Saturday, December 12, 2009

by paul mitchell

no, i'm not getting paid either in money or paul mitchell products.

my hair is was just a tangled snarled mess. worse than it has EVER been. knots like i've never seen. i couldn't even brush it out. i'd just gather it and wear it in it's usual bun. getting worse and worse each day, as i could brush less and less of it every day. i was even going to go the dreadlocks route BUT when i read what sort of upkeep is involved, i said HELL NO to that.

it's ALMOST time for me to cut it all off any damn way

this stuff is the ONLY thing that helped me. it's a MIRACLE in a container

PLUS they of course DO NOT test on animals

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you didn't think i forgot, did you?

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pic: from the creative commons licensed photostream of flickr.com/photos/shaireproductions/

i think this is worth posting

i don't know what happened. i wasn't there. i know sometimes (border) cops get the wrong end of the deal. i also know sometimes they're trying to show you how big their dicks are

i don't normally post WHOLE stories i link too. the link and a paragraph or two. if you're interested enough (obviously i was or i wouldn't have posted it) you can click through and read the whole thing

i wanted to post this WHOLE story though. it's not a problem as boing boing has a creative commons license (as do i)

Dr Peter Watts, Canadian science fiction writer, beaten and arrested at US border

Cory Doctorow

My friend, the wonderful sf writer Peter Watts was beaten without provocation and arrested by US border guards on Tuesday. I heard about it early Wednesday morning in London and called Cindy Cohn, the legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She worked her contacts to get in touch with civil rights lawyers in Michigan, and we mobilized with Caitlin Sweet (Peter's partner) and David Nickle (Peter's friend) and Peter was arraigned and bailed out later that day.

But now Peter faces a felony rap for "assaulting a federal officer" (Peter and the witness in the car say he didn't do a thing, and I believe them). Defending this charge will cost a fortune, and an inadequate defense could cost Peter his home, his livelihood and his liberty.

Peter's friends are raising money for his legal defense. I just sent him CAD$1,000, because this is absolutely my biggest nightmare: imprisoned in a foreign country for a trumped-up offense against untouchable border cops. I would want my friends to help me out if it ever happened to me.

Update: Here's more from Peter, in his own words: "Along some other timeline, I did not get out of the car to ask what was going on. I did not repeat that question when refused an answer and told to get back into the vehicle. In that other timeline I was not punched in the face, pepper-sprayed, shit-kicked, handcuffed, thrown wet and half-naked into a holding cell for three fucking hours, thrown into an even colder jail cell overnight, arraigned, and charged with assaulting a federal officer, all without access to legal representation (although they did try to get me to waive my Miranda rights. Twice.). Nor was I finally dumped across the border in shirtsleeves: computer seized, flash drive confiscated, even my fucking paper notepad withheld until they could find someone among their number literate enough to distinguish between handwritten notes on story ideas and, I suppose, nefarious terrorist plots. I was not left without my jacket in the face of Ontario's first winter storm, after all buses and intercity shuttles had shut down for the night.

"In some other universe I am warm and content and not looking at spending two years in jail for the crime of having been punched in the face."

