Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

This one, of Paul Potts' first audition at Britain's Got Talent, brings me to tears every time I watch it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxOytYLlhiQ&feature=related

Craig...

Not sure what to say to your assessment of tonight's debate. I'm not a fan of HRC, and I didn't see her in the same light you did, but I'm willing to concede that it could be that I don't want to see her as the winner. She just doesn't ring true for me.

Ya nevah know when a new thread will start.

tt

Am I a heretic? I can't watch the debates....yet.

It's way too soon for moi.

I'm into trying to figure out world events that has muslim entangled in them, i.e. Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Kurds, PKK, etc., etc. I'm making some, not much, headway.

tt

This is interesting, http://www.linktv.org/

"Mosaic: World News From The Middle East - November 13, 2007"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hvJHWPyORrY

I have no idea how much is propaganda but then everything outta Washington is propaganda of the worst kind these days.

tt

I'm watching the long news report from Mosiac. I see that Palestinians are paid in USD's not New Shekles. Weird. Is that due to the very shrunken USD against any other currency?

tt

In my opinion, her "throwing mud" comment was just her way of throwing her own mud at Edwards, and I guess in that way she's good at manipulating the discussion to elicit crowd sympathy. I still so resent that she always gets the middle position on the stage which gives her a power edge. The only other comment I have is that her suit made her butt look really fat.

might it be the poll numbers which decide position on stage? It seems they must have some method to it....

This supply-side orthodoxy is striking in a couple of ways. First, it requires Republican politicians to commit themselves publicly to a position that is wrong—and wrong not as a matter of ideology or faith but as a matter of fact. Saying today that tax cuts will increase tax revenues is not like saying that bombing Iran constitutes a sensible foreign policy, or that education vouchers will wreck the public schools. It’s more like saying that the best way to treat sick people is to bleed them to let out the evil spirits. Second, despite the fact that the supply-side faith has no grounding in reality, within the Republican Party there is little room for dissent on the subject, as Jonathan Chait details in his new book, “The Big Con.” Last week, the blogger Megan McArdle wrote that she had a book review for an unnamed right-wing publication spiked because in it she dared suggest that, in the U.S., tax cuts decreased government revenues

--Surowiecki

Sid Ankles Pundit Gig for Hill Flack Pact

For the past five years, no one else has written about the current political dispensation with a brilliance more consistent, and a scorn more magnificent, than Sidney Blumenthal. Taken together, Blumenthal’s weekly columns—appearing on Salon.com and in the Guardian, the great British liberal daily—constitute an unparalleled running history of the ideological and moral squalor of the George W. Bush Administration. (A fine collection, with a long new introduction, was published last year; another will come out next April.)
.................
Next week’s Blumenthal blast, alas, will be the last for a while. He is joining the Hillary Clinton campaign, presumably as some sort of combination of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and James A. Farley. It had to happen eventually—he’s a Clinton man from way back, having served on the between-the-Bushes White House staff as a confidential counselor to both halves of the First Couple, an experience he chronicled at Tolstoyan length. Hillary's gain is literature's loss. But he'll be back—maybe in three months, maybe in a year, maybe in five years, maybe in nine.

--H. Hertzberg

Craig....
I do agree with your assessment of the debate.
But with this debate, I did something different. I removed myself emotionally from the personalities and actually listened to what each candidate was saying. I paid no attention to the stumbling or how forcefully they tried to project themselves.

And even though I agree that Clinton won the debate, the person I liked the best of the top 3 based on the substance of what they were saying was Obama.

Take just one subject..... social security. Obama did say he would raise the cap on what people pay from their earnings. Clinton said she would strengthen the economy..... huh?.... exactly what does that mean in regards to SS?
It just means that Clinton is too cautious to say she'd raise taxes (only on people making good money) because the Republicans will accuse her of being a tax and spend Democrat.

I want a candidate who isn't afraid to tell the truth. Clinton is not that candidate for me.

I do think Obama stumbled on style. And I think Edwards did himself no favors by sounding so shrill against Clinton. I thought the bottom tier did very well. Richardson would make an awesome president as well as Biden, IMO..... but both men have a prayers chance in hell. The first 10-12 minutes of that debate should have told that to everyone.

oh.... and the biggest loser of the night......
Wolfie ohi'msounabletohandlethis Blitzer....... all the candidate ran roughshod over him.... as well they should have....

beady eye must be retarded....he ends up Bryzinski Pere's excellent thumbnail sketch of the world situation by belittling Mika....what an infernal bozo.....

BTW..... I was just rummaging around at Daily Kos....

according to their poll..... Obama won the debate..... Clinton came in second, and Edwards came in third....

it's nice to know that other people listen to what's actually said too......

Colleen.....
I wonder how big Gore's butt would look in a pants suit....

I'm just saying.....

Just to get the debate out of the way, I scored it a win for Hil on points, then Edwards, Biden, Obama though I'm afraid Biden will get lost in the front runner horse race.

"Clinton said she would strengthen the economy..... huh?"

Renee, this is at the heart of the SS problem. Under President Clinton, headway was being made at eliminating the deficit if not the debt. This meant that less money had to be stolen from SS via trading paper for operating cash. That meant that the point where SS would run out of cash to pay retiring boomers was pushed farther off in the distance.

Because of Bush wallpapering every conceivable surface to pay for this war, the SS will go bust sooner, something the neocons have wanted for a long time.

Clinton simply means that until that budget is under control with good economic working conditions moving more funds into SS, she would have no way of knowing what needs to be done to save SS for future generations. One of the means to increase this flow of cash is removing the cap, but it has a set of problems re future payouts that have to be considered and whether SS becomes an entitlement welfare plan or remains a retirement fund, with immigration and population also being big factors.

