Baracula and Lincolnstein

Inevitable?

What happens when you create a mash up of toys, presidents, and Hollywood monsters ...

Fake Fakery or Bold Boldness?

The daring legislature of Tennessee is pushing for a State Constitutional Amendment to ban a state income tax despite the fact the current constitution has a ban on a state income tax.

Call it pep rally legislation.

This is rather like the "bold" decision that Frito Lay, which created Doritos taco shells for Taco Bell, is now offering Taco Bell flavored chips which will taste like .... Doritos.

It's as if something were actually happening.

The Stench of He-Goats in Mtn. Dew

Some months ago I learned that food additives are beyond bizarre. And despite consumer labels on products we seldom know what we are actually ingesting.

My first surprise was Castoreum, which is a nice way to refer to the anal glands of beavers and is used to flavor cigarettes plus it is used to evoke the flavor of vanilla or other fruits. Products do not list Castoreum but merely say "natural flavoring".

Mmmmm. Tasty.

There's also shellac, which comes from crushed Indonesian beetles and is used to make candy, chocolate, and apples shiny.

The past week brought news that Gatorade was removing brominated vegetable oil as an ingredient. Bromine, a word whose Greek origins means "stench of he-goats", is used as a flame retardant and as a flavor enhancer for Mtn. Dew and orange sodas.

Thousands of additives are in use but items like crushed beetles and anal glands are typically called "natural flavors". Just wrap that odd item with bacon fat or sugar and happy eating!!

Go Hungry Says Sen. Campfield

Children in need are being threatened in legislation from Knoxville Senator Campfield. He wants to withhold food stamps from families if a child makes bad grades in school. Campfield wants kids in poverty to face more hardships, worse, face the prospect of going hungry, if they are also having problems with their studies.

Classy Campfield. Punishing kids is Ugly Government.

Another Tennessee government over-reach means lost jobs. The state wants to force private businesses to allow more weapons in the workplace. The massive investment and growth of the VW manufacturing complex in Chattanooga is in jeopardy thanks to this proposal.

More legislators, sadly including my new State Rep Tilman Goins, are refusing to allow funds for health care in the state from the Affordable Care Act go to those who might need it. Firstly, we've paid the taxes that create the funds and are obligated for the debt it creates too. The least we should expect in return is to receive the health care programs and expansions which would follow. Politics aside, even of the funds are turned away, other states will receive the funds, so why cut us out? The state's Federal representatives have made and are making calls for the repeal of the Act - but no go. Until or unless such a repeal takes place then don't let TN get less than their share. If the state refuses the money then residents will just have to find health insurance on their own.

U

Two Dogs Skype With Each Other

Rep. Roe Wrong Again

Again my congressman, Dr. Phil Roe, and other congressmen are doing it wrong.

He has joined others in proposing a law that says if Congress does not pass a budget then they will refuse their pay. Here's the deal:

It's the fundamental job of Congress to pass a budget, job one. They've wiggled away from that and instead take a pose of pretension. They are supposed to be paid for doing their job - not vow and legislate to reject pay for failing to do their jobs.

And a simple online search shows the idea came from a blog rant last year.

Do your jobs - don't promise to not do it. Many elected officials have returned or refused pay without making laws about it. Deceptive poses may be pretty but they remain deceptive.

Farewell To A Fine Friend

I bring sad news today.

The only and official dog mascot for this blog, Sophie, has passed away. Full name, Sophie Belle Mooney, was rescued from a California animal shelter in the early days of this century by her devoted owner, aka The Editor, and was eventually brought to east Tennessee in 2005, when I was first introduced to her.

A few samples of the adventures she and I shared are part of this blog's history, and the image of her below has been seen and shared around the globe. The picture captures some of her inquisitive and sweet nature, and is emblematic of the deeply personal connection she could make.

I am but one of many uncles and other extended family members for Sophie and count myself enriched for such a connection. There are many tales I might tell, but decided to mention just one today.

On many occasions I took naps with Sophie and they were quite fantastic. Like many of us, I have often relaxed and reclined with dogs and cats but with Sophie there was this quality that what we were doing was linked to an ancient connection between humans and dogs, a wordless bond, a relationship which brought a greater quality of life to us both.

And you, dear reader, either know what I am talking about or you do not, and if not you need to seek out the experience and marvel at what it means.

I join with many, many others who both mourn her loss and celebrate her life. I know there is an inconsolable grief for The Editor now, and some joy for the time which was shared. Enormous thanks to The Editor for introducing us.

Peace dear Sophie. And thank you, too.

Fake Girlfriend, Media FAIL, Football and Being 'Catfished'

Moving at Internet speed yesterday, the Sports website Deadspin revealed Notre Dame's football hero Manti Te'o did not actually have a girlfriend whose romance and sudden death made international news.

