Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

woo-ho-ho-ho

Co-sponsor? I wonder how much he invested himself of that. I remember during the campaign it being said he'd edge in and show up at the end for photos etc. I"m sorry I can't recall what Sen. did say that

Anyways, what I'm really getting at is the only thing he ever really championed was a new job.

I am becoming more and more disappointed in our President. He's having a selective memory when it comes to his campaign promises.

Dexter you're right about Imus- he was clowning around so much that Craig's time was shortened- but Craig still had the time to get him with his "I tell my Dem. friends ...." comment. Ya done good Craig. Fox has done a good job pairing Imus with the two financial reporters. They don't act as if they have something up their arse like foolish Constance or whatever her name was on MSNBC. That was torturous.

Barack - CHANGE you can count on !!

Paul Newman:

Newman served in the United States Navy in World War II in the Pacific theater.] Newman enrolled in the Navy V-12 program at Ohio University, hoping to be accepted for pilot training, but was dropped when it was discovered he was color blind. He was sent instead to boot camp and then received further training as a radioman and gunner. Qualifying as a rear-seat radioman and gunner in torpedo bombers, in 1944, Aviation Radioman Third Class Newman was sent to Barber's Point, Hawaii. He was subsequently assigned to Pacific-based replacement torpedo squadrons (VT-98, VT-99, and VT-100). These torpedo squadrons were responsible primarily for training replacement pilots and combat air crewmen, placing particular importance on carrier landings.

He later flew from aircraft carriers as a turret gunner in an Avenger torpedo bomber. As a radioman-gunner, he served aboard the USS Bunker Hill during the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945. He was ordered to the ship with a draft of replacements shortly before the Okinawa campaign, but by a fluke of war, was held back because his pilot had an ear infection. The rest of his detail died.

After the war, he completed his degree at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, graduating in 1949. Newman later studied Drama at Yale University, graduating in 1954, and later studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors' Studio in New York City.

Oscar Levant wrote that Newman initially was hesitant to leave New York for Hollywood: "Too close to the cake," he reported him saying, "Also, no place to study."

as for obama.........maybe he's a late closer.........

".........say that we were all to accept and know that every thing al gore and Cbob are talking about in re. global warming is just plain fact.......what then? If al gore could have his way.......what would he have everyone do?"

sturge, don't know about bob and al but the deny-ers seem to be gleefully pushing us to a closer, quicker and more painful lemming cliff. from which we'll jump whistling and singing "don't worry, be happy"

".........maybe he's a late closer........."

sturge, or a great poser

urbandictionary:

A poser is someone who tries to fit into a profile they aren't. People who try to give off the impression that they are one thing when they are really another.
Also, a poser can be one who says they can do something that they can't.
Or more commonly, a poser is someone who, when doing something successfully, takes more than enough credit for it.

mad norwegians

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/10/obama-norwegians-nobel-snub-harald

i just remember old Ali getting the crap beat out of him all around the ring for 7-8-9 rounds or so and then coming out and unleashing a barrage of boxing technology on his weary opponents........

so i hope for the best in the O respect......

Sturg, Kenyon was my first Alma. I was under the impression that he dropped out and then completed his degree elsewhere. Despite that, he was her favorite son in life and death.

XR, good work of yours here:
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/new-public-option-more-medicar.html#comment-273642

What's the cake?

it's hard to come up with many politicians who are not posers.....there are some, but few compared to their herd.......

late closer
or a poser
or a midnight hoser
plays his music in the suuuuuuuun

"...drugs from Canada? ...worries about safety." -CC

Are Canadians dropping dead in scores from "unsafe" pharmaceuticals, or are these "safety concerns" really just a bunch of hooey?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think this health-care over-haul will end up being a giant scam?

Ya think Teddy is smiling or spinning right now?

Just a few rhetorical questions to start your day.

Sturg, some really nice stuff about Newman here:
http://www.kenyon.edu/x42571.xml

teddy who?

"i just remember Ali getting the crap beat out of him... and then coming out and unleashing a barrage..." -sturgeone

Yeah, but Obama can't add or subtract anything to the legislation "in the final round", he can only sign it or not, and I'm guessing he'll sign whatever crap he's handed.

...Pendergrast.

Imus is quoting Criag!!!!!

He was speaking with Chris Wallace and something to the effect - "Craig Crawford was on yesterday and he's kind of a liberal guy and even he says don't dismiss her." I knew you got him with that one Craig. Like I said before Craig almost always comes up with something and you just about see the gears turning in Imus' head.

her- (Palin)

so i hope for the best in the O respect......

Posted by: sturgeone Author Profile Page | December 10, 2009 7:25 AM

which is not to say that i dont hope his constituents give him hell and hold his feets to the fire...........

Craig...
it's the Christmas season.... and Obama is just taking advantage of all the "presents" that go with this time of year....

sturg.... don't know why you posted about Paul Newman.... and I don't care....
just thanks for posting it. I LOVE Paul Newman. Not only was he the handsomest man to ever live, IMO.... I loved that he and his wife were such active humanitarians. I've been buying his company's products for years.

I prefer poseur and poseuse. But, then, I'm a poser.

flate.....yeah, liked old paul since that time he's cornered on this bridge after being chased by the villains and he says something like: "Just because I didnt eat your damned canape's?"

I thought he was really smooth in Exodus.

rebren.......i was looking for a westerner movie newman was in (not Hud) but couldnt find it......was written by elmore leonard and i had thought it was hondo (which is by louis lamour) but came to find out it wasn't that one........his history just caught my eye........and then i had to get my eye back......

and i loved the fact that he and ms woodward were such great marrieditarians.......

I'm half afraid that Imus would actually hope Palin was elected for the same reason he hoped it would be Bush 00 the abundance of gags. Of course, those gags started to fall flat real fast with Bush in office....

"I prefer poseur and poseuse"

but flatus, it doesn't rhyme with "closer"

and anyway, just recently renewed my poetic license. they put restrictions on it tho'... something about glasses and being able to read.

i lost my poetic license after a WUI.......

preview of medvedev vs putin?

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/12/09/local_russian_election_result_overturned_by_court

from above link:

Putin's take on elections in general, as he phrased it back in 1998. "One has to be insincere and promise something which you cannot fulfill," he said. "So you either have to be a fool who does not understand what you are promising, or deliberately be lying."

sturg....
according to my google search it's a movie entitled "Hombre"....

So I watched the Nobel speech and I hope Obama means what he says and I eagerly await his peace initiatives.

Paul Newman Filmography

http://www.fandango.com/paulnewman/filmography/p104390

Text of Obama Oslo speech

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/europe/11prexy.text.html?_r=1

mornin'

There are 2 differences between drugs sold in the US and Canada - price and marketing. That's it, nothing more. The safety arguments are utter crap. The FDA should be ashamed.

In regard to cheaper drugs from Canada or elsewhere.

Once again the US government makes criminals out of its citizens.

"In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, a statue of him as a 10 year old has been unveiled in a park......
The two metre bronze statue shows President Obama as a 10-year-old child......
The statue shows Mr Obama holding a butterfly in his left hand to symbolise hope and to inspire Indonesian children......"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8405314.stm

From Jane Hamsher Firedoglake

"I contacted Dr. Ida Hellander, Executive Director of Physicians for a National Health Program, to get her feedback on whether or not PNHP thought lowering the Medicare age to 55 was a good idea. I respect Ida and the PNHP folks a lot, and wanted to see what they thought.

Here is the PNHP Statement:

Lowering the eligibility age for Medicare to 55 only works if it is mandatory. Otherwise it becomes the place where all the sickest patients get dumped. That might be okay for the sick people since Medicare is often better and more secure than private coverage, but it would drive total health care costs (and premiums) up, not down.

I know Anthony Weiner is saying that lowering the eligibility “would perhaps get us on the path to a single payer model.” That would be the same Anthony Weiner who pulled his single payer amendment when asked by Leadership to do so, while Bart Stupak got waived through.

We don’t know what the restrictions on access to Medicare will be, so I question why anyone is out there promoting a pig in a poke.
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/09/pnhp-statement-on-lowering-medicare-age-to-55/

"Once again the US government makes criminals out of its citizens." -KGC

Just like the insurance-mandate in the current-pending legislation (not that I'm worried, how much does it cost to incarcerate an individual per year?)...

Notice how THAT hasn't been cut-out in any closed-door late-night meetings.

(I wish I got paid by the hyphen)
(I wish I got paid period)

All that said, I'm bullish on the for-profit prison industry!

Collins-Wyden are proposing a bunch of amendments for health care. Not so much.

I thought Susan Collins was retiring.

Obama = the "Caveman."

(Maybe he can get a job with Geiko.)

I'm not a caveman, I'm a Kenyan.
-Barak

(Ooops. Forget I said that.)

Quite frankly, many of us on the border used to get our prescription drugs, dental and medical procedures from Mexico until the drug wars broke-out. Many US citizens have been murdered in Chihuahua this year and many no longer go to Mexico to save a buck especially if it costs you your life. Our southern border has deteriorated dramatically during the Bush years and I wonder if Obama is doing any better with our good neighbors to the north and south.

Blondie,
We always buy this med or that when we need them when we go to Mexico - same boxes, blister packaging, etc. we get when we buy them in the states. Of course they are insanely less expensive, and withthe exception of pain meds don't require a 'scrip. It's absolutely horse shit, and all that crap about safety, yada, yada is crapola from Big Pharma to justify making profits off American medication purchasers.

