Hey, Kids -It's the Ukele Orchestra!

They're talking 'bout Shaft!

Ramyeon Western!

THE GOOD
THE BAD
THE WEIRD

Supposedly coming to select US cities this winter...
And it stars the always awesome Kang-ho Song!

Brother, Can You Spare 50 Gs?

Full size replica Roman seige catapult (ballista) on Ebay - starting bid: 25,000 Pounds...

Couric & Palin, ZipGen's Abbot & Costello

Watch CBS Videos Online

C'mon, ask her "Who's on First?", will ya???

No Caption Needed

Watch CBS Videos Online

Smart as a Whip, She is!

"Reducing taxes has to be accompanied by tax reductions."

Don't Use Facts, Use Threats!

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

This Just In Plus 24

Contrary to the pundocracy's acclaimations of "Masterful,""Gamechanging," and "Momentum Stealing" (see Palin/miserable failure) McCutandRun's "Time Out" whine has resulted in scenes like this:


Kudos to DL for taking the lipstick off the pig.

Highlight to be found @ 6:35 mark, but 'tis all good.

This Just In

McCain Suspending Campaign Because Of Financial Crisis

"Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me."

When everything else fails, just quit campaigning.
Talk about CUT AND RUN! Who knew the P in POW stood for PUSSY(cat)?

Every Four Years

I find myself having to post this:

Heinlein circa 1953 writes the following in the afterword to "Revolt in 2100" (which dealt with the 2nd American Revolution -masons, again-liberating the US from the theocratic state it had become in the early 2000's under Nehemiah Scudder, a tele-evangelist turned politician:

"As for the second notion, the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible. I hope that it is not probable. But there is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture. It is rooted in our history and has broken out many times in the past. It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in the country in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti- intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian."

"It is a truism that almost any sect, cult or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. . . . The custodians of the True Faith cannot logically admit tolerance of heresy to be a virtue."

". . . Could any one sect obtain a working majority at the polls and take over the country? Perhaps not -- but a combination of the dynamic evangelist, television, enough money, and modern techniques of advertising and propaganda might make Billy Sunday's efforts look like a corner store compared to Sears Roebuck. Throw in a depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, Anti-Negroism, and a good large dose of anti- furriners' in general and anti-intellectuals here at home and the result might be something quite frightening -- particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington."

". . . Impossible? Remember the Klan in the Twenties and how far it got without even a dynamic leader. . . The capacity of the human mind for swallowing nonsense and spewing it forth in violent and repressive action has never yet been plumbed."

Just cause they're far right libertarians, don't mean they can't be right.

They Keep Doing It

Newspapers Deliver Millions of 'Terror' DVDs to Subscribers -- In 'Swing States'

Because you keep falling for it...

More here:

Muslim group seeks probe of 'radical Islam' DVD

and here:

Who Is Funding Distribution Of DVDs About Radical Islam In Campaign Home Stretch?

There's Still Time

FBI probing Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, AIG: report

To add that ol' retroactive immunity to the bailout bill...

Name Your Children Well

Evidently, I am ticking time bomb...


There I am, catching up on the latest Bigfoot posts @ Cryptomundo, when my day is ruined by this charming little factoid:

As has been noted by various Fortean researchers, for some strange reason many violent criminals share the middle name “Wayne.”

Chuck Shepherd, the creator of “News of the Weird,” is perhaps the major source of a detailed database on this phenomenon.

Palin Pals With Witchhunter: UPDATE: Now With Original Blessing!

(Gabriel Devil Hunter TM & C Marvel Ent, Ltd)

He anoints future Governors and drives out Witches, and best of all - He's For REAL!

“And I’m thinking, this guy’s really bold, he doesn’t even know what I’m going to do, he doesn’t know what my plans are. And he’s praying not “oh Lord if it be your will may she become governor,” no, he just prayed for it. He said “Lord make a way and let her do this next step. And that’s exactly what happened.”
...
The pastor speaks of his offensive against a demonic presence in the town in a trailer for the evangelical video “Transformations”, made by Sentinel Group, a Christian research and information agency.
...
According to the Christian Science Monitor, six months of fervent prayer and research identified the source of the witchcraft as a local woman called Mama Jane, who ran a “divination” centre called the Emmanuel Clinic.

Her alleged involvement in fortune-telling and the fact that she lived near the site of a number of fatal car accidents led Pastor Muthee to publicly declare her a witch responsible for the town’s ills, and order her to offer her up her soul for salvation or leave Kiambu.

Says the Monitor, “Muthee held a crusade that “brought about 200 people to Christ”.” They set up round-the-clock prayer intercession in the basement of a grocery store and eventually, says the pastor “the demonic influence – the ‘principality’ over Kiambu –was broken”, and Mama Jane fled the town.

- Times Online





trailer for the De-Demonizing can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBvxWl7jXr0

Clueless Morons

"Mourning Commute?" Are you kidding me? WTF?

Does the AP style guide really allow for obvious tasteless puns when covering a tragedy?

Disgusting.

Lehman Bros Inspired Thought of the Day

On paper, Free Market Capitalism makes sense; but then again so does Communism.