This Ponzi scheme problem is a hard concept to convey to the public because a large percentage still think they have a wad of cash in a safe somewhere collecting interest for their retirement (ye olde lockbox) rather than in the hands of a drunk uncle taking fliers on a sure thing at the race track.

One of the problems with Hill is she thinks because she understands a lot of this stuff, everyone does at it makes her sould waffly.

and it makes her sound waffly

Mornin' all.

Jamie, I agree with you that Hillary won the debate, and that she does have a deeper understanding of the issues than can be expressed in a one minute soundbite. The SS dilemma is a perfect example of a complex problem that does not lend itself to asimple solution. Most of the pundits said that either Hillary or Obama won on substance and they almost all say she won the smackdown with Obama and Edwards. I won't go so far as to say she put the race away last night, but I will say se re-established herself as the favorite to take the nomination, and on substance, Obama looked pretty good. Edwards didn't do himself any favors last night. I think I've said this before, but unless he pulls off a convincining victory in Iowa, followed by a stron showing in NH, he's toast. (Sorry Brian,but that's the way I see this shaping up). My bet hasn't changed from a couple months ago - my money is on Hillary. Bidenand Richardson did both come off very well last night, just as they have in every other debate, and both should find a nice home in the Clinton cabinet if she can knock off Rudi after he wins the Repug nom. Remember, you heard it here first (well, maybe not first, but among the first).

As to the mudslinging charge,Richardson led it off by pointing out the counterproductive nature of it. Excuse me, but character my ass. Character is not distilling complex problems into one minute positions that a sixth grader can misunderstand. That's what people in my profession do, and it is one huge thing that is wrong with the legal system in our country. I don't want to see it in presidential candidates, but see way too much of it there.

Peter Fenn was on BillPRessthis morning and he made a goodpoint about Obama (he wasn't the first, but I can'tremember who else I heard say this) -that he has a terrific way in front of a crowd but hasn't found a way to express himself as effectively in the debate format.

All that said, and Wolf's failure to control the candidates notwithstanding, my hat is off to CNN. I felt like what we heard last night was a much better interaction between candidates than we've heard so far in any other "debate", in other words, it actually had a bit of debate to it.

Pogo,

It was a good debate and the on line chat at Brian's (thank you Brian) was pretty darn lively. The point about Obama not handling the debate format well was made several times. He just doesn't handle well having his ideas challenged. It flusters him on the come back and restatement part of a conversation.

I could have kissed Biden by the end of the evening, but as you say, he is more likely to end up head of the Senate or in Hillary's cabinet. She could still stumble but it was a good debate or as least as close to one as we are likely to get.

Re the breadth of Hillary's hips, they do need to put her into better fitting clothes. Having the bottom of a tapered jacket running across the widest portion is not a good idea (ditch the waist and lengthen)

Now just so us ladies can have as much fun criticising assets: Really tight pants for the guys. It's good to be issue oriented.

This shows simply that it is Hillary knows how to manipulate those attacking her better than those doing the attacking. She is/was the brain behind much of Bill Clinton engineered his comebacks/covered his failings. Anyone who thinks "she is just a woman" needs a lesson in history. Regarding her soc.sec comment, she is right on the money and still did not rule out raising taxes without bring that dreaded fix to the table up front. The way to strengthen soc.sec IS the economy and employment of soc.sec paying workers. The answer most liberals have right out of the box is "raise taxes". It must be remembered her staff is the most seasoned and the best in the business.They are the masters of spin! I am NOT a Hillary supporter although the preceeding may seem like it but I will say she has the rest of the Democratic field out-classed beyond belief.

RWD

Jamie....
thanks for the history lesson on the economy..... that's not what I was talking about..... I was talking about the debate....

like it or not..... debates don't give a candidate time to go into the complexities of issues..... one must bring their positions down to concise answers.....

IMO.... Obama was doing that..... Clinton was not....
I know what "strengthening the economy" means when I sit down and think about it......
but in a debate... it comes off as a slogan, not an answer....

Pogo.... I agree with you.... IMO, despite Blitzer's total ineptness... it was the best debate so far...

HRC won hands down. I am a centrist and still not sure which party I will support in the GE. However, HRC was the smartest, most prepared and most daunting on that stage once again. Quite obviously, the GOP is terrified of her and then covers up this fear by saying how much it relishes her high probability of getting the nomination. In reality, all the GOP candidates are attacking her as they all can see the writing on the wall. The GOP candidates are giving Senator Clinton a lot of free advertising and in their blindness, don't even see it.

It is time for the unbrandished hatred on both sides to end.

I will write this once again.

It is time for the unbrandished hatred on both sides to end.

The never ending hatred of George W. Bush, Jr., regardless of whether or not you support his policies, has ripped at the fabric of our society.

The even more insidious, well-orchestrated hatred of Senator Clinton brings this rip to an entirely new level. Only the Clintons will not take the sleaze lying down as Kerry did and the GOP knows this. And Newt Gingrich, who is not Clinton fan, feels exactly the same way.

Already in the blogosphere one is reading nicknames like "Hillary Beast" or "GRC 666". The fact that a questioner would even dare to ask John McCain about stopping "that bitch" without having been thrown out or having been rebuked by Senator McCain, who committed a major breach of protocol and decency in that moment, shows how terribly ordinary we have become.

Do we prefer to see fists fly and blood flow, or do we want a real exchange and hard debate of ideas?

Everyone in the world has the right to say "I don't agree with Hillary Clinton on health care". But it goes over the line when so much of the nation allows her to be called a bitch or a beast.

