumulate

click BHO to enlarge [painting by Jack Brummet]

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

I am as happy as the next person, hopeful, excited, and re-energized,--exhilarated even--over the prospect of our new President. I love the man and what he stands for, but there have been some disturbing snafus lately. . .violence in Pepperland, so to speak.


"I love you, man!"

Not only does Barack Obama suck at choosing ministers (notably the Reverends Wright and Rick Warren), but he has performed a few pratfalls with his cabinet as well. Obviously the upcoming Obama Administration got caught with their pants down on the failed Bill Richardson nomination (which was just a consolation prize for being passed over for SoS in any case), and now it seems as though his nominee for Treasury secretary is in trouble as well. Not deep trouble perhaps (about which, more later), but trouble nonetheless [1].

One question I have for the transition team: did you bother to read and vet any of the 64 page "job applications" you required of all incoming senior staff members? It seems like none of the other prospective Cabinet Members had to undergo anything like the microscopic vetting Senator Clinton endured. Or did you spend all your time on that application and cross your fingers on the rest?

Timothy Geithner had a nanny problem, similar to the one that disqualified Zoe Baird eight years ago, as well as several years of underpaying taxes, some of which were discovered by Obama's vetting team, and some later, by a Senate committee.

Luckily for Geithner, and Barack Obama, he will probably be confirmed sometime in February. Why, you ask? As it turns out--and this comes from people on both sides of the aisle--we have no choice! Geithner is virtually only person in the world who actually understands the whole bailout, and the banks involved, since he is one of its chief architects. He would probably still be confirmed even if someone discovered a terabyte of kiddie porn on his hard drive! As it is he will not be confirmed by opening day--the guy we need more than almost anyone to hit the ground running. Hillary Clinton survived her mild grilling and will be confirmed right around inauguration day. She also has her hands full, but at least she will be able to begin work immediately.



Finally, we must consider the Blagojevich matter. Obama's "campaign's" first statements about his and his aides communication with Blagojevich were feeble at best and misleading, or worse, at worst. We know he was not involved, but they attempted to cover it up in any case. Does this remind you of any previous President?

This really makes me wonder about the wisdom of choosing Rahm Emmanuel as the White House Chief of Staff. At the first whiff of trouble, Rahm immediately raised the power shields around Obama, and began what almost smacked of Nixonian-Haldeman evasions and bobs and weaves. I get that Obama needs a strong CoS. . .but what he most explicitly does not need is a Haldeman style Iron Curtain drawn between the White House and The People to whom Obama promised something entirely different.

[1] Did BHO never read A.E. Housman's Eastern Hymn? Excerpt:

The thoughts of others
Were light and fleeting,
Of lovers meeting
Or luck or fame;

Mine were of trouble
And mine were steady,
So I was ready
When trouble came.


Recent, related articles on All This Is That:


http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2009/01/obamas-first-f-upbill-richardson.html

http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-defense-of-ignorancebarack-obama.html

The League of SuperPresidents ® Power Breakfast

Another One Bites The Dust: Demo Governor Blagojevich of Illinois arrested for trying to sell Obama's Senate Seat

BFF: Best Friends Forever? Hillary and Barack start down the road of world affairs

Senator "Crazy" Joe Lieberman lives to see another day

Barack Obama: "Off to a good start" says Republican leader
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Cure Sleepiness Right Away- suitable for long-distance driving, drunk-driving, and night driving

a closeup of a stenciling on the device--click to zoom it up


click to zoom it up


click to zoom it up


Here are two different packages of this fine product. Various people bought these for $1-4 in dollar stores, auto parts stores, and convenience stores. None of the purchases of these units people have written about were for more than $4 dollars. I have yet to stumble on a review of the device. I am not feeling that intrepid on this one...

Could something so cheap actually even have an accelerometer like it seems to claim. . .or do they use mercury like old fashioned light switches to detect the neck snap/head bob as you descend into Wunda Wunda Land?

[Transcribed from the instructions of this curious device]

CURE SLEEPINESS RIGHT AWAY

FUNCTIONS:
To ensure driving safely and to avoid traffic accidents caused by sleepiness

TIME TO USE:
Long-distance driving, drunk driving, and night driving

USED FOR OTHER PURPOSE:
Reading or working late at night

HOW TO USE:
1. Before long-distance driving, drunk driving or night driving, put the "Cure Sleepiness Right Away" on the right ear, or the left ear and at the same time, move the switch to the location of "ON" and the " Cure sleepiness right away" will begin to work. Easy to put on like an hearing Aid.

2. If drivers feel tired or fall asleep while driving, there heads will usually fall forward. The "Cure sleepiness right away" will then produce warning sounds like "BI---BI---"Which will effectively warn or stimulate the drivers and wake them up immediately. After use just switch off ready for the next late night drive home.
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