Greenlee Gazette

Bush Era "Lost" Emails Recovered

2009-12-15T02:05:00.002-05:00

Uh-oh. The Dick and Liz Cheney Sunday morning political yack-fest tag-team is going to go into heavy damage control for this one! I'll bet you the spin will be that the recovery of the Bush Era emails is cover for President Obama's declining approval rating, and the ongoing health care reform battle. Whattaya bet?

[Excerpt]

Obama Administration Will Restore Missing Bush White House Emails

The White House has announced a settlement in a lawsuit filed by two good-government groups concerning emails that went missing over a two-and-a-half year period during the Bush administration. . .

Read more at: TPM Muckraker

Frivolity Break: America's Tiniest Apartment?

2009-12-14T22:54:00.003-05:00

The Other Half and I live in a 1,500+ sq. ft. house, modest some might say. And I'll be honest, though it is plenty big enough for two people and a portly puddy tat, I do sometimes long for a larger space. But I'll never think of this place as "small" again, after seeing this New Yorker's pad.

My most recent apartment before moving here in 1999 was about 750 square feet. And that was the smallest one I ever had, by far. It was a palace by comparison. Check this out.

Lieberman: For Expanded Medicare Before He Was Against It

2009-12-14T22:27:00.001-05:00

Lieberman is of course not the only politician to openly contradict himself again and again. He just seems to do it a lot.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Quickie Post #3: 9 Year Olds Describe the Decade

2009-12-14T22:22:00.002-05:00

I'm exceptionally busy with my various projects, which is why the blog has been a little thin the last few days. Still, I'd like to keep the blog current, so I'm just going to post a couple of quickies, with not much commentary. I usually like to add my own spin, often with a lengthy (windy) dissertation. Tonight though, just some cut and paste jobs (with attribution, of course).

The decade according to 9-year-olds

The decade according to 9-year-olds from allison louie-garcia on Vimeo.

Found at: AmericaBlog

Quickie Post #2: Seinfeld: George Tells the Truth

2009-12-14T22:05:00.003-05:00

Quickie Post #1: Dumbest Criminals of 2009

2009-12-14T21:15:00.003-05:00

Image from source, Huffington Post

[Excerpt]

Motorized Bar Stools, Porn-Loving Cats, And More: The Stupidest Criminals Of 2009 (PHOTOS)

So many end of year lists celebrate the best of country: Amazing movies, musicians, gadgets, etc. But what of the stupid and morally reprehensible? Don't they deserve an end of year list too? We think so. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Featured Site: This is Photobomb

2009-12-14T02:06:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday, everybody. I don't know about you, but I had a freakin' busy weekend. Not on the blog, but on personal projects, such as making our yearly Christmas card, and a family photo DVD/CD project for the fam. Ugh. Pooped. And no clue where to look for some bloggy goodness.

Until, by chance, I found this site. The "photo bomb" is a relatively recent, and difficult to explain meme. Basically, it is any photo with something more interesting going on in the background than in the foreground. Sometimes it is deliberate, with a jokester making a weird face. Sometimes it is accidental, with an animal or some random event going on behind the photo's main subjects. But it is almost always funny. And that is what I need right now, some funny. You?

Source: This Is Photobomb

The 2000s: Decade From Hell or Best Decade Ever?

2009-12-13T00:15:00.005-05:00

Everyone making decade's end lists (including the excerpted article below) are obliged to point out that the decade doesn't actually end until December 31, 2010. Which doesn't seem so weird this year, the 2000s still feeling pretty recent to most adults, and the fact that 10 isn't pronounced teen. But when you get to decades with actual names (Roaring '20s, Fabulous '50s, Swingin' '70s), it just seems stupid to count, say, 1980 as the last year of the 70s. It was, yes, yes we know. We just don't care.

But we have bigger things to worry about than rehashing the same argument we had 10 years ago for Y2K ('member that?). We've got an economy still in the crapper, unemployment off the charts, two (three?) wars, and a political chasm between right and left. We Americans have notoriously short memories, so it is these later things we'll remember about the 2000s, at least for a while. Oh no, we'll "never forget" 9/11, but it would do us well to remember that it did happen in this past decade, and that the previous administration only "kept us safe" for part of their 8-year reign of error.

