Finally! (Head Slap!) ... But It's Still Stuck Up There

Well, this was a pleasant article to espy;

Music Industry to Abandon Mass Suits

The decision represents an abrupt shift of strategy for the industry, which has opened legal proceedings against about 35,000 people since 2003. Critics say the legal offensive ultimately did little to stem the tide of illegally downloaded music. And it created a public-relations disaster for the industry, whose lawsuits targeted, among others, several single mothers, a dead person and a 13-year-old girl.

Yeah, nothing like going after pimply teenagers and grandmothers to chalk up some good PR.

Perhaps, it had more to due with, and let's use some fancy-dancy business lingo, their "Return On Investment"

Like, can you say, THOUSANDS OF BILLABLE HOURS FROM THEIR LAWYERS!

Either that, or the record companies started asking questions, like, what was the status of those thousands of lawsuits, and when do we collect our big windfall?

Having to tell the record suits that they were going after small fish, had to be a meeting with a lot of foot-shuffling and stammering.

But wait, the RIAA isn't conceding ground here, they are continuing to carry the big stick;

Though the industry group is reserving the right to sue people who are particularly heavy file sharers, or who ignore repeated warnings, it expects its lawsuits to decline to a trickle. The group stopped filing mass lawsuits early this fall.

"Decline to a trickle" ...

Yeah, kind of like what are economy is doing right now.

And, do you know who used to be the "Big Cheese" at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)?

That whiz-bang, Democratic Strategist, Hilary Rosen, who, now, I believe, is the Political Director/Editor at the HuffPo.

This, on Rosen from Wikipedia;

Rosen was at RIAA during the most turbulent and disruptive times in the music industry. She was a major lobbying force on Capitol Hill and a regular presence on behalf of the industry in the media. She raised RIAA's profile from a little known trade group to the most visible and influential music industry voice in Washington and around the country. Her longtime close relationship with Democratic members of Congress led to the passage of several pieces of legislation during her tenure. While the business models were under development by the record labels, RIAA advanced a legal and PR campaign to limit the digital file swapping of copyrighted music, a practice whose popularity increased dramatically with improved personal computer multimedia capabilities and expanded broadband Internet access.

And how did she raise her profile for this piddly little trade group?

Among other things, by suing pimply teenagers and grandmothers, and, as referenced above, a dead person.

Don't think, just yet, that the RIAA has pulled their heads completely out of their asses.

Eric Krangel, at Silcon Alley Insider;

The RIAA is going to stop suing people it accuses of illegally downloading music from the Internet, the WSJ reports.

And here's the music industry's new plan to tackle piracy: Work with ISPs to send emails to pirates, asking them to please knock it off.

The trade group said it has hashed out preliminary agreements with major ISPs under which it will send an email to the provider when it finds a provider's customers making music available online for others to take.

Depending on the agreement, the ISP will either forward the note to customers, or alert customers that they appear to be uploading music illegally, and ask them to stop. If the customers continue the file-sharing, they will get one or two more emails, perhaps accompanied by slower service from the provider. Finally, the ISP may cut off their access altogether.

Kind of reminds us of that old Monty Python skit: "Stop! Or I shall say 'stop' again!!"

Allowing the ISP's, the Cable Companies to police this, with their legendary customer service?

We all would be better off, taking a cue for Krangel, and just go to the Ministry of Silly Walks for some justice.

Call me cautious, but this may just launch a new Spam industry, with those infamous Nigerian Princes offering to let you help them recover their inheritance of millions of digital music files.

All perfectly legal, of course.

Cue The Gloomy Organ Music ...

I gotta tell you, when I read these posts, a rather sick feeling enveloped me.

I mean, talk about an incredibly, almost unbelievable, extraordinary coincidence ...

Back in September, Larisa Alexandrovna (and Muriel Kane) had a piece up on The Raw Story, noting this;

Michael L. Connell was served with a subpoena in Ohio on Sept. 22 in a case alleging that vote-tampering during the 2004 presidential election resulted in civil rights violations. Connell, president of GovTech Solutions and New Media Communications, is a website designer and IT professional who created a website for Ohio’s secretary of state that presented the results of the 2004 election in real time as they were tabulated.

Today, on her blog, At Largely, Larisa has this;

One of my sources died in a plane crash last night...

He has flown his private plane for years without incident. I know he was going to DC last night, but I don't know why. He apparently ran out of gas, something I find hard to believe. (See Update 3 below). I am not saying that this was a hit nor am I resigned to this being simply an accident either. I am no expert on aviation and cannot provide an opinion on the matter. What I am saying, however, is that given the context, this event needs to be examined carefully. If you want to understand the context more broadly, I suggest you read this article I did a while back about the break-ins and arson cases that Siegelman and others have experienced

In case you need it spelled out, from Emily Levy, over on The BRAD BLOG;

BREAKING: MIKE CONNELL, GOP 'IT GURU', KILLED IN SOLO PLANE CRASH ... Said Recently Threatened by Karl Rove, Had Beeen Key Witness in OH '04 Election Fraud Case ...Built Alternate WH Email System, Websites for Bush, McCain, Swiftboaters, '04 OH Election, More...