The in-depth and riveting story on Deadspin prompted the college, Te'o and the nation's into a scramble of explanations.

The fact is every media outlet failed to confirm the stories they sold as inspirational - the New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, ESPN, CBS, and many more all got caught short.

The "Catfish" phenomena is growing.

Gun Myths Present And Past

I watched in amazement a C-Span coverage of a public hearing on gun violence aired this weekend recorded in Santa Rosa, CA.

For about 2 and a half hours a large number of half-truths and bizarre claims of impending doom and conspiracy were expressed by average folks - claims about secret CIA projects using laser mind control devices to create deranged killers who are used to promote gun restrictions was one such theory, and more were also offered.

Not all claims were so bizarre but often the comments were based on errors and emotions rather than reality.

A Tennessee man who claimed to be a "tactical security expert" got his gun permits revoked after posting a video online warning he'll kill folks who might seek ownership restrictions. Oh, his "training" isn't actually certified by anyone. Just another maniacal mythmaker.

Gun myths are common though the anger aimed at any who might challenge the myths uncommonly powerful.

Southern Beale points out a few of them, including the nature of some "training" classes:

"The classes I took taught me almost nothing about how to defend myself with a gun. One, taught by a man who said he refuses to get a carry permit because “I don’t think I have to get the government’s permission to exercise my right to bear arms,” packed about twenty minutes of useful instruction into four long evenings of platitudes, Obama jokes, and belligerent posturing. “The way crime is simply out of control, you can’t afford not to wear a gun all the time,” he told us on several occasions."

More mythical history pointed out here.

It will be ridiculously tough to enact common sense gun laws since it appears there is a stunning lack of reality among all the myths.

Everything You Thought Was True Isn't

Being wrong is easy. Often we "learn" the wrong information, or just interpret our experiences through a dim understanding of the world. It happens to all of us. Some folks are confessing online to the things they misunderstood and it makes for such fun reading:

"I thought veterans were "veterinarians" and when walking through NYC in the 80s, seeing tons of "former vet, please help" signs really made me wonder why animal doctors kept falling on hard times.

"I have a friend who one day, in our 20s, said, "Oh my god, I just figured something out! U-Haul is U-Haul because YOU HAUL your own stuff!" We still laugh about that.

"I just found out at the age of 31 that pickles are cucumber. : <

I wrote "for all intensive purposes" in dozens of essays throughout middle school, high school, and college, and no teacher ever corrected me. (They just gave me A's on all of the essays.) It took until the age of nineteen, when my boyfriend finally corrected me, to realize that I had been saying and writing the phrase completely wrong for my entire life."

TN Legislature on the Border of Insanity?

The tragic shooting in Newtown, CT provides at the least an opportunity for discussion and debate about common sense gun laws, mental health issues, and more. Sadly, the talk has drifted into arenas of pop culture, blaming video games and/or movies as some Universal Cause. Or worse, we give serious thought to transforming all that teaching and education have historically meant into a twisted-up worldview of weaponized teaching.

Others in the state are writing and talking about the upcoming legislative "ideas" as several East Tennessee lawmakers are promoting weaponized teachers - a discussion one security expert calls "borderline insanity". More informed education leaders  point out the grave errors in such debate:

"Bowman and Summerford are calling for federal and state dollars to better fund security measures and also for funds for more school counselors, who might help prevent school shootings by recognizing emotional problems in students before they bubble over into violence.

“National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel supports the idea of trained officers in schools, but not arming teachers.

"In a statement from his office, Van Roekel said “haphazardly putting more guns into our schools is the last thing we should be doing to ensure the safety of our students.”

Here's a few other terrible ideas to ponder since terrible ideas are gaining steam:

- Encourage more students to drop out of school. If fewer kids are in school, fewer could be hurt. Or, just eradicate all public education and instead require each child be home-schooled by a heavily armed parent/guardian.

- Require all schools to provide Ninja training for students from Head Start thru college, establishing dojos in every school.

-  Convert all public buildings into underground bunkers, accessible only through a single entrance, which is guarded by robotic machine guns and bio-metric locks.

Bad ideas arrive too easily for some legislators, drown out reasonable discussion and serve no useful function. However, unless we halt the promotion of bad thinking, bad outcomes will flourish.

Rep. Roe Refuses Emergency Aid to Americans

My congressman, Rep. Phil Roe, is continuing to show off how much he despises folks in need. Worse, he was joined by other Tennessee congressmen who voted against providing emergency funds to repair the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy - $70 billion in damage to New York and New Jersey,  125 lives lost. (NOTE: some very thoughtful discussion at the link above)

Rep. Roe offered this comment as he took his oath of office this week: "There are many challenges facing our nation, and I will continue to be a strong voice for the values of East Tennesseans.”

