Saturday night with Jeff Buckley

Oh, it hurt so much to watch this video. I had to walk away from the computer after watching him sing because because I became so emotional...

Such a gifted musician and a great, great loss.

Learn more about this musical treasure by clicking here.

Huge ice shelf breaks free in Canada's far north

Still in denial?

Saddam is dead...now what?

(WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO)

Well, he's gone so why am I not jumping for joy saying "yeah, the war was worth it!"

This entire war was a lying joke from day one and hanging this jerk in no way changes things. I was going to comment on what this hanging means but Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo said it best.

It's a hornet's nest. But I'm game. So why not jump in.

"Bush administration officials" are telling CNN that Saddam Hussein will be hanged this weekend. Convention dictates that we precede any discussion of this execution with the obligatory nod to Saddam's treachery, bloodthirsty rule and tyranny. But enough of the cowardly chatter. This thing is a sham, of a piece with the whole corrupt, disastrous sham that the war and occupation have been. Bush administration officials are the ones who leak the news about the time of the execution. One key reason we know Saddam's about to be executed is that he's about to be transferred from US to Iraqi custody, which tells you a lot. And, of course, the verdict in his trial gets timed to coincide with the US elections.

This whole endeavor, from the very start, has been about taking tawdry, cheap acts and dressing them up in a papier-mache grandeur -- phony victory celebrations, ersatz democratization, reconstruction headed up by toadies, con artists and grifters. And this is no different. Hanging Saddam is easy. It's a job, for once, that these folks can actually see through to completion. So this execution, ironically and pathetically, becomes a stand-in for the failures, incompetence and general betrayal of country on every other front that President Bush has brought us.

Try to dress this up as an Iraqi trial and it doesn't come close to cutting it -- the Iraqis only take possession of him for the final act, sort of like the Church always left execution itself to the 'secular arm'. Try pretending it's a war crimes trial but it's just more of the pretend mumbojumbo that makes this out to be World War IX or whatever number it is they're up to now.

The Iraq War has been many things, but for its prime promoters and cheerleaders and now-dwindling body of defenders, the war and all its ideological and literary trappings have always been an exercise in moral-historical dress-up for a crew of folks whose times aren't grand enough to live up to their own self-regard and whose imaginations are great enough to make up the difference. This is just more play-acting.

These jokers are being dragged kicking and screaming to the realization that the whole thing's a mess and that they're going to be remembered for it -- defined by it -- for decades and centuries. But before we go, we can hang Saddam. Quite a bit of this was about the president's issues with his dad and the hang-ups he had about finishing Saddam off -- so before we go, we can hang the guy as some big cosmic 'So There!'

Marx might say that this was not tragedy but farce. But I think we need to get way beyond options one and two even to get close to this one -- claptrap justice meted out to the former dictator in some puffed-up act of self-justification as the country itself collapses in the hands of the occupying army.

Marty Peretz, with some sort of projection, calls any attempt to rain on this parade "prissy and finicky." Myself, I just find it embarrassing. This is what we're reduced to, what the president has reduced us to. This is the best we can do. Hang Saddam Hussein because there's nothing else this president can get right.

What do you figure this farce will look like 10, 30 or 50 years down the road? A signal of American power or weakness?

The groups who are involved in teh civil war in Iraq had NO LOVE for Saddam. His death will do NOTHING in terms of the violence happening in that region NOR will it change the fact that MANY more American soldiers are going to die and the shameless media, which are now giving us 24 hour coverage of this hanging, make me sick to my stomach.

Which brings me to this nonsense from FOXNews who are trying their best to put a positive spin on this hanging for the administration.

I don't know about you but I've had enough. January can't come fast enough so the Democrats can start the hearings and hold the Republicans and Bush administration accountable for the countless crap they pulled during the run-up and execution of the war.

John Edwards: What planet is President Bush on?

Former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards has been the political talk in the media since he announced his intentions to run for President on Thursday. I planned to travel to New Hampshire and cover an Edwards event Friday night but I couldn't make it (CTLauryn was having none of daddy going away). To my delight, Edwards was also on Hardball Friday and gave a very detailed explanation for why he's the best qualified Democrat for President.

Calling President Bush just about everything but a bonehead for his complete inability to show anything resembling leadership (Edwards "what planet is he [Bush] on" quote is a classic), Edwards presented his selling point to the voters which includes Americans working together for the common good of the nation.

