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Saturday, January 07, 2012
Mitt Romney between a rock and a hard place
By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor
I was going to write about Mitt Romney's having pigeon-holed himself to the extent that he can only pull a quarter of the votes in any given contest. Sure, he looks like he will be strong in New Hampshire, but after that? The right, and even the middle (if one actually exists in the G.O.P today), seem thoroughly unenchanted, as do we all. I don't see the Republicans circling their wagons around, holding their noses and crowning Mitt. . .at least until they become truly spooked. And that is coming on fast. So far, he's shown he can beat Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. I was going to write about this, but when I saw this image on the FYVM web site I knew I didn't have to write anything. That's Mitt in the corner.
Friday, January 06, 2012
Middle Finger of the day, No. 24
By Mona Goldwater, Signs and Gestures Editor
Most of the fingers are submitted by readers. . .here is our irregular round-up of fingers of the day. Thanks to Jeff Clinton for the first Obama finger we've seen that doesn't appear photoshopped. This round up includes a few other celebrities like Tupac Shakur, a couple of athletes, and probably the 10th Lindsay Lohan finger we've published. She sticks it out a lot.
Most of the fingers are submitted by readers. . .here is our irregular round-up of fingers of the day. Thanks to Jeff Clinton for the first Obama finger we've seen that doesn't appear photoshopped. This round up includes a few other celebrities like Tupac Shakur, a couple of athletes, and probably the 10th Lindsay Lohan finger we've published. She sticks it out a lot.
finger from the yankee dugout
Tupac
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Thursday, January 05, 2012
Scott Siepker - Iowa nice (includes a couple of NSFW phrases)
Scott Siepker - Iowa nice. A response from Iowa to the media and flyover crowd:
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John McCain's recent endorsement of, and his thoughts on, Mitt Romney in 2008
By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor
illustration by Jack Brummet
Although Senator John McCain endorsed Mitt Romney in his quest for the presidency yesterday, this is a new position for him. Wednesday's McCain-Romney event was a rather stiff affair, and seemed to stop well short of a heart-felt embrace of Romney. The endorsement was a one-hand-washes-the-other/quid pro quo arrangement for Romney's 2008 endorsement. The only thing missing is John McCain holding his nose and crossing his fingers. . .
In 2008, Senator McCain had a different take on Mittens:
illustration by Jack Brummet
Although Senator John McCain endorsed Mitt Romney in his quest for the presidency yesterday, this is a new position for him. Wednesday's McCain-Romney event was a rather stiff affair, and seemed to stop well short of a heart-felt embrace of Romney. The endorsement was a one-hand-washes-the-other/quid pro quo arrangement for Romney's 2008 endorsement. The only thing missing is John McCain holding his nose and crossing his fingers. . .
In 2008, Senator McCain had a different take on Mittens:
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Etta James and The Grateful Dead ring in the New Year, 1982
By Jack Brummet, Music Editor
I am a fan of both Etta James and The Grateful Dead, but never knew they had performed together on New Year's Eve in 1982. It's not something that fans on either side of the equation would expect. And then for a horn section, throw in Tower of Power, well, now we're talking!
Sadly, Etta James is suffering from terminal leukemia right now, and I don't think I'll ever get to see her play again.
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I am a fan of both Etta James and The Grateful Dead, but never knew they had performed together on New Year's Eve in 1982. It's not something that fans on either side of the equation would expect. And then for a horn section, throw in Tower of Power, well, now we're talking!
Sadly, Etta James is suffering from terminal leukemia right now, and I don't think I'll ever get to see her play again.
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Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Poem: James Dickeys' "The Heaven of Animals"
The Heaven of Animals
By James L. Dickey
James Dickey, “The Heaven of Animals” from The Whole Motion: Collected Poems 1945-1992. Copyright © 1992 by James Dickey.
By James L. Dickey
Here they are. The soft eyes open.
If they have lived in a wood
It is a wood.
If they have lived on plains
It is grass rolling
Under their feet forever.
Having no souls, they have come,
Anyway, beyond their knowing.
Their instincts wholly bloom
And they rise.
The soft eyes open.