The Akron Beacon Journal is reporting that the private plane of the GOP's highly-placed "IT guru" Mike Connell's went down in Lake Township, Ohio on Friday evening. Connell was killed in the crash and is reported to have been the only person on board. There are no reports of anyone on the ground being hurt, though his plane crashed in a residential neighborhood.

Anderson, over on Newshoggers, comments, wryly;

It's too bad guys who wind up as "key witnesses" in cases against political dynasties like the Bushes don't have better knowledge of the history of their own government. They might be a little less inclined to fly in small single engine airplanes.

Like we said at the top ...

"Incredible, almost unbelievable, extraordinary coincidence ..."

This may be something along the lines of The Parallax View Bush Ohio 2004

Stay Tuned to this one ...

Sleigh Ride

Well, as we noted yesterday, we got blanketed with about a foot of snow.

We did one round of shoveling last evening, and, will be heading out shortly to do another (basically, having to shovel about the same amount done yesterday ... Better in shifts, as it wasn't as "light and powdery" as predicted).

So, while we are toiling in the cold and wind, time for another Christmas Tune, to assist you of getting into the swing of the season.

Snap you fingers, and don't be bashful of humming and singing along.

We'll be back later in the day with some posts.

Enjoy!

Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes

This Date ... On The Garlic

20 December 2007... On The Garlic

The Garlic's 2007 Sounds of Christmas

The Garlic's Recommend Late, "Save Your Butt" Christmas Gift Ideas


20 December 2006... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Signs That Christmas Is Coming In The White House


December 20, 2005... On The Garlic

Woodward Said To Be Jumping To The New York Times

Google Begins Talks With White House To Digitize Wiretaps

Top Ten Cloves: Other Powers President Bush Believes The Constitution Gives Him

Retro Garlic: Deep Throat Now Goes Deep Six ... Mark Felt Obit

We had the "BREAKING NEWS" this morning, that the infamous icon of the Watergate Scandal, Mark Felt, aka "Deep Throat", passed away - at the age of 95.

Obituaries - 'Deep Throat' Mark Felt Dies at 95

W. Mark Felt, Watergate Deep Throat, Dies at 95

Leaving aside the "breaking news" aspect of it, it was heady times, the all-consuming early 70's, when the man who was a crook, President Richard Nixon, was doing a soft-tap dance on the laws of the nation, and Constitution (as opposed to the sledgehammer The Bush Grindhouse has taken to it), and the FBI Agent Felt would soon make two young reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, mega-journalistic superstars.

Adding to the intrigue of "Deep Throat" was the agreement that he would not be revealed until his death.

Well, that got blown a couple of years ago.

Felt wasn't dead, but pretty far gone with dementia, and memory-loss.

So, it was "BREAKING NEWS" when Felt was identified as being the ever-mysterious "Deep Throat", ending the decades-old guessing game.

Who Is W. Mark Felt? ...Man Who Admits to Being 'Deep Throat' Breaks His 30-Year Silence

DEEP THROAT REVEALED

And when that news broke, we had a number of days here on The Garlic, where we had quite a bit of fun with it, hence, a Retro Garlic today.

The Retro Part

Top Ten Cloves: Things G. Gordon Liddy Would Like To See Happen Now That "Deep Throat" Is Exposed

News In Brief - Haig Stood In-The-Ready If Felt Backed Down; Former Nixon Staffer Okay To Take "Deep Throat" Rap

More Revelation Bombshells ... Felt Admits To Being 'You're So Vain' Target; Simon Confirms "Brief Affair" With Former FBI Man

Top Ten Cloves: Other Things Mark Felt Is Admitting

Burnett To Sign Deep Throat For New Reality Series; Felt To Host Show On Real-Life Whistle-Blowers

New Felt Leak of Novak "Deep Throat' File; Wild Guesses Often Traded With Fellow Conservative Buchanan

Under Fire, Woodward Offers Reason He Didn't Write Plame Story; Not Comfortable With Public Meetings; Didn't Have High-Level Secret FBI Source

Tis The Season ... First Big Snow Today!

Oh my!

It's not even officially winter yet, and we're due to get dumped on today.

Up here in Boston, the call is for up to a foot of snow.

It always sounds so benign, when they say it will "light and powdery", but it's still a foot of it.

And waiting in the wings is another storm on Sunday, though, it's too early to call on the snow amounts, as there will be a rain/snow line in play.

So, we will try to be creative, in-between the shifts of shoveling (or brooming, it it is, indeed "light and powdery") the season's first snow, otherwise known as the annual date when you find out just how much you are in, or out, of shape.

And with that, another holiday tune ... Rather appropriate for the day.

Vaughn Monroe - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

This Date ... On The Garlic

19 December 2007... On The Garlic

Is John Boehner Consulting The Romney Campaign, Giving Make-Up Mitt Crying Lessons?