Not as good as myself being in New Hampshire asking him questions face to face but this is great TV.



With Edwards being the first high profile candidate to throw his hat into the race, the political pundits weighed in on his chances in capturing the Democratic nomination. Somewhere along the way, Pat "I'm on every MSNBC show" Buchanan states that he think Edwards will have a hard time explaining his voting for the Iraq War. Can someone down there in D.C. pass along to Buchanan this video of Edwards commenting about his vote when he visited in New Haven earlier this year...



Unlike possible Democratic front runner Hiliary Clinton, Edwards came out very early and stated that he regretted his vote to approve the Iraq War well before I videotaped Edwards make those comments in New Haven. If Buchanan gives you a problem, just direct him to this video and he'll quiet down faster than my daughter when I put a pacifier in her mouth.

Finally, for those who missed it, here's Edwards announcement from New Orleans on Thursday (sorry but YouTube was down that day and I couldn't upload the file).

They like me, they really like me

Now I know how Sally felt.

I'm a big fan of Steve Gilliard's popular national blog The News Blog, so it came to a pleasant surprise that he picked little ol' me as one of his favorite state/local bloggers for 2006.

Juan Melli and CT Blogger-They do the dirty work of local and state politics, which will never lead to glory or riches, but is needed because if you think federal government has problems.....these guys are heroes to me

"blush"

Seriously, thanks to Steve for the recognition. To be placed along side award winners You Tube , Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, Matt Stoller, Howard Dean, Sasha Baron Cohen, Morgan Spurlock, Amanda Marcotte, and Ned Lamont is quite a honor.

I really have to give props to all the other Connecticut bloggers as we all worked our tails off trying to stay one step ahead of the mainstream media (PPM baby) as well as keeping people informed on what's happening in the nutmeg state. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't ask Connecticut Bob to help me set the white balance on my camcorder and shoved my digital camera into Spazeboy's hand back during the memorable Lamont event at Naples in New Haven...

Hopefully, political campaigns will take notice of the great reporting we did on the Connecticut races and understand the importance of blogs.

Case in point...

Trust me, if you like what we did in 2006, wait till you see what the Connecticut bloggers have in store for 2007.

Again thanks to Steve for recognizing my work.

UPDATE: Oh man, The Great Scare, ConnectucutBob, and my favorite drink from New Milford made me blush all over again :-)

Lieberman: More troops needed...Iraq war still winnable

Ah, exactly what we need, another Washington Post op-ed from the party of one
complete with the famous neo-con scare tactic, references to 9/11.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I/D-CT) has written an op-ed for The Washington Post in which he explains his reasons for why more troops are needed in Iraq. Lieberman argues that the war is "winnable," yet acknowledges that "more U.S. forces might not be a guarantee of success" in the fight.

"I've just spent 10 days traveling in the Middle East and speaking to leaders there," writes Lieberman, "all of which has made one thing clearer to me than ever: While we are naturally focused on Iraq, a larger war is emerging.

"On one side are extremists and terrorists led and sponsored by Iran, on the other moderates and democrats supported by the United States," the Senator continues. "Iraq is the most deadly battlefield on which that conflict is being fought. How we end the struggle there will affect not only the region but the worldwide war against the extremists who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001."

In August 2006, Lieberman, who lost the Democratic primary to challenger Ned Lamont but defeated him in the general election, criticized Lamont's Iraq exit strategy by saying, "If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do ... it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England." Lamont responded, "That comment sounds an awful lot like Vice President Cheney's comment... Both of them believe our invasion of Iraq has a lot to do with 9/11."

At this point, aren't people sick and tired of the 9/11 slight of hand from neo-con politicians in their justification for this war?

I saw firsthand evidence in Iraq of the development of a multiethnic, moderate coalition against the extremists of al-Qaeda and against the Mahdi Army, which is sponsored and armed by Iran and has inflamed the sectarian violence. We cannot abandon these brave Iraqi patriots who have stood up and fought the extremists and terrorists.

Yeah, I'm sure Joe saw this firsthand from the semi-safety of the greenzone in Baghdad. I mean who's STILL drinking this kool-aid...notice the nice placement of the buzz word al-Qaeda in his sentence (slight of hand).

