It’s been a great week. Jerome Guillet’s column in the Wall Street Journal comes at the end of a week which saw veteran intelligence officers Patrick Lang and Larry C. Johnson join the front-page.
The traffic at European Tribune is off the charts. So, now it’s time to celebrate and have some fun.
Talk about whatever you want. Jazz, with Dem in Knoxville, or baseball (the Yankees suck), or your kids, your pets, your stinky job.
Maryscott wants to know how we’re going to save the world. Can we save it with frivolity?
Well, I’ve just about had it with my daughter who insists on playing “Up on the Rooftop” over and over again on her concert bells. Who wants Christmas music during August? ACKKK
And I think we can save the world if we all take classes at the Ministry of Silly Walks and if the entire world took a day to watch Mel Brooks flicks and were able to memorize lines from such greats as Monty Python and Roald Dahl.
I have a blue belt in how to defend myself against fruit.
Have a safe and sane weekend everyone! Keep up the faith and hope. Bush is going DOWN like a cockroach after a crumb in the garbage disposal. Bring on the roach motels!
It’s a good day to play the guitar.
“I roll my britches
up above my knees,
Great Gawdamighty,
Gonna do that jamboree!
cho:
“Tell me whoo,
Who been foolin’ you?
You three times seven womman,
don’ know what you want to do!”
(old ‘hokum’ dance song)
Euro Trib is gaining real contributors and thoughtful commenters. Suddenly it has real stuff on the German elections, and word from Hungary. Plus soj is using it. It’s building, I sure hope it attracts more Europeans, I like to hear from people who are seeing the news up close. I’m glad the numbers for Euro Trib are going well.
I agree,Eurotrib is great and getting better all the time…I feel very comfortable over there(although a bit intimidated by how smart everyone is and after the language survey there where so many speak several languages…a bit of moron-schools here suck at teaching languages)
I’ll mention again that soj’s daily briefing-PDB- is amazing. If you want a good, quick world view go read that every day.
The link to Jerome’s article needs a password…
Also, my opinion is that real, sweeping change like the stuff we talk about incessantly will require an uprising of the masses. Non-violent preferred. So basically a great leader is needed. I have no idea who it will be… but I can guess with near certainty that it won’t be anyone who is currently considered to be a “leader” of the Democratic Party (Howard Dean being the only exception). My $0.02
J’s article is also on the Eurotrib frontpage.
http://tinyurl.com/79j43 Link to a site you can spend hours on…for when you are bored, in fact that’s the name of the site-I Am Bored. Has dozens of those stupid quizes…such as telling your personality by which picture you’d click on…and all kinds of other stupid and weird stuff.
Worst Album Covers
ha..I think they should say awesomely bad covers-that was fun..except for the first one which was pretty sick..thanks for the link.
ROTFLMAO
And, for you jazz lovers, Herbie Mann’s “Push Push” didn’t quite make the top 10 worst covers, but was in the runners-up. The rest looked like mostly heavy metal and rap albums…
the Scorpions are clearly breaking sensible laws, the two best are the puppets, and Millie Jackson sitting on the can.
I agree(although the whole Poop-man was pretty dumb then the German Norman Bates guy…hell guess I can’t pick a favorite after all) and the first thing that came to my mind when I saw that link by the way was an image of Pat Boone in that heavy metal get-up he had on for some album he did a few years back…that was freaky. He must have been off his jesus meds for awhile to do that.
The John and Oko one is one I could have done without seeing. LOL! Great link, I sent it on to many unsuspecting souls.
To save the world, we’ll need to rest by the TumTum tree, and stand awhile in uffish thought.
For now, as never before, `tis brillig, and the slithy toves do gyre and gimble in the wabe: all mimsy are the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe.
O frabjous day!
(for those for whom it has been too long: link)
I’m getting out my snickersnee!
It’s Marlins, Marlin, Marlins — off I go for another beautiful evening under the full moon over Miami to root for the home team against the LA Dodgers in a 4-game series.
