The Edge of Heaven

Kinda random, but kinda not:

Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven in the US) by Fatih Akin is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Head On was also fucking amazing. The guy is just an amazing director and writer.

Somewhat related/ not really:

The new Turkish food joint, Döner, on Bedford ave in Northside is excellent, and the price can't be beat. Get a lamb döner sandwich and the red lentil soup, and you'll find yourself well fed and feeling pretty damn good about it, too. And lord knows we all need to feel good.

Me, too

Steve Benen on Dick Cheney's record and his feelings:

I seem to recall the Bush/Cheney era a little differently. Cheney thinks it was a sterling success when it came to national security and counter-terrorism. Perhaps there's something to this. After all, except for the catastrophic events of 9/11, and the anthrax attacks against Americans, and terrorist attacks against U.S. allies, and the terrorist attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Bush's inability to capture those responsible for 9/11, and waging an unnecessary war that inspired more terrorists, and the success terrorists had in exploiting Bush's international unpopularity, the Bush/Cheney record on counter-terrorism was awesome.

After the previous administration established a record like that, President Obama didn't ask Cheney for tips? The nerve.

I am curious about something, though. Terrorists first attacked the World Trade Center in 1993, early on in President Clinton's first year in office. Six people were killed, hundreds more were injured. The Clinton administration caught those responsible, subjected them to the U.S. criminal justice system, and foreign terrorists did not strike again on U.S. soil during Clinton's terms in office.

So, at any point in 2001, did the Bush White House turn to Bill Clinton and Al Gore and ask, "How did you do it? What were the keys to keeping this country safe over that period of time?" I think we can probably guess the answer.

I've got hurt feelings, I've got hurt feeeeelinnnnngs:



"I'm feeling like a prized asshole, no one even MENTIONS my casserole!"

It's like a Murakami novel for me

I caught this radio show last night on the long drive home from rehearsal on the shore. I dare you to listen to it and not fall in love with the DJ's voice! It was a long drive, she had me wrapped around her finger.

Also? Great jams all over that show. I love that WFMU lists everything they play in the archives and offers the m3us. Invaluable for someone like me who always needs new jams but never knows where to look and doesn't like to ask around.

Whatcha Gonna Do, Brotherrr?

Hunter on Kos, emphasis mine:

So it should have been transparently obvious from the outset that the only response our glorious and wizened Senate could come up with, when facing a failed healthcare system that has been steadily bankrupting the country, its businesses and its citizens for decades, would be to invent a solution in which the companies most responsible for the problem would be given cash hand over fist. And indeed, that seems to be the "solution" that is closer to fruition than any of the others.

The premise in this case is a mandate in which every American shall be forced to buy private insurance. Apparently that is uncontroversial, to our leaders, but the notion of providing a government-backed plan for those who do not want their health and welfare tied to the same companies that have been screwing them over for decades, now that is a bridge too far.

Let me be clear. To me, such a plan represents the very pinnacle of corruption, of corporate toadyism, and of the complete dissolution of effective government into merely being a legal framework for corporations to most efficiently extract wealth from the nation. And the day such a plan passes, I will no longer be a Democrat

Well said (although I'm pretty sure I'm not a registered Dem, but sometimes they trick you into these things when you register to vote, err not vote in some cases).

Just to follow up: This is why we should get rid of the Senate as an institution altogether -- it's resistance to representative government enables what Hunter is talking about here:

Max Baucus is a crook. There, I said it outright. Ben Nelson? A crook. Grassley, Boehner, McConnell, Hoyer and the others? Crooks. Not "conservative", not "fiscal watchdogs", not "representing their own peculiar constituents", none of that hogwash and drivel that churns up our airwaves on a daily basis. They join the long line of leaders that rake in more cash from health insurers, pharmaceutical companies and the like than you or I are likely to see in our lifetimes, and in exchange for that they are the unquestioned _kingmakers_ of reform, and all the nation must bow down to them and to those that have paid them more cash than any of their own constituents have been able to shell out. With regularity, every industry under the American spotlight will turn to "friendly" senators and representatives, where friendly means nothing more than plied with cash, and in them they will find regulatory salvation for a relative pittance. It does not represent corruption under our system of government simply because we have carefully designed our government to freely allow it. Corporations are people, after all, and people have freedom of speech, and dollars represent speech, and therefore the person with the most dollars is entitled to the most representation.

