Baron Dave Romm
Campaign 2010
By Baron Dave Romm
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Merry Columbus Day (Celebrated)!
Heading toward election day
The next few essays will be sound-bite sized chunks of political thoughts, bullet-point phrases to throw in conversation, left over links and general random comments. Some are repeated from recent essays. This is an important election, and it's time to fire up the left's base of sane people.
Recent Political Columns:
Bartcop-E 9/6/10 featuring The Campaign Begins
Bartcop-E 9/13/10 featuring Campaign 2010: Returning the Favor
Bartcop-E 9/20/10 featuring Campaign 2010: In Karl Rove's Face
Bartcop-E 9/27/10 featuring Campaign 2010: Why You Should Vote Democratic
Bartcop-E 10/4/10 featuring Campaign 2010: Grading On A Curve
Leftover links
Here are two links that were too late to be included in my Monday column here, but made it into my Daily Kos repostings on Tuesday:
Threats of violence are politics as usual: Tea Party Republicans threaten each other: Candidate's secret tape recording 'for my own protection'.
I'm
Voting Republican because...
And a good idea: A different way to make a big difference in 2010 . Post and click on links as part of on-line activism, helping Get Out The Vote efforts by search engine optimization.
Bullet Points: Slings and arrows
Just how crazy are the Tea Party Republicans?
Just how crazy are the Tea Party Republicans? NRA Endorses 14 House Democrats Over Republicans. When right wingers lose the NRA, you're too extreme.
Just how crazy are the Tea Party Republicans? Top Nevada GOP lawmaker endorses Reid. When Tea Party Republicans lose Republicans, you're in trouble.
Just how crazy are the Tea Party Republicans? Missouri Tea Party to Puppies: Drop Dead. Whoa.
Just how crazy are the Tea Party Republicans? Why is This GOP House Candidate Dressed as a Nazi?. And he probably is too clueless to know what's wrong.
Just how crazy are the Tea Party Republicans? Thirty Republican senators voted against Al Franken's amendment, thus showing their support for gang rape by government contractors. So much for the women's vote.
Grading on a curve
A reminder of the reason to vote for the Democratic candidate: Things Obama has done 108 Things. "Once again, this is a lot to accomplish in such a short amount of time. He was elected President, he wasn't elected Jesus."
Look Who's Voting (And
Hopes You Won't)
Campaign 2010--THE WINNING SPEECH FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA. As written by Norman Spinrad 10/10/10.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog maintains a Facebook Page, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. A nascent collection of videos are on Baron Dave's YouTube channel. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jim Hightower: THE RICH VERSUS THE REST OF US
Apparently, you and I owe an apology to the extravagantly-rich in our society. They're reported to be in a deep pout and a political funk because We the People have hurt their feelings.
DAVID SOSA: The Spoils of Happiness (nytimes.com)
Whatever happiness may be, it's not a state of mind.
David Moenning: "Warren Buffet: Buying Bonds Here Is a Mistake"
It is safe to say that when Warren Buffett talks people listen. And investment legend Warren Buffett said on Tuesday that buying bonds at this juncture may not be such a good idea. The Oracle of Omaha was quoted as saying Tuesday, "They're making a mistake, the ones that are buying bonds."
Michael Moore: LeBron Sets a Good Example
LeBron James begins the pre-season tonight with the Miami Heat as they take on the Detroit Pistons in Miami. I saw an article yesterday on the Nation's website that showed LeBron on the list of most hated athletes (spoiler alert: they're all black).
Harridans, harlots and heroines: women of the classical world (guardian.co.uk)
They may have murdered their husbands or their children, or turned men into pigs, but the females of the classical world were fabulous, says Charlotte Higgins.
Clarence Page: Waiting for superparents (chicagotribune.com)
As I pushed the book I wanted to purchase across the checkout counter, the cashier frowned as if it were a bowl of rotten fish.
Steve King: Faulkner's Splendid Failure
October 7: On this day in 1929, William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, his fourth novel and the second of his fifteen "Yoknapatawpha County" books, was published. Early reviewers compared it to Dostoevsky and Euripides, but a first printing of 1,789 copies lasted for a year and a half. Even this was more than Faulkner expected…
Eva Ibbotson: Ogres, aunts and happy endings (guardian.com)
Now 85, The Ogre of Oglefort's author tells Michelle Pauli about her late start as a children's author, why she always wants things to go well for her characters, and the number of aunts required to tell a story.
David L. Ulin: The Imagined Hells of Philip Roth (Los Angeles Times)
Perhaps one of the keys to aging as a writer, Philip Roth is saying, is how one engages with calamity. Certainly, that's an issue in his latest novel, 'Nemesis.'
John Walsh: "E-books: the end of the word as we know it" (independent.co.uk)
It's the busiest week in the publishing calendar - with a host of events from the Frankfurt Book Fair to the Man Booker Prize. But this year, there's only one topic of conversation at the awards ceremonies and public receptions...
Connie Ogle: "Bestselling novelist Nicholas Sparks: Paganini of the heartstrings" (McClatchy Newspapers)
Nicholas Sparks has no plans to stop making you cry.