Pogo and Blondie

Big Pharma and the Insurance Industry might as well be terrorist organizations for the impact they have on the American economy.

KGC

And I really do not know who has the better drugs.

KC, if you're looking for an argument, you'll have to look elsewhere. :-)

Pogo/BW

I wasn't looking for an argument. It was my thoughtful response to your posts. :))))

Blonde
Very funny and sadly probably true

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273685

Pogo,

Since the average person cannot purchase prescription drugs, the only purposes of TV advertising for drugs is to make people go to their doctor and insist on getting the "latest" that is neither cheaper nor likely more effective than the generice or to acquaint doctors with new developments to push on their patients.

I think advertising prescription drugs should be banned from TV if only so I never ever again have to hear Viva Las Vegas sung as Viva Viagra or watch the twosome in the tubs.

Hey Jamie, I believe it is banned in Europe.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273688

KGC

Nothing is set in stone yet of course, but I understand that there is a clause in the proposed Medicare extension that forbids insurance companies from dumping their sick people in the new age range as that would trigger some form of public option.

Not up on the details as yet, things keep changing too fast. Also, at this time the Medicare extension wouldn't have a subsidy for most people the way 65+ does.

What aggravates me is that they have been working on this mess for a year and so far there is nothing that would actually help the citizens of this country have decent health care at a reasonable price all because most of the Critters get their salaries from us and their marching orders from the corporations.

This Sunday at 8:00 pm on The History Channel: The People Speak

http://www.history.com/content/people-speak

Name actors recreating the voices and documents of history under the heading: Democracy is not a spectator sport.

It looks as if it will be fascinating.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273649

Sturg, I once was asked by Paul Newman personally to drive a U-Haul rental truck (with a bad clutch) to NYC, pick up lighting equipment and a lighting intern and get back to Gambier before the openning of his new theater at Kenyon where I went to school. Beside our truck being chased down the back streets of the meat market in Manhattan at 5 am in the morning by chain carrying gang of gays (sorry Tony, it was rough back then in the West Village early morning), it was an interesting and successful mission. When I arrived at Kenyon hours before the debut, people applauded and were happy to see that my lack of a valid driver license was not a problem. True story.......

Drug deal? Obama apparently made the deal before the healthcare push. We have brought this up before...

Imagine all the water in the Med rushing in from the Atlantic in just two years. Wow. the noise must have been deafening and the water vapor a huge ground hugging cloud: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8404363.stm

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273657

Kenyon is where I wound up too. Jonathan Winters was thrown out, but he returned to visit and I had the honor of cooking him lunch and pouring him beer. I believe they gave him an honorary degree about the time they were completing Newman's theater. My times at Kenyon were about as strained as his.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273696

Tell that to Lard.......

I shudder to think what would be had the NIH been responsible for the life saving drugs we have available. A bit over the top?

jamie, see my 10:03 to KC. :-)

Max, Dean Edwards and I had an understanding--that I leave and join the Army. I talked with him decades later and he claimed to still remember me; I didn't realize I was _that_ bad.

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6413

a link worth reading in light of Obama's speech on a just war. AQ takes responsibility for attacks in Iraq. They are also linked to attacks in India, Russia, Somalia and even Syria and Afghanistan. One could call this an AQ surge. Instead of blasting me for warmongering on Israel's behalf, one need only to look at the ground realities and understand that Ron Paul's strategy will see the enemy at our door as we represent an affront to disturbed Islamists.

Also I was right in suspecting AQ links to the five now held in Pakistan from DC. I also see the ACLU defending the guy who blew the whistle on Holder's decision to try terrorists in NY. It appears the administration did not want the truth to get out......

Jake Rinehart update: Last night was not a good night for Jake. He "broke the barrier" and that break in the rule (leaving the starting spot before the steer had its required head start). His run was respectable (4.2) but the rule violation added a 10 second penalty to his run making it 14.2. That drops Jake to 6th in the average. With only 3 performances left luck has to really come into play for Jake to win this thing. Fingers crossed thru Saturday night late, children!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273711

Holy crap, he said the same thing to me Flatus. I was the only student that lived off campus my supposedly senior year.. I lived between the columns on the second floor of the village Inn facing the street with Edward's office right next door. He hated by band practices and my trying to keep Kenyon from tearing down Ransom's house because Lefties hung out there. He banned the peeps and generally had a hard time keeping us the conservative followers he wished we were. Oh, I had a running feud that almost ended in a lawsuit.

The worst story: My freshman year I caught a student emerging from a closet in the art class with the teacher zipping up his fly right behind her. He saw me observing him and had it in for me. When he gave me a C for my year when all my grades were A's. Reviewing my weekly grades, Edwards was forced to have him give me an A minus. When Horowitz had a stroke having given me a C minus because he didn't like my LIberal ideas, his replacement gave me an A for the year. Horowitz protested making the replacement give me an A to the A degree that offset Horowitz's first trimester C minus. Horowtiz protested but again Edwards gave in. The replacement was not given tenure. I was always at odds with the conservative leadership and shared some similar views with Winters who did not strike me as playing with a full deck.

Ah....Kenyon. I too had enough in the end. Beautiful campus and the local women were cool. Did you ever go to Bland's Diner? Do you remember their match book covers, or was that after your time?

I have some other great stories, but not many about my acedemic accomplishments.....you can see that in my typos......

Max, I only spent a year there and that was before it went co-ed. We were still in the shadow of the Bexley Hall seminary.
My prospective major was poker with a minor in beer. I was well on my way to establishing my credentials in those subjects despite my short stay there.

I was insufferable--even more so than now.

Dooty...
reading the updates on Jake has been more exciting for me than watching the Patriots play football of late.... too bad about the broke barrier.... I do hope Jake makes as much money in the next 3 days as possible.

Rez.... heard a fascinating hour on Diane Rehm about the Indian lawsuit settlement.... good for your side.... congrats!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273716

You and Winters would have enjoyed each others company.......

You insufferable?

Naw....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8405271.stm

FREE BORAT......Palestinians need a greater sense of humor....

Yeah, Max, because they have so much about which to laugh.

U.S. President Barack Obama's $3.55-trillion (U.S.) budget that supports allowing people to buy cheaper medicines from Canada needs to be weighed in relation to his health-care reform plans, the head of a Canadian pharmacists group said Friday.

On Thursday, Obama released his fiscal plan, which supports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "new efforts to allow Americans to buy safe and effective drugs from other countries."
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/02/27/drugs-rx-border.html

left hand meet right hand

Now it's Let's Make a Deal with hospital lobbyists.

First, the President was caught with his principles down, cutting a scuzzy back-room deal with pharmaceutical lobbyist Billy Tauzin to limit drug price savings to just 2% over 10 years (see attached, "Obama on Drugs: 98% Cheney?"), the New York Times today reports that another deal was sealed by lobbyist Chip Kahn of the American Hospital Association.

Here are the numbers they don't want you to see: Hospitals will be allowed to hike their prices and revenues by six trillion dollars ($5,853 billion) over the next ten years, only $155 billion less than they had projected before the Obama "reform."

In all, the Obama back-room deal will "reduce" our $26 trillion total hospital bill over the next decade by one-half of one percent.

Once again, the lobbyists got the gold mine, the public got the shaft.

Say it ain't so, Mr. President.
http://www.gregpalast.com/obama-on-drugs-98-cheney/

http://www.aim.org/aim-report/did-bill-ayers-write-obamas-book/

Interesting read given the flak over the ghostwriting claims for Palin.......

"Once again, the lobbyists got the gold mine, the public got the shaft." -KGC

...hate to say I told you so (not you specifically, KGC). Still on board for changin' the world, Craig? Ah, those were the days.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273722

Gee, when I mentioned this months ago, I was given the usual "shut up Max you troll". This was one reason I said Obama's healthcare strateegy was poor from the start. Now some will see why I said Obama played every which way and

So let's make it as good as we can and just get on with it already? We have the President we have and I admit McCain would have done less on Healthcare.

I did support Hillary..........

Maxtrue,

I owe you and everyone an apology. Last night I said that the Medicare fraud cost less than 6C/person/day. I missplaced a decimal point. It's actually about 50C/person/day. Over a year, that would be the equivalent cost of an overnight at the Embassy suites. I tend to stay at the Deep 6, and leave the Embassy Suites to my betters.

It is my understanding that Medicare's way of handling fraud is to spot check. Big Insho counts every bean, necessitating the employment of enormous bureaucracies that may actually cost more than they save. I don't think that an audit of their effectiveness and efficiency was ever published.

My points are 2 :
a) I made a large mistake, and am sorry about it.
b. if we are talking about the expense of Medicare fraud, we should also discuss the cost of Big Insho fraud prevention, including both efficiency and effectiveness.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273723

max,

Ayers is only credible when you and the right use him to support your contentions, however if he makes assertions in disagreement with your point then he's a lying American terrorist. You can't have both ways.

No offense taken X. I had a hard time getting my head around your logic, but I did find some of your thoughts right on.

I hope I didn't come across as selfish. I just think one should fix the car before making it a right that everyone gets the same quality ride. Everything CAN be equal, but it requires engineering. Premature equalization might very well deprive many from a quality they have a right to too....

My aplogies for the excessive blather Bob last night, though I see more substance in it than you do.......

