God's Fault

post from jobsanger on 26 November 2009 01:01:00 AM. © jobsanger

From the hilarious site called The Far Left Side.

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Late Late Night FDL: Delta Harpy

post from Firedoglake on 26 November 2009 01:00:17 AM. © Firedoglake

Featuring original art by Ken Addington and a perfect kitchen song by Bearfoot.[...]

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

post from Zirgar's Fresh New Brain Squeezin's! on 26 November 2009 01:00:00 AM. © Zirgar's Fresh New Brain Squeezin's!

Show thanks by doing a good deed for someone who's less fortunate than you.
So be good to each other, we're all we have.
Happy Thanksgiving!~~~PS--I've been out of town since Wednesday at 17:30 and won't be back until Sunday night at the earliest, so I won't be checking comments or anything else until then. PEACE!

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For Thanksgiving we've got Currier & Ives,
Charles Ives, Witches' Sabbath, and a (filched) list of things to be grateful for...plus Levi's tush

post from DownWithTyranny! on 26 November 2009 01:00:00 AM. © DownWithTyranny!

by Ken

Now does that say "Thanksgiving," or what? And for musical holiday cheer, what could be more Thanksgivingy than crusty old New Englander Charles Ives's Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day? (This is both a stand-alone piece and the final movement of Ives's A Symphony: New England Holidays, or Holidays Symphony. In case you don't know, Forefathers' Day, December 21, commemorates the day in 1620 when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. It's a big deal in, like, the greater Plymouth area.)

Baltimore Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, David Zinman, cond. Argo,recorded September 1994

Not the sound you have in your head for Thanksgiving. (I have to say, though, that David Zinman's performance is the most persuasive I've heard. Says "Thanksgiving" to me!) You're thinking: more like "Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go"? Okey-dokey.

video details and more

Surely this has you primed for either suicide or homicide. So you should be up for something a little gamier.

BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14*

iv. "March to the Scaffold"

v. "Dream of a Witches' Sabbath"

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded Apr. 9, 1962

I don't know, sounds kind of fantastic to me.

"27 REASONS TO GIVE THANKS" [or not]
(as thunk up by the team at Think Progress's The Progress Report)

[For the many internal links, check out the onsite version -- except for the link for contributing to Think Progress, which is certainly one of those things to be grateful for, and worthy of tangible thanks.]

I'm sure if I thought really hard I could think of a bunch of things to be thankful for, but it's a holiday weekend -- why should I be doing back-breaking work like thinking? Especially when I can just steal somebody else's list? And what could be more Thanksgivingy than that?

We're thankful President Obama is thinking long and hard about committing more troops and money to Afghanistan.

We're thankful President Bush feels liberated now.

We're (not) thankful Dick Cheney has elected to move from his undisclosed location to the media spotlight.

We're thankful Al Franken has gone from playing self-help guru Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live to helping rape victims receive justice from their employers.

We're thankful for the healing power of beer.

We're thankful there are some on the right who think Glenn Beck is "incoherent," "mindless," "erratic," "bizarre," and "harmful to the conservative movement."

We're thankful for long hikes on the Appalachian Trail.

We're thankful Michael Steele understands that he can't "do policy" and that no one has any reason to trust his "words or actions."

We're (not) thankful for "birthers," "deathers," "tenthers," or "tea baggers."

We're (not) thankful conservatives believe they love America so much that they can root for our President to fail and for our nation to lose out on hosting the Olympics.

We're thankful NFL players refused to "bend over and grab the ankles" for Rush Limbaugh.

We're thankful six companies have resigned from the Chamber of Commerce due to its denial of climate change science.

We're thankful Falcon "Balloon boy" Heene wasn't actually in the balloon.

We're thankful Lt. Dan Choi and Lt. Col Victor Fehrenbach bravely spoke out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

We're thankful Shep Smith doesn't always drink the Fox News kool-aid.

We're thankful more than 80 companies refused to lend their sponsorship to Glenn Beck's hateful rants.

We're thankful there are progressive organizations in D.C. lobbying for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

We're (not) thankful for the filibuster.

We're thankful that more than 20,000 of you stood up to Bill O'Reilly's harassment machine and called for impeachment hearings against torture advocate Jay Bybee.

We're thankful that Iran's authoritarian rulers live in fear of their own population.

We're thankful we'll no longer have to listen to nativist rhetoric on CNN and global warming skepticism on ABC News.

We're (not) thankful for bailed out CEOs who think they're doing "God's work" by doling out billions in bonuses.

We're thankful for the legacy of the Liberal Lion.

We're thankful Bill O'Reilly won't be following us home for Thanksgiving.

We're thankful a "wise Latina" sits on the Supreme Court.

We're thankful our boss helped rescue imprisoned American journalists in North Korea.