However refusing to help our fellow Americans who have suffered greatly from a natural disaster is not a part of our values.

Gov. Chris Christie spoke plainly to those elected officials who hold no value for human life: 

"There is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Wednesday. “The House majority and their speaker, John Boehner."

"This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. Natural disasters happen in red states and blue states, in states with Democratic governors and Republican governors. We respond to innocent victims of natural disasters not as Republicans or Democrats but as Americans. Or at least we did."

Shame on you, Rep. Roe. You dishonor so many with such actions.

Babar Goes To Washington; or Who Ordered The You-Know-What Sandwich?

The Republicans in Washington need an update to their symbol.

The above image captures what I imagine might be the self-image of many a Republican in Washington.(And yes, it pleases me to irritate said group by linking them to French children's literature.)

And let's be honest - the entire Congress under Republican rule for the last few years ranks as the worst-performing and most disappointing since records on performance have been kept. Writer Ezra Klein refers to them as the "rottenest in history" and the "Wile E. Coyote Congress":

"What’s the record of the 112th Congress? Well, it almost shut down the government and almost breached the debt ceiling. It almost went over the fiscal cliff (which it had designed in the first place). It cut a trillion dollars of discretionary spending in the Budget Control Act and scheduled another trillion in spending cuts through an automatic sequester, which everyone agrees is terrible policy. It achieved nothing of note on housing, energy, stimulus, immigration, guns, tax reform, infrastructure, climate change or, really, anything. It’s hard to identify a single significant problem that existed prior to the 112th Congress that was in any way improved by its two years of rule.

"The 112th found legislating so difficult that lawmakers repeatedly created artificial deadlines for consequences and catastrophes intended to spur them to act. But like Wile E. Coyote with his endless supply of Acme products, when the 112th set a trap, the only sure bet was that it would explode in its collective face, forcing leaders to construct yet another hair- trigger legislative contraption."

Ouch!

They invented a fiscal crisis, wailed about it endlessly and barely acted in time to delay the consequences until the last possible moment, which gave most of the Washington representatives from Tennessee time to show off their failings.

My Congressman, Rep. Phil Roe, issued a statement after voting no on the plan approved this week - "Washington cannot continue to tax, borrow and spend."

Um ... isn't that pretty much a major chunk of what government does? Too bad he always says No rather than offering a more positive idea, say, maybe "Government needs to invest in America" - it's education, infrastructure, technology, etc etc.

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker doesn't sound much better as he offers his view on voting for the plan to avoid fiscal meltdown:

"I looked at the policy of where we were going to be if we didn't pass it or where we would be if we did, and while it was like eating a you-know-what sandwich to vote for this, to me it was a right of passage to this quarter." 

(NOTE to the writer of the article cited above - you mean "rite of passage" maybe? Tsk Tsk.)

2012: Days of Future Passed

As the new year approaches I tend to reflect some, as most folks do, on Past, Present and Future. In truth, I'm likely too reflective on a constant basis, perhaps part of the hard-wired nature of The Writer in My Head.

Given the purely tentative and fragile essence of Life itself, I confess to some surprise to still be a living creature here on this wee speck of a planet in an infinite Universe. Existence for more than a handful of decades defies the odds. Perhaps it is that I have felt as if I were an Old Soul since I was but a young boy. Now that I am far beyond young boyhood, the passage of Time perplexes me far more than ever.

This fading year, 2012, is one where I have realized I am aging to the point of cultural irrelevance, a fact which was driven deep into my thoughts rather too often for comfort. My time here has straddled two centuries, and the changes in how life is lived are radical and spectacular. A great many of the changes were expected, yet many more were not. (Not that such a state is uniquely mine.)

And there's the simple fact that the time which has passed in my life is now greater than the time which is ahead and yet to be lived. Spooky.

The year I was born, Time magazine proclaimed that the "Men of the Year" were Scientists. Scientists. 

Every day, new and startling discoveries are made about our world and how we manipulate it and use it and attempt to understand it. Sadly, this year, the dubious wisdom of the Tennessee state legislature decided that Science was a collection of random theories which were to be challenged and doubted by American grade school and high school students. 

Not that Science solves any and every problem, but the vast wealth of possibility and discovery has apparently been dismissed as if they were mere Superstitions while Superstition is now heralded as a beacon of Truth.

The men who were singled out in 1960 helped to create so many of the innovations which shape life today via technology and medicine, and much more, and hundreds of other inventors and innovators built on their ideas:

George Beadle, geneticist, Charles Draper, designer of the Apollo Guidance Computer, John Enders, "Father of Modern Vaccines", Donald A. Glaser, particle physicist,  Joshua Lederberg, artificial intelligence and genetics,  Willard Libby, chemistry,  Linus Pauling, quantum chemistry and molecular biology,  Edward Purcell, magnetic resonance creator and physicist,  Isidor Rabi, physicist and microwave developer, Emilio Segrè, physicist, William Shockley, "Father of Silicon Valley". Edward Teller, physicist, inspiration for "Dr. Strangelove",  Charles Townes, quantum electronics, James Van Allen, nuclear and astrophysicist, and Robert Woodward, organic chemist.

