...congrats Jayson, on the kitten
Monday, December 22, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Return Of Alice In Chains....
.... it's about fucking time
lemme sorta getcha caught up.....
Week 6 Update
Week 5 Update
Week 4 Update
Week 3 Update
Week 2 Update
Week 1 Update
lemme sorta getcha caught up.....
Week 6 Update
Week 5 Update
Week 4 Update
Week 3 Update
Week 2 Update
Week 1 Update
Sunday, December 7, 2008
"Dimebag" Darrell Lance Abbott 1966-2004....
...You live forever in our hearts
August 20, 1966-December 8, 2004
Friday, December 5, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Fuck ATV's....
Former NBA and college basketball star Rodney Rogers is paralyzed as the result of an all-terrain vehicle accident, his college coach told the News & Observer of Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Dave Odom, who coached Rogers when he earned All-America honors at Wake Forest and was the 1993 ACC Player of the Year, said Wednesday that his former star is paralyzed from the shoulders down, according to the report. "Say a prayer for Rodney and his family,'' Odom said, according to the newspaper. Rogers, 37, who had a 12-year NBA career and won the league's Sixth Man Award in 1999-2000, was riding in the woods in rural Vance County, N.C., last week when he fell off the vehicle, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the newspaper reported. He was recently transferred from Duke Hospital to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which specializes in rehabilitation for people with catastrophic injuries. A Durham native who starred in high school football and basketball, Rogers had returned to his hometown and was working for the city public works department as a heavy machinery operator. He was promoted to a supervisory position six months ago, according to the report. He was also volunteering as a girls' basketball coach at a Durham middle school and had set up a computer lab at a city public housing complex, according to the report. His agent and lawyer, James "Butch" Williams, described Rogers as "an outdoorsman, plain and simple," according to the report. "He hunts, motorcycles, rides horses. He loves big trucks," Williams said. Rogers, who was financially set, took the job with the Durham DPW because he liked working with heavy trucks, Williams said, according to the report. "Rodney isn't the type to sit around twiddling his thumbs. There aren't any jobs he considers too small for him," Williams said, according to the News and Observer. "He started his own trucking company and was usually the lead driver. He'd be out there driving to the quarry at 3:30 in the morning." Michael Balzarano, who oversaw Rogers at the Durham DPW, said Rogers was not working for the city as a lark until he got bored. "I didn't even know he had lots of money. He is very friendly, very concerned, very conscientious," Balzarano said, according to the report. "We chose him because of his ethics and his attitude. He was highly motivated. He was promoted to supervisor six months ago." Rogers entered the NBA as the first-round draft choice of the Denver Nuggets in 1993. He played for the Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers until retiring after the 2004-05 season. He reached the NBA Finals with the Nets in 2002-03, and his trade to the Celtics during the 2001-02 season sparked Boston on a run to the Eastern Conference finals. In 12 seasons Rogers averaged 25.3 minutes and 10.9 points per game and shot 34.7 percent from 3-point range.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Seems A Little Expensive....
If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.
People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.
Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:
• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion
TOTAL: $3.92 trillion
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Left Lane Cruiser....
... big thanks to the deciblog for turnin' me on to this tasty, tasty shit right here...
http://decibelmagazine.com/index.php/2008/11/20/a-top-5-that-should-never-be/
The Project MayHAM Review.....
....Chinese Democracy
I’ve been wrestling with myself for days. How should I review an album that not only have I been waiting half of my life for, but an album whose songs(most of them, anyway) I have heard in various stages of completion. Should I take what I’ve heard already and the astronomical amount of time and money spent on recording it into account, or should I just listen to the finished product and judge it on it’s own merits. It’s not that easy to do. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be fair to myself to deny my prior knowledge of the songs. ‘Democracy isn’t just about the music for me. It’s the journey that makes it’s release so special to me. Overall, I am very pleased with Chinese Democracy. I like it…But, like most music that spends a healthy amount of time on constant rotation in the Batmobile, I start to pick it apart. The only albums that seem to be immune to this process are the timeless ones.
Chinese Democracy is not one of those albums.
It could have been.
It should have been.
If this record had come out in 2002 (when it was done), it would be right up there with the classics. The triumphant return of one W. Axl Rose and his “New Gn’R”: A Gn’R that was a monster. A melting pot of all the great things in music. Not just rock.
A Gn’R that was chock full of borderline genius, virtuoso musicians who had a chemistry together and wrote and recorded most of the material on Chinese Democracy together. ‘Democracy, based on the music from it I had heard up until that point was a monster. A reflection of the band that created it, and the maniacal, tortured, genius of it’s lead singer. After ‘02, when it became increasingly clear that the record was not going to be released anytime soon, (for reasons that still remain unclear) these musicians began to leave. Instead of unleashing this monstrosity of a band (and album) on a salivating public, Mr. Rose was instead finding replacements for them.