We're thankful for our readers and the support you give us.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*If you're wondering what this has to do with Thanksgiving, well, it happens that I've been working my way through BMG's 10-CD compendium of all the Munch-BSO Berlioz recordings,and yesterday on the way to work I got to this 1962 Symphonie fantastique. It sounded worth celebrating to me.
#

UPDATE: And For Our Gay Friends...

We wish we were able to report some real progress on equality and some of the rest of the Hope & Change agenda but... how about the naked pictures of Levi Johnston?

Read The Full Article:
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/11/for-thanksgiving-weve-got-currier-ive
s.html

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For Thanksgiving we've got Currier & Ives,
Charles Ives, Witches' Sabbath, and a (filched) list of things to be grateful for

post from DownWithTyranny! on 26 November 2009 01:00:00 AM. © DownWithTyranny!

by Ken

Now does that say "Thanksgiving," or what? And for musical holiday cheer, what could be more Thanksgivingy than crusty old New Englander Charles Ives's Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day? (This is both a stand-alone piece and the final movement of Ives's A Symphony: New England Holidays, or Holidays Symphony. In case you don't know, Forefathers' Day, December 21, commemorates the day in 1620 when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. It's a big deal in, like, the greater Plymouth area.)

Baltimore Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, David Zinman, cond. Argo,recorded September 1994

Not the sound you have in your head for Thanksgiving. (I have to say, though, that David Zinman's performance is the most persuasive I've heard. Says "Thanksgiving" to me!) You're thinking: more like "Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go"? Okey-dokey.

video details and more

Surely this has you primed for either suicide or homicide. So you should be up for something a little gamier.

BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14*

iv. "March to the Scaffold"

v. "Dream of a Witches' Sabbath"

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded Apr. 9, 1962

I don't know, sounds kind of fantastic to me.

"27 REASONS TO GIVE THANKS" [or not]
(as thunk up by the team at Think Progress's The Progress Report)

[For the many internal links, check out the onsite version -- except for the link for contributing to Think Progress, which is certainly one of those things to be grateful for, and worthy of tangible thanks.]

I'm sure if I thought really hard I could think of a bunch of things to be thankful for, but it's a holiday weekend -- why should I be doing back-breaking work like thinking? Especially when I can just steal somebody else's list? And what could be more Thanksgivingy than that?

We're thankful President Obama is thinking long and hard about committing more troops and money to Afghanistan.

We're thankful President Bush feels liberated now.

We're (not) thankful Dick Cheney has elected to move from his undisclosed location to the media spotlight.

We're thankful Al Franken has gone from playing self-help guru Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live to helping rape victims receive justice from their employers.

We're thankful for the healing power of beer.

We're thankful there are some on the right who think Glenn Beck is "incoherent," "mindless," "erratic," "bizarre," and "harmful to the conservative movement."

We're thankful for long hikes on the Appalachian Trail.

We're thankful Michael Steele understands that he can't "do policy" and that no one has any reason to trust his "words or actions."

We're (not) thankful for "birthers," "deathers," "tenthers," or "tea baggers."

We're (not) thankful conservatives believe they love America so much that they can root for our President to fail and for our nation to lose out on hosting the Olympics.

We're thankful NFL players refused to "bend over and grab the ankles" for Rush Limbaugh.

We're thankful six companies have resigned from the Chamber of Commerce due to its denial of climate change science.

We're thankful Falcon "Balloon boy" Heene wasn't actually in the balloon.

We're thankful Lt. Dan Choi and Lt. Col Victor Fehrenbach bravely spoke out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

We're thankful Shep Smith doesn't always drink the Fox News kool-aid.

We're thankful more than 80 companies refused to lend their sponsorship to Glenn Beck's hateful rants.

We're thankful there are progressive organizations in D.C. lobbying for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

We're (not) thankful for the filibuster.

We're thankful that more than 20,000 of you stood up to Bill O'Reilly's harassment machine and called for impeachment hearings against torture advocate Jay Bybee.

We're thankful that Iran's authoritarian rulers live in fear of their own population.

We're thankful we'll no longer have to listen to nativist rhetoric on CNN and global warming skepticism on ABC News.

We're (not) thankful for bailed out CEOs who think they're doing "God's work" by doling out billions in bonuses.

We're thankful for the legacy of the Liberal Lion.

We're thankful Bill O'Reilly won't be following us home for Thanksgiving.

We're thankful a "wise Latina" sits on the Supreme Court.

We're thankful our boss helped rescue imprisoned American journalists in North Korea.