I often think that it will be the children who have been born in the last few or next few years who will provide the next major shift in how life on our planet is lived -- and I confess that I most selfishly want to live as long as possible just so I can be alive as our wee planet makes another monumental stride into and beyond the realms of possibility.

Here's to you 2013 and all the years and surprises yet to come. 

The Lost: Aboard a Conservative Cruise Ship

It's so easy to highlight the ridiculous and delusional when one takes a cruise ship adventure with a boatload of Conservatives just days after the 2012 Election - one writer joined a National Review-sponsored cruise and the report is a metaphorical descent into a malestrom.

"Hassett pivoted to the liberal media. “I actually think that Goebbels was more critical of Hitler than the New York Times is of Obama,” said Hassett, tucking into a piece of strudel. “I was in the middle of the fight against the propaganda, and I have stories like you wouldn’t believe. These people are so evil. They’re basically Fascists. It’s unbelievable.” 

---

"Rob Long, a conservative Hollywood TV writer behind a TNT show called ­Sullivan & Son, said the party has to accept that it’s been living in a fantasy world. “It’s like The Matrix,” he said. “You can continue to live in the dream world, or you can take the pill and we can unplug you and you can see that things are actually kind of bad.”

---

"John Yoo, the former Bush Administration lawyer who helped formulate its theory on torture ... worried that the Republicans were too quick to blame each other, saying, “This is all out of Lord of the Flies and Karl Rove is Piggy and we’re supposed to all chase him around with spikes and throw him on a fire?”

Tree - Nog - Roast Beast

Tree. Nog. Roast Beast.

Merry Christmas to All.

Annual Christmas Photo Caption Contest

Yes, it's that time again - craft your best caption for the photo above and you too can be a WINNER!

What will you win? A giant heapin' helpin' of my love and devotion, that's what. Not too shabby. (And of course, you'll receive the satisfaction of a job well done!!)

A caption to get you started --

"Say Mayan Apocalypse one more time, and there will be something way worse than coal in yer stocking."

Annual Christmas Music Sampler

I like many of the traditions of Christmas, especially music. But it's kind of sad how older Christmas songs swamp anything newer. There are tons of forgotten and/or obscure Christmas songs too that are great fun. The nearly year round collections of Christmas tunes via Check the Cool Wax blog are a great way to while away hours online during the holidays.

Hearing many of the tunes played during the holidays instantly conjure powerful memories for most of us - but don't hesitate to make new memories with friends and families.

For the last few years, I've really enjoyed the Christmas music sampler issued by Paste magazine, which offers many new bands and musicians performing their own works for the holiday. Below, a collection from their 2011 and 2012 samplers, and a few other favorites.

And a most merry and happy Christmas to one and all!

Napsacks, Moustache Straws, Instagram Cookies and Christmas Dinner in A Can

Time for something completely whimsical.

Still seeking a rare, useful and perhaps energy efficient gift? Why not try the Napsack, a wearable sleeping bag, suitable for camping or just around the house to keep your heating costs lower? This is no Snuggie or Slanket. It's a Napsack. And it is not a Canadian Thuggie either.

Or maybe you could use a Napsack for those days when you feel the need to insulate yourself from the world and all it's harsh realities. I think it's a far better solution than sticking your head into the sand, is obviously more comfortable, plus you can hang onto your coffee as you seek some solace from the cold, cruel world.

And if you do feel the need to hole up and hide from the world, you can still enjoy holiday goodies thanks  to Christmas Dinner in a Can!

Well, that is, you could have enjoyed it, but they are all sold out. :( 

Speaking of treats for the holidays, bring home the fun of all the fairground and have something On A Stick -- like Hot Chocolate On A Stick. Just swirl the cube of handmade Belgian chocolate goodness around in your steamy mug of milk and enjoy.

And have you noticed how oddly popular fake moustaches have become? Darned things are popping up everywhere, for reasons I know not. 

But you can add some 2012 Cool to your Yule events with the Stache Straw - yep, everyone cool at the Christmas party will be sipping in style this holiday season, so don't miss out.

(And while it is too late to arrive in time for Christmas, you can still place your order for Instagram Cookies - a box of treats made from your own personal visual history, and you can send from one to six pics to turn into snacks.)

Sen. Niceley Wants Secret Armed Guards In TN Schools

Worst idea I've heard yet (and there is no shortage of bad ideas) in response to the massacre in Newtown, CT is from Tennessee Senator Frank Niceley, who wants to create secretly armed staffers and teachers in public schools. Worse, Governor Haslam seems to think this wackadoodle notion is worthy of consideration.

