Wassup with you?
do tell...

Tech Crunch had this story about viral weddings and youtube etc. But I just love the wedding video itself. How adorable. And what a nice way to start your new life together. Happy thought for the day!

The House passed a very weak and pathetic food safety bill. It was supposed to help the FDA get some teeth, resources and authority after the beef, spinach, pepper and peanut calamities of the last 2 years. It was supposed to help prevent food borne illness from spreading. Food borne illness that killed kids and seniors in the case of the peanut paste recall. We should be trumpeting this, except...

WASHINGTON -- The House passed legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration more authority and resources to prevent food-borne illnesses after a string of outbreaks involving peanuts, spinach, hot peppers and other foods.

The 283-142 vote came after lawmakers from rural districts won concessions that would exempt farms from paying a registration fee, curb the FDA's access to farm records and limit its ability to set production standards to only the foods most likely to be contaminated.

The legislation also exempts farms and food facilities regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Senate isn't expected to act on similar legislation until later this year.

So let me get this straight, the FDA can't...
inspect farms
inspect farm records
and is limited in setting any production standards for farms and food facilities
and can only inspect foods and facilities that are most likely to be bad? And who determines that?

Meanwhile big industrial food companies grow and grow, factory farms are free to keep up their unhealthy practices. Be ready for a new recall or scandal soon ladies and gents. This bill will do very little to change anything, and the system as it stands in unsustainable.

As many of you know I am a foodie and food professional. I have written a few times over on the old GNB about the mainlining of High Fructose Corn Syrup and how much we eat, and drink of it. Good news some of the perception is finally changing on the HFSC issue and both Starbucks and Jamba Juice are re-doing their menus to use just plain old natural sugars in their products and not the highly treated and processed HFSC.

Menu revamps at both coffeehouse giant Starbucks Corp. and smoothie leader Jamba Juice earlier this month have raised the stakes in the growing controversy over high-fructose corn syrup as a ubiquitous ingredient in American foodservice.

Starbucks said it will roll out a line of new baked goods without high-fructose corn syrup, starting June 30...

it would unveil a line of new baked goods made without what it called “unnecessary stuff,” including artificial flavors, colors, and, most significantly, high-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, which the chain said it has removed from the menu across the board.

Earlier this month, Emeryville, Calif.-based Jamba Juice also introduced a new food menu with sandwiches, salads, flatbreads and new Fruit Tea blends—all of which are also being promoted as free of HFCS and artificial flavors or preservatives. Now in 222 California locations, the menu is expected to be available throughout the 732-unit chain within a year, officials said.

A sweetener commonly used in place of sugar, HFCS has been assailed by some as a contributor to the nation’s growing problem with obesity and heart disease.- Nation's Restaurant News

In general it is time for Americans to stop OD'ing on Big Gulp's full of HFSC- and actually we should be eating less corn overall! Glad Starbucks and others are getting the message.

While the country celebrates our first Latina on the court, and a better standing in the world and at the same time grapples with the duel calamities of the health care and economic crises, CNN has been dithering away the hours with birth certificiates and racist currents in the persona of Lou Dobbs. Media Matters has been doing a great job of discrediting the reporting on CNN and exposing the craziness of both Dobbs and CNN president, Jonathan Klein.



All over the liberal blogosphere there has been some great reporting, exposing Dobb's racism and the nuttiness of the birthers in general. Maybe we can put this one to bed soon, it is certainly long past time.

NBC has a new poll coming out that indicates that if Sarah Palin left the governorship for fever dreams of 2012... well... she should've kept her day job.

Sarah Palin stepped down as Alaska governor on Sunday, and could be eyeing a presidential bid in 2012. But according to the poll, a whopping 67 percent of Americans -- and 43 percent of Republicans -- say they would not like to see her president someday.

-nuff said.

Crooks and Liars has a brilliant post up about heath care and the idiocy of the republican's idea that we don't need reform.

