The Kinks: "Strangers"

Lyrics transcribed by Youtube poster:
"Where are you going I don't mind
I've killed my world and I've killed my time
So where do I go what do I see
I see many people coming after me
So where are you going to I don't mind
If I live too long I'm afraid I'll die
So I will follow you wherever you go
If your offered hand is still open to me
Strangers on this road we are on
We are not two we are one"

The Kinks: "Powerman"

He got my money and my publishing rights but I got got my gal and everything's all right.

The Kinks: "Lola" (live)

"I'm glad I'm a man," and Lola, a genetic female, also feels glad Ray Davies a man; the line thus remains ambiguous.  My interpretation here stems from listening to the whole album, Lola vs Poweman and the Money Go Round, where this penultimate song, written by Dave, says that despite getting ripped off by greed capitalist bastards, he's got his girl and everything is all right.

Spirit: "Like a Rolling Stone"

For my money, Spirit does 1 of the best covers of this Dylan tune, top 2 at least, with the stipulation Bob's live version with the Band on After the Flood can't count as a cover because Bob there.

WTF? Etta James and the Grateful Dead, "Hard to Handle"

With the Tower of Power Horns section.  First encountered the Tower on southern rock albums on the Capricorn label in the 70's. the greatest decade in music ever. The horn section added layers upon layers of groove with crescendos and fills and pumping up the rhythm.

Queen Ann's Horse with Message for You People

How Do You Tell When Willard Romney Lies?

.When he opens his mouth: http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/03/13106907-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xxviii?lite

Jenna Jameson: Porn "Star" Supports Willard Romney

"I'm very looking forward to a Republican being back in office," Jameson said while sipping champagne in a VIP room at Gold Club in the city's South of Market neighborhood. "When you're rich, you want a Republican in office."  emphasis added
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/03/jenna-jameson-mitt-romney-endorsement_n_1737769.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Po Po Raid Miley Cyrus' Home for Utter Lack of Talent

Well, no, not really but shoulda been.


Sure, poor child grew up in Hollywood, spawn of no talent country singer who had 1 damn hit, who then sold her to Disney for an abysmal TV show only on 'cause cable requires content 24/7, and she lives merchandising every cliche of teenage stardom and celebrity like the Kardashian clan.


Oops, "hacked semi nude photos" came out but at least Miley 18 now so I don't feel shame when looking for them


That last bit came too easy.


From whence did Kardashian clones come from?  How can they make bank marketing concept of celerity when none have any charm, talent, wit nor accomplishments other than selling themselves to tabloid press and reality TV shows?


[Armed police mistakenly raided Miley Cyrus' home on August 1st after a prankster put in a call about a possible kidnapping and shooting at the house, reports the BBC. Authorities also responded with rescue crews and helicopters, but soon realized the home was empty. Police attributed the incident to "swatting," a recent trend of prank calls that aim to get a police squad to overtake an innocent building or house.]
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/police-mistakenly-raid-miley-cyrus-home-blame-prankster-20120803#ixzz22XSDyaA0

Real Headline You Won't See in US Paper: "Ann Romney's horse fails to win dressage but avoids offending British"

[Short of mocking Shetland ponies over their lack of stature or laying into zebras for their failure to make a significant contribution to the world of equine culture, Ann Romney's horse Rafalca was always going to struggle to match the sheer incredulity that her husband managed to provoke on his recent overseas trip.

And in the event – the event in question being the individual dressage – the 15-year-old bay Oldenburg mare acquitted herself rather well. True, she and her rider, Jan Ebeling, may have been left well behind byBritain's Carl Hester, Germany's Dorothee Schneider and Denmark's Anna Kasprzak but, by Romney standards, her performance was a positive triumph.

Never for a second during her seven-minute performance did a hoof stray dangerously mouthwards, nor did she do anything at all to offend or upset the host nation. From the moment she entered the Greenwich Park equestrian arena at 12.15 on Thursday afternoon, the most famous political horse since Caligula toyed with making a consul of Incitatus seemed in her element.]  emphasis added for ridicule
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/02/ann-romney-horse-dressage-medal

Coffee Does a Body Good; Rocket Launchers Not So Much

Totally taken from the Earthbound Misfit.  Really like her from her writing except insane to me insistence any weapons moderation measures will lead to eventual confiscation of all firearms.  As if outlawing private ownership of bazookas and flame throwers amounts to a bad thing.

Of course, wish I had a rocket launcher on some days.