I'll be honest though, I thought I'd be writing a slightly different column this year. Don't get me wrong, I never thought that Barack Obama winning the Presidency would fix everything. Economic turmoil rarely is fixed that quickly. And while I still support the President, it is through jaded, green colored lenses. For all of the slurs thrown at Obama (from day one, remember. . .no honeymoon allowed), he's pretty far from as liberal or progressive as I'd like him to be. I don't want him to use his all-Democratic government as a bludgeon like the conservatives of recent times did. But I'd sure as hell like to see him use it. Many of the ills of the 2001-2008 calendars have still not been corrected, and may never be addressed. And that may be the legacy of the decade. Well, that and whatever has been put in motion by it.

[Excerpt]

From Google to Gaga, a decade of miracle, wonder

A spate of stories and online postings heralding the end of the aughts -- "Worst decade ever," proclaims Time, "Goodbye (at last) to the Decade from Hell" -- has me in a retrospective mood.

To say that the years 2000 through 2009 have been an eventful 10 years is to state the obvious. But still. The rolling over of two digits on the odometer of years invites us to look back and consider all that's changed in our lives since we last argued about when new decades begin (pedants are quick to point out that it's technically not until Jan. 1 of years ending in 1, so we have another 12 months to prepare to look back on the first decade of the new millennium). . .

Read more at: Chicago Tribune

William Shatner vs. Sarah Palin (Tonight Show)

2009-12-12T23:53:00.001-05:00

Oh, why not. . .

Holiday Cheer? The Christmas Shoes. Worst. Song. Ever!

2009-12-12T15:08:00.005-05:00

One of the first blog posts I'd ever read was about the perennially overplayed Worst. Song. Ever. It inspired me to write my own post about this dreadful song, but you can't beat the original. So here, once again, is The Annotated Christmas Shoes.

[Post as it appeared last year]

Today, one of my co-workers started listening to the all Christmas songs, all the time station. It's a little early for me, but he's a Christmas fiend, and can't get enough. He was thoughtful enough to bar me from his office during the first playing--this year, at least--of The Christmas Shoes by NewSong. They should be called BadSong. Maybe CloyingSong. It is easily the worst song of all time, Christmas-themed or not.

One year ago today, I posted my first piece on this piece of dreck. And given the coincidence, I figure it's time for another go-round. So, I bring you. . .

ORIGINAL POST:

Image from source, BPryde Machine

Years ago, before I even understood what a blog was, I stumbled upon a site called Diary of a Blood Ray. It was a blog that centered around a young man, his love life, and his huge interest in musical theater. But the reason I found his site was a search I ran on Google for a music review of the NewSong holiday ditty, "The Christmas Shoes."

Every year, this song litters the airwaves, sometimes played hourly on "all Christmas, all the time" stations. It's hideous. It's badly written, cloyingly sung, and makes this grinch's heart grow many sizes smaller, whenever I hear it. As I reported a while back, I don't go in for the sap. And this song is flowing with rivers of sap.

But I digress, back to Blood Ray. He wrote a blog post called "The Annotated Christmas Shoes," which is one of the funniest, best dissections of bad verse I've ever read. I laughed till I cried, and actually got hiccups the first time I read it. Hilarious, and right down the line exactly how I felt about the song.

Blood Ray has a new name for his blog now, The BPrydeMachine. And thank Jeebus the old post is still there. If you just love The Christmas Shoes, this post will make your blood boil. If you're like me, you'll need some tissues and a hiccup cure, because you will laugh your ass off.

[Excerpt]

The Annotated "Christmas Shoes"

. . .For the next five minutes or so, I sat stupefied. While I expected some worthless tripe to poison my airwaves, I didn't expect a steaming pile of dog sh**, horribly written, and badly executed to make my ears burn. It was like this song was written in some alternate universe Brill Building, completely calculated to make one’s eyes moist and one's heart feel all warm, a modern classic to remind us "what Christmas is all about." Feh. . .

