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    Are we heading for extinction of (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:23:49 AM EST
    most life on this planet? I was reading news about accelerated methane release from Siberia.
    The warming models don't even take methane into account yet.
    The point of no return , in terms of CO2 levels, may be even lower than people thought.

    Enjoy your fish palak (5.00 / 0) (#33)
    by ruffian on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:53:26 PM EST
    while you can!

    Parent
    Yes (none / 0) (#8)
    by smott on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:38:19 AM EST
    ...that is exactly the understanding I have, from my brother who is a biologist and former climate change treaties vp at WWF.

    The warming process will result in lethal levels of methane potentially as soon as the next few decades. Enough to be life threatening for our kids if not us.

    It won't be the flooding and ocean rising that gets us.

    We'll be gassed to death.

    Parent

    Bjorn Lomborg has got to be one of (none / 0) (#11)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:03:22 PM EST
    the most evil people in all history.
    What he has done is transparent: He saw a niche as an anti-Cassandra which he realized would pay quite handsomely, and knew he had the background and looks to fill it.
    Do you think I exaggerate his vilitude?
    With his abilities as a communicator, he could be a superb spokesman for doing something against AGW; instead, he settles for some money now to do an equally superb job spreading lies.

    As an aside, I am one of the rare people who just loathes cars. I hate the idea; I hate the reality; I hate what cars have done to life.
    I love to walk from one place to another. It's one of my very favorite activities. Where can you do that in America? Hardly anywhere, anymore.


    Parent

    Seems like geoengineering will (none / 0) (#15)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:14:06 PM EST
    be tried before long. There is no political will to use any other method.

    Parent
    True definition of a racist (5.00 / 1) (#91)
    by shoephone on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 10:07:46 PM EST
    Try this guy.

    People did the same thing with Bush. (none / 0) (#95)
    by observed on Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 07:20:26 AM EST
    The guy is probably a racist, but this example isn't such strong evidence, IMO.

    Parent
    Can (2.00 / 0) (#1)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 09:29:36 AM EST
    we just roll all the so called "progressives" under the bus and move on? The whole "progessive" movement thing is beyond tiresome.

    There's no more room, ... (none / 0) (#2)
    by Yman on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 09:43:44 AM EST
    ... particularly with the human rights groups and Armenians that Obama just tossed under there.

    Parent
    Worst movie EVAH (none / 0) (#3)
    by kmblue on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 10:27:16 AM EST
    airing on TCM 8pm EST "The Oscar".  Must be seen to be believed in its awesome awfulness.  Tape or DVR if you can.  For more, check out salon.com

    It is deliciously baaaad (none / 0) (#23)
    by ruffian on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:38:10 PM EST
    as Dan Ackroyd's character used to day.

    Parent
    Ha, so bad it's awesome? (none / 0) (#54)
    by Babel 17 on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:38:14 PM EST
    :)

    http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/oscars/index.html?story=/ent/movies/film_salon/2010/03/05/ the_oscar

    "The original writer of "The Oscar," Gaiman's close friend Harlan Ellison, attended the 1966 premiere. Ellison recalls: "I practically wept. I saw this film for which I had worked for a year, and people are laughing in the theater and they're laughing at dramatic moments. And I'm sinking lower and lower and lower in my seat. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I said, 'This is the end of my feature film career.'"

    Time magazine concurred with Ellison's assessment, writing that the film "should be shown exclusively in theatres that have doctors and nurses stationed in the lobby to attend viewers who laugh themselves sick." The New York Times castigated "this arrantly cheap, synthetic film, which dumps filth and casts aspersions upon the whole operation of Hollywood -- a community that may not be perfect but is not so foul as hinted here.""

    "Imagine if Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" were played, not as a climax, but 73 straight times. That would be "The Oscar." Just about every scene is a shrieking climax, with every available piece of scenery chewed and spit out with insane commitment. And that commitment is the key to the enterprise."

    I didn't know Ellison was doing work like this back then.


    Parent

    It's his greatest shame (none / 0) (#58)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 04:01:56 PM EST
    Ellison's a superb writer who can write pretty much anything and do a good job of it.  If you have that skill, you do what you have to do to earn a living until you can become successful enough to only do what you want to do.