To match them, the landscape flowers,
Outdoing, desperately
Outdoing what is required:
The richest wood,
The deepest field.
For some of these,
It could not be the place
It is, without blood.
These hunt, as they have done,
But with claws and teeth grown perfect,
More deadly than they can believe.
They stalk more silently,
And crouch on the limbs of trees,
And their descent
Upon the bright backs of their prey
May take years
In a sovereign floating of joy.
And those that are hunted
Know this as their life,
Their reward: to walk
Under such trees in full knowledge
Of what is in glory above them,
And to feel no fear,
But acceptance, compliance.
Fulfilling themselves without pain
At the cycle’s center,
They tremble, they walk
Under the tree,
They fall, they are torn,
They rise, they walk again.
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Alien Lore No. 218 - Re: any kind of government UFO/alien cover-up, the White House says "nothing to see here folks; keep moving."
By Jack Brummet, Alien Lore Editor
The White House recently responded to two petitions asking the US government to acknowledge that aliens have visited Earth and to disclose to any withholding of government interactions with Aliens, of Greys.
5,387 people signed a petition asking for disclosure of any communications with aliens.
12,078 citizens signed a request for a formal acknowledgement from the White House that extraterrestrials have been engaging the human race. "Hundreds of military and government agency witnesses have come forward with testimony confirming this extraterrestrial presence," the second petition states. "Opinion polls now indicate more than 50% of the American people believe there is an extraterrestrial presence and more than 80% believe the government is not telling the truth about this phenomenon. The people have a right to know. The people can handle the truth."
These petitions were generated by an Obama Administration initiative--‘We the People'--which requires White House staffers to respond to any issue that receives at least 25,000 online signatures. The White House promised to respond if the petitions got 17,000 more signatures by October 22nd.
The following is the Official White House Response to "formally acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race - Disclosure. and 1 other petition."
By Phil Larson, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy
"Thank you for signing the petition asking the Obama Administration to acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence here on Earth.
"The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race. In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye.
"However, that doesn't mean the subject of life outside our planet isn't being discussed or explored. In fact, there are a number of projects working toward the goal of understanding if life can or does exist off Earth. Here are a few examples:
"SETI—the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence—was originally stood up with help from NASA, but has since been moved to other sources of private funding. SETI's main purpose is to act as a giant ear on behalf of the human race, pointing an array of ground-based telescopes towards space to listen for any signal from another world.
"Kepler is a NASA spacecraft in orbit that's main goal is to search for Earth-like planets. Such a planet would be located in the "Goldilocks" zone of a distant solar system—not too hot and not too cold—and could potentially be habitable by life as we know it. The Kepler mission is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover Earth-sized, rocky planets in or near the habitable zone of the star (sun) they orbit.
"The Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, is an automobile-sized rover that NASA is launching soon. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and other geology in an effort to detect the chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars and will assess what the Martian environment was like in the past to see if it could have harbored life.
"A last point: Many scientists and mathematicians have looked with a statistical mindset at the question of whether life likely exists beyond Earth and have come to the conclusion that the odds are pretty high that somewhere among the trillions and trillions of stars in the universe there is a planet other than ours that is home to life.
"Many have also noted, however, that the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved.
"But that's all statistics and speculation. The fact is we have no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth."
The White House recently responded to two petitions asking the US government to acknowledge that aliens have visited Earth and to disclose to any withholding of government interactions with Aliens, of Greys.
5,387 people signed a petition asking for disclosure of any communications with aliens.
12,078 citizens signed a request for a formal acknowledgement from the White House that extraterrestrials have been engaging the human race. "Hundreds of military and government agency witnesses have come forward with testimony confirming this extraterrestrial presence," the second petition states. "Opinion polls now indicate more than 50% of the American people believe there is an extraterrestrial presence and more than 80% believe the government is not telling the truth about this phenomenon. The people have a right to know. The people can handle the truth."
These petitions were generated by an Obama Administration initiative--‘We the People'--which requires White House staffers to respond to any issue that receives at least 25,000 online signatures. The White House promised to respond if the petitions got 17,000 more signatures by October 22nd.
