What on earth you tryin' to do?

I'm not sure who to blame for this, but new Chase Bank commercial uses a cover of John Lennons' "Instant Karma" for the music track.

It appears that Lennon's solo work isn't covered by the Northern Music/ATV/Michael Jackson/Sony deal, so, again, I really don't know who's responsible for this massive FAIL. But I'm sure if Lennon was still around, he'd be royally pissed.

Here's the real song:

There really isn't need for bloodshed, You just do it with a little more finesse

We've all heard the saying "lies, damn lies, and statistics." (I prefer my brother's term "liars, outliers, and out and out liars.")

Which brings me to today's post. Oliver Willis, and many in blogtopia, have noted the deaths of 3 police officers, the membership rise in militias, shooting sprees & arms purchases have coincided with the wrongwingers constant drumbeat of Obama is a 'facist', 'communist', 'socialist', is going to 'take our guns away', & and is a 'secret muslim' rhetoric ever since Obama was running, won the nomination, and exponentially since he was elected by a landslide.

These voices are not just wackjobs, but against all facts they are in the houses of congress and in the MSM.

Which brings me to today's lesson on math, and people who should know better.

e.g. Professor James Lindgren of the law school at Northwestern University wrote on Eugene Volokh's blog that:

Oliver Willis on Republicans Encouraging Cop-killers.

It is highly odd that Oliver Willis would attribute murdering cops to those who hold Republican views.

[...]
That is consistent with General Social Survey data showing that the odds of a Democrat or Independent reporting having been arrested or charged with a crime are 122% higher than the odds of a Republican reporting being arrested or charged with a crime. Among those who report having been arrested or charged, only 12% are Republicans. The others are 9% Independent, leaning Republican; 18% Independent (no leans); 18% Independent, leaning Democratic; 40% Democrats.

Now I'm just going to ignore the fact that Oliver Willis said no such thing about republicans, or how the perfesser misnamed the GSS category or the many other straw men in Prof Lindgren's post.

I'm just gonna do the math. While the ole perfesser didn't actually link to any stats to back up his allegations, he did give a couple of clues as to where he found them.

So I looked up the GSS data and lo and behold, I found this

Ever picked up or charged?
Republicans: Yes-178 No-2145 = 8.3%
Democrats: Yes-456 No-3949 = 11.5%

A couple of things to note:
1) Minorities and/or poor people are more likely to be Democrats and also more likely to have interactions with the police. (DWB anyone? ... OR ... when was the last time you saw a new Cadillac stopped by a cop for a taillight out?)
2) The survey is self-reported, one could just as equally come to the conclusion that republicans are less honest, (the last 8 years certainly bear that out.)

So is Professor Lindgren a liar or just ignorant of simple math? (Not that the two are mutually exclusive.)

p.s. I'm waiting on Prof. Lindgren's response to my email sent 6 hours ago.
p.p.s. I'm not holding my breath.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

I fought their "anal probe", my friends...

All right now, baby it's all right now

About as often as Halley's Comet drops by for a visit, a conservative is correct. When it happens, it quite joyful. Witness publius at Obsidian Wings:

The fight over the stimulus – a preview of the budget wars to come – has obviously taken on larger ideological dimensions. And the stakes are high. It’s a fight over the very idea of whether government can play a positive role in people’s lives. That’s in part why the Republicans are fighting it so hard.

The ideological debate is often taking place at a very abstract level – with anti-government advocates warning of vague unspecified dangers that will follow government spending. Last month, for instance, Jindal said in a speech that increasing spending “will have dire consequences for not only this time, but also for the future of America.”

It’s nice, then, to see some actual concrete vindication of government assistance. And it’s especially nice to see it in a state governed by Bobby Jindal.

The NYT reports that the massive post-Katrina relief effort has – shockingly – helped the people of Louisiana a great deal.

The experiment is still playing out, but some indicators suggest that what occurred in Louisiana — dumping a large amount of reconstruction money into a confined space in the three and a half years since Hurricane Katrina — has had a positive outcome. The state’s unemployment rate of 5.7 percent in February was considerably below the national average of 8.1 percent, and it was the only state to see a drop in unemployment from December to January. It was also the only state with an increase in non-farm employment in February.