The Republican 10-Point Plan for Health Care:

1. 50 Million Uninsured in America
2. Another 25 Million Under-insured
3. Employer-Based Coverage Plummets Below 60%
4. Employer Health Costs to Jump by 9% in 2010
5. One in Five Americans Forced to Postpone Care
6. 62% of U.S. Bankruptcies Involve Medical Bills
7. Current Health Care Costs Already Fueling Job Losses
8. 94% of Health Insurance Markets in U.S Now "Highly Concentrated"
9. Dramatic Decline in Emergency Room Capacity
10. Perpetuating Red State Health Care Failure

For the details and data behind each, go read the post.

Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told colleagues during a "contentious" closed-door session Thursday that they should postpone the August break until they pass a sweeping health care reform bill.

The Democratic whip says he told his colleagues they will be criticized in the press for leaving town without passing a bill. "I think it will affect our standing with the American people if we don't do this as a party," Clyburn said afterward.

This is great news, I hope more senators and congresspeople will realize just how much is at stake here.

We need to get this done, and we need to get it done now. It's been a 50 year discussion already-- how much more time is needed?!?

Also, Here's a video of the FDL folks dropping off an amazing petition of 32,000 folks tell congress to stay in town and get the job done.

In a move that did not surprise me at all, spineless Senate Majority Leader, Hopeless Harry Reid, went on the record that there will be no heath care bill before the August recess.

WASHINGTON AP– Senate Democratic leaders on Thursday abandoned plans for a vote on health care before Congress' August recess, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's ambitious timetable to revamp the nation's $2.4 trillion system of medical care.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., delivered the official pronouncement on what had been expected for weeks, saying, "It's better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through." His words were a near-echo of Republicans who have criticized the rush to act on complex legislation that affects every American.

It kills me that on top of ignoring one of the top priorities that were the reason these guys are in the majority now... it kills me that he used GOP talking points to defend his pathetic position. Just like the Democratic Party weakness on Iraq over the last 9 years, just like their shameless preservation of the same old politics as usual on so many critical issues-- this one is going to cost American lives, literally. People with no insurance, or inadequate insurance will suffer while these folks delay. People will get sick, be unable to pay their bills, and yes, even die because of our lack of adequate heath care in America.

Chellie Pingree a freshman member of the House, explains why the delay is so disasterous and why the president should stick to his guys and get the congress to work through august if needs be;

If we go home for recess without passing this bill, we will give special interests and their lobbyists five weeks to dump millions of dollars into ad campaigns that spread misinformation and fear and confusion.

We will give them 5 weeks to do everything they can to kill the best chance we have had in a lifetime to more forward on significant health care reform. We must pass this bill now, we absolutely can not afford to wait.

Call and Write your senators and representatives, today.

Barely.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/22/concealed.weapons/

The gun lobby is getting more done under a democratic majority than they got accomplished with 8 years of Bush and Co. First a bill in Feb. easing restriction on gun toating in DC. In May, we got the chance to carry firearms in National Parks, and now this...

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)is pushing for a measure allowing gun owners to carry weapons across state lines. Even if the state that they are going to has stricter gun control laws. The measures in Feb. and May had Blue dog and other Democratic support to pass. And our fearless (not) leader of the Dems in the senate not only voted for them, but has indicated that Thune's measure will pass as well.

Thune's justification of this ridiculous and dangerous measure;

Thune described his amendment as a crime-prevention tool. "Since criminals are unable to tell who is and who is not carrying a firearm just by looking at a potential victim, they are less likely to commit crimes when they fear that they may come in direct contact with an individual who is armed," he said in the statement. Washington Post

That "logic" is so convoluted as to make Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh sound smart.

Who opposes this measure?
400 mayors *many from large cities
Law enforcement groups
and families of victims of gun violence
including the Families and students of Virgina Tech Victims

Unbelievable. Really. We need a new leader in the Senate.

UPDATE> we won this round. Barely defeated Thune's crazy bill thanks mostly to a bipartisan group of Mayors that spoke out against it. thank goodness. (though the margin should have been greater)

The Jesus General takes the prize this weekend for this brilliant post today; (prob. not safe for work)

Oppressing Patriots And Their Tiny "Little Soldiers"

Minutemen Bikini Battalian from JC Christian on Vimeo.