Sf writer David Nickle writes,

Hugo-award-nominated science fiction author Dr. Peter Watts is in serious legal trouble after he was beaten, pepper-sprayed and imprisoned by American border guards at a Canada U.S. border crossing December 8. This is a call to friends, fans and colleagues to help.
Peter, a Canadian citizen, was on his way back to Canada after helping a friend move house to Nebraska over the weekend. He was stopped at the border crossing at Port Huron, Michigan by U.S. border police for a search of his rental vehicle. When Peter got out of the car and questioned the nature of the search, the gang of border guards subjected him to a beating, restrained him and pepper sprayed him. At the end of it, local police laid a felony charge of assault against a federal officer against Peter. On Wednesday, he posted bond ~~and walked~~ was taken across the border to Canada in shirtsleeves (he was released by Port Huron officials with his car and possessions locked in impound, into a winter storm that evening). He's home safe. For now. But he has to go back to Michigan to face the charge brought against him.
The charge is spurious. But it's also very serious. It could mean two years in prison in the United States, and a ban on travel in that country for the rest of Peter's life. Peter is mounting a vigorous defense, but it's going to be expensive - he's effectively going up against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and he needs the best legal help that he can get.
He's got that help, courtesy of one of the top criminal lawyers in the State of Michigan. We, Peter's friends and colleagues here in Canada, want to make sure he gets the help he needs financially to come out of this nightmare whole.
The need for that help is real. While Peter is a critically successful science fiction writer, he is by no means a best-selling author. Without help, the weight of his legal fees could literally put him on the street by spring.
We can't let that happen. So there's going to be fundraising.
We're going to think of something suitable in the New Year - but immediately, anyone who wants to help can do so easily. Peter's website, rifters.com, has a link to a PayPal account, whimsically named the Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund. He set it up years ago for fans of the Hugo-nominated novel Blindsight and his Rifters books, to cover veterinary bills for the cats he habitually rescues from the mean streets of Toronto. Peter has made it clear that he doesn't want to use the veterinary money to cover his lawsuit. But until we can figure out a more graceful conduit for the legal fund, that's the best place to send donations for now. Just let Peter know that the donation's for his legal defense, and that's where it will go.
Here's the link to the backlist page on Peter's website, rifters.com, or you can just send a PayPal donation to donate@rifters.com.
The link to the Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund is in the middle of the page. The page also links to Creative Commons editions of all his published work, which he's made available free. Peter would approve, we think, if you downloaded one or two or all of them. Whether you make a donation to the legal fund or not.

Update: David Nickle adds, "there's a very small correction I need to make to the account that's gone, erm, viral. I had thought that Peter had made his way back on foot; in fact, police released him in shirtsleeves at the Canadian side of the border. It was a winter storm, he was in shirtsleeves, but he didn't have to cross the bridge on foot. I'd misunderstood Peter's account on that point. "

Previously:

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you can't spell gold with the letters g o d

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Beck - Not So Mellow Gold

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

sometimes,

i just run out of things to say

(but as it turns out, i have to say some stuff here 'cause it's an ap article. click on the link, i can't post any part of it)

turns out a cecil bothwell of asheville, nc was elected as a city councilman. oh, he's an atheist. WHICH is pissing some peeps off. they want his ass booted out. they want that so much (under the guise that office holders MUST believe in god), they may just sue
(nc DOES have laws saying one MUST believe in god to be in office, BUT that goes against our constitution which of course trumps everything UNLESS you're king george or the big dick)

Conservatives threaten to sue city over atheist councilman

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Friday, December 11, 2009

oh no they di-ent (oh YES they did)

one person complained. NOT ABOUT BREASTFEEDING. ABOUT THE PRICES

Target calls the cops on breastfeeding mom

Approximation of transcript here.

'Tis the season for sexism! As you may know from the WFR - Mary Martinez was shopping with her husband, Jose, at at Michigan Target when she was stopped by a security guard for breastfeeding.

The security guard told the mother of three that breastfeeding in public was illegal, and that she would have to stop. Martinez's husband, a police officer, knew differently. After an argument ensued, Target called the police.

The couple say it wasn't crowded in that section at the time.

"It wasn't busy. One gentleman came through and... he complained about the prices," said Mary Martinez.

............

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it's not easy being green (a new take)

via

yes virginia, there is a

~~santa claus~~ goddess!!!!

i am in the state of disbelief. oh, this doesn't make up for all the bad bad bad shite he's done and said. he'll continue to be a not nice man BUT i will give him props for this and this alone......

Rick Warren does the right thing
Maggie Koerth-Baker

Rick Warren has officially come out against the proposed laws in Uganda that would make homosexuality a crime, punishable by death in some cases. In an open letter to the pastors of Uganda (with whom Warren has a great deal of influence from his missionary work) the American mega-pastor says,

As an American pastor, it is not my role to interfere with the politics of other nations, but it IS my role to speak out on moral issues ... the potential law is unjust, extreme and un-Christian toward homosexuals, requiring the death penalty in some cases. If I am reading the proposed bill correctly, this law would also imprison anyone convicted of homosexual practice ... I urge you, the pastors of Uganda, to speak out against the proposed law.................