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1209/Bush_closes_the_gap.html

What disturbs me above is not the poll quoted, but the comment thread. On the Left we see echos about Goldman Saks that Stewart ranted about last night (The Left is taking sharp pokes at Obama these days) and of course, the nut jobs on the Right who actually think Bush was a very good President.

With more Democrats resigning in the House, the trend is not good and I suspect Obama will move more to the middle and perhaps ultimately find the Clinton's support a life saver.......

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273727

Let's not get into a digression about Ayers personally. The question is whether Ayers wrote most of Dreams of my Father. If so, then that in itself and the way Obama described his relationship with Ayers is bad stuff. How many here would feel betrayed if Ayers did in fact have a large role?

Yes, Ayers said his activity never led to the death of anyone and that is not true. I do believe in a court of law, a convicted liar can offer credible evidence. I sure hope this story doesn't come back and haunt Obama big time. The 40 behavioralists that consulted the Obama campaign should have mentioned that.....

Sorry, but all I recall is you spent the bulk of 2008 slimming Obama with Ayers and company, and now you want to cite him in support of your point. Should I be expecting you to start quoting some words of wisdom from Tony Rezko?

XRep....
7 yrs ago my hubby had a conference on Oahu.... the company was Compaq at the time and most everyone's spouse came along. They generously booked all the flights back to the mainland for 4 days after the conference was over in order for everyone to have a mini vacation afterwards. We chose to spend those 4 days in Maui. We booked a room at the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel but when we arrived they said they had overbooked. It was President's day weekend and apparently it's a favorite time for natives to island hop.

They made reservations for us at the Embassy Suites down the street. We were kinda pissed off. But when we entered the lobby, our jaws practically fell off. It was very palatial. The bathroom alone was the size of the average hotel room. We didn't dare to ask what it cost for a night there. We were getting it for Ka'anapali Beach Hotel prices.... which at $350 a night is considered a bargain on Maui.

Max -- as I recall, Ayers made an offhanded joke that the right then seized upon. I also know some of the editors involved with his second book, and this story doesn't wash. I have never liked that WU crowd at all, but this is a bogus bitch.

slimming = sliming :-), you got it

"Let's not get into a digression..." -maxtrue

HOLY SHIT.

liked old jonathan winters since I saw him destroy that service station in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World" which i saw in dallas in march of 64 down the street aways from dealy plaza and the court house where ruby's mother used to holler at the gathered press.......

Well, my head just exploded. Have a good day everyone.

Some more for the Chi-Town conspiracy buffs. :)

Conservative Iowa Rep. Steve King has cracked the code.

"At the WH Christmas Ball Monday night, they served ACORN cookies," he tweets, with pic.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1209/Kings_cookie.html

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273733

Obama's agent at the time has a damning story which prompted many to take a look at the issue. I believe she has gone on record supportng the fact a deadline prompted Obama to get help from Ayers.

Yes, Serfy, I thought you would find that funny.......and Bob too.

Sturg, I remember that movie. I thought Winters was a genius. He seemed a bit medicated when I met him in person. A bit slow on speech. It could have been medical issues...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273730

What I said was that Obama friends and first supporters were a radical crowd of people including the ISM crowd on display in the Trinity newsletter. I pointed to Rezko and others. Some of these people have in fact found their way into the administration while others their way to jail and indictments. Still, others like Ayers used the attention to go on tour.

Yes, I found it pathetic nobody from the Kennedy family asked Ayers why he dedicated one of his books to the guy who murdered RFK. Didn't Obama know this? I wondered what effect these associations would have on Obama policy. This is a different issue than whether Ayers wrote most of Dreams of my Father. It is a laugh about the attacks on Palin's ghostwriters and not to investigate the Ayers claim.

I don't back off my questioning of Obama's associations and friends. At this point is rather moot. Obama is the President. I see Zbig slammed Obama today. I never posted anything that described Obama the radical some of his friends were. Many people felt Obama's crowd was not reflective of his "pivot to center". I think some of Obama's mistakes in policy and strategy derived their formulation from views gleaned in discussing things with his more radical friends. I'll save the list for another time.

max,
I'm not wanting to rehash the 2008 primary here. It is what it was and it's history. I was just making a comment about what I thought was somewhat hypocritical in using Ayers as a source.

"Many people felt Obama's crowd was not reflective of his "pivot to center"".

You make this point a lot! Not much was made of this then or now by me and I assume some others. Isn't it standard politics 101 for candidates from either party during the primaries, to run to their base including the extreme, as far as their record will permit, and then turn to the center for the general election and in governance. Sorry again, but no big revelation or prediction for me.

Now agreeing with it is another matter and Obama and many Dems will find this out in the next few years.

"Hombre....... is Paul Newman......"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SaPxnUKyFA

Renee,

Sounds heavenly. I want to go right now. It's a nice day for penguins here.

I've noticed that accomodations in Hawaii, Manhattan from the Tribeca to the north end of Central Park, and Beverly Hills are in a class by themselves. The last time I stayed at the Embassy I paid $175, and maybe I had a flier rate. Every 'room' in the place was a suite, with at the very least an entertaining room, plus buffet counter, wet, bar fridge, stove, microwave, coffee maker, and toaster, & Lindt chocolate bars on the huge pile of pillows. For me, that was a terrific extravagance.

It's a far cry from the days of my youth, renting with a favorite gal friend, a one lamp cabin on L. Superior's North Shore with 10' to the water, a 50 yard scamper to the shared outhouse, and another 30 yards hike to the shared shower, all conveniently priced at $2/night or $12/week. At the time, $2 meant something to me.

A friend was up at Brainerd International Raceway on a hot summer day. She stood in line at the ice cream shop to get a cone, and as she waited someone came in and stood behind her. When her turn came, she ordered the cone, and the and paid for it. She was juggling her change, the cone, and her purse, as she turned to go - and there was Paul Newman behind her.She forze for a moment. Newman smiled at her, and she hurried away in a daze.

At her car, our friend snapped out of it, and noticed that she didn't have her ice cream cone. She ran back to the ice cream as Newman was coming out, and blurted, "I can't find my ice cream". As he passed her, Newman said, "You put it in your purse."

Xrep...
when Rick and I were newly married.... our usual accommodations when on vacation was a boy scout tent. He was a librarian and I hadn't finished college yet. We were poor, but happy.

now Rezdog.... are you actually saying that Obama is just your typical politician.... whatever happened to that campaign slogan "Change You Can Believe In".... :0)

That is, "she froze for a moment". She probably never forzed in her life.

Another friend has a son who works for a small airplane manufacturer in Duluth, MN. Some rich guy ordered a plane, and the friend's son flew it out to the customer, and trained him in the plane's operation.

When the young man came home, he told his parents that he'd gotten a big tip from this really nice guy, "who I guess used to be in the movie business. Did you ever hear of Paul Newman ?"

At the 1965 St.Paul Auto Show, I was weaving toward the soda stand through the crush of people to fetch a drink for my date, Carol. Suddenly, Sean Connery, coming the other way, stepped on my toe. He said, I'm sorry".

When I finally got the soda to Carol, I told her that I had met Sean Connery on my mission. She made me take to her to him so that she could get a good gawk. Fortunately, we couldn't find him.

In those days he was James Bond, and he didn't even blast me with his atomic cigarette lighter or anything, just said, "I'm sorry", as if he were human. ( :>D))<

I can't top that for star power xr but once in Tacoma, Wa at a concert I stood at the urinal next to the late John Hartford. We did not saying anything to each other.

Dooty.... ROFL!

I've already told this blog twice my story about sharing a hot tub with Ron Jeremy while on another vacation to Oahu.

And about when Steve Tyler with other members of his band, Arrowsmith, walked into my craft booth with bets on how to properly pronounce my last name.... Tyler lost.

My brush with fame was sitting in my next door neighbor's kitchen getting high with Jimmy Buffett after his show in Morgan Hall (or was it Foster Auditorium) before became rich and famous.

I hope I've figured out this mhyopenid thing. My computer died and I have a new one..imagine that is why it required an update..

Obama gave a good speech today.

Unfortunately, healthcare is a disaster and he is to blame.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273741

Yes, Obama has won some praise from Republicans. Turning down the Nobel was not an option and Obama has done this gracefully.

Rez, I don't know of other Democratic nominees that hung out with the sort of people that Obama did. Rezko as money man, Trinity, Khalidi, Ayers etc? Please tell me which President did that?

Yes, the election is over, but the ties to Chicago and the IMS crowd are not. You are right that what Obama does now is most important, so I have not mentioned these things after the election except in chats like this.

Hillary is another matter. In that regard I won't stop pointing out the irony or several predictions I made during the primary regarding foreign policy. I do admit that Obama has done better than I expected on that count, but crunch time is coming soon.

The TM irony will be the likely defense of Obama on my part. And I don't underestimate Obama's capacity to throw anybody under the bus. I just hope it is the rights ones...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273713

Dooty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI4-twIedAs

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273729

Max

Ayers has denied having anything to do with writing the book. A RW journalist had asked him if the rumor was true and he flippantly said yes. Later he said that he had forgotten that the right wing had no sense of humor and that irony and sarcasm were totally lost on the humor deficient.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273750

Cool NP. Sounds a bit more gracious than Lowel George (Little Feat) guzzling down a quart of Jack and asking where the cute chicks were at Kenyon. A few years after that concert he died from the related abuse. In NYC you can't help running into people. I just ran into Richard Bey last week on the street and joked about the Sasha Cohen movie he was in. If you don't know who Bey is, Richard was the talk show host while Sasha was showing off his black child he stole from Africa. (see the Richard Bey Show back some twenty years) nice guy and pretty smart.