And then he goes into a line-by-line dissection:

It was almost Christmas time, there I stood in another line

What is "almost Christmas time"? July? Christmas sh** starts hitting the shelves in the summer, and by time Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is a one-day break from the runaway train that is Christmas, so as a listener, I’m already confused as to when this song takes place. I'm gonna go with Arbor Day.

Trying to buy that last gift or two, not really in a Christmas mood

Well, if it's only Arbor Day and he's on his last gift or two, he's doing pretty goddamn well (I've still only bought one gift at this point). . .
To excerpt any more than that wouldn't be fair to the author, but I'm telling you, it gets better and better, funnier and funnier the further you read. I hope to write my own dissection of these crappy lyrics, because I had a few ideas of my own on it, even before I read Blood Ray's take. Stay tuned [Mission accomplished. See link above!].

Read the whole post at: BPryde Machine

Jon Stewart Calls Glenn Beck Out on Gold Conflict

2009-12-11T19:46:00.002-05:00

Conflicts of interest don't seem to bother conservatives much. Perhaps they don't cause the other side much stress either, but it's more fun to call out the outsized-egoed, particularly Glenn Beck.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Beck - Not So Mellow Gold

http://www.thedailyshow.com/

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

America Online Rebranded as "Aol."

2009-12-11T13:09:00.005-05:00

The last several days, AOL has been asking me to try out their new "welcome screen" every time I sign on. Waitaminute. . .I still use America Online? Yes, yes I do. For a liberal, I can be strangely attracted to sameness, and while I don't fear change, I am initially resistant to it. And I've developed work and play habits on the computer that are comfortable. So, AOL stays.

It turns out that a lot of people haven't stayed however, and AOL needs to spruce the joint up to try and attract and keep users. So I guess it's out with the triangle/circle logo. Which makes sense, since it grew out of the ollld "A" logo that had sort of an "OL" inside it. It looks like now, the new branding is "Aol period." Which is a little weird. Actually, the very name AOL has always been weird. Shouldn't have been "AO?" And now the "ol" part is lower-cased and punctuated. And used on a variety of backgrounds, it looks like.

Anyway, I always find rebranding efforts interesting. Not sure if this is a win or not, but it does show that AOL has some sort of interest in staying relevant and interesting. Who knew?

[Excerpt]

AOL Unveils New Brand, New Logos

AOL unveiled a "new brand identity" Sunday night. Instead of AOL, it's "Aol." -- period included. There are also six new logos -- from a goldfish to a paint swirl. A spokesperson says more are coming. . . (Click through to see the logos)

Read more at: The Business Insider

Holiday Cheer: Pat Benatar's Christmas in America

2009-12-11T04:50:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to put together a few new Holiday Cheer posts over the next couple of weeks. But I put up quite a few last year, and as you know, this "Christmas Special" stuff is perennial. And were you reading this blog a year ago? I thought not. So, without further ado. . .

[Original Post]

Holiday Cheer: Pat Benatar Christmas in America

The criminally underrated Pat Benatar happens to have a fantastic Christmas song. She's at the top of my favorite singers list. And this song should even please the right-wingers! I think the overt patriotism is due to its production right after 9/11.

Oh, and that dude with Pat is her husband and producer, Neil Geraldo. They've been married forever, and in recent years he seems to always get equal billing. Whatever, it's great stuff. Enjoy.

Holiday Cheer: Favorite "Contemporary" Christmas Songs

2009-12-11T02:39:00.003-05:00

Another one from the vaults. . .

These are some of my favorite Christmas songs, the "contemporary" kind. And kids, I know to you these are "old school" songs, but to we 40-plussers, these are modern songs. Enjoy.

[From Original post]

I noted in a previous (also frivolous) post that I'm not big on traditional Christmas music. Choirs and churchy stuff just don't do it for me. I like the funny stuff, and the more modern tunes. Of course, some of the modern songs have become almost traditional, haven't they? Here are some of my favorites. . .

#1 - Feels Like Christmas - Cyndi Lauper: This song is from Cyndi's outstanding Merry Christmas. . .Have a Nice Life album from several years ago. The album is chock-full of great songs. This is a good one, but not the best one on the album. Unfortunately, finding video clips of these songs is more difficult than I thought!