Tough Slogging On The Revisionist Front ... Rove Having A Hard Time Working That Etch-A-Sketch


19 December 2006... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard At Vice President Dick Cheney’s Holiday Party


19 December 2005... On The Garlic

Angry Bush Invokes 70's Spoof Movie To Justify Spying On Citizens

Top Ten Cloves: Reasons Bill and Melinda Gates May Be Miffed At Sharing Time Person-of-the-Year With Bono

Take Our Country ... Please!

Boy, this has to really be pissing off The Bush Grindhouse.

A country, seeking another country to come in, invade and occupy them.

What daydreams must be floating in the Office of the Vice President.

You wouldn't have to falsify intelligence ... You wouldn't have to create lies ... Hell, you wouldn't have to out, and expose, covert CIA agents ...

You would have a genuine invitation, the time to put together and create a Vegas-style, elaborate, thematic invasion, complete with all those joyous, shouting (happily) people, greeting you as treasured liberators, showering you, not with smelly shoes, but fragrant flowers.

Why couldn't this have come eight-years ago!!

We speak of the good people of Latvia, via an online petition, reaching out to Sweden for a little helping hand

Latvians beg Swedes to invade as soon as possible

Riga - An online petition in favour of a Swedish invasion of Latvia is proving a seasonal hit - among Latvians.

Fed up with a government that failed to prevent the Baltic state lurching into a serious recession and unimpressed by belated efforts to get out of it, Latvian Roberts Safonovs took the matter into his own hands and set up an online petition calling on Sweden to take over.

[Snip]

At various stages of its history, Latvia has been occupied by Russians, Germans and Poles, but unlike those unfortunate historical episodes, the Swedish occupation which began in 1621 and lasted 172 years is still viewed as a golden age.

The Swedes are admired as benevolent occupiers, improving living standards, opening schools and generally being much more civilized than the Russians who preceded and succeeded them.

[Snip]

While most of the signatures on the petition appear to be genuine, others display the Latvian sense of humour - unless the petition has really been signed by the Latvian prime minister, a director of the International Monetary Fund and US president-elect Barack Obama.

Based on the mega-shit-train The Commander Guy put on the tracks there, in Iraq, I don't believe we will see, at some point in the future, the citizens of Iraq, looking longingly at the U.S. Occupation, and cry out for America to invade and occupy them, again.

Petitioning the Latvians, perhaps with, or without their Swedish overlords, coming in and helping them to boot the United States out of their country?

That, a far-more likely possibility.

Or, maybe, this is just a big ruse by the Latvians, to get some kind of deal on Volvos

(H/T to BJ, over on Newshoggers, for the inspiration)

All I Want For Christmas Is ... A Killer Asteroid?

This should do well for the economy, at least the retailers.

It may prompt a mad, last-minute stampede, for that one-more Xmas gift, Tinfoil Hats, for those in-the-know.

What's to know?

Forget the economy: Killer asteroids could pose real danger

For example, astronomers had only 24 hours' notice of a small asteroid that blew up over northern Africa on Oct. 7. A larger, more dangerous object presumably would be spotted years or decades ahead, giving humans time to change its course before it hit.

[Snip]

The year 2029 could be crucial. When Apophis makes its first pass by Earth, its track can be more precisely determined. That will enable astronomers to judge whether Earth will escape with a near miss or will have to take swift action to avoid a blow that could devastate a region as large as Europe or the Eastern United States.

To deflect an asteroid, scientists need to know its shape, weight and composition. A ball of loose rubble would be handled differently from a solid metallic rock.

"Finding them is one thing, but you have to know your enemy,'' said James Green, the director of NASA's Planetary Science Division.

So far, NASA has spent $41 million on asteroid detection and deflection, but the Near Earth Object Program is running out of money.

"It's just barely hanging on,'' Shapiro said.

Hmmm ...

I wonder if those Southern Senators will block funding on this, perhaps demanding concessions from the asteroids, making sure it is non-union scientists and astrologers that's getting the work.

If so, we, perhaps, know where to place the gigantic "X-marks-the-spot", to assist the forces-that-be to pinpoint the location of where Apophis, or any other asteroid, can make a impactful landing.


Bonus Deep Outer Space Riffs

Jay McDonough: Apophis: don't make any big plans for Easter Sunday, 2036

Top Ten Cloves: Things About The Rocket Scientists' Party, Yuri Night

There's Sucker's Born Every Minute ...

Top Ten Cloves: Things About U.S. Plans to Shoot Down Broken Spy Satellite

Top Ten Cloves: Ways To Tell The Shuttle Astronauts Are Drunk

Top Ten Cloves: Other Things That NASA's Cassini May Find On Saturn's Moon Enceladus

Let Me Cover The Point, and Put Another $2G's on Half-A-Foot ...

Global Warming? ... What Global Warming! ...

Yeah, sure, we always look forward to the beginning of Winter, and seeing the snow storm reports - from Las Vegas!

Road closures extend overnight; county schools cancel classes

A rare winter storm swept through Southern Nevada Wednesday, dumping the most snow on the valley in nearly three decades, grounding flights at the airport, forcing the closure of major highways and closing schools for today.