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had to

we knew this was happening long ago

what we didn't know was to what extent. we didn't know they (xe by any other name is still ~~blackwater~~ a bunch of mercenary ultra-conservative 'christian' killing machines) were actually SIGNED UP, SIGNED ON, SIGNED IN to kill kill kill. at least with our armed forces and government agencies, there is a PRETENSE of having to follow laws and regulations. with blackwater (and the like. i'm sure blackwater are NOT the only ones) there is a free for all. i don't hear bachmann or sarevil or the big dick or any of those other holier than though asswipes saying this was downright WRONG. do you hear them?

erik prince is not a stupid man. that i think we can all agree on. why did he talk to vanity fair? hmmmmmmmmmmm. was it to cover his clandestine killing ass? you tell me

Blackwater tied to clandestine CIA raids
Firm's personnel were drawn into operations on ad-hoc basis

By R. Jeffrey Smith and Joby Warrick

Highly trained personnel employed with the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide sometimes operated side by side with CIA field officers in Iraq and Afghanistan as the agency undertook missions to kill or capture members of insurgent groups in those countries, according to a former government official and a source familiar with the operations.

The actions taken by the private personnel went beyond the protective role specified in a classified Blackwater contract with the CIA and included active participation in raids overseen by CIA or special forces personnel, these sources said. They emphasized that roles and responsibilities often are blurred or altered in a battlefield setting, and that Blackwater personnel were drawn into the operations on an ad-hoc basis because they were present and had the necessary skills...........

Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret Raids by the C.I.A.

By JAMES RISEN and MARK MAZZETTI

WASHINGTON — Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.

The raids against suspects occurred on an almost nightly basis during the height of the Iraqi insurgency from 2004 to 2006, with Blackwater personnel playing central roles in what company insiders called “snatch and grab” operations, the former employees and current and former intelligence officers said.

Several former Blackwater guards said that their involvement in the operations became so routine that the lines supposedly dividing the Central Intelligence Agency, the military and Blackwater became blurred..............

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

JP Nataf Viens me le dire

via

ummmmmmmmmmmmmm

Spanish cops called in over allegation that band was playing "contemporary" music at jazz festival, medical necessity cited

Cory Doctorow
Spanish Civil Guardsmen were dispatched to the Sigüenza Jazz Festival to gather evidence as to whether the Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core band were actually performing jazz or "contemporary music." Their attendance followed a complaint from a festivalgoer whose doctor "had warned it was 'psychologically inadvisable' for him to listen to anything that could be mistaken for mere contemporary music." .............

omg, i LOVE the onion

Army Holds Annual 'Bring Your Daughter To War' Day

THIS just made my day!

man, if we only had more politicians with the stones of rep. grayson (and there ARE a few others, senator franken comes first to mind). we'd all be so much better off. but nope, we have the michele bachmanns and the brownbacks and the other teabaggers and ones afraid of a black president

our democrats are scared little kids. afraid to open their mouths. i fucking helped to elect democrats. i didn't do it so they'd shut their traps for fear of offending the far right nutbags. i did it to make our country better. to get health care for ALL for one thing.

Grayson To Cheney: 'STFU'

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) appeared on Hardball this evening, and dispensed some of his signature wit against the Republicans: Telling former Vice President Dick Cheney to "STFU," speculating that gasoline would only cost a dollar per gallon if former President George W. Bush had let Saudi Prince Abdullah "get to second base," and regretting that it's too late to impeach Cheney..........

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Wednesday, December 09, 2009

i thought i was imagining it

or i thought someone was rolling garbage cans back down their driveways (i always leave my living room window cracked a bit)

it snowed like hell here this morning

AND NOW

it's thundering and lightening out

i LOVE connecticut

i'm pissed (once again)

msm has picked up the kill the gays bill in uganda. they devoted A TINY bit of space to it here and there. NEVER, NOT ONCE saying there MAY be a link to that KILL THE GAYS BILL to CHRISTIAN evangelical america.

