Considering this administration is NEVER right about anything, with Condi picking the Colts to win the big game, it's pretty much a sure bet that Da Bears will win Super Bowl XLI. Place your bets, and bet big. :)
So, will the drug-addict-Limbaugh criticize Condi for siding with the Colts, like the way Oxy-Rush had a hissy fit about Obama voicing his loyalty to Da Bears?
Viacom Inc., the parent company of MTY Networks and BET, has demanded that Google Inc.'s online video service YouTube pull down all of its video clips after they failed to reach an agreement. Viacom said its pirated programs on YouTube generate about 1.2 billion video streams.
Phil did not see his shadow on Friday, which, according to German folklore, means folks can expect an early spring instead of six more weeks of winter.
And, we can't discuss this day without referencing a truly great movie by the same name.
Sirius channel 21 (Alt Nation) is having an all 90's rock weekend. You know - when music was actually good.
The Pixies, which disbanned in 1993 and reunited in 2004, have infulenced some great bands including Weezer and Blur. Their music has appeared in some of my favorite movies: Grosse Point Blank, Pump Up the Volume, Fight Club and the original Kicking and Screaming.
This morning, Alt Nation played one of my favorite songs of all time - one I hadn't heard since my last viewing of Fight Club, "Where is My Mind?" by the Pixies. Check out the video below:
Enjoy!
We're just moments away from the premiere of the new Sarah Silverman show on Comedy Central. I'm absolutely in love with Silverman - she's one of the most intelligent, edgy, witty, amazing women. So in honor of her new show, here's a clip from Jesus is Magic, "I Can Write a Show."
Going along with Matt's SOTD, this is another band that I've just discovered, and have fallen in love with. In fact, it features Jack White, of the White Stripes.
This particular song, "Level" is one I'm absolutely obsessed with right now, so check it out!
If you're not familiar with these guy, check 'em out. They've been around for quite a while, but I myself have only recently "discovered" them. This is one my favorites from Elbow.
When President Bush stood before the American people last month, and promised "A New Way Forward" (Tm) in Iraq, he explained to us that this plan would include 17,500 new troops in the Baghdad area (as well as another 4,000 troops in Anbar province).
Well, once again the President "decided" that he wasn't going to share the entire truth with the American people.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) the escalation of troops will not just include 21,500 of our men and women, but closer to 48,000.
Thus far, the Department of Defense (DoD) has identified only combat units for deployment. However, U.S. military operations also require substantial support forces, including personnel to staff headquarters, serve as military police, and provide communications, contracting, engineering, intelligence, medical, and other services. Over the past few years , DoD’s practice has been to deploy a total of about 9,500 personnel per combat brigade to the Iraq theater, including about 4,000 combat troops and about 5,500 supporting troops.It seems the DoD is still determining whether it will send the usual amount of support troops along with the surge, but either way this new plan will either require close to 48,000 troops, or our soldiers in harms way won't have the proper support - once again.
DoD has not yet indicated which support units will be deployed along with the added combat forces, or how many additional troops will be involved. Army and DoD officials have indicated that it will be both possible and desirable to deploy fewer additional support units than historical practice would indicate. CBO expects that, even if the additional brigades required fewer support units than historical practice suggests, those units would still represent a significant additional number of military personnel.
To reflect some of the uncertainty about the number of support troops, CBO developed its estimates on the basis of two alternative assumptions. In one scenario, CBO assumed that additional support troops would be deployed in the same proportion to combat troops that currently exists in Iraq. That approach would require about 28,000 support troops in addition to the 20,000 combat troops—a total of 48,000. CBO also presents an alternative scenario that would include a smaller number of support personnel—about 3,000 per combat brigade—totaling about 15,000 support personnel and bringing the total additional forces to about 35,000.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last 24 hours, you have probably heard by now about the two men arrested for creating post-9/11 hysteria via their "planting of suspicious packages" throughout the Boston area. Well, the two men behind yesterday's event made a video of their "dastardly deeds".
And the two "hooligans" mock the media following their post-arrest press conference. Good for them!!!!!
So much for the Iraqi's greeting us with flowers and candies. According to Faux Noise, two senior Iraqi generals are being questioned in connection with last week's attack in Karbala that left five U.S. soldiers dead. Four of the five U.S. soldiers killed in the attack were found later miles away from the compound and were reportedly killed execution style.
