Monday, August 31, 2009
skippy's monday nite music club
Labels: healthcare, music, skippy's music club
people unclear of the concept
when the station fire barreled toward their community in the gold canyon area, they refused to leave.
but then firefighters set backfires in the area, and now the five residents are asking to be rescued, according to authorities.
the problem is there is no way to get to them. - latte times
Labels: brush fires, fires, los angeles
no...not a volcano
Sunday, August 30, 2009
skippy's sunday nite music club
Labels: doctors, healthcare, music, skippy's music club
station fire expected to reach mt. wilson
the communications towers house transmitters for every major television station in los angeles.
“we expect it to get there in the next two to four hours,” said county fire capt. mark savage.
- latimes
Labels: brush fires, fires, los angeles
almost darwin award winners
the l.a. county sheriff's department today provided new details on the three people who were burned while protecting their homes saturday in big tujunga canyon.
two of the people injured refused a mandatory evacuation order, said sheriff’s department spokesman steve whitmore. he said that the two didn’t realize how serious the threat of the fire was, and that they thought they could protect themselves by jumping into a jacuzzi. - latimes
Labels: brush fires, fire, los angeles
while goldman sachs rakes in the money
....mccloskey and cheverez, 61, share something in common: both tried to modify their mortgages with litton. now they are homeless with their credit ruined.
litton, based in houston, texas and owned by goldman sachs, handles the operations aspects of consumer loans including sending out statements, receiving and tracking payments, notifying consumers of overdue payments and initiating foreclosure proceedings.
consumersaffairs.com has received dozens of consumer complaints -- including cheverez and mccloskey -- stating that litton promised loan modifications, but the process dragged out and they were told months later that they did not qualify. - consumeraffairs
Labels: financial markets, foreclosure, goldman sachs, homeless, wall street
say a little prayer today
environmental stories sunday
huge fires raging uncontained are in la canada-flintridge (threatening thousands of homes, nasa's jpl and mt. wilson observatory, along with broadcast/communication lines into/out of lala) and yosemite.
wells in the acreage: shallow drilling risking quality?. - thousands of private wells in a palm beach county subdivision have been drilled illegally, without permits, and many are so shallow that homeowners are exposed to health risks from both inside and outside their homes, a palm beach post investigation has found - palm beach post
pipes may leak lead. - santa clarita valley water agencies said they don't use pvc pipes, which recent studies have shown to leech lead into the water they carry, but the inexpensive plastic piping has become popular in the construction of new homes, officials said. - santa clarita signal
bottled water firms turn to scare tactics. - aides working for bottled water producers are planning to use scare tactics to protect falling sales in scotland by attacking the quality of tap water supplied to consumers.
rain tests water rules. - constant rain and financial hardship have both exposed a major problem facing municipalities around albany county: sewer systems that are often overrun by heavy rain and governments that don't have the millions of dollars needed to upgrade often antiquated systems - albany times union
india's generation of children crippled by uranium waste. - their brains never grew, speech never came and their lives are likely to be cut short; these are the children it appears that india would rather the world did not see—the victims of a scandal with potential implications for coal-fired power plants. - london observer
xcel fire near georgetown brings charges. - three companies and two executives were indicted by a federal grand jury in denver for violating workplace safety and health rules that led to the deaths of five men at the cabin creek hydro plant near georgetown in october 2007 - denver post
two companies, 2 execs indicted in tunnel deaths. xcel energy, rpi coating inc. and two rpi executives face criminal charges in the deaths in a federal indictment that alleges they knew about the danger and did nothing about it. - ap
perriello, area groups contradict lobbying firm. - the office of u.s.. rep. tom perriello and several charlottesville groups are disputing statements submitted by a washington lobbying firm to a congressional committee investigating a phony letter scandal. - charlottesville daily progress
voyage confirms plastic pollution. scientists have confirmed that there are millions of tonnes of plastic floating in an area of ocean known as the north pacific gyre. - bbc
water shortage wilts calif.'s san joaquin valley. - after three years of drought, california's legendary water wars are flaring once again. farmers blame the area's blight on a "man-made drought" brought on by increasingly strict environmental regulations, but that is only the beginning of the story - newsweek
water shortage threatens two million people in southern iraq. - a water shortage described as the most critical since the earliest days of iraq's civilisation is threatening to leave up to 2 million people in the south of the country without electricity and almost as many without drinking water. - london guardian
10,000 homes are threatened. - the unstoppable angeles national forest fire threatened 10,000 homes saturday night as it more than tripled in size and chewed through a rapidly widening swath of the crescenta valley, where at least 1,000 homes were ordered evacuated - latte times
Time Lapse Test: Station Fire from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.
Labels: brush fires, coal, ecology, energy, environment, water
Saturday, August 29, 2009
skippy's saturday nite music club
Labels: hurricane, katrina, music, new orleans, skippy's music club, youtube
the san gabriel foothills are burning
and it's not looking pretty.
a brush fire burning in the angeles national forest north of la canada flintridge has expanded to at least 20,000 acres, according to fire officials, knocking out power to hundreds of homes and forcing evacuations in a number of communities.