That being said, I do find one GOP candidate intriguing and I am growing to like him very much: Mike Huckabee.
Perhaps his faith in this way is something the whole process could use.

Think about it.

Facit: Hillary Clinton won and she needed to win. The meaner and nastier the other side gets, the greater it's chances of losing, and by a hefty margin. Hillary could well take 40 states in the GE in 2008. Mark my words.

Okay...I tivo'd the debate and will go back and try to watch - and listen! - dispassionately. But it bothers me more than a little that any of us feel compelled to try to define what Hillary or any other candidate meant by the things they said. THEY need to say what they mean, and WE need to respond accordingly.

What impressed me - the Democratic field has so much depth and is so much better than any of the goopers. Any Democrat on the stage would be better than any repupublican in fact, I would even put Gravel in the group.

As for Huckabee --a little liight on him will send him scurrying back to the shadows where he belong
he is not funny and not a nice person,.
http://bartblog.bartcop.com/2007/11/13/the-dark-side-of-mike-huckabee/

For those Imusphiles with the will and the means...

http://www.imusranchfoods.com/index4.aspx?id=18268&categoryid=91

HW & Renee,

The biggest problem with the debates is that they only have time in their answers for soundbites. That then opens them up to the "you said this before you said this and changed your mind about that". A totaly unfair charge in most cases.

I would rather see some two or three person round robins where they actually sat down with an interviewer and said what they believe about an issue with all the nuance. I think you would find that most of the Dems and a large chunk of the Reps would agree about a lot of things.

KGC...

I agree wholeheartedly with your first paragraph, and said the same thing several times last night while we were chatting at Brian's place. Wouldn't the group who graced that stage last night go a long way toward starting a new administration that could begin to lead us out of the dark places the current administration has taken us!?! Every one of them has MUCH to offer!

I agree with that, too, Jamie. Would love to see more in-depth conversations with all the candidates. That's why I resent that the electoral process affords that opportunity to only those who live in a few states, then forces the rest of us to rely on the MSM and paid commercials to help us make 'informed' choices.

Morning peeps,
Craig I agree Hillary did well, but I don't think that was the big story. For me the big story was how amazingly poorly Obama did. First of all he came off as if he had taken a double dose of Nyquil And I thought it was a major blunder when he said not showing up to vote on the Iran res. was one of the hazards of running for prez.

I thought the CNN personnel were terrible
the questions were silly and Blitzer looked like he was gunning for Clinton.

I just read over at Huffpo that drunk pundit Lou Doobs is thinking about running for president.
I for one hope he does. It would get him off the air

bonncaruso it's not our hatred of George Bush that is tearing at the fabric of society, it's George Bush's policies that are doing that.

"Quite obviously, the GOP is terrified of her and then covers up this fear by saying how much it relishes her high probability of getting the nomination."

Um...not so much. They assume - wrongly - that she's going to be the nominee and as Grover Norquist infamously said about what he wanted to do to government they want to "strangle it in the bathtub."

It's called a pre-emptive strike. They have already defined HillBilly's public image, despite her/his formidable MSM machine, and they're trying to cement that image before she even makes it out of the primaries. Plus she IS absolutely an extra $100 million for them in the general election.

Nominating HillBilly would guarantee a wipe-out in the general of McGovernesque proportions.

Need proof? Riddle me this, Batman: Name me a single red state she wins.

(crickets)

Name a state that is still red. She has all the states she needs to win Ohio and Pa are going blue and she will pick up states in the West --
calling her Hillbilly will just get her west virginia (no offense Pogo)

what blue state will the goopers gets? NONE
Romney's claim that he could carry Michigan and Ohio is absurd and Rudi couldn't carry NY if he put it in Judi's pursel

the goopers are fightin over 30% of the electorate and the Democrats are fighting over 70%

KC you forgot Florida. Riddle me this Eric, how does a dispirited party base bode for repug voter turnout?

I don't count Florida since the state is so corrupt. The Democrats do not need Florida to win

and for either being the most clueless or the biggest liars --cnn hostette heidi collins just tried to blame the inequities in debate speaking time on the candidates rather than the moderators....

can't wait to hear racist concern troll and drunk pundit Lou Dobbs on the issues --

kgc, no offense taken - I'm not a WV native. I'm more of a redneck (AL boy, ya know). :-)

Brian, thaks for setting bonncaruso straight on Bush hatred. Most people didn't start out hating bush - hell, although I thought he was an idiot, I didn't hate him. Until he reneged on every campaign promise he ever uttered and let Dick the Dark Lord set the administraton's agenda against Iraq, the American people and the Constitution, I thought he was likely to be a relatively harmless amiable dunce. As all that unfolded, all bets were off. Now I admit to hating the bastard for the damage he's done to the US through his mindless pursuit of a legacy. And he'll have one - but my bet is he won't like it.

The rap against Hillary is different - other than failling to get a misguided attempt at universal health care off the ground, the hatred against her, fueled largely by the fathead and squeaky on talk radio and Fox, began before she ever cast a single vote that affected the American people. Now there are legitimate reasons to disagree with her policy positions, largely on the war and support for measures that enable Bushco's war stance, which she may disagree with the characterization of by her opponents and their supporters, but she doesn't back away from. (And BTW, she's said she would not have voted for the Iraq res. if she knew then what she knows now - admission of gettingit wrong then? Yeah, I think so. Apology? Give me a break - that's just political BS). Does she triangulate her positions? Hell yes, she's trying to get elected. Do the others? Of both parties? Hell yes - call it what you want, but distilling a position masquerading as a simple solution to an unbelievably complicated problem into a soundbite that is palatable but completely unworkable is triangulation in my book.