What a tough guy. And those swimsuit model shots! Future Pinup of the radical racist right! Yes I think we have a winner!

I remember something about "All Mankind".

whatch-you got goin on?
do tell...

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new H1N1 swine flu virus is still circulating and will likely cause more disease in the fall, when schoolchildren return from summer break, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Friday.

The virus, which has been declared a pandemic, is causing severe disease and deaths in older children and younger adults in the Southern Hemisphere, just as it has in the United States, the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat said.

"We are expecting an increase in influenza or respiratory illness that could be earlier than what we see with seasonal influenza," Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Wonder how this will effect flu shot scheduling and deployment as well as school health and human services programs. Seems like we don't have this one under control yet and just got a break a bit in the summer when the kids are not busy transmitting germs. Darn kids.

Anyway- did anyone here get Swine Flu? Know anyone who did? change the way you do things in anyway to avoid getting it? In Japan the gov. deployed anti-bacterial hand cleaner just about everywhere. It is on the reception table of my bank even! Besides that I have not really seen any changes.

h/t nwprogressive.org

He was reading my mind.

so,
Your thoughts for the day?

looks like a investigation, styled after the Pecora Commission during the depression, is finally being formed and taking up the task at hand- we needed this pre-bailout (then maybe we wouldn't have been paying for bonuses for companies that got us into this mess in the first place). But we certainly we need it now more than ever.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today announced their six appointments to the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, established by Congress to examine the domestic and global causes of the financial crisis.

The American people deserve nothing less than a full explanation of why so many people lost their homes, their life’s savings, and their hard-earned pensions,” said Pelosi. “To avoid a financial crisis of this magnitude in the future, the commission will conduct a thorough, systematic, and non-partisan examination of the failures in both government and financial markets. The men and women we are appointing today bring great experience and credibility to the work of the Commission. 7/15 Press Release

Now if only we could get them to officially do this kind of thing for other issues, like, say...

torture
war profiteering
war crimes
domestic spying
crimes against the constitution

But at least they are looking into the factors that got us into this economic mess-- though the answers are largely already known.

My votes for biggest economic crisis causers are

1. deregulation
2. greed and avarice
3. the GOP and other anti middle class orgs in the USA
4. Union busting
5. screwed up trade and human rights relationships
6. predatory lending *see #1

wash, rinse, repeat

Gets two thumbs up from me!
Just got back from the Japan premiere night.

David Yates, and the kids did a great job. How long do we have to wait for the next one???? Nov,2010... that is too cruel.

New polling on CBS has most people (even republicans) thinking she is NOT fit to be president.

Less than one in four Americans, 22 percent in particular, say she does have the ability to be an effective president. Only 33 percent of Republicans say she does. Sixty five percent of all Americans, and 51 percent of Republicans say she does not. CBS

Maybe now things will die down a bit, at least till the release of the damn book. She sure does know how to grab the stage and extend that 15 mins.

Get the Book

Read The Blog

too fun!

We saw a mini demo last night, very cool stuff. waiting for the go-live today...?

I'd like to see the same graphic with trends. Also too, alternative lifestyle households: what do they(we) spend?

Does this reflect your reality?

(click to embiggen)

h/t Gary at Posterous (which rocks, btw)via Visual Economics

The Appropriations Committee just removed a bunch of prohibitions on what DC can do with local taxpayer funds.

http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/FS_FY10_FC_Summary_as_amended_07.07.2009.pdf

Removing Special Restrictions on the District of Columbia: Eliminates prohibition on use of local tax funds for abortion, thereby putting the District in the same position as the 50 states. Also discontinues ban on use of funds in the bill for domestic partnership registration and benefits, and allows the District to implement a referendum on use of marijuana for medical purposes as has been done in other states.

interesting...

Well done. Let the games begin.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama nominated an Alabama country doctor who has three times resurrected her clinic in a fishing village after disasters to be U.S. surgeon general on Monday and help him advocate for healthcare reform.