Will sit somewhere in the second level, along third base line (so I can see into the home team dug-out and watch Carlos Delgado make an entry into his diary/stat book after each at bat. And other goings-on.), chew sunflower seeds and leave my seat area looking like the bottom of a mad parrot’s cage, and occasionally swivel my head out left field way at the digital sign that posts the speed of every Burnett bullet. Sometimes they have to turn off the sign ’cause AJ has a weakness of checking his own hurling stats while on the mound.
Yep, AJ Burnett’s our guy tonight. Does that mean lights out for another victim team? I hope so. After two straight shut-outs, I’m hoping to see a third. I wonder what’s the record for shut-outs in a row by a single team in a season? Marlins lead the League with 14 on the season, tying their own record of last year. Wonder how many double-plays we’ll turn tonight? How many bases JP (that’s Juan Pierre) will steal? — he’s got 42 so far.
Win or lose, I love this game.
Bye all. See you after.
As a Braves fan, I have to hope that the Marlins don’t take the wild card. Burnett, Beckett, and Willis make for a pretty scary proposition in the playoffs, when you can afford to go with a 3-man rotation.
Seems like it’s too often for Braves fans that Marlins play like sharks at the end of the season, seem to “let” the Braves take the Division lead into the playoffs, then proceed to gobble ’em up — like sharks do.
But as a Marlins fan, I have to say it looks like it’s gonna be the same old same old again this year. You’ve got a fine young club, two great veterans, one an incredible home-run hitter, and I think the Braves are always a worthy opponent.
Speaking of pitchers — don’t forget our newest rookie brought up this year — Vargas, our 5th starter. Another AA promoted lefty phenom, just like D-Train.
Giants’ bullpen blew a 4-run lead and wasted a brilliant pitching job by their young pitcher, Brad Hennessey.
And none of the pitchers, AFAIK, were Caribbean, if Larry Krueger is reading this…
[insert random obscenities here…]
in his game against us last Sunday. Plus he was a little wild, which we took advantage of in early innings, and he was up against AJ Burnett.
Tough combo. And the Giants’ bullpen is not scary. Nor is the Marlins’ at times.
Can we save the world with frivolity? Why not? We’ve already tried stupidity and that’s not working very well.
With frivoloity, we’d at least have fun trying!
A number of years ago, the day after our opponents on a big case had begun to crumble, resulting in an evening of much drinking, the next morning the partner (for whom I still work) famously said,
“What is up with all this frivolity when I am up to my eyeballs in SHIT!”
That put a damper on the revelry pretty fast, even though he was only half-serious.
Just thought I’d share that.
.
At Height of Vietnam War
George W. Bush, right, during his
Harvard Business School years.
(Harvard Yearbook)
33 Years Later … It’s Hard Work!
5-Minute Video on Morning of 9/11
Some men never change, only the bubble gum exchanged for … a pretzel.
~~~
Seeing Bush makes me so angry. Especially that smug… look of his.
9/11 at 9:05 most of us had looks of terror and HOLY SHIT on our faces… Bush… he just wanted to finish My Pet Goat.
.
VISITS EUROTRIB BOOMAN
Total 51,429 390,465
Avg Per Day 705 3,492
Avg Visit Length 9:00 6:52
Last Hour 54 215
Today 21 84
This Week 4,936 24,442
PAGE VIEWS
Total 263,766 2,112,523
Avg Per Day 3,690 16,125
Avg Per Visit 5.2 4.6
Last Hour 202 940
Today 111 400
This Week 25,831 112,875
.
Today local time in Europe is past midnight :: Saturday 00:30.
~~~
It’s a two headed monster! Maybe we should take a page from Harry Potter and call it “Fluffy”?
BILL MAHER for President … for starters, he could talk to world leaders better than Bush adn he’d make them laugh
I’d go for Christopher Guest but he’s English and is in the House of Lords ! Maybe he can run from Prime Minister!