Lieberman's rant is so full of vagueness and spin that it's not worth the time to take his op-ed and rip it to shreds...I'll leave that for other bloggers as I have more important things to do (such as get my daughter's bottle ready). Joe's just giving us more of the same talking from the soapbox without any details (i.e., calling for more troops without clearly defining what their mission would be THEN claiming that the surge in troops might not work).

These are people's lives were talking about here and if morons like Lieberman can't define the mission for the increase in troops, then the troop level should not increase.

Joe, do us a favor and spend less time explaining how the U.S. can win in Iraq and EXPLAIN the following to the public:

Explain how you spent 387,000 in COLD HARD CASH days before the primary.

Explain to us why you (MR. Anti-violence in videogames and television) took money from the WWE: A company that makes it's money from selling sex and violence to children.

Explain why you haven't apologized to the Lamont supporters you accused of hacking your pathetic 50-hits per day site.

While you're at it, tell everyone what really happened to your site (likt the fact that you were too cheap to pay for a ISP that could handle the surge in bandwidth).

Hey, don't look at me, I voted for the other guy.

Blog Wars makes national debut tonight

Oh boy, the day has finally arrived.

Back in January, I heard about a man named Ned Lamont who was thinking about challenging Joe Lieberman for his senate seat. Since he was planning on giving a speech in New Haven, I decided to take a drive down to the Elm City and see what this guy had to say. As I was about to leave me place, I happened to see my videocamera on my table and thought to myself "maybe I should bring my camcorder just in case." Well, that decision changed the way people viewed blogs in Connecticut as my video posting of Lamont's speech was the first video blog post done at that time.

Throughout the early days of the Lamont campaign, I followed the man who defeated Lieberman in the primary as he went across the state talking to people in every small town imaginable. My video work attracted several other bloggers who purchased a camcorder and followed one of the most watched senate primary races in recent memory. As time went on, my blog and several others gained national attention and the BBC paid a visit to Connecticut and followed me and the other bloggers as we reported on the activities of Lamont and Lieberman. The result of the BBC videotaping all of us came to become a documentary called Blog Wars which will air for the first time tonight at 10:00 on the Sundance Channel.

Now unfortunately, although the BBC crew followed me and the other bloggers from Connecticut around for the entire summer, a great deal of the footage didn't make the final cut since the film covers much more than the senate race and expands to the entire inner workings of blogs in general. Although you won't see the interview they did with me, you will see me doing my thing at several events and see the people behind the other blogs in Connecticut. Hell, I didn't do this blog to be famous or anything and I'm just happy that I people from across the nation as well as England knew the stuff I was doing.

If you're not doing anything tonight, tune into the Sundance Channel and check the documentary out. Trust me, I'm not hard to find in the flick.

John Edwards throws hat into Presidential race tomorrow

I could have scooped the mainstream media with this info but my daughter CTLauryn had other plans for me...

Tomorrow, former Senator and 2004 Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards will announce his intention to run for President in 2008.

A harsh critic on President Bush's handling of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Edwards will definitely put a spotlight on the failure of leadership from the Republican majority on a whole host of domestic social issues ranging from poverty and the failure of this god-awful administration to raise the minimum wage, to social injustice and discrimination.

Here's a video preview...



As many of you know, Edwards came to New Haven over the summer to campaign for Ned Lamont and in case you missed it, here are some highlights from the People-Powered Media press conference.

President Ford history

Here's a bit of history that the mainstream media is overlooking...

Two years to the day

Don't ever forget.






Just you case you forgot how horrible this episode was, look at the following clip).


Remember, it can happen here.

Yule log CTblogger style

For your holiday pleasure...

The only thing better than watching this on WPIX is the New Years Day Honeymooner's marathon (oh baby, I can't wait!)

Holy Joe Lieberman the hypocrite: the pro-wrestling edition

Looks like it's time to pull out on of my favorite lines...

OH, THIS IS RICH!

It has become a holiday ritual: Joe Lieberman and family-research officials hold a well-attended press conference to decry the impact on children of excessive video game sex and violence.

And, again in 2006, Lieberman indulged in another yearly ritual: taking campaign money from the entertainment industry.

An analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group, found that the Connecticut Democrat, who won re-election last month as an independent, received about $73,000 from a variety of industry sources over the past two years.

