Yes, Another One...

I'm working my way thru Andrew Bird's catalog and I just found this song which may be my second favorite studio recording he's done. The lyrics are spot on the pulse of American society in this political culture and the whole piece (equal parts to music and lyrics) is just soooo incredibly poignant. He has heavy asian influence with his violin on this song and it is almost infectious. I'm going to post the lyrics beneath the video that just features audio, no video.



Born host to a tongue
So sing a song about it
Held a breath for too long
Till we're half sick about it
Tell us what we did wrong
Then you can blame us for it
Turn the clamp on a phone
So we're down about it
And tell us all about it
We're so in doubt about it
How about some credit now
Where credit is due
For the damage that was done
We have wrought upon ourselves and others
With this blow, ambitious gun
And all the pratfalls can be fun
Encores can be fatal
And then I hear you say,
Thank God it's fatal. Thank God it's fatal.

The rest of the lyrics can be found on the other side of this link if you want to read with the video. I have more than a suspicion that these music posts are annoying. I just can't help it regarding Andrew Bird. I really think his talent is a once in a generation or every other generational occurrence.

Contribution

I've been taking a sabbatical of sorts the past two weeks maybe. I have no idea what is going on in the world, I just heard that Patrick Swayze died - tragic. I read the blog everyday and refresh it a few times every night, even though I haven't been commenting. Since I don't know what has been going on and I feel like I should leave a post, I want to share something genius with you. This sketch is called Penelope - Therapy from SNL. Who ever this woman is.... She is fucking genius in everything I've seen her in. Generally I've hated SNL since like 2003. This has NPH and LIZA in it too. You can't go wrong. Enjoy.

National Scandal

This is what our culture has been reduced to - Kanye v. Obama. I'm fucking sick of it already. If I were in the administration the producer of this interview would be blacklisted. As a consumer of news, I say fuck you. If you are going to try to expose something from behind the scenes let it be fucking news. Record him when he thinks cameras are off and ask him off the record what happened to single-payer, why we haven't regulated the banks, or how he feels about fighting a war with fucking flying robots.

This country really makes me ill sometimes.

Father-Daughter Moment, Baseball

Video of cute father-daughter moment at a baseball game:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/ModernTube-Young-Phillies-fan-rejects-dad-s-fou?urn=mlb,189941

ALL About the Swine Flu Pandemic

I'm writing this post to help inform you guys specifically. So you will know a little more about the situation when this confronts you in reality. Mark my words, it will. From here on out I will be referring to Swine Flu as Novel H1N1, a strain of Influenza A, per request. It is the correct label after all.

I know everyone is liberal with the skepticism on the issue, but approach this comparison with an open mind: It is like living in New Orleans and Katrina is headed towards you. It is just a medium storm at first so you have the option of riding it out and you aren't really sure if it is going to hit NoLa or not. These things are unpredictable... That is where Novel H1N1 is right now. It is coming and the nervousness you are sensing from everyone else is just in preparation. This storm could climb to a category 5 and could hit us head on. Please don't dismiss it.

Federal authorities plan to launch a massive campaign in the coming weeks to convince Americans to get the swine flu vaccine and to erase any public skepticism about the flu's danger and the safety of immunizations.

This video is the best introduction to the current state of things. It is a production from Nova in their series Nova Science Now (the best tv show on earth). This was from 2006 when Avian Flu was a threat and everyone was scared. The whole segment is about the 1918 H1N1 Pandemic though. They are talking about a strain of the same virus and explain what happened then, and more importantly they discus the physiology of viruses. It also has the best description of hemagglutinin and neuraminidase I have ever seen. I wish I had seen it before I took virology.... So you have all that information at your finger tips now. You'll also learn about how it is spread and what the symptoms are.

It is separated into 2 parts, the second part starts off with excellent animation describing the importance of the "H" and "N"s. Keep in mind when you are watching this that the 1918 flu pandemic they are talking about was a similar Influenza A strain. They just keep referring to it as the 1918 flu.



I know a lot of people are paranoid about the vaccine due to mercury and other preservatives but I'm going to let you come to your own conclusions. I will tell you that scientists are questioning whether or not older generations really need it. They think it might be possible that immunity may have already been instilled in people from the Russian Flu (1946-1957) and then again from the late 70's with the H1N1 outbreak. Even if you didn't get sick, you may have had the vaccine to these flus which were similar Influenza A strains. Read more here.

One thing I don't like about the vaccine is the fact that it isn't going through a proper trial phase. I know there is no time, but by the time they find out if there are severe or even lethal side effects, thousands of people will already have had the shot. Another thing with the vaccine that you can't really count on, is by the time you get it, the sample they produced the vaccine with may not even be helpful in protecting you anymore. There is a real possibility that by the time it hits here badly, it may have mutated. Rendering the vaccine useless against this specific threat. Mutations are what make dealing with viruses in general so hard for medicine. -- A quick side-note, there is hope that causing HIV to hyper-mutate that it may destroy itself. That is being studied right now and if it is successful, it will have applications with every virus that ails us.

