steely dawns

And they wandered in
From the city of St. John
Without a dime
Wearing coats that shined
Both red and green
Colors from their sunny island
From their boats of iron
They looked upon the promised land
Where surely life was sweet
On the rising tide
To New York City
Did they ride into the street
See the glory
Of the royal scam

They are hounded down
To the bottom of a bad town
Amid the ruins
Where they learn to fear
An angry race of fallen kings
Their dark companions
While the memory of
Their southern sky was clouded by
A savage winter
Every patron saint
Hung on the wall, shared the room
With twenty sinners

See the glory
Of the royal scam

By the blackened wall
He does it all
He thinks he's died and gone to heaven
Now the tale is told
By the old man back home
He reads the letter
How they are paid in gold
Just to babble in the back room
All night and waste their time
And they wandered in
From the city of St. John without a dime

See the glory
Of the royal scam



I recall when I was small
How I spent my days alone
The busy world was not for me
So I went and found my own
I would climb the garden wall
With a candle in my hand
I’d hide inside a hall of rock and sand
On the stone an ancient hand
In a faded yellow-green
Made alive a worldly wonder
Often told but never seen
Now and ever bound to labor
On the sea and in the sky
Every man and beast appeared
A friend as real as i

Chorus:
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn’t even any hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood

Can it be this sad design
Could be the very same
A wooly man without a face
And a beast without a name
Nothin’ here but history
Can you see what has been done
Memory rush over me
Now I step into the sun

Katherine Harris' Deep Values

Under a program promoted by Harris, a rabbi and a cardiologist worked with researchers to test “Celestial Drops” on canker-infested orange trees in 2001, according to the Orlando Sentinel, which went on to quote a state scientist as declaring that the “product is a hoax and not based on any credible science.” The product, it turned out, was merely water.

What’s more, the scientist declared, “the traits attributed to so-called Kabbalah water — ‘elegant crystalline structures’ and ‘high energy and low entropy’ — are virtually identical to those of Celestial Drops.” When asked if the product was actually Kabbalah water, one of the suppliers told the paper. “I can't really give you that information.”

Harris denies knowing there was any link between the product and the Kabbalah Centre. When contacted by the paper the Forward, Harris said that she recommended the product after being told that “Israeli scientists” had produced the product, adding, “I deeply value Israeli technology.”

the deeper she talks the worse she gets in...

"A defense contractor seeking help from Rep. [and Republican US Senate candidate] Katherine Harris for $10 million in federal money last year took her to one of Washington's most exclusive restaurants....

In her interview Wednesday, Harris acknowledged for the first time that [convicted felon Mitchell]Wade had paid for the dinner at Citronelle, reversing a statement from her congressional spokeswoman earlier this year.

But in the interview, Harris also said her campaign had, at some point, "reimbursed" the restaurant.

When asked how she could have reimbursed a business that was owed no money -- Wade paid the bill that evening -- she abruptly ended the interview and walked off.

Her spokesman called back an hour later and asked a reporter not to publish anything Harris had said Wednesday night about the dinner.

On Thursday, Harris' campaign released a two-paragraph statement that differed from her explanation a day earlier. It stated that Harris thought her "campaign would be reimbursing" her share of the meal but later found out that hadn't happened.

To resolve any questions, the statement said, "I have donated to a local Florida charity $100 which will more than adequately compensate for the cost of my beverage and appetizer."

what about her entree? dessert? hmmm

"By the end of dinner, Wade and Harris had run up a bill of $2,800...."

stole this from bartcop

"In a free society with working, honest public mechanisms, it would be nigh impossible to elect
an imbecile sock puppet fronting for a latter day nazi party cabal. But it happened here in 1980,
1988, 2000 and 2004. Why? Corruption. Corporate money. Media consolidation. Media fraud.
Vote fraud. Stupid voters. Lazy voters. All based in corporate and corrupt money; corrupt,
bribable congresshumans; dishonest pols (Rove, etc.); and, most of all, a servile fascist media.
Perhaps the demise of this piece of shit nation is best."
-- jtree, Link

chinese noodles

"President Bush said the two countries can be candid about their disagreements, saying that in the area of human rights, the Chinese people should be allowed freedom to assemble, speak freely and to worship."

Unlike the American people, evidently.

An "incident with [a] protester raised questions about the adequacy of security measures for journalists covering visits of foreign leaders to the White House. It was not clear how the woman gained access to the pool. She positioned herself in the one place where the Secret Service would have the hardest time reaching her: On the top level of a grandstand set up for television cameras, blocked by equipment and ladders on all sides.

At one point she attempted to unfurl a yellow Falun Gong banner. A cameraman next to her put his hand on her back, and appeared to be encouraging her to quiet down, but she continued to yell.

It took some time for a burly, uniformed Secret Service agent and a plainclothes agent, a woman, to reach the protestor, and they grabbed her by both arms and took her behind the cameras, down the stairs of the temporary platform, and out the southwest gate, away from the ceremony. Chinese officials on the edges of the crowd were staring in some disbelief, shaking their heads."

Nice of the american journalist to encourage the protestors silence. Typical. I can almost hear the admonishment that "you'll runin it for us all if you don't pipe down."

over at huff po

Smerconish says we should listen to the tape of the Flight 93 flight recorder from 9/11 "Every time there's discussion about appropriate treatment at Guantanamo...."

I wonder if he would still feel that way if he knew that some of Gitmo's inhabitants have been cleared of wrongdoing, must nevertheless remain there after over four (4)years there, and have no recourse whatsoever to any court that might grant them relief.

I guess i would suggest that prison conditions shouldn't be the product of emotion. Neither should American Courts punt when it comes to the fundamental human rights of foreigners. What if it was his son that was cleared of wrongdoing yet ordered to remain in the Gitmo facility. Would he still want the place set up by those who listened to that tape every day? If not, why not? Senseless prick.

NEIL YOUNG

IS LIVING WITH WAR.

how w does it all by his lonesome self

the only thing that matters

ballot blindness

Greenpeace on the UN Chernobyl fallout report:

"Denying the real implications is not only insulting to the thousands of victims but it also leads to dangerous recommendations and the relocation of people in contaminated areas. It is appalling that the IAEA is whitewashing the impacts of the most serious nuclear accident in human history."

Alabama Legislature OKs Pardon for Rosa Parks

The legislation now goes to Gov. Bob Riley, who has not said if he plans to sign it.

In other Alabama news, plastic wrap was used to keep food fresher in the Capitol Monday. The Governor's office had no comment.

fucking brutal

it never ends. the loss, the horror just never ends.

that Iran supports this doesn't help those of us who would stop the war if we could.

bloody mess.

one big bloody mess.

wiiiaai asks

who knew there'd be paperwork? from one consumed by paperwork, permit me to rejoinder, indeed.


also, and too funny not to plagerize outright:

Lindsey Graham utters this rather wonderful sentence: “Gay marriage is not the magic bullet to get us out of our situation.”

talking with the animals

has its perks.

washington

post mortum

hail to the chief

our criminal president