"This is the most snow we've had in Las Vegas in almost 30 years," said Chris Stachelski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "It's a significant historical event."

Outgoing flights at McCarran International Airport were grounded Wednesday afternoon because of the snowfall and poor visibility. Incoming flights were cancelled, said Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Gregor said the airport doesn't have snow removal or deicing equipment, which means there's no way for snow-covered planes to leave safely.

Hmmm ...

I wonder how many casinos opened up books, and took bets, on what the final snow fall amount would be?

Since it's Vegas, and the Season, and snow is not what we typically put together with Vegas, I think we have the perfect soundtrack to offer, that is, well, so, so Vegas.

Maybe they're already singing this along the Strip ...

I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm ~ Dean Martin




Bonus Vegas Snow Riffs

Winter weather blows into Las Vegas

Snow brings Las Vegas a touch of winter

Rare snow snarls Las Vegas airport; big U.S. storms

This Date ... On The Garlic

18 December 2007... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: How Bush Administration Reacted To News of The Death Star Galaxy


18 December 2006... On The Garlic

Minced Garlic - Year of the Special Comments

Garlic Special - The Sounds of Christmas


18 December 2005... On The Garlic

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves

Is MSNBC Now Pimping David Shuster?

Just kidding ...

We like David Shuster here, at The Garlic.

He has a great sense-of-humor, without giving up his granite-nosed journalism, fear taking a holiday about asking the tough questions, or pressing an interview subject (including his own colleagues, like Morning Joke)

I doubt the MSNBC stables are empty, or they lacked budget, so, perhaps, elevating Shuster to take over the 6PM '1600 Pennsylvania Avenue program this week, due to the failing upward of the fourth son of the lost 'My Three Sons' episode, David Gregory (more on "Stretch" below), this was a long-delayed "make-up to Shuster, by the MSNBC suits who hung him out to dry last year, caving in to the Grand Central Station Locker Creature of the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Shuster's a pro, and a good interviewer, and it a refreshing change to the program, moving away from Gregory's gattling-gun, round-robin style of throwing out questions to a satellite of talking heads, like hand grenades, requiring said talking heads to responded in equally lightening speed, before they got hit with another one lobbed by Stretch.

At times, it often appeared that there were about six different question hanging in the air, with the assorted guests answering not the same questions as the others, almost reaching the level of a choreographed cacophony.

In fact, we, very much agree with Jane Hamsher, who said;

Shuster consistently did the best TV reporting on the Libby trial and has been doing great coverage of the auto industry bridge loan. He was one of the first to call the Plantation Caucus senators out for union busting and trying to undermine Detroit automakers for the benefit of foriegn manufacturers who had factories in their home states.

The Shuster/Olbermann/Maddow lineup on MSNBC will be a potent one. Great news.

Go get;em David! ... Kick ass and take names!

Now, about that other twit, David Gregory.

We already weighed in, at his announcement of taking over Little Timmy Russert's island, in our "Meet The Freakshow Defender";

Michael Stickings, over on The Reaction, has a great post up, rounding up some reviews of Stretch, in his first tea party;

From David Gregory: "goofily hollow";

"I don't think I've ever heard Gregory say an interesting thing either, and his reporting on the presidential race was mind-bogglingly banal and shallow.

What's worse, though, is that Gregory is an all-too-eager, all-too-pleased-with-himself Beltway insider who, as Patterson puts it, "[embodies] the coziness of the political class" and who is "delighted to be in the club." Forget hard-hitting, independent journalism. Forget even the tiresome "gotcha" journalism of Russert. At the grand and ironic theater that is American politics, Gregory, like so many other Beltway insiders, doesn't so much sit in the audience with us, the people, monitoring, reporting on, and ultimately holding to account the actors on stage, as prance around on stage with the actors themselves, as with Rove in '07, one of them, not one of us, the Fourth Estate fully co-opted by the powers-that-be, itself a power that is ..."

Stickings quotes Troy Patterson, from 'Slate', who offered this gem;

With Gregory now on the job as the moderator of Meet the Press (NBC), the status quo is in good hands. As a White House correspondent, Gregory had a way of confronting the president and his mouthpieces that was sometimes the welcome yap of a tough watchdog but more often the toot-toot of a showboat practicing the pure art of careerism. It feels unfair to say that Gregory is without substance, and yet I'm certain that I watched him host MSNBC's Race for the White House at least twice a week during the election season and just as certain that I remember nothing of the program beyond the punch of the graphics and the pep of the tempo.

Go read both, Stickings, and Patterson's posts, they're good reads.

And, remember, "If it's Sunday, and if it's David Gregory, it's Meet The Freakshow Defender!"

Say What? ... Commander Guy Cluelessness Alert!

This deserves an Ignorant Dolt of the Day recognition;

Bush says sacrificed free-market principles to save economy

US President George W. Bush said in an interview Tuesday he was forced to sacrifice free market principles to save the economy from "collapse."