Among the donors were Linda McMahon, chief executive officer of Stamford-based WWE Entertainment. McMahon said in an e-mail that she gave money to Lieberman because "I make contributions to a variety of candidates whom I respect."

[...]

WWE warns parents on its website that, during its more violent shows, "Characters may `hit' opponents with objects, such as metal chairs, sledgehammers, shiny new trashcans, baking sheets, metal stop signs or kendo sticks," or may slam opponents "through folding tables, announcer booths, ring barricades and turnbuckles."

In addition, WWE says, "Male characters may body-slam female opponents in the ring, and vice-versa."

Critics say taking WWE money - McMahon gave $2,000 in the two weeks before the Nov. 7 election - raises questions.

"If you're going to portray yourself as a champion against sex and violence on TV and in video games, it certainly doesn't look like you're completely serious if one of your big contributors makes its money from sex and violence," said Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics.

Well, well, well. It seems like this is another case of Holy Joe Lieberman being exposed as an "I'll do anything to get re-elected" hypocrite.

I mean really, Lieberman talks about SEX AND VIOLENCE on television while gladly accepting cash from a business that makes its money primarily by showcasing SEX and VIOLENCE to kids on television.

To put this into perspective, let me give you a REAL BRIEF background on what the WWE is promoting to your kids.

Here's a sample of some of the SEX the WWE sells on television and in their merchandise:



Instead of posting the more graphic images, I'll just give you a link and you can view them for yourselves (here, here, here, here,).

Now, here's a sample of some of the VIOLENCE the WWE spoon feeds YOUR kids (that Joe Lieberman is looking out for) on television:



Again, for more graphic images, click here, here, here, here, here.

Trust me folks, the stuff I linked to here TAME compared to the other stuff you can find by doing a simple Google search.

Now, because of the stuff the WWE is pouring into the brains of the children THAT JOE LIEBERMAN IS LOOKING OUT FOR, kids are now going to their backyards and trying out the latest wrestling moves on each other...and breaking their necks in the process.

Watch this video clip and you'll see what I mean.

Here's the holy one talking about violent video games in one of his "I'll do and say anything to get re-elected" TV ads.

So lets see, Lieberman talks about protecting kids from violent images in video games and television BUT he rakes in the cash from one a business that makes money from selling SEX AND VILOENCE to children who in turn, go out to their backyards and try to duplicate the wrestling moves they see on TV.

Lieberman has long defended taking entertainment industry funds. In the fall of 2000, when he was running for vice president, he jumped from ripping the industry at a congressional hearing to praising the industry at a big-money fundraiser shortly afterward.

[...]

In his re-election fight, his campaign continued to accept donations from industry officials. Among contributors to his re-election were officials from CBS, BET, Microsoft Corp., NBC, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner, Warner Brothers Television and others.

Asked why he accepted their money, Lieberman first joked, "I really don't get anything [contributions] from that industry."

Hey Joe, I'm laughing also but, I'm laughing AT you, not WITH you.

As time goes on, more of Lieberman's antics from the past and present are going to be exposed (like what his 387,000 is COLD HARD petty cash was really used for before the primary).

What a cartoon this guy is.

UPDATE: New Milford's favorite town drunk digs deeper into WWE's sexual and violent content. Man, the things you find after throwing back a six pack and a bottle of Johnny Walker Red...alone!

The hardest working man in show business

May 3 1933-December 25 2006
Rest in Peace



UPDATE 12.26.06: On my way to my parents house, while driving through Waterbury, I saw a Palace Theatre billboard with James Brown's face featured on it. I remember saying to myself "wow, I wonder when he was going to play here." What I didn't realize was that he was scheduled to play this Wednesday night.

A Christmas Story video thread

In honor of one of my favorite Christmas movies ever, A Christmas Story, I'm devoting this thread throughtout Christmas with some of my favorite moments from this great holiday flick. Of course, you can be like me and watch this movie all day tomorrow on TNT TBS but it's also cool to watch clips from the movie.

For a little Chrsitmas fun, try this online game based on the movie. FYI: here's a screen shot of my high score:



Happy holidays to all!

Video clip 1: Chinese Christmas dinner.


Video clip 2: Farkus Gets His


Video clip 3: Schwartz Get His!


Video clip 4: Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Pin!