These replacements were then replacing performances on an already completed album. And that, in my opinion, is the lone reason Chinese Democracy ‘s status changes from a “classic” album, to a “pretty good” one. By the time the public legally hears it, this masterpiece has been littered with copy and paste performances that sounded like what they were: Out of context, unnecessary and vastly inferior to what the previous musicians had recorded years ago.
What we are now left with are great songs that were taken one step too far. Make no mistake, this is no indictment of Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and Frank Ferrer. They are gifted musicians who were put in an unenviable position. Had they been given ample time to become fully acclimated to the material or been left off Chinese Democracy altogether, their brilliance reserved for creating new material, This review would have a much different tone.
1. Chinese Democracy has a stunningly epic intro. Exactly what I would’ve expected, and more… probably the only time on the entire album I would say that Ron Thal and Frank Ferrer added something that made one of these songs better. I like the change in the drums.. The double tap snare beat isn’t used until the solo. It gives the song some breathing room. A looseness that it desperately needed. It has that Old School G n’ R anthemic swagger and venom. A great song
2.Shackler’s Revenge smacks you upside the head. Right out of the chute. I’ve read a ton of reviews where it’s been said that this song seems out of place on the album. I disagree. It has a relationship to the title track not unlike the one It’s So Easy had with Welcome To The Jungle… An adrenaline shot. It’s insanely catchy “disco on steroids and acid” vibe and Axl’s brilliant multi-tracked vocal performance works for me on a level I can’t quite pinpoint. Thal’s solo is sick. Although, I’m left wondering what it replaced.
3. Better has been one of my favorite songs for the last couple of years. There is a flow to it that is extremely comfortable, and an emotional vocal melody that compels me to sing along. Robin Finck’s outtro guitar solo is the closest I’ve heard anyone come to sounding like Slash, ever. It has the best shot at being “the hit” on this record and maybe that’s why it wasn’t left alone. The additional guitar and drum tracks on this song were initially really pissing me off. They were obviously added over the top after it was mixed. They sound so completely out of place, it was really hard to enjoy the song. The more I listen to it, the less it bothers me, but still.. Was there something urgent that compelled Axl and Caram Constanzo to plug in Ferrer’s drum fills after the fact?
4. The Blues… If you call this song “Street Of Dreams”… You just don’t understand. Another of my favorites that’s gone through some changes, but nothing dramatic. It used to have more of a “Ziggy Stardust” kind of vibe, now it’s straight up Guns N’ Elton. That’s not a bad thing. The vocal performance surprised me. I never thought Axl’d be able to hit some of those notes again after hearing him strain through Sweet Child O’ Mine in 1992. The lyrics, while sappy, are incredible. “What I thought was beautiful, don’t live inside of you anymore”… Gets me every time. Great musicianship throughout.
5.If The World was the first test of faith for me. The first time I heard it, it was filler. Now, I kinda love it. I hear noise about “Blaxploitation films” and “James Bond”…
No.
It’s Axl soaring over Angel Dust era Faith No More. With a dash of killer Buckethead acoustic guitar work. Definitely a grower.
6. There Was A Time is to me, this album’s Estranged. A sprawling, heavy duty epic with no real chorus. Excellent arrangement, killer guitar work and perfectly blended mix make this song a keeper, even if you, like me, got kinda tired of it back in 2004.
7. Catcher In The Rye. Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to the 1999 demo of this track with Brian May from Queen.
If I hadn’t, I would be describing this song as “O.K.”… great vocal melody with too many guitars doing too many things out of sync for the first 2 minutes. Far and away the most overproduced song I’ve heard by anyone in a long time….. But I have. And I’m absolutely fucking bullshit. This was the best song written in the last 20+ years, and the removal of May’s stellar, subtle guitar work on the whole song (not just the solo, kids) killed it. Not to mention the plethora of brilliant, haunting multi-tracked vocals, and the backbone of the song(the piano)that have been buried beneath the cluttered mess. Next…
8. Scraped starts with a “chorus of Axl’s” that would have been more palatable to some if it wasn’t a cappela. I think it serves as a nice transition from the gentle Catcher, to this straight forward hard rocker. This song is nothing to write home about, but it does have one of the better vocal performances from Axl on the album. He’s singing like he did on Appetite on this track. And that is no small feat. It’s an uplifting “Fuck You” song that after the second or third time I heard it, I found myself humming it at work. Even if the song as a whole seems a little generic.
9. Riad N’ The Bedouins could have been left on the cutting room floor. The reason people are saying this song could hang on Appetite For Destruction is the very Rocket Queenish rhythm vibe during the verses and, of course the high pitched Axl wailing. The intro is very cool. And I really like the vocal melody of the “All my salvation” part, but it’s a B-side at best. And Ron’s pasted on solo is a slap in Buckethead’s face.
10. Sorry is flawless. Proof that this band can do anything. And do it well. A Pink Floyd On HGH monster. Lyrically, Axl’s response to old band mates(Slash?) ripping him in the press and the fans who believe it.
11. I.R.S. has some elements added that have given it a teensie bit more muscle than previous versions had. But it’s more or less the same song. Illusion era Guns N’ Roses with a modern sensibility… a shit ton of stuff going on in this song and a great vocal performance. The T.W.A.T. review sums up how I feel about this song.
