Monday Moonlight Madness

Here we are again, after a short absence (namely because of work related insanity and a burgeoning addiction to creating twisted, humorous music videos), Monday Madness is back again in full hoot, talons bared (and my eyes are hurting from all this #$@% pollen!):

1) I'm Not Alone #8824: Does my heart good to know there is someone who shares my barely controllable outrage and disgust at Islam, its extremism and its misogyny, intellectual backwardness and complete intolerance of others uniqueness, the right to be secure in their persons, the right to think for themselves and the right to live a peaceful, productive life if they don't agree with Islam's tenets (dang, it's starting to sound like the present day neo-con dominated Republican Party and Fox News). Well, British commentator/comedian Pat Condell has BEAUTIFULLY summed up what I'm sure a lot of us have been thinking despite these politically-correct times we live in. Pat, with his characteristic wit, humor, insight and just plain no-nonsense bluntness takes the Muslim world at large (and yes folks, I DO know and believe that there are peace-loving/law abiding Muslims in the world, just not enough of them I'm afraid) to task for its duplicity, hypocrisy, murderous ways and utter audacity in demanding that everyone else bow down to them for fear of being blown up. Watch the full commentary on video HERE and see if you don't at least understand the outrage. Pat's official site HERE

I don't necessarily agree with ALL of Pat's viewpoints, but this one really struck a chord for me personally.

2) No Surprises Here: Yep, it's official, Dick "The Penguin" Cheney and many below him did in fact approve the use of harsh interrogation/torture methods against "suspected" terrorists in complete defiance of things like The Geneva Convention, the U.S Constitution etc. Cheney took great pains to insulate Idiot-Boy Bush from any meetings/discussions concerning these particular matters (what a pal, I tell ya!). Sure makes a lie of Bush's repeated assertions of "We do not torture". AP story HERE

And of course, rather belatedly in this Owl's opinion, the Democrats are howling over Bush's excessive use of Executive Privilege as an excuse to not be accountable for his reckless and irresponsible decisions and actions (and I agree, Bush is making Nixon look honest and humble by comparison). All well and good, but, ahem, you really needed to be a lot more vocal on this earlier on and actually get off your lazy, mediocre a$$es and investigate, and yes, even initiate Articles of Impeachment. Would you, Of course not, you Dems have ZERO guts, intestinal fortitude, principles and sufficient outrage to do ANYTHING that you were elected to do by a large number of voters in November of 2006. You conned your way into office so that you could simply give Idiot-Boy Bush everything he demanded without question rather than fight for actual change, drawing a paycheck on OUR dime anyway. Oh, yeah, and it IS campaign season too let's not forget. Well, now that I've ranted, I refer you to the story HERE

And of course, General David "Really, I'm Not Running For Office" Patreus went before Congress this past week to make a case for the continuing presence in Iraq that to date has accomplished little to nothing of worth (save for Saddam Husein getting hanged, but in reality, that should've been the responsibility of native Iraqi's to rise up and execute him, but that's another discussion). Along with Congress were our 3 presidential hopefuls, who asked some pretty pointed (but to my estimation, not quite pointed enough) questions of Patreus and Ryan Crocker (what useful purpose does he serve anyway?). Patreus's complete inability to give an honest, straight answer on even the most fundamental questions concerning Iraq was very telling (why doesn't he go into politics?). A REAL military man would've been far more honest and forthcoming than Mr Patreus was. His convoluted, cryptic riddles/double-talk (much like Idiot-Boy Rumsfeld's blathering of years past) only reinforced the idea that someone is NOT telling us the truth. A piece from Energy and Capital HERE gives food for thought. The only case that this Dynamic Duo has made is for Bush's impeachment/execution and Patreus's court martial.

3) More Welcome News On Two Fronts: A significant advance in cancer research AND protecting people in the event of a nuclear/radiation induced incident has recently occurred. In short, a pill that could block radiation damage and protect people exposed to normally lethal or potentially doses of radiation. This ironically, was learned from how some cancers seem to resist radiation treatments. Far more lucid details are found HERE

4) Bravery In The Courtroom: 61-year-old Brooklyn stenographer Ron Tolkin went absolutely Jack Bauer on a psychotic defendant on defendant Victor Wright after the convicted drug felon started choking federal prosecutor Carolyn Pokorny (who thankfully, outside of some bruises wak otherwise OK). Tolkin jumped to her defense, baiting the felon to try attacking him instead. Victor Wright then produced a razor and attempted to slash Tolkin but failed (he dropped the weapon), Tolkin, a lawyer (the defendant's lawyer no less), and 2 Marshalls finally subdued this piece of human trash. Tolkin also happened to have a small digital recorder going which captured the whole ordeal. Shortly after, Tolkin submitted a complete transcript of the whole incident and it can be seen HERE. Tolkin not only displayed great bravery in dealing with this psycho but also unleashed a torrent of cursing that would strip paint.

5) Secrets Of The Magic 8-Ball: One of the most durable and long-lived novelty items/toys, the Magic 8-Ball apparently shows no signs of going away any day soon. Have you ever wondered just how those things were made and how they worked? Well, one person launched a full out investigation into the mysteries of The Magic 8-Ball, and you can see the end result HERE!

On The Player
Steuart Liebig/Tee Tot Quartet
Always Outnumbered

Imagine if you will, someone like Ornette Coleman or Charles Mingus getting a real hankering to play old-timey blues/jazz and country. Sound crazy? Sound impossible? Not if bassist/composer Steuart Liebig has anything to say about it. Combining forces with drum,mer Joe Berardi, cornetist/trumpeter Dan Clucas and Dobro player Scot Ray, the Tee Tot Quartet pulls off the above hybrid and something more with great wit, humor and emotional depth. DO check this out, it can be found on CD Baby HERE with samples. Also, check out Steuart's own site: www.stigsite.com