World Starves While "Christians" Flock to Chick-Fil-A

Dang, wish I'd of written this.  How true, people starve while stuff myself with frozen pizza and favorite malted beverages.  At least, avoiding fast food, fried food, and retail outlets run by haters might extend my span.


[Yesterday approximately 20,000 people around the world died of starvation while hordes of mostly old, mostly fat white American Christians flocked to a fast food chain to spend money and consume fried chicken from cancer- and disease-ridden chickens that suffered every second from birth to slaughter to show support for said chain's willingness to donate millions of dollars to stop The Gays from getting married.

Meanwhile, people who buy multiple boxes of Sudafed or who purchase money orders over $1000 end up being tracked by law enforcement while individuals who buy thousands upon thousands of rounds of ammunition are not.

Cool. Carry on.]  emphasis added just because
http://www.ginandtacos.com/2012/08/02/scenes-from-this-american-life/

[World Vision and Save the Children say that millions of families are suffering in what is effectively a large-scale nutrition crisis.

They say the main reason is not drought or food deficit, but a lack of protection against shock price rises.

The charities want more investment to protect against food insecurity.]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19074859

Be the change, donate to Mercy Corps to help stop starvation: https://www.mercycorps.org/donate/

"You're eating the young"

In the South, we used to call it eating the seed corn.  Farming requires saving some seeds for the crop next year.  In times of famine, desperate families would eat the corn saved for the following year because death by starvation would prevent planting future crops.


[This week in Huffington, John Rudolf profiles one community for which that vicious cycle is more vicious than most. "Newark's cops do not work at an ordinary job, like the rest of us," he writes. The dangers they routinely face, coupled with years of catastrophic budget cuts, make the men and women of the Newark PD more like "soldiers on the front lines of a ceaseless, low-intensity war."

With compelling interviews with Newark's finest and a steady barrage of devastating statistics, John paints a picture of a community in crisis. Newark has about as many cops on the streets today as it did in the 1970s. Well over a third of children live in poverty, and the city's heavily minority population suffers disproportionately from the effects of the jobs crisis.

A wave of police layoffs in 2010 coincided with sweeping state cuts in education. To look closely at the situation in Newark is to come face to face with a tragic truth: as a result of the ongoing financial crisis, we are not investing nearly enough in our children's safety or in their future opportunities. As Brendan O'Flaherty, a Columbia economics professor says, "Why would you decide that the first thing you want to cut is police and education? You're eating the young."] emphasis added
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/cutbacks-and-cops_b_1726063.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=080312&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

Mars Craft to Land 1:31 AM EST Monday

Whether it works or not, the Curiosity will land.  Gravity is funny like that.

[Computerworld - When NASA's newest and largest robotic rover lands on Mars early Monday morning, it will use a supersonic parachute, a tether and rockets to safely alight 350 million miles from home.

Seven minutes will elapse between the time the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere and the time it touches down on the planet's surface. NASA engineers say this will be the seven scariest minutes of the mission.

"Entry, descent and landing is referred to as the 'seven minutes of terror' because we've got literally seven minutes to get from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars, going from 13,000 miles an hour to zero in perfect sequence, perfect choreography and perfect timing, and the computer has to do it all by itself with no help from the ground," said Adam Steltzner, a NASA engineer, in a video interview. "If any one thing doesn't work just right, it's game-over."

After a journey of more than eight months, NASA's SUV-sized robotic rover -- the Mars Science Laboratory, also known as Curiosity -- is set to land at 1:31 a.m. Eastern time on Monday in a 96-mile-wide crater.]
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9229925/NASA_s_Mars_rover_heading_toward_7_minutes_of_terror_?source=CTWNLE_nlt_dailyam_2012-08-03

The Queen's Little Black Bag

Sure, my colonial instincts lead me to mock Queen Elizabeth the Second, and deservedly so; nevertheless, you really got to hand it to the old gal: living through the dissolution of the empire of Great Britain, losing everything but Wales and Scotland and a few counties in Eire and couple o' islands over on my side of the world.

Decades of public service all those public appearances and never breaking wind in public.

Jolly good show, old girl!

Yet even irony laden I remain fascinated with the royal family, like what does the Queen carry in her purse: packing heat, whiskey flask, couple thou' in denominations from different countries in case he has to flee the eventual peasant revolt?

[We already know the Queen, who's currentlycelebrating her Diamond Jubilee, allegedly (and hilariously) uses her purse to signal to her attendantswhether she's pleased as punch to be in company of her guests, or bored as heck and in need of a servant to pull her away from the situation.

