WHY DOES SARAH PALIN WANT TO KILL US?

A disturbing, going-on-horrific, round up of the Palin attitude to wild life. (And how she likes to slaughter it from a helicopter.) Read it and weep.

HERB MAY YET SAVE US ALL

In a much needed break from electoral politics, our pal aeswiren sends this story by Henry Fountain from The New York Times

"Researchers in Italy and Britain have found that the main active ingredient in marijuana — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — and related compounds show promise as antibacterial agents, particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of drugs.
It has been known for decades that Cannabis sativa has antibacterial properties. Experiments in the 1950s tested various marijuana preparations against skin and other infections, but researchers at the time had little understanding of marijuana’s chemical makeup. The current research, by Giovanni Appendino of the University of the Eastern Piedmont and colleagues and published in The Journal of Natural Products, looked at the antibacterial activity of the five most common cannabinoids. All were found effective against several common multi-resistant bacterial strains, although, perhaps understandably, the researchers suggested that the nonpsychotropic cannabinoids might prove more promising for eventual use.
The researchers say they don’t know how the cannabinoids work, and whether they would be effective as systemic antibiotics would require much more research and trials. But the compounds may prove useful sooner as a topical agent against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, to prevent the microbes from colonizing on the skin."

Web Link (check them facts) – Antibacterial Cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa: A Structure−Activity Study (Journal of Natural Products) RSS Feed

The secret initials are THC

LET'S GET BACK TO THE REVOLUTION

"Volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade arrive in Barcelona 17th January 1937." I guess that was when a revolution looked like a revolution, socialism was a virtue, sacrifice was willingly made, and no one was in love with their cell phone. (Pic from Valerie.)

CRYPTIQUE – How does one explain to a white or latino, working-class, middle-American racist that the sharp black dude might just be smart enough to save the country, but the doddering old white fool is a bought-and-paid-for hack, and the implausible broad with him is such a nightmare that, if locked up in room with her for an hour, our boy would be begging to be let out in just 17 minutes?

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THE ADVENTURES OF MARILYN (Part 9)

In which Marilyn, finds herself without air cover or infantry support, and cut off from the People’s Army of the Fourteenth International. She moves swiftly back up the timestream to Episode Nine. Using the disguised Blasco Ladder, and simultaneously employing the hidden power of the Calendar of Xvexulacapa the Sun Hammer, she calculates that the secret of life, the universe, and everything is not 42 after all but in fact 30! (But she keeps smiling, and wears her gloves. The Fat Men in Hats are closing in on critical vectors.)

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ELVIS SEZ...

“You must think on a different level, like the CIA does. We're through the looking glass here, people. White is black. And black is white.”

Hardly cryptique -- They shall not pass!

SARAH PALIN'S BOOK CLUB

I said I wouldn't mention her this weekend, but this is damned important. The following comes from Anthony Ausgang via Elf Hellion…

“Let's spend a few moments browsing the list of books Mayor Sarah Palin tried to get town librarian Mary Ellen Baker to ban in the lovely, all-American town of Wasilla , Alaska . When Baker refused to remove the books from the shelves, Palin threatened to fire her. The story was reported in Time Magazine and the list comes from the librarian.net website.”

SARAH PALIN'S BOOK CLUB
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter20and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald DahlLady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
M y Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin SchwartzScary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughte rhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John20Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth

But I’m truly bummed none of my books made the list. Persecution envy?

THE PARTY'S OVER

“The party's over
It's time to call it a day
They've burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away
It's time to wind up the masquerade
Just make your mind up the piper must be paid”

“Republicans need to stop saying Barack Obama is an elitist, or looks down on rural people, and just admit you don't like him because of something he can't help, something that's a result of the way he was born. Admit it, you're not voting for him because he's smarter than you.” – Bill Maher

Thank heavens the absurd political conventions have gone away. The whores and strippers can relax, and, for the rest of us, life and TV can return to some semblance of what’s laughingly called normality. I did actually enjoy the Democrats – Teddy, Bill, Joe Biden, even Hillary, and, of course, Barak, who now, essentially, has to save the world for white people. But the Republicans were even more awful than I had expected, with their lies and their hypocrisies, their flags and their deceptions, and if those bastards in any way return to power, we are fucked. I mean fucked. Self-proclaimed heterosexuals trumpeting “small town values” while they are at a loss to define, simply cannot be given control of our world for any longer or we will have no world. I guess, next week, we have to commence the real tooth and claw infighting. Here at Doc40, we pledge to go both the distance and for the jugular, but, in the meantime, I could use a stiff drink and a long lay down.

The secret word is (yet again) Oil

Another pic stolen from Tom Sutpen

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THE PHOTOSHOP IS GETTING OUT OF HAND

All that's left now is actual porn. But I swear I'm not going to say another word about the dreadful woman, at least for the weekend, or make further mention of how she's nothing more than a Team Jesus demagogue, and shill for big oil.

