And Now Three Covers of Use Somebody

There's something about this song that makes people want to sing it:







Which ones best?

Our World

I think this sums up the state of thing very nicely:

The United States has suspended its medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian earthquake victims until a dispute over who will pay for their care is settled, military officials said Friday.

Best care in the world, except no care is given, because we can't figure out how to pay for it. Which makes it no care, which makes it the worse care.

We can't brag about the best care in the world unless we figure out how to pay for it.

Home Field Something

I know it hurts to lose a Senate seat in Kennedy's Massachusetts, but keep in mind we just last election won a Senate seat in Sarah Palin's Alaska. For all our talk of red states and blue states, lots of stuff happens in elections, and the lines of where everyone stands isn't clear. Why, Palin herself might have trouble herself in Alaska.

Static

Internet trouble here at Craigorian Chant world headquarters last night, so I was left unable to both watch or comment on the State of the Union. Just assume both Obama gave a good speech and my commentary was both insightful and funny.

Banned

Federal Appeals Court upheld a ban on Dungeons & Dragons in prison. Officially, officials do this because D&D “foster an inmate’s obsession with escaping from the real-life correctional environment, fostering hostility, violence and escape behavior,” and lead to "fantasies about escape." This sounds pretty thin to me. Are there prisoners out there who don't have fantasies of escape? My guess, it that D&D is banned becuase it's fun. Can't go having fun in prison. As if it being prison wasn't enough, you have to take their fantasies too.

I'm thinking of starting a nerd rights organization. Our first task: appealing this case the Supreme Court.

Body by Who?

I highly recommend this Pandagon post on exercise, muscles and women's body image. Amanda Marcotte breaks down the current rage for a super-skinny beauty ideal and the fact that diet, i.e. starving yourself, is the first choice for women over exercise. Women are given a pretty good dose of fear over becoming "bulky" or "too muscular" if they work out. The celebrity press freaks out over any famous women with a bit of muscle tone, be she actress or First Lady. This is terrible. Hitting the weights will do you far more good than stopping eating. And you'll be sexier. I've been over this before, but the fashion world is a group of people who don't find women attractive.

Not to say this is the only way to define sexy, but being attractive to members of the opposite sex is a pretty good benchmark. Look at the difference in women's bodies in magazines that sell to women and the magazines that sell to men. Cosmo and Glamor are filled with women who are Paris Hilton skinny. And guess what? Men don't buy stuff with Paris Hilton skinny. We buy stuff like American Curves, filled with women with asses you could bonce a quarter off of.

So everybody, go to the gym, you'll be healthier, live longer, and more people will want to have sex with you.

Soros on Bubbles

When it come to markets, listen to the billionaire.

Ratfucker Goes Down

Ratfucking, for those of you new to this game, is political dirty tricks. The term comes out the Watergate era. Those guys trying to break into the DNC back in the day? Ratfuckers.

Well the modern equivalent just got himself in similar hot water. James O'Keefe the guy behind the bazaar "dress up like a pimp and see if the ACORN receptionist does anything about it" incident got picked up by the FBI yesterday in a plot to bug the office of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office. A classic ratfucking maneuver.

So where does this all lead? Not to White House, but O'Keefe is plugged into the whole conservative network - media, money, and activists. Who does he work for? Who funds him?

Via

The Science of Monkey Ku Fu

Big Bail Bond

There are special interest groups out there you have never even heard of, and they are screwing things up for all of us.

Honestly, do you know of a single local jail that isn't described as "overcrowded?" Do you know of single sherrif department that isn't looking at a jail exspantion costing millions? There's a reason for that, and it is not a crime wave.

Pitchfork Time

E.J. says it is time for populism.

Mixed

Beau Biden son of Joe has announced that he will not be seeking his father's Senate seat, left vacant by Joe's ascension to VP, this year. On the one hand, good that the Senate seat from Delaware doesn't become like the Biden family watch, passed down from generation to generation. We are already way too close to an unofficial aristocracy in this country, what with all the Clintons and Bushes running around.

On the other hand, this makes it much tougher to hold that Senate seat. And we need that seat.

In Honor

In honor of the Saints, who won tonight and spared us all weeks of "Bret Farve goes to the Super Bowl" media hype:

It's Money

This is Ke$ha, she's the next hot thing:



I can only conclude that her popularity is due to the spelling of her name with a $. Money is good, see. Therefor I will now be know as ¢raig.

Today's Moment oif Uplift

45 Million?

My new goal in life is to get fired by NBC.

Ever Better

And now the Supreme Courts comes in with a ruling making it easier for corporations to buy elections. As if they didn't already have enough power in the system already.

Best week ever.

Looks Like We are in a Bit of Trouble

Scott Brown wins in Massachusetts, time for waves of Democratic panic and recriminations.

Sorry About the all the Coups

Let's pull your people out of the rubble to make up for it.

Having people like you isn't hard. Just save their lives instead of killing them, and things turn around in a hurry.

So know How Much Trouble are We in?

We found out today, with the special election to replace Teddy the K in Massachusetts today. The race has been very close, with the Republican even wining in some polls, which is scary because, you know, blue state. With things being so tight in the Senate, going from 60 votes to 59 votes could make a real difference on how health care turns out. If Teddy knew things would go like this, he never would have died the way he did.

But don't worry folks, I've got an eye on the situation.