Catch a live webcast of Okkervil River playing at the Paradiso in Amsterdam this Saturday, February 9th.
Okkervil River
8:00 PM (1 PM Central)
09-02-2008
Paradiso, Amsterdam
Fabchannel.com webcast:
http://www.fabchannel.com/okkervil_river
A new Department of Veterans Affairs report finds that “recently discharged veterans are having a harder time finding civilian jobs and are more likely to earn lower wages for years due partly to employer concerns about their mental health and overall skills.”
The next president should open up the Bush Administration's record.
FBI Deputizes Private Contractors With Extraordinary Powers, Including 'Shoot to Kill'
6 dead in shooting rampage at Kirkwood City Council
The US writers' strike, which has paralysed American television and film production since early November, could end as early as this weekend.
Mister Leonard Pierce goes undercover at the Consevative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for Sadly, No!
Day One:
The folks at SXSW have just posted the list of bands attending this year's SXSW 2008 Music Festival:
SXSW 2008 Showcasing Artists
After a brief glance at the list, here are some of the artists that I'm looking forward to:
The Acorn (Ottawa ON)
Arrah and The Ferns (Muncie IN)
Black Diamond Heavies (Louisville KY)
Carbonas (Atlanta GA)
Clockcleaner (Philadelphia PA)
Crystal Castles (Toronto ON)
Cathy Davey (Dublin IRELAND)
Deer Tick (Providence RI)
Experimental Aircraft (Austin TX)
Frightened Rabbit (Glasgow UK)
Future Clouds & Radar (Austin TX)
Guitar Women w/ Cindy Cashdollar and Sue Foley (Austin TX)
Half Japanese (Austin MI) !!!!!
Headlights (Champaign IL)
The Homosexuals (London UK)
Jarboe (Atlanta GA) !!!!!
Khan (Berlin GERMANY)
Jens Lekman (Gothenburg SWEDEN)
Lykke Li (Stockholm SWEDEN) !!!!!
Naked Raygun (Chicago IL)
Office (Chicago IL)
Petty Booka (Tokyo JAPAN)
The Pillows (Tokyo JAPAN)
The Raveonettes (New York NY) !!!
The Slits (London UK) !!!!!
Waco Brothers (Chicago IL)
We Are Standard (Basque Country SPAIN)
Monkeyfister has been live blogging the devastating tornadoes in the Mid-South:
Whilst we're waiting for George's Promised Prayers to roll in, down here in the Tornado-Stricken Mid-South, I might recommend some DIRECT HUMAN INTERACTION.
This Is My Best First Start To Help My Region.
As Scout Prime is to NOLA, I am, suddenly, to the Mid-South area (I LIVE here, and was Live-Blogging these horrible storms all night), and have started to get the help-ball rolling down here. Some of you know where I work. I started a Food Drive there today for the Mid-South United Way Food Bank.
As the area affected is so broad and detached, and everyone in the Country was distracted by politics last night, as yet, there is no central assistance hub set-up. So, at the link, above, you'll find the two agencies with the broadest radius to help the area right now. Both take DIRECT donations.
A small-blog swarm on that post (or this comment) would be greatly appreciated by more people than just me. I can't describe how wide-spread the damage is down here. It's enormous. The Media, per usual, is only just now waking up to the situation, after their Super-Duper-Let's-All-Wet-Our-Pants-Together- Tuesday Political Hangover. Like NOLA, these are REALLY poor folks down here, and have nothing, and nowhere to go.
A short post about this at YOUR Blog, linking either to my post, above, or directly to the two Orgs mentioned in the post above, would sure be a big help, and would be greatly appreciated by many people who are relying on help. They are all that we have right now.
I just donated a deer's worth of ground venison, along with the 100 pounds of rice and quart-sized ziplock bags that they said that they needed at the United Way Mid-South Food Bank, when I phoned them this morning. Their pantry is BARE, and I'll be loading them up with all the potatoes, rice, veggies, bags, and other staples that I can fit in my truck tomorrow.
This is serious Red State country, and a flood of help from the DFH Left would REALLY make a big difference in a number of good ways.
I thank you all in advance.
Click Here for more about what's going on down here. It's all that I am writing about right now. Help is needed.