12. Madagascar is proof of why the record should have come out in ‘02. During the surprise performance on the VMA’s, This song blew me away. Now, I’m pretty much burnt out on it. It’s a good, epic, Axl song. Next…
13. This I Love… So this is It, huh? The mythical This I Love? I gotta say, at first I was a tad taken aback at how cheesy this song is on the surface. But once I took the time to pay attention to how sincerely heartbroken Axl sounds on this track, it’s tough to be so cynical. The guitar solo gets a bad rap. Sure, Slash (or Buckethead) probably could’ve blown Robin’s solo out of the water, But they didn’t. And Robin does a good job of transferring the vocal emotion to his guitar.. Well done, sir. Easily the second best track on the album, next to…
14. Prostitute. A stunning closer. If this song is a snapshot of the things to come… Sign me up. Great drumming(please come back, Brain) and a vibe that is at the same time mellow and heavy. The outro is immense…I don’t even know what to say.. I’m a blithering idiot. This song rules.
Overall: 7 out of 10
This album would have easily been an 8 or a 9 if some of the best material on it hadn’t been mercilessly butchered after Andy Wallace mixed it to perfection.
Production issues aside, this is a strong album that will never live up to the expectations that were created by fans and critics alike. Axl should be proud of Chinese Democracy. It leaves the past behind and blows the doors open to endless possibilities.
The real lesson to be learned here is: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I’ve been wrestling with myself for days. How should I review an album that not only have I been waiting half of my life for, but an album whose songs(most of them, anyway) I have heard in various stages of completion. Should I take what I’ve heard already and the astronomical amount of time and money spent on recording it into account, or should I just listen to the finished product and judge it on it’s own merits. It’s not that easy to do. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be fair to myself to deny my prior knowledge of the songs. ‘Democracy isn’t just about the music for me. It’s the journey that makes it’s release so special to me. Overall, I am very pleased with Chinese Democracy. I like it…But, like most music that spends a healthy amount of time on constant rotation in the Batmobile, I start to pick it apart. The only albums that seem to be immune to this process are the timeless ones.
Chinese Democracy is not one of those albums.
It could have been.
It should have been.
If this record had come out in 2002 (when it was done), it would be right up there with the classics. The triumphant return of one W. Axl Rose and his “New Gn’R”: A Gn’R that was a monster. A melting pot of all the great things in music. Not just rock.
A Gn’R that was chock full of borderline genius, virtuoso musicians who had a chemistry together and wrote and recorded most of the material on Chinese Democracy together. ‘Democracy, based on the music from it I had heard up until that point was a monster. A reflection of the band that created it, and the maniacal, tortured, genius of it’s lead singer. After ‘02, when it became increasingly clear that the record was not going to be released anytime soon, (for reasons that still remain unclear) these musicians began to leave. Instead of unleashing this monstrosity of a band (and album) on a salivating public, Mr. Rose was instead finding replacements for them.
These replacements were then replacing performances on an already completed album. And that, in my opinion, is the lone reason Chinese Democracy ‘s status changes from a “classic” album, to a “pretty good” one. By the time the public legally hears it, this masterpiece has been littered with copy and paste performances that sounded like what they were: Out of context, unnecessary and vastly inferior to what the previous musicians had recorded years ago.
What we are now left with are great songs that were taken one step too far. Make no mistake, this is no indictment of Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and Frank Ferrer. They are gifted musicians who were put in an unenviable position. Had they been given ample time to become fully acclimated to the material or been left off Chinese Democracy altogether, their brilliance reserved for creating new material, This review would have a much different tone.
1. Chinese Democracy has a stunningly epic intro. Exactly what I would’ve expected, and more… probably the only time on the entire album I would say that Ron Thal and Frank Ferrer added something that made one of these songs better. I like the change in the drums.. The double tap snare beat isn’t used until the solo. It gives the song some breathing room. A looseness that it desperately needed. It has that Old School G n’ R anthemic swagger and venom. A great song
2.Shackler’s Revenge smacks you upside the head. Right out of the chute. I’ve read a ton of reviews where it’s been said that this song seems out of place on the album. I disagree. It has a relationship to the title track not unlike the one It’s So Easy had with Welcome To The Jungle… An adrenaline shot. It’s insanely catchy “disco on steroids and acid” vibe and Axl’s brilliant multi-tracked vocal performance works for me on a level I can’t quite pinpoint. Thal’s solo is sick. Although, I’m left wondering what it replaced.
3. Better has been one of my favorite songs for the last couple of years. There is a flow to it that is extremely comfortable, and an emotional vocal melody that compels me to sing along. Robin Finck’s outtro guitar solo is the closest I’ve heard anyone come to sounding like Slash, ever. It has the best shot at being “the hit” on this record and maybe that’s why it wasn’t left alone. The additional guitar and drum tracks on this song were initially really pissing me off. They were obviously added over the top after it was mixed. They sound so completely out of place, it was really hard to enjoy the song. The more I listen to it, the less it bothers me, but still.. Was there something urgent that compelled Axl and Caram Constanzo to plug in Ferrer’s drum fills after the fact?