In one case greed trumps common sense; in the other, greed trumps common welfare.

You pick the case.

FYI Dept.: iTunes 8 Genius Test Results, Ad Frank Edition

So, contrary to my "Let the suckers do the beta testing" instincts, I upgraded to iTunes 8 in order to check out its new "Genius" function, a 'smart filter' that will take any song selection and "create a playlist of other songs from your library that go great together"(while also recommending songs to purchase from iTunes store).

Naturally I decided to push its limits and ignore the obvious. Being lazy and unscientific I limited the test to three playlists.

Playlist One tests how well Genius handles Nerd Soundtracks choices, with trigger song being "Captain Scarlet Main Theme (Stereo Version w/Narration)" (click images to enlarge):





Playlist Two tests how well Genius handles Cult Rocker Personal Friends From Boston:



Test Three is a triple bind - how well can Genius handle a selection that could either be JPop,Anime, or Superhero Muze?:



As you can see, Genius come out with a score of "Not Bad." For example, Playlist One's rather superb matching of Ifukube, Goldsmith, and Morricone goes seriously awry with the jump to Bernstein (and not Elmer).

Playlist Two disappoints with the obvious yet appropriate matching of Ad Frank and Bowie, but segueing from "Everything Counts" to "Atlantic City" gets points for ballsiness.

Finally Playlist Three resolves the Triple Bind by maniacally shuttling back and forth between genres resulting in such awesome song selections as "Take The Skinheads Bowling" into "Imperial March" from Star Wars into "Spider-man TV Theme" by the Ramones. Astounding.

Who wants to trade Genius Playlists?

Smart Dog Tricks

Escape de Sofía!

Best Straight Dope Ever ?

straight dope: how would the U.S. military fight attack by a zombie army?

Cecil - you're the greatest!

I'm gonna go with unintentional...

Many Versions of 'Bush Doctrine'
Palin's Confusion in Interview Understandable, Experts Say

By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 13, 2008; A01

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin seemed puzzled Thursday when ABC News anchor Charles Gibson asked her whether she agrees with the "Bush doctrine."

"In what respect, Charlie?" she replied.

Intentionally or not, the Republican vice presidential nominee was on to something.

Isn't it swell when the wolfpack liberal Palin hating sexist press write entire articles devoted to proving that ignorance and insight are equivalent?

Tat for Tit

Every time a Republican refers to "the Democrat Party," be sure to refer to "the Repuglican Party."

anonymous meet Anonymous

"Please continue your informational war against the truth."

So THAT's what you meant!

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.

GIBSON: Exact words.

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln's words when he said -- first, he suggested never presume to know what God's will is, and I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words. But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that's a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side. That's what that comment was all about, Charlie.

Sure, that's what you meant, sure....

"I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side."

-Lincoln (apocryphal)

UPDATE: Here are some verifiable Lincoln quotes, maybe she meant one of these:

My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them.

What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.

The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession.

The only person who is a worse liar than a faith healer is his patient.

Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not that we be not judged.

It is an established maxim and moral that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false is guilty of falsehood, and the accidental truth of the assertion does not justify or excuse him.

The United States government must not undertake to run the Churches. When an individual, in the Church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest he must be checked.

When the Know-Nothings get control, it [the Declaration of Independence] will read: "All men are created equal except negroes, foreigners and Catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.

Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose, and you allow him to make war at pleasure....
If today he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, "I see no probability of the British invading us," but he will say to you, "Be silent; I see it, if you don't."

UPDATE II: Transparency Edition
In order to clear up any further charges of creative editing, the full video of Palin's remarks is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZihQ7X9rzlM&feature=related
Iraq comments start at the 5:35 mark.

Not to be confused with Mark 5:35, "While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?"

Here's the real full transcript:

GOV. SARAH PALIN: Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending them out on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan. So bless them with your prayers, your prayers of protection over our soldiers.

This is her attempt to sum up what she thinks the (apocryphal) Lincoln quote is:

That’s a repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s words, when he said, first he suggested, never presume to know what God’s will is, and I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak god’s words, but what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was, let us not pray that God is on our side, in a war, or any other time. But let us pray that we are on God’s side. That’s what that comment was all about, Charlie.

Here's the real, fake Lincoln quote:

"I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side."

Anyone who claims that the middle statement tracks with either the above or below quote is either lying, a moron, or both.

Secondly, if you are going to claim context distorting edits, then you probably should not leave out final sentences as you accuse others of doing, cuz that final sentence actually clarifies what she is asking them to pray for, as her main statement when listened to is an extemporaneous mess without any clear meaning delivered in her rhetoric. That final statement, left out by "anonymous" commentator and pasted from Fox news is

"So bless them with your prayers, your prayers of protection over our soldiers."

and is not "So pray that we are actually fighting a just war and doing as God wishes" nor any variation thereof.

And it sure as heckles ain't a quote of Lincoln's, real or apocryphal. You might recall that he viewed the war dead as an atonement for Slavery and the war as the result of that sin, and God's punishment to both sides.

Or you could just make crap up.

Whichever.