    Ellison also did a fair amount of hack TV and movie stuff under various pseudonyms.

    Parent

    I have mixed feelings about Ellison (none / 0) (#87)
    by sj on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 08:50:06 PM EST
    On the one hand, there's the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" which I will still watch.  But "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" pretty much guaranteed that I will never again read his work.  Maybe I was too young when I read it, but it haunted me for years.

    I take it back.  I guess I don't really have mixed feelings about him since I won't read him.

    Parent

    Ellison is.... (none / 0) (#90)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 09:49:30 PM EST
    er, well, Ellison is Ellison.  He's sui generis.  As a sci-fi/speculative fiction writer, he's never particularly turned me on.  But his personality and his non-fiction writing I've always just loved.  He had many, many years ago a book that was a collection of columns he wrote as a one-time TV critic, of all things, probably for the LA Times.  Hopelessly dated now, but fantastic critical/liberal /sociological analysis of a kind that was simply unheard-of back then.

    Also he edited an absolutely wonderful two-volume collection of mostly just terrific science fiction short stories called "Dangerous Visions" that intruduced me to a whole bunch of writers I'd never heard before and loved.  And his intros to the stories were as much or more fun than the stories themselves.

    Point being just that the cult of Ellison, of which I guess I'm a member, is probably much less about his stories than about the man himself.

    Parent

    Sorry "The Oscar" (none / 0) (#4)
    by kmblue on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 10:28:14 AM EST
    is airing Sunday, opposite, of course, the Academy Awards ;)

    Strange cross-cultural food belief: (none / 0) (#5)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:05:25 AM EST
    Some years ago I was ordering in a Greek restaurant and I asked for feta cheese with my grilled fish. I was told Greek people don't combine fish and feta, because it's not good for you (don't remember the precise reason).
    Flash forward. I do some Indian cooking these days and I get tips from  a couple Indian friends of mine. This week I made a Chicken Palak (palak=spinach) which was very tasty. I told these women about it and said I was going to make a fish palak next. She said fine, but don't put yogurt in there because it will give your skin white spots.
    Fish+cultured milk products= trouble?
    Where does this idea come from?


    I'm about to eat the fish palak (none / 0) (#6)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:08:51 AM EST
    made with yogurt, btw.
    If I'm not able to post for several hours, you'll know why.

    Parent
    Wasn't so good. I think the (none / 0) (#30)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:49:26 PM EST
    salmon was farm raised. Oh well
    I'll stick with chicken palak.

    Parent
    I know my Irish mother (none / 0) (#24)
    by ruffian on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:40:25 PM EST
    objected to the >cD's filet o' fish sandwich for the same reason. Serious objections to mixing fish and cheese. I thought it was just one of her quirks.

    Parent
    McD's, not > (none / 0) (#25)
    by ruffian on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:40:43 PM EST
    A person who was born in Okinawa (none / 0) (#26)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:43:18 PM EST
    informed me Japanese people (Japanese people don't consider their fellow-countrymen, the Okinawans, to be "real" Japanese) do not eat cheese or drink milk.  Seems the Japanese in Kyoto restaurant business do not know this.

    Parent
    Makes sense for purely practical reasons (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by ruffian on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:48:38 PM EST
    since there is not a lot of room for raising cows in Japan. I didn't see any cheese dishes over there at all. Not that I missed it with all the other great food. (Except those processed fish skewer things some nice young women offered me on a train once - really had to choke that down!)

    Parent
    A digestive, not space for grazing issue. (none / 0) (#32)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:52:11 PM EST
    BUt many Japanese people were chowing down on dishes including lots of cheese at pizza/pasta restaurant on 11th fl. of Izetan dept. store.

    Parent
    Oh, I see (none / 0) (#35)
    by ruffian on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:55:38 PM EST
    Maybe they pay the digestive price for their pizza indulgence later.   Actually, I think we all probably do but just ignore it if we can.