Cheech and Chong for DRUG CZARS!
The always diplomatic Janeane Garofalo for Press Secretary….
HELEN THOMAS: Ms. Garofalo, I understand that President Maher has been escorted at official White House dinners by a series of supermodels…..
JANEANE GAROFALO: Fuck off, Helen. Don’t push your luck … I gave you back your front-row seat!
Chris Rock beat Maher to the punch and already is President-as in the movie ‘Head of State’ and Bernie Mac his brother who is VP..why not. I still use his campaign slogan -‘that ain’t right’ when hollering at the tv.
Don Rickles for Ambassador to the U.N. — See! We can find someone more hostile and sarcastic than John Bolton! (And funny too!)
Marc Maron for Secretary of Homeland Security or CIA — hard to tell which office most needs the paranoid vision of Mr. Maron
Al Franken — Vice President. That’ll shut him up for a while.
Who else?
http://tinyurl.com/dhkwo this link is about our ambassador to Mexico-an old friend of georgie’s-one who was his campaign adviser in 1994 and who is apparently as obnoxious as bush is.
He’s earned a reputation as a bully and recently he shut down a consulate in a border town because he said they weren’t doing enough there about the drug war problems.
So maybe it’s just a prerequisite that all our ambassadors have to be bullies, assholes and go out of their way to piss of the countries they are in as ambassadors?…this certainly seems to be a pattern.
NYT
Forget Waldo. Where’s Tony Blair?
Yesterday, 9:00 PM
Britain’s newspapers are not divulging the prime minister’s vacation whereabouts on security grounds.
Huh?
.
So, it’s definitely not safe in the UK.
May I suggest Tony hides on Costa Smeralda, in Italian villa of his good friend in arms – Silvio Berlusconi. At least it worked well last year.
Only In Italy!
~~~
‘Fwivowus——–Fwiday.'”
As Atrios says:
Boo fucking hoo.
Profiles in cowardice.
…
Referring to:
A former top aide to Colin Powell says his involvement in the former secretary of state’s presentation to the United Nations on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction was “the lowest point” in his life.
“I wish I had not been involved in it,” says Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a longtime Powell adviser who served as his chief of staff from 2002 through 2005. “I look back on it, and I still say it was the lowest point in my life.”
[…]
Powell’s speech, delivered on February 14, 2003, made the case for the war…
Anybody else like GOOD true crime stories? Not that sicko crap on TV … interesting, perplexing cases?
Judge Crater Disappearance Possibly Solved
Man I have to say the week started off well in Martha’s Vineyard on Vacation and moved down hill having to go back to work in upstate, ny…
Ah well, hopefully the ski season will early…
Go O’s!!
Hello All, I’ve had to be away for a few weeks, so have contributed almost nothing here.It’s good to see familiar faces, and although I’ve lost my Trusted User status, I’d love to be back with you.
Tell me what I can do to redeem myself.
Susan, I love GOOD true crime stories: have just given a few away. Have gotten interested in 19th century tales of murder, gore and dark deeds. I liked Ann Rule when she first started writing, but now she just seems to phone it in — same old formula, indistinguishable characters and motives. Thought “The Stranger Beside Me” was her best, though too long. Tell me some other good writers.
I just spent the whole week performing the ultimate in civic duty – serving on Grand Jury duty in NYC. I can now tell you where to stand in the East or West Village, Harlem or on the west side in the 40’s to obtain crack, cocaine, heroin or various controlled substances, ie: Xanax, Clemazipan (spell?) – at $20.00 for 1/2 a pill – NY is soooo expensive!
Most of it is pretty tedious stuff, but every once in a while you get a really quirky undercover cop with a great story. For instance – the cop (dressed like a real down and out junkie) approaches a dealer to buy some crack, while the field team of police (usually 5-7 guys) are parked down the block. The dealer is hesitant because word is out that there are narc cops around and he doesn’t know the guy, so he tells him no. The undercover guy presses the dealer, the dealer asks if he’s interested in “sniff” (coke), and the guy says “yeah”. So the dealer takes him into the tenament hallway and sells him 3 bags of crack afterall. As the junkie/cop leaves the building he tells the dealer, “Thanks alot man. Be cool. Be careful – I saw those cops right down the street.”, and strides away. Three minutes later – you can guess what happens.