I'm pretty sure HRC will win the Dem nomination now, and feel reasonably confident she can win the GE in Nov. We'll be starting a pool on this one before long. Jamie, you up for it?

after looking around at the blogs and listening to Ms Rehm's Friday morning round up..... what I find fascinating about the debate is how the talk is all about Clinton and Obama....
very little is being said about Edwards..... that doesn't bode well for him.....
I do think he'd make a good president also.....

actually, I agree with KGC.... all the Dem candidates look good to me compared to any and all of the Repub ones....

Check this out - Dems lead reps by 9 points and HRC leads RG 4 points (1 above the MoE) in the latest 2 FOX polls. (That's the all GOP all the time Fox, sports fans). And most of the other polls reflect similar margins.

http://pollingreport.com/wh08gen.htm

That said, a couple other polls show it to be a dead heat if those are the candidates.

HRC's lead among the dems continues to stay at about 20 points, and the repug poll results are a mess - with Rudi holding a 4 or more point lead in most, regardless of who is on second.

Jamie said, 9:23 AM "The point about Obama not handling the debate format well was made several times. He just doesn't handle well having his ideas challenged. It flusters him on the come back and restatement part of a conversation."

Now that doesn't sound good for a Prez. Oh wait, we have that now.

tt

Renee,

Chuck Todd said last night that he thought Edwards might as well have stayed home and made him to be the loser in the debate, as did most of the CNN pundit types, including Carville and Gergen. I don't think he's out quite yet, but his eyes are beginning to look glassy.

tt,

right you are, and do we want that again?

Exactly not, pogo.

tt

tt....
I agree that Obama doesn't handle rebuttal very well....

but to compare him to W is laughable....
I think it's due to the constraints of the debate format....
and not because he's a spoiled rich brat who's had his ass pulled out of the fire by daddy over and over again....

BTW....I'm still voting for Richardson in the NH primary.....

and I agree with pogo...... Clinton has proven (at least to me) that she would be the best candidate to stand up the RWNM in the general election....

heheheheheheheheheh

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/_romney_wont_go_to_big_iowa_fox_news_debate_disappointing_local_gop.php

now even Mitt won't play ball with Fos - think it's because they've spent so much time sniffing Rudi's tail?

I'd like to associate myself with Pogo's remarks.

tt, renee may be right - perhaps we're being too hard on Obama. Of course David Gregory has been known to be willing to challenge POTUS in those pressers, and you can bet that the fathead from Fox would love to try and make a dem POTUS look bad - if he's bright enough to come up with a question that would do that. So far, from what I've seen, he just looks plump and dumb.

Well folks, have to run to lunch - going home to pack for Acapulco - looking forward to 90 degrees, sunshine and almost no coverage of the election for a week. I may check in later today for a while if I get done early enough, but if not, see you after the holiday, and everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

pogo, any of y'all could be right. I find y'alls comments very interesting since I have no mind of my own. As Dr. Phil would say, "I don't have a dog in this fight"....yet.

So Mitt won't play ball. He's taken his toys & gone home?

tt

pogo....
that's why I think Obama isn't ready for prime time yet.....

but he is #2 in the polls for the Democrats.....
I know several people who are avidly supporting him because they sincerely want to see change..... and I don't think they are dumb....

Happy Thanksgiving to you and have a great vacation!

it's spitting snow here....... I LOVE snow.... :)

tt, one thing you don't have is no mind of your own - now not having a dog in the hunt yet, I'll buy that.

Renee, we had our first snow sticking to the cars and roofs last night - I'm looking forward to getting on the boards again, and on the way to school this morning little Pogo was planning his birthday party - ski weekend with a half dozen of his buddies who ski.

OK, really, off to lunch.

Good Morning All,

My take on the debate is as follows:

CSI was a great episode. Thankfully Jorja Fox left for good. God I hate the way she lazily speaks.

ER officially needs to be done. Way too much recycling of scripts to be a watchable show.

As for HRC, at what point will her hair style be something other than a femullet?

Could someone please get Senators Boxer and Hutchinson to kidnap her and at least get her a hair makeover? I mean wtf...

I'm more than willing to keep the stats if we can decide on format. How about doing one for Super Tuesday. We could make the bets as who will come in first, second, and third and total number of electoral votes won by the first place finisher within 10 votes.

Any other ideas?

Brian,

I would take your Bush comment one step further.

I agree with you that it's a hatred of his policies that has helped tear us apart.

What has done worse damage though is the lack of respect for Pres. Bush, both here and especially abroad that are more significant. I carry a grudge far longer than the average person but I can't muster the passion to hate the current President. I just await the news stories that will let us know that he is autistic or something and then I will continue to leave him in my rear view mirror...

Kay Bailey Hutchison for a hair makeover??? she is still wearing the same style she had in high school and has modeled her personal style on a 1950's stewardess.

KC she's the Ann Miller of the Senate!

KGC,

I agree but at least she doesn't wear the Carol Brady mullet.

Bear you took my comment one step back, not one step forward.

Poor Hillary and the hair thing. At least she has hair and given what it looks like --probably cuts it herself.

not the first go round for the hair issue
http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/03-96/03-02-96/1hair.htm

HRC 's "...cuz I'm ahead" remark threw me...I thought she said,and if you listen carefully to her speech cadence , you might agree..."cuz I'm a HEAD". As if to suggest she's the one with the brain. Well...call me goofy, LOL!

Al Gore in a pants suit...what? playing pool with Bill Richardson similarly clad? What an image!
I thought Hillary was dressed OK except the jacket coud have been a bit longer, for previously posted reasons.
But her makeup was stunningly done, apparently, by Rico , the restorer-artist at Fisher's Funeral Home on Six Feet Under, the HBO classic.