    Parent
    The only available in Korea (none / 0) (#43)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 02:22:24 PM EST
    is goat cheese.  I thought it was pretty good, order a "Koreanized" Pizza almost any place where you can get one and Spagos wasn't all that special after that.  South Korean Pizza Hut puts corn on its everything pizza, it showed up as a staple on there at a few Mom and Pops too.

    Parent
    So where does this come from? (none / 0) (#49)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:02:56 PM EST
    There must be some underlying reason if the belief is spread across the continents.

    Parent
    Meantime, here in Pgh (none / 0) (#9)
    by smott on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:39:45 AM EST
    Hopiness. (none / 0) (#10)
    by Edger on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:47:30 AM EST
    I would hope that somehow the Democrats will learn a lesson from knowing they are going to take a serious beating in November, and do something about it.

    They have 8 months to get the progressive and independent votes back.

    Plenty of time to create and pass some useful legislation, like a universal single payer HCR bill, and plenty of time to charge, try and begin prosecution of Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the war criminals.

    Why, I bet they could even get away with not prosecuting Obama as an accessory after the fact, as long as they prosecute the others, and defund the wars and start REALLY getting out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

    And plenty of time to charge, try and prosecute Paulsen, Geithner, Bernanke, and Lloyd Blankfein, and the upper management of AIG, and break up Goldman Sachs.

    If they do these things in the next few months they can win November with landslides, and Obama might even win a second term two years down the road.

    Making Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public utilities would be icing on the cake.

    Otherwise they are toast. And apparently republicans are worse... somehow. (scratches head in puzzlement).

    All they need is the desire to not be immolated in November.

    They should know by now that no amount of corporate contributions are going to do them any damn good at all, without the votes they need.

    After all, they're Democrats, and they're not stupid, right?


    I keep being told to remember (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by Cream City on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:19:04 PM EST
    that Republicans are worse.  Yes, they're all being stupid.  I see both parties as characters in Alice in Wonderland: Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

    Or in this case, Tweedledum and Tweedledumber. What a choice.

    Parent

    To expand upon that (5.00 / 3) (#18)
    by Cream City on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:23:03 PM EST
    I shall share excerpts of some analysis of the characters in Through the Looking Glass, as this fits the situation of our current parties to a T:

    They agree to have a battle, but never have one. . . .  The Tweedle brothers never contradict each other, even when one of them, according to the rhyme, "agrees to have a battle". Rather, they complement each other's words. This fact has led [literary critics] to assume that they are twins . . . enantiomorphs, i.e., three-dimensional mirror images.


    Parent
    They are? (none / 0) (#38)
    by Edger on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 01:16:08 PM EST
    Wow. Hard to imagine.

    And here I thought the Democrats use the Republicans to come up with various violations of the Constitution that the Democrats will then maintain, and then sell fear of Republicans as a reason to vote for Democrats, who will then use the Republicans to come up with various violations of the Constitution that the Democrats will then maintain, etc. etc. etc.

    Kind of like two teams in the same league, with one owner, fighting for the pennant every four years?

    Parent

    Republicans are used by (5.00 / 1) (#40)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 01:20:24 PM EST
    Democrats as the boogeyman, the same as Osama is used by the republicans.

    Parent
    Funny... (5.00 / 1) (#41)
    by Edger on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 01:23:06 PM EST
    I tried to tell everyone that, nearly three years ago.

    And got nowhere...

    Parent

    This has always been true in terms of (none / 0) (#45)
    by esmense on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 02:51:55 PM EST
    foreign policy (which is why I never took Obama seriously as an anti-war candidate) but the Dems, for pragmatic political reasons, have in the past been a skooch better for their own constituencies on domestic and social issues.

    Obama has changed all that.

    He appears determined to, and feels confident he can, Sister Souljah every one of the party's traditional constituencies.

    I think the reasoning is this; the Republican party has gone so far to the right on social issues, and their small town main street constituencies economic interests have become so incongruent with the interests of the tops 1% who run the country (and the "creative class" who serve that 1%), Democrats can now use fear of the excesses of far right and downscale, especially Christian, Republicans to gain the votes of affluent, educated moderate and socially libertarian Republicans. They don't need to talk about "saving roe v. wade, or labor rights, or affirmative action" now -- because they believe they can woo former Republicans with "save the teaching of evolution, investments in technology (that you earn your living from, green or otherwise)." As well as, "stop the drilling (in your backyard) and save the view from (and tax credits for) your energy efficient mini-mansion," etc.