"Say some madman comes in. The first person he would probably try to take out was the resource officer. But if he doesn’t know which teacher has training, then he wouldn’t know which one had [a gun],” Niceley said by phone. “These guys are obviously cowards anyway and if someone starts shooting back, they’re going to take cover, maybe go ahead and commit suicide like most of them have.”

"Tennessee’s governor told reporters Monday that he’s open to including it on the agenda for a January conference to discuss school safety. Nicely said he expect the governor “to be receptive” to his plan to use tax money to arm and train teachers."

SEE ALSO: Newscoma points out that TN Senator Lamar Alexander says video games are to blame for the massacre in Newtown and former TN legislator Debra Maggert dared to oppose a NRA-supported gun-totin' bill and was quickly ousted from office.

Mass Murder, Guns and Americans

The Misunderstood? (via)

In the face of deadly events and violence aimed at children, it seems the most sane response is the expressed desire for it to never happen again. Prevention is far more difficult a task than most might imagine. The causes and cures aren't easy. But as so many have said in the last few days, it's a grim task but we must attempt to rise to it's challenges, to discuss a myriad of problems and solutions with a goal of improving our world.

I offer a few links to explore below. 

 -- Just prior to the massacre in Newtown, CT, Mother Jones magazine provided an overview of mass shooting events from 1982-2012, noting among other aspects that "Of the 142 guns possessed by the killers, more than three quarters were obtained legally. The arsenal included dozens of assault weapons and semiautomatic handguns."

-- As recently as August of this year, residents in Newtown debated adding restrictions to the growth of shooting ranges in their town. Complaints were growing as many of the ranges began loading shooting targets with Tannerite, which can create large explosions when struck by high velocity ammo:

"Something needs to be done,” said Joel T. Faxon, a hunter and a member of the town’s police commission, who championed the shooting restrictions. “These are not normal guns, that people need. These are guns for an arsenal, and you get lunatics like this guy who goes into a school fully armed and protected to take return fire. We live in a town, not in a war.

"I’ve hunted for many years, but the police department was getting complaints of shooting in the morning, in the evening, and of people shooting at propane gas tanks just to see them explode,” Mr. Faxon said."

One of the nation's largest political lobbying groups for gun ownership, the National Sport Shooting Foundation located just a few miles away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, sent a spokesperson to the city council debates on restrictions. He said:

"Among the speakers was a representative of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who was described as saying he believed there was a greater danger of swimming accidents. “No privileges should be taken away from another generation,” he said. "No safety concerns exist"

-- Those who call for more guns as a problem-solver, as an expression of liberty and freedom are making a critically flawed argument. An opinion piece by Firmin DeBrabander provides this viewpoint:

"This becomes clear if only you pry a little more deeply into the N.R.A.’s logic behind an armed society. An armed society is polite, by their thinking, precisely because guns would compel everyone to tamp down eccentric behavior, and refrain from actions that might seem threatening. The suggestion is that guns liberally interspersed throughout society would cause us all to walk gingerly — not make any sudden, unexpected moves — and watch what we say, how we act, whom we might offend.

"As our Constitution provides, however, liberty entails precisely the freedom to be reckless, within limits, also the freedom to insult and offend as the case may be. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld our right to experiment in offensive language and ideas, and in some cases, offensive action and speech. Such experimentation is inherent to our freedom as such. But guns by their nature do not mix with this experiment — they don’t mix with taking offense. They are combustible ingredients in assembly and speech."

Both in Newtown and earlier this year in Aurora, CO,  the killers used a semi-automatic weapon, variants of the AR-15. In Aurora, the killer used a Smith &Wesson M&P 15-22 model of this rifle, outfitted with a 100-round drum magazine. The American Rifleman magazine writes of this military-styled weapon this way: 

"It has many of the features of a tricked-out AR tactical rifle, but is light enough for easy all-day carry on small game hunts for squirrels, rabbits or prairie dogs. It's also really fun to shoot in informal training exercises in an attempt to get to know this tactical-looking .22 rifle.

"The M&P 15-22 pointed easily and with its 25-round magazine, chewed through ammunition. It was so easy to send multiple rounds downrange that one shot just never seemed enough."