here's a REAL story

Group Behind Uganda "Kill the gays" Bill Organizing in N. America

by Troutfishing

and here's a cnn story Why is Uganda Attacking Homosexuality
By Saeed Ahmed

in the story they say a group of american christians signed a petition AGAINST the ugandan bill (and i'm not disputing that a group of level-headed kind moral christians with hearts and souls) DID sign it. i want them to mention the OTHER 'christians'. the ones who are helping to sponsor it. they can't do it here (they will try in time so don't keep your mouth shut now. if you do, they'll find something to kill YOU over too)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

but i ALSO think ny state senator ruth hassell-thompson should have been recognized just as much by buzz flash

from jill at feministe

“We have nothing to fear from love and commitment”

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just thought this was a helpful list

of course now a days mother's milk is dangerous too. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO, all i'm saying is be cautious about what you put on and in your body

11 Dangerous Ingredients You Should Avoid at All Costs
By Sarah Irani, EcoSalon.

The greener we become, the more we have to scrutinize. I for one have cleaned up my home, my diet, my cleaning products and of utmost importance the products I put on my skin. I’m an avid ingredient reader and do the research -- after all, my skin is the largest organ in my body! Here’s a list of some common skin and hair care chemicals we all need to avoid.

1. Coal Tar: Coal tar is used to treat eczema, psoriasis and other skin disorders and can be found in anti-itch creams and scalp treatments. It’s also a known carcinogen.

2. Diethanolamine (DEA): A lathering agent in soaps and shampoos, DEA isn’t carcinogenic by itself, but can react with other chemicals in products to create a carcinogen readily absorbed into the skin. Look for DEA in many forms, such as Cocamide DEA, Oleamide DEA and Lauramide DEA.

3. Formaldehyde: A frighteningly common ingredient in a variety of beauty products. Formaldehyde can irritate your eyes, nose and throat, dry out and irritate your skin and even cause asthma and cancer with repeated exposure................

fair and whaaaaaaaat???????????

error after error. misspeak after misspeak...yet people eat up there shite. they actually think faux 'news' IS fair and balanced.

not in MY home

Another Fox flub that conveniently hurts Democrats

By Daniel Tencer

Network reduces Obama's bank bailout savings by 99 percent

You probably think we're talking about last week's flub.

But no -- another day, another Fox News reporting "mistake" that conveniently supports the news network's editorial bias.

The nation's most-watched 24-hour news channel has made no less than two politically-loaded math errors in the past several days. First, the network reported that a vast majority of Americans -- 94 percent -- believe that climate scientists have falsified research into global warming (see picture below). The only problem is, according to Fox's poll graphic, the total number of participants in the poll adds up to 120 percent..........

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as if it wasn't a royal pain in the arse

to travel by air any damn way...........NOW what have they done?

TSA accidentally reveals airport security secrets

By Spencer S. Hsu and Carrie Johnson

Washington Post Staff Writer

The Transportation Security Administration inadvertently revealed closely guarded secrets related to airport passenger screening practices when it posted online this spring a document as part of a contract solicitation, the agency confirmed Tuesday.

The 93-page TSA operating manual details procedures for screening passengers and checked baggage, such as technical settings used by X-ray machines and explosives detectors. It also includes pictures of credentials used by members of Congress, CIA employees and federal air marshals, and it identifies 12 countries whose passport holders are automatically subjected to added scrutiny.

TSA officials said that the manual was posted online in a redacted form on a federal procurement Web site, but that the digital redactions were inadequate. They allowed computer users to recover blacked-out passages by copying and pasting them into a new document or an e-mail......

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Tuesday, December 08, 2009

don't be a hater, i lent kitty

my dress!

(in all seriousness, i be lovin' me this song. love it the most by ellen mcilwayne, but there's no video)

this is a good 'un. lemmy over at

alphaville has posted one of THE best pictures of ALL times:

repent

poor lemmy though. he only has about nine of those sins. i have 'em beat by a MILE!

they got some hungry women there

and they're really gonna make a mess outta you...............

he's BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK

and i for one could NOT be happier (NOT)

Ted Haggard: Back In The Saddle
Posted by Bradley Novicoff

While crystal meth and male prostitutes might have sent him into exile, disgraced former preacher Ted Haggard is now mounting his return as a spokesman for God. This time, though, rather than lavish cathedrals, his flock will have to settle for the barn beside his house:

Last month, Haggard—who declined to be interviewed—opened his home for a prayer meeting. He expected a dozen people. More than 100 came, and the Haggards moved the furniture out of the living room to make space. A week later, he swept out his barn and rented 75 chairs. When they were filled, people stood against the back walls............

speechless

IRS goes after mother who makes $10 an hour

Mark Frauenfelder

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is going after a single mother with two kids who makes $10 an hour at Supercuts. When she asked why she was being audited, the IRS told her: "You made eighteen thousand, and our data show a family of three needs at least thirty-six thousand to get by in Seattle." She had a yearlong odyssey into the maw of the IRS. After being told she couldn't survive in Seattle on so little, she was notified her returns for both 2006 and 2007 had been found "deficient." She owed the government more than $16,000 — almost an entire year's pay. ...............

best buds

via

an interesting and moving story

from what some would consider to be 'the other side'

What Happened When an Anti-Choice Catholic Woman Needed an Abortion at Dr. Tiller's Clinic
By Amanda Mueller, TruthOut.org.

At the home of Gail and Robert Anderson, a large statue of the Virgin Mary sits in the yard, welcoming guests into the home while protecting the family that lives there. Next to the statue of Mary, inside a labyrinth of daisies, daffodils, tulips and roses is a stone engraved with the word grace. For the Andersons' grace is not just a word or a concept taught through their strong Catholic faith, but the name of the daughter their hopes and dreams hung onto. It is the name of the daughter they said goodbye to in the Kansas office of a man named Dr. George Tiller.

Both coming from large families with faith deeply rooted in the Catholic Church, the Andersons looked forward to starting their own family with great anticipation, eagerly awaiting pregnancy test results each month in hopes that they would discover they were to become parents. The April morning that their hopes were realized is described by Robert as being one of the best days of his life. After breakfast, they went to the local bookstore together to purchase books on pregnancy, for him and for her, and celebrated by inviting their parents to dinner, sharing their news between the gumbo and the dessert................

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and just when you think we've turned civilized....

An Orlando McDonalds Manager To A Trans Applicant: "We Do Not Hire F**gots"

wow if she was uncomfortable around

pacific islanders, just imagine how uncomfortable she is with people whose hues are even darker......

mmmmmmmmm

Palin’s dad told reporters daughter left Hawaii because uncomfortable about minorities

A little-noticed paragraph in the latest New Yorker review of Sarah from Alaska (and Sarah Palin's Going Rogue) reveals that Palin's father told reporters she'd quit Hawaii after a brief stint at college there because she was uncomfortable around Pacific Islanders.....

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a heartwarming (NOT) story

for us on this tuesday morning. who KNOWS how many diseases and illnesses we get from our 'treated' water?

Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show

By CHARLES DUHIGG

More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data.

That law requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local residents. But since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage.

Regulators were informed of each of those violations as they occurred. But regulatory records show that fewer than 6 percent of the water systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials, including those at the Environmental Protection Agency, which has ultimate responsibility for enforcing standards.................

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and i'm guessing

we still have ALL sorts of contracts with kbr and for that matter xe (formerly known as halliburton but a pile o' shite is STILL a pile o' shite even shaded by another name)

to the family and friends of lt. col. jim gentry, i am very sorry for your loss. we all have to work together to make sure this doesn't continue to happen.

all the senators and congressmen and women up in arms over acorn. foaming at the mouth and demanding to take away their funding. yet, they ALL effing remain silent when it comes to these defense contractors

who does more damage, acorn or halliburton/xe/kbr?
who costs the united states more, halliburton/xe/kbr?

if you don't know the answer, you're just hiding your head in the sand

Indiana soldier is first to die of toxic exposure in Iraq

By Daniel Tencer
If Lt. Col. Jim Gentry and his doctors were right about the cause of his cancer, the Indiana National Guard officer didn't die for his country -- he died for defense contractor KBR.

Gentry's death from lung cancer last week is being recorded as the US's first fatality from exposure to a cancer-causing toxin in Iraq, according to the Evansville, Indiana, Courier & Press.