    Not to mention, "get your organic arugula in the government feeding program."

    Parent

    The fact Obama made expanding war (5.00 / 1) (#48)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:01:56 PM EST
    in Central Asia the main plank of his foreign policy, along with his repeated threats to bomb Iran, told you all you needed to know.
    It's fair to say that Hillary represented the same bloody foreign policy, but I don't think her supporters had any illusions.

    Parent
    So you're saying that the Dems (none / 0) (#46)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 02:56:30 PM EST
    are playing a more educated class of voters for rubes?
    Very impressive.


    Parent
    This doesn't mean they don't intend to (5.00 / 1) (#50)
    by esmense on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:07:45 PM EST
    serve the interests of these new constituencies. It means they no longer feel they need to serve the interests of their traditional more traditional supporters.

    Don't worry. They will and are fighting as we speak to get "organic and artisanal food producers" their share of the government food purchasing dollar (that's what Michelle's campaign against childhoos obesity is all about). And we will certainly see tax credits for green technology and a whole lot of other things appeal to and benefit this class of voters.

    What we won't see is protection of reproductive rights for the poor, protection of labor rights, etc., etc.

    Parent

    They no longer feel the need.. (none / 0) (#55)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:38:32 PM EST
    as evidenced in the early nineties by the passage of NAFTA and the WTO treaties, amongst other things.

    It's not like slapping the working class and kowtowing to Wall St just started with a couple of eye rolls and shoulder brushes in 2008.

    Parent

    Of course it didn't just start in 2008. The dream (none / 0) (#60)
    by esmense on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 04:51:08 PM EST
    of a Democratic party that did not need the votes of Labor actually began with the McGovern campaign in 1972.

    McGovern specifically ran against "Big Labor" in the '72 primary. His strategy was very similar to the one Obama followed in '08; dismiss Labor (who in '72 supported Humphrey and in '08 often supported Clinton) in favor of attracting a coalition of young, affluent anti-war voters, independents and moderate Republicans (people Labor Leader George Meany at the time called "$20,000 a year men," ah, inflation!)

    Like Obama, McGovern enjoyed especially strong support among more conservative Democrats in otherwise Republican states in the West, and like Obama's supporters, elitist McGovern Democrats today STILL dismiss working class anger at McGovern, based in his attacks on Labor, as really based in racism.

    But, since Labor strongly supported Humphrey, a Democrat with perhaps the strongest, and longest, pro-civil rights record of anyone in the party -- a man more noted for his support of Civil Rights, in fact, than McGovern, that accusation has never made sense as anything other than a class based slur.

    In '72, McGovern's strategy worked in the primary. But his feud with Labor discouraged Labor turnout in the general election (a much larger part of the electorate than today), young voters failed to show up, and Nixon and his "secret" plan to end the war won over independents and won back moderate Republicans. The election was a disaster, but the influence of McGovern's supporters and their disinterest in, if not actual animosity toward, Labor gained influence in the party and, as you note, has had a profound effect on policy over the years.

    In 2008 Obama, the first black presidential candidate, enjoyed unprecedented turnout from minority voters and, in the general, was able to hold on to the support of independents and moderate Republicans -- making Labor support less important.

    Could a white Democratic presidential candidate duplicate his success in the future? Will continuing betrayals of Labor and working class interests discourage minority middle class and working class voters -- who are more likely to belong to unions than whites?

    We'll have to wait to see.

    Parent

    Capital L , Labor (none / 0) (#62)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:36:08 PM EST
    is nothing now like it was, even in '72.

    My prediction is that, barring some cataclysm or other that somehow unleashes a resurgence-rebirth of legitimate labor organizing, the mainstream Democratic party - that tries to to leave little to chance - will continue to hedge it's bets and stick with the same basic strategy of policy obeisance to the Masters of the Universe, while dusting off the photo-ops-in-blue-collar-bars and psuedo-populist "The other guys are even worse than we are.." rhetoric when the election cycle goes into full swing.