..."it's moved over to altadena, southeast of where it stated, it's moved north, east and southwest. it's been basically moving all over the place," forest service spokesman bruce quintelier said. - ktla
and some rocket scientists are sweating...the fire is approaching the nasa's jet propulsion lab.
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20150906212457im_/http://yourscene.latimes.com/PHOTOS/LATM/1UserPhotos/606838E.jpg)
Fire above JPL
Labels: brush fires, fires, flickr, los angeles
4 years ago
katrina was a fairly terrible natural disaster. but it turned into a horrific social catastrophe because of the response of the people in power, spurred on by their willingness to believe a hysterical, rumour-mongering media. (journalists on the ground were often fiercely empathic and right on the mark, but those at a remove were all too willing to believe the usual tsunami of cliches about disaster and human nature.)
the story that few can wrap their minds around is that ordinary people mostly behaved well – there were six bodies in the superdome, including four natural deaths and a suicide, not the hundreds that the federal government expected when it sent massive refrigerator trucks to collect the corpses. on the other hand, people in power behaved appallingly, panicking, spreading rumours, and themselves showing an eagerness to kill and a pathological lack of empathy. - the guardian
Labels: disasters, hurricane, katrina, natural disasters, new orleans
Friday, August 28, 2009
skippy's friday nite music club - rip ellie greenwich
la times:
she was being treated for pneumonia and "some other heart issues" at st. luke's- roosevelt hospital center in new york when she suffered the heart attack, weiner said.
"she was the greatest melody writer of all time," brian wilson told the times on wednesday. the chief creative force of the beach boys, whose music was strongly influenced by many of the hits greenwich and her husband jeff barry wrote with spector, has often cited "be my baby" as his favorite record of all time.
so in honor of ms. greenwich, we present a trio of her hits:
the crystals - da doo ron ron
the dixie cups - chapel of love
the ronettes - be my baby
greenwich was also one of the first female record producers in history, having started in the famed brill building stable of artists (watch the flick "grace of my heart" starring illeanna douglas as a highly-fictionalized version of carole king to find out more about this piece of song-writing history). greenwich also wrote for skippy's personal fav, neil diamond, among others.
the times also tells us that "the music publishing rights organization broadcast music inc. lists more than 200 songs she wrote or co-wrote, including 'then he kissed me' (the crystals), ‘i can hear music’ (the ronettes, beach boys), ‘hanky panky’ (a hit for tommy james & the shondells), ‘maybe i know’ (lesley gore) and the song spector considered his greatest recording, ‘river deep, mountain high’ (ike and tina turner)."
her songs were definately a major part of boomer childhood. rest in peace, ellie greenwich.
addendum: amanda @ pandagon is correct: phil spector is evil.
"people who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them"...
Labels: right hypocrisy
mad about the alphabet
not the catchiest of chants
hell, no!, we won't go! to a doctor just because the federal government pays for it!
apparently, our tax money is better spent on halliburton showers that electrocute the troops.
Labels: healthcare, republicans
i once told skippy he should cut me loose...
he wouldn't have any of that. the big roo still likes me to this day -- and i have no idea why. all i know is, i'm scrappy to skippy's scooby, and i don't want to do this anymore. skippy is number one in blogtopia, has been for many years, and i don't care what anyone says to the contrary. i can't do this anymore. i feel like i'm ruining this blog.
and this isn't another "i quit" post. i have a blog of my own, and i intend to work with it later on. i'm just done here.
thanks for everything. and best of luck from here on out...
Labels: music
Thursday, August 27, 2009
skippy's thursday nite music club
Labels: healthcare, music, skippy's music club, youtube
we're on fire....again
a brush fire in rancho palos verdes is spreading rapidly, endangering homes and forcing evacuations.
...structures, including homes, are threatened and immediate evacuation orders have been issued in the portuguese bend area of rancho palos verdes.
power lines, alight with flames, were spotted by the ktla sky 5 chopper.
the fire climbed from 1 to 3 alarms within a time frame of about half an hour - ktla
then there's the fire heading toward la canada-flintridge, the one in san bernardino, the one in santa clarita and the one in yosemite.
cr*p.
Labels: brush fires, california, fire department, fires, los angeles
we've got a primary physician crisis here in santa barbara
a june 2009 study by the california healthcare foundation reported that santa barbara county has 58 primary-care doctors per 100,000 people, with 60 per 100,000 considered adequate. It also found the county has 125 specialists per 100,000 people.