We hear at least 4-8 cases a day – whew! And I have another whole week to go – the only good news – after this round I’m absolved of any jury duty for 8 years!
If anyone is actually still reading this thread, I’ll be in and out for the next 2 weeks and blogging when I can locate an available computer. Hope to do some paintings outside for upcoming diaries on Saturday mornings. My best to all.
Well, dang! They did it. Marlins 3rd shut-out in a row; 15th on the season But LA didn’t go quietly, a real pitching duel until our former Dodger “St.” Paul “The Duke” (all nicknames my own) LoDuca broke it open with a bases loaded double.
Incredible full moon came up just to the left of the center field Jumbo-Tron, balmy breeze blew, and the grass was greener than a Booman frog. Kids in abundance, stuffing themselves with cotton candy, waving their gloves in the air, and clamoring for a hug from Billy the Marlin. Even the Marlins Mermaids (team dugout dancers) seemed extra zippy tonight.
[Does any other team in the majors have a large squad of scantily clad gyraters to entertain the crowd between innings? For their sakes, I hope not.]
The air is beginning to have that post-season taste to it, and I better get my baseball in October tickets.
Did Bill Maher just openly support profiling?
I understood him to say there was no real need, since all terrorists were young, Muslim and male.
A little bit of Bill can go a long way, especially when he does his stand-up routine. Is it just me or do you still feel the magic?
It was interesting to see Col. Hackett. He’s certainly media-savvy, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
When he and Bill were debating whether W was stupid, or merely ignorant, I thought the point was lost, since we all know that he’s both. And vicious and lazy.
Yeah, I thought Hackett was good. I haven’t watched Bill for years so I don’t have much of a reference point. He makes some good points, but sometimes I wonder if he feels compelled to play devil’s advocate to have a show or if he is really speaking his mind.
In terms of the profiling, I interpreted him as saying, c’mon we know who the terrorists are, lets screen those guys, they are young, male, Muslims.. But I was pretty tired, maybe I wasn’t paying attention.
on the mark tonight — for the second time this week, Rush Limbaugh was named “Worst Person in the World”. 🙂
Also looked even more handsome than usual…quitting smoking must have something to do with that… 😉
I suggest to adopt afrivolous anthem for Booman Tribune. What about “Boo To You Too” from Carla Bley?
Here are the lyrics:
Boo To You Too (Carla Bley)
Just when we was startin’ to play
Someone yelled out take ’em away
Then we heard ’em startin’ to boo
What did you do? what did you do?
I reacted intelligently
Here’s my method, try it and see
When somebody’s runnin’ you down
You got to turn it around, turn it around
So when they boo at me you know what I do?
I tell ’em boo to you too, boo to you too
Boo to you too, boo to you too
I don’t take it personally
When somebody’s booin’ at me
Makes no difference if the music is fine
I never pay it no mind, pay it no mind
When you’re tryin’ something that’s new
You’ll have people booin’ at you
When we hear ’em startin’ to boo
What do we do? What do we do?
Well when they boo at us you know what we do?
We tell ’em boo to you too, boo to you too
Boo to you too, boo to you too
Keep your chin up, play what you feel
Music’s always good if it’s real
Even if they’re cruel to you
You got to do what you do, do what you do
When they’re ready to tear you apart
Use your noodle and try to be smart
Don’t just stand there takin’ abuse
You got to put it to use, put it to use
You make ’em boo on cue, they say boo
And you say boo to you too
Boo to you too, boo to you too…
You can listen to a sample Here
Booman Tribune ~ Able Danger Roundup: New guy shows up, Weldon’s chart a fake, backpedaling