Chuck Barney: Terry McMillan is breathing easy again (Contra Costa Times)
There's a poignant bit of personal relevance embedded in the title of Terry McMillan's latest novel, "Getting to Happy."
David Bruce has 39 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $39 you can buy 9,750 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," and "Maximum Cool."
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'DanD cynically inspired Media Integrity' Edition...
Are there any Media-Types (TV, Radio, Print) that you believe have 'Integrity' enough that you respect them and their works? (Even in the morning, haha)... Name names, if'n ya please...
1.) Heck, yeah!...
2.) No way! They're all corporate dupes...
Send your response to
wrote:
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
Reader Suggestion
The Very Dark Side
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and hot. Way too hot.
Most Influential Woman In Britain
J. K. Rowling
Leading magazine editors on Monday named J. K. Rowling the most influential woman in Britain, judging the Harry Potter author more powerful than Queen Elizabeth II.
Rowling, who has won global fame with her series of popular children's books about the boy wizard, topped the list compiled by editors from the National Magazine Company, which publishes 20 magazines in Britain.
In second place was pop star turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham -- wife of footballer David Beckham -- with the queen pushed into the third spot.
Other women who made it into the top 10 were Prime Minister David Cameron's wife, Samantha Cameron, and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.
J. K. Rowling
Israeli Author Wins German Peace Prize
David Grossman
Israeli writer David Grossman won the prestigious peace prize of the German book trade on Sunday for his efforts to reconcile his country with the Palestinians.
Grossman's son Uri, then in the Israeli military, was killed during the Israel-Lebanon conflict in 2006 by a Hezbollah missile just days after Grossman and other writers demanded a ceasefire.
He worked through this loss in "To the End of the Land," published in 2008 -- a novel that tells the story of a woman's decision to leave her home so that if her soldier son is killed in war, the news will not reach her.
Grossman's literary work has dealt largely with his country's identity and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has often called for a peaceful solution and for restraint from his country.
David Grossman
Rhino Seeks 'Godfather'
50 Cent
A South African community group wants US rap star 50 Cent to become the "godfather" to a rhino who survived a poaching attack after being shot nine times, just like the platinum-selling artist.
The black rhino named Phila survived two poaching attacks this year, despite being shot a total of nine times, community policing group eBlockwatch told South Africa's The Sunday Times.
50 Cent, most famous for hits like "In Da Club" and "Candy Shop", was also shot nine times as he left drug-dealing on the streets of New York to begin his music career.
"We want to ask him if he wants to become the godfather of our rhino so that he can create awareness worldwide about rhino poaching," said Andre Snyman of eBlockwatch, which wants to tackle poaching in addition to its efforts to stop general crime.
Rhino poaching has doubled this year in South Africa, with 227 slaughtered so far compared to 122 in all of last year. Experts blame the increase on demand for rhino horns in China and Vietnam, where it is used in traditional medicine.
50 Cent
Farmers Profit With Odd, Ugly Varieties
Pumpkins
After decades of trying to grow perfect, round, orange pumpkins, farmers have found many people believe nothing says Halloween like a warty, twisted gourd in a weird color.
"Anything that's ugly or weird or unusual, it just sells like crazy," said Randy Graham, who grows 40 pumpkin varieties near Champaign, Ill.
At least in part, the market shift reflects the commercial growth of Halloween, and the fall season surrounding it, farmers and others said. Popular arbiters of home style such as Martha Stewart regularly talk up unusual pumpkins on television and the Internet.
And, U.S. farmers are growing hundreds of unusual varieties to satisfy consumers' desire for something new, plant breeder Jamie Hoffman said.
Pumpkins
Undocumented Language Found
India
A "hidden" language spoken by only about 1,000 people has been discovered in the remote northeast corner of India by researchers who at first thought they were documenting a dialect of the Aka culture, a tribal community in the foothills of the Himalayas.
They found an entirely different vocabulary and linguistic structure. Even the speakers of the tongue, called Koro, did not realize they had a distinct language, linguist K. David Harrison said Tuesday.
Culturally, the Koro speakers are part of the Aka community in India's Arunachal Pradesh state, and Harrison, associate professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College, said both groups merely considered Koro a dialect of the Aka language.
"Koro is quite distinct from the Aka language," said Gregory Anderson, director of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. "When we went there we were told it was a dialect of Aka, but it is a distant sister language."
India
TV Host Resigns
New Zealand
A New Zealand public television host resigned Sunday after his mocking of an Indian official's name sparked a diplomatic protest of racism.
Controversial presenter Paul Henry left his post at state broadcaster Television New Zealand over his mocking of the name of New Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Her surname means "one who has received religious initiation" and it can be kept only by Brahmins, the highest, priestly caste among Indians. To an untrained ear, however, its pronunciation is similar to English profanity.
On his "Breakfast" show two weeks ago, Henry also called Dikshit's name "so appropriate because she's Indian."
New Zealand
Memorabilia Fetches $1M
Michael Jackson
An auction of some 100 items of Michael Jackson memorabilia has fetched more than $1 million, with a basketball autographed by the late singer and Michael Jordan netting $245,000.