The secret word is Potatoe

CRYPTIQUE – The mendacious leading the salacious.

JUST HOW STUPID DO THEY THINK WE ARE?

Doug the Bass sent this other piece by Sam Harris in the LA Times. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

"Americans have an unhealthy desire to see average people promoted to positions of great authority. No one wants an average neurosurgeon or even an average carpenter, but when it comes time to vest a man or woman with more power and responsibility than any person has held in human history, Americans say they want a regular guy, someone just like themselves. President Bush kept his edge on the “Who would you like to have a beer with?” poll question in 2004, and won reelection.
This is one of the many points at which narcissism becomes indistinguishable from masochism. Let me put it plainly: If you want someone just like you to be president of the United States, or even vice president, you deserve whatever dysfunctional society you get. You deserve to be poor, to see the environment despoiled, to watch your children receive a fourth-rate education and to suffer as this country wages – and loses – both necessary and unnecessary wars. McCain has so little respect for the presidency of the United States that he is willing to put the girl next door (soon, too, to be a grandma) into office beside him. He has so little respect for the average American voter that he thinks this reckless and cynical ploy will work."

THEY DON'T STAGE SHOWS LIKE THIS ANY MORE #3

Seemingly, if you own one of these posters, you're rich. They command prices of around $25,000.

The secret word is Elvis

IS IT REAL OR IS IT PHOTOSHOP?

Looking carefully at the original copy of the pic, in all fairness, I would say the face was photo-shopped on to the hair and body, but I don't care. This woman has to be stopped!

“But even if Obama were precisely as religious as he appears, he is not a Creationist, Rapture-Ready blockhead. Palin, by all appearances, seems to be one. This is a difference worth noting. Whatever you may think of his politics, Obama is very intelligent and reasonably well educated. Palin thinks the universe is 6000 years old.” – Sam Harris, LA Times

"There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme." -- Joe Klein, Time

Some girl – who hasn’t been around that much of late – sent the pic. Doug the Bass sent the Sam Harris quote.

WANNA TALK ALTERNATIVES?

Any alternative. Anything has to be better than McCain/Palin. (Do I watch her speech, or drink myself unconcious?) Please...I don't think I can take much more. (Click here)

CRYPTIQUE -- The porcine leading the bovine.

WANNA TALK EXPERIENCE?

You wanna talk experience? The guy played professional Russian roulette, could see the future, was King of New York, and an archangel. Match that, bitch! I may well write more later. Right now I am drawn helplessly to the TV and the Republican Convention. Images of smug, vicious, overfed, white people wallowing in their certainty have a horrific magnetism. Especially when they dance to Chuck Berry playing "Johnny Be Good", knowing evil ol' Chuck would like to piss on them from a great height. If this is humanity, extinction can't come too soon. I would even volunteer to go first. Especially on a birthday when nary a friend calls. (Click here)

The secret word is Hide

MORE ON PALIN

MoveOn.org sent this fast fact sheet on the stunningly unqualified Ms Palin, standing above in a some tacky winter wonderland. She has to be an expression of John McCain’s total contempt for the electorate.

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species-she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.

How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.

MR NUKE SAYS...

Here’s another first nano-second photograph of a nuclear blast for those who like them. We could be seeing them first hand if there’s McCain/Palin victory.

The secret word is Sword

THE ADVENTURES OF MARILYN (Part 23)

In which Marilyn – finally abandoned by D-Corps, and with only Nembutal to defend herself – has no choice. As Yancey Slide previously advised, she quickly replicates as the attack ships of Zeta Reticuli warp from orbit into her neural subspace.

THEY DON'T STAGE SHOWS LIKE THIS ANY MORE #2

Thanks to Valerie (who sent this image for the bloody VP hockey mom) a new series seems to be evolving.

DEATH STAR BY THE BAY

Click here for an inconsequential-but-fun video clip that seems like the sci-fi thing to do as Hurricane Gustav grows and advances on both the Gulf Coast and McCain’s convention, and we wait to see what happens next and wonder if God was really on our side all along. (But which God?)

The secret word is Tuesday

THIS IS A JOKE, RIGHT?

Vice President? And, no, this isn't sexism. Just stunned amazement.

The secret words are Beauty Queen

BUT THIS ISN'T...

The Interior Department has announced a plan that would dramatically undercut the Endangered Species Act -- our nation's safety net for animals and plants on the brink of extinction. If finalized, the plan would allow government agencies with no formal wildlife expertise to decide the fate of imperiled species like the polar bear, the gray wolf and whales. Even worse, those agencies may have a pro-polluter or pro-development agenda that is directly at odds with the well-being of wildlife. Click to help.