Ok, goofy. That IS the way she phrased it. Bear, Femullet? LOL. I guess I have a lower threshold for acceptable female hair than some of you (bear). Female? Check. Has hair? Check. Now abou tthose hips... Someone needs to put in a call to Fashion 911 - then to the Nutrasystem help line.

Bear..... Dex.....

ROTFLMAO!!!

POGO: I favor baggy sweatsuits and way-oversized fancy sweatshirts with hole-in-knee jeans, and cheap sneakers. I do however, wear my baseball caps bill-front.
Point is, I realize I can't be taken seriously as a female fashion critic...you, however, seem to have a certain flair for the job!
femullet...classic!

Hi-rebel ren! Nice to see you here. Ain't these debates fun? !
Got snow up there yet? Here in Ohio it was finally gloves-on time yesterday for the first time...no snow, but the leaves FINALLY are coming off the trees. Last week my maples were still sorta brownish-green. Then , almost overnight, they turned a beautiful color, then the next day the wind blew them off the trees! Strange as anything!

I take no credit - I was just referencing prior comments by those with more insight into fashion than I. Given my druthers, it's jeans and sweatshirt, old boat shoes and yes, cap with bill forward- must be the age, Dex.

Forget hair, hips, and pant suits, if Hillary wins the general election, it will be because she's savvy. It probably did not cost Barack one primary vote to give his honest answer on raising the lid on income subject to social security taxes, but Hillary knows that honesty like that will not be rewarded in the general election. Americans will forgive a President for raising taxes when necessary, but not for promising anything that could be called a tax increase before he, or she, is elected.

Given the choice, our electorate will take smoke and mirrors over fiscal responsibility and honesty when choosing our President.

Watch for the Republican candidate's updated fiscal slogan in '08, "Read My Blog, No New Taxes."

I wish I could be more original, but I had a turkey sandwich for lunch, and I'm fighting to stay awake.

advice for freelance artists, illustrators:

http://www.yaytime.com/guide_freelance.html

http://drawn.ca/
Have you ever wondered what the great Russian novel, Crime and Punishment, would be like if the protagonist were Batman instead of that whining fool, Raskolnikov?

Anyone want to start up a gambling pool as to how long it will be before Monica Lewinsky makes and appearance in the Republican smear machines attacks on Hillary...

I only thought of that because someone used HRC and head in the same sentence and as Brian will tell you, I am the engineer of the gutter thought train so...

Bear leave me out of whatever you are talking about. Really!

My point exactly...the NYC elitism shines through...at least you can go to bed knowing you will have AROD for next 10 years.

clever animation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APEIUMKCWzc

Elite NY Liberal, that's me, a badge I wear with great pride!

Bear,

Glad to see you back on solid ground, even if it is in the gutter. I was worried about you being hung up on Hillary's femullet, and turning Dex and Pogo into fashion police.

Poor Hillary. With you guys, the girl can't catch a break.

Brain,

You are a computer savvy guy, do you have much experience with Apples these days?

Macs are not my area of expertise, I'm a windows guy.

Same here...I know someone unloading a Mac Laptop and I'm tempted to use it since its pretty new.

I just wonder if there is a way to get it to run my windows based mortgage software....hmm

how are you finding vista?

I'm fine with vista

I was shocked at the low price of a dvr and the dvd rw s.
I found a Magnavox for $49 and 15 dvr rw s for 14 bucks.
I can't stand these vcr s anymore...this last one barely lasted a year. My first one lasted 15 years and these today seem to be just junk. So goodbye vcr recording forever. I am always behind in updating...I never had a vcr until 1986 nor a computer until 2000...and my first cell phone wasn't purchased until 1995. And I never had a mullett, ever! A person can really save on barber bills , too, with a can of Barbasol and a good razor!
Also, politics are on hold from now until at least Sunday morning as this part of the state is absolutely nutso . Tomorrow at noon Michigan Wolverines play Ohio State Buckaroos at noon. No national championship at stake, but t trip to the Rose Bowl is up for grabs. We're a lot closer to Ann Arbor than C-Bus, and half this town is for the Wolverines and half for the Buckeyes. I have giant banners and flags to fly tomorrow...if I put them out now they would be desecrated by the Buckeye crazies here tonight. I am a true blue Wolverine fan, even though all my money went to Columbus , to get my daughter through OSU.

Brian is fine with Vista. I on the other hand will give you a list of undertakers to reserve a nice shady place since you will need one when you commit suicide.

While I have not weighed in on last night's "debate" (it was a snoozer other than Biden), I cannot hold back commenting that Brian is fine with Vista. Brian, change the bong water. Vista stinks.

My bong water is fine, but thanks for the suggestion.

Dexter,

I must admit that as a kid I started like OSU because I loved the uniform colors, especially compared to Michigan.

I stopped liking OSU when I realized that George Steinbrenner is an alumnus of that school.

Even though I hate the Yankees, I really like Jeter...(sorry Nomar) and of course Football Jesus went to Michigan as well so I am officially neutral on the game. I will say that one of the things I must do before I die is to see OSU v Mich at both the big house and the horseshoe.

I got free tickets to the TCU v UNLV game this saturday...whoopee!

Brian, you must have one kick ass system to have no complaints about vista...did you buy it or build it yourself?

I only use machines that I build except for laptops

Nice,

I have been wanting to build a desktop for a while. I notice that computer shopper has a new build every couple of months to use. I have been afraid the process for fear of doing irreparable damage to a component.

How long does it take for you to build a machine?

