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October 2008 - Posts

Feel Good Friday: "Sex Machine"

Friday, October 31, 2008 9:06 AM
James Brown left an indelible mark on modern music. Here's one of his classics, "Sex Machine," performed live in France in 1976: Get on up! Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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TVA's poor, underpaid CEO

Thursday, October 30, 2008 9:55 PM
In the middle of a tanking economy and increasing global financial instability, TVA's President and CEO just got a $500,000 raise : Meeting in Nashville, [TVA] board members approved improving President and CEO Tom Kilgore’s compensation from about $2.7
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The warm comfort of fuzzy delusions

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 10:15 PM
I've never linked to RedState before, since it's just such an enormous waste of electrons and brain cells, but every once in a while, a post comes along that is so blazingly and hilariously self-delusional that it cannot be allowed to pass without remark.
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The closing argument for Obama and against Bush III

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 10:37 PM
Obama gave his " closing argument " speech yesterday, and it's powerful stuff: Meanwhile, the Bush White House (which McCain has supported over 90 percent of the time) is hard at work, frantically trying to destroy the environment as quickly as possible.
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Sarah Palin and Ted Stevens

Monday, October 27, 2008 9:04 PM
Today, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty on multiple counts of corruption. In the aftermath, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin had the audacity to say this (presumably with a straight face): "The verdict shines a light on the corrupting
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Feel Good Friday: "Wang Dang Doodle"

Friday, October 24, 2008 8:06 AM
Here are Koko Taylor and Little Walter performing "Wang Dang Doodle:" It isn't every day one has the opportunity to use the phrase "wang dang doodle" in the title of a blog post, so y'all celebrate that rare occasion by turning up the volume and shakin'
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Greenspan admits his failure ... partially

Thursday, October 23, 2008 9:19 PM
On Capitol Hill yesterday, Alan Greenspan came as close as he ever will to admitting that his brand of goofball libertarianism was a total failure as a guiding market philosophy: A long-time cheerleader for deregulation, Greenspan admitted to a congressional
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Quote of the day (on the GOP platform)

Thursday, October 23, 2008 7:38 PM
Regarding the 2008 Republican platform, Chris Kelly said this : See, the problem here, for most Republican politicians, is that the platform is horrifying. A catalogue of revenge dreams and power fantasies, impossible and illegal, most of them involving
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The MINI Cooper goes electric

Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:17 PM
Today, BMW announced a pilot program in which 500 purely electric MINI's will be sold in California, New York, and New Jersey over the coming months. This "field trial" of the MINI E will allow 500 customers to lease the car for one year; during the trial
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A prophecy from David Neiwert

Monday, October 20, 2008 9:07 PM
As usual, David Neiwert nails it , this time on the manufactured flap over ACORN: Sometimes you have to wonder what Republicans have against democracy. Because that's what this whole "voter fraud" foofara is about. John McCain and Sarah Palin and Lou
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Feel Good Friday: "Better Not Look Down"

Friday, October 17, 2008 8:24 AM
This week's Feel Good Friday is B.B. King performing "Better Not Look Down:" This is a song about hope and maintaining the momentum of optimism, no matter what happens. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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Dallas schools imploding

Thursday, October 16, 2008 9:30 PM
Because of a budget shortfall, 375 teachers in the Dallas school system were laid off today, some in the middle of class : Campus by campus, hundreds of Dallas teachers learned their fate Thursday in whatever manner their principals saw fit. Some retained
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Just say "no"

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 9:14 PM
Via WhitesCreek at KnoxViews , this is one of the better political ads I've seen this election cycle: Just say "no." Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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106-year-old nuns for Obama!

Monday, October 13, 2008 9:06 PM
Sister Cecilia Gaudette is a bit shocked at the media attention she's garnered over the last few days, but the attention is understandable. The 106-year-old nun, born in New Hampshire in 1902, has lived in a convent in Rome for the last fifty years, and
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Greenspan's culpability

Sunday, October 12, 2008 8:09 PM
Somehow, I missed this article in Thursday's NYT , which details the political wrangling which resulted in the deregulation of the derivatives market. That deregulation is one of the primary causes of the current financial crisis, and Alan Greenspan's
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Palin's abuse of power

Saturday, October 11, 2008 12:39 PM
To no one's surprise, Sarah Palin abused her power as governor of Alaska : An Alaska ethics inquiry found on Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin, the U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate, abused her authority by pressuring subordinates to fire a state
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Feel Good Friday: "Young Blood"

Friday, October 10, 2008 8:34 AM
From her 1979 debut album, here's Rickie Lee Jones singing "Young Blood": After nearly 30 years, that album holds up remarkably well, as does all of her music. She really is the Duchess of Coolsville. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddi
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A poll question on the stock market

Thursday, October 09, 2008 4:43 PM
Given the chaos in the stock market , I thought I'd run a poll to see what y'all think. What's the best response to the current market turmoil? ( surveys ) Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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Nationalizing the banks, regime change, and William Jennings Bryan

Wednesday, October 08, 2008 10:24 PM
Just a few short years ago, no one would have thought this sentence even a remote possibility : Having tried without success to unlock frozen credit markets, the Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many United States banks to
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First Tennessee Bank sounds a bit defensive

Tuesday, October 07, 2008 8:18 PM
This email just went out to customers of First Tennessee Bank: Dear Valued Customer, In this unprecedented financial time, it seems like each day brings news that significantly alters the financial landscape. This constant state of change can be confusing.
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Quote of the day (on Warren Buffett)

Monday, October 06, 2008 8:45 PM
An article in today's NYT discusses the similarities between the current financial crisis and another one in 1907, and the similar roles played in those respective crises by Warren Buffett and JP Morgan. On Buffett's recent investments in Goldman Sachs
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How we got into this mess

Friday, October 03, 2008 6:36 PM
Buried in comments at KnoxViews is this , the most clearly written explanation of the current financial crisis that I have seen anywhere. The author explains in layman's terms how deregulation of the banks and of certain types of securities have caused
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Feel Good Friday: "At Last"

Friday, October 03, 2008 9:03 AM
Here's Phoebe Snow, probably my favorite singer of all time, singing her version of the Etta James classic "At Last:" I love Etta James, but Phoebe is impossible to beat. She's a force of nature. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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GOP Congressman speaks out against his own party

Thursday, October 02, 2008 8:35 PM
Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) is finishing his final term in Congress, after losing his primary earlier this year. He's become disillusioned with his own party, and he has some less-than-charitable things to say about the GOP : We're in this bad place as
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Krugman on the problem with the bailout

Wednesday, October 01, 2008 9:10 PM
Paul Krugman sums up the problem with the bailout in two paragraphs : There's a reason Paulson et al had such a hard time communicating the case for their plan -- they didn't have a very good case. To this day they've never been able to explain clearly
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