"I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system," Bush told CNN television, saying he had made the decision "to make sure the economy doesn't collapse."

Bush's comments reflect an extraordinary departure from his longtime advocacy for an unfettered free market, as his administration has orchestrated unprecedented government intervention in the face of a dire financial crisis.

"I am sorry we're having to do it," Bush said.

In denial, and clueless, right to the very end.

Like his crony-based government, Owner-Society policies, and the "Regulation? What Regulation"?" has nothing to do with the collapse of our economy, and now he is being ever so magnanimous in straightening things out ...

"Sacrificing his principles ..."

Gag me!

Vox Popoli sums it up nicely;

I find myself beginning to be astonished, when suddenly I recall that most people truly are idiots. Not one in a hundred individuals, be they godless or religious, collectivist or free market capitalist, ever stops to think about the obvious contradictions they demonstrate every day in their assumptions, beliefs, actions, and statements.

You can only hope, that when he goes back to The Grindhouse after one of these kind of things, someone explains a few things to him, much like a parent correcting an errant child, and he realizes, even for a fleeting nano-second - WORST PRESIDENT EVER!


Bonus Dubya the Dolt Riffs

He is Iraq's Katrina itself"

Where's That Apple Runner When You Need Her?

Breaking News! White House To Supply Burma With Pre-Fab Convention Center ... Bush Wants To Streamline Media Reports, Provide Easy Access For Junta Flyovers

This Date ... On The Garlic

17 December 2007... On The Garlic

American People 2 Bush Grindhouse 0

God Bless Orrin Hatch ... Defending The Bush FISA, and Telcom Amnesty, He Indicts The Bush Grindhouse

Talk Fight At The FISA Corral ... And While That Goes On, Eye and Hearing Tests For All

Another "I Told You So" ... Lieberman Living Up To His True Colors


17 December 2006... On The Garlic

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves

'Ahh, Dick ... Isn't There Something We Can Do About All These Subpoenas? ...The Results - The Garlic Week Poll

Cue The Pinhead ... Operation Proposition Penquin About To Launch

No doubt, Mr. Ultimate Pinhead, along with, most likely, a bevy of other dwarfs, finks, phonies and frauds, Freak Show Flying Monkeys, and maybe even the Mormons, will be up-in-arms, convinced society is going down the drain, and the End of Days are approaching at warp speed.

Gay penguins expelled from zoo colony for stealing eggs are given their own to look after following animal rights protest

A pair of gay penguins thrown out of their zoo colony for repeatedly stealing eggs have been given some of their own to look after following a protest by animal rights groups.

Last month the birds were segregated after they were caught placing stones at the feet of parents before waddling away with their eggs.

But angry visitors to Polar Land in Harbin, northern China, complained it wasn't fair to stop the couple from becoming surrogate fathers and urged zoo bosses to give them a chance.

[Snip ...]

In response, zookeepers gave the pair two eggs laid by an inexperienced first-time mother.

'We decided to give them two eggs from another couple whose hatching ability had been poor and they've turned out to be the best parents in the whole zoo,' said one of the keepers.

[Snip ...]

Wildlife experts at the park explain that despite being gay the three-year-old male birds are still driven by an urge to be fathers.

'One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite the fact that they can't have eggs naturally, it does not take away their biological drive to be a parent,' said one.

Of course, Lou Dobbs will go absolutely crazy, wailing at this, shaking his fist, clamoring over these "Communist China Penguins", encouraging some nitwit congressman or senator to immediately draft a bill, banning any such actions at zoos here in this country.

No necessarily, because they are "gay" penguins, but rather, they are "Communist China penguins".

Gay Pet Adoption in the next, 2012, Republican plank?

You can almost here the printer spitting it out right now (Don Surber is already strengthening his manhood over it)

And Newt Gingrich can run straight to Faux News, and commiserate with the Ultimate Pinhead, expanding his previous fiat, that is it now grown to be an "International gay and secular fascism that wants to impose its will on the rest of us."

You know Bill, if they can kowtow to gay penguins in Communist China, what's to stop them from taking our babies here, and giving them over to homosexual couples? ... You'll see that here, soon enough ... Some homosexual couple will go to court, and the liberal judges will just hand over the babies ...

(Ultimate Pinhead shakes his head, throws his hands up in the air)

You're right! ... You're right! ... And you can trace it back to their War on Christmas... Communists don't celebrate Christmas ... Here ... Take the babies ... Give'em to the gays ... Happy Holiday, pal ..."

Moral of the story?

Birds of a feather ...


Bonus Flightless Bird Riffs

Elyas Bakhtiari: March of the Gay Penguins

Andy in China: Gay Penguins 'Best Parents in the Zoo' According to Keepers

"Prop 8 - The Musical"

This Date ... On The Garlic

16 December 2007... On The Garlic

And, In The Double-Take Department ...

Bill Moyers Talks with MSNBC Host Keith Olbermann

Our Ignorant Dolt of the Week ... Karl Rove!

Yes, we're a day, or two late with it ...