Brian,
"I only use machines that I build except for laptops"

I'm curious about this since the price of a factory built generic machine with Windows is close to the price of Windows itself.

The machines I build myself are for the most part cobbled together from stuff in the junk pile (other than the motherboard) and I use FreeBSD as the OS.

Well dnd it's not about money, and my machines are in a near constant state of being upgraded. I usually pass off my no longer needed hardware to clients which helps offset the cost. And of course all my hardware purchases are deductable! I'll probably do a major overhaul next year since my mobo is now over three years old. I'll probably end up spending around grand when I replace the board.

6000 heads: 60 art students complete 100 drawings each of the human head:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r-shadbolt/sets/72157602303976579/show/

dnd.... sweetie....

you can regale us with all that googly techno gook talk but you won't tell us what you thought of the debate.....

coward...... :)

I'm in geek mode and would much rather hear his thoughts on hardware...lol

You like Intel or AMD for processors Brian?

Renee.. Sweetie,
Ok, here's what I thought of the debate:
1. As moderator, Blitzer should have told the audience to pipe down. Cheering and booing have no place in a debate.
1.a. As moderator Blitzer should shut up and give each candidate the same question and the same time to answer.
2. I thought Edwards stumbled. I was disappointed.
3. I thought Obama did ok, but he too stumbled.
4. I thought Hillary was well prepared, as usual, but didn't answer the questions. And was very triangulating.
5. I thought Richardson was stiff, as usual but answered the questions, and gave great answers.
6. I though Biden won. Great answers, very comfortable on the stage and great sense of humor.

And finally, these thing aren't really aren't debates. Mostly sound bites and little substance. That's not the candidate's fault, it's the forum.

Now back to geek talk...

dnd...
thanks..... see... that wasn't so hard....
great analysis, IMO.....

Bear.... I don't understand all the techno talk..... but I do know that my husband prefers AMD.....

Bear,
I know you asked Brian, but I'll butt in here in the Intel vs. AMD processor question: depends. Depends a whole lot on what you're doing and the class of machine you're building. Likewise, the pacing factor may not be the processor at all, but the memory, bus speed or I/O.

Tweety is really irritating me this afternoon, even moreso than usual.

Analyzing Hillary's body language? The look on her face as she listens to other candidates? She's "judgemental" because she's shorter and has to "look up at them" ?

And then everyone pooh-poohs the suggestion that all them menz iz ganging up on her cuz she's a girl?

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, YOU ASSHOLE???

*end rant, sorry, and here's a fiver for the swear jar*

I only use intel mobos, so therefore only intel processors.

bear,
AMD is a good processor. takes about an hour to an hour and a half to put everything in the case and get the wiring straight. Most of the new motherboards will recognize the processor so it really is load and go.

loading XP or Win2000 takes about 2 hrs
then loading all of you software can take a while. It ain't rocket math.

yo soy Horsedooty!

buy as much ram as you can afford it will help your machine run faster.

yo soy Horsedooty!

I only use intel processors and mobos

Tweety also told us the reason John Stewart doesn't like him is because he is taller.

Craig- what was the comment you were going to make at the end?

Perhaps Tweety has a "reverse Napoleon complex". Or maybe he's just a tall dipshit.

Julia.....
a reverse Napoleon complex.......

that is toooooooooo funny!

I wasn't going to watch Tweety tonight.... but now I've changed my mind..... will make sure to catch him at the 7pm rerun.......

ha, kathy, thanks for the chance to finish -- was just going to point out how similar i see edwards' situation and tactics in iowa to gephardt in 2004 -- went hard negative against dean toward the end and definitely hurt dean but took himself out, benefitting kerry (could see that same dynamic play out again with edwards as gephardt, obama as kerry and clinton as dean). in fact i always thought gephardt and kerry had a murder-suicide pact -- whichever one in third at the end would take dean and themselves out -- that's about the only way i see HRC getting beat

Mr bush and Mr blair sing "Endless Love"

http://firedoglake.com/

T. Boone Pickens offers a million dollars to anyone who can prove one false thing in the Swift Boat Ads.......John Kerry takes him up on it......

http://blogs.trb.com/news/politics/blog/2007/11/john_kerry_calls_rich_oil_mans.html

tweety channeling Bill O is discussing the candidate's body language.

he would be a perfect psych case study.

This is not a prediction that she'll win, but Hillary could be President for 8 years, and still wouldn't have played the "gender card" as often as Chris Matthews has played the "stupid card" since Hillary announced her candidacy.

Craig you're right Hillary's knockout was a technical one, but not inspiring any passion!

sturgee posted about the right wing oilman's challenge to Swift boating disbelievers.
Perhaps you were suckered into the lies.
Here's a movie to get the truth.
Going Upriver - The Long War of John Kerry (2004)
Starring: David Alston, Chris Gregory (III) Director: George Butler (II) Rating PG-13

You can get it from Amazon, cheap, too.

I would like to response to some comments regarding Hillary Clinton's Social Security answers, because she's making a point over and over that no one seems to hear. (I don't mean that as criticism of the "hearer" -- she obviously needs to do a better job communicating.)

FIRST, she believes it's GOP propaganda to say that SS is in crisis. She does NOT think SS is in crisis. If you think it is in crisis, she's not your candidate.

If you're still with me, her point about "the budget first" is that Bush broke the "lockbox" and now we are paying interest on the money we are borrowing to pay for Iraq. If we can get back to proven Democratic fiscal responsibility, we gain about a decade beyond where we stand with Bush and incompetent fiscal IRresponsibilty.

With THAT time added -- another decade -- she believes every answer is fixing SS is already on the table. She will instruct a trusted bi-partisan group of leaders to develop a set of policies that work together -- not just a temporary band-aid here and there. And she will back their recommendations.

