Here Come The Blues

By Wade



All the craziness got you down? Take a moment with Nick Drake and feel the Blues.

No! It's My Senate! You Can't Have Any!

By Wade

This is just wonderful. More BS akin to Ben Nelson holding the health care bill hostage so he could make sure his state and only his state never had to pay for it.

Well, here's the meat of the article:

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary "blanket hold" on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, according to multiple reports this evening. The hold means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.

Bam. It's like he wanted to give me and the rest of the world the perfect example for why the Republicans don't give a crap what happens to this country, and will take any excuse to make Obama look bad.

Democrats, take note. Listen to Jon Stewart. They're not going to let you in the car! You're being played for fools.

Here's a video of Shelby talking about his thoughts on earmarks in general. I especially like where he says that if you're not proud of it, if you're not willing to openly defend it, you shouldn't do it, as well as when he says that he wouldn't do it for dubious purposes.

Sen. Richard Shelby on earmarks

From TPM again:

Shelby has been tight-lipped about the holds, offering only an unnamed spokesperson to reporters today to explain them.

What's the matter? Not so proud right now?

Hilarious!

By Dave

Ouch! Totally busted! A banker gets caught looking at NSFW photos on live television by news crew. Funny stuff! Starts at 1:05. (This video is safe for work)



H/T The Daily What

Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly: Epic Showdown

By Wade

You absolutely must watch the interview in its entirety. The Fox News edit doesn't nearly do Jon Stewart justice (big surprise there). Here it is:

Incendiary Blogging in a Nutshell

By Dave

And perhaps a template for future blog posts - jk :)

Here's a taste:

This sentence claims that there are many people who do not agree with the thesis of the blog post as expressed in the previous sentence. This sentence speculates as to the mental and ethical character of the people mentioned in the previous sentence. This sentence contains a link to the most egregiously ill-argued, intemperate, hateful and ridiculous example of such people the author could find. This sentence is a three-word refutation of the post linked in the previous sentence, the first of which three words is “Um.” This sentence implies that the linked post is in fact typical of those who disagree with the thesis of the blog post. This sentence contains expressions of outrage and disbelief largely expressed in Internet acronyms. This sentence contains a link to an Internet video featuring a cat playing a piano.

The comments at the bottom are really awesome

H/T Kottke

The Nominees Are...

By Dave

Oscar nominees are here! Here are a couple of categories. For a full list go here.

BEST PICTURE:
* Avatar
* The Blind Side
* District 9
* An Education
* The Hurt Locker
* Inglourious Basterds
* Precious
* A Serious Man
* Up
* Up in the Air

DIRECTING:
* James Cameron (Avatar)
* Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
* Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
* Lee Daniels (Precious)
* Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
* Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
* George Clooney (Up in the Air)
* Colin Firth (A Single Man)
* Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
* Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
* Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
* Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
* Carey Mulligan (An Education)
* Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
* Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
* Matt Damon (Invictus)
* Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
* Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
* Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
* Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
* Penelope Cruz (Nine)
* Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
* Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
* Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
* Mo'Nique (Precious)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
* District 9 (Written by Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell)
* An Education (Screenplay by Nick Hornby)
* In the Loop (Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche)
* Precious (Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher)
* Up in the Air (Screenplay by Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
* The Hurt Locker (Written by Mark Boal)
* Inglourious Basterds (Written by Quentin Tarantino)
* The Messenger (Written by Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman)
* A Serious Man (Written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
* Up (Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy)

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
* Coraline
* Fantastic Mr. Fox
* The Princess and the Frog
* The Secrets of Kells
* Up

VISUAL EFFECTS:
* Avatar (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones)
* District 9 (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken)
* Star Trek (Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton)

I still have some catching up to do. So far, the best things I've seen this year are Avatar, Inglorious Basterds, (500) Days of Summer, Coraline, Up and The Hurt Locker. I don't know about anybody else but I was underwhelmed by District 9. It was good, but not great. So, I'm not really rooting for it. I'm disappointed (500) Days of Summer didn't get a nod for anything, not even screenplay. Although I loved Coraline, the first 10 minutes of Up are masterful. I was literally in tears. So my guess is its a shoe-in for Best Animated Film (but probably no chance of Best Picture). The Hurt Locker was great, definitely the best movie about the Iraq War, but I don't know if it was the best, given the list. Also I hope Christoph Waltz wins for Best Supporting Actor, he was awesome in Inglorious. 

See anything left off their list? What are your predictions?

Sigh....

By Dave

Bruce Bartlett uses this poll to show why he's not a Republican.

I can only conclude from this new poll of 2003 self-identified Republicans nationwide that between 20% and 50% of the party is either insane or mind-numbingly stupid.

Question	Yes	No	Not Sure
Should Barack Obama be impeached?	39	32	29
Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States?	42	36	22
Do you think Barack Obama is a socialist?	63	21	16
Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win?	24	43	33
Do you believe ACORN stole the 2008 election?	21	24	55
Do you believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Barack Obama?	53	14	33
Do you believe Barack Obama is a racist who hates white people?	31	36	33
Do you believe your state should secede from the United States?	23	58	19
Should openly gay men and women be allowed to teach in public schools?	8	73	19
Should contraceptive use be outlawed?	31	56	13
Do you believe the birth control pill is abortion?	34	48	18