We're thankful for our readers and the support you give us.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*If you're wondering what this has to do with Thanksgiving, well, it happens that I've been working my way through BMG's 10-CD compendium of all the Munch-BSO Berlioz recordings,and yesterday on the way to work I got to this 1962 Symphonie fantastique. It sounded worth celebrating to me.
#

Read The Full Article:
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/11/for-thanksgiving-weve-got-currier-ive
s.html

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G20 report lays down the law to police on use of
force.

post from The Osterley Times on 26 November 2009 12:58:00 AM. © The Osterley Times

MP's have already produced their own critical report on the policing of the G20 summit, so the latest report into police handling of that protest from Denis O'Connor, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, is not saying anything that hasn't been said before, but it is notably critical of the police handling of the incident, calling for a police service which is "anchored in public consent".

O'Conner has used his report to demand wide-ranging reforms and a return to an ideal of policing based on "approachability, impartiality, accountability and ? minimum force".

O'Connor warned of a "hardening" of policing style in recent years and the erosion of the British approach to policing developed by the 19th-century prime minister Sir Robert Peel and based on consent.

He criticised the way officers were trained for the use of force, saying they wrongly believing "proportionality" means "reciprocity". Through the ranks, there was a failure to understand the law on policing protests. O'Connor said the lack of national standards meant that a high-profile area of policing had been treated as a "Cinderella" subject with inconsistencies from force to force.

He called for ministers to endorse and vocally support a consent-based approach ahead of the Olympics in 2012, when British policing will be on show to the world.

"It is time now for us to put the British model back on the table. The Home Office should be concerned by this drift, because members of the public are and I am trying to react to that," he said.

"Every police initiative, every decision about equipment should be examined to see if it complies with the principle of policing by consent ? we are in danger of being left with a shadow of what we had, asking ourselves: where did it go?"

O'Conner has done well to articulate what many of the public feel. There was widespread reaction to the way that the police handled the G20 summit with many feeling that they were behaving as if protest itself was a form of lawbreaking.

And the very fact that this report has been welcomed across the political spectrum says quite a lot about just how much the police alienated public opinion with the death of Ian Tomlinson and the other shocking images which came out of that protest and the police's handling of that event.

The proposals include:

? Immediate action from the home secretary, Alan Johnson, to issue guidance to all 44 police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that ensures they facilitate peaceful protest in a consistent way.

? The creation of a set of fundamental national principles on the use of force to cover all police business, emphasising "minimum use of force" at all times.

? Radical change in public order training, with an emphasis on teaching the 22,500 officers who receive basic protest training how to manage peaceful activists.

? A shakeup of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) to make it transparent and accountable. He highlighted Acpo's three "domestic extremism" units, which collate information on thousands of activists and which, the Guardian revealed last month, were receiving £9m from the government.

The police's handling of the G20 summit protesters was heavy handed and provocative. The practice of "kettling" was disgraceful. The police at the time claimed that what happened was the result of too many "inexperienced youngsters" being amongst their ranks on that day. Whatever lay behind it, this latest report makes it very clear; it must never happen again.

The prime minister acknowledged public anger over police behaviour. Speaking for the first time about Tomlinson's death, Brown said: "I know that the events at the G20 caused a great deal of anger and sadness for people when we had the casualty. It is important that policing is of the best and where mistakes are made or there are question marks they have to be answered."

Several police associations gave their support to O'Connor's findings, including Acpo, which said the report would "shape the future of public order policing". Climate Camp, the UK's largest environmental protest group, said the proposals were "a huge leap forward".

We are accustomed to report's which whitewash every police action and seek always to portray the police as acting honourably and to deflect any blame for violence towards the protesters themselves. It says a lot about what happened on that day that this report does not seek to do that and that it even gets the support of several police associations as it apportions the blame towards police behaviour.

That's highly unusual and it is to be welcomed.

Click here for full article.

Tags: Police, G20 protests

Read The Full Article:
http://the-osterley-times.blogspot.com/2009/11/g20-report-lays-down-law-to-police
-on.html

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The GTLs NFL Picks Week 12, 2009

post from The Gun Toting Liberal on 26 November 2009 12:46:40 AM. © The Gun Toting Liberal

Previous Week (Week 11): (12-4)Year To Date: 103-57All-Time (2006 Through 2008 Combined Record): 335-195-1?HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Y’ALL!!!That’s right — along with Turkey, flatulence, overindulgence, family fights and the gluttony we Americans are known for around the world comes...

This is only a comment summary. Visit http://guntotingliberal.com to view the lastest content complete with some of the most outrageous original photoshops in the political blogosphere!

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http://guntotingliberal.com/?p=7020

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Devil's Advocate

Here's the most thought-provoking and perhaps most important piece I've seen written on the Public Option. And it was written back in June. (Here's a follow-up debate on the argument advanced in the linked article.)When I first focused on the public[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/WxHrKmYstBo/devils_advocate
.php

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