4. The Blues… If you call this song “Street Of Dreams”… You just don’t understand. Another of my favorites that’s gone through some changes, but nothing dramatic. It used to have more of a “Ziggy Stardust” kind of vibe, now it’s straight up Guns N’ Elton. That’s not a bad thing. The vocal performance surprised me. I never thought Axl’d be able to hit some of those notes again after hearing him strain through Sweet Child O’ Mine in 1992. The lyrics, while sappy, are incredible. “What I thought was beautiful, don’t live inside of you anymore”… Gets me every time. Great musicianship throughout.
5.If The World was the first test of faith for me. The first time I heard it, it was filler. Now, I kinda love it. I hear noise about “Blaxploitation films” and “James Bond”…
No.
It’s Axl soaring over Angel Dust era Faith No More. With a dash of killer Buckethead acoustic guitar work. Definitely a grower.
6. There Was A Time is to me, this album’s Estranged. A sprawling, heavy duty epic with no real chorus. Excellent arrangement, killer guitar work and perfectly blended mix make this song a keeper, even if you, like me, got kinda tired of it back in 2004.
7. Catcher In The Rye. Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to the 1999 demo of this track with Brian May from Queen.
If I hadn’t, I would be describing this song as “O.K.”… great vocal melody with too many guitars doing too many things out of sync for the first 2 minutes. Far and away the most overproduced song I’ve heard by anyone in a long time….. But I have. And I’m absolutely fucking bullshit. This was the best song written in the last 20+ years, and the removal of May’s stellar, subtle guitar work on the whole song (not just the solo, kids) killed it. Not to mention the plethora of brilliant, haunting multi-tracked vocals, and the backbone of the song(the piano)that have been buried beneath the cluttered mess. Next…
8. Scraped starts with a “chorus of Axl’s” that would have been more palatable to some if it wasn’t a cappela. I think it serves as a nice transition from the gentle Catcher, to this straight forward hard rocker. This song is nothing to write home about, but it does have one of the better vocal performances from Axl on the album. He’s singing like he did on Appetite on this track. And that is no small feat. It’s an uplifting “Fuck You” song that after the second or third time I heard it, I found myself humming it at work. Even if the song as a whole seems a little generic.
9. Riad N’ The Bedouins could have been left on the cutting room floor. The reason people are saying this song could hang on Appetite For Destruction is the very Rocket Queenish rhythm vibe during the verses and, of course the high pitched Axl wailing. The intro is very cool. And I really like the vocal melody of the “All my salvation” part, but it’s a B-side at best. And Ron’s pasted on solo is a slap in Buckethead’s face.
10. Sorry is flawless. Proof that this band can do anything. And do it well. A Pink Floyd On HGH monster. Lyrically, Axl’s response to old band mates(Slash?) ripping him in the press and the fans who believe it.
11. I.R.S. has some elements added that have given it a teensie bit more muscle than previous versions had. But it’s more or less the same song. Illusion era Guns N’ Roses with a modern sensibility… a shit ton of stuff going on in this song and a great vocal performance. The T.W.A.T. review sums up how I feel about this song.
12. Madagascar is proof of why the record should have come out in ‘02. During the surprise performance on the VMA’s, This song blew me away. Now, I’m pretty much burnt out on it. It’s a good, epic, Axl song. Next…
13. This I Love… So this is It, huh? The mythical This I Love? I gotta say, at first I was a tad taken aback at how cheesy this song is on the surface. But once I took the time to pay attention to how sincerely heartbroken Axl sounds on this track, it’s tough to be so cynical. The guitar solo gets a bad rap. Sure, Slash (or Buckethead) probably could’ve blown Robin’s solo out of the water, But they didn’t. And Robin does a good job of transferring the vocal emotion to his guitar.. Well done, sir. Easily the second best track on the album, next to…
14. Prostitute. A stunning closer. If this song is a snapshot of the things to come… Sign me up. Great drumming(please come back, Brain) and a vibe that is at the same time mellow and heavy. The outro is immense…I don’t even know what to say.. I’m a blithering idiot. This song rules.
Overall: 7 out of 10
This album would have easily been an 8 or a 9 if some of the best material on it hadn’t been mercilessly butchered after Andy Wallace mixed it to perfection.
Production issues aside, this is a strong album that will never live up to the expectations that were created by fans and critics alike. Axl should be proud of Chinese Democracy. It leaves the past behind and blows the doors open to endless possibilities.
The real lesson to be learned here is: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Monday, November 24, 2008
ONE SHITTY WIRELESS INTERNET NETWORK AT THE LAB!
That's Right...
The Lab (at least at the moment) has internet, so if you need me I'll be at the lab listening to Stern....
The Lab (at least at the moment) has internet, so if you need me I'll be at the lab listening to Stern....
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Say No To Hate...
Food for thought:
Slavery was legal in the United States until 1865.