“When do we launch the full assault, sensei?”

NOTES ON WORLD CONQUEST

Having read all the comments and digested all that was said – and boy is my stomach tired – I figure that we are doing just fine with the comments being used as they are right now, and a forum would probably be more trouble than it’s worth, plus, with Doc40’s high levels of philosophical permissiveness, it might become a troll magnet and time would be wasted punishing idiots. Having said that, I would never object if anyone wanted to erect a forum under the Doc40 logo on their own dime. They’d have links and my blessing, but not much more.

I think I’ve said before that the current way Doc40 is organized stretches my resources about as far as they can be stretched for a labor of love, propaganda, and high amusement. (I’ve yet to find the time to build a new Doctube post.) I would, however, be even more amused by a Doc40 shop. Way cool. Except it would be a portal to the real world of dread business where I flounder and tend to find the daunting complexities of commerce about as amusing as a minefield. I have no talent for the transactional. A clue to why I’m always broke, I guess. I never had any concept of Doc40 ever being a commercial proposition. Putting aside all altruism, the interwebs defy business models, and I absolutely don’t want to post advertising. On the other hand, if the endeavor could provide the odd bottle of scotch and pay the media bill now and again, I’d far from object. It also seems a good idea at time when the number of visitors to the blog is on a definite growth curve.

To organize a shop would really require my acquiring a partner-in-retail who could organize the damned place – someone who could compare the advantages of Café Press v Zazzle, ramrod artwork, and generally take command, while I have lots of really good ideas for items that would irritate squares and Republicans. Any rewards would, of course be shared. I fear that is the only way we will have our hoodies and t-shirts. Wanna be the Doc40 entrepreneur? Write me at byron4d@msn.com . The rest of you just leave comments.

The secret words are Reader’s Control

CUT TO COMMERCIAL

Jettboy is selling buttons as pictured here. If you want some, email him at jettboy@bellsouth.net. (It occurs to me that Doc 40 could also be a market place for reader-generated stuff.)

CRYPTIQUE – While Obama speaks, the Irish add apostrophes.

The Dems have a had a pretty Dem good convention so far, but don’t let’s get carried away. Remembr our true leader.

GRATUITOUS PICTURE #1

This is a nuclear explosion. (Supplied by catmoderne)

GRATUITOUS PICTURE #2

And this is Brigitte Bardot in a bikini. (Lifted from Tom Sutpen.)
You decide.

The secret words are Life and Death

After all the discussion on the “comments” of a forum, a Doc40 shop, etc., I’ve pretty much marshaled my thoughts as best and as seriously as I can in an LA August heat wave, but have been too busy to jot them down. Maybe tomorrow. (As Billy Fury once remarked.)

A GOON SHOW VIDEO

Click here you silly twisted persons. (Americans should maybe Google “The Goon Show.”)

ANNALS OF MIND CONTROL

This comes from Elf Hellion

"The Army has given a team of University of California researchers a $4 million grant to study the foundations of "synthetic telepathy." But unlike old-school mind-melds, this seemingly psychic communication would be computer-mediated. The University of California, Irvine explains: The brain-computer interface would use a noninvasive brain imaging technology like electroencephalography to let people communicate thoughts to each other. For example, a soldier would "think" a message to be transmitted and a computer-based speech recognition system would decode the EEG signals. The decoded thoughts, in essence translated brain waves, are transmitted using a system that points in the direction of the intended target.
All across the military, there's interest in translating thoughts into computer code, and vice versa. Darpa-funded researchers have taught monkeys how to control robotic limbs with their thoughts. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman is building binoculars that tap the unconscious mind. Honeywell has built a system that monitors pre-conscious nueral firings, to help pick out targets in satellite imagery. The JASONs, the Pentagon's premiere scientific advisory board, has warned of the dangers of enemies implanted with brain-computer interfaces. And the Defense Intelligence Agency just released a report, saying the military needs to spend more on neuroscience - up to and including "mak[ing] the enemy obey our commands."

CRYPTIQUE – “The consciousness of the people diverges from the power structure's hypnosis and con job.”

“I don’t know why I’m still playing this damned piano. What’s God done for me lately?”

THIS BLOG IS STILL PROTECTED BY...

REMEMBRANCES OF CONVENTIONS PAST

As the Democractic Convention rocks on in Denver (with the magnificent Ted Kennedy) we recall conventions of yesteryear. Tom Sutpen has posted a magnificent sequence of shots from Chicago in 1968.

TALES OF THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Part 4)

Today, in our shameless denigrating of John McCain, and hammering home the point that he might actually be a worse president than the loathsome GWB, we turn to Maureen Dowd and Faux Smoke.