...the average solo-practitioner here nets about that of a veteran teacher or a high-ranking cop — minus the retirement and health benefits. what’s wrong with that? nothing, if you’re a regular person putting in a regular 40-hour week. but consider the eight to 10 years doctors spend getting educated, the six-figure medical debt they’re paying off, the nights and weekends they have to be on-call, and the cost of raising kids here, and the appeal of such a salary shrinks.- santa barbara independent
Labels: doctors, healthcare, public health, santa barbara
town hall-lelujah
the 59th street bridge song
fdr first considered a national health in the 1930s. lbj signed medicare into being in 1965. numerous other countries have had single payer plans for decades. ted kennedy, may he rest in peace, fought to pass universal health care for decades. the last serious run at it in this country took place in the eraly 1990s, a decade and a half ago.
what the hell is this "rush" they keep blathering about? we're decades behind time.
and now, a musical interlude:
and now, the 59th street bridge song as performed by mark easley:
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
skippy's wednesday nite music club
Labels: cars, healthcare, movies, music, skippy's music club, youtube
two legacies
how many millions will feel a sense of loss when the bushes pass as millions do now for the kennedys.
ode to ted kennedy
down the penrose lane
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
skippy's tuesday nite music club
Labels: movies, music, skippy's music club, white house, youtube
a heartbreaking irony
god speed, teddy.the man known as the "liberal lion of the senate" had fought a more than year-long battle with brain cancer, and according to his son had lived longer with the disease than his doctors expected him to.
"we've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," the kennedy family said in a statement. "he loved this country and devoted his life to serving it." - abc news
yep...we're on fire again
fire crews battled a blaze in rugged terrain in the angeles national forest on tuesday as officials were predicting extreme fire conditions for the next several days in mountain areas across southern california.we're in red flag warning across lo-cal from thusday through sunday. cross your fingers. it's going to be a long weekend.
Labels: brush fires, fire, los angeles
republicans want america destroyed
michael steele, chairman of the republican national committee, this week revealed a secret republican plan that would end up eliminating all federal farm subsidies; closing down yellowstone and yosemite national parks; selling off the interstate highway system; and canceling head start, subsidized school lunches and the entire college loan program.the wapo's steven pearlstein will host a web discussion at 11 a.m. 8/26 at washingtonpost.com. he can be reached at pearlsteins@washpost.com
...steele's stunning announcement brings the conservative strategy of "starving the beast" to a new level. under the guise of protecting the elderly, republicans hope to realize their dream of eliminating half a dozen cabinet agencies, firing tens of thousands of government workers and ending government regulation as we know it.- wapo
Labels: america, education, farmers, nature, poverty, republicans, rnc, two americas
get beck to where you once belonged
the clorox co., a former beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." the maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that is has decided not to advertise on political talk shows.
fair warning: contains foul language...
truth be told, i didn't really want to embed this one on someone else's blog. and i'm still not sure why i've done it. is it because i don't care anymore? is it because i care too much? or do i just not know what else to do or say at this point?
maybe it's because posting nothing but music clips only goes so far. it's a great way to unwind while taking a break from all the political nonsense, especially during an odd-numbered year. but that's all it amounts to -- it's easy to think that you're finished with the political blogging scene when in fact you're just taking a really long break, and deep down, you know it.
the mid-term elections will be over sooner than you think, and then we'll be hearing of virtually nothing but what i call "the son of the two-year root canal" -- two years of totally unnecessary presidential campaign coverage until the morning after election day 2012.
well, guess how i'll be voting in 2012. i'll give you a hint: i never thought i'd feel this way this far down the road, but i'm glad i voted for ralph nader in 2000. democrats have told me that it was people like me who cost al gore the election -- and i used to believe that. then i remembered one salient fact: i'm not a conservative ideologue sitting on the us supreme court. so no, it wasn't my fault gore lost to bush. of course, if gore had won his home state's electoral votes, he would have won the presidency as well.
and i wouldn't have to say to people now, "maybe my guy never stood a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but at least my vote counted." given the way things have gone this year, and that i see no evidence that things will change for the better no matter what the voters voted for last year, i've decided that i like it better when the guy i vote for loses. that beats the hell out of seeing your hopes raised only to be dashed.
goodbye, democratic party -- and good friggin' luck.
my 2 cents...
* * *
oh, and one other thing...
can someone please explain to me why the audience is clapping and cheering in that george carlin clip above? shouldn't they be screaming bloody murder instead?
what gives?
Labels: america, it is what it is, life, politics
2 million americans hospitalized for flu...a sobering thought
nearly 2 million americans could be hospitalized during this winter's novel h1n1 influenza pandemic, with as many as 300,000 clogging intensive care units in heavily affected regions, according to a report released monday by the president's council of advisors on science and technology.can we really afford not to make every american able to get healthcare...not just health insurance? there is a big difference...and we need to fight for healthcare. we need to take the profit out of letting people die.
overall, 20% to 40% of the population could develop symptoms of the strain commonly known as swine flu, and 30,000 to 90,000 could die, according to the report. during a normal flu season, the virus kills about 35,000 americans. - latte times
i still can't get the visual in my mind after listening to a mother describe her young son vomiting up bile and dying a slow painful death because the insurance company wouldn't cover a colonoscopy. how do these ceo's making $102,000/hour call themselves humans...how can they sleep at night?
