Murdoch's Bad Week

Murdoch Just Dropped His BSkyB Satellite Bid

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation announced that it is withdrawing it's $12 billion bid to take over the shares it does not already own in Britain’s main satellite television broadcaster, Sky News reported. Ironic the source? Maybe they heard it down the hall?

So this development is the latest that stems from the phone hacking scandal within Mr. Murdoch’s British newspaper empire that has convulsed his company and ended not only the News of the World - but more importantly a very close, cozy and influential relationship with the British establishment. Police and also Ministers. What that really means is that power recognizes power. And when insects recognize a sick plant - they attack it. Or use the shark analogy. Whichever works better for you.

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Sunday Comics - The Week in Review

Finish line. Another week in the history books. The roller-coaster of the drama in Egypt has come to a conclusion - and the three hundred souls that helped make it happen. Social media was a tool, an interment in organizing - not necessarily creating - a revolution. And in Egypt's case it was as effective as a blade or a bullet. In Iran - not so much.
It's also telling that in Iran, as they're celebrating their revolution, and cheering on Egypt - they're suppressing the Green movement and hanging the opposition.
And go he did. The military performed a soft coup d'e'tat. The oil sucking world is concerned what's going to happen next. The West, and America love democracy -- but only if it's to their own benefit. If you're a democracy and elect theocracy into office - that's not good for business. That's why the West is excited for the people of Egypt, but also quaking in their boots that Egypt won't want to play ball.
Which explains, perfectly, the White House's trepidations and confusing messages about Egypt these last couple weeks. A PEW poll discovered that 82% of Egyptians have an unfavorable opinion of the United States. They also want more religion in their government. Factbox: Egyptians want more Islam in politics: poll.

Switching gears, Mr. Obama crossed the street to try to mend fences with the Chamber of Commerce. It went over like a lead balloon.
But the US is on the road to recovery, right? There's nothing to fear... oh, Inflation.
Meantime, make sure you get out to the store this weekend to buy your sweetie overpriced roses and chocolate that was picked by children... oh, you haven't heard? Now chocolate is the new blood diamond. Eh, just email your SO a picture. That ought to go over well.

And there's a new high watermark for failure out there...
Let's try to meet back here next week, gang. In the meantime, hang in there.

Thought of the week: Why is cargo on a ship, but stuff on a truck is a shipment?

Atheist Murderer Billboard

Bizarre Christian Billboard Compares Atheism To Murder?

A group calling themselves "Answers in Genesis" recently took out a billboard in Texas depicting a young boy holding a gun.

Here’s how Answers in Genesis describes themselves:

An apologetics (i.e., Christianity-defending) ministry, dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively…we also desire to train others to develop a biblical worldview, and seek to expose the bankruptcy of evolutionary ideas, and its bedfellow, a “millions of years old” earth (and even older universe).

[..]Personally, I can’t believe they are implying that non-believers, or to whom God “doesn’t matter,” are going to take a gun and shoot someone in the face.

Striking yes; thoughtful, absolutely not.

Although supposedly their beef is with evolution, I don’t see how that point is conveyed with this picture. So, according to them, believing what Darwin had to say means a person is lawless and will go on a killing rampage?

Amazingly I have a problem with this. First, on a long list - is the name of this group of rabble rousers. "Answers in Genesis?" Really? That's your name? There are more questions than answers in this book of the bible... let's start with why chapter two directly and completely contradicts the first chapter!? They're obviously written by a different set of Rabbi's and about 100 years apart. If god created Adam and Eve together, but then in chapter 2 has to take a rib out of Adam to make Eve... hold on I'm confused. And what about Lilith? Fan fiction? And if Cain and Able are the only children of Adam and Eve, and one gets murdered --- WHA? Wait a second! It seems human life didn't mean much to the THIRD human... and he was LIVING during Genesis! He even TALKS to god!

I'm going out on a limb here - but God didn't mean much to Cain.

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I know not," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

He even smarts off to the all mighty after committing the first homicide. Pretty ballsy.

So, idiots can put up a billboard and not be called hypocrites? Fine. Luckily, there are some other people on the internet who don't care for insane billboards. Here's one that I hope we can all raise money for and put up right next to the other one.