    Meanwhile the powerful-symbol-wielding (if completely fos) Teaparty movement seems to be "speaking" to more and more people..as things get harder and harder for more and more people. Pie in the sky (and an emotional catharsis) is better than no pie at all..At least the Repubs had the cunning to try to fill the void left by THEIR union busting with "something".

    It's a mess, Im almost tempted to say, ripe for fascism, or another big war to give the people something to focus on.

    Parent

    I agree with you (5.00 / 1) (#64)
    by esmense on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:46:26 PM EST
    The anger and incoherence of the Tea Partiers is dangerous.

    Parent
    Living in a pressure cooker (none / 0) (#81)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:45:16 PM EST
    three doors down from desperation, isnt conducive to coherent thought and action; despite all the "when the going gets tough.." Reaganseque twaddle.

    It's not that the average Teapartier is inherently stupid, but they're hurting and angry and deep down they know that the closer you get to top the less places at the table there are -- and in this country the mythos is that if you're not on your way up, it's your fault; nothing to do with the "smart"    people (who we're all supposed to admire) who cut deals with our "trading partners" in China and Mexico.

    Parent

    Not a bad comment. (none / 0) (#63)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:43:56 PM EST
    As far as the Tea Partiers are concerned; in my opinion their politics are so inchoate that some of them could be co-opted by the Democratic party, with the right carrots.
    Calling them stupid and insulting them is just braindead politics on the Dems' part (you listening, Maddow?).

    Parent
    Excellent summary (none / 0) (#79)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:27:46 PM EST
    of not that distant past history-- totally "misremembered" by most.

    I was not a McGovern fan, but the Dem. establishment had offered up Ed Muskie that year, sure and certain-- for reasons that totally escaped me-- that he would appeal mightily to students and the anti-war moderate left.

    Gene McCarthy also ran that year again, but by then nobody could take him seriously.

    Small bit of trivia-- in the 1980 election, McGovern endorsed Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter.

    So much for Gene McCarthy.

    Parent

    I always took Gene seriously (none / 0) (#82)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:51:44 PM EST
    maybe the best out of the whole lot from that era. A good man. Maybe too good.

    Parent
    Oh, really? (none / 0) (#89)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 09:43:20 PM EST
    Gene was a self-loving, lacy phony and a massive jerk.

    Did you read what I said?  He endorsed Ronald Reagan.

    Gene McCarthy was the Obama of the era.

    Parent

    Really (5.00 / 1) (#92)
    by jondee on Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 12:12:36 AM EST
    I liked him. Sorry.

    And Hillary used to suck up to the Walmart empire.

    We're both like Whitman: we contradict ourselves and contain multitudes.

    Parent

    Shirley Chishom in 1972 (none / 0) (#93)
    by caseyOR on Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 01:41:54 AM EST
    That was my first presidential vote. I voted for Shirley in the primary and wrote her name in on my ballot in the general. She was honest and direct and liberal and brilliant.

    Even though I was a college student and a member of what is today called the creative class, I did not like McGovern's attempts to push labor aside. I was raised by New Deal Democrats and union members who made sure I understood the importance of organized labor to the survival of regular Americans.

    The current Democratic Party is a sad and empty shell of its past self.

    Parent

    That should be ChishoLm. (none / 0) (#94)
    by caseyOR on Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 01:42:50 AM EST
    Forgot the L.

    Parent
    Having just lived (none / 0) (#96)
    by gyrfalcon on Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 09:53:44 AM EST
    through 1968, when massive numbers of Gene McCarthy supporters stayed home because they disdained Humphrey, and ended up electing Nixon, I held my nose and voted for McGovern as a matter of principle.  I was raised in the same kind of household you were, though, so it was an ugly choice to have to make.

    Parent
    I'm saying they are "trading up" in (none / 0) (#47)
    by esmense on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:01:45 PM EST
    terms of base constituencies.

    Parent
    Sister Souljah (none / 0) (#53)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:33:11 PM EST
    that's cute. What, is that like the female version of Scatman or Bojangles or something?

    That's a blithely cavalier, under-the-wire slur worthy of a talk radio host.