Dr. Regina Benjamin promised to advocate for Obama's healthcare agenda as "America's doctor" if she gets the job as chief public spokesperson on health issues, saying her own family and patients have been victims of the failing U.S. system.

"Through floods and fire and severe want, Regina Benjamin has refused to give up. Her patients have refused to give up," Obama said in a White House Rose Garden announcement.

President Obama on his new SG

When people couldn't pay, she didn't charge them," Obama said. "When the clinic wasn't making money, she didn't take a salary for herself.-- He called Benjamin "a relentless promoter" of programs to fight preventable illness.

certainly doesn't sound like she'll be a shill for pharma, HMO's or the AMA.

great stuff recently over at Bagnews, one of my favorite sites to analyse the images from the corporate media. The one above is just wonderful, but lots of good other more "serious" discussion over there too.

You can Send Emanuel some support here. In addition to punishing the congress people in the pocket of pharma and hmo's we need to support and celebrate the folks doing the right thing. Send $5-10 every little bit helps.

Take a look at Cleaver's website. Pretty good progressive stuff across the board.

Ok, love this.

yeah right.

except when they are told to by the Vice President.
and
when they get called on 8 years of lies by the speaker of the house
and
when they try to discredit that speaker and pretend that there were no breifings about the 8 years of lies.

except for those cases and circumstances-- the CIA never lies...

The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency's director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

The report that Mr. Cheney was behind the decision to conceal the still-unidentified program from Congress deepened the mystery surrounding it, suggesting that the Bush
administration had put a high priority on the program and its secrecy. NYTimes

A bunch of people owe Nancy Pelosi an apology. The CIA lied to congress, and then they lied about telling congress that they had lied.

Looks like the AG, recently called the "Loneliest guy in Washington," is contemplating pursuing investigations into torture- breaking ranks with the Obama Agenda "No Looking Back" agenda.

Long-ish but worth while read. Something I don't say often about Newsweek any more.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/206300/page/1

...in late June Holder asked an aide for a copy of the CIA inspector general's thick classified report on interrogation abuses. He cleared his schedule and, over two days, holed up alone in his Justice Depart ment office, immersed himself in what Dick Cheney once referred to as "the dark side." He read the report twice, the first time as a lawyer, looking for evidence and instances of transgressions that might call for prosecution. The second time, he started to absorb what he was reading at a more emotional level. He was "shocked and saddened," he told a friend, by what government servants were alleged to have done in America's name.

I don't envy him this choice, politically difficult, morally imperative. I hope he does the right thing. It is our past and we need to deal with it. If we don't deal with it now- it will not just go away.

I am struck by the WWII stories of Germany and Japan. Both countries committed war crimes and atrocities beyond belief.

Japan, though, has yet to deal with some of these offenses where it concerns China, and Korea. The region thus has never recovered and the Japanese themselves have developed this schizophrenic relationship to issues of war, human rights, peace and cooperation. Most years the prime minister here still goes and pays respects at a shrine where some of the worst war criminals are honored. Every year there are outrages rampant about the issue of Korean "comfort women" which many Japanese politicos still deny the existence of. These issues plague Japan in Asia-- had they been dealt with decades ago I honestly believe things would be different and better here. This is a lesson to learn we cannot truly move forward in the Middle East and the rest of the world while these things remain hidden in shadow and secrecy. Time to face what we did and prosecute those that are found to have broken the law.

I hope Eric can summon the political and moral will to truly do the right thing.

Whatcha up to?
Do tell.

Photo By STEVE LOHR

In Japan there is a stark line between speaking your true mind (hone- HOE-NEH) or saying what needs to be said in public (tatemae TA TEH MY EH) to make the waters smooth and the machine well oiled.