Labels: flu, healthcare, public health
Monday, August 24, 2009
skippy's monday nite music club
Labels: skippy's music club, youtube
chairman governor dr. dean
...much has been made of the 47 million americans who don't have health insurance. but the healthcare reform debate should also focus on the fact that an estimated 25 million working-aged americans have health insurance but still can't afford to see a doctor.why isn't chairman governor dr. dean in this administration?
the fact is, there is a huge debate about how much of our health insurance should be in government hands. but our real challenge is dealing with the extraordinary damage that the private health insurance system has done to countless americans who thought they had health insurance, faithfully paying huge amounts of money into the system over many years, only to find that their insurance company refused to stand behind them when they needed it most.
Labels: corporations, greed, healthcare, howard dean
you're gonna lose that squirrel
i know nosseng! nosseng!
![Photobucket](http://web.archive.org./web/20150906212457im_/http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d11/skippybkroo/Glenn_Beck_East_German.jpg)
"ho-gaaan!!! gen. burkhalter,
so happy to see you!!!"
when is a vacation not a vacation? maybe, when it's not voluntary? tvnewser:
contrary to that, our tipsters tell us it was beck himself who was telling fox staffers last week that he was "forced to take the week off."
and, glenn, about the title of your new tome? it takes one to argue w/one...
ridge has ruffles
gop congressman to file suit asking when obama stopped beating his wife
franks said there was not enough evidence that obama is not an american citizen. he did say there was a lot of conflicting evidence of obama's citizenship and that he was considering filing a lawsuit, the only congressman to do so. franks asked why the president did not simply produce a birth certificate.
but pesonally, we hope that rep. franks does file a public lawsuit! we'd love to bring just how loony the gop is back into the spotlite.
also, it wouldn't hurt the now-muddled healthcare debate to remind everyone just how rabidly out-of-touch-w/reality the "party of no" actually is. death panels? check. obama as manchurian zulu commie candidate? check. just add 'ufo's flurodating our water for zombie mind control' and you've got a conspiracy theory parade big enough to make david icke look sane.
a vote for a blogger is a vote for blogtopia!
as many of you know, i left professional life two years ago to write. the last year has been excellent to me career-wise. and there is a development afoot i could use your help with.
i submitted a panel idea for south by southwest interactive 2010 and could use your votes. hosting this panel would be a very huge career boost.
if you would, follow the link, create an account and vote for my account, which is found at the link below. i would be very, very grateful for your help!
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/2777
as a last request, if you have any friends who would find this interesting, please pass it on to them as well! i can use all the help i can get. and if you are a blogger, please consider linking!
regards,
sean
monday morning music youtubery...
"sweet home alabama" by... the leningrad cowboys and russia's red army choir?
okay. there's nothing intrinsically wrong with this. and they do perform it well. but it's still rather odd...
Labels: music
Sunday, August 23, 2009
then again, lieberman would have sounded even stupider if he said "beetlejuice, beetlejuice, beetlejuice!"
asked sunday on cnn's state of the union about baldwin’s recent comments that he might move to connecticut and mount a challenge to lieberman because, as baldwin told playboy magazine, “i have no use for [lieberman],” the independent senator responded, “you know, make my day.”
but, to be fair to joe, there aren't that many famous alec baldwin lines, short of screaming @ his 11 year old daughter.
sunday morning music youtubery...
frankly, i don't give a rat's goddamned ass what anyone says, i say genesis is the best rock 'n roll band of all time.
that, and on those occasions when neither skippy nor cookie jill serve up any new nightly music club tunes, and i happen to not be working that night... well, this is what you get. i am f&%k#@g nuts. deal with it.
and enjoy the song...
Labels: music
Saturday, August 22, 2009
that explains a lot
amm: it is crazy, isn’t it? so many people saying so many things, and so many issues to keep track of! it kind of makes our heads spin.
ca: uh, i was hoping you had some insight into why it’s gotten so crazy. i mean, now we’ve got people showing up with firearms to presidential town halls and people screaming “heil hitler" at jews and ...
amm: yeah, isn’t that great? ratings are through the roof! you can really feel the excitement.
ca: pardon me? people are threatening violence because a democratic administration might be considering public health insurance? that’s not exciting, that’s lunacy. why doesn’t anybody explain the “public option" to these nutcases?
amm: with all due respect, michael, that’s not really our job.
ca: ...
amm: no, really. we’re not in the business of pushing some president’s agenda, unless it’s a war. we’re in the business of reporting what people say. and if some people say that obama’s plan will feed your grandma to the wood chipper, and some people happen to disagree with that, then it’s our responsibility to report both sides fairly. that’s all part of democratic debate, and we’re proud to play our part!
ca: so, so you’re actually saying it’s your job to report complete falsehoods without challenging them?
amm: that’s basic journalistic ethics, yes. besides, even if it was our job to choose sides, which it isn’t, we’re just not well equipped to handle this kind of thing. health care involves very serious policy issues and complicated stuff about money, and everyone knows math is hard and policy is boring. so we try to concentrate on what we do best.
ca: which is?
amm: determining who won the week! this week, we think it’s chuck grassley. the big loser? anthony weiner—or is it “whiner"? that’s a joke. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! but if you’re looking at the long term, then the person who definitely won the month is sarah palin, whose “death panels" remarks were a real game changer that really forced the obama people to play defense. that totally changed the game.
ca: you know, you’re reporting on serious national issues as if this were some kind of sport. it’s all horse-race fun and games for you, isn’t it?
amm: a horse race! we didn’t even think of that. we love a horse race. we can see kent conrad in kelly green and gold, with dick armey closing on him in black and silver....