Daley 'Outsider' Back In

Chicago Machine In Full Gear

William Daley Will Be President's Chief of Staff, Officials Say

William M. Daley will become the next White House chief of staff, bringing an outsider's voice and decades of experience with business to the West Wing, officials said Thursday.

Currently a senior executive of the investment bank JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Daley was commerce secretary in the Clinton administration, and is currently a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase. He's also someone's brother...

President Obama make it official later today. Pete Rouse, the interim chief of staff and a longtime friend of the president's, will become a counselor to Mr. Obama, officials said.

Read the official version

Well, Change? Yeah, that went out the window when Obama picked Biden. I guess Change really meant, "Not Hillary."

Even if you CAN look past this Bill Daley is Richie Daley's brother -- I can't -- Another big banker is needed for more influence in the Obama Administration? And they're trying to sell Bill Daley as an outsider? What?! Are you being serious right now? That's as absurd as when George W. Bush AND John McCain tried that line. Bill Daley is the face of the Machine outside Cook County. He's up with Clinton and also Al Gore. He's about as much an outsider as much as the Washington Monument isn't in the Mall.

“This was a real mistake by the White House,” said Adam Green with BoldProgressives.org. “Bill Daley consistently urges the Democratic Party to pursue a corporate agenda that alienates both Independent and Democratic voters.”

If I were one of the people donating to Mr. Obama's campaign, not only would I not donate for his re-election on JUST THIS -- but I'd ask for a refund for the previous contribution.

Difference of Perspective

Cardinal rule broken, don't put the funny one first.

Gag Order on Wikileaks

Swedish authorities say they have issued an arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, on accusations of rape and molestation.

Did Julian Assange really do this? Is he drunk with fame and testosterone from Pentagon Papers 2010? Is he really dumb enough to discredit himself and his mission by being this stupid? I don't know - that's up to the courts to sort out - no matter how much cash and time that takes.

No matter what, Wikileaks credibility has been damaged. Pundits and critics will now have something to work with. These allegations will be repeated over and over again to drive home the talking point that Wikileaks in particular, and whistleblowers in general, are criminals.

And it will work. Unfortunately.

And if you were into conspiracy theories and evil counter intelligence agents from Hollywood movies - all you need to do is to make the accusation. You don't have to put him on a plane to Gitmo, or have him killed - just discredit the person, and you've done the damage. Simple and neat.

Read More:

Weiner In Your Face

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) lashes out at Republicans (namely Rep. Peter King) who voted against a bill that would have secured $7.4 billion dollars for the medical expenses of 9/11 emergency responders who became ill in the line of duty.

It's inspiring to see such passion - even if it was just yelling and screaming - presented in the Congress. Whether or not I personally agree with his decision I truly respect his stance and finally showed some balls. Most politicians are so concerned about their political career and walking on eggshells and partisan.

He could probably aspire to a higher office seeing as how viral this video has gotten today - too bad about that name though.

Siding, Windows and So Much More!

"Honey, I think we need new windows - oh, and we need to end "secular socialism."

"No dear, we're going with the Hindu guy. He's got a buy one get one deal, and he promotes religious tolerance in his ad."

"Okay, which ever is cheaper and reflects our values better."

Doctored Image, No Bias?

On the right, Larry Downing/Reuters President Obama on the magazine cover and in the original photograph with Charlotte Randolph, president of a Louisiana parish, and Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard.

A metaphor for a politically troubled president? Fun with Photoshop?

There was President Obama on the cover of the June 19 issue of The Economist, standing alone on a Louisiana beach, head down, looking forlornly at the ground, presumably at a pile of garbage, perhaps the flag.

The problem was, he was not actually alone in the picture. The photograph was just edited to make it look that way. So what? It's cover art. Just ask OJ and Time Magazine, right?

The unaltered image, shot on May 28 by a Reuters photographer, Larry Downing, shows Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard and Charlotte Randolph, a local parish president, standing alongside the president. But in the image that appeared on The Economist’s cover, Admiral Allen and Ms. Randolph had been scrubbed out, replaced by the blue water of the Gulf of Mexico. Oh, that's what everyone's pissed about. It wasn't tar brown.

When it comes to its own photographers, Reuters has stringent standards regarding photo editing. “Reuters has a strict policy against modifying, removing, adding to or altering any of its photographs without first obtaining the permission of Reuters and, where necessary, the third parties referred to,” Thomson Reuters said in a statement on Sunday.