Women didn't acquire the right to vote until 1920.
Interracial marriage was illegal until 1967.
Marriage is a human right, and banning gay marriage is unconstitutional.
Take a moment today to check out any of the resources below.
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
-Mack Arillo
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
NOT DEAD...
There has been confirmation that Jayson "Big Cat" Jordan is, in fact, alive and well...
More information as this story develops..
In a completely non-related story.. The Warden says I'm Gay....
More information as this story develops..
In a completely non-related story.. The Warden says I'm Gay....
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Have You Seen This Man?
MISSING
Jayson "Big Cat" Jordan
6'3'' 295 lbs
Blond Hair. Blue Eyes.
Last Known Whereabouts: Ruby Tuesday's and "The Lab"
Last Known Associate: "Mrs. Cat"
Please be advised.. "Mrs Cat" is considered Pregnant and EXTREMELY dangerous.
Do not attempt to approach.
Notify ProjectMayHAM Staff IMMEDIATELY
Jayson "Big Cat" Jordan
6'3'' 295 lbs
Blond Hair. Blue Eyes.
Last Known Whereabouts: Ruby Tuesday's and "The Lab"
Last Known Associate: "Mrs. Cat"
Please be advised.. "Mrs Cat" is considered Pregnant and EXTREMELY dangerous.
Do not attempt to approach.
Notify ProjectMayHAM Staff IMMEDIATELY
Turncoat Fuckface....
http://townienews.com/
In addition to this ball, Ty Law will be catching some serious shit from Pats fans when his turncoat fuckface shows up to Foxboro this week in a Jets uniform. Asshole.
So, turns out Ty Law will be playing professional football again real soon. And might even be on the field Thursday night in Foxoro. For the goddamn Jets!
"I just feel better about this and the direction this team is going and how they welcomed me," Law was quoted as saying by Schefter. "I wanted to be somewhere I was wanted." TRANSLATION: Even though the Jets and the Pats have the same record, the Jets have Brett Favre and the Pats don't have Tom Brady. Also the Jets are healthier than the Pats, AND Coach Mangini and the cocksuckers in the Jets front office were willing to kiss my ass, and Bill Belichick and the Pats weren't. I'm an asshole who think the Jets have a better chance to win, so now I'm playing for the goddamn Jets.
I can not say this loud enough or more clearly - FAHK YOU, TY LAW! You had a chance to come back and right the wrong of your soured milk departure from the Pats almost four years ago. All would have been forgiven, like you just needed some space or a timeout, some personal time. But instead, by signing with the goddamn Jets, you basically spit in the face of the love and appreciation we had for you and definitely would have shown you again. All would have been forgiven and forgotten real fahkin' fast if you signed with the Pats, stepped out onto the field at Gillette in your old #24 and helped out a banged up but gung-ho Pats D. Instead you signed with another "former" team (like that one shitty year counts), the one with the team color that's the same as money (something you make no bones about playing for), in what can only be seen as a true sign of frontrunning. I know loyalty plays little to no part in professional sports anymore. I'm not a little kid with a broken sports heart. But I'm a fan, and I was a huge Ty Law guy for years and years. Now he's just another one of those great players who turned his back on where he came from and who helped make him. His pick in Super Bowl 36 is one of my all-time favorite plays. But now it's just an irrelevant highlight. Fahk 'em!
Seriously I'm so mad right now I wish my dick had Apache Chief powers so I could scream "My dick!" and it would grow to 50 times its size so Ty Law can SUCK IT!
Ty Law, bow down before the power of "Fitzy's DICK!"
...Paul "Fitzy" Fitzgerald
Monday, November 10, 2008
A Great, Audacious, Unhinged and Uncompromising Hard-Rock Record....
* * * * *
Rolling Stone...
Rolling Stone... Let's get right to it: The first Guns n' Roses album of new, original songs since the first Bush administration is a great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock record. In other words, it sounds a lot like the Guns n' Roses you know. At times, it's the clenched-fist five that made 1987's perfect storm, Appetite for Destruction; more often, it's the one sprawled across the maxed-out CDs of 1991's Use Your Illusion I and II, but here compressed into a convulsive single disc of supershred guitars, orchestral fanfares, hip-hop electronics, metallic tabernacle choirs and Axl Rose's still-virile, rusted-siren singing.
If Rose ever had a moment's doubt or repentance over what Chinese Democracy has cost him in time (13 years), money (14 studios are listed in the credits) and body count — including the exit of every other founding member of the band — he left no room for it in these 14 songs. "I bet you think I'm doin' this all for my health," Rose cracks through the saturation-bombing guitars in "I.R.S.," one of several glancing references on the album to what he knows a lot of people think of him: that Rose, now 46, has spent the last third of his life running off the rails, in half-light. But when he snaps, "All things are possible/I am unstoppable," in the thumper "Scraped," that's not loony hubris — just a good old rock & roll "fuck you," the kind that made him and the old band hot and famous in the first place.