    These minorities that can only get ahead by playing on liberal guilt..

    Parent

    I have a feeling you don't understand (1.00 / 1) (#56)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:41:46 PM EST
    the reference.
    Of course, accusations of racism are de rigeur from the Obama wing of the Republican Party.

    Parent
    I wonder why.. (5.00 / 1) (#57)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:50:44 PM EST
    They're probably just circling the wagons around President Souljah and his Portuguese Waterdog, Fido X.

    Parent
    A "Sister Souljah" is an act of (none / 0) (#61)
    by esmense on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:15:33 PM EST
    political betrayal. The term comes from one of the lowest acts of Bill Clinton's first presidential campaigns -- when he made a point of criticizing (and, in the process, mis-representing) the words of a rap singer, named Sister Souljah, in order to score points with more conservative voters.

    It has come to mean a political strategy (usually encouraged by the mainstream media) of criticizing, distancing oneself from or disavowing, one group, always a liberal group, in order to curry the favor of other more conservative or "moderate" groups.

    I don't know how old you are, Jondee. You may not have even been born in 1991. But before you start making the kind of angry accusations you are so prone to make, you may want to learn a little bit more political history.

    Parent

    I remember Sister Soluljah (none / 0) (#66)
    by jondee on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:07:53 PM EST
    but my tolerance for facile media grandstanding and symbol manipulation is so low that I stopped paying attention early on during that particular tempest in teapot.

    In the context of the (still) daily caterwauling here about those-people-who-called-us-racists, I jumped the gun and assumed you were conflating Obama with Sister Souljah because of her (media-enhanced) reputation for seeing a racist behind every bush and exploiting it for her own career advancement-- which has certainly been implied about Obama here on an occasion or two. Plus, Im not exactly big on Sister Souljah in general, to put it mildly.

    Sorry if I misread your meaning.

    Parent

    I would say Obama is planning on (none / 0) (#12)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:05:13 PM EST
    Democratic losses in November. Not sure if Congress realizes that yet.

    Parent
    Maybe he'll surprise us all (5.00 / 6) (#39)
    by Edger on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 01:18:56 PM EST
    Switch parties and become a Democrat.

    Although somehow I don't see him doing that.

    Parent

    But maybe (none / 0) (#13)
    by jbindc on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:10:37 PM EST
    That was the plan all along - then he can show how PPUS really works!  And if it doesn't work, he has the built in excuse "Oh, I couldn't do anything with a Republican Congress.  See how evil they are?  You need to re-elect me as a check and balance on them - I will fight for you! (I hope)."

    Parent
    I believe in Salo's "cuckoo" (none / 0) (#14)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:12:18 PM EST
    theory for Obama.
    Are you familiar with that one?

    Parent
    No, please enlighten me (none / 0) (#17)
    by jbindc on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:21:11 PM EST
    The cuckoo puts its eggs in the (5.00 / 3) (#20)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:23:31 PM EST
    nests of other birds, where the chicks are raised  by parents who don't know they are feeding a foreigner.
    Salo says that Obama was the cuckoo chick in the democratic nest.
    I like the image.
    I don't think he ever had any allegiance to Democratic principles. He's a Democrat because that's what gets you elected in Chicago.


    Parent
    Interesting. One could argue the reason (4.00 / 3) (#21)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:27:32 PM EST
    he resided in Chicago was to get elected.  Certainly seems to explain picking Hyde Park and The Rev. Wright's church.

    Parent
    He may be far more like Reagan (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:32:08 PM EST
    than we realize. Reagan was the amiable face for a vicious ideology; Obama may be another pretty face for pretty much the same set of values.


    Parent
    Huh, that's funny... (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by desertswine on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:59:27 PM EST
    because I was thinking the exact same thing last night. Sort of the Democrat Reagan.

    Parent
    Well, that is what he promised! (none / 0) (#37)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 01:00:53 PM EST
    "Vicious ideology": overkill re Obama? (none / 0) (#27)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:44:26 PM EST
    no, not really. The ideology is (5.00 / 3) (#28)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:48:30 PM EST
    very simple:
    1. Don't tax the rich
    2. Don't tax the rich
    3. Don't tax the rich
    4. Don't even THINK about taxing the rich
    5. Fight some wars.
    That's about it.