In Memoriam of The Children and Educators of Newtown, CT

Charlotte Bacon, 6

Daniel Barden, 7

Olivia Engel, 6

Josephine Gay, 7

Ana Marquez-Greene, 6

Dylan Hockley, 6

Madeleine Hsu, 6

Catherine Hubbard, 6

Chase Kowalski, 7

Jesse Lewis, 6

James Mattioli, 6

Grace McDonnell, 7

Emilie Parker, 6

Jack Pinto, 6

Noah Pozner, 6

Caroline Previdi, 6

Jessica Rekos, 6

Avielle Richman, 6

Benjamin Wheeler, 6

Allison Wyatt, 6

Rachel Davino, 29

Teacher

Dawn Hochsprung, 47

School principal

Nancy Lanza, 52

Mother of gunman

Anne Marie Murphy, 52

Teacher

Lauren Rousseau, 30

Teacher

Mary Sherlach, 56

School psychologist

Victoria Soto, 27

Teacher

J-Rabbit's Jazzy Acoustic Christmas Music

Two Korean ladies, Jung Da Woon and Jung Hye Sun, take their acoustic music to the internet, under  the name J-Rabbit. You can keep your Gangham madness. They have their own YouTube channel and their own website loaded with music, both covers and originals. Above and below are some samples of their Christmas music, and their covers of jazz standards are mighty impressive too.

The Republican Delusions on Economic Policy

Surveys say:

"President Barack Obama won the public argument over taxes so decisively that almost half of Republicans now say he has an election mandate to raise rates on the rich.

"Majorities of about 2-to-1 also read the election results as an endorsement of Obama’s pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare benefits, according to a Bloomberg National Poll of 1,000 adults conducted Dec. 7-10." (via)

----

"A Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll released late on Wednesday, however, held the potential to shake up the stalemate. Three-quarters of those surveyed, including 61 percent of Republicans, said they would accept raising taxes on the wealthy to avoid the so-called cliff, as Democratic President Barack Obama is demanding.

With Republicans in Congress already divided, that rejection by their own supporters of the core demand of Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner could further weaken his position." (via)

----

Meanwhile, the Republican delusions are growing:

"Boehner said when he saw the election results in November, he conceded that he and the Republicans would have to be willing to allow some tax increases for wealthy Americans in conjunction with deep spending cuts on entitlement programs. But the president, he said, is being a bully on cliff negotiations. "I think when they won the election, they must have forgotten that Republicans continue to hold a majority in the House," he said. "The president's idea of a negotiation is 'roll over and do what I ask.'" (via)

---

"Which is to say, it’s a debate between the moderately delusional and the utterly, irreconcilably delusional." (via)                                   

The Rise of Donkey Milk

Things I learned from the Internet today: the most expensive cheese in the world is Donkey Cheese, made, of course, from the milk of a donkey..

The world's top-rated male tennis player, the Serbian-born Novak Djokovic, has apparently just  bought the world's supply of Donkey Cheese for a chain of restaurants he is opening. The year's supply is made on one farm in Zasavica, and costs anywhere from $500 to $2900 a pound.

Legends say that Cleopatra bathed in donkey milk, thinking is had youthful restorative properties, and aside from the donkey cheese, donkey soap is another much sought after product.

The One Place Where You Can Survive the End of the World on 12/21/12

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Grab your passport now and head to southern France to the small village of Bugarach.

The tiny village will survive the coming End o' The World, according to Doom Watchers, because an alleged "spaceship garage" located underneath Pic de Bugarach mountain will open up, an intergalactic craft will emerge and aliens will then take aboard anyone who wants to go with them to safety.

Bugarach has been swarmed with The Curious in recent months. It is a rather nice looking place and entrepreneurs have been selling rocks and bottled water from the town, rooms and campsites are available for rent, and the town's sign has been stolen a few times, apparently some think the aliens will need to utilize a city limits sign to coordinate the evacuation.

Meanwhile, at least one world leader is proclaiming that yes, the world is ending soon - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard - "Whether the final blow comes from flesh eating zombies, demonic hell beasts or from the total triumph of K-pop, if you know one thing about me it is this: I will always fight for you to the very end." 

It is somewhat endearing to hear the Australian twangy pronunciation of "flesh eating zombies".

The Vast Legacy of Dave Brubeck

"One of the reasons I believe in jazz is that the oneness of man can come through the rhythm of your heart. It’s the same anyplace in the world, that heartbeat. It’s the first thing you hear when you’re born — or before you’re born — and it’s the last thing you hear.” -- Dave Brubeck

A legendary musician and a master of jazz, Dave Brubeck died today at age 91, one day shy of his 92nd birthday. Much will be written about him, now and for many years to come, and I wanted to instead showcase some of his music. (The 2010 documentary "Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way" produced by Clint Eastwood provides a most comprehensive look at his life and career for those wishing to know more about him and his vast influence worldwide on jazz and music in general.)

His 1959 album "Time Out" stands as one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, and the tune "Take Five" is immensely well known, though the composition is credited to saxophone player Paul Desmond. I think the first track on the album, "Blue Rondo ala Turk", is much more emblematic of Dave's style. The album grew from the Quartet's experiences traveling in Eastern Europe and the Middle East as ambassadors touring on behalf of the US State Department - Brubeck was captivated by the musical time signatures of the music from other nations, Turkey in this instance.

