Reunion of SNL Presidents

By Wade

You can thank Ron Howard once again for this little bit of nostalgia.

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

Politico's Editorial Meeting

By Dave

This is great! Also I want to see that story on the tea party...

Potbelly Hill Gives Some Insight into Religion and Society

by E.doc

There was a Turkish temple that was found dating back 11,500 years that is causing a raucous. Apparently, this temple predates civilization, and is making scientists rethink how society evolved. The old thought is that religion is a product of society. "All our theories were wrong," says Ian Hodder, director of Stanford's archaeology program. This temple, called Göbekli Tepe (Turkish for Potbelly Hill), predates agriculture, animal domestication, and specialized labor. It is thought that the temple was the origin of the city, and that in order to maintain the temple, a culture of people sprang up around it.

Potbelly Hill also predates the Great Pyramid by 7,000 years, AND, get this, Stonehenge by 6,000 years.

I don't know about other readers, but this sheds new light and makes me rethink the possiblities of religion. No difinitive answers come up of course, but just something more to think about.



photo cred: Newsweek and Berthold Steinhilber /Laif-Redux

SC State Republican Rep. Wants to Ban Money

By Dave

For reals:

South Carolina will no longer recognize U.S. currency as legal tender, if State Rep. Mike Pitts has his way.

Pitts, a fourth-term Republican from Laurens, introduced legislation earlier this month that would ban what he calls “the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin” in South Carolina.

If the bill were to become law, South Carolina would no longer accept or use anything other than silver and gold coins as a form of payment for any debt, meaning paper money would be out in the Palmetto State.

Pitts said the intent of the bill is to give South Carolina the ability to “function through gold and silver coinage” and give the state a “base of currency” in the event of a complete implosion of the U.S. economic system.

“I’m not one to cry ‘chicken little,’ but if our federal government keeps spending at the rate we’re spending I don’t see any other outcome than the collapse of the economic system,” Pitts said.

Holy crap! .... this guy is on his fourth-term! Do people in South Carolina actually check who they are electing or do they just draw names out of a hat? Sheesh

South Carolina: please do this! Also please send me all of your worthless Federal Reserve notes so that I may dispose of them properly.

H/T LGF

What's in the Tea?

By Dave

To anyone watching, it was pretty evident that the Tea Party movement people were out of their minds. It's an obvious conclusion, if you've had any exposure to their angry screaming over 'death panels', imbecilic hand wringing over 'czars', weird 'new world order' rants, shrill cries of socialism. Add to this an assortment of anti-immigration, anti-evolution, anti-global warming, isolationist rhetoric mixed with an elementary school level understanding of the American Revolution and it's pretty clear that most of these people are well-intentioned people who just happen to be politically unhinged.

Well, others are finally starting to get it too. Jonathan Kay, writing for Newsweek, attended the conference in Nashville and came away pretty shaken:

One of the most bizarre moments of the recent tea-party convention came when blogger Andrew Breitbart delivered a particularly vicious fulmination against the mainstream media, prompting everyone to get up, turn toward the media section at the back of the conference room, and scream, "USA! USA! USA!" But the tea partiers' well-documented obsession with President Obama has hardly been diffused by their knack for finding new enemies.

Steve Malloy, author of Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Ruin Your Life, kicked off the first full day of conference proceedings by warning that Obama and his minions are conspiring to control every aspect of Americans' lives—the colors of their cars, the kind of toilet paper they use, how much time they spend in the shower, the temperature of their homes—all under the guise of U.N. greenhouse-gas-reduction schemes. "Obama isn't a U.S. socialist," Malloy thundered. "He's an international socialist. He envisions a one-world government."
I consider myself a conservative and arrived at this conference as a paid-up, rank-and-file attendee, not one of the bemused New York Times types with a media pass. But I also happen to be writing a book for HarperCollins that focuses on 9/11 conspiracy theories, so I have a pretty good idea where the various screws and nuts can be found in the great toolbox of American political life.

Within a few hours in Nashville, I could tell that what I was hearing wasn't just random rhetorical mortar fire being launched at Obama and his political allies: the salvos followed the established script of New World Order conspiracy theories, which have suffused the dubious right-wing fringes of American politics since the days of the John Birch Society.

"Rahmbo" SNL style

By Dave

Recently, Rahm Emanuel, Obama's notoriously foul-mouthed Chief of Staff, got in kinda hot water (lukewarm) for using the 'r-word' when he called progressive Democrats "fucking retards." True story! Then Sarah Palin lept into the fray to demand an apology because such words should be off limits (unless you're Rush Limbaugh and then it's "satire"). SNL presents Rahm Emanuel's even-tempered apology:



The whole thing is good but the Palin rant is truly epic!

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

Republicans Unanimously Vote Against Fiscal Responsibility

By Dave

Hypocrisy truly knows no bounds.

Today the Senate voted 60-40 to enact PAYGO rules. These rules are among the first steps needed to force fiscal discipline on the government and they are responsible for the budget surpluses inherited by the Bush Administration in 2000. But EVERY SINGLE Republican voted against it. Not one Republican Senator voted yes. Not Olympia Snowe, not John McCain, not Susan Collins, not one. This is truly the Party of No.

For the last decade, Republicans have worked tirelessly to put this country into debt and financial ruin. They destroyed the country's budget with cut taxes for the wealthy, giant unfunded entitlement programs, and two wars. Yet they have the audacity to insist that they are the Party of Fiscal responsibility, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Wake up, people. Let know one ever insist to me that Congressional Republicans have ideas or favor deficit reduction. They couldn't care less about the deficit. Today's vote proves it. These people are power hungry narcissists who have no interest in making government more efficient or more productive. They just want the power. They will say or do anything to get it.

Great Moments in American Politics

By Dave

For anybody who hasn't seen it, here is the video from Obama's Q&A with the Republican Caucus.



Given the level of political debate over the last year, this back and forth looks all the more remarkable. One, it was great to see Obama demolish the Republican talking points using only facts and logic. Two, it was nice to see Republicans being respectful and actually taking this seriously. All in all, both sides came off looking pretty good.

In a lot of ways, the Q&A reminded me of when the British Prime Minister addresses the House of Commons. There's a give and take, everyone has to be on their toes, and intellectual capacity matters. It would be cool to see this happen more often. I've heard Republicans are already regretting giving a platform to Obama to shoot down their talking points.

So who knows if this is a one-time fluke or the beginning of a new trend, but I can dream can't I.