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.

MARMITE!

The name of Marmite has been invoked.
You are warned.

The secret word is Yeast

(Thank you leftcoastcat)

DOC40 LOVES RACHEL

"Although in this picture I look more like Buddy Holly."

Rachel Maddow – liberal commentator and Air America host, adored by Doc40 -- now has her own show on MSNBC in the 9.00PM Eastern/6.00PM Pacific slot following Keith Olbermann and Countdown, starting on Monday Sept. 8, and, with it, she breaks into what had been criticized as the MSNBC “boys club” led by Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Maddow, who has that media lesbian, Elvis look, lives with her girlfriend Susan Mikula in Manhattan and Northampton, Mass, may also be the first openly gay woman to host a prime-time TV news show. (And I wish I lived in Manhattan and Northampton, Mass.)

The secret word is Starquake

THE EVIL THAT IS McCAIN

“What if there was a vote to decide if $13.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies should go into oil alternatives, like solar and wind? What would you want your Senator to do?
Well, as you probably guessed, there was such a vote. We needed 60 votes to prevail, and 59 of them were in. But John McCain ducked the vote. As a result, instead of powering millions of homes with clean energy and building next-generation solar technology, we're giving ExxonMobil and other companies billions in tax breaks at a time when they're already making record profits.”

This comes from MoveOn.org but it could well be the start of a new irregular series. Send negative McCain stories – true or false – to Byron4d@msn.com

CRYPTIQUE – Resistance is never futile.

LUCK BE A LADY

This is “Lady Luck” by the artist Kirtsen Easthope. (Sent by Valerie – and more of Ms Easthope’s work can be seen by clicking.) I post it not only to cover the fact that it’s been a long day and waxing too profound tonight seems too much like hard work, but also because I fear we’re going to need all the luck we can get in the next couple of months to get through the tedium of the Olympics, the party conventions, the deepening recession, and the bloody election, all without this country becoming an oil cartel police state. I need to get a bet down. Obama don’t fail us now.

CRYTIQUE – John McCain kicks dogs.

LIKE A CAT'S BREAKFAST

Last Sunday, my fantasy nostalgia Brit breakfast caused a few comments. The cat also has his fantasies. And the ones about food are quite grandiose although not as greasy.

The secret word is Tuna

A THOUGHT FROM CHIEF SITTING BULL

(Again supplied by Munz)

"Hear me, people: We have now to deal with another race – small and feeble when our fathers first met them, but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possession is a disease with them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break but the poor may not. They take their tithes from the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule." -- Chief Sitting Bull, speaking at the Powder River Conference in 1877

The secret move is Ghost Dance

POSTSCRIPT ON ELVIS

How the mighty have been abused.

AND NOW FOR BREAKFAST...

"Egg, bacon, beans, and chips please, miss."