I don't say that anyone has to agree with her. I simply say that is her consistent and direct answer.
I know it's not "yes" or "no" but she really is more complex. In fact, I believe ALL the Democratic candidates are more complex than these forums allow.

My comment on this debate:
I support Clinton for the primaries.but will support any Democratic in the general.
Having said that, John Edwards is just starting to look pathetic as far as I'm concerned.

HOUSEKEEPING: Hey all, we've created a Blogroll on the sidebar and so i am ready to rebuild links to your blogs. But I no longer have the old list. Please email the urls for your blogs to be included (RAN: I don't have the url for the maps to stars, can you please send)

send your blog urls for our Blogroll to mail@crawfordslist.com

but really Jan how do you feel? LOL

hello...lo...lo

is there anybody in there?

Ran,

I'm in the neighborhood, but don't have much to say.

Ok here's a topic, was everyone else as disappointed in Dennis' remark last night about not being willing to support whoever the nominee is as I was? visions of Ralph Nader danced through my head when he made that statement.

Yes, Dennis is quite disappointing these days. Some of his constituents that I know are pushing another candidate who will challenge him in a primary.

Here is another thing that I thought was interesting. At last Saturday's JJ Dinner, the people who were passing out the "Where's Dennis" fliers were also outside the auditorium marching around with Ron Paul signs.

Brian,

Dennis's remark didn't hit me that way. I don't think he's built up the following that Nader and his Raiders had back in 2000. I think we'd be more apt to see a third party arise from the other side.

Bloomberg hasn't made any major pronouncements lately has he?

Ed I didn't mean to imply that Dennis could have the same effect that Ralph did, nor do I for a minute think he would launch a third party race, but I found the attitude very similar.

No, but Lou Dobbs is alluding to a possible run. However, once he sobers up he may change his mind =:0

Until you asked the question, I had forgotten that there was anyone who didn't agree to endorse the party's nominee.

Oh let lou run, he'll attract all the christofascist nut jobs to his side!

Tweety is on at the same time as Homer Simpson where I live. So , I watch Homer Simpson instead. Besides . Homer is smarter than Tweety.

Have a good night all.

drat have to remember to sign in every time.

did everybody get their same name? or rather does anyone need their name on the map changed to show their name here?

I hope I just smoked my last cigarette

KGC said, "Poor Hillary and the hair thing. At least she has hair and given what it looks like --probably cuts it herself."

Oh, KGC, meow? It's what's under duh hair that counts.

I used to be an elite NY liberal like Brian. Now I'm a disenfranchaised, raving blue Tejas liberal. Probably = the same thing.

I saw parts of last night's debate on all the post mortems. today. Interesting how the candidates are lined up for those things.

tt

ran just check "remember personal info" and you won't have to sign in every time

map the candidates with Slate Mag:

http://www.slate.com/features/mapthecandidates/

"The answer most liberals have right out of the box is "raise taxes"."

Typical right wing nut stuff.....I can only hope your bridge is te one that needs repairs, idiot.

DEX!!!!! PLEASE tell me you didn't type this!

" But her makeup was stunningly done, apparently, by Rico , the restorer-artist at Fisher's Funeral Home on Six Feet Under, the HBO classic."

got your computer woes fixed patsi?

Hi Brian....nope, I still have the old 9.2 MAC,,,Jeez...this damned computer cost me four grand before it was over...even though i was about ten years ago....I can't afford a new one. But somehow I was able to find Craig's new place!

One thing I wanted to gripe about is CNN....tonight I heard some asshat talk about Edwards' haircut again and was reminded that it was CNN who dropped the crowd sounds behind the so-called Dean Scream.....ANYONE trying to talk above a crowd would have to scream....and even when CNN realized that was what happened, the network shrugged it off...they were trying to make news....

I had a vision of a paradiggum.....and before i knew it i was awash in latter day Norgum of the banterslides.......

Patsi.... glad you made it here.....

Zoey.... glad to see you're sticking around

Craig.... good analysis about Gephardt/Kerry..... but of course the difference is that Dean was outside the Democratic Machine and Hillary IS the Democratic Machine....

I'm really glad to see Dr. Dean is still around and fighting the good fight.....

finally.... Harry Reid is showing a backbone.....

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/21044-1.html

I love it that even though they are on vacation, they are leaving Congress "technically" open so that King George can't make any recess appointments.

morning peeps

Renee,
Thanks for the link to Reid. No more recess appointments!

Patsi,
If you're not wedded to a Mac, you can get a decent windows machine for < $350 (without monitor).

Patsi,
Let me try that again (I forgot Typekey interprets angle brackets as HTML)

You can get a Dell Insperion with Windows for around $350, minus the monitor. You can probably do better if you keep a lookout for sales, and I'm guessing there will be a lot of sales between now and Christmas.

Renee: great post about Reid keeping Senate in session. They have got to remember they are not dealing wtih an adult. They're stuck playing chicken with someone who would rather wreck the cars than veer off course.

Looks like Romney is trying for the sympathy vote and to innoculate himself against people who think the mormons are nothing but scientologists.

here is my romney link
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/push_poll_weirdness.php

Hi Dog!

Hi KGC and all. It's still beautiful in Northern VA; yesterday the trees were in full crimson and scarlet. Looked like an English countryside landscape. Um, with telephone lines, big box stores and SUVs.

But still extraordinarily pretty.

In case you haven't seen the new Hillary video "Caucusing is easy," here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLxtP2UhSLY

It is definitely an over simplification of the process but a funny video none-the-less. I love Bill and the cheeseburger, as well as my former Gov. and his wife trying to dance. He is a stitch anyway. A dry wit that most people don't get.