Partly due to the need to be lazy yesterday, and, as usual, there were a few choice candidates in the running of our weekly IDOTW.

Like, how can you ignore the still-on-going saga of the Illinois governor?

This is absolutely hysterical, unless you happen to live in Illinois, in which case, I suspect, doctors, and chiropractors, are doing a booming business, treating the citizens in the Land of Lincoln for severe cringing.

The Senate Republicans certainly showed IDOTW mettle, carrying the GOP flag for busting unions, submarining the bailout of The Big Two.

Even The Commander Guy made a late run at it, sneaking off for his Mission Accomplished Victory Tour in Baghdad, only to be shown his sub-20's ratings aren't limited to this country.

That message delivered to him in the form of two thrown shoes.

But in the end, it was hard to ignore the Turd Blossom.

Now, you can make an argument, that Bush's Brain (yeah, I know, an oxymoron), should be grandfathered to the status of Grand Ayatollah of Ignorant Dolts, much as we have done with the Ultimate Pinhead, Bill O'Reilly (Happy Holiday, there, Bill'o!).

But since he's sticking his grubby nose in a lot of places, we'll keep him in the field-of-play, for now.

Let's see, what heights did the Son-of-the-Golden-Cock-Ring reach to, to snatch that IDOTW title ...

Well, for one, he is threatening to muck up the waters, looking to continue to pull strings, and go to battle against the incoming President Obama, on his choice of Attorney General.

Looking back at what he has left in his wake, I find it abstruse that the Congressional Republicans would want him to take the helm of anything, to have him give them anything, even the time-of-day, which, you would have to double-check, to see if it was legit, or if it was smear.

I mean, Jesus, Cheney, of all people, warned the Congressional Republicans to get off their asses, get a glove, get in the game, otherwise they will cement the GOP as "the party of Herbert Hoover".

Oh yeah, related to that, he also got together with the other idiot, O'Reilly, to blow kisses, back-and-forth, how the media is in the tank for Obama, that all the troubles we have now - the devastated economy, global warming, escalating unemployment, a melted-down Wall Street, are all being overplayed by the media, to make Obama look good.

There's also the above-mentioned Commander Guy, and how Rove is spearheading reviving/rebuilding/creating/purchasing/pulling-out-of-thin-air, The Bush Grindhouse legacy.

Extremely arduous task, no doubt, but you just gotta roll up your sleeves, and get to it, one thrown shoe at a time.

All good IDOTW things, but where we dump the bucket of Gatorade over him, is his call for a new Republican day.

In the Murdoch rag last week, Rove penned 'How the GOP Should Prepare for a Comeback', and, if it is an actual report, or certified policy paper, I suspect the subtitle to it would be "The Wide, White World of Karl Rove".

He, essentially, repackages the last eight-years, looks to steal a few things from the Democrats, calls on Newt Gingrich to open up some new Republican Brownshirt Camps, capture the youth vote, and this gem;

Finally, ideas are always the most important currency of politics and never more so than after a party loses. The relationship between GOP policymakers and conservative policy thinkers should be strengthened.

Déjà vu, anyone?

Like the the PNAC, and AEI, didn't have enough of a say, helping the Bush Grindhouse lie us into a war.

No where, in his grand plans, does the Rove call for the Republicans to become diverse.

Pitch a big tent, for sure, but make sure we have the same gatekeepers, and lets keep the party for us, not for "them".

No Karl Rove.

The only thing you need to prepare for, is to walk up to the podium, and collect The Garlic's "Ignorant Dolt of the Week" award.

Something tells me, this will be the first, of many to come.


Bonus Rove IDOTW Riffs

Digby: New Strategery Same As The Old Strategery

Wonkette: Karl Rove: Everything Is Awesome For Republicans!

Amanda Terkel and Matt Corley: Karl Rove's sly deal with Fox ...The GOP mastermind is billed as a top campaign analyst for the cable news network. But he has his fingerprints all over John McCain's White House bid

Ed Secretary Spellings On Turning Down Date With Rove: "He Was So Inept And Inartful"

"Can we have our $40,000 back?"

Karl Rove, Living In An Etch-A-Sketch Kind of World

He Should Have Just Thrown His Shoes

Gee, Officer Pogan,
You really are a boob
Your bodyslam went viral on the YouTube.
Gee, Officer Pogan,
What are you to do?
Gee, Officer Pogan,
Indicted, are you!

Well, the wheels of justice do work, from time-to-time.

Remember, from this past summer, the NYPD officer who body-slammed a bicyclist in Times Square, who filed a report that the cyclist was driving right at him, requiring his violent actions?

Officer Is Indicted in Toppling of Cyclist

A police officer who was caught knocking a man off his bicycle in Times Square over the summer in a video that was distributed widely on YouTube has been indicted by a grand jury, according to lawyers involved in the case.

The officer, Patrick Pogan, has been instructed to report to State Supreme Court in Manhattan for the unsealing of the indictment, his lawyer, Stuart London, said.

[Snip ...]