From the White House Press Office--
President’s discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Aso at the G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy from National Security Spokesman Mike Hammer

"The President and Prime Minister Aso discussed the global economic crisis and reaffirmed the importance of economic stimulus and appropriate regulation to overcome current difficulties. They also discussed North Korea and agreed on the importance of full implementation of UNSCR 1874 and the denuclearization of North Korea. They discussed climate change and agreed on the importance of the upcoming Major Economies Forum meeting on climate change and on a successful outcome of the Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting in Copenhagen in December."

All I can say is this is total TATEMAE Not HONE. The Japanese government's idea of stimulus in this crisis is that they sent every tax paying citizen and working visa holder 12,000 yen Or $120.00. Which most people immediately used to pay their electric bill or some other small household expense. This did not stimulate jobs, it did not stimulate consumer spending and it did not even generate good will among the people as it is so small as to be almost worthless and a waste of time and money.

But in meeting after meeting you will hear Aso promise Obama and anyone else in hearing range- how serious the Japanese are about economic recovery plans and stimulus. That dog don't hunt.

Things will have to get a lot worse here before any real steps are taken. That is the real truth. And Japan's export supremacy is certainly at risk.

Great review of Dave Neiwert's book. I heard Dave speak on this at last year's Netroots, it was powerful stuff. And It is something we need to pay attention to.

I was happy to see more than 1/2 of the folks polled think Sarah Palin is unfit for the highest office in the land... but the 37% scares me. Deep.down.inside.

A new Public Policy Polling surveyfound that 55 percent of Americans think Sarah Palin is not fit to be president. Thirty-seven percent think she would be able to do the job.

As for her announcement last week that she was resigning as Alaska governor, 57 percent of respondents said that made them less likely to support her for president while 30 percent said it made them more likely to do so.

The poll of 923 likely voters was taken July 6-9 and has a margin of error of 3.2 percent. SeattlePI.com

Really, who are these people?

Illustration by Daniel Thibodeau

The Moscow trip is off to a good start, while the family toured the Kremlin (these girls are really getting to see the world!) Barack made big strides toward making the world safer for all our kids.

MOSCOW — President Barack Obama signed an agreement Monday to cut U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by at least one quarter, a first step in a broader effort intended to reduce the threat of such weapons drastically and to prevent their further spread to unstable regions.

Obama, on his first visit to Russia since taking office, and President Dmitri Medvedev agreed on the basic terms of a treaty to reduce the number of warheads and missiles to the lowest levels since the early years of the Cold War. The new treaty, to be finished by December, would then lead to talks next year on more substantial reductions. NYTIMES, By Clifford J. Levy and Peter Baker

Not only can he say Nuclear, but he is working hard to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Good steps.

One of the presistent thoughts I had since the Palin IQuiterod, was that if she thought the media and the critics were too hard now why in god's name would she ever continue on in any political or public field?

This thought was articulated with firm and strong language by Cynthia Tucker this weekend. (mashup by bluegal)



Listen, Sarah-cuda, I don't think you are cut out for this. really. Go back to the fishing boats and snow mobiles, relax and enjoy your book advance (but don't read the reviews). Public life in the age of the cable media is nothing but scrutiny. And let me say that I think they gave you a pass most of the time with glowing accounts of your so-called folksy charm. Quit now and spare us the two possible outcomes.

1. that we will have to watch you fall apart spectacularly on the world stage.
2. that you will take us all down with you.

Who am I kidding? it is clear that you are around to stay, might as well get the popcorn and hope that the "real" America isn't as stupid as you think they are.

I am aware of ALL of your internet traditions.

I think most ads are stupid, I am not a fan of TV mostly because of advertising, I hate brand names splashed all over my shirts, sneakers whatever. But usually I think ad designers are pretty smart and they do a lot of interesting psychological research before the do-what-they-do. But this ad series, I started noticing late last year, is JUST GROSS. The Beef people have gotten to clever for their own good here. These mountains of slimy looking meet towering over a broccoli forest just wig me out. And don't even get me started on the sick white gunk posing as snow... Ick. I like a good steak as much as they next person- but this is just unappetizing.