Friday, August 21, 2009
skippy's friday nite music club
gimmee the car - violent femmes
it's worse than you think...
just wait until it gets to around 4:35. this is so sad...
Labels: america
happy big 5-0, hawai'i!
president barack obama commemorated Hawaii’s 50th statehood anniversary today with a proclamation lauding “the extensive and rich contributions of native hawaiian culture to our national character.” - honolulu star bulletinaloha! hau'oli la hanau....
hope you stop by a couple of our favorite hawaiian sites on the internet(s). our bloggy buddy, linkmeister, the local deliciousness found at edible hawaiian islands and you gotta try some delicious macadamia nut honey from big island bees.
no wonder they don't believe in climate change
town hall reports that (gov. charlie) crist was speaking to a group of real estate agents, and credited prayer notes in the western wall in jerusalem with preventing his state from being hit by hurricanes during his time as governor. - talking points memoi'm sure governor too tanned for his own good is now putting prayer notes to add an "h" to his last name just in time for his run for president.
the republicans are showing the world we are a stupid, stupid people.
presidents...schmesidents
the 15-member committee, stacked with 10 republicans, is expected to vote along party lines. earlier this year, a panel of right-wing “experts” produced a report urging the committee to remove biographies of george washington, abraham lincoln, stephen f. austin, and césar chávez, and instead add history about the “motivational role the Bible and the christian faith played in the settling of the original colonies.” - think progressrewriting history to show favoritism for a particular party. wasn't that tried before in world history? oh, yeah...forgot...those parts were taken out of textbooks.
Labels: education, gingrich, limbaugh, republicans, texas
smells like all internet traditions we are aware of
plus! if you order now, from a special tv offer in a galaxy far, far away...
bringin' the bogus
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 1 | ||||
|
note that this is the extended interview. there's a lot more than you saw on tv last night. go to comedycentral.com for part 2 of the extended interview.
here's a link to hr 3200, the bill in question. what other blog gives you all this information? none of them do the job tha skippy the bush kangaroo does.
by the way, when mccaughey says, in part 2, that she wants the country to spend more on health care and not less, she doesn't mention that she sits on the board of the cantel medical corporation. nor does she discuss, in the entire interview, the fact that the us already spends far more per capita than any other country on earth and that those countries that save so much money have single payer systems and better health care results. she also brought up a letter from a physician that supports her contention that hr 3200 would enable the government to interfere with care for patients, but the letter is an emotional plea that doesn't cite any specifics and, whenever she discussed the actual bill, her arguments seemed based on air rather than the very language that was being read aloud during the interview. so nobody knows whether that physician actually understands the bill or received her information about it from a misreading of the legislation provided by someone like mccaughey. remember that, during the bush administration, one of the administration's favorite tactics was to plant a story in the press and then cite that story as support for their claims ("but tim, the new york times reported the same things we are saying just yesterday.") In addition, note that there are astro-turfing programs going on, which have been widely reported, for the express purpose of derailing hr 3200 and health care reform. i am a little disappointed that stewart didn't send that "letter" back over the net at her.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
why do republicans hate americans?
Labels: america, republicans
say hello
mad about obama
down the penrose lane
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
skippy's wednesday nite music club
mbube - solomon linda & the evening song birds
solomon linda wrote this song, whose title is zulu for "lion." pete seeger eventually re-recorded it, mishearing the chorus as "wimoweh." here's the carnegie hall reunion of seeger's group, the weavers, singing their version (w/some fan comments beforehand; song starts @ about 1:30):
wimoweh - the weavers
wikipedia tells us that songwriters george david weiss, luigi creatore, and hugo peretti eventually added some words, describing the legend upon which the song was based: the leader of the zulu, shaka, known as "the lion," did not die when the europeans took over their land; instead, he simply went to sleep, and someday he will wake up and led his people again.
the tokens recorded this new version, the one that we are all familiar with:
the lion sleeps tonight - the tokens
addendum: after posting this over @ the seminal on fdl, commentor watt4bob adds the coda to the story:
i also found a story about a settlement that may have helped put a happy ending on what was a sort of sad history;
the lawsuit arose in 2003, after the song was used in walt disney’s international hit the lion king, released in 1994. the film was adapted into a massively successful broadway musical in 1997.
the lion sleeps tonight reportedly earned more than $15 million us worldwide for disney.
in the lawsuit, linda’s family members had claimed that they were due millions of dollars in royalties from disney’s use of the song.
in july 2004, the family won a court order to attach more than 240 disney trademarks registered in south africa — including images of mickey mouse and donald duck — to their $1.6-million us lawsuit, in order to establish local jurisdiction for their case.