Editors from The Economist had no comment when asked on Friday about the cover image.

Reuters has had a photo-editing controversy of its own in 2006 after one of its freelance photographers altered images of the Israeli military incursion into Lebanon to make the damage from Israeli warplanes appear more severe. Reuters later stopped working with the photographer and removed his images from its photo archives.

Emma Duncan, deputy editor of The Economist, said this about the cover,

"I was editing the paper the week we ran the image of President Obama with the oil rig in the background. Yes, Charlotte Randolph was edited out of the image (Admiral Allen was removed by the crop). We removed her not to make a political point, but because the presence of an unknown woman would have been puzzling to readers.

We often edit the photos we use on our covers, for one of two reasons. Sometimes — as with a cover we ran on March 27 on U.S. health care, with Mr. Obama with a bandage round his head — it’s an obvious joke. Sometimes — as with an image of President Chavez on May 15 on which we darkened the background, or with our “It’s time” cover endorsing Mr. Obama, from which the background was removed altogether — it is to bring out the central character. We don’t edit photos in order to mislead.

I asked for Ms. Randolph to be removed because I wanted readers to focus on Mr. Obama, not because I wanted to make him look isolated. That wasn’t the point of the story. “The damage beyond the spill” referred to on the cover, and examined in the cover leader, was the damage not to Mr. Obama, but to business in America."

So settle down, ya'll. It's not political. It's just a crappy cover! Okay? It's not like they broke a story about a General who's shining light on a war that's all but forgotten about in America even though it's costing us a Trillion dollars to fight it. Rolling Stone, people! Can we get back to cat pictures now?

Brown Back-Door's Big Deal, Nevermind He's Against That Sort Of Thing

Just in case anyone thinks I'm going light on the Republicans lately, let me share a little story about the new Wonder-Kid, Mr. Super GOP from Massachusetts. In the case of the Republicans, he's just one of the gang now.

You see, Scott Brown owes his election in no small part to the public furor over the so-called Cornhusker Kickback, the backroom deal that Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska struck for his vote to pass the health care bill. Bad, bad, secret backroom deal.

It seems that Scott's following Nelson's example, winning concessions in the financial overhaul bill on behalf of Massachusetts banks.

Scott is wheeling and dealing with both parties and hinting that he just might vote with Democrats if they agree to goodies for financial institutions in his state. How quickly a candidate who campaigned against "closed-door meetings" and "backroom deals" learns to eat at the trough once in office? It's a magical moment. One to celebrate and point to whenever your next 'outsider' campaigns for 'reform' or 'change.'

The Deal:
Brown scored an exemption for home-state interests like Fidelity Investments and the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. from some new restrictions on trading. He also persuaded congressional negotiators to let banks invest up to 3 percent of their capital in private equity funds and hedge funds, a change that would help such banks as Boston-based State Street Corp. Not bad for a freshman.

Then this week, Democrats bowed to a more philosophical demand that knowledgeable officials say was choreographed by Republican leader Mitch McConnell. On Tuesday, Democratic negotiators agreed to remove a $19 billion tax on large banks and hedge funds after Brown threatened to vote "no" because of it.

Brown wouldn't say whether the concession was enough to win his vote. And he made clear that he wouldn't make that decision in time to pass the bill and deliver it to President Barack Obama by Independence Day.

"Over the July recess, I will continue to review this important bill," Brown said in a statement.

Advocates of the bill to rein in Wall Street were casting Brown's dealmaking as a shift from underdog candidate in a pickup truck to something more amorphous. The Massachusetts branch of Americans for Financial Reform planned a news conference to try to present him Thursday with a new BMW.

"Since Sen. Brown is willing to gamble with American consumers, he's sending the signal that he wants to trade in his iconic truck for something a little more luxurious, something more in line with the kinds of cars that his Wall Street cronies are driving," the group said in a press release.

Gail Gitcho, Brown's spokeswoman, defended the senator's actions, describing them as fighting for improvements in the bill for the entire country, not just Massachusetts, and for firms everywhere that didn't contribute to the financial crisis. Right.

Well, it looks like the GOP is back to Bobby Jindal for their next candidate? The guy can't give a speech -- but he's doing a great job on the Gulf Spill. You know, by leading? He's the only guy I see trying to cut the red tape to get to the oil.

---
Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn and Andrew Miga contributed to this report.