Thus is the ideological shallowness of Jindal as poster boy for the new Right exposed. Publius' analysis is a good read. He ends with this:

I’m not saying this settles the debate. But it does show that government can play a significantly positive role in people’s lives.

And it reinforces a much larger point -- people like me prefer certain types of government spending because it helps people. It’s not much more complicated than that. I think national health care, broadband investment, and energy reform will help people.

And to help the public come around to that view, it’s important to advertise the successes of government done right – to show them the benefits. Democrats don’t do enough of that.

Indeed.

you are the best thing ever happened to me

(Pablo 'Pau' Casals: JSBach Cello Suite in G Maj, Prelude. F'n rock'n'roll!)

Most people reading here know that my day job providing technical support to L.A. recording studios. It's a great job. I learn new things every day, meet some wonderful people, get to solve problems and exercise creative muscles. And I stay involved in the music business.

Right now I'm doing all the wiring and technical installation work for a new studio for Dangerbird Records. Started in '04 by 2 great guys, Peter Walker and Jeff Castelaz, they are doing quite well for an indie label. Please check out the link above to see some of their artists.

All my initial dealings were with Peter. In fact I never even met Jeff until just before the installation started. I just figured he was more involved with the day-to-day running of the label. But then I found out what was distracting him: The Pablove Foundation:

The Pablove Foundation is named after Pablo Castelaz, the five-year-old son of Dangerbird Records co-founder Jeff Castelaz and his wife Jo Ann Thrailkill. On May 17, 2008, Pablo was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms' Tumor, a rare form of children's cancer. The cancer appeared out of nowhere, with no warning signs in Pablo's general demeanor or health. He is currently undergoing treatment at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and is doing extremely well. Thanks to decades of research and treatment at places like CHLA, Wilms' Tumor is over 90% curable.

Read the whole thing. Sounds pretty promising, right? Guess again. The Get Well Pablo blog details the latest crises. Pablo had just gotten out of the hospital after his latest round of chemo, when he developed a sudden infection and was rushed to the ER last Wed.:

The fever hasn't really gone down after the first round of fluids and antibiotics. In an effort to cool him, we had to take his shirt off and take the blanket off his body. Not easy when he's shivering. It adds screaming to his repertoire.

Later that day:

Had to stop writing for past 15 minutes. As I was typing P's eyes bulged out of his head and he began to vomit mucous and a bit of blood. This is not a fire drill. There are more docs in here now. They are moving us to a bigger room in the ER. The ICU is full and we may be here for a while.

A tech is in here right now with a giant machine doing an echocardiogram. Another tech is drawing blood from his arm while that's going on. They need to test the gas level in his blood. P's entire body is swollen - out of nowhere. We are all staring at the black and white monitor on the machine, watching Pablo's superstrong little heart pounding away.

Still later the same day:

We are headed to the ICU. The fever has not gone down yet. The docs have him on ice. Pablo is miserable - his blood pressure is low and his heart rate is racing. There are no less than six doctors attending to him, many of whom have become friends of P's and ours over the past 11 months.

We are never in this part of the hospital for anything less than serious stuff. That's why it's called the 'emergency department.' There's something

We do have GREAT news: P's chest x-ray is totally clear. No pneumonia, no fluid and - most significant - no spots. You know Jo Ann and I are not fatalists, but we'd be delusional to not find comfort in the absence of cancer in Pablo's lungs. That's the first place the disease spreads to if it were to recur and spread. We are f**king NOT open to that. But, again, there are facts and we are grateful to have checked one potential issue off the list.

And Wed. night:

Pablo is still in critical condition. He still has fever of 38.4—38.9 Celsius. It's been that high all day. You could cook an egg on P's palm he's so hot. The nurses are literally packing chemical ice packs around his body as he lays in bed. He has the old skool traditional cold wash cloth on his head. Jo Ann and I told him how our mothers used to do that for us, and how much we loved it. He was nonplussed, and seems to hate all the cold stuff up on him.