Mr. Long was taking part in a monthly ride, called Critical Mass, that often draws hundreds of riders. In a criminal complaint against Mr. Long, Officer Pogan said that the cyclist rode straight into him. But the video, which was shot by a tourist and posted on YouTube and on the blog Gothamist.com, showed Officer Pogan lunging toward Mr. Long.

Here's the Perry Mason-Moment video

Critical Mass Bicyclist Assaulted by NYPD




Tsk, Tsk, Tsk ...

As Peter Kafka put it, "One of the real benefits of our document everything/share it with everyone world: The ability, on the rare occasion, to help right a wrong."

You know what ...

This song is for you, Office Pogan ...

round round round

This Date ... On The Garlic

15 December 2007... On The Garlic

Editor's Note - Still Dealing With The SNOW!


15 December 2006... On The Garlic

Breaking News! President’s Personal Resolutions Will Determine Iraq Strategy; Bush Launches New White House “Resolution” Group; Targeting Jan. 1 To Begin Changes; Plans Own 100-Hours; From Dealing With Iraq Jar, To Losing Weight, Says “New Strategies Will Come From Me”


15 December 2005... On The Garlic

White House To Extend President's Speaking Tour

President Stays Firm On Call For War But Admits Intel Errors

Top Ten Cloves: Things White House Is Worried About Over Outcome Of Iraq Elections

"Son of A Dog!"

Geesh ... I take a little time off, to chill out, catch a football game, or two, and all hell breaks loose ...

Shoes flying all over the place ...

And just what page, or section, of the Bush Legacy Project, does this come from?

Bush Dodges Shoes Thrown by Iraqi Journalist



From McClatchy;

George W. Bush made his last visit to Iraq as president on Sunday. But instead of highlighting progress from the "surge," it became a reminder that many Iraqis see him not as a liberator who freed them from Saddam Hussein but as an occupier who pushed their country into chaos.

As Bush finished remarks that hailed the security progress that led to a U.S.-Iraq agreement that sets a three-year timetable for an American withdrawal, an Iraqi television journalist leapt from his seat, pulled off his shoes and threw them at the president. Striking someone with a shoe is a grave insult in Islam.

"This is a goodbye kiss, you dog," the journalist, Muntathar al Zaidi, 29, shouted.

Bush ducked the first shoe. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, standing to Bush's left, tried to swat down the second. Neither hit the president. Another Iraqi journalist yanked Zaidi to the ground before bodyguards collapsed on Zaidi and held him there while he yelled "Killer of Iraqis, killer of children." From the bottom of the pile, he moaned loudly and said "my hand, my hand."

Zaidi was hauled to a separate room, where his cries remained audible for a few moments.

Leave it to The Commander Guy, to go off on a "Mission Accomplished" victory lap and be greeted, as The Bush Grindhouse long propagandized, like a "liberator".

It would be fitting, especially with the Court-Appointed-President's party attempting to kill off unions, to stand by and watch Detroit sink (reprising their positions of Katrina-battered New Orleans), if the UAW workers, as well as all American, sent their old shoes to Dubya, in a symbolic gesture of supporting the sentiments of the Iraqi journalist, Muntathar al Zaidi

Just address them to "Son of a dog", or "Son of a thousand dogs".

I'll be waiting, watching, to see how soon The Worst President Ever makes another one of those mocking videos, ducking shoes, much like he pretended to look for WMDs under his desk.


Bonus Zapatos del Perro Riffs

Mustang Bobby: WMD - Wingtips of Mass Destruction

Jonathan Stein: Iraqi TV Journalist Throws Shoes at Bush at Press Conference

BagnewsNotes: Lame (Duck) Iraq Visit Guarantees Bush Shoe-In As Worst President Ever

Andrew McLemore: In final Iraq visit, Bush ducks a pair of shoes

Top Ten Cloves: Things About Steven Wright Being Inducted Into Boston Comedy Hall of Fame

News Item: John Tobin on the new Boston Comedy Hall of Fame

10. Steven's thinking about leveraging the Hall of Fame induction, into getting to fill Obama's Senate seat

9. Steven's unsure on, since it's a "virtual" Hall of Fame, to deliver his acceptance speech in person, or via hologram

8. It's a "virtual" Hall of Fame ... Something Steven is familiar with ... Last year, he made an investment, buying timeshares in a virtual Condominium ... He gets two-weeks in September

7. All of his friends, that used to work as clowns in the circus, are going to the ceremony ... But in separate cars

6. It's cutting it close to Christmas, a busy time for Steven ... He likes to wrap his Christmas gifts in sod, but it takes a ton of scotch tape to keep it on

5. Another Christmas fact about Steven ... He puts up two Christmas trees every year ... A real tree, and an artificial one ... And, every year, he gets gifts, from the real Santa, and a department store Santa Claus

4. The ceremony is taking place in the theatre at Patriot Place ... Steven's worried about Bill Belichick videotaping him, surreptitiously

3. Steven may protest the event, calling for the members of the Old Negro Comedy League to be inducted also

2. Steven is a little worried about being inducted into a "virtual" Hall of Fame ... Feels it may overexpose him in the Time-Space Continuum ... And it really pisses of the Sims people!