"The military said two of the soldiers were handcuffed together in the back seat of an SUV near the southern Iraqi town of Mahawil. A third dead soldier was on the ground nearby and a fourth died en route to the hospital."
For all of those out there that are as huge fans of the Harry Potter series as I am, author JK Rowling announced today the final installment of the series (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows) will be released on July 21st, 2007!
Get on that waiting list today!
As I mentioned yesterday, I'm not the biggest Joe Biden fan. After his poorly worded comments in The New York Observer, Biden turned to The Daily Show in an attempt to redeem himself.
As ususal, Jon Stewart was spot on, and approached the subject in the perfect manner!
All of the major MSM outlets have been covering the story of suspicious packages found throughout Boston today. According to reports, "...a number of 'suspicious' packages were found. The first device found on a highway forced authorities to shut off traffic, and detonate the package which witnesses on various news reports said contained loose wires.
At least four more suspicious packages were found in the Boston metropolitan area, and the Charles River was shut down by the Coast Guard as authorities took precautions."
Turns out the packages contained "a device which resembled a toy Light Bright set, with colored light bulbs patterned to show an outer space character from the Adult Swim cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force called a 'Mooninite.'" 
Apparently Master Shake has struck again!
"Hey Carl, it's cool man, I'm a detective. Clear the crime scene and let me think ... meteors did it! That'll be $20."
Imus: Here's what a disgrace O'Reilly is. Olbermann can't kill him enough. Here's what O'Reilly's doing. You are not going to believe this. This sonofabitch actually went on that falafel thing of his and he said—--if you'll buy a copy of his book—for every copy of his stupid book, he'll send a copy to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. I mean I don't know where to start. That's his contribution to the men and women who are fighting and dying in this idiotic war for this country.I'm no big fan of Imus, but damn, that was one spot-on and brilliant commentary by the I-man.
We all remember a few months back when Joe Biden had this to say about "Indians":
"You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."
Well, ole Biden has struck again. This time in an interview with The New York Observer, Biden makes what can be construed as a racist comment while attacking his would-be opponents in the 2008 Presidential race:
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
The article goes on to quote Biden referring to Hillary Clinton's plan for Iraq as a "disaster," while saying about John Edward's plan, "I don't think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about."
This coming from the man that wants to partitian Iraq.
These comments present two problems:
1) In a political climate where Democrats need to band together to win the very important 2008 election, Biden is already trashing his opponents which will do nothing to strengthen the party.
2) The comment regarding Obama can be construed as racist, and gives the right a new talking point for which to attack him with and through association, all Democrats as well.
I think it's time for ole Joe to go.
I couldn't be happier about Sen. Joe Biden officially joining the field for the 2008 Democratic presidential bid. I think Joe Biden is a great man, patriot, and American. He will have his work cut out for himself running against the perceived Democratic "heavy weights" like Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. Nonetheless, if he can raise enough money and effectively spread his pro-American/Democratic message, I believe America will embrace this great politician. Good Luck, Joe!
So we're a day late, but how could I not share our birthday wishes with the biggest Dick in the United States?
"You underestimate the Power of the Dark Side"
As the Bush Administration is ratcheting up the rhetoric against Iran, it seems
the President is desperately searching, and has been for some time, for a reason to instigate a war with Iran.
Whatever the justification: oil, beginning WWIII, or "bad intelligence," the President needs a direct attack on US troops or America to be able to rally the support he needs for this new war.
This tactic was used to escalate the war in Vietnam, and has come to be known as the "Gulf of Tonkin Incident." According to Wikipedia:
"The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was an alleged pair of attacks by naval forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam against two American destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. The attacks occurred on 2 and 4 August 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin. Later research, including a report released in 2005 by the National Security Agency, indicated that the second attack most likely did not occur...
The outcome of the incident was the passage of the Southeast Asia Resolution (better known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution), which granted Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose governments were jeopardized by communist aggression and which served as Johnson's legal justification for escalating American involvement in the Vietnam Conflict."
It looks like the Bush Administration has found what they think might increase support for their war:
"The Pentagon is investigating whether a recent attack on a military compound in Karbala was carried out by Iranians or Iranian-trained operatives, two officials from separate U.S. government agencies said...