“My mom did not approve of men who cheated on their wives. She called them “long-tailed rats.”
During the 2000 race, she listened to news reports about John McCain confessing to dalliances that caused his first marriage to fall apart after he came back from his stint as a P.O.W. in Vietnam.
I figured, given her stringent moral standards, that her great affection for McCain would be dimmed.
“So,” I asked her, “what do you think of that?”
“A man who lives in a box for five years can do whatever he wants,” she replied matter-of-factly.
I was startled, but it brought home to me what a powerful get-out-of-jail-free card McCain had earned by not getting out of jail free." Click here for more

Plus stories on his flip-flops and other policy reversals (from Faux Smoke)

And Pat Buchanan cries treason. (Sent by Iggy.)

“We never lost a battle in Vietnam. It was American public opinion that made us lose.” – John McCain

The secret word is maybe Senile

DO WE WANT A DOC40 FORUM?

Hola Señor Farren,
I'm really getting a kick out of the whole back-and-forth happening on the ol' Doc 40 blog, but you really need to get yourself a forum set up, Mick. I have space and the script (whatever thae fuck that means) for one that came with my website, but I have no idea how to set it up. If you know a good web guy, I'd be happy to donate the space.
Jett

The above letter comes from our pal Jett. I very much like the idea of expanding Doc40 in any way that we can. I subscribe the shark metaphor of swim forward or die, but I also have to be realistic that, in terms of time, cash, and ingenuity, I can’t put too much more into the project no matter how much I value it as a means of communication and a work of art. Already I find myself failing to find the time to update Doctube, and the quest for a decoder ring is not going well. (More about this, maybe tomorrow.) On the other hand, I don’t want to include Google ads, and I even feel uncomfortable putting out a PayPal tip jar or anything like that. This I presenting this idea to our regular readers. Would you like a forum? Is their a “good web guy” out there who could set this up in five minutes.

And, having said all that, I return to watching the Dems convent.

The secret word is Growth

CRYPTIQUE -- Deuterium + Tritium > Alpha + n ...

THE ADVENTURES OF MARILYN (Part 17)

In which Marilyn, accompanied by the French homosexual, peers into the subway tunnel seeking the King of The Lizardmen from the Hollow Earth.

The secret acronym is C.H.U.D.S

I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY

I mean, what could be added?

LIZ TAYLOR AND ROPE TRICKS FOR THE WEEKEND

Moments come when I wonder why I am driven to classic images of beauty like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Is there some golden age effect here that endows these retro stars with a certain unique class, or is it just that these are the images of my formative years – fetishized and totemized – and I have simply become so old that I’m more comfortable with yesteryear? But, then again, who could equate Liz Taylor with Lindsay Lohan?

AN INSPIRATION FOR SATURDAY

The artwork is by Shepard Fairey and sent by Valerie.

SO THIS IS THE TICKET?

My computer has just told me that Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware is Barack Obama's pick as vice presidential running mate. On the conventional surface it seems a smart move, but I gotta think this one through. I guess it's better than Lyndon Johnson.

The secret word is not Utopia

EGO, NOSTALGIA, AND THE YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY

They tell me that I could be a quite persuasive public speaker back in the 20th century. I don’t know how true this is. I recall I did spend probably too much of my time fretting the ethical problems of self promotion and the paradox of the rock star as revolutionary and the revolutionary as rock star. A few antique video clips do seem to confirm that I used to be able to turn a phrase, and thus the discovery of this old photo created both regret and nostalgia that, where once I ranted, I now merely blog. I’d was also pleased to see the young image of our contemporary Doc40 pal, London Steve, looking into the camera. Steve was White Panther Minister of Pranks and Explosions, and also a master at the noble art of poker, which I figure he still is today. Ah but it takes me back.

CRYPTIQUE – If you lose hope, you can always find it again.

THE EVIL THAT IS McCAIN -- PART 3 (Tales of the Manchurian Candidate)

“John McCain is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.”

The dirt on McCain continues to blow in. This is an excellent piece by Frank Rich on the man from The New York Times. This is a Robert Greenwald video of McCain in action (from Faux Smoke) and this is another.

The secret name is Abraham Simpson

THE EVIL THAT IS McCAIN -- PART 2

I have to apologize to all of my non-US readers. I thought I wouldn’t have to confront the horror of the upcoming Presidential election until September, but John McCain is making that difficult. And this election really does impact the world. Today, at some televised “town hall” meeting, he was asked where he was going to find the troops for all the wars he wants to fight. Would he have to reinstitute the draft? McCain gave a totally non-committal answer that seemed to indicate he didn’t rule it out as an option.

Meanwhile our pal Iggy has sent us three evil McCain stories. The first is how he’s accused of plagiarizing Wikipedia for his speeches. The second is a link to Greg Palast on McCain and nuke power, and the third is a more general resume of McCain double dealing.

Keep the dirt a’coming and, in the meantime, click here for a free Obama button.