Some in the music world thought Dave's piano style and the Quartet's music was too extreme, others thought it far too tame. Thankfully, Dave and his colleagues followed their own Muse. His 1957 album, "Dave Digs Disney", was way too hip and way too square all at the same time - but his improvisations on classic Disney tunes are excellent, and today jazz inspired by Disney music is a genre all its own.

The 1961 album, "Time Further Out" is my own personal favorite. And the tune "Bluette" is a knockout, blending jazz and blues and evokes strong and subtle emotions. Thanks, Dave, for such a vast legacy.

The Pope's First Tweet

Some choice quotes from an article in the UK's Telegraph about the Pope's decision to become a Tweeter (the Pope will start tweeting Dec. 12 according to the Vatican):

"Ian Maude, of Enders Analysis, says that “The Pope’s going to be enormous, but I’m not sure he’s quite going to get to Lady Gaga levels.” 

"Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, the president of the Vatican’s social communications office, has said the papal tweets aren’t to be considered infallible teachings. They’re just “pearls of wisdom” in the Pope’s own words, he said. 

"Back in his January proclamation, entitled 'Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age,' Pope Benedict said 'I would like to invite Christians, confidently and with an informed and responsible creativity, to join the network of relationships which the digital era has made possible.'” 

Folks can ask the Pope a question via his Twitter account by using the 'hashtag' @askpontifex ... and plenty of questions are already submitted, including:

"Who would win a fight between Jesus and Wolverine?”

Dangerous Interest at Boring 2012 Conference

The annual Boring conference was of little interest, but even that might negate it's purpose:

"I regretfully agreed that all this did sound extremely boring and proceeded to the large neo-Georgian auditorium, where an audience of about 500 mostly twenty- and thirty-somethings were listening with careful amusement as a dapper young man talked about toast. There was a large screen behind him on the stage, and he was clicking through a series of photographs of toast slices, ranging from the entirely burnt to the effectively untoasted, in order to demonstrate what he called “the confusing, non-regulated series of toaster settings on the market.”

Discovery of 6 Million Pounds of Explosives Force Evacuation

Epic incompetence and likely criminal activity could have wiped an entire town off the map.

The entire town of Doyline, Louisiana has been evacuated after the discovery of some 6 million pounds of explosives improperly stored, stacked and strewn around a massive storage facility. Oddly, back in October a massive explosion rocked the facility, but it was only last week that investigators went to the site in a "follow-up" and then realized that millions of pounds of M6 artillery powder were left outside or in roofless buildings.

At first, residents were told it would just be a short evacuation, but now that officials have been on the site of the explosives, residents are being told to stay away until ... whenever.

Some 27 tractor trailer loads have been removed and stored in safer and appropriate facilities, but more work, obviously, is needed.

Explo Systems, which runs the site, has been very quiet on the issue, and the owners are on their way back from South Korea.

Residents have to consider themselves lucky that the first explosion back in October was small and did not reduce the town to a hole in the ground. Why did it take more than 6 weeks after the explosion to notice millions more boxes and crates, especially since so much of it was just left outside of buildings?

You Can Help Finish the Documentary on The Farm Commune in Tennessee

Two filmmakers are hoping the last few days of fundraising via their Kickstarter page will bring success so their documentary on the largest commune ever in the U.S., known as The Farm and located in Summertown, Tennessee.

The film "American Commune" was made by two sisters who were born on The Farm, then their family relocated to California, and they decided to document their return to their origins:

"When we left The Farm as kids and moved to Los Angeles, we were catapulted into another world.  We had never smelled perfume, eaten meat, seen women with makeup or men without beards, and we’d hardly watched TV. We were taunted for being “hippie kids” and did everything we could to blend in.

"The impetus for making AMERICAN COMMUNE was born out of our simple desire to understand where we came from.  As luck would have it, working in the heart of commercialism in New York City compelled us back to our roots. Suddenly, we needed to learn about what our parents were doing in the backwoods of Tennessee and how they, along with hundreds of others, managed to create a massive alternative society out of no more than passion and an empty spot of land. As we interviewed The Farm’s founders, our parents, and our childhood friends, we developed a greater respect for how hard everyone worked to realize their dream."

Learn more about The Farm at their website:

"The 150 present-day residents of The Farm have not rested on their laurels, but continue to create and demonstrate low-consumption, high-fulfillment lifestyles within a caring, socially active community; to conceive, finance and launch daring business enterprises that revolutionize the fields they compete in; to reduce the burden of external government; to mitigate the negative environmental, health and economic impacts of unsustainable global patterns; to demonstrate and export a variety of integrated social development strategies which can encourage diverse cultures worldwide to bypass unhealthy transitions; and to become a living example of the healthy and fulfilling interdependence of human and natural communities."