New Billboard

Hot on the heels of their McDonald’s “re-branding campaign,” the Billboard Liberation Front announces a “partnership” with Philip Morris aimed at stressing the importance of choice.

The Billboard Liberation Front (BLF) is honored to announce a new marketing partnership with Philip Morris (PM) that finally brings together the rugged sense of American independence with your most important choice as a consumer: your death. The message of “My Life. My Death. My Choice.” informs and empowers the consumer to choose, as their god given right, how they want to die. Philip Morris brings this message to the consumer to remind them that some rights are inalienable in life as they are in death.

The new an improved billboard can be seen towering over Howard at Van Ness in San Francisco.

[laughingsquid.]

Peace Brings Turmoil. What?

Afghanistan In Turmoil After Peace Talk Rumors

Pakistan proposes peace talks between Hamid Karzai and a notorious insurgent commander triggering political tensions.

Pakistani proposals for peace talks between President Hamid Karzai and a notorious insurgent commander have triggered political tensions inside Afghanistan that analysts warn could dangerously destabilize the country.

Western officials say Pakistan's ISI spy agency has offered to negotiate with Sirajuddin Haqqani – an al-Qaida linked commander accused of numerous suicide attacks – as part of a broader initiative to find a find a settlement to the conflict.

Read more ....

Update: Afghan talks raise speculation -- Al Jazeera

Afghanistan's minority groups are clearly upset with these developments, but CIA Director Panetta's skepticism on the success of these talks is probably right.

Pakistan is trying to broker a deal in order to have a say in future peace and reconciliation talks in Afghanistan. To get to the table they are threatening the Haqqani network that if they do not try to resolve their differences with the Kabul Government, Pakistani forces will be launched against their safe havens on the Pakistan-Afghan border, which is why they're sitting down to start talking.

To reconcile with an enemy that you regard is a puppet of the infidels is something that the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies do not do - it will be an affront to their religious convictions. But they've show they can turn those on and off when it is convenient for them.

This is all theater and show, and buys time before Pakistani forces attack Haqqani camps on their side of the Pakistan border.

Thanks to our good friends @ War News Update for the Post

Oh, and speaking of Afghanistan --

U.S. Officials Say Karzai Aides Are Derailing Corruption Cases Involving Elite

Not even Mayor Daley of Chicago has this kind of clout. Top officials in President Hamid Karzai's government have repeatedly derailed corruption investigations of politically connected Afghans, according to U.S. officials who have provided Afghanistan's authorities with wiretapping technology and other assistance in efforts to crack down on endemic graft.

In recent months, the U.S. officials said, Afghan prosecutors and investigators have been ordered to cross names off case files, prevent senior officials from being placed under arrest and disregard evidence against executives of a major financial firm suspected of helping the nation's elite move millions of dollars overseas.
Read more ....

I suppose if you're skimming billions off of the Americans, and you bribe the Americans back with those same dollars - you can do anything? No?

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Facebook The Movie

First official teaser trailer for The Social Network — David Fincher’s big-screen adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal.

The film, which stars Justin Timberlake, Jesse Eisenberg, and Andrew Garfield, is currently slated for release October 1.

No Creationist Masters Degrees

Judge Tosses Creationists' Effort to Offer Master's Degrees
By MELISSA LUDWIG SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a creationism think tank and school that attempted to force the state of Texas to allow it to offer master's degrees in science education.

In 2008, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rejected the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research's application to offer master's degrees, which taught science from a biblical perspective. The institute's graduate school sued in 2009, claiming the board violated its constitutional right to free speech and religion.

'Disjointed, incoherent'

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin found no merit in the institute's claims and criticized its legal documents as "overly verbose, disjointed, incoherent, maundering and full of irrelevant information."

In an e-mailed statement, school representatives said they were reviewing the decision and may appeal.

The National Center for Science Education, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit that defends the teaching of evolution, cheered the decision.

"The Coordinating Board made a principled decision in the first place, and it is good to see it was upheld in a court of law," said Glenn Branch, the center's deputy director.

The Institute for Creation Research's graduate school, which is based in California, has been offering master's degrees in that state since 1981, according to its website. Aimed at aspiring Christian schoolteachers, the curriculum critiques evolution and champions a literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation.

My half a penny, maybe we can start a new school that applies scientific principle to your beliefs? Oh, what's the matter? You don't like that idea?