Dum da dum dum

I've posted two fairly different ads for the same thing on craigslist recently. Basically, I need to find someone to play drums for us on a more full-time basis (Sarah, who rules, is already full-time involved with Cavalier Rose).

Neither post to the musicians section on craigslist ny has generated even a single response.

I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I don't have any lame, bogus, bullshit emails in my inbox, which is good. I'm also not finding anybody anytime soon.

Wait, wait, wait

We don't have enough money in the MTA to run a full, 8-car train on the ONLY Brooklyn-Queens crosstown line, the G train. And it also has scaled back (the worst) service in the entire NYC subway, also to save money.

Despite this, Mayor Bloomberg is proposing to champion the middle class and FIGHT for us by bringing light-rail and trollies to Brooklyn?

What the fuck is wrong with this guy? He can't even keep the trains running, but he wants to build an inferior light rail system?

Sounds like desperate electioneering.

Compassion is for dirty fucking hippies... and Scots

This is incredible, the BBC video in which the Scottish justice explains his decision to release the Lockerbie bomber. Whether you agree with the decision or not, the man's statement is eloquent, courageous, and a testament to his people (tho they be criminals all of 'em! =p)

This commentary from Josh Marshall is sad but true:

While we share a common legal tradition with the UK, our own legal system increasingly seems like a moribund vestige of our common history, rather than a self-sustaining creation which we continue to ratify and renew. On a gloomy day, it's hard for me to envision the U.S. adopting the Anglo-American system today if we were starting from scratch. As it is, our legal system labors under enormous tension between who [we] are now and the values we once idealized. MacAskill's statement, regardless of how you view his decision, is a living, breathing example of those legal traditions being carried forward in practice, not merely as totems from another time.

Anything better than nothing?

DougJ writes over on BalloonJuice.com:

I also tend to think that almost any bill will be better than what we have now. I’m for a public option—actually, I’m for single payer—but just about any bill, within reason, will be a tremendous political accomplishment. To be perfectly honest, I’m surprised things gotten as far as they have.

Dude, get the fuck out of here. Smokescreens, corporate give aways and the same old bullshit do not count as tremendous political accomplishments.

Any bill, in particular one where we pay billions of subsidies to giant companies that don't need them when we don't have to, is arguably as bad or WORSE than what we have now. Not only will you really be giving away tax payer money for no other reason than solidifying your political power with BigInsurance's and Big Pharma's dollars, but there's no incentive for improvement, no check on the system, NOTHING.

THAT'S NOT REFORM.

Any bill is worse than No Bill. With NO BILL the score is clear, and people will continue to recognize that we need real reform. Yes, Obama will have egg on his face if there's no bill. This is what accountability is all about, this is what CHANGE and REFORM are about.

Let's Be Clear

I, too, would like to see the Senate go the way of the street car. That is, I'd also like to see it railroaded out of history, forcibly, and unfairly:

If we don't get a good health care bill, yes, Obama deserves garbage-pelting. But let's be clear: we have a legislative system that is undemocratic, dysfunctional, and flat-out ridiculous. The only thing it will actually DO as far as spending goes is authorize stupid wars.

Tase 'em, Dano

I for one have never believed that police should be allowed to use tasers at all. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I've always held that one should be convicted before one is electrocuted by the state.

Did you know that The Troops are forbidden to carry tasers because they violate the Geneva Conventions? Fuck that shit!

Great article on tasers by Digby, who is guest blogging for Glennzilla.

They Hate Us For Our Freedom

WaPo opinion writer declares Republicans "political terrorists." Coulda told you that back in 2000, and then again in 2001, and ever since then....

Chuck It

I had to read this twice to make sure I was reading it right. What kind of twisted jackass throws something out of a car at a biker?

Is it really that surprising? It's been done to me at least three times in my life, and I don't ride to work every day.