I bet Dinero can't remember years ago telling me as we jogged past each other down the exhaust filled lower West side towards the WTC in the August heat, that he didn't know if we were killing ourselves or getting fitter. I said the former and he laughingly agreed.

Now if I ever handed out my business card, maybe I would have more in savings......

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273754

Doesn't make it true and Ayers is a guy who could beat a lie detector. He had been asked before and refused to give an answer. Now would he freely admit it? I rather doubt it and the article does discuss his remarks, yes?

Pictures and explanation for those weird light spirals over Norway

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1234430/Mystery-spiral-blue-light-display-hovers-Norway.html

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273747

Isn't it funny when this happens. I mean there's James Bond and what do you say? Stars seem to appreciate it when you act like nothing is different. I ate at an upper West Side dinner next to a booth with Indian Jones...lol. As I was leaving I told him I thought he was great in Blade Runner. He smiled and said thanks. They always look relieved when they realize your not some frenzied fan...

Al Pacino lives on 57th St, in a building I have clients in. I ride the elevator often and he HATES anyone aproaching him. I never do and the more we cross paths the more he smiles. I literally collided into Kurt Russel rounding a corner of the same building. Not as buff as he was in Soldier.....but he'll stroll the street in a t-shirt and jeans.

Now if I ran into Craig, I might have to duck quickly......

Hi Craig...

Indiana Jones that is....

With little fanfare, today was promotion day for the
New Haven CT firefighters who were the hot topic
during the Sotomayor hearings.

"Promotion day arrives for New Haven firefighters
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/12/10/news/doc4b2173a76450a638426975.txt

With little fanfare, today was promotion day for the
New Haven CT firefighters who were the hot topic
during the Sotomayor hearings.

"Promotion day arrives for New Haven firefighters"
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/12/10/news/doc4b2173a76450a638426975.txt

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273745

Hi RR, Since you asked , but real short cause I was headed out.

For the most part, I did not think Obama was the typical pol in most senses of that expression. In general his background, political experience and campaign strategies were what distinguished him from his competitors and helped him the most (no record.) They all stressed change (no Bush) but his team had a more dramatic message having more material to work with.

I think he is a "go along to get along type", however I will admit to being surprised by his extreme conciliatory behavior and his not being a little more hardened once elected. So to say I'm a little disappointed in his actions up to this time would be an understatement.

I still have high expectations for his tenure. Or he'll be the one can mo-jeff most think.

"The TM irony will be the likely defense of Obama on my part. And I don't underestimate Obama's capacity to throw anybody under the bus. I just hope it is the rights ones.."

Ha,Max,
You'll be joining the defend President Obama club!! I spent yesterday afternoon while working defending the President against the worst slams from my client Jeff and Grace..I'm so disappointed in the President, but I can't let the wing nuts get away with the BS...Good point about how important it is who Obama throws under the bus,gay people have already been thrown,wonder who's next?Oh wait,he threw the Public Option under,but your happy about that one....Ha Ha,Merry X-mas and Happy Hanukkah to you and Sue....

In case any of you remember the '50s, I once ran into Adam Troy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art dining area, and Arlene Dahl (of way over in Mpls) at Broadway's late lamented Astor Hotel. I also met tv zookeeper Marlin Perkins at the old old St Paul Science museum.

Of course, I see Garrison Keillor and Bill Moyers around the 'hood several times a year.

I think that exhausts my supply of tv & movie types. My suppy of pols is much bigger, but who wants to talk about them ?

For those reading Craig's book, am I correct about the typo on page 56.

http://www.taylormarsh.com/

"Reporting from NAF on Israel-Palestinian Hopes for Peace"

"The forum I attended earlier this afternoon at the New America Foundation was on “Engaging Israelis on the Road to Final Status,” with survey results released that turned conventional wisdom about Obama on its head. For months, including in all the events I’ve attended, the CW was that with the help of the Israeli press, Pres. Obama’s approval was down to 4%, which this new survey rebuts (full results here).

Israelis express a mixture of emotions and assessments toward President Obama. A majority of 52 percent believe that his election is good for addressing the world’s problems (including 63 percent of Israelis under 30 years of age), and more Israelis give him a favorable rating than an unfavorable rating (41 percent favorable / 37 percent unfavorable). In fact, Obama is better-liked than Israel’s current Defense and Foreign Ministers, and his unfavorable rating is only four points higher than the unfavorable rating for George W. Bush, who is routinely characterized as very popular among Israelis. But there are also a lot of doubts centered on whether the President understands the threats facing Israelis, with large numbers believing he is weak on terrorism (50 percent) and naïve (43 percent). Overall, 42 percent of Israelis believe Obama supports Israel, compared to 55 percent who do not. This is certainly not a high level of confidence for an American President, but it is much stronger than the abysmal and frequently (but incorrectly) reported 4 percent approval rating that has driven conventional wisdom on Obama’s support in Israel.1"

"Please tell me which President did that?"

max, Bottom line to all your guilt by association conspiracies.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/12/in-polls-much-opposition-to-health-care.html

"In Polls, Much Opposition to Health Care Plan Is From Left"

"With that said, I also think the White House's positioning on this the public option has been questionable. There's a middle ground between a world in which the White House would have insisted that the inclusion of a public option was a non-negotiable part of health care reform, and their actual positioning, which has been transparently indifferent toward it. In other words, run the bluff -- and make the left happy -- and then if you have to give up on the bluff at some point to get a bill passed, do some play-acting and look really unhappy about it. Give a big speech, say your hand was forced by the necessity to get such an important bill passed and your desire to reach common ground, blah, blah, blah. Some on the left, certainly, would look upon you cynically if you did this -- but probably fewer than if you hadn't seemed to care about the public option in the first place (i.e. what has happened in the the status quo). Meanwhile, you might have picked up a few points with independents for your apparent willingness to compromise."

Hey Tony, very funny. I'm not sure which side we'll be defending him against. Maybe we can just use this: http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/new_bug_spray_forces?utm_source=slate_rss_1

Rez, don't be so obtuse. The main reason Obama skirted these issues is because he knew the harm that could come should many people know the extent he dined and associated with a crowd America largely rejects. Imagine McCain was having a grand old time at Trinity. The Press would ask, "Is McCain too Senile to Remember Wright's Sermons?" Oh you would have howled with laughter. Paul's associations did him in. Hell, the Left wants to sink Huckster because he pardoned a future police murderer. I suppose you make the claim that your friends and financial/policy advisors have no weight in deciding the next President. Have fun with that. Of course they do which is why Obama distanced himself from all who could drag down his mainstream image. Under the bus you go.......

Conspiracies? Okay, if you say so......

http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/

"Health Care For Almost One-Third of Everyone (Who is Left-Handed and Over 50)!"

"Okay, fine, so single-payer is off the table, no use continuing to whine about that, even though it’s the obvious solution to all of the biggest problems and congressional aides in private admit this. So your next-biggest problem is cost, and you can try to address that with some kind of public option, which would force private companies to take a bite out of their own profits or their own inefficiency to drive down rates in order to compete with the naturally cheaper public plans.

But we can’t have that either, of course, because the name of this game is passing something the Obama administration can call health care while preserving massive subsidies to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. In that regard, the government under the new plan will continue to be barred from negotiating bulk rates for pharma purchases for Medicare, while insurance companies won’t have to trim profits or paperwork to compete with a real public option. The Obama administration also recently reversed itself on yet another campaign promise and decided to come out against plans to allow pharma purchases from Canada, further protecting the pharma industry."

P.S. the Geneva Convention doesn't demand civilian courts for illegal combatants confessing to terrorist actions.

There are some things I will not be able to defend Obama for. Nor will I be able to defend many of those officials Obama has surrounded himself with. Many are targets of TM. Wait until you read which Czar has approved the latest "safe reading list" for young school kids.

I will say, Obama says "I" far too many times in his speech......but this was good:

"No Holy war can be a just war" -Barak Obama

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273769

Oh you funny Max!!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273763

Sorry Gays were thrown under the bus Tony , but Obama had the help of many in NY and Vermont that are liberal. Still, Obama protects Jarret and his social secretary more than some others....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/10/tarlach-macniallais-gay-a_n_387769.html

'Tarlach MacNiallais, Gay Activist, Beaten By Bar Bouncers For Dancing With Man'

"Just two months after two men were caught on tape beating a gay man nearly to death, and a week after the New York State Senate rejected a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, a prominent gay activist was attacked by bouncers at a Queens nightclub on Saturday for dancing with another man."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273773

Max,
Thanks,sadly your correct.Organized religion is mostly responsible.....

more and more people are leaving the churches and going back to god.......

--lenny bruce

Well Tony, Uganda wants to put those with AIDS to death and homosexuals in prison. Republicans would tell you you're lucky. Gays are not in the narrative right now: they are deflected issue that might fall behind legalizing pot. Go figure.

Actually for Liberal Internationalists, exceptional gays are an important export. Gay rights are after all about human rights. Human Rights must be defended, said Obama, from the evil in the world.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273776

Sturg,
I just lov your posts!!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273777

Max,
You make me think my good man!! I saw that report on Rachael..Those f--king right wing nuts went to Uganda and were responsible for promoting these laws in Uganda,now in the U.S. they decry them,liars....