You should also know that the current strain of Influenza A, Novel H1N1, is resistant to a lot of stuff, which is one of the reasons why it is particularly dangerous. For example the CDC is stating that 13% of cases are Tamiflu resistant, which is a considerable change from the normal 1% resistance seen in Influenza A in the past. More here. It has been circulating more in the southern hemisphere from what I've been told, since it is winter there now. Which is where a lot of case studies will likely be coming from. Thankfully we have this time advantage and we aren't going to be as ignorant as they are now.

To address the skepticism that this is fear mongering and the media getting everyone freaked out, I will try to counter it with pointing out that this is a story that has been driven by the CDC and WHO. Every other scare tactic used against us has been originated and driven by the media. This information is coming directly from liberal people who are basing their claims in fact. Even when they address the issue of predicting the spread, they are getting the information from people like Nate Silver. More here and here.

One last thing. The FDA and FTC have issued a statement about fraudulent products from slimy people trying to take advantage of the situation. My guess is there are going to be lots and lots of scams playing on peoples' fear over this flu season. The FTC is ready to investigate and prosecute these people as they bubble to the surface. Press release here.

There seemed to be a lot more information I wanted to get across, but I can't seem to get this post right. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments and I will try to answer. Magnolia is a registered nurse so she might know the answers too.

Please see your doctor to discuss whether or not you should get the vaccine. Just don't walk in there ignorant. Remember it is completely possible for this to miss us. Just like it was possible for Katrina to swing a louis and head to Texas. I hope this is helpful, and didn't just scare anyone.

Thank to Rita for helping me out.

Sweet and Sour

I went to a few of those links that Lisa had shared and at the Democratic Underground I ran across this video which has given me mixed feelings.



This woman is a decent person, you can tell. My problems with what happened were that this is proof of the control that media has on our population. It is also proof that the Democrats don't know how to negotiate. She has NEVER heard of single-payer? Ever? She reads the bullet points like it is some kind conspiracy that she just learned about. How can the country be having a national debate about health care and people have not even heard of this other strategy at all? It is an entire option this woman was not presented with.

The part that gives me hope is, she can be gotten to. She was sincere. She even asked how the bill was supposed to be financed, but like any good politician McCain just avoided the numbers completely. Another lining to this cloud is that she was informed by protestors. So that obviously does have an effect. I find it very uplifting that some of these right wingers might be having their minds open up a little bit and at least research what we are fighting them for.

She cited the 3% payroll tax. I hope a progressive walked up to her afterwards and asked her what percentage health care was taking out of her paycheck right now. That is all people like this woman need. Personalize those giant numbers and then their sky starts falling. This is what the DNC should be focussing on. Don't fight the RNC. Ignore them. Try to educate their followers. Actually fuck the DNC. Progressives need to start doing this. The Ron Paul supporters share a lot of common ground with progressives. We could build our own party.

Because I got High Part 2

Ken Lee, tu libo dibu douchoo



















This Last one will make you cry


I'm going to go watch Lord of the Rings. Let me know if any of these are new videos for you.

Because I got High Part 1

I'm oddly attracted to this guy. Is it wrong that I want to marry someone like this?
















http://io9.com/5061787/dwight-faces-nerd-torture-of-the-highest-form


The ones in the middle are from movies. Some I edited together. I am going to just smoke and try to find the really funny reality ones, as in not written or produced. The panda sneeze video is in there somewhere too.

Micheal Moore's New Movie!

Here is a trailer for "Captialism: A Love Story



Usually I wait until a movie comes out on DVD but I am going to the theater for this one. Micheal deserves the box office numbers and I am going to help add to them.

It opens nationwide October 2

Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan

I know this is off topic guys, but I just ran across this 1930's footage of Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan. I had never seen video of her before, nor had I heard her speak. I thought this might be a first for you.



We need a modern remake of the Helen Keller story. Who would play Helen Keller as a kid and who would play her as an adult? I've got to think about this for a while, but I'll leave my thoughts in the comments.

REAL Progressives on Health Care

I can't even think of commentary to write for this... This is the way it is acceptable to nail Obama to the wall. This video basically calls him a flat out liar in a way that is based in fact, and it is backed up with evidence.



Over the past few months I've officially broke up with the DNC. If more news agencies were reporting on what is happening in the Democratic Party and not on what the Republicans are saying about the left, then I think a lot more people would be dumping them too.

BTW, I just created the "Lies" Label. Lets see how much faster that number grows than all the others.

Barney Frank on Single Payer

These are the questions the media and people should be asking. This is Barney Frank asked by a citizen about single-payer. 

Does anyone else get the sense that Frank feels guilty for the words coming out of his mouth? He FUCKING should. BTW, eventually I'll get around to writing posts instead of just posting video.

TYT - "Heil Hitler"

I had read about this, but not seen the video. This literally just made me cry. If you don't know about this show I can tell you about it later. It is The Young Turks and the host is a guest host - Michael Shore. 

Hey, I know. Let's allow these people to carry assault rifles.... Around our ELECTED leader.