#2 - Step into Christmas - Elton John: This is one of my favorite "modern" Christmas songs. Modern is in quotes because this is clearly from Elton's 70s heyday. But whatever, I love it!

#3 - Put a Little Love in Your Heart - Annie Lennox & Al Green: Sadly, this song is another substitution, for Eurythmics' superb Winter Wonderland, which is unavailable. This may not seem like a Christmas song on its face, but it's from the movie Scrooged, and is very much a Christmas video. And it gives me that same chill Winter Wonderland does.

#4 - Happy New Year - ABBA: OK, officially this is an after Christmas song, but it belongs at the end of your Christmas mix CD. And it beats the crap out of Dan Fogleburp's Auld Lang Syne, doesn't it? Now, if they could just go in and re-dub the "end of a decade" and "1989" parts, it would be perfect.

Here's a bonus, the still unavailable Winter Wonderland from Eurythmics. . .audio only.

Greenlee Gazette Milestone

2009-12-10T21:33:00.004-05:00

As a few critics have been delighted to point out, this blog does not receive a massive amount of visitors. Fortunately for me, I don't really care. This is a one-man show (pretty much), and done as a hobby on my own time. I don't make a cent from it, and have no publicity outside of Google. So, I'm rather happy with what small audience I do manage to pull in. It's a little over 100 people per day, in addition to a fluctuating amount of RSS readers, maybe 30-50 more.

I happened to check my SiteMeter account at an opportune moment this morning, and grabbed the page at left. 88,888 visits! Nifty.

John Gibson & FOX "News" Acknowledge Swift Boat Lies

2009-12-10T02:15:00.002-05:00

Image from source, Raw Story

It's amazing how many things in politics are so obviously true, but continuously denied. Anyone could tell that the "Swift Boat" campaign against John Kerry in 2004 was trumped up. The fact that much of it came from FOX "News" was your first clue. Now, FOX has come clean, in a manner of speaking. Not intentionally, mind you, but there you go.

[Excerpt]

Fox host’s book title implies Swift Boat veterans were liars

Conservatives have long railed against media turning 'swiftboat' into pejorative or 'hate term.'

As former President George W. Bush attempts to salvage his tarnished legacy, Fox News Radio host John Gibson has eagerly joined in the effort to rehabilitate the previous administration's image. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Rep. Alan Grayson Tells Dick Cheney to "STFU"

2009-12-10T02:02:00.003-05:00

Image from source, Raw Story

He may look like a 70s TV pitchman for electronics or used cars, but he's very quickly making a name for himself as the most progressive and outspoken dude in the Congress. I hope as he progresses through his first term in the House, he doesn't start to gather the typical "politician" barnacles that seem to cling to the rest of them.

[Excerpt]

OMG! Alan Grayson tells Dick Cheney to ‘STFU!’

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), the congressman who gained nationwide fame after declaring that the Republican plan for health care amounts to hoping that people "die quickly," has a few choice words -- or, rather, one choice acronym -- for former Vice President Dick Cheney: "STFU."

For those not familiar with the expression, that's Internet parlance for "shut the f**k up. . ."

Read more at: Raw Story

FOX "News" Makes Yet Another "Mistake"

2009-12-10T00:48:00.002-05:00

FOX "News" is now well known for making "mistakes," in their on-screen graphics and commentary (or reporting, as they like to call it), that curiously support their right-wing agenda. Things like calling prominent Republicans caught in scandals Democrats. Or using incorrect video that makes it look like right-wing events are better attended than they really are.

Recently, after having been caught at this sort of behavior several times in a short time frame, FOX issued a "zero tolerance" policy, and assured the public that such mistakes would be met with swift employee terminations. Now that they've made yet another "mistake" of this nature, it would seem that "zero tolerance" might be just about as literal as "fair and balanced."

[Excerpt]

Confronted with clear falsehood, Fox News scraps its "zero tolerance" policy

On November 23, Fishbowl DC published an internal Fox News memo detailing the network's new "zero tolerance" policy for errors. Today -- barely two weeks later -- Fox News attempted to explain why it wasn't going to take any action to correct the following December 4 segment in which three Fox hosts and the Fox News graphics department used a string of falsehoods to turn "59 percent" into "close to 100 percent. . ."