linda’s three surviving daughters and 10 grandchildren live in poverty in johannesburg’s soweto township. their lawyers say they have only ever received a one-time payment of $15,000 us for the song. …
and, seegar fans will be thankful to know that the folk god admitted the mistake, and tried to make amends:
double addendum: other versions of note: the nylons (a capella), the rivets (german singing group), chet atkins on guitar, ladysmith black mambazo (who go back to the original linda roots, and also sing a capella along w/the mint juleps).
finally, don't miss saskia konz, on bagpipes, serenading actual monkeys in an actual jungle.
power rock and spurt
the coal-industry group families organized to represent the coal economy, which doesn’t actually allow families to join, has a wonderfully crappy coloring book for children. - grist
taking the lead out of astroturf
conservatives for patients' rights is led by health care entrepreneur rick scott, the co-founder of solantic urgent care walk-in centers, which he's spread across florida and is looking to expand. while 80 percent of its patients have at least some insurance, solantic also bills itself as an alternative to emergency-room care and a resource for patients with no insurance.
scott left his job as ceo of the columbia/hca hospitals during a federal medicare fraud probe in 1997 that led to a historic $1.7 billion settlement. he wasn't prosecuted and got a golden parachute.
...freedomworks, which has been advocating against the overhaul but has not launched tv ads, is chaired by dick armey, the former republican majority leader of the house of representatives from texas.
but also noteworthy are the group's other backers and board members. they include billionaire flat-tax proponent and former gop presidential candidate steve forbes; richard j. stephenson, who founded cancer treatment centers of america, which offers alternative as well as standard therapies, sometimes not covered by insurance; and frank m. sands, sr., chief executive officer of an investment management firm whose offerings include a healthcare leaders portfolio.
...patients first and patients united are creations of a larger group called americans for prosperity. afp's web site describes a grassroots organization with more than 700,000 members that advocates "for public policies that champion the principles of entrepreneurship and fiscal and regulatory restraint."
it was started by billionaire david koch, of the koch industries oil family, one of the country's top donors to conservative, free-market causes. the foundation's board includes art pope, a former north carolina legislator also involved in conservative causes, whose family owns hundreds of discount stores.
...club for growth, which advocates lower taxes, is led by president chris chocola, a former republican congressman from indiana who lost his re-election bid in 2006. club for growth this week announced a $1.2 million ad campaign against a health care overhaul, to run in north dakota, colorado, arkansas and nevada.
....60 plus association, is a conservative senior advocacy group that wants to abolish the estate tax. singer pat boone is the group's national spokesman. chairman jim martin started the group in 1992 with fund-raising help from conservative direct mail guru richard viguerie. It spent $1.5 million on tv ads opposing a healthcare overhaul in the last week. - mcclatchy
these folks are fighting to keep their practice of letting americans die for profit.
where are the current politicos calling out former politicos for this immoral behaviour?
we can't let these as(s)troturfers win.
Labels: healthcare, public health, republicans
perhaps they don't get it because they have healthcare
president obama's advisers acknowledged tuesday that they were unprepared for the intraparty rift that occurred over the fate of a proposed public health insurance program, a firestorm that has left the white house searching for a way to reclaim the initiative on the president's top legislative priority. - wapoi agree with the late paul wellstone...“i'm from the democratic party-wing of the democratic party” i don't know what wing some of these unnamed white house sources are from.
what are they going to be unprepared for next? that we want social security? a woman's right to choose? peace? breathable air? health oceans? non toxic drinking water? safe food to eat? a safe working environment?
Labels: dc, healthcare, obama, public health, white house
don hewitt passes
cbs news is confirming that sixty minutes' don hewitt has passed.
"60 minutes"spokesman kevin tedesco confirmed 86-year-old don hewitt has died. earlier this year, hewitt was diagnosed with a small, contained tumor. - cbs4denverwouldn't it be an interesting 60 minutes story to report on what mr. hewitt's healthcare during his battle with cancer was like and how much it cost.
thanks for the years of supporting tough questions, don.
Labels: journalists, passings, teevee
best headline we wished we'd seen
some 30,000 pot plants seized near california fire; santa barbara reports raging case of munchies
Labels: brush fires, santa barbara
liars. big fat liars. big fat racist liars.
obamacare is all about rationing - wsjour current "pay or die" healthcare is all about rationing. denying lifesaving healthcare from americans in order to pay for $102,000/hr insurance company ceos.
someone.....anyone....bueller? bueller?
Labels: healthcare, liars, obama, wall street
minnesota tele-townhall with senator amy klobuchar
it's a telephone conference call meeting, but despite the fact that i'll be in my office at home, i'll be packing, just to show that we liberals are no slouches when it comes to second amendment issues.
senator klobuchar is on record supporting the public option.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
if you can't say anything nice...
robert novak died today. i think that was very considerate of him.
hoppy birthday
stephanie louise miller and the mooks
(don't know if that is an "homage" to some of the often evil snark produced here at skippy the bush kangaroo, but we love stephanie miller and the mooks and listen regularly.)
she also had a great interview with the ever fabulous chairman governor dr. dean on this healthcare conundrum. i believe that she has clips up on her website. take a listen. tell them the "good" skippy told you to.
