Movie magic from the 1930's

So, I'm just saying, next time you hear about the "good old days"....

(I like the part where she pops out of her own eyeball, myself, although that romantic ending is difficult to ignore.)

(And a hat tip to the absolutely Blue Gal)

Of course, on the other hand...

As horrifying as this latest news is, I'd like to remind you that we don't know the half of it. The fact that Bush felt comfortable confirming his own approval of White House torture planning indicates that far more dreadful moral outrages were planned and committed by these bastards. And that those horrors are official United States policy.

This is not some puerile propaganda-disguised-as-entertainment like '24,' dear friends, where the guns fire blanks and the blood is ketchup. This is the real thing. People are being tortured with your tax dollars.

[From Hullabaloo]

...not one penny of your tax dollars will likely ever be spent on holding these guys accountable for what they've done.

Can we impeach him for this?

"As talk of a recession grows to a roar..."

The Four Cheese Deep Dish Pizza is already a casualty at Uno Chicago Grill. So is the Shrimp Panini, recently replaced on the menu with a cheaper chicken version.

[From Eating at the bottom line - The Boston Globe]

True, it's a little unsettling when a restauranteur talks about "reducing waste" in the menu - just how much waste have they been serving, anyway - but then again it was such great-tasting waste it's gonna be pretty grim going without. If we can't impeach the torture-loving warmongering ("tinpot Genghis Kahn of Crawford, Texas," Dick Cavett calls him in this morning's Times) can we at least nail him for screwing up the Panini?

The nub of the thing

The body count that the mainstream media has regurgitated out of Florida and Michigan is that 2.3 million Democrats voted in primaries that broke the rules, leaving the DNC with no choice but to level both villages, even if the collateral damage might include the party's prospects of carrying those disenfranchised states in November. The DNC and the MSM appear to have simultaneously concluded that even Clinton's 300,000-vote win in Florida, where both candidates competed on a level playing field, shouldn't be counted in the popular vote tally, a calculation that appears nowhere in DNC rules and turns 1.7 million Democratic voters into ghosts.

[From Wayne Barrett: Could the Republicans Pick the Democratic Nominee? -- The Untold Story of How the GOP Rigged Florida and Michigan - Politics on The Huffington Post]

You decide this thing for yourself any way you want to, bunky, fine with me, but what I say is if the Dems want to throw 2 million voters under the bus just to satisfy their own idea of what "rules" are then the Dems can count me out.

Stories we never quite got around to finishing

MEXICO CITY - In a hot-pink Mohawk haircut and leotard to match, he pirouettes before taking down his muscle-bound enemies with a swift kick to the groin.

[From Mexican wrestler puckers up to fight - Yahoo! News]

Way to go, Democrats

Democratic opponents of US President George W Bush have accused him of putting off tough decisions on Iraq until after the presidential elections.

[From BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush 'is avoiding Iraq decisions']

That's being right on top of things alright. No flies on you.

Play with Monte Hall

Try this very cool game at the New York Times

If it's all the same to you, bunky...

A nude photograph of France's first lady, Carla Bruni, has been auctioned for $91,000

[From BBC NEWS | Europe | Nude image of Carla Bruni sold ]

...I'm hoping this idea doesn't catch on.

Lure?

When you get so cheap nobody wants to buy you - oh yeah, bunky, that's good news!

SAN FRANCISCO — Fierce competition among identity thieves has driven the prices for stolen data down to bargain-basement levels, which has forced crooks to adopt mainstream business tactics to lure customers, according to a new report on Internet security threats.

[From FOXNews.com - Stolen-Data Glut Means Hard Times for Identity Thieves - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News]

And more. A link to Faux News' Cybersecurity Center: "The Internet can be a scary place."

"Boy boils egg"

What a terrific line! And:

This is a great essay by a mom who let her 9-year-old son ride the New York City subway alone

[From Schneier on Security: Overestimating Threats Against Children]

Got an hour?

This is pretty un-bloglike - at least, un-my bloglike - a fascinating lecture on the economics of American families by Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, runs nearly an hour but is worth every minute.

YouTube - The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class

Is that the sound of little feet stamping?

(CBS/AP) Business trips and vacations were disrupted for tens of thousands of travelers Wednesday as American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights — nearly half its schedule — to fix faulty wiring that could cause a short-circuit or even a fire and explosion.

The airline also canceled more than 900 flights Thursday....

Executives at American said safety was never compromised, and they suggested the nation's biggest airline was the victim of suddenly stepped-up scrutiny by federal regulators.