Read more (with video) at: Media Matters

More on Uganda "Kill the Gays" Bill and American Connection

2009-12-10T00:41:00.002-05:00

Back when Rachel Maddow began talking about C Street and "The Family," the secretive church/political organization, it was something of a curiosity. A troubling one, to be sure, but also semi-humorous for all of the sex scandals it was connected to (see Sen. John Ensign, Gov. Mark Sanford). But it seems it was all leading to this, a connection between the politically charged, evangelical anti-gay movement. How could this seemingly un-American co-mingling of religion and politics be operating under our radar, pulling the levels of power?

More troubling is, how is it that it has gone virtually unremarked upon except by Maddow? And how could such an evil, draconian proposed law in Uganda have been inspired by our own politicians, and still not have it be newsworthy outside of The Rachel Maddow Show?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Truth About Conservatives, via George Carlin

2009-12-09T02:39:00.001-05:00

Yep, George Carlin is sadly dead. But his wisdom lives on.

Rachel Maddow Interviews "Ex-Gay" Richard Cohen

2009-12-08T23:36:00.002-05:00

Yep, more Maddow. Here, Rachel conducts an intense interview with Richard Cohen, a man with a bizarre "ex-gay" practice, that has influenced the notorious "Kill the Gays" bill under consideration in Uganda. Man, this guy is creepy. Kudos to Rachel for keeping her cool (mostly).

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Breaking News on Health Care Reform?

2009-12-08T21:43:00.001-05:00

If news has broken, but you're not really sure what it means yet, has it really broken? Is the "public option" dead? Is Medicare really going to be expanded? What about those of us under 55 (for the moment)? Heck if I know. And neither do Rachel Maddow and Sen. Bernie Sanders, but they gave it a game effort.

Andrew Sullivan on Joy Behar Show on Sarah Palin

2009-12-08T21:27:00.002-05:00

Andrew Sullivan is something of an enigma, an outspoken, openly gay conservative. He used to be really hard-line, at least seemingly to me. But some time during the George W. Bush administration, Sullivan began to seriously challenge conservative ideology. And recently, he has been a real source of humor for me. Largely due to his shared aversion to all things Sarah Palin, and his joy (and Joy's as well, it would seem) in pointing out her flaws. I share his questions about the--allegedly tabloidy--subject of "babygate," the highly improbable story of Trig Palin's birth. Where is the birth certificate, Sarah?

NPR Pulling Employees Off of FOX "News"?

2009-12-08T21:17:00.002-05:00

Image from source, AAR

Most intelligent, rational humans recognize that the FOX "News" slogan, Fair & Balanced, is just that: a slogan, nothing more. It's certainly not true. The fact that legions of FOX fans angrily defend the channel and its slogan is no more persuasive, especially because nearly all of these fans are themselves arch conservatives.

One thing that always screams out to me "not balanced" is the pedigree of the commentators selected for FOX programs, particularly FOX "News" Sunday. They'll counterbalance extreme right-wingers (Bill Kristol, Liz Cheney) with reporters and commentators from National Public Radio. As though NPR is the logical equivalent ideologically as The Weekly Standard. Phooey. Still, I'm surprised--after so many years of lending out their talent--that NPR has waited so long to publicly protest. But I am right behind them on the issue.

[Excerpt]

NPR Execs Want Their Pundits Off Fox News

Executives at National Public Radio are none too comfortable with the obvious right-wing bias emanating from Fox News. In fact, they recently went so far as to ask one of their top political correspondents, Mara Liasson, to “reconsider” her regular appearances on the network. . .

Read more at: Air America Radio

Bill O'Reilly: Atheists Jealous of Christmas?

2009-12-08T02:47:00.005-05:00

This is the "No Spin Zone?" Really?!? Phooey. I'm an agnostic-bordering-on atheist, and I love Christmas. It's fun, it's family, it's a great season. Still, I see nothing wrong with atheists showing a little visibility, and certainly don't see anything wrong with the ad being discussed by the FOXbots below. This is just a furtherance of the bogus FOX "News" War on Christmas meme, and is nothing more than a bone to throw to their audience. Still, if you want to see a gaggle of idiots discussing this faux outrage, have at it.