Showing the lingering appeal of the "King of Pop," the sale Saturday in the southern Chinese city of Macau drew bidders from around the world.
An unidentified Internet bidder paid $180,000 for a black crystal-studded glove and an arm brace Jackson wore while filming a promotional video for his 1995 album "HIStory." An Internet bidder also bought the basketball.
Of the 435 total items up for sale, other non-Jackson items sold included a costume worn by Bruce Lee during the filming of "Game of Death" and a costume Madonna donned during her Girlie Show world tour.
Michael Jackson
Axes Millennium Fireworks
Hanoi
Vietnam has canceled dozens of fireworks displays planned across the capital for Hanoi's 1000th anniversary celebration, two days after four people were killed in a pyrotechnics accident while preparing for the event, officials said Friday.
The government had planned fireworks in 29 different sites Sunday as part of celebrations of the millennial anniversary of Hanoi's founding, a much-promoted event intended to stoke national pride and demonstrate how far the country has advanced beyond its long history of war.
The notice did not mention this week's blast at My Dinh National Stadium, when two imported containers of fireworks exploded while being transported to a dress rehearsal. Instead, it said that the cancellations were to save money to donate to victims of flooding in central Vietnam where 52 people have died.
However, the main pyrotechnics display at My Dinh will still be held, according to an executive at a company responsible for the fireworks there. He declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Hanoi
Tour Using A Monopoly Board?
Atlantic City
A Lonely Planet editor came up with an unusual substitute for a guidebook to Atlantic City: He found his way around town using a Monopoly board.
The guidebook publisher's U.S. travel editor Robert Reid made an amusing video of his effort to use Monopoly as his guide, walking around town carrying a game board and the property cards bearing familiar street names.
Standing on St. James Place with the corresponding card, he said, "A lot of people don't realize that the places - Oriental Avenue, Ventnor Avenue, St. Charles Place, Park Place and this, St. James Place, are real and they can be visited here in Atlantic City."
In addition to visiting various streets, Reid's tour included a stop at the city water tower with the "Water Works" utility card in hand, and a shot of an Atlantic City police car to correspond to the "Go to Jail" card.
Atlantic City
Weekend Box Office
'Social Network'
Movie fans have bookmarked the Facebook drama "The Social Network" as their weekend favorite.
David Fincher's saga about personality clashes and legal feuds among the website's founders took in $15.5 million to remain the No. 1 film for a second straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Released by Sony, "The Social Network" raised its 10-day total to $46.1 million.
Debuting a close second with a so-so $14.6 million weekend was the Warner Bros. romance "Life as We Know It," starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel as sparring guardians to an orphaned girl.
Disney's horse-racing drama "Secretariat," starring Diane Lane, also had a so-so debut, coming in at No. 3 with $12.6 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Social Network," $15.5 million.
2. "Life as We Know It," $14.6 million.
3. "Secretariat," $12.6 million.
4. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," $7 million.
5. "My Soul to Take," $6.9 million.
6. "The Town," $6.4 million.
7. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," $4.6 million.
8. "Easy A," $4.2 million.
9. "Case 39," $2.6 million.
10. "You Again," $2.5 million.
'Social Network'
In Memory
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke, the larger-than-life "King of Rock and Soul" who was revered as one of music's greatest vocalists but never reached the level of fame of those he influenced, died early Sunday at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. He was 70.
Born to the sound of music in an upstairs room of a Philadelphia church, Burke was acknowledged as one of the greatest soul singers of the 1960s, but his popularity never matched that of contemporaries like James Brown or Marvin Gaye.
Two of Burke's best-known songs reached a wider audience when they were featured in hit movies.
He wrote "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" in 1964 and it was later featured in the Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi movie "The Blues Brothers." The Rolling Stones and Wilson Pickett also recorded it.
A bare-chested Patrick Swayze danced seductively with Jennifer Grey to Burke's "Cry To Me" in one of the most memorable scenes from the movie "Dirty Dancing."
Burke, a giant man with a powerful soulful voice to match, appeared on stage on a throne in later years partly because of his regal persona and partly because of health problems. He joined Atlantic in 1960 and went on to record a string of hits in a decade with the label.
According to his website, Burke was born March 21, 1940, "to the sounds of horns and bass drums" at the United Praying Band The House of God for All People in West Philly.
He remained closely linked to the church as a preacher. In 2000, he played for then-Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
Schiphol Airport police spokesman Robert van Kapel confirmed that Burke died on a plane at Schiphol. He arrived early Sunday on a flight from Los Angeles and had been scheduled to perform a sellout show on Tuesday in a church converted into a concert hall in Amsterdam with local band De Dijk.
Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and won a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy a year later for "Don't Give Up On Me."
Those honors sparked a renewed interest in the singer and he toured extensively around the world in recent years, including touring with The Rolling Stones.
Burke and his band would play without set lists, instead performing whatever the audience wanted to hear.
"It's like turning back the hands of time instantly," he said on his website. "We can be in the middle of singing something from my recent 'Like A Fire' album, and they'll call out 'Stupidity' from 1957 and we're back 50 years!"
Burke combined his singing with the role of preacher and patriarch of a huge family of 21 children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.
Solomon Burke
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