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    Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee (none / 0) (#19)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:23:12 PM EST
    broadcast:  Verdi's "Attila."  Ricardo Muti's first conducting appearance at the Met.  Not a winner opera though.

    Ahhhhhh . . . . (none / 0) (#31)
    by nycstray on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:51:44 PM EST
    baseball's back!

    Cubs on a winning streak. (5.00 / 1) (#42)
    by caseyOR on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 01:35:41 PM EST
    Yeah, I know, it's only two games, and it's spring training. But, hey, we're talking about the Cubs; we must squeeze whatever joy we can from whatever victories they have.

    And who knows. This could be the year. GO, CUBS!

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    I was afraid to look it up (none / 0) (#97)
    by ruffian on Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 01:30:43 PM EST
    Thanks for the good news. Go Cubbies!

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    Yes. And the Padres won big time over (none / 0) (#34)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 12:53:26 PM EST
    Mariners yesterday.  Hope this holds until I show up at spring training in mid-March.

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    Gruesome degrees of separation: (none / 0) (#44)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 02:43:46 PM EST
    I'm reminded by reading an article on homes of infamous murderers that I am 2 degrees of separation from J. Dahmer and 1 degree of separation from Bundy.
    I knew a man who worked in the Seattle crisis  clinic back with Bundy before his hobby was known.
    Also working there was Ann Rule, of "The Stranger Beside Me".
    The guy said he couldn't stand Rule, but got along ok with Bundy. Well, they said Bundy was charming.
    The Dahmer connection is from knowing someone who grew up with Dahmer's father.

    I'm also 2 degrees of separation from  Pope JPII two different ways, which nauseates me too, because of the RCC's lethal doctine on condom use and AIDS.


    How many more times today (none / 0) (#51)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:16:08 PM EST
    will I have to watch blurbs from the Parker Griffith booby hatch telethon speech.  It's crazy verses crazy on the hill.

    And how cute (none / 0) (#52)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 03:21:08 PM EST
    I take a look at my playlist to see if there is anything new DVR'd per our set requests and there was.  A documentary from the History Channel, 'Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire'.

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    Anybody like "The Fountain"? (none / 0) (#59)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 04:18:08 PM EST
    Over the last several hours, I have gotten about 45 minutes into the movie. I find it SOOOOOOOOOO slow, and quite annoyingly arty.
    Nevertheless, I am curious what happens.
    I think it's the musical score which is turning me off. It's new-Age/Phillip Glass-y, and just too much syrup for an already treacly film.
    The music needs more punch.


    Thanks for the warning re the score. (none / 0) (#65)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:07:16 PM EST
    I'm about 30 minutes more into it, (none / 0) (#68)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:18:52 PM EST
    and I WILL finish, but only with gritted teeth.
    So far it's visually wonderful, and completely overdone in very other area. Poor Hugh Jackman.
    X-men was less embarrassing than this movie.

    Parent
    Actually the ending was quite (5.00 / 1) (#69)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:38:57 PM EST
    affecting, with some beautiful and surprising imagery.
    I'd recommend the movie, but bring pillows.


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    Eating on the tree creeped me out (none / 0) (#71)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:57:55 PM EST
    though, I enjoyed the movie's story, really liked the ending, but gnawing on scabby hairy trees just ain't my thang :)

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    I can't resist mentioning that you (none / 0) (#73)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:01:17 PM EST
    really set yourself up with this comment....ahem.

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    Now that's just sick (none / 0) (#75)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:11:14 PM EST
    I would have never realized that in some social settings I had even said "that" if you hadn't said anything.  For the record though, I can pass gnawing on that interpretation too :)

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    On movie music (none / 0) (#78)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:22:22 PM EST
    Joshua asked for the soundtrack from the movie 'Yes Man', and it is good....but the CD doesn't even have half of the songs from movie on it.

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    I bought the soundtrack of (none / 0) (#83)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 08:16:47 PM EST
    "Leaving Las Vegas" but gave it away.  Spoken voices with soundtrack in the background.