I am encouraged that there is still a tiny spark of sanity left in Texas.

McChrystal Pulls a McClellan/MacArthur; About to Get Sacked

Right out of the pages of your tattered US History book, General Stanley McChrystal is about to join George B. McClellan and Douglas MacArthur in the discard pile of American Generals after talking some serious smack about his president outloud. And to Rolling Stone, of all people.

Here are some excerpts of what's about to get him canned and out of the War on Terror.

"Stan" McChrystal voted for Barack Obama, but he was disturbed when the president promoted him without knowing who he was.

Even though he had voted for Obama, McChrystal and his new commander in chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" by the roomful of military brass.

Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn't go much better. "It was a 10-minute photo op," says an adviser to McChrystal. "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his fucking war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed."

Stanley McChrystal also struggled when he had to convince Barack Obama to give him power for something stupid. (Barack Obama eventually did this, of course.)

Last fall, with his top general calling for more troops, Obama launched a three-month review to re-evaluate the strategy in Afghanistan. "I found that time painful," McChrystal tells me in one of several lengthy interviews. "I was selling an unsellable position." For the general, it was a crash course in Beltway politics – a battle that pitted him against experienced Washington insiders like Vice President Biden, who argued that a prolonged counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan would plunge America into a military quagmire without weakening international terrorist networks. "The entire COIN [counterinsurgency] strategy is a fraud perpetuated on the American people," says Douglas Macgregor, a retired colonel and leading critic of counterinsurgency who attended West Point with McChrystal. "The idea that we are going to spend a trillion dollars to reshape the culture of the Islamic world is utter nonsense.

And here's pretty much the biggest problem with the Afghanistan war, Washington, Stanley McChrystal, and 21st century anxiety in general:

In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk shit about many of Obama's top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a "clown" who remains "stuck in 1985." Politicians like McCain and Kerry, says another aide, "turn up, have a meeting with Karzai, criticize him at the airport press conference, then get back for the Sunday talk shows.

Frankly, it's not very helpful." Only Hillary Clinton receives good reviews from McChrystal's inner circle. "Hillary had Stan's back during the strategic review," says an adviser. "She said, 'If Stan wants it, give him what he needs.' "

McChrystal reserves special skepticism for Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating the Taliban. "The Boss says he's like a wounded animal," says a member of the general's team. "Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous. He's a brilliant guy, but he just comes in, pulls on a lever, whatever he can grasp onto. But this is COIN, and you can't just have someone yanking on shit."

At one point on his trip to Paris, McChrystal checks his BlackBerry. "Oh, not another e-mail from [U.S. special envoy Richard] Holbrooke," he groans. "I don't even want to open it." He clicks on the message and reads the salutation out loud, then stuffs the BlackBerry back in his pocket, not bothering to conceal his annoyance.

"Make sure you don't get any of that on your leg," an aide jokes, referring to the e-mail.

You know, Lincoln was famously quoted as saying, "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time." Despite this, he was the most popular of that army's commanders with its soldiers, who felt that he had their morale and well-being as paramount concerns. The analogy doesn't work here. McChrystal was shooting - and shooting his mouth off too.

General McClellan also failed to maintain the trust of Lincoln, and proved to be frustratingly derisive of, and insubordinate to, his commander-in-chief. After he was relieved of command, McClellan became the unsuccessful Democratic nominee opposing Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. Perhaps there's something to that in the McChrystal story? MacArthur was just a little too happy to pursue the Korean War.

Rolling Stone?!
Oh, also, the General loves Bud Light Lime, and his favorite movie was Talladega Nights. Now that's more up to par with the Rolling Stone interviews I'm used to.

Here's some more excerpts from Rolling Stone magazine profile

Gun Training For Kids

The Republican endorsed candidate for Connecticut attorney general is advocating firearms training for children in schools, in Scout groups and in summer camps.

Avon attorney Martha Dean said if elected she would explore expanding gun accident prevention programs and rifle club teams in schools.

"As your Attorney General, I will advocate firearms training for boys and girls in schools, in scouts, at camp and elsewhere," she said at a Second Amendment rally in April. "We teach sex education in school, yet we omit the most basic skill needed to exercise fundamental constitutional rights."

Fellow Republican candidate Ross Garber on Monday assailed Dean's comments and said the office of attorney general should not be used to give guns to children or promote personal views.