I listened to Obama's speech again. Obama sounded like Hillary (I posted part of a speech she gave last night wonder how Obama would compare today), and thus a certain gravitas appeared. Maybe he noticed that (the gravitas, not that he sounded like Hillary).

He said he order Gitmo closed, but it is still open. He has more to learn, but Hillary's realism prevailed today.

Yep, realism can sound even more lofty than the dream. And yet this is far from deals with big Pharm, or is it?

"Human Rights must be defended, said Obama, from the evil in the world."

Unless the evil is from the U.S. military expelling people just because they happen to be gay...Oh its happening,since Obama has been President they have expelled over 200 people...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273779

Yeah, can you believe that crap? And frankly I hate how media in general filters out the not-worthy-for-prime-time every day. They must expose this stuff and also what goes on in the world. Try and be gay in Saudi Arabia or Iran. I don't get it. The least we should be doing with media is exposing this stuff daily and forming international action against it.

But back to the GOP. They love that kind of "gay reporting" when it shows how others treat and abuse gays. Look at Spencer over at Jihad Watch. He tears Muslims apart over their reprehensible conduct towards gays yet he refused to answer me why he won't favor gays in OUR military. Doesn't he want MOTIVATED soldiers?

Still, there are some conservatives that are for gay rights. You noticve Reid didn't compare the voters of NY to those obstructionists of civlil rights.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273781

That I hadn't heard that Tony. Where do you read gays were deported? Do you mean when our military enters some occupied area they expell those they think are gay? Or that they expell their own they think are gay? I'm confused....

Tony..I have been dismayed at way the press reports the dissatisfaction in polls to Obama's handling of healthcare.

They always assume that opposition to Obama's handling of the issue is because people oppose reform..not true..

I'm comfortable with foreign policy because Hillary is there.

It would be interesting to see a legitimate poll of Independents asking them if they preferred Hillary or Obama for 2012..

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273747

XR, one of my associates in Vegas was a Sean Connery lookalike. And his wife was British. They never paid for anything when they were out on the town.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273783

Max,
I meant I read some months ago regarding Dan Chow,that over 200 service people have been expelled from the U.S. military since Obama has been President.Experts say the President could stop the explosions with an executive order..Or the President could simply stop the investigations witch end in explosions.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273784

OD,
Very good points..I would like to see that also...

Bill Murray just poured me a glass of wine. french.

Damn Bill, don't let her fool ya, she drinks Miller High-Life. lol

Ha you dog Rez! He really did though. Kinda cute too.

How soon they forget- we call it witches brew here.

Sea, You behave now! :-)

Hahaha! Unfortunately thats all I do of late. I must admit I was looking for another victim tonight though ;)

I doubt I'll ever get laid again if I stay on this god forsaken island.

Ha!, Jenny said, surely not as cute as your hero Barry. rofl

ROLFLMFAO!

and simultaneously gagging. He looks more irish as he ages and unlike Kurt he's not just a little shit. I like em big.

Bill Murray cute ???

I forgot Murray - maybe because he's so neighborhood.

He and Mike Veeck ,and a fella named Goldklang started the latest version of the St Paul Saints baseball club. Murray occasionally shows up here for a game. The crowd loves him. He also owns a part of the Charleston RiverDogs. The Saints games are geared for very young folks, to instill a love for the game. Between innings there are lots of shennanigans. Personally, except fot Groundhog Day, I haven't been much of a Bill Murray fan, but as a baseball owner, he's tops.

G'night.

Well good morning everyone. I see it was quiet overnight, no comments since 12:21am.

Well have a good day.

Bill Veeck was a tremendous impressario. His handling of the Indians couldn't have been better.

One of my cousins was in braces because of polio. Veeck, who was sans one leg, took him into his box for a ballgame. That may well have been in '48, the Indians greatest/only great year.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273795

LMAO, Sea!!!!

Bill Murray

Xrep.... you need to see The Royal Tenenbaums...

and who you gonna call.... eh.... who you gonna call....

GHOSTSBUSTERS

Jake Rinehart update: His run was somewhat quicker last night because he was not penalized for breaking the barrier(10 seconds) but still finished out of the money at 4.80 seconds. They only pay 6 places and Jake finished 8. That has moved him down from 4th to 5th in the run for the championship and his cousin, Todd Shun, has taken over 4th place. In the aggregate. Jake's times are 43.5 seconds and Luke Branquiho's time is 34.00 for 8 rounds. If Branquiho can maintain his lead and place 1st in the average, he will pocket another $43,954. The second place cowboy is 1.4 seconds behind but he would make an additional $35,661. If Jake finishes at 5th he will win an additional $14,928. That would put him over $140k for the year. A couple of breaks for young Jake and his money winnings could be substantially more if the guys ahead of him blow it. Probably won't but who knows really. Only time will tell. There are only two days left. Stay tuned.

doot.....isnt 4.8 really fast?

capt hoot-man was telling me about a guy who died in his penthouse apt on park avenue, nyc, and every room in the penthouse was filled with boxes of $10 potato peelers. he said the guy made the money for the penthouse and his living by selling the $10 potato peelers in the streets of nyc.........

Yep.....here he is:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26976442/

The old man continues his demonstration. People at the back of the crowd cannot see because he remains seated. “Come closer,” he whispers. “I’m not going to ask for money. You can keep your watch.”

Even the people in front have to lean in to hear. “This peeler is the finest ever made. Comes from Switzerland. Costs only five dollars. You can't buy anything from Switzerland for five dollars these days.”

The woman rummages through her purse, pulls out some bills and dangles them in front of the old man. He ignores the money. “Now, why would you buy four peelers if they last a lifetime?” he asks rhetorically.

His eyes finally make contact with the woman. She's holding five dollars; she only wants one peeler. “Well, you have four friends,” the old man replies to his own question. “That’s why you buy four peelers!”

And she does. Others buy, too, as fast as the old man can pull the peelers from a box.

In the garden of life, big things can grow from small beginnings ... provided you use enough fertilizer.

reminds me of the little feller from philadelphia in a sharkskin suit with his t-shirted bermuda shortzed sidekick who pulled up next to me in raleigh in their rented black continental in parking lot G-YYY or something (very far from the stadium) and proceeded to open the trunk revealing 2 (count 'em--two) 5 foot long canisters of NO2, otherwise known as laughing gas. Pulling out a huge box of party balloons which expanded to about 2 feet in diameter the sidekick proceeded to fill the balloons and sell them for $5 apiece while sharkskin pocketed the money.......this is 91 by the way............they did this the rest of friday afternoon, friday night, saturday morning and mid-day until they closed up shop and went on over to catch the bruce hornsby/grateful dead concert......a good bit richer i'd say..........the line would at times stretch way down the row between cars, and business was brisk most of the time.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273806

Senor Fish,

very fast unfortunately there were several times faster. Stockton Graves, the winner of the go round, recorded a time of 3.8 seconds. The arena record at the National Finals Rodeo is, I think, 3.0 seconds. Jake's 4.8 was only good enough for 8th place. At some rodeos thru out the year, 4.8 might win all the money. But here it is a small pen and the quality of contestant is very good (top 15 money winners in the PRCA).

That's why Joe is up before dawn every day. At 74, still pushing potato peelers down the street.

"Do you ever take a vacation?" I ask, sprinting to keep up.

Joe laughs. "Life is a vacation! Every day is a vacation."

Craig Said :What happened to Barack Obama's once-adamant support for providing lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada?

The same thing that happened when he said during the campaign he would do something about NAFTA. Barack H Obama had my husband's attention when he came out with his early position on NAFTA. My husband said if Obama got rid of NAFTA he would vote for him on one issue. Of course he flip flopped and the Rev Wright rants started saturating the air waves.

Wasn't it Rod Blagojevich who was trying to work out a deal for Illinois citizens to get low cost Canadian Drugs when he was Governor?

When does Blagojevich's trail start?

correction - trial.

Steampunk pewter coat-buttons cast from old watches

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/10/steampunk-pewter-coa.html

Tony, at some point the DOD will see the logic in favoring gays in the military. I wonder what Flatus thinks.

In other brilliant trends:

http://slatest.slate.com/id/2238232/entry/3/

Government and Wall Street with the rest of us crushed in between.

Also, when my mom moved into Medicare her insurance company offered her a two hundred dollar rider that would keep her good coverage she had with private carrier. Then she also pays for a decent nursing home when she needs it. Had she not paid this extra money each she would have depleted her SS paying for drugs etc not covered under Medicare and when other problems happened. Now she has 100% coverage.

I will have to see the details of the latest Senate plan but patient groups today are screaming at the annual limits the Senate Bill will place on coverage. This mess is far from over......

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273788

Ask him when he's going to do caddy shack 2 (he's worked his way up to owning the country club) Oldseahag. I miss the old Murray and I know he's got some energy left. Maybe one more movie that can break the mold......

Maybe a collaboration with Cheech and Chong....

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273785

Flatus, I read an article somewhere that there are many people that go around getting stuff because people think they are celebrities.

One guy I think looks just like Clooney. I bet his sex life is great......

Of course the guy who had surgery to look like Bush is out of luck.......

Stewart was funny last night. Even funnier was reality: Beck has some real mental problems apparently. Maddow was made fun of by Jon and her clip on the Daily show sums it up for me........