Something else Rose broadcasts over and over on Chinese Democracy: Restraint is for suckers. There is plenty of familiar guitar firepower — the stabbing-dagger lick that opens the first track, "Chinese Democracy," the sand-devil fuzz in "Riad N' the Bedouins" and the looping squeals over the grand anguish of "Street of Dreams." But what Slash and Izzy Stradlin used to do with two guitars now takes a wall of 'em. On some tracks, Rose has up to five guys — Robin Finck, Buckethead, Paul Tobias, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and Richard Fortus — riffing and soloing in broad, saw-toothed blurs. And that's no drag. I still think the wild, superstuffed "Oh My God" — the early Chinese Democracy track wasted on the 1999 End of Days soundtrack — beats everything on Guns n' Roses' 1993 covers album, The Spaghetti Incident?
Most of these songs also go through multiple U-turns in personality, as if Rose kept trying new approaches to a hook or a bridge and then decided, "What the hell, they're all cool." "Better" starts with what sounds like hip-hop voicemail — severely pinched guitar, drum machine and a near-falsetto Rose ("No one ever told me when/I was alone/They just thought I'd know better") — before blowing up into vintage Sunset Strip wallop. "If the World" has Buckethead plucking acoustic Spanish guitar over a blaxploitation-film groove, while Rose shows that he still holds a long-breath vowel — part torture victim, part screaming jet — like no other rock singer.
And there is so much going on in "There Was a Time" — strings and Mellotron, a full-strength choir and Rose's overdubbed sour-growl harmonies, wah-wah guitar and a false ending (more choir) — that it's easy to believe Rose spent most of the past decade on that arrangement alone. But it is never a mess, more like a loud mass of bad memories and hard lessons. In the first lines, Rose goes back to a beginning much like his own — "Broken glass and cigarettes/ Writin' on the wall/It was a bargain for the summer/An' I thought I had it all" — then piles on the wreckage along with the orchestra and guitars. By the end, it's one big melt of missing and kiss-off ("If I could go back in time . . . But I don't want to know it now"). If this is the Guns n' Roses that Rose kept hearing in his head all this time, it is obvious why two guitars, bass and drums were never going to be enough.
It is plain, too, that he thinks this Guns n' Roses is a band, as much as the one that recorded "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Used to Love Her" and "Civil War." The voluminous credits that come with Chinese Democracy certainly give detailed credit where it is due. My favorite: "Initial arrangement suggestions: Youth on 'Madagascar." Rose takes the big one — "Lyrics N' Melodies by Axl Rose" — but shares full-song bylines with other players on all but one track. Bassist Tommy Stinson plays on nearly every song, and keyboardist Dizzy Reed, the only survivor from the Illusion lineup, does the Elton John-style piano honors on "Street of Dreams."
But Rose still sings a lot about the power of sheer, solitary will even when he throws himself into a bigger fight, like "Chinese Democracy." In "Madagascar," which Rose has played live for several years now, he samples both Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech and dialogue from Cool Hand Luke. And at the end of the album, on the bluntly titled "Prostitute," Rose veers from an almost conversational tenor, over a ticking-bomb shuffle, to five-guitar barrage, orchestral lightning and righteous howl: "Ask yourself/Why I would choose/To prostitute myself/To live with fortune and shame." To him, the long march to Chinese Democracy was not about paranoia and control. It was about saying "I won't" when everyone else insisted, "You must." You may debate whether any rock record is worth that extreme self-indulgence. Actually, the most rock & roll thing about Chinese Democracy is he doesn't care if you do.
Jesus Herald Christ On Rubber Fucking Crutches... This. Is. Awesome....
Colonel Claypool's Bucket Of Bernie Brains...
Friday, November 7, 2008
I Am A Patriot...
Politics is a difficult and touchy subject. It may be even stickier than religion and blood runs hot when its discussed. Often, most people (liberal and conservative) hate it when artists speak their political beliefs and I can understand this. It's not easy to change someone's mind when your life and your views have been forged from an early time in your life and your own unique experience. With that being said, I often don't find artists to get political enough. I don't care which way you swing, but I find the art to come from it to be much more vivid, real and potent.One artist whose career was cut short due to politics was Little Steven Van Zandt. You know him best as Springsteen's right hand man or Tony Soprano's...but beneath both of those roles is a vital and blood brimming artist who wears his heart on his sleeve. His first two solo discs are magnificent and it's a shame they are both out of print. With that being said, the greatest song he ever wrote and it's not pro-liberal as you may expect, but more importantly, it brims with genuineness. It's beautifully poetic and is one of my favorite songs from the last quarter of a century. Once again, beneath the ugliness of this world, we once again find solace in music.
"I Am A Patriot"
And the rivers shall open for the righteous (X2)
And the rivers shall open for the righteous,someday
I was walking,with my brother
And he wondered,oh,how I am
I Said what I believe with my soul
Ain't what I see with my eyes
And there's no turning back this time
I am a patriot, I love my country
Because my country is all I know
I wanna be with my family
People who understand me
I got no place else to go...
I am a patriot...
I went was,with my girlfriend
She looked so fine,I said,"Baby,what's on your mind?"