The following is the Official White House Response to "formally acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race - Disclosure. and 1 other petition."
By Phil Larson, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy
"Thank you for signing the petition asking the Obama Administration to acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence here on Earth.
"The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race. In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye.
"However, that doesn't mean the subject of life outside our planet isn't being discussed or explored. In fact, there are a number of projects working toward the goal of understanding if life can or does exist off Earth. Here are a few examples:
"SETI—the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence—was originally stood up with help from NASA, but has since been moved to other sources of private funding. SETI's main purpose is to act as a giant ear on behalf of the human race, pointing an array of ground-based telescopes towards space to listen for any signal from another world.
"Kepler is a NASA spacecraft in orbit that's main goal is to search for Earth-like planets. Such a planet would be located in the "Goldilocks" zone of a distant solar system—not too hot and not too cold—and could potentially be habitable by life as we know it. The Kepler mission is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover Earth-sized, rocky planets in or near the habitable zone of the star (sun) they orbit.
"The Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, is an automobile-sized rover that NASA is launching soon. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and other geology in an effort to detect the chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars and will assess what the Martian environment was like in the past to see if it could have harbored life.
"A last point: Many scientists and mathematicians have looked with a statistical mindset at the question of whether life likely exists beyond Earth and have come to the conclusion that the odds are pretty high that somewhere among the trillions and trillions of stars in the universe there is a planet other than ours that is home to life.
"Many have also noted, however, that the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved.
"But that's all statistics and speculation. The fact is we have no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth."
---o0o---
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Poem: A shock of wheat
photo courtesy of NASA/Jet Propulsion Labs and The Taxpayers
By Jack Brummet
You gather your friends
Around you
Like a shock of wheat,
Like a bulwark
Or last ditch bivouac
In the cold rain and snow.
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Monday, January 02, 2012
I like what you've done with the place:Tubs in Seattle
By Jack Brummet, Public Arts Editor
In March 2009 The Free Sheep Foundation (I think these are the same guys who liberated the Bridge Motel on Aurora) occupied the Tubs building in Seattle's U District, which has been "slated for demolition" for a couple of years now. It's become an wonderfully and continually changing canvas for whatever artist or tagger shows up. Early on, people were outraged by all the painting, but over time, it has become a popular stopping by point. I think every neighborhood needs a building like this.
I like what you've done with the place.
I always stop by when I am in the neighborhood, but have never seen anyone at work. I think they only come out at night? I believe there is some kind of loophole in Seattle's graffiti law, in which "the authorities" are unable to do anything about the artistic improvements to this long abandoned building.
If you're interested, there is a Flickr group that continually posts photos as the building evolves. I took these seven photos on January 2, 2012.
In March 2009 The Free Sheep Foundation (I think these are the same guys who liberated the Bridge Motel on Aurora) occupied the Tubs building in Seattle's U District, which has been "slated for demolition" for a couple of years now. It's become an wonderfully and continually changing canvas for whatever artist or tagger shows up. Early on, people were outraged by all the painting, but over time, it has become a popular stopping by point. I think every neighborhood needs a building like this.
I like what you've done with the place.
I always stop by when I am in the neighborhood, but have never seen anyone at work. I think they only come out at night? I believe there is some kind of loophole in Seattle's graffiti law, in which "the authorities" are unable to do anything about the artistic improvements to this long abandoned building.
If you're interested, there is a Flickr group that continually posts photos as the building evolves. I took these seven photos on January 2, 2012.
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Sunday, January 01, 2012
Luke Burbank talks about Mitt Romney, and flip-flopping, and why it's not such a bad thing after all
By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor
Luke Burbank, talk show host, and star of the wonderful podcast Too Beautiful To Live, weighs in with a great opinion piece on Mitt Romney, and why flip-flopping and changing your mind is what makes us different from the beasts in the field. . .
Luke Burbank, talk show host, and star of the wonderful podcast Too Beautiful To Live, weighs in with a great opinion piece on Mitt Romney, and why flip-flopping and changing your mind is what makes us different from the beasts in the field. . .
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