"As the state's chief civil legal officer, the attorney general should focus on being a strong advocate for the state and its citizens, not pushing a personal political agenda," said Garber in a statement.

Dean stood by her earlier statements Monday, saying she's just a proponent of the laws written in the Constitution and that it was "false" and "intentionally misleading" for Garber to say she advocates giving weapons to children.

"Kids should know how to prevent accidents and they should have access to basic skills that are a part of our constitutional rights," she said.

George Jepsen, the Democrat endorsed candidate, said he objected to Dean's views. "Guns and juveniles should be a parental choice, not a governmental mandate," he said. Dean and Garber face each other in the state primary elections Aug. 10.

Now, I'm re-posting this story, because, naturally, someone has a problem with this idea and thinks that firearm safety is an absurd concept for children.

I disagree and say that firearm safety teaches children to respect weapons and not play with them.

Now, if we can do this with sex ed, we'll be all set. Right?

The Vatican Endorses Blues Brothers

When Jake and Elwood Blues, said they were on a mission from God, the Catholic Church apparently took them at their word.

On the 30th anniversary of the film's release, "L'Osservatore Romano," the Vatican's official newspaper, called the film a "Catholic classic" and said it should be recommended viewing for Catholics everywhere.

The film was based on a skit from "Saturday Night Live." In the story, Jake and Elwood -- played by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, respectively -- embark on the John Landis cocaine-fueled comedy where blowing up lots of stuff is hilarious, concerts, car chases, clashes with the police and neo-Nazi groups, and attempts at revenge from a spurned lover, all, ostensibly, to raise money for the church-run orphanage where they grew up.

But aside from a brief appearance from Kathleen Freeman as a wrist-slapping nun referred to as "The Penguin" and the brothers' periodic claim that they were on a mission from God, spirituality does not play a significant role in the film. Those crazy priests must really believe Jake's word.

In addition to Belushi and Aykroyd, the film featured an all-star cast including musicians James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, and Chaka Khan, in addition to noted actors John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Charles Napier, and Henry Gibson, and cameo roles for Frank Oz, Steven Spielberg, Landis, Mr. T, and Paul Reubens.

With the recommendation, "The Blues Brothers" joins the list of dozens of films recommended by Catholic authorities that includes Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments," "Jesus of Nazareth" from Franco Zeffirelli," Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ," Victor Flemming's "Joan of Arc," and "It's a Wonderful Life" from Frank Capra.

I'm still holding out for them to endorse, "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie"

House Democrats: We have no spine! Vote for us!

The Federal Reserve scored a political victory as Democrats mulling financial reform backed off measures that would expose monetary policy to audits and make the head of the New York Fed a political appointee.

The U.S. House of Representatives had approved a bill in December that included a provision, championed by Texas Representative Ron Paul, that would have opened the Fed's interest rate policy to congressional audits.

But on Tuesday, House Democrats participating in negotiations over a final financial reform bill, decided on a narrower Senate audit provision that does not cover monetary policy.

"Many politicians wanted to extract a pound of flesh from the Fed," said Eric Lascelles, chief economics and rates strategist at TD Securities. "That seems to be cooling off now."

The Fed, which has admitted it was too complacent about regulatory oversight in the run-up to the global financial crisis, has come under heavy fire for being too close to the banks it regulates.

The House Democrats also said they would try to defeat a plan contained in the Senate bill under debate that would allow the U.S. President to name the head of the New York Fed, a step that Fed officials have argued would undercut the central bank's political independence.

"It is disappointing to see both the removal of the provision about the president picking the New York Fed president and also the prohibition of bank employees serving as Fed presidents," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "This would have been a big change toward taking away the banks' control over the Fed."

But, but ex-oil employees are always taking jobs as regulators and cabinet level positions, and look how well that's working out for everyone, right?

In other news, the sky is blue.

Geography Graphics Failure

Ah, WGN Graphics Department: If it's not on Google Image Search, we don't have it....

I'd like to think that this is a story about a South American team that is having trouble, but that's not funny, and it also doesn't explain why South America is so clearly labeled South Africa.

I wonder how many Americans aren't going to make it to the World Cup, based simply on their terrible grasp on geography?

Important English PSA

David Mitchell of Mitchell and Webb fame would like a word with those among you who “could care less” about proper English.