Video clip 5: Pink Bunny Costume (I promise CTLauryn never to give her such an awful present).

Junior should learn from Senior

Dodd gets it right.

Stamford Advocate files FOI regarding Lieberman website investigation

Team Joementum is still offering a steaming load of crap when it comes to explaining the joe2006.com website "hacking" allegation they offered on primary day.

As you recall, Joe Lieberman, Sean Smith, Marion Steinfels, and DANGERstein had no problem racing to the mics on primary day and blaming the cause of the campaign's site crashing on Ned Lamont and his supporters (i.e. bloggers). Unlike the mainstream media who were simlply too lazy to get the the root of the story, the bloggers did 10 seconds of research and found out that Lieberman's site crashed because he paid for a 15 dollars a month ISP to host his site using a laughable amount of bandwidth.

If you missed it, here's a video clip from the upcoming documentary Blog Wars as well as a brief clip from WTNH this week on the investigation clearing Lamont and his supporters of any wrongdoing:



You see, Lieberman HATED the local bloggers...I mean he and his band of lying pathetic zombies really hate us because we exposed EVERY SINGLE SLICK LIE HE SPOONFED TO THE MEDIA (sometimes with the assistance of such top notch personalities as WTNH's over-the-top reporter Mark Davis). On the day of the primary when Joe's 50 hits a day site crashed, the Lieberman campaign issued this following statement:

"This type of dirty politics has been a staple of the Lamont campaign from the beginning, from the nonstop personal attacks to the intimidation tactics and offensive displays to these coordinated efforts to disable our Web site," said Smith in a statement e-mailed to reporters Monday evening.

"There is no place for these Rovian tactics in Democratic politics, and we demand that our opponent call off his supporters and their online attack dogs."

The campaign of the race-baiting flyers and 387,000 in COLD HARD CASH that was dished out on the streets in the days leading up to the primary was spinning a bogus claim that the mainstream media ate up WHILE bloggers uncovered the root of the problem in a manner of minutes (seriously, it took minutes).

NOW, the yellow stripe is climbing up team Joementum's back and DANGERstein nose grows with each passing lie he issues to the press. Even the web site administrator for Lieberman's site is backpedaling and lying at the same time (that takes skill folks).

The Web site administrator who sparked the investigation into the crash of U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman's campaign home page hours before August's primary was unable Thursday to offer an explanation now that authorities have ruled out hackers.

"Until someone talks to me about their conclusions, I don't know how to answer that question," said Dan Geary of Nevada-based Geary Co. Advertising. He said he had not been notified that the case had been closed by U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

This is complete bull coming from a man trying his best to save his face. Geary knows damn well why that his went down...because his web service sucks and couldn't deal with the bandwidth. Thankfully, the Stamford Advocate isn't letting this story go away nor are they convinced with the excuses...

This week, O'Connor and Blumethal's offices told The Advocate they have closed the investigation after finding no evidence of criminal conduct, tampering or sabotage. They did not say what had caused the problems with the Web site.

The Advocate has filed Freedom of Information requests with both offices seeking more information on the investigations.

Wouldn't it be curious to see what the investigation ACTUALLY uncovered. Wouldn't it be better if it was found that Lieberman wasted the taxpayers time and money going after a bogus claim knowing damn well that the crashing of his site HAD NOTHING to do with anyone but his own cheap self.

Still waiting on those reporters who had no problem buying into Joe's big fat lie to set the record straight and follow the Stamford Advocate's lead. Attention Sue Haigh, attention Mark Davis...when you get a chance...

When Lieberman's lies are finally exposed, maybe the press can grow a spine and get back on the outrageous 387,000 in COLD HARD petty cash Lieberman used in street money days before the primary and find out HOW he used the money.

Maybe it's the last name

What is it with people who have Lieberman as their last name?

Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday said that Israel needs to wake up and declare war on the "Palestinians," who do not truly desire peace with the Jewish state.

[...]

Instead, said Lieberman, Israel needs to retake control of the Gaza-Sinai border, liquidate the Hamas leadership, and trash any diplomatic efforts based on the idea that Mahmoud Abbas' PLO is a capable and relevant partner for peace.

It's great to see that we're not the only country that has to deal with an out-of-touch delusional warmonger named Lieberman.

(hat tip to the drunk from New Milford)