Dozens of Bomb Threats Target Tennessee Counties

News reports in the last few hours from across the state say that at least 25 county courthouses across Tennessee received bomb threats via telephone calls this morning. So far, no injuries reported as each location evacuated and conducted searches. The calls included threats to Hamblen County and others in East TN, and also in Memphis too.

The Knox News Sentinel is tracking the story: "Dalya Qualls, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said this afternoon ... she has no details about the contents of the calls, and that the Department of Safety and Homeland Security is assisting various local agencies in the investigation."

Last week, a similar batch of threats was made against 28 counties in Oregon, and earlier this month, another round of calls were made in Washington state and Nebraska.

Camera Obscura: Infinite Vampire Twilight ShlockFest Extravaganza and Emporium

Worldwide vampire obsessiveness weekend is upon us - suitable fare for a Black Friday Shopping Weekend During The Economic Collapse.

The finale of the Twilight series movie "Breaking Dawn Part 2" has emerged as such an enormous cornucopia of Weird that I had to make a special post about it. (Truth be told, I did a search of my blog for use of the word vampire and it came in at more than 30 posts, which means vampires have easily been 10% of this blog's entire output, which include these two of my own personal faves, A) Hot Vampy Sex Talk from the first movie and B) the Sarah Palin-Twilight Convergence)

Understand too, I am a deep-dyed fan of Bad Movies and Cinema Shlock and have forced many a friend to endure Something Awful. Big Budget Awful really stinks up the place, though. I recently watched the movie "John Carter" and it is merely Done Badly, whereas say, "Anonymous" was Stunningly Awful and made me Pity The Actors, and answered the question "What happens when the folks who made the alien-invasion 'Independence Day' investigate the world of William Shakespeare?"

But vampires? Hell, even I have written and produced my own vampire play, but it's sheer genius compared to the bizarre path the bloodsucking genre has taken in movies and TV. Example - this year we've had Abe Lincoln hunting vamps, while on Hulu the Korean TV series "Vampire Prosecutor" is gaining fame and I'm still searching for a copy of the short film "Davy Crockett Battles Kung Fu Vampires".

The hilarity of reviews are MUST reading, no matter what you might think of the movies/books/adoration/obsession. Some samples:

The Confused Notes Of A Twilight Newbie Forced to Watch Breaking Dawn Part 2:

"Is his face always like that? It's like he washed it with a powdered doughnut.

"Eww, now I get imprinting. He made that vampire baby the love of his werewolf life. Or something. It's kinda gross — definitely weird. And even more disturbing that those teenage girls found it so funny.

"T-Laut nicknames Renesmee "Nessie." K-Stew angrily shouts, "You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster." Is the Loch Ness Monster real in this world or was K-Stew making a joke? If the latter, why would Nessie be a laughable idea, while talking wolves are serious business?

"Vampires seem to not be affected by the weather, so why do they wear jackets and turtlenecks?"

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 is Completely Insane and Actually Worth Watching. Seriously

The Final Twilight Movie Is Like A Porn Film With Action Figures:

"It turns out that many vampires have X-men-esque superpowers on top of their default vampire superpowers. We already knew Alice could see the future, and some of the Volturi could read minds and create mental anguish, but now we find out that there are airbender vampires and electricity-shooting vampires and omega mutant vampires who can go all Dark Phoenix on your ass.

"The point is, there is a fight scene. A long, improbable, laugh-out-loud at the abysmal special effects fight scene, in which we discover that you can kill a vampire exactly the same way you kill an action figure. Just pop off its head! Boink! It comes off with no blood! Just a kind of SNAP just like plastic. Even if you never go to the theater to see this movie, I urge you to rent it at some point just to fast-forward to the fight scene so that you can see the weirdest thing ever."

Occupy: Sparkle

"It began when I read the first two books on my honeymoon in December 2008. My new wife and I listened to Twilight and New Moon on a road trip. We saw the first movie when we returned home, and a few months later we were divorced. I'm not saying Twilight killed my marriage, per se. I am saying there is a strong correlation between consuming Twilight content and no longer being happily married."

 Even The Actors In Twilight Hate Twilight

I have to say that I'll likely see this "finale" one day, but try as this current generation might, all this Vampire MashUp has been around for a long time. Even the old Hammer Horror folks stirred it all up in the early 1970s with the movie "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" which marks the arrival of the trope All Vampires Know Karate Because Dracula Did. (See the trailer for the movie here which has some NSFW images)

Indie film director superstar Jim Jarmusch is at work on his take on vampires in a movie set for next year, "Only Lovers Left Alive", starring Tilda Swinton, so even though vamps are being squicked out of all decency the darned things JUST NEVER DIE.

That's quite charming.