Readers here know we went through a serious ER-ICU scenario last October, before Mom finally passed. That was tough to deal with, but there was also something expected. Mom was 82, not in great health, and everyone loses their parents eventually.

But I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to try and comfort a seriously ill child, day after day, in and out of the hospital. Jeff and his family and supporters are special people indeed.

Fast-forward to today, and much better news:

we're OUTTA ICU! back on 4 west w/ our FAMILY of docs+nurses+techs. feels soooo good to be here. I'm gonna sleep here again.

4 West, where Pablo knows all the staff, and which is, sadly, his home away from home. Those on Facebook who want to send messages of support, Jeff is: Jeff Castelaz. To follow his updates on Twitter: @dangerbirdjeff.

And Donate to Pablove, please. You get a cool yellow bracelet. For Pablo, for Lizzie, for Kristin, for Mom, for Jane, for victims and especially for survivors of cancer:

(Click here!)

Bonus video: Ray LaMontagne: You Are The Best Thing:

You're Gonna Wind Up In The Wishin' Well Too

You're once, twice, three times an a-hole

Casting for New Three Stooges Movie Complete

In a press release dated April 1, 2009, MGM has announced that its plan to make a new full length Three Stooges movie took another step forward by signing the three main lead characters to play Moe, Larry and Curly.
Earlier reports that had Jim Carrey, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro set to play the Stooges proved to be untrue, as the producers decided instead to focus on bringing in a trio of much funnier individuals ... Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. The right-wing talk show hosts caught the attention of the directors, the Farrelly Brothers, who heard their programs on the radio and felt they would be perfect Stooges. "They were naturals when it came to humor", said one of the brothers. "The things that spill out of their mouth is unintentionally hilarious, the best kind of comedy".
When asked what kind of script had been prepared for the upcoming film they laughed "Are you kidding? Who needs a script. We just let them loose talking about their views and opinions and what they try to pass off as facts and truth. We almost pissed our pants over some of the crap they came up with".
The movie is set to start filming this fall with a planned 2010 release.

(graphic by Dancin' Dave)

You Can't Always Get What You Need

Fifteen Patients Die as Earth Hour Kills Life Support in Hospital

San Francisco, CA – Fifteen patients on life support and in surgery died at San Francisco General Hospital when power was cut for "Earth hour" on Saturday.

The hospital was pleased with their participation in the worldwide celebration of the planet. "We asked all the patients and their families if they were all right with us cutting the power. To a person, they all said as stewards of this planet it was their duty to observe Earth Hour. They knew the risks and were willing to take it," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.

Cho said that it was a net gain for planet Earth, despite the deaths. "The dead patients will no longer use any energy, and actually will be turned into energy in our patient incinerator," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.

As power was cut in the critical care ward some patients screamed in pain, others died calmly in their sleep. Cho said that most of the medical equipment has battery-powered back up systems, but those were disabled, because hospital officials felt that violated the spirit of Earth Hour.

Heart surgeon Dr. Gregory Morris was doing an open-heart procedure when the lights went out. "I wasn't sure what I was cutting into. Turns out it wasn't his heart, but his bowels. Unfortunately, Mr. Simms didn't make it."

My heart goes out to these families who made the greatest sacrifice for our planet.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

What a sight to wake up to

Over at Drudge.

But he had high hopes . . .

A special election was held in NY for the 20th Congressional district, where Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat.

Jim Tedisco, NY State Assembly Minority Leader, was picked to run for the R's. Scott Murphy, a non-politician, ran for the D's. Just a few weeks ago, Tedisco was up by 20 points. As of tonight, with some ballots yet to be counted, we know 3 things:

• Murphy is up by a few hundred votes.
• Tedisco filed a bullshit complaint (faxed from Staples!) before today's preliminary results were announced. (Warning: PDF [h/t FDL]).
• Michael Steele's future as anything other than Rush Limbaugh's lawn jockey may depend on this race.

This election ultimately changes nothing. The House is firmly under Democratic control, 1 vote either way doesn't matter. But I'll bet Steele doesn't feel that way. Other than alienating nearly everyone, raising less cash than needed, firing RNC staff, he's done pretty well.

For a FAIL.