Ringing in the New Year: East Coast edition

post from Daily Kos on 31 December 2010 11:46:01 PM. © Daily Kos

Let the countdown on the East Coast begin.

Five, four, three, two ...

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ar:-East-Coast-edition

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Open Thread - Happy New Year!

post from Crooks and Liars on 31 December 2010 11:30:21 PM. © Crooks and Liars

enlarge Credit: Crooks and Liars

Happy New Year to everyone from all of us at Crooks and Liars! It's an open thread AND a New Year's Eve party.

What are you doing tonight, hoping for this year, resolving for the next few? Welcome and a toast to our readers and commenters! Cheers!

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Late Night: Seeking Resolution(s)

post from Firedoglake on 31 December 2010 11:00:12 PM. © Firedoglake

So it's that time of year, at long last -- the time when bloggers run out of ideas and resort to making lists we reflect thoughtfully on the past year and make resolutions to improve ourselves in the next one.[...]

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Open Thread and Diary Rescue

post from Daily Kos on 31 December 2010 11:00:01 PM. © Daily Kos

Happy New Year and Welcome to Diary Rescue. Tonight's Rangers are Louisiana 1976, got a grip, claude, jlms qkw, Purple Priestess, and dadanation, with sunspark says hanging out in front of a computer deep into the evening to handle the editing.

Yes, it's December 31st and this bear of a year is finally over. Feel free in the Open Thread to look back on your favorite and least favorite memories of 2010. Me? I am going to remember this year forever as the year that Christine O'Donnell, Sharon Angle, John Boehner, Sarah Palin, and others drove the stake into the heart of what used to be America. The Mediterranean is looking awfully good for retirement...if I can ever get out from under this mountain of debt...

Anyway, if there is anyone out there not completely inebriated (why the heck not?) and not out celebrating the New Year somewhere, enjoy today's rescues with the rest of us shut-ins! Hey, someone has to have no life at all, and it might as well be us!

In the Historical New Years category:

HiddenHistories

Happy Babylonian New Years!

With much detail, KAMuston shares the history of champagne in TINY BUBBLES. (Louisiana 1976)

In the Definition of Insanity category:

Translator

Desert Island with Stossel, Carlson, and Hannity 20101230

First-time diarist Aidan Sprague Rice has Some Comments on Deroy Murdock's Defense of the Top 10%. (Purple Priestess)

In the Same Auld Lang Syne category:

D Wreck

Barbour endangers Jamie Scott with release from prison

xaxnar continues his brilliant more-than-review of Matt Taibbi's new book in Welcome to Griftopia, Part 2 - The Biggest A**hole in the Universe. (sunspark says)

In the 新年快乐 category:

RLMiller

Selling coal to China, or strategic coal reserve?

FishOutofWater reports on the control China is exerting on the world's production of essential minerals in eKos: Greenpower, Tech & Comm Hit by China REE Export Cuts. (jlms qkw)

In the A Little New Year's Truth category:

wiseacre

Fascism 101 (Not Just Another Tea Party Rant)

And finally, in the New Year's Pooties category:

michelewin

Old and New

jotter bring us today's High Impact Diaries: December 30, 2010 and gizmo59 has Top Comments (12-31-2010) - My Republican Friend Discovers White Priviledge(sic).
.

Just a few more words about 2010:

It's...Finally...OVER!!!!!!

Don't hesitate even for a microsecond to promote your favorite diaries (even your own) in the Open Thread. That's what Open Threads are for. (At least this one.) And have a very Happy New Year! (Go Northwestern!)

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-Rescue

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C&L's Late Night Music Club with OK Go

post from Crooks and Liars on 31 December 2010 11:00:00 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Genre: OKGoTitle: This Too Shall Pass
video details and more

Happy New Year from The Music Club! This song's videos, both the Rube Goldberg and Marching Band variations, far outshadow the song itself.

But if you listen to the words as shown in this fanvid, it's the perfect New Year's Eve number for a difficult year.

Our sister site Newstalgia has for its New Year's Eve concert, Aretha Franklin, Live in Stockholm, 1968.

What are you listening to this New Year's Eve?

Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

Artist: OK Go Price: $14.42 (As of 01/01/11 01:47 pm details)

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Support the FDL Writers Foundation

post from Firedoglake on 31 December 2010 10:22:48 PM. © Firedoglake

Friend of FDL Ryan Grim says, "I'm thrilled that they picked my book as one of the five readers can pick with a donation and glad to do anything I can to help the salon grow."[...]

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The goofiest political ads of 2010

post from Daily Kos on 31 December 2010 10:00:01 PM. © Daily Kos

While we may look back at the November elections and cry, at least we can still look back at some of the political ads from 2010 and laugh.

Here are a few of my favorites:

video details and more

Share your favorite ads (or YouTube moments) from the land of Lunacy.

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You May Now Commence to Eat the Rich

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 31 December 2010 10:00:00 PM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

Zandar notes how the avalanche of hysterical Austerity or Else! articles has a strange omission:

The more I look for it, the more I find articles about "what to do about state budget shortfalls?" not including the obvious solution of raising taxes and fees at all, let alone on the wealthy. Again and again we're told the only solution is painful cuts in vital social programs.

Which is, of course, the obvious consequence of Congress and President Obama dealing with massive budget shortfalls by approving a ludicrous tax cut for the rich that adds $700 billion to the massive budget shortfalls.

But history teaches us that when the rich overreach, so do the consequences. And soaking the rich never really goes out of style.

mjs' last Opinuary column is the best.

The Opinion "We shouldn't eat the rich" has died after being gnawed to the bone by a horde of addled geriatrics while on a skiing vacation in Aspen, Colorado. Born in the halcyon days of brotherly love and public order, the Opinion served to guide the less fortunate of the nation in their eating habits, admonishing them to refrain from dining on the wealthier members of society. After a pleasant childhood spent eating slaughtered animals, it left its home and became deeply embedded into the fabric of the social contract, free from any hint or pangs of cannibalistic urges.
After the fall of the Dark Prince in 1974 the Opinion spent the next few decades touring the country, sharing its message of Wealthy Free Eating as part of the They'll Shoot You if You So Much as Try and Nibble Them campaign. The promotion was so successful that no rich people were eaten in the United States for the next 35 years (the rich did continue to pay to have people lick them) even as poverty was increasing its presence. It was only when the richest citizens tried to fuck everybody out of their Social Security that poor mouths began to salivate when riding the bus through wealthy neighborhoods, and slowly the forks began to rise in anticipation of an orgy of flesh. As the New Year came knocking on the back porch door, barbecues across the 50 states began to sizzle and spit with the grease of bankers, insurance magnates, lobbyists, media moguls, fossil fuel executives and trust fund niblets, with nary a vegetable to be seen. Care for a nice Pinot Noir with your Upper Class Cutlets? Perhaps a slice of Derivative au Vin?
In lieu of flowers the family of the Opinion asks that you use caution when attempting to consume the rich, advising that a little patience goes a long way. Sure, upper class have the police and the military, but they'll run out of bullets eventually, and when they do, bam--they're what's for dinner.

They may have all the money, but never forget we outnumber them a thousand to one.

The only answer to politicians and pundits' demands that the middle and working classes "sacrifice" is this: You First.

It's time for our side in the class war to take the offensive.

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ay-now-commence-to-eat-the-rich

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Original v. Cover -- #57 in a Series

When the clock strikes twelve this evening, we will bid a not so tearful farewell to 2010. Then thoughts will then turn toward the year ahead. We may recall the story of "The Lady and the Tiger", however, those ominmous growling sounds from behind both[...]

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Newstalgia Reference Room - The Johnson Years -
1963-1969

enlarge Lyndon Johnson - somewhat imposing at times.
Newstalgia Reference Room - The Johnson Years - 1963-1969

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Since we're coming to the end of a year and the end of a decade, I thought taking a look at the Presidency of Lyndon Johnson and the turbulent times surrounding it might be a good idea.

Here is a look back at the Johnson years, as presented by NBC Radio and their Second Sunday series, broadcast on January 1969, as Richard Nixon assumed the White House.

Opinions on Johnson as President were sharply divided as much as everything else in the country at the time. In that respect, there are striking similarities between then and now with very little in the way of "middle-ground" opinions it seems.

So in case you were wondering if the country has always been divided over a leader and an administration's policies. I'm here to tell you it's always been that way.

I guess we just have to get used to it.

Happy New Year.