In 2003, Gentry commanded a 600-strong force providing security for KBR's refittal of the Qarmat Ali water-pumping plant, which provided water needed for oil extraction. Gentry and others claim that during that time they were exposed to hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing toxin that the Iraqis who had built the plant had used as anti-corrosive material.

In a lawsuit filed last year, Gentry and 15 other plaintiffs said KBR, at the time a subsidiary of Halliburton, was aware that soldiers and civilian contractors were being exposed to hexavalent chromium months before they told the people working at the site................

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Monday, December 07, 2009

cool!

The Industrial Palace

Der Mensch als Industriepalast [Man as Industrial Palace] from Henning Lederer on Vimeo.

kaiju dance
by gariisenab

via

definitely NOT SFW

but definitely very funny

via

then and now

the then via the now via

true dat

via

someone better put the crack pipe down

and back away slowly

first she says there was NEVER a terrorist attack on bush's watch and now she says this?

Perino credits Bush for Copenhagen climate talks

By David Edwards and Gavin Dahl

According to George W Bush's former press secretary, the ex-president's refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocols in 2005 set the stage for current climate change negotiations in Copenhagen. Dana Perino, recently tapped to join the Broadcast Board of Governors by President Obama, also told Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday the former administration was right to cook the books.

"Because [Bush] declined to go forward with Kyoto, which was ultimately the right thing to do because the major economies like China and India weren't at the table, he worked to get them at the table and now this meeting is the next logical step in that process," Perino said........

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well deserved, all!

D.C.'s busiest intersection

Comedy, rock, opera, drama and all that jazz merge together

By Paul Farhi

Washington Post Staff Writer

2009 Kennedy Center Honors

The great thing about the Kennedy Center Honors show isn't the honorees themselves -- though they're pretty great, or they wouldn't be honorees in the first place -- but the kind of high-low cultural mash-ups that celebrate their life's work. The nearly three-hour performance is like the world's most glittering variety revue, the best "Ed Sullivan Show" ever.

In one made-for-TV evening Sunday night at the Kennedy Center, you got: a mini-opera recital, a madcap Broadway medley, a rock and jazz concert and a whole bunch of famous and accomplished people who've probably never encountered each other before and likely won't again. Jack Black and Aretha Franklin? Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eddie Vedder? Yeah.

With the five rainbow-ribbon-bedecked honorees -- Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro and Bruce Springsteen -- sitting next to the president and Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the first row of the mezzanine, the Kennedy Center rolled out the tributes in song, dance, film and speeches..........

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none of these is a surprise

EXCEPT the last one. shocking. really. guacamole (now it's called guacamole FLAVORED dip)

with NO avocado? hmmmmmmmmmmm

yup, this is america!

(in ALL fairness, i went to the kraft website. there IS avocado in their guacamole FLAVORED dip all right. it's listed #8, FOLLOWING SALT and CORN SYRUP even.

KRAFT DIPS - DIP - GUACAMOLE FLAVOR

Ingredients: WATER, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COCONUT AND SOYBEAN OIL, CORN SYRUP*, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE (FROM MILK), FOOD STARCH-MODIFIED, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF POTATOES, SALT, AVOCADO, DEFATTED SOY FLOUR, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, SODIUM CASEINATE, TOMATOES*, VINEGAR, LACTIC ACID, ONIONS*, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, GELATIN, XANTHAN GUM, CAROB BEAN GUM, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, SPICE, WITH SODIUM BENZOATE AND POTASSIUM SORBATE AS PRESERVATIVES, GARLIC*, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CITRIC ACID, YELLOW 6, YELLOW 5, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BLUE 1, ARTIFICIAL COLOR. *DRIED CONTAINS: SOY, MILK.
Size: 8 OZ
Upc: 2100061389)

The 6 Weirdest, Scariest Processed Foods
By Brad Reed, AlterNet.

Once upon a time, some brave scientists had a noble dream of ridding our food of the plague of nutrients.

Today, at the start of the 21st century, the miracle of food processing has brought that dream closer to reality than ever before. From vitamin-free "blueberry bits" to spray-can cheese to avocado-free guacamole, food scientists have worked tirelessly to bring us new and exciting foods that contain as little nutrition as possible. Even apparently "healthy" foods such as soups have been ingeniously overloaded with so much salt you feel as if you’re eating French fries.