Your humble peer,
Monkeyfister
Residents in five Southern states rose Wednesday to widespread clusters of destruction caused by an unusually ferocious winter tornado system. At least 55 people were killed, and scores more were injured.
White House Defends CIA's Use of 'Waterboarding' Interrogation Technique
US censured for waterboarding
The UN's chief torture investigator criticised the US government yesterday for defending the use of "waterboarding", an interrogation method often described as a form of torture.
Manfred Nowak, the special rapporteur on torture, said: "This is absolutely unacceptable under international human rights law. [The] time has come that the government will actually acknowledge that they did something wrong and not continue trying to justify what is unjustifiable."
CIA director Michael Hayden for the first time admitted publicly Tuesday that the agency had used "waterboarding," or simulated drowning, in interrogations of three top Al-Qaeda detainees nearly five years ago.
Tornadoes and thunderstorms ravaged several states in the U.S. South overnight, killing at least 30 people, injuring dozens and causing widespread damage, authorities and local media said.
A Republican HUD scandal for a new generation
Worker productivity, the key factor in rising living standards, slowed sharply in the final three months of the year while wage pressures increased.
Vets often denied academic credits
When Sean Lunde enrolled at the University of Massachusetts at Boston in 2005, he expected his four years of training and experience as an Army medic in Kosovo, Germany, and Iraq would earn him as much as 50 college credits, or about a year and a half of courses. He received none.
"I went to medic school for 12 hours a day, six days a week, for four months," he said. "None of that was accepted."
When recruiting, the military highlights its educational advantages, promising young men and women that service will give them a leg up toward a college degree and a better career. But many of the thousands of veterans who attend college after tours of duty are denied credit for military courses and specialized skills despite an accreditation system set up to award it, veterans' advocates and students say. That forces students to take more courses than they expected to, straining already thin GI Bill benefits.
In response to veterans' criticism, colleges say they are fairly evaluating military courses and that a good deal of service training does not match with academic subjects. But in the minds of veterans, the denial of credits casts doubt on the academic qualifications of their military training, coursework, and specialties. That leaves many feeling bitter and disillusioned.
Colin Powell's Day of Shame
Health insurer Humana Inc (HUM.N) said on Monday fourth-quarter profit soared 57 percent, beating Wall Street's expectations, on strength in its Medicare plans for older Americans and a lower tax rate.
Barbara Ehrenreich: The Boom Was a Bust for ordinary People
A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.
Cyber-savvy town gets rich on eBay frauds
On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station.
Son of Rambow Trailer
Attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan surged last year, according to previously unpublished figures from allied military forces fighting insurgents.
Islamic insurgents are expanding their numbers and reach in Afghanistan and Pakistan, spreading violence and disarray over a vast cross-border zone where al Qaida has rebuilt the sanctuary it lost when the United States invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.
"Make no mistake", begins a new issue brief from non-partisan think-tank the Atlantic Council of the United States, "NATO is not winning in Afghanistan".
A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet. The sentence is then upheld by the country's rulers. This is Afghanistan – not in Taliban times but six years after "liberation" and under the democratic rule of the West's ally Hamid Karzai.
Sign the petition to put pressure on the Afghan government to prevent the execution of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh.
Glenn Greenwald: Is Michael Mukasey Prioritizing the Harassment and Imprisonment of Journalists?
ACLU tries to ground the Boeing subsidiary that trafficked in torture.
Did The Warranties Just Run Out On Undersea Cables?
The Saints
"Demolition Girl" (I'm) Stranded (1977)
I'll make you crawl
I'll make ya so sad you were mine
I'll make you stall
And honey I'm sure that you will find
I'm telling you I don't let go until I'm through
I'll make you cry
I'll make you wish that you could die
I'm gonna be your be your demolition girl
(repeat once)
Demolition girl, come on!
Your demolition girl, alright
I'll be your demolition
I'm gonna make you crawl
I'll be your demolition, baby, I'm gonna drive you right up the wall
Yeah yeah!
I'll make you crawl
Make you feel small
Be your demolition
Gonna make you crawl
Gonna bring you down, bring you to the ground
Okay
Baby that's what I say
Baby that's what I say
Baby that's what I say
Alright