Labels: howard dean, radio, stephanie miller
and now, the last king crimson fix...
i'll always love the band. best live act i've ever seen, and probably always will be. but enough is enough. this is it.
enjoy... and then kiss it goodbye. i'm done with it.
Labels: music
birthday...
i'll take it. i've earned it. for you can add up the parts...
...you won't have the sum. maybe we're not supposed to understand it. any of it. i know i don't -- and not for lack of trying, either. i just don't understand it. doesn't process. doesn't even come close anymore.
still, it's my birthday. might as well enjoy it -- there's no guarantee i'll have a 40th, is there? of course not.
Labels: it is what it is, music
Monday, August 17, 2009
hey keith (my future husband) olbermann
i'd check into it. seems rather dubious to little ol' me.
Labels: advertising, healthcare, medicare, msnbc, olbermann, public health
cue the eric clapton song
cocaine contaminates majority of u.s. currency - for cocaine users, a rolled up $20 bill may be the most convenient tool for snorting the powder form of the drug. or so it would seem from a new analysis of 234 banknotes from 18 u.s. cities that found cocaine on 90 percent of the bills tested. - scientific american
free dog lake
the pooch being "free dog lake" which is how andrea, god bless her myoptic eyes, read the name of jane's blog.
mad about death panels
the name says it all
please let us buy into medicare
there would be no screaming against paying for abortions...no more screaming against pulling the plug on granny. let's see the rethuglicans tell their elderly constiutents that medicare is awful and they want to take it away. (which, as we already know, they really want to do...but won't actually say it outloud.)it would be so easy. you don't have to reinvent the wheel with this so-called "public option" that's a whole new program from the ground up. medicare already exists. it works. some people will like it, others won't - just like the post office versus fedex analogy you're so comfortable with.
just pass a simple bill - it could probably be just a few lines, like when medicare was expanded to include disabled people - that says that any american citizen can buy into the program at a rate to be set by the centers for medicare and medicaid services (cms) and the department of health and human services (hhs) which reflects the actual cost for us to buy into it.
so it's revenue neutral! - common dreams
Labels: healthcare, medicare, obama, public health
instead of being frogwalked into jail for crimes committed
former republican house majority leader tom delay will participate in the upcoming season of “dancing with the stars..." - think progresshe's not a star...he's a criminal. guess abc needs to change the title of the show.
Labels: criminal, republicans, teevee
miss spoke
the official said that the white house did not intend to change its messaging and that sebelius simply meant to echo the president, who has acknowledged that the public option is a tough sell in the senate and is, at the same time, a must-pass for house democrats, and is not, in the president's view, the most important element of the reform package. - the atlanticthis better be just a verbal blunder because the public option is the compromise with the nabobs of negativity. the rethuglicans have already said they aren't in this fight against healthcare reform for americans...they are out "to destroy the president." they don't care about the truth, they purposely spread lies and play the fear card. the ignorant and the glenn beckers glom onto the the hate spewage of cluster fox news.
other countries are coming out of their recessions faster than the u.s. because their citizens don't lose their healthcare when they lose their jobs...their citizens don't lose their houses when they are hospitalized...their citizens don't go bankrupt when confronted with outrageous medical bills. their citizens have money to keep their economies ticking by purchasing things. this healthcare reform is a serious issue for the continuation of the country. we can not continue to destroy the prosperity of the middle class, for the strength of our country lay in the strength of our workers, not the $102,000/hr healthcare insurance company execs.
time to call, write, fax, e-mail your congresscritters and let them know that since single payer is not on the table, the only thing worth fighting for is the public option. no if's, and's or but's. if they don't vote for the public option, have them slap an "(r) corporations" after their names as they have no interest in supporting the united states.