Craig's Top Five Favorite Books.

http://www.imus.com/today.guest.html

I have a copy of One Hundered years of solitude my sister gave me I have not read it.

Sure has been dead in here the last few days. All of a sudden no one seems to have very much too say about anything.

Oh well, I guess that no news is good news.

If you were a bigot and wanted to drive a Unitarian out of town, you'd burn a question mark in his front yard......

--Mort Sahl

this is for all the kenyon-ers and their affinity with paulie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APmHR2bmQgw

"Tony, at some point the DOD will see the logic in favoring gays in the military. I wonder what Flatus thinks."

Max, many of the military's 'middle-management' are Bible-thumping idiots. Many of the enlistees are young people not secure enough in their own sexual identities that they would willing be tent-mates with other soldiers who are openly gay.

I see this combination of uncommitted leadership along with sexual immaturity as being a recipe for disaster where peoples lives will be at risk from people who are supposed to be their comrades-in-arms. I don't just think it could be a bad situation, I actually fear that Americans will be murdered.

Clearly, we need the additional manpower that openly gay people would provide. And, gays should be able to serve in uniform on an equal basis with their straight contemporaries. But, I, personally would be unwilling to sign the order that would change the current policy.

There are thousands of gay people now serving. They serve with distinction. I sincerely regret that we are not so inclusive that they can reveal their sexual identities without fear.

Flatus

Thank you for the very thoughtful post.

So many good quotes in this Matt Taibbi article in Rolling Stone that I had trouble picking one

I only got 2 pages into it and I'm so mad that I can't even see straight.
But I'm starting to get a list of folks that need to go up against the wall.

"Geithner, in other words, is hired to head the U.S. Treasury by an executive from Citigroup — Michael Froman — before the ink is even dry on a massive government giveaway to Citigroup that Geithner himself was instrumental in delivering. In the annals of brazen political swindles, this one has to go in the all-time Fuck-the-Optics Hall of Fame."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/31234647/obamas_big_sellout

Jack

"It seems like Uganda is taking two steps forward and one step backward this week in terms of securing human rights for its citizens."

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/12/11/ugandas_human_rights_hokey_pokey

"put on your yarmulka, it's almost time for chanukah"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrd9p47MPHg

chanukah how-to website

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm

While Biden tries to drum up support for Dodd, Hillary had this to say: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8409081.stm

Here come the drones: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/12/us-military-joins-cias-drone-war-in-pakistan/

patd

Thanks for the Adam Sandler song..too funny.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273822

Well said Flatus, and given our strategic situation in a battle for hearts and minds, foolish....

.....foolish the policy Flatus, not your words....

Happy Chanukah everyone....later

Happy Chanukah to you, Maxtrue.

I take 3 drugs that are critical to my survival and ability to operate without crippling pain.

One is made by Sanofi Aventis in Germany, one is made by Novonordisk in Denmark, and the 3d is made in Israel. All 3 are exactly the same, except cheaper, in Canada. Somehow these drugs all become dangerous by entering Canada. Can someone explain the chemistry in that ?

Re gays in the military, I think Flatus explained the fears very well. I wonder about all-gay units.

I hate the idea of segregation, but perhaps it would "prove" the value of gays in the military, the way that Nisei and all Black units proved their effectiveness and patriotism. I don't really like the idea, but clearly, the present method must change, and this might be a start.

I guess everyone is still driving back from the grind. Are you guys are afraid of doing a little posting while you're driving ? Chickens, that's why you have health care coverage.

So you can post while driving into the ditch.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273824

WJ, here's a line that caught my attention.

"As Treasury secretary under Clinton, Rubin was the driving force behind two monstrous deregulatory actions that would be primary causes of last year's financial crisis"

The Taibbi article Jack linked is a barn-burner....

Hey Patsi,

I just caught a blurb on NPR about Garth's new 5 year gig at Wynn's Encore casino in Lost Wages. Sure wish i knew someone with connections for some seats for the next time I get there. ;-)

Max and anyone else so inclined can pop over to my blog for the receipe and instructions for making Sufganiyot (jam filled doughnuts)

http://jdurward.blogspot.com

Happy Chanukah

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273822

Flatus,
Very good post.I posted a piece yesterday about a gay activist who was beaten by a bouncer for dancing with a man in a club..Homophobia rules.I'm also sure that in the military where machismo is perhaps high, there could be many gays who could lose their lives..I don't really know what the correct answer is but i know its incorrect to continue this current policy..I also fear its more about politics and votes,with the Obama administration..Wasn't the same argument used for not integrating the Military and allowing blacks to serve?Maybe X-Rep is on to something,segregation,but I still think many lives could be in jeopardy..

Flatus, Reading from the bottom up, I didn't expect to agree with you re gays in the military - and I almost never disagree with you. I don't even remember the last time I did.

You hit the mark, again, tho. I agree re the management, especially in the air force it seems - right? I also agree that the young age of so many is a factor. I recently saw in the news crawl that it appears the younger the soldier the more destructive
the experience of war.

That should be a given it seems to me. Accepting that
and accepting the points you made should be guiding lights in shaping our future fighting units. I am sick at heart to think of what our military people are going thru, and yet I feel that just walking away would set the stage for greater horrors. I hope the military is currently trying to update attitudes and improve matters, for want of a better word.

I wonder if they couldn't organize units which could be mixed and some that could be segregated.

Another news crawl item that maybe post traumatic
shock disorder can damage kids' minds. Duh, ya think?

"Re gays in the military, I think Flatus explained the fears very well. I wonder about all-gay units."

They'd certainly have the nicest uniforms!

lol

Or how about this one, Rez?

"his colossally stupid decisions at both the highest levels of government and the management of a private financial superpower make him unique — Rubin was the man Barack Obama chose to build his White House around."

Jack

or this one

"The point is that an economic team made up exclusively of callous millionaire-assholes has absolutely zero interest in reforming the gamed system that made them rich in the first place"

The Democrats won the presidency and we STILL have a Republican administration! Who woulda thunk it? Oh yeah, me.

haven't played this one in a while seems to fit with the thread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6-wG5LLqE

Jack

"The investment community feels very put-upon," Fass explained. "They feel there is no reason why they shouldn't earn $1 million to $200 million a year, and they don't want to be held responsible for the global financial meltdown."

Truly odd story about US border guards and SF writer

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/11/dr-peter-watts-canad.html

In the comment section of the Matt Taibbi article.

"This pretty much explains the rest. The President’s Chief of Staff who is running the show: Rahm Emanuel, who has been out of government for only 30 months of his adult life, managed to collect $18 million during his private-sector stint with a Wall Street firm called Wasserstein-Perella."

LOL
the whole fricken bunch is out to grab all they can grab.
I hate it when the cynic in me wins the bet.

Jack

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Afghanistan-Helmand-province/ss/events/wl/08072001afghanistan/im:/091210/481/8910ee2acded4cdab99447ef8effe8e0/

The above really pisses me off.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273845

As nice as yours? One thing political reality shows is there ain't much sentiment for lurching to your Left....

You must remind me not to shave before sharing such cryptic profundity, Max.

I remember shaving........a quite grotesque endeavor

not that I'm opposed to grotesque endeavors......au contraire.......

I must confess that many of my endeavors have been quite grotesque........not that it matters.............

One's done, finally, sturge. Forgot to get strings, though...

it was tjhe worst of crabfests.....it was the best of crabfests..........once again on friday night the blues crab plyed the inskrument to great advantage......Ernie Ervan is suing the farmer I bun knowin' all me life.........i say........so what.....big deal...let the chips fall where they may..........

I not only had to procure strings.........I had to set the bastard up so that it was playable.....Im not a goddam instrument technician, Im a goddam moo-jician........build all the shit you want, if it plays right............ok.

I'm well aware. Fingers crossed.

my fingers are parenthetically crossed with yours..............I hope for the best for the instrument you have taken the time to have.......like, you know..........made.

Thanks. I should have just purchased one. Stupid me.

stupid is as stupid does......who carrie-ous...........schmorgus-bord of dumb-ass options...........step right (urp).......goddammit, son of a bitch said the fucking mike would be disco-goddam-nected..........

Goddamn, does she look pretty, though. Alright, a pleasant morning to you.

yo.

I'm playing outrageous shit on the joo tube and I must remember that the daughter is asleep and the cat is outside.........

I often wonder how I came to this........

Rez -- re the tickets...take a place in line...ha. I've had about sixty emails since the announcements. That Wynn Hotel looks pretty fabulous! But even so, don't know if I'll be going for one of the shows.....

".....just 40 minutes from the heat and noise of Havana, the view opens to an undulating landscape painted every shade of green. Before Castro these hills were dusty yellow and brown scrub.

If Copenhagen needs a model, this is the most eloquent I know, a visionary example of reforestation and the long term benefits it brings. While the rest of the world is ripping up forests in the name of minerals and wood, Cuba has been replanting its tropical forests in the name of jobs, the environment and a lush holiday destination for decades. This policy has worked so well that in 1984 Unesco gave biosphere status to 26,686 hectares of forest in the western region of Pinar del Río,....."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/dec/12/cubas-green-revolution

fast lane for fast hybrid

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fi-fisker12-2009dec12,0,284041.story

btw, is it just cynical ole me or doesn't this car look like a corvette?

Naw, it looks nothing like a 'vette, pat.