1. Steven's never really liked Hall of Fames ... Thinks the mirrors in them make him look too famous


Editor's Note

While we attempt to have fun with this, it is no joke.

Steven Wright is the inaugural inductee to the new Boston Comedy Hall of Fame.

From Nick Zaino's Boston Comedy - Funny Grown Here;

There is a hall of fame for just about everything these day. Every sport has one, every form of music. So why not Boston comedy? Boston City Councilor John Tobin asked a similar question in a conversation with his friend, Spark Capital’s Todd Dagres. The two decided to create the Boston Comedy Hall of Fame, which will induct its first member, Steven Wright, at a local all-star ceremony at Showcase Live on December 15.

Wright was an obvious choice. The Boston scene was already swinging when Wright made his first appearance on “The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson” in 1982, but his obvious talent led people to start looking for talent here. And since Tobin was looking for a comedian who “has made significant and lifelong contributions to the art of stand-up comedy,” Wright was perfect. “That was easy and unanimous,” he says. “Steven Wright is the obvious first choice in a long line of future inductees.” He adds that if Wright hadn’t agreed to it, they wouldn’t have gone forward.

The line-up for the show reflects Wright’s importance in the Boston comedy community. Tony V. will host the ceremony, which will include performances by Don Gavin, Barry Crimmins, Steve Sweeney, Mike Donovan, Mike McDonald, Lenny Clarke, Ken Rogerson, and Jimmy Tingle, with a video from “When Stand Up Stood Out” director Fran Solomita.

Congratulations Mr. Wight!

You can visit the Boston Comedy Hall of Fame, for tickets and information HERE

Visit Steven Wright's website HERE

Bonus Bonus

Some early Steven Wright

1980's Stand Up Comedy "Steven Wright"

"Never sell your Madoff"

As the story unfolded that past few days, I couldn't help but wonder, how many people, after the collapse of Wachovia, Lehman Brothers, AIG, and the rest of the Wall Street Meltdown, let out a nervous sigh, and said;

"Thank God, we have our money with Bernie."

Ahhh ...Not happenin" ...

The "Bernie" here is Bernard Madoff (one vowel short of having the quintessential name for this scandal), who is being charged with perpetrating the largest Wall Street scam, a gigantic Ponzi Scheme, with losses of $50-Billion.

Since its founding in 1960, Madoff Securities won wealthy clients like the Wilpons by delivering steady profits through markets both bull and bear.

In January, the firm claimed Madoff's investment advisory business managed $17.1 billion for 11 to 25 clients. Madoff Securities boasted of an "unblemished record of value, fair-dealing and high ethical standards."

Man, think of how much more, how much bigger it could have been, if Charles Ponzi were alive, in his prime, operating today?

Instead, this may bring down the curtain on "Ponzi Scheme", replaced by Bernie's moniker, "Madoff Scam"

From Tyler Cowen;

Investors may have been duped because Mr. Madoff sent detailed brokerage statements to investors whose money he managed, sometimes reporting hundreds of individual stock trades per month. Investors who asked for their money back could have it returned within days. And while typical Ponzi schemes promise very high returns, Mr. Madoff’s promised returns were relatively realistic — about 10 percent a year — though they were unrealistically steady.

[Snip ...]

In reality the "fund" simply was not there and now grandmothers have been fleeced. That is a scary lesson about the financial sector as a whole (and prudential regulation) but if it is any comfort an unregulated hedge fund could not have done the same. Those funds hold their portfolios at banks and thus you can check as to whether they actually "exist."

Along with "grandmothers", a whole bevy of others got fleeced;

"Madoff's investors included captains of industry, corporations -- some of which are publicly traded -- that used Madoff almost as a high-yielding cash management account, endowments, universities, foundations and, importantly, many high-profile funds of funds," said Douglas Kass, who heads hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Management.

"It appears that at least $15 billion of wealth, much of which was concentrated in southern Florida and New York City, has gone to 'money heaven,'" he said.

One such person was New York Mets owner, Fred Wilpon.

How ironic.

Wilpon, potentially losing hundred-of-millions with "Bernie", while his team will be playing next year, in a stadium sponsored by a company that required a government bailout.

"Money Heaven?"

Say it ain't so, Bernie ... Say it ain't so!

"The one thing my father always told me was, 'Never sell your Madoff,'" said a Florida investor who believes he's out $3million he'd hoped to give to his children.

A reoccurring theme in the vast number of articles and posts on this scandal, bring up the old adage.

"If it looks to good to be true, than, it isn't"

Or, as a good friend said, over-and-over last evening, "you can't cheat an honest man".


Bonus Madoff Madeoff With The Money Riffs

Vox Popoli: Technical difficulties

NYT: Look at Wall St. Wizard Finds Magic Had Skeptics

Jennifer Rubin: The Other Major Scandal

Neptunus Lex: Hedge Funds