It's not political at all, but ladies if you aren't doing anything with your Friday night, watch "Moonlight"
Alex O'Loughlin who plays the vampire adds to new meaning to the word smoldering.

Forgot the link
http://www.tv.com/alex-oloughlin/person/478444/summary.html

Jamie, Love those Aussies and there is something about neck biting.....oh well, never mind I better go do something else.

For a break from national politics, here's an interesting story about an "adverse possession" case happening up in Boulder, about 20 mi. northwest of Denver.

http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/nov/17/stevens-loser-disgruntled/#comments
http://www.landgrabber.org/

What makes this interesting is that the plaintiffs are lawyers, one is a retired judge, and are well connected dems in Boulder County. For those unfamiliar with the region, Boulder is a very liberal community. And the prevailing public opinion is against the plaintiffs.

Jamie...

I LOVE Moonlight! Alex O'Loughlin makes being 'turned' look tempting, indeed! Haven't missed an episode yet....

Friday night has become one of the best tv nights of the week...Men in Trees, followed by Friday Night Lights (while Moonlight is being tivo'd for later viewing). Haven't gotten interested in Womens Murder Club.

dnd -- The Dell idea is good...I may try that. I'd want to keep my Mac and the laptop but use the Dell for most internet stuff.

I do Men In Trees, Moonlight, and Numbers. One of the few totally good TV nights.

Saturday is pretty dead except for BBC's Torchwood.

Yep...Saturday's a bad tv day...and night. If nothing else is going on, it's movie rental day at our home.

Oh, no...just read that Oregon's Dennis Dixon (quarterback, for those who aren't familiar with him) tore his ACL, is out for the season, and - sadly - will be out of the running for the Heisman as a result. Gotta' be a tough loss for him, and for his team....

Saturday's a bad tv day??? Um...college football is on all day long! Best TV day of the week!

Umm, like, yeah.

CNN and the Questionable Question
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/?hp

Sorry, Corey...forgot about you folks who love college football. I'm no longer so much of a fan, except for local teams and the old alma mater....

Thanks for posting that link, Colleen. The 'diamonds or pearls' question really offended me, so I'm glad to know the young lady who asked it isn't the airhead CNN made her appear to be.

do they have a hole in the ground to stash pearls to keep the value up like diamonds?

I guess so, sturg...it's called the ocean...or the sound...or the....

th e bay?

patsi: The first thing I noticed was the pasty-pancake makeup on HRC's face, then the bright thickly applied lipstick.
It did indeed remind me of a Rico restoration of a corpse on Six Feet Under.
Blame it on the lighting, or a hurry-up makeup job from a frenzied cosmetologist.

...absolutely...the bay, too...

DeBeers...de beer is to diamonds as de_____ is to pearls?

This is interesting:

http://www.thevoter.org/parties.php

Do states that have a caucus also hold a primary?

http://www.thevoter.org/glossary.php?letter=c

tt

wine?

champagne?

tt

Harborwoman, I was glad, too, it wasn't that young lady's stupid question, so the onus falls squarely on CNN.

Dexter, gee, and I was thinking her makeup actually looked a little better than usual because the wrinkles around HRC's eyes weren't so prominent, although I must admit, in was a little not human.

I thought pearls came from oysters.

how about...de beer is to diamonds as de swine is to pearls.

lol

Love it, Colleen! De swine it is!

Colleen...

It sounded as though the young lady was rather offended (and probably a bit intimidated by all those teevee types), also, and that she's a very bright and accomplished young woman. Tough position to be put in....

here's another story with a little more detail on the pearls question

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/cnn_denies_diamonds_and_pearl_girl_was_forced_to_ask_question.php

Any of you guys buying diamonds should really know that they are a fairly common gem and only the Debeers cartel keeps the price up. Of course the "fancies" such as the recent red and yello ones that sold for millions are an exception.

Anyway, nag at the jeweler for perfect cut and clarity to make them somewhat close to the value.

If you want a rarity at about three times the price, give her rubies.

" see that Palestinians are paid in USD's not New Shekles" It may have something to do with the fact that "petro dollars" are based on the U.S. currency. With the dollar taking a nose dive, some of our Arabic friends aren't wild about the inflation in their home countries.

Sturgeone,

"real" pearls as opposed to "cultured" pearls are certainly valuable. Even the cultured depend on the cooperation of a friendly oyster, so I don't know how much effect pollution might be having on them. There is only one pearl I want and Liz Taylor owns it.

http://www.gia.edu/images/image_library/LD_15352.jpg

Evening peeps. Are you all talking about that twit who asked that stupid question about pearls versus diamonds?

we are, Brian, but we realize CNN is the actual twit

thanks to Fox News, we now know who is responsible for high oil prices

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/059100.php

damn you Nancy Pelosi

What did CNN pay her to ask a stupid question? I

Brian: apparently CNN told her she wouldn't be on the teevee if she asked her real question, so she had a choice, be on the teevee and look like a tool or retain your integrity..I mean what would you do?

retained my integrity of course! I'm not that desperate to look stupid on TV, that's what I come here for! LOL

And while you're nagging at your jeweler over clarity and cut make sure the stones are "blood free".

Everybody laugh and point at Brian

Ok I just read the post on the Times regarding the girls question. CNN was not the culprit, they asked her to pick another question, they didn't force her to ask a stupid question.

of course they didn't force her, she sold her soul to be on teevee. now she wants us to feel as though she has been victimized

Exactly ran. Blame it on the media! "I'm not an air head, they just made me look like one".

Ahem, tanzanite is the new diamond.

tt