She said,"I wanna run like the lions
Released from the cages
Released from the rages burning in my soul tonight"
I am a patriot, I love my country
Because my country is all I know
I wanna be with my family
People who understand me
I got no place else to go...
And I ain't no communist
And I ain't no socialist
And I ain't no capitalist
And I ain't no imperialist
And I ain't no democrat
Sure ain't no republican either
I only know one party,and that is freedom
I am,I am,I am...
I am a patriot,and I love my country
Because my country is all I know
And the rivers shall open for the righteous (X2)
And the rivers shall open for the righteous,someday
Someday,someday,someday...
Eddie Vedder's version
http://the-screen-door.blogspot.com/
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Chinese Whispers....
"To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement." - W. Axl Rose
Whatever can be said of Chinese Democracy, the man himself spoke the greatest truth of them all.
Anyone who asks why it took 15 years to release this album NEEDS to read this...
Enjoy..
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Poisoned World....
Dallas - April 23 2007 — A second study conducted by the European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF) confirms the carcinogenicity of aspartame. The results of this study will be presented today at the Mount Sinai Medical School of New York, where ERF Scientific Director Morando Soffritti will receive the third Irving J. Selikoff Award.
Aspartame was discovered in l965 by Searle chemist, Jim Schlatter. He was developing this drug for another use and after accidentally licking his finger found that aspartame was sweet. Today aspartame is consumed by more than 100 million people in the United States. This chemical (aspartame) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who said that an individual can safely consume 97 packets of aspartame every day. Aspartame is in many products including some that children use such as diet soda, light yogurt, Flintstone Vitamins, baked goods, puddings, and Winterfresh gum. It has been known to cause headaches, nausea, vision problems, seizures and cancer in its users.
The ingredients in aspartame are aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methyl alcohol. Methyl alcohol is a chemical that breaks down in high temperatures and turns into formaldehyde and DKP (diketopiperazine), two chemicals known to cause problems in the nervous system. Aspartame’s life is 262 days at 77 degrees Fahrenheit, or 25 degrees Celsius. The FDA gets more complaints about aspartame than any other food or drink. The symptoms of aspartame are a lot like the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Ever since aspartame was approved in l985, there has been an increase in brain tumors. There is no direct proof that aspartame caused the brain tumors, but there is enough reason to suspect that, and the television show, “60 Minutes” recently did a report linking the increase in brain cancer to aspartame use.
The FDA reviewed Searle’s studies of this artificial sweetener in which rats were fed aspartame daily with their meals for one year. There were 12 brain tumors in the 320 rats that were fed aspartame and no brain tumors in the 120 rats that were not fed aspartame.
There was also a study done at the University of Wisconsin on rhesus monkeys. they were fed aspartame daily. After day 200 of a one year study the monkeys developed epileptic seizures. After the study ended, the aspartame was discontinued and the monkeys were fully watched for 60 days. The monkeys had no more seizures.
So how did this deadly stuff get into our environment? Donald Rumsfeld, while he was president of Searle, called in his markers to get aspartame, a deadly chemical poison approved when the FDA said no.
Among the many ironies of our modern world is that Gerald Ford awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom-America’s highest civilian honor-to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on January 19, 1977. Just a few weeks later on March 8, Rumsfeld became the CEO of G.D. Searle to take point on a mission to force the Food and Drug Administration to approve for human consumption a known carcinogen and neurotoxic poison.
Mission accomplished: Today some 9,000 commonly consumed products are laced with this weapon of mass misery and millions of people live with chronic illnesses linked to the artificial sweetener aspartame. It is our belief at The Idaho Observer that if some guy named Parkinson can have a disease named after him, then Donald Rumsfeld ought to have his own disease, too. Hence the term Rumsfeld disease A.
Today, Donald Rumsfeld is known throughout the world as the zealous U.S. Secretary of Defense who is waging a global “war on terror” in search of “terrorists” and “weapons of mass destruction.” Most people, however, are not aware that Rumsfeld himself unleashed a chemical weapon of mass destruction upon the world in 1981-and it’s still out there destroying people all over the world. That “WMD” is aspartame and it has been scientifically and anecdotally linked to millions of chronic illnesses and deaths.
The evidence shows that, with full knowledge of aspartame’s neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity, Rumsfeld, as the CEO of G.D.
Searle, Co., “called in his markers” to achieve U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the artificial sweetener aspartame, better known by its trade name “NutraSweet.”
Consumer advocate attorney Jim Turner, who was instrumental in the 1969 banning of cyclamate in the U.S. for its link to various forms of cancer, met with representatives of aspartame approval petitioner Searle in 1974. The main topic of discussion was neuroscientist Dr. John Olney’s 1971 study which showed that aspartic acid caused lesions in the brains of infant mice. According to Turner, arguably the world’s foremost authority on aspartame’s dubious legal history, Rumsfeld was apparently hired by Searle for one specific purpose: To obtain FDA approval for aspartame.