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    In the movie we just watched (none / 0) (#85)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 08:32:15 PM EST
    his mother is an opera singer.  I don't recognize the woman's face as even a little known actor so suspect that she is an actual opera singer.  And if her voice wasn't dubbed I would have to double suspect it.  I haven't even made an effort to look at the particulars of the movie yet though.

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    Nope, Canadian actress (none / 0) (#86)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 08:41:22 PM EST
    And I never did see Men with Brooms.

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    I think you have to be (none / 0) (#70)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:52:30 PM EST
    a Buddhist with a scifi streak to stand the movie.  I don't mind watching it, but I'm probably the only person in the house who can tolerate it.  We just watched 'The Time Traveler's Wife', better storyline...same concept of a kind of deep eternal time warping love.

    Parent
    Hey, did you ever watch (5.00 / 1) (#72)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:59:07 PM EST
    Godspeed, the Alaskan movie?

    I Fountain has universal themes. If there's a Buddhist element, it's less in the lotus positions than in the score, which sounds just like waht you'd hear in a yoga class, or getting a massage by a new-agey person.
    A few years ago, I got a massage by a woman who played this tape of new-age style piano playing---completely aimless, nearly tuneless fast tinkering on the piano---and it set my teeth on edge so that I was more tense by the end than the beginning of the session. I should have just told her to turn it off, but I was a little curious at how much that music affected me---like a new age, audible water torture.

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    I still haven't gotten Godspeed yet (5.00 / 0) (#74)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:06:57 PM EST
    I have it saved on the Netflix account when it is available.  I told my spouse to keep on eye out for it too where he is because a lot is available in Afghanistan from the vendors....things that shouldn't be :)  He hasn't run across it yet there.

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    he can get anything on (none / 0) (#76)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:13:10 PM EST
    zml.com
    but you didn't hear that from me.
    One thing about Fountain: it's mischaracterized as a sci-fi film. It takes a while to understand how the timelines are related, and it's one of the pleasures of the film to see them integrated into a meaningful whole by the end.
    My favorite moment is the shocking event which happens right after HJ drinks the milky sap.
    That's when I realized this was a deep and beautiful movie.

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    Same for me (none / 0) (#77)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:19:12 PM EST
    After I saw it once, I could watch it again with more appreciation.  If you like The Fountain for that reason you would probably really enjoy The Time Traveler's Wife.  And Eric Bana is easy on the eyes, he doesn't hurt any worse than Hugh Jackman :)  Wolverine is big in this house too with Master Joshua, and I got him the Wolverine movie recently too to add to his boyhood collection.

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    Of interest to those keen on history: (none / 0) (#67)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:12:38 PM EST
    Today I attended a lecture entitled:  Zorastrianism:  Its Indo-Iranian Origins, and Its Expression in Iran and India.

    I asked the speaker to comment on Mozart's "The Magic Flute."  She stared by explaining the first European language book about the religion appeared in the late 1700s, while Ben Franklin was U.S. embassador to England.  He wrote to the president of Yale College and told him to look into this interesting philosophy.  About the same time as the book became available, Mozart wrote to his father about these principles.  As we know, W.A. Mozart was active in the freemasonry movement in Vienna.  Then he composed the opera.  

    Aren't the Parsees in Bombay (none / 0) (#80)
    by observed on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:27:58 PM EST
    Zoroastrians?
    There's an insular group (very wealthy, I think) which would be interesting to study. I believe there are only a few hundred of them, maybe a few hundred families? Anyway, the number is very small.
    Zubin Mehta is a Parsee---did you know that?

    A few years ago I was mentioning my arcane knowledge about these matters to a pianist friend and he said he and his duo piano partner had played with Mehta in Bombay.
    Oh well...haha.

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    There is a small community in present-day (none / 0) (#84)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 08:19:00 PM EST
    Iran.  Large community in Mumbai.  Scattered throughout the "Stans" to SE Asia.  Communnities in U.S., including Southern California.

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    I'm afraid that all I know... (none / 0) (#88)
    by sj on Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 08:50:25 PM EST
    ... about Zoroastrians is that Freddie Mercury was one.

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