Labels: democrats, healthcare, public health
Sunday, August 16, 2009
prawns for dinner
"elvis isn't dead...he just went home"
environmental news story sunday
obama, mccain trips draw attention to canyon issues. - two high-profile visits to the grand canyon in the coming week will focus new attention on efforts to protect natural resources and manage uranium mining at the iconic site. - phoenix arizona republic
not a cloud. - texas is being punished by "exceptional" drought conditions. but water restrictions and conservation measures may effectively encourage residents to pay more attention to future water management. this is a growing concern not just in the lone star state, but all over america’s arid south-west. - economist
air pollution travels, kills thousands annually. - unseen and odorless, microscopic particles of air pollution wafting overseas and across continents kill some 380,000 people each year, according to a new study. - discover channel
giant glacier in antarctic is melting four times faster than thought. - satellite records show that if the melting of the pine island glacier in west antarctica continues at current rates, the main section will have disappeared in 100 years, 500 years sooner than thought just a decade ago. - london times
oil giants destroy rainforests to make palm oil diesel for motorists. - fuel companies are accelerating the destruction of the rainforest by secretly adding palm oil to diesel that is sold to millions of british motorists. - london times
oil lobby to fund campaign against obama's climate change strategy. the us oil and gas lobby are planning to stage public events to give the appearance of a groundswell of public opinion against legislation that is key to barack obama's climate change strategy, according to campaigners. - london guardian
emissions swaps. - president barack obama and the leaders of mexico and canada have begun laying the groundwork for a north american system for trading greenhouse gas emissions. - chemical & engineering news
astroturf will get the lead out. - the company that makes astroturf, a pioneering brand of artificial grass, has settled an environmental lawsuit with the state of california, agreeing to eliminate almost all lead from its product used on playing fields and residential backyards - latte times
controlling the ranching boom that threatens the amazon. - an area larger than france is given over to cattle, making ranching by far the biggest driver of deforestation in brazil’s amazon, responsible for more than three-quarters of forest loss. - yale environment 360
to landfills no more. - by 2019, montreal has the ambitious goal of diverting 80 per cent of recyclable materials, organic waste, household hazardous waste and textiles from landfills—putting montreal among the most environmentally-advanced cities in north america. - montreal gazette
mining the sea of plastic. - earlier this month, two ships sailed from california to study a large patch of the pacific ocean, known as the “plastic vortex,” where maritime currents are causing plastic litter to congregate -chemical and engineering news
federal government seeks feedback on perchlorate. -the u.s. environmental protection agency is seeking public comment on its re-evaluation of the scientific information on perchlorate in drinking water. - redlands daily facts
Labels: canada, drought, ecology, energy, environment, lead, obama, oil, pollution, water
Saturday, August 15, 2009
mrs. skippy goes to woodstock
mrs. skippy was a young lady barely out of her teens who worked as a counselor @ a summer day camp in nyc. she and three of her co-workers (one of whom had access to her mother's car) all were dying to go upstate to the festival. in those days, woodstock was constantly being talked about on the radio (the internet of the 60's) so mrs. skippy had a feeling deep inside that it was going to be something special, and she wanted to experience it.
they begged their boss to let them off an hour early on friday so they could beat the traffic. of course, being a boss, he refused. so they set off @ 5 pm out of the city, and it was bumper to bumper the whole way.
the girls had brought some sandwiches, and one girl brought a tent, plus they all had some money, because they inexplicably thought that there would be vendors w/wares available. little did they know how under-prepared they were.
by the time the young ladies got up towards the yasgur's farm, it was dark and drizzling. cars were lined up parked on both sides of the road, and there was no available parking. mrs. skippy's friend, who was driving her mother's car, finally just pulled into a field, and the girls jumped out.
unfortunately for the girls, they were nowhere close to the stage. so they hauled out their tent and sandwiches and sloshed thru the mud for what seemed like miles, towards the crowd.
they finally got closer and set up the one girl's tent. but it was too small to accomodate all 4 of them. so the resourceful young ladies traded their sandwiches for sleeping space in some other hippies' tents.
now, mrs. skippy did not take any drugs, she was not that kind of a girl (at least, not yet). and, as she tells it, the sleeping arrangements left a lot to be desired, as did the bathroom (non) facilities. the lines were immense to get into a port-a-potty. and tho there was a triage area for first aid, the line there was also stretching into infinity to get in.
but, in spite of that all, mrs. skippy loved it. she especially remembers richie havens' appearance
and jimi hendrix.
if you look on these videos, way in the back in the crowd, there's mrs. skippy dancing!
mrs. skippy tells us she knew from before she even left that fateful nite to drive upstate, that she was going to be a part of history, and that woodstock would be talked about for years to come.
skippy is very lucky to know mrs. skippy (for many reasons), but this weekend especially, for the excitement of being close to somebody that was, indeed, a part of history.
saturday morning music time...
i could have sworn i've posted this one before. but i didn't find it in the archives, so...
enjoy.
Labels: music
Friday, August 14, 2009
yeah....
so is santa cruz. looks like the chardonnay is going to be "really" toasty this vintage.
friday nite random 10
- if something is wrong w/my baby - patti labelle & travis tritt
- flower duet from lakme by delibes - joan sutherland & jane berbie
- my best friend's girl - the cars
- andante (2nd movement) - piano concerto no. 21 in c. major by wolfgang amadeu mozart, k. 467 ("elvira madigan") - the english philharmonic orchestra
- king of pain - the police
- wild thing - the troggs
- something else - little richard & tanya tucker
- love is a battlefield - pat benatar
- chain of fools - clint black & the pointer sisters
- crazy little thing called love - queen
digging himself a whole (foods)
as of today, the boycott is really picking up some steam.
while i don’t normally support boycotts (for the most part, i don’t think they’re terribly well organized or impactful), this one is different, and i do believe it can be very effective. here’s why:…
in calling for support of the boycott of whole foods, i’m making an educated guess that their average customer is very politically progressive in nature. and that is why, if liberals and progressives quit shopping at whole foods, the impact would be quickly apparent to the company’s board of directors. by quickly, i mean by this coming monday morning when the weekend receipts are tallied…
so, if you are a whole foods shopper, please consider honoring the boycott, at least for a short period of time. the impact will be very evident, and almost immediate…
some links:
join the whole foods boycott on facebook
la times: whole foods is in a whole lot of trouble
whole foods boycott on twitter
addendum: cookie jill points out that dino lanny davis helped mackey write the letter according to tpm; also, the moderate voice has a great round-up of the boycott.