The Land of Lean Beef?
Mega-Meat FAIL

not.a.fan

Palin flip-flopped again when she started making threatening law suit rumblings this weekend. According to the Governor herself on Friday- she is stepping down so that the state of Alaska can stop paying for legal wrangling surrounding her administration- accept just after that she started threatening frivolous law suits against bloggers and media outlets that will certainly take up the time and money of the courts and will be thrown out as clearly protected by the first amendment.

Associated Press - July 5, 2009 6:24 PM ET JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A blogger who describes herself as "an ordinary American" says she will not be silenced by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The flap with Shannyn Moore is over remarks the blogger made about why Palin is resigning. Through her lawyer, Palin said she will file a lawsuit against Moore and media outlets that choose to republish like-minded "false and defamatory allegations." Moore came back fighting Sunday. The 39-year-old single mother and housepainter says Palin is a "coward" and a "bully" for threatening to sue her on the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Moore, who was born in Alaska, says she feels it is her right and patriotic duty to hold elected officials accountable and will continue to do so.

So Sarah didn't really mean it when she said she was stepping down to save time and money on legal defense-- as she is certainly willing to spend time and money on defamation suits going forward. hmmm?

If she goes forward- certainly the courts in Alaska and elsewhere will be tied up with this silliness and the time and money that funds those courts comes in large part from the tax payers.

So, Sarah, why did you resign again?
Oh I forgot, GOP hypocrisy is a given.

Credits: Corkery/News

Lots of long lost, or never before seen photos are surfacing in the week after Michael's death. I saw this one today- and I just love it- The energy, the beauty and the joy are tangible.

I've decided to think of him this way.

Andrew Malcom, (LA Times)formerly Laura Bush's press guy, is clearly one of the Palin Crushies--

In today's piece he is waxing on about her brilliant strategy and what he assumes are her plans that we haters just can't understand.

My favorite part is this one at the end

But right now the bright star of Sarah Palin has flown behind a nearby planet to perhaps learn more, generate grass-roots enthusiasm and rebrand herself out of office.

A bold move. Naive? Long odds based on recent history. What can she claim in 2011—I served 2.5 years as governor of Alaska and then quit?

On the other hand, in this political age, 60 months ago who’d have predicted a little-known state senator out of the Chicago political machine with a proclivity to vote “Present” would be a U.S. senator, let alone the White House occupant?

First of all, White House Occupant???

Right, because
Columbia and Harvard grad- community organizer-constitutional scholar, professor, state and USA senator
=
6 year undergrad sports journalism major, small town mayor, creationist, global warming denier, anti-science cut and run gov. of alaska.


you betcha.

Oh, and he calls this crap piece an "analysis" - right there in the title. ahhh the great logic and skill of the modern "professional" journalist.

Over on C&L they pointed to a long-ish post on Red State by Erik Erikson where Erikson rambles on and on about poor Sarah Palin, and the mean-old Media, and us damn lefties and comics torturing her kids-- and then he posts his own theories about why Caribou Barbi actually stepped down. This one was the cherry on the pity-party sundae;

I’ve had this running thought all day, perhaps because I was watching it on TV in HD for the first time, that this is kind of like Ben Kenobi letting Darth Vader strike him down. Palin is not going to run in 2012, but by doing this she can now become Barack Obama’s worst nightmare, and help rebuild the opposition to Obama. How? Because were she to remain a 2012 contender, she’d keep having stories by anonymous McCain campaign staffers and other 2012 contenders going after her and her family. Take that ambition off the table and it neutralizes a lot of that. So she can focus on candidates and ideas without an ulterior motive focused on 2012.

I did almost choke to death on my tea over that one. really- Sarah as the wise elder who is willing to die to save the universe, because she knows she will then be joined into a cosmic energy force for good? It is really time for Erik to put down the action figures and comic books, take off the blast shield helmet and put down his toy light saber.

Whatever Sarah's reasons are, and I am sure more details will begin to seep out soon... they will turn out to be twisted and self serving as usual, which will be the same pattern as her entire political and professional career.

Here's how the First Family is celebrating;

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is helping the nation celebrate its birthday and his daughter Malia celebrate hers.