In this article, we’ll provide a handy guide to six uniquely unnatural processed foods that will hopefully serve as a blueprint for humanity’s eventual triumph over the tyrannical fist of Mother Nature.............

..................

Kraft’s Avocado-Free Guacamole

This right here may be the pinnacle of processed food magic. Kraft has managed to make a food product without an actual main ingredient, akin to tomato-free tomato sauce or potato-free baked potato. Yes, there are no avocados in Kraft’s guacamole. Then what is it made of, you ask? How about some modified food starch, coconut and soybean oils, corn syrup, food coloring…in other words, you’re eating green-colored oil.................

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Sunday, December 06, 2009

i don't like gin BUT

i'd get this: the gin and titonic ice tray

open season

OPEN SEASON from Raquel Chapa on Vimeo.

open season by Raquel Chapa

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coincidentally,

i just mentioned cormac mccarthy in an email the other day (i said i started reading the road, but i had to stop because i wasn't in the right frame of mind to read it. i also said, i'd read it in the future. i just couldn't right now)

i JUST across this:

Cormac McCarthy's Typewriter

Posted by Mister Jalopy

Cormac McCarthy has written more than a dozen novels, several screenplays, two plays, two short stories, countless drafts, letters and more — and nearly every one of them was tapped out on a portable Olivetti manual typewriter he bought in a Knoxville, Tenn., pawnshop around 1963 for $50.

Lately this dependable machine has been showing irrevocable signs of age. So after his friend and colleague John Miller offered to buy him another, Mr. McCarthy agreed to auction off his Olivetti Lettera 32 and donate the proceeds to the Santa Fe Institute, a nonprofit interdisciplinary scientific research organization with which both men are affiliated.........

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want

but they're all sold out. also, i can't find out how much it costs.

sugru

via

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in case you were wondering.......

via

you betcha

"The Snow Machine Pummeled Through the White-Dusted Plain Like a Jubilant Beaver"The results of Slate's "write like Sarah Palin" contest.

this is quite interesting and

it's written by a minister!

The Christian Myth of Jesus's Birth

The Christian Myth of Jesus's Birth

By The Rev. Howard Bess
December 5, 2009

Editor’s Note: In the modern age, religious mythologies – when mixed with politics – have led to very harmful and often bloody consequences, especially involving the leading monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

So, in this guest essay, Baptist minister Howard Bess reminds Christians that many of their most cherished beliefs about the birth of Jesus were not based on empirical evidence, but on politically motivated mythology:

The Advent season is a fun time. For many Christians, it is the happiest season of the year. The joy comes from the anticipation: “Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king.”

I do not desire to dim the lights of Christmas, but it might be helpful to some to hear what the stories of Jesus birth are really about.

There are four versions of the life of Jesus. We call them the Gospels….Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Only two of the versions say anything about the birth of Jesus.

Mark, the first of the Gospels, begins the Jesus story with Jesus as an adult. John, the last Gospel written, likewise says nothing about the birth of Jesus. Matthew tells the birth story in only a few short paragraphs. Luke’s version of the beginnings of Jesus is four times as long as that of Matthew...........

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this IS america, right?

unbelievable. really. run out of town on a rail because one doesn't wish to recite the lord's prayer? IN A PUBLIC FORUM?

maybe NOT oklahoma though

American Atheists filed suit in federal court today on behalf of an Oklahoma family who say their civil rights were violated by the Hardesty, Oklahoma Public Schools and the Texas County, Oklahoma Sheriff’s Department.

The daughter of Chester Smalkowski wanted to play basketball for the Hardesty Public Schools. She was forced from the team when she, an Atheist, refused to recite the Lord’s Prayer after a game as was required by the school. When the Smalkowski family complained about this unconstitutional practice, she was suspended. Further complaints resulted in criminal charges being brought against her father.

Chester Smalkowski refused to submit to a request from the District Attorney to move his family out of the County in exchange for the charges being dropped. His case went to trial last month, and he was acquitted of all charges by a jury. The Smalkowski children have been threatened and subjected to discrimination for the daughter’s refusal to participate in the prayer recitation...........

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