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/11/obama-and-reids-war-against-bringing-down-americans-health-care-costs/

"Obama and Reid’s War Against Bringing Down Americans’ Health Care Costs"

"What is sickening is that Obama campaigned on this rather small, common sense cost controlling idea. Yet Obama traded away drug re-importation to PhRMA in a sweetheart deal. He also traded away direct drug price negotiation in the same deal. Obama and Reid have clearly taken the side of protecting corporate profits instead of bringing down health care costs for regular Americans. I shutter to think of all the other good cost control ideas Obama and Reid were able to more quietly kill as part of some secret industry deal that we still don’t know about. Next time they send Peter Orzsag to pimp all the awesome “bending the cost curve” ideas in the bill, the appropriate response from reporters is to laugh in his face. For the past few days, Obama and Reid have rather publicly fought against bringing down America’s health care costs."

Two silly things from pat's article:

"Henrik Fisker shows off his four-door Karma gas-electric hybrid, a 400-horsepower vehicle that will go from 0 to 60 in about six seconds."

...

"Now the Danish designer has his own Irvine-based car company and a half-billion-dollar loan from the U.S. government to build gas-electric hybrid cars that plug into a home outlet, go 50 miles without a drop of gas and don't look a bit eco-friendly.

Oh, and they'll also be fast."

...but 0-60 mph in 6 seconds ISN'T fast for a 400 hp vehicle; the thing must weigh at least 4000 lbs. Who in the federal government authorized lending this guy $500 million dollars to build these? Who will buy a slow, ugly sports car that has to be plugged-in? What is going on here?!

from Motortrend:

"In total, the Karma weighs 4,650 lbs. despite the use of aluminum materials in the chassis and bodywork."

No one buying exotic supercars wants one that weighs 2.5 tons.

http://www.taylormarsh.com/

"Don't do it"

"Then take this news, another gift for the health care reform killers. It’s now the conventional wisdom that insurance premiums would be sky high if annual caps aren’t included in whatever bill is finally passed. So, let’s say you’re really sick and need a lot of treatment. What happens when you reach your cap? Never mind that the very nature of insurance is to step in when the floor falls in.

Do Democrats really want to try to say this a “win,” then run on it in 2010? Health insurance “reform” with annual caps, but also insurance that is expensive in the first place? Hey, Obama won’t be on the ballot, but is the White House willing to risk what will happen in races across this country when Democrats have to defend this? Republicans are dying to run against us on that one.

I’ve come to the conclusion that a really bad bill signed into law would have worse repercussions for Democrats than a bill still in the works. How could Republicans run against Democrats on that? Only a really bad bill would work in their favor, but against Dems, and right now that’s where we seem to be headed.

Instead, let’s make the 2010 election about what should be in the bill. Make the Republicans come up with an alternative plan.

Yeah, I know, then what has the first year been about? All this talk for what? After all, the junk bill we’re talking about now could have been done by August, right? A little leadership a little earlier would have been nice.

Democrats should be ashamed. I know I am for them."

serfy, guess all fast cars look alike to me... however checkout the 'vette at the top of this link, put a hard top and long slanty lights on it and squint your eyes. looks just like the fisker.

http://www.corvetteforum.com/

I told ya, Pat, it is neither fast, nor does it look like a 'vette. If you saw them side-by-side in person, you would notice. It actually looks more like an Aston Martin DB9, which was designed by the same guy. Eye of the beholder, I suppose, but in actuality, different design elements.

Google "Lamborghini Superveloce". Now THAT'S a car.

Oh, and tony, keep it up.

Shutting up now.

2010 Lamborghini Murciélago LP670-4 SV SuperVeloce

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSTpK7zDO8w

really like those doors, serfy.

Oh, and tony, keep it up.

Shutting up now

Hey Champ,
Will do! Oh,please don't shut up,we all need are daily Champ fix.Your so funny too.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/12/11/iraq.oil.shell.petronas.ft/index.html

"Shell, Petronas win Iraq oilfield contract"

Well,Bush and Cheney have finally gotten what they wanted.Its just sad so many have had to die so they could achieve their goals..

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273872

Patsi

Considering how successful the last meet up in Las Vegas turned out, maybe we could just do it all over again. Makes life easy ("We're all in the trailmix section") :-)

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30478.html

"Max Baucus gave girlfriend $14K raise"

"Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, gave a nearly $14,000 pay raise to a female staffer in 2008, at the time he was becoming romantically involved with her, and later that year took her on a taxpayer-funded trip to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, though foreign policy was not her specialty.

Late last Friday, Baucus acknowledged his relationship with Melodee Hanes, whom he nominated for the job of U.S. attorney in Montana, after it was first reported on the website MainJustice.com. But he said that Hanes withdrew from consideration for the job when the relationship became more serious. The following day, Baucus dismissed calls for an ethics investigation, saying, “I went out of my way to be up and up.”

Jake Rinehart update: Once again Jake finished close but no cigar. His 4.5 second run finished him one place out of the money again. He currently is sitting 5th in the world but he is a good 10 seconds out of the the first place in the world with the finals tonight. Not a bad WNFR for a second time qualifier. Next year he could make more waves with some experience.

Jake Rinehart update: Once again Jake finished close but no cigar. His 4.5 second run finished him one place out of the money again. He currently is sitting 5th in the world but he is a good 10 seconds out of the the first place in the world with the finals tonight. Not a bad WNFR for a second time qualifier. Next year he could make more waves with some experience.

darn, sorry for the double post. TM is really slow on my end of the intertubes today.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273890

Hey Steve,
Glad you posted,its slow here too.Merry x-mas to you and yours...

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/71933-rove-gop-could-pick-up-four-to-six-senate-seats

"Rove: GOP could pick up four to six Senate seats in 2010 elections"

"During an interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News, the former White House political adviser cited Illinois, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Arkansas and Delaware as possible GOP pickups.

"I would not be surprised to see Republicans pick up between four to six seats, and could conceivably pick up more," Rove said."

I hope this won't become reality,but lets face it Dems so far suck at governing.HA,no worse than Republicans,so maybe we still have a chance to stay in power...Karl Rove you suck too...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273872

Thx Patsi,

I was joshing about the tickets. I bet you'll be getting that plea for months on. Ain't much of a Garth fan or C&W in general, but would probably enjoy his show much more in a smaller Vegas venue. And I don't have plans for visiting there anytime soon. These casinos around here get enough of my money. :)

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273892

Tony,

It's like the scene in "Paint Your Wagon" where the second Mormon wife agrees to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. "I don't know what I'll get, but I know what I've had!"

Unfortunately now, when it comes to both Republicans and Democrats, we all know what we have had and either way we are going to get screwed.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273894

"Unfortunately now, when it comes to both Republicans and Democrats, we all know what we have had and either way we are going to get screwed.'

Hi Jamie,
Sadly,so true! Merry X-mas to you and yours....

Hi all -- for those who ordered book plates, they're going in the mail today. Finally! Sorry it took so long.

Let me know if you did not receive a confirmation email today that yours is on the way. As I said before, my Outlook crashed and lost the original batch. But think everyone re-sent their request. If you didn't get an email today, please let me know at cqtrailmix@verizon.net

Rez -- I knew you were kidding....heh...it's actually my Nashville/music business friends who think I can get tickets.

Sky watchers: The Geminids meteor shower that began on December 6 reaches its peak on the nights of December 13 and 14. For those disappointed by November’s Leonid show, the outlook for the current Geminid shower, which lasts until December 18, is good.

Should get about 100 shooting "stars" per hour. Best time shortly after midnight on the east coast.

Patsi,

I wasn't thinking about free tickets, but just how much fun it would be to have you along for a group get together when Garth was in LV.

Patsi

The Wynn has the fanciest pissers I've ever seen in my life. The stalls are made out of marble and the urinals in the mens bathroom are divided by a 1 wide chunk of marble that is wing shaped with a fancy edge ground on it, At least a $300 chunk of rock just so I can piss without exposing myself.
LOL

Jack

Whoa -- what does the Wynn charge for a night's lodging?

patsi, according to this, their bed and breakfast package costs $229 or more a night.

http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/#packages/bed_breakfast/

wonder how much without the chow and le marble pissoir

Patsi, I don't know, we used the wife's hilton points to stay for free while we were in Vegas.
All I saw at the Wynn was the public part , I don't know what their rooms look like.
We saw The Rev , a Circe du Soli like production at the Wynn. It cost $100 bucks but was a lot of fun.

Jack

Make that $135 for each of us

Vegas is in crisis right now with loads of vacancies, you all should be able to find a deal somewhere, if not the Wynn.

patsi, from looks of their rooms/suites a whole bunch of us tmrs could squeeze in one and split the tab.
dibs on first in the jacuzzi.

While back we stayed at Caesar's. I thought Stinky was going to stroke out when she saw the mirror over the bed.

Hi, y'all. A little Saturday music's up at the Red Mud Inn

http://redmudinn.blogspot.com

with explanations.

Later--:)

Facebook games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars being used to SPAM Congress with anti health care mailings.

http://gawker.com/5422486/healthcare-opponents-using-scammy-social-gaming-to-get-people-to-spam-congress

leonard cohen on ETV

Leonard dance me to the end of love........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pA5UhNaYw0

johnny cash does l. cohen song.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rb1rse0fKs

Leonard Cohen

Chelsea Hotel

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

My latest favorite L Cohen - Closing Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVt6vhRAu3k

ignore ad on front of video

You can uncross 'em now: right as rain.