The president on Friday morning flew to Camp David, Md., for the first part of the first family's Fourth of July celebration, including daughter Malia's 11th birthday on Saturday. He set off with friend Martin Nesbitt to meet first lady Michelle Obama, who was already at Camp David.

About 20 of Malia's tween-age friends will be on hand for the festivities. In an interview with The Associated Press, the president was bemused at the thought of being surrounded by so many girls. As he put it, "It's a little intimidating."

The first family returns to the White House by Saturday evening to host 1,200 military families for a Fourth of July barbecue on the South Lawn.

What are you doing for independence day weekend? Any BBQ in your future? Any beer can chicken?

Steve Gilliard's Beer Can Chicken

1 (4-pound) whole chicken
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons of your favorite dry spice rub
1 can liquid


You can make a spice rub by mixing fresh and dry herbs and toasting them in a dry frying pan.

You can also use coke, ginger ale, or coke instead of beer.

Remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken lightly with oil then rub inside and out with salt, pepper and dry rub. Set aside.

Open beer can and take several gulps (make them big gulps so that the can is half full). Place beer can on a solid surface. Grabbing a chicken leg in each hand, plunk the bird cavity over the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your grill and place in the center of the grate, balancing the bird on its 2 legs and the can like a tripod.

Place the bird on the lowest rack in the oven, remove other rack. Cook at 325 until juices run clear.

What's new and fun in your summer plans?

Political Humor, by Robin Williams

you betcha!

h/t MLDB on Kos

Oh Sarah- Say it ain't so!

So while I slept over here in Tokyo-- innocently unaware of the storm brewing ... The object of my political obsession did something I would never ever have predicted. Gov. Sarah Palin resigned.

Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional ‘Lame Duck’ status in this particular climate would just be another dose of ‘politics as usual,’ something I campaigned against and will always oppose. It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, so that this administration, with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future, can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success. I look forward to helping others – to fight for our state and our country, and campaign for those who believe in smaller government, free enterprise, strong national security, support for our troops, and energy independence.- Gov. Sarah Palin July 3rd 2009

This seems so crazy, so stupid, so totally out of left-loony-field that I am asking my self and you;
What the hell happened and why?

All speculation is welcome- in a world as crazy as Alaska politics the truth is likely to be totally insane. go for it.

Palin/Sanford 2012
(with Joe the Plumber serving as Campaign Manager)

finally. 'bout time.

Ok, here's a bizarre little news story for you today from Asia. It seems that the entire 13 member board of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand is under investigation for insulting the King of Thailand. I.kid.you.not.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A "lese majeste" complaint has been filed against the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), accusing the board of insulting the monarchy by selling a DVD of a contentious speech by a former government minister.

Lese-majeste is a serious offence in Thailand, where many people regard 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej as semi-divine. It is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

So much for freedom of the press. This is pretty odd even by Asian standards. We shall see what comes of this.

Image by Brian Adams

Palin from a new piece in Runners World magazine;

Sweat is my sanity.

ummm? ok.

Exactly how the private insurance racket works in under three-and-one-half minutes.

...
Reverend : It's about this letter you sent me regarding my insurance claim.

Devious: Well yeah, it's just that we're not as of yet, totally satisfied with the grounds of your claim.

Reverend : But it says something about filling my mouth in with cement.

Devious: That's just legal jargon you know.

Reverend : But my car hit by a lorry standing in the garage and you refuse to pay my claim.

Devious: Well, Reverend Morrison in your policy, in your policy it states quite clearly that no claim you make will be paid.

Reverend : Oh dear.

Devious: You plunked for our "never pay policy" which, uh, which if you never claim is very worthwhile but you, uh, had to claim and there it is.
...

The difference is that 39 years ago -- when Monty Python first aired this bit -- Mr. Devious was just a shabby little ferret in a four minute skit.

Today he has moved from auto to health insurance, has a personal net worth of $2.4 billion and owns clear title on seven Senators and 35 Congresscritters.