JKane

Thank you Keith Olbermann.

I'm surprised how badly Cooper is doing too, but then all of CNN is, so why not him? It's still hard for me to believe corporate interests axed a networks not-only top rated personality but one their very identity was based on! The one that gave them Maddow too. Usually Republicans hold their nose as long as they're making money on something, no matter how much it goes against their value$. Simpsons on Fox, for example... So what are they replacing him with? Forgot to look yesterday. I didn't watch him regularly and thought he sometimes went a bit too far, but I strongly feel the range and quality of debate is lessened without him staking out the equal and opposite position of Bill-o the clown.

Just noticed this after browsing Curbed by neighborhood... So they kicked Spotlight out to not build a hotel? Or is that another corner? Either way lofty plans for the area are behind it, I'm sure. But with redevelopment funds being seized won't it be worse for the area if places sit vacant?

I caught several of the episodes around when they first came out. Pretty horrific to think of humans doing that stuff to other humans--especially in the name of god.

I've finally been seeing some options in the LA area I consider to be worth their price these last couple months! Also stumbled across an interesting real-estate site, they have local editions for some other markets too: Curbed LA

Except that they have held things back at the request of the US Gov't and there are all those significant news stories in my post above.

What WikiLeaks revealed to the world in 2010

Nobody in this thread said a right-wing conservative--we said a tea-bagger nutjob. You suggest the two are one and the same? Let's see... fundamentalist Christians, flirtations with conspiracy nuts, and now tea-baggers... is there anything dangerous the Right won't embrace in pursuit of the all-important tax cut? What *the fuck* happened to the party of Lincoln?

I desperatly want a news organization to stand up and play clips of every single tea-bagger who every flirted with the treason of 'Second Amendment Remedies' all strung together. That won't happen, so we'll have to wait for Stewart (or Olbermann) to do it.

I like Five Guys better than In and Out, but would put The Habit above both of them.

In general I wholeheartedly agree with you, but I think that COS probably does more harm to it's adherents than is generally done to those of most other religions. COS goes beyond all the usual abuses into being an outright scam and pyramid scheme. The only way one can advance within it is to pay 100k+ or become an indentured servant. Family and friends are to be recruited and those that try to talk sense must be shunned. And they're always out there, trying to gather more people to take advantage of. Especially in my city, home to L. Ron Hubbard Way, a museum of the horrors of psychiatry, and massive "church" megacomplexes.

The more you watch the better you will get. Maybe DVDs and some streaming versions have CC/subtitles? But that won't help with colloquialisms. Still, I've gotten to the point where I can even make it through dense cop shows and catch most everything. Big improvement from years ago when I couldn't understand why so much of their political humor kept mentioning Military Police... Skins is slang for condoms, by the way, and the original version of the show was great. Usually American re-dos are nothing but massive disappointments, but I'm curious to see this and being human, though I don't hold out much hope. Skins was amazing because it was basically an American concept (90210) told in a way so opposite of the vacant, idiotic American style (especially prevalent now with shit like The Hills) that I really cared, which even when I was that age I never did about any of our similar shows.

I like Wendy's. Have never understood the popularity of In and Out, would take Wendy's or Fatburger over them any time. Not quite Fast Food, but Denny's has a surprisingly good burger, available on wheat bun with fruit side instead of fries.

There is also a BBC documentary, from the power-struggle perspective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uANSkJO01FE

I have reservations about somebody who only realizes Scientology is bullshit because of an internal power struggle with Miscavige. It's batshit from day one, not something that's been perverted recently and turned bad by one man! There's another blown 'celebrity' (I didn't really remember him from much) who has already spoken in great detail about all the bullshit Scientology is built on: Operation Clambake is the leading authority and source of truth on Scientology I have found, and anytime anybody mentions Scientology I make sure to tell them of it. I ask all webmasters/bloggers to put up a link to it on their front page somewhere to keep it high in google search rankings, like this: Church of Scientology.

Yep, really touched me too, already started a thread about it here right after I read it...

JKane: 422

The-agonizing-last-words-of-bill-zeller. I have no particular connection to Mr. Zeller or his experiences, but his eloquent farewell to a tragic life resonated with me. Something about his feeling he's too broken to have a loving relationship and dead-on description of useless counseling hit a bit close to home, at least.

I understood he's under the UCMJ, but had assumed it has somewhat similar provisions... can the UCMJ run counter to the Constitution? By the way, I've been meaning to mention somewhere, Wikipedea needs donations for their hosting fees, as people do your year-end donations please keep that in mind! It's surprising how many times in a week I end up there, so I'm glad I finally contributed the other day. There's also the EFF.

I'd mostly agree with you KY, IF he'd been convicted of something--but he hasn't, he hasn't even been accused! He is both an American citizen and serviceman, as such there can be no justification for stripping him of both due process and the presumption of innocence. If he's as mentally precarious as portrayed then he probably belongs in a hospital, not a bare concrete cell with a light 24/7, until he is fit to stand trial. What purpose in the world does limiting a prisoner's access to news serve? I would think a vital part of participating in your own defense is understanding what the jury pool (or court marshal panel) has been told about you!

I'm right there with you TY. There was a time I thought a McCain/Powell ticket in 2008 would be unbeatable, and as big a bed wetting liberal as I am that I'd find it difficult not to vote for it (esp. against my perception of Hillary at the time). But then, after having denounced him sometime around 2000, McCain got up on a stage with Jerry Falwell at his sham university and embraced him. Pretty soon McCain was waffling or outright reversing himself on every maverick or straight-talking position he'd ever had. Pandering to the assholes he'd rightly showed contempt for before--but they never forgot or came around, so it was all for not. But thanks for bringing us Sarah Palin, you senile old coot! I think what Rove did to him in 2000 scarred him far more than those years as a prisoner of war. It's kind of funny when you think about it that two war heroes have run, in a time of war, and both lost pretty easily. I guess the lesson in all this is that rich chicks dig soldiers!

Yep, and they're already doing protectionist things with many of the crucial raw materials they have. You need their stuff to build Li-Ion batteries? You have to build them in China, where they'll steal your intellectual property and be undercutting you with the same stuff made cheaper down the street!

I'm sure this (combined with the Wikileaks soldier Bradley Manning) will be used as ammo by asshats like McCain as justification on grounds of mental stability...

The Volt was also named one of Car and Driver's 10 best. I sat in one at the autoshow: a lot of luxury features--BUT really crappy fit and finish for a $40k car. Very plasticy, very Chevy. I love the idea, but am waiting for v2 or anybody else to make one. Though the all-electrics look very tempting (well, I wouldn't say look--given how unbelievably FUGLY the Leaf is!), especially the ones with Tesla drivetrains like the forthcoming Toyota Rav4.

Pretty sure he did just turn himself in--when asked.