"Scientists are delivering some unexpected cheer this Christmas. They have found that a couple of glasses of champagne a day are good for your heart and blood circulation.
Nor, they believe, are the benefits limited to expensive fizz: cheaper alternatives such as cava and prosecco may offer similar effects.
The research is the handiwork of a team led by Dr Jeremy Spencer of Reading University, working with scientists in France, and is to be published in the British Journal of Nutrition this week."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/13/champagne-heart

i'll drink to that!

champagne didn't do much for orson's health... sold before his time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBayVvFA6S8

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-12-11/hillary-was-right/?cid=bsa:mostpopular1

"Hillary Was Right"

"As the first year of the Obama era draws to a close, the president is losing the battle for America's hearts and minds. It's hard not to feel some sympathy for him, given the disastrous state of the economy when he took office and the many smoldering international crises that keep flaring up. President Obama's predecessors deserve plenty of blame for his woes—as Obama and his advisers never tire of reminding us. But their not-so-subtle digs at President George W. Bush paper over their own unforced errors.

The most glaring and consequential unforced error came in how the Obama administration framed the health-care reform debate. The mantra of "bending the cost curve" was tailor-made for conservative and moderate intellectuals who preach the gospel of entitlement reform. If passing health-care reform were fundamentally about winning over the think tanks, the green-eyeshade approach might have made sense. But of course the real goal was to overcome the fear of the large majority of Americans who are insured and who deeply, desperately, and sometimes irrationally oppose anything that would change the status quo. A large number of those Americans are elderly Medicare recipients, and they vote in large numbers."

Maureen Dowd, on U.S. Afghanistan Policy, Dear Hamid Karzai - that dog won't hunt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/opinion/13dowd.html?_r=2

If the plan is to kill the al qeada leadership and back out of this arm pit of the world, I am going to support the President on this one.

Useful site: Senate Daily Calendar

http://democrats.senate.gov/calendar/

last Jake Rinehart update this year, I promise,

Jake tied for 1st place last night with a run of 3.40 seconds. That means that he and the other competitor he tied with split the 1st and 2nd place money. That run allowed Jake to finish this year in 3rd place for the overall year in money won. $191, 855.76 is the amount of money Jake made all year. Not too shabby. Maybe next year he gets the gold buckle and saddle. Thanks for your patience.

Dooty,

Almost $200 thousand looks great on paper. What are his expenses like to do the tour?

Dooty....
thanks... congrats for Jake!...
hope you keep this up for next year..... it's fun...

HD

Thank you for letting us share in the fun.

Greg Mortenson of Three Cups of Tea spoke in Santa Rosa, CA last night. Unfortunately I was not able to go but I agree with what he said.

Three Cups' author says Afghan 'surge' is mistake

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091212/ARTICLES/912129948/1350?Title=-Three-Cups-author-says-Afghan-surge-is-mistake

Jamie,

I don't know what the expenses are really but figure the cost of a truck and trailer feed for him and horse fuel entry fees. It is certainly not all profit. He does drive an 18 wheeler type tractor with a pretty large trailer. He also travels with two other cowboys to share expenses. Some rodeos they park the truck and board the horses and fly to the event and ride someone else's horse. For that privilege they pay the owner of the animal a % of the winnings. It is a pretty common practice to share rides on the good horses. All in all, I would bet his tax preparer has a nightmare on their hands trying to figure it all out. The guy that won the buckle won over $200k also.

We had a genuwine cowboy in our outfit in Korea in '61. He had been drafted, but didn't hold that 'gainst no one.

In between his normal cowboy jobs, he would do competitive things at the rodeo. I think he said that he rode quarter horses.
I don't remember which state he was from but Montana sticks in my mind.

He was a fine man who we all respected.

Another major problem for the health care bill?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/13/senate-democrats-consider_n_390201.html

The American taxpayer saves their bacon and rescues them from greedy stupidty, and this is the way banks are returning the favor

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/business/economy/13rates.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Damn, no one says nuthin' no more, eh? Here, I'll get it going:

Ron Paul.

Ralph Nader?

Re: Spending bill:

Legalizing marijuana in D.C.? Now they'll have an excuse for all their crappy legislation.

Re: Obama's Nobel acceptance speech:

...reminds me of Moe Green justifying his "business practices".

ROME — An attacker hurled a statuette at Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, striking the leader in the face at the end of a rally Sunday and leaving the stunned 73-year-old media mogul with a broken nose and bloodied mouth

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h-gZ27SjSkQz0utROaRHDDidV2EgD9CIM4K80

dooty, my thanks too. by my book, he won big time by being able to walk away unscathed.

...knocked that cheesy smile off Silvio's face, huh, pat?

"Michael: Is that why you slapped my brother around in public?
Fredo: Aw, now that, that was nothin', Mike. Moe didn't mean nothin' by that. Yeah, sure he flies off the handle every once in a while, but me and him, we're good friends, right Moe?
Moe Greene: I got a business to run. I gotta kick asses sometimes to make it run right. We had a little argument, Freddy and me, so I had to straighten him out.
Michael: You straightened my brother out?
Moe Greene: He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn't get a drink at the table! What's the matter with you?"

-from "The Godfather", 1972

We had some snow flurries, but they've disappeared now. Rain on schedule for the next three days, so if the temperature will cooperate and drop, the neighborhood should be dressed for the holidays.

Hey Champ,
Thanks for trying to get this place talking again.I guess people are either really busy with life or just plain sick of the broken political system.Out of sight out of mind?

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273937

Jamie,
Its just the opposite here,a humid,sunny 87 today..Plenty of decorations on the palm trees..It takes some getting used to coming from Michigan,still a really nice time of year..

"Broken political system", tony? It's working just like it's supposed to.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273940

Oh Champ,
I disagree.Gridlock.What have the Democrats(with a large majority) done for the good of the people?Where's the change the voter's were promised?..Broken,oh yes..

Champ,
Cooked a nice beef roast earlier,in my Mom's dutch oven.Very good,with carrot's and potato's,rutabagas too. This time of year I sure miss my Mom.

I/m @ the spark lab -

We cashed that " Big Medicene" check here,

You're missing my point, tony. Broken for you (and the rest of the working class), maybe, but not for those running the show.

I could use some roast beef right now, but I'm settling for a veggie burger. Mmmm... processed soy.

Oh, and the "change" = a non-white figurehead, and increased relative ease in procuring cannabis. That's about it.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273945

Got you.I get it now,don't disagree.It just wasn't the change i was looking for when i voted for the President.Wish I could provide you with some BEEF! I admire your dedication though.Oh,how did the guitar turn out?Think about posting a pic sometime.

I'll send you a pic if you keep it to yourself.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273947

I sure will.tbassham@cfl.rr.com

Tony,

Even our host has been semi missing for the weekend. I imagine most people are swamped with it being a week until Christmas. I'm getting ready to ship out two grandsons to spend time with their mother, so it's been shop, pack, shop for what we missed, pack .... repeat as necessary.

Jamie, possession is 9/10ths of the law. Hang on to the grandkids :)

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273949

Jamie.
It makes sense especially this time of year.Its the reason when x-mas is over we can all breath a sigh of relief.I thought of Craig earlier as I know he loves Dexter and it was the season finale.Glad your grandson's get to spend time with their Mom.I sure think of my Mom this time of year,sure miss her,damn cancer...

Tony, it sucks being an orphan. Understand that you have a lot of company.

You still there, tony?

Tony and Flatus, I miss my mom pretty regularly, and she's been gone sine '83. I'm glad I had her to miss. She could be a real problem, but the best person to watch tv - just damn good company.

Patd. That's one of the nicest things a person has ever said to me, that hews re champagne! The Safeway near me charges less than $15 a bottle i I buy six bottles of my favorite Gloria Ferrer blanc des noirs - HA! That could become my drink of choice except keeping the bubbles sharp might be a problem
cuz I don't drink it that fast.

I've been lurking and not writing cuz I don't have anything to say - I'm in denial, I told you. I'm not gonna let the bastards get me down and angry because I can't stand that.

Serfy, Can Lord Bloggington come out and play? pretty please????????????????????

He's dead, beth; sorry.

Ran across this managing my bookmarks, good for a quiet night, haven't heard it in a long while. it was great movie too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzsyV0g6jvE

The original score opening was unusually too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC0On6WJ4PA

Tiger should quote CH Luke:

"Oh come on! Stop beatin' it! Get out there yourself. Stop feedin' off me. Get out of here. I can't breathe. Give me some air. "

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273954

bethy, you're welcome. glad to know another bubblehead. to get me thru my first semester at law school, my brother gave me a case of champagne splits. one little bottle was religiously cooled, popped and savored with great ritual from the tulip glass each and every friday night of that dreadful year of mind mushing.

"Stop feedin' off me."

rez, isn't it ironic that the first to dump tiger was accenture (nee arthur anderson of questionable integrity)? pot kettle syndrome?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-tiger-woods14-2009dec14,0,6063786.story

holiday season sentiments abound. wonderful time of the year. neighbors helping out neighbors.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8411215.stm

dark lord, r.i.p.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krJW2qMVv4M&feature=related

my 6:30 was in reference to this post
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/12/obama-caves-to-drug-lobby.html#comment-273955

btw NEW THREAD