[From American Airlines Strands 100,000 People, Carrier Cancels More Than 900 More Flights Thursday As It Scrambles To Fix Faulty Wiring - CBS News]

I don't know - and I'm all for safety, bunky, don't think I'm not - but there just seems to be a little whiff of tantrum in this. I mean, when hundreds of flights are canceled because the airlines are victims of suddenly stepped-up scrutiny - well, it sorta sounds like are taking their marbles and going home, all because of that mean old, chickenhearted FAA.

Or maybe not. But I'd also, just for chuckles, like to see the spreadsheet on just how much money the poor little airlines are losing, really, in view of the $mega-million saving on their fuel bill. That's got to take the sting out a bit, at least.

But whatever. Anybody who's ever had their flight yanked off the board, for whatever reason, knows it's no fun. So I hope the airlines get those planes back off the ground soon.

Try up. Up might work.

Noted by our Midwest Bureau.

So that's it then

It's official. I just saw my first top-down convertible for this year.

It's not just the ducks anymore.

(iPhoned in)

Now that you mention it

WASHINGTON—Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was the invisible man at this week's appearances in Congress by President Bush's top military and diplomatic advisers in Iraq.

[From No kisses or slaps for Iraq leader - Boston.com]

And what drug would that be, exactly?

At the State Department, one [government] credit-card holder bought $360 worth of women's lingerie at Seduccion Boutique for use during jungle training by trainees of a drug enforcement program in Ecuador.

[From The Raw Story | GAO: Millions wasted on govt cards]

But we have enough clichés on hand to get us through November, at least

General Petraeus: "We Haven't Turned Any Corners. We Haven't Seen Any Lights At The End Of The Tunnel"

[From General Petraeus: "We Haven't Turned Any Corners. We Haven't Seen Any Lights At The End Of The Tunnel" - Politics on The Huffington Post]

Beyond the spin

Have you heard the great news about how things are going in Pakistan and Afghanistan?

We hadn’t either, until a member of the board attended a two-day briefing by top State Department officials for editorial writers from across the nation....

On Pakistan and Afghanistan, however, they went beyond spin, and seemed to have left the reality-based community behind.

[From Pakistan and Afghanistan, Through Rose-Colored Glasses - The Board - Editorials - Opinion - New York Times Blog]

There'll always be an England

A radio station that broadcasts nothing but the sound of birdsong from a British country garden has become an unlikely hit.

[From Ananova - A tweet for listeners ]

Sort of like those last two minutes in a football game

Programmers [for example ] know that task switches take a long time. It is easier to keep going once you're at full steam . . . than to stop work and finish later. That last hour might take three hours, since you have to retrieve all of the background info from long-term memory and bring it back to the front of your mind.

[From UNDERNEWS: MULTITASKING WORSE ON IQ THAN POT]

So this babe, whatzername, I forgot, says multitasking can take 10 points off you IQ.

You can almost hear the crickets, can't you?

We're forced to watch the Petraeus/Crocker show, but the men who should testify are Bush, Cheney and the war/surge's champions, McCain, Lieberman and Graham. They need to answer Senator Warner's question: How has any decision or action they've made in the last five years, including the surge, made the United States more secure? And just as important, How will continuation of these Bush/Cheney/McCain policies allow the U.S. to disengage from Iraq?

[From

Firedoglake » As Bush-McCain Surge Ends, We’re Even More Stuck in Iraq ]

This could catch on

The termites ate my profits.

A trader in the Indian state of Bihar has lost his life savings after termites infesting his bank's safe deposit boxes ate them up.

[From BBC NEWS | South Asia | Termites feast on trader's money]

A GPS for the non-tech crowd

xkcd

But the upload speed will be 600 kbps

THE internet could soon be made obsolete. The scientists who pioneered it have now built a lightning-fast replacement capable of downloading entire feature films within seconds.

At speeds about 10,000 times faster than a typical broadband connection, “the grid” will be able to send the entire Rolling Stones back catalogue from Britain to Japan in less than two seconds.

[From Coming soon: superfast internet - Times Online ]

Dumpster-diving for drugs

NEW YORK - The struggle to keep soaring medical costs in check is feeding an increase in state programs that collect unused prescription drugs to give away to the uninsured and poor.

[From States 'recycle' meds to battle costs - Yahoo! News]

Yeah, well, OK, it's not quite that bad. But is this supposed to be the richest nation on Earth or what? Isn't it a little bit pathetic to be scrounging for hand-me-down meds for the poor? No? A lot pathetic then?

Next we'll be telling people to just drink more water.