The five soldiers were abducted and killed in the sophisticated attack by men wearing American-style uniforms, according to U.S. military reports.
Both officials stressed the Iranian-involvement theory is a preliminary view, and there is no final conclusion. They agreed this possibility is being looked at because of the sophistication of the attack and the level of coordination."
So according to officials, there is absolutely no proof that Iran had anything to do with this attack - except that it seemed professional. But yet, the media is jumping all over this as though it were already proven, just as they did in the lead up to the Iraq war.
Will the US go to war again based on faulty evidence, unproven facts and simple conjecture from the White House?
Believe me, it is not intentional to have a Florida-theme day. But, the list continues for why Florida is an innate backward hick state.
A 21-year-old rape victim who was helping police search for her attacker was thrown in jail for two nights after police officer found a warrant accusing her of failing to pay restitution for an earlier theft. ON TOP OF THAT, some wing-nut jail worker refused to give her a second dose of a morning-after pill to prevent a potential pregnancy because of "religious convictions".
Tancredo had it partially correct; he should have called the entire state of Florida a "Third World Country"
We have yet another reason to hate Florida, if Katherine Harris, Mark Foley, Jeb Bush, Joe Scarborough, and completely ignorant voters are not enough. A report conducted by The South Florida Sun-Sentinel found that hundreds of criminals have been able to get permits for concealed weapons in Florida because of loopholes, errors and miscommunication.
"An analysis of state records showed that the roughly 410,000 Floridians licensed to carry hidden guns included 1,400 who had pleaded guilty or no contest to felonies, 216 with outstanding warrants, 128 named in active domestic violence injunctions and 6 registered sex offenders, The Sun-Sentinel reported."Will Bill-O come to the rescue and call for a boycott of this redstate....you know, to "protect the children"?
One of my top 10 all-time favorite songs.
This is the extended version of the video (5:26 minutes long) that MTV deemed too long and forced The Cure to release a shorten version that clocked in at just over 3 minutes.
This one was too good not to pass up. H/T to C&L.
On NBC's Crossing Jordan last night, a new term was introduced into the American vernacular: ACS or Ann Coulter Syndrome."So how long have you suffered from ACS? Ann Coulter Syndrome; wherein the afflicted gain strength through the hatred of others."
As I noted earlier in the week, I attended the United for Peace and Justice anti-war demonstration in Washington, DC this weekend. I arrived early to grab my press pass, and at 10 am the crowd was thin, and the mall empty. By 11 am, when the rally was set to begin, the crowd had grown, and kept growing until the march kicked off at 1:30.
The stage was already set up, and showed Americans something they haven’t had too much of a chance to see, thanks to the Bush Administration.
By searching the crowd, you could see that much of the United States was represented on the Mall Saturday.
The list of speakers was vast, and included politicians, protestors, and celebrities alike.
The most interesting and motivating portion of the rally came when these two speakers shared their views.
For the first time since the war begun, active duty members of the US military joined in protests of the war. Liam Madden, an active duty member of the Navy, joined protestors Saturday:
“I served for 1 year in Iraq. Now I’m home. I’m still serving my country, I’m still serving my brothers and sisters by trying to get them home alive…
Men and women are coming home and they’re pissed off. I listened to the State of the Union Address. In the 50 minutes of rambling, George Bush not once mentioned the word veteran. Not once…
I thought I was going because our country needed defense, and because there was an injustice that needed to be stopped. Instead I was sent to war with no proper planning, no proper training, no proper equipment, and their premise proved fraudulent.
We need to address our elected government, and force them to represent us as a country, and bring the troops home legitimately.” 
Raed Jarrar, a half Sunni/half Shia also joined the protest to provide the voice of the Iraqi people:
“The only hope to end the Iraqi violence is to end the occupation now!
I am here today as a half Sunni, half Shiite Iraqi delivering a untied message from the Iraqis, Sunnis and Shia… From all Iraqis: We want our country back! We want the occupation to end now!"
While the overall point of the march and rally was to share with Congress American’s displeasure with the war, each individual at the protest decided to show their opinion in different and expressive ways:
Reminder: George W. Bush is no Lincoln! 