And now Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Woman Behind The Throne, dishes on the queen's purse contents in the Telegraph. Here are a few of the items:

• Reading glasses
• Mint lozenges
• A fountain pen
• "Rarely cash, except for the 'precisely folded' 5 pound or 10 pound note on Sundays," which she donates at church

A small mirror and lipstick, which she reportedly applies at the table (Hey, Her Majesty can do whatever she wants, 'kay?)]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/04/queen-elizabeth-purse_n_1254541.html?utm_hp_ref=queen-elizabeth-ii

You freakin' kidding me?  Old sow has castles out the wazoo and can only give 5 or ten pounds sterling silver at service?  Why not tithe a castle?

God's Judgment on Florida

Dang, maybe God really does have a mad on for Florida in general and Orlando in particular, given the historical track of hurricanes since 1852 as shown below.

Golly, even back in 1852, God knew God's true servant and prophet, Pat "The Oracle" Robertson, would call out retribution on the city of Orlando and residents for the city decision to hang rainbow flags from light poles for Gay Days.

To demonstrate my powers of prophecy, I, D. H. Hill, hereby prophesy a hurricane will hit Florida some time in the future.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration database of hurricanes: http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/hurricanes

Willard Romney's Unicorn Tax Plan

It marks the essence of the Republican way; tax cuts for the rich and stick the peasants with the bill.

Why can't people see through the outright lies in this campaign?

Oh, they watch Fox News.

Poor, deluded schmucks.

[Mitt Romney's plan to overhaul the tax code would produce cuts for the richest 5 percent of Americans -- and bigger bills for everybody else, according to an independent analysis set for release Wednesday.]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/study-romney-tax-plan-would-result-in-cuts-for-rich-higher-burden-for-others/2012/08/01/gJQAbeCCOX_story.html

[“Even if tax expenditures are eliminated in a way designed to make the resulting tax system as progressive as possible, there would still be a shift in the tax burden of roughly $86 billion from those making over $200,000 to those making less than that amount,” the report reads.]

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/1001628-Base-Broadening-Tax-Reform.pdf

[“He’s not asking you to contribute more to pay down the deficit, or to invest in our kids’ education,” Obama is expected to say, according to prepared remarks released by the campaign. “He’s asking you to pay more so that people like him can get a tax cut.”]

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/study-romney-plan-would-raise-taxes-on-95-of-americans.php?ref=fpblg

Generals Sacked by Teddy Bears

Yes, you read right: teddy bears.

[MINSK, Belarus —

It's probably the first time in history that teddy bears have defeated generals.

Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has sacked two of the nation's top defense officials after two Swedish advertising agency employees piloted a light plane into the country's heavily guarded airspace, dropping 879 teddy bears decked out in parachutes and slogans supporting human rights.

Officials in the ex-Soviet state denied the July 4 incident until Lukashenko called a meeting last week to scold authorities for allowing such a "provocation."

The Belarusian ruler nicknamed "Europe's last dictator" on Tuesday fired the nation's air defense chief and the head of the Border Guards service and reprimanded several other top security officials, his office said Wednesday.]

http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/social-issues/teddy-bears-drop-in-bring-down-2-belarus-generals/nP8B4/

Women's Preventive Health Care Today

http://www.beachpeanuts.com/2012/08/preventive-health-coverage-for-women-takes-effect-today-under-aca.html

"The American presidency is designed to disappoint."

[The American presidency is designed to disappoint. Each candidate must promise things that are beyond his power to deliver. No candidate could expect to be elected by emphasizing how little power the office actually has and how voters should therefore expect little from him. So candidates promise great, transformative programs. What the winner actually can deliver depends upon what other institutions, nations and reality will allow him. Though the gap between promises and realities destroys immodest candidates, from the founding fathers' point of view, it protects the republic. They distrusted government in general and the office of the president in particular.

Congress, the Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve Board all circumscribe the president's power over domestic life. This and the authority of the states greatly limit the president's power, just as the country's founders intended. To achieve anything substantial, the president must create a coalition of political interests to shape decision-making in other branches of the government. Yet at the same time -- and this is the main paradox of American political culture -- the presidency is seen as a decisive institution and the person holding that office is seen as being of overriding importance....]
Read more: The Election, the Presidency and Foreign Policy | Stratfor

Consider the above the next time you read some whiny, puling, progressive puke snivel, "But Obama did not do enough!"

He NEVER had a progressive majority!