Betty Martini is the director of Mission Possible, a worldwide consumer advocacy organization formed in 1992 as a voice for those demanding that the FDA reverse its approval of aspartame and order its removal from foods, beverages and medical preparations. Martini is even more bold in her charges against Rumsfeld. Martini believes the Washington insider, former three-term U.S. Rep. From Illinois (1962-1968), secretary of defense (1975-1977) and executive assistant to President Gerald Ford, was hired by Searle because, “He was willing to get a deadly chemical poison, aspartame, approved for human consumption”
Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president January 21, 1981. Rumsfeld, while still CEO at Searle, was part of Reagan’s transition team. This team hand-picked Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr., to be the new FDA commissioner. Dr. Hayes, a pharmacologist, had no previous experience with food additives before being appointed director of the FDA. He, like Rumsfeld, did, however, have experience with chemical warfare studies while connected to the Department of Defense. According to The Washington Post, Hayes was, “one of a number of doctors who conducted drugs tests for the Army on volunteers.to determine the effect of a mind-disorienting drug called CAR 301,060,” at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
The Post further explained why Hayes was the perfect choice to politically force the approval of aspartame: “According to a declassified 1976 report prepared by the Army Inspector General, Hayes had planned a research study to develop the mind-altering CAR 301,060 as a crowd control agent.”
The report, detailing Hayes activities beginning in 1972, further indicated that Hayes was involved in similar biochemical mind control research studies until being named FDA director.
One of Hayes’ first official acts as FDA chief was to approve the use of aspartame as an artificial sweetener in dry goods July 18, 1981. In order to accomplish this feat, Hayes had to overlook the scuttled grand jury investigation of Searle, overcome the Bressler Report, ignore the PBOI’s recommendations and pretend aspartame did not chronically sicken and kill thousands of lab animals. Hayes, left his post at the FDA in November, 1983, amid accusations that he was accepting corporate gifts for political favors. Just before leaving office in scandal, Hayes approved the use of aspartame in beverages. According to The Post, Hayes’ next job was in the private sector where he served as a high-paid senior medical advisor for Searle’s public relations firm.
Sweet Misery
Within weeks of aspartame’s approval for use in beverages, cans of diet sodas and other sweet drinks were on the market. To help sell Americans on using the artificial sweetener, intense advertising campaigns began programming the public to believe that sugar has lots of calories; calories make us fat and NutraSweet has no calories-therefore it won’t make us fat.
Read MSNBC’s article on it here: Zero calories, same great taste (and heart risks)
- Based upon this almost universally-accepted oversimplification of biochemical reality, aspartame has enjoyed 22 years of marketplace success and is now in an estimated 7,000 to 9,000 commonly-consumed products in at least 100 countries. When Searle was absorbed by Monsanto in 1985, Rumsfeld reportedly received a $12 million bonus.
- Not surprisingly, the same adverse reactions seen in lab animals in the 60s and 70s are now being seen in the general population. In his first book on aspartame (1990), Dr. H.J. Roberts stated that in five or 10 years we would have a worldwide plague on our hands if we do not remove aspartame from our food supply. With the printing of “Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic (2001), Dr. Roberts declared that the world is, indeed, plagued by a global epidemic of symptoms associated with aspartame use.
- * Aspartame is being identified by a growing number of researchers and physicians as an underlying cause of chronic ill health in America and other countries throughout the world.
- * It interacts with other substances such as pharmaceutical drugs to produce adverse reactions.
- * All metabolites of aspartame (formaldehyde, methanol, diketopiperazine and formic acid) are toxic to the human body and are especially toxic to the brain.
- * Aspartame comprises over 80 percent of consumer complaints filed with the FDA.
- * The FDA has generated a list of 92 symptoms associated with aspartame consumption that include nausea, dizziness, irritability, insanity, blindness, deafness, weight gain and death.
- * The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that 500,000 people each year simply “drop dead” for no apparent reason from what it labels “sudden cardiac death.”
- * Dementia among all ages (especially the elderly) and learning disabilities among children, in the U.S. and abroad, have been skyrocketing since 1981.
- As of today, the number of scientific and studies showing that aspartame is, indeed, an underlying cause of chronic physical and mental illness and death out number studies proving its safety by at least 400 to zero. Proof of this fact can also be determined by what happens in many cases when people stop using aspartame: Their chronic symptoms disappear.
- Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford-the highest civilian honor in America-on January 19, 1977. A few months later, Rumsfeld became the CEO of Searle to secure political approval for a product that science had proven to be a highly-addictive neurotoxic drug that causes chronic ill health, brain tumors and death. The evidence indicates that FDA approval for aspartame was a high-level political priority undoubtedly connected to its capacity to adversely effect the minds and bodies of those consuming it.
- Because Rumsfeld placed politics above public health and safety, hundreds of millions of people throughout the world cannot think clearly and suffer from a variety of chronic illnesses. It is, therefore, fitting that symptoms associated with aspartame use be known as “Rumsfeld’s disease.”
http://www.loosechange911.com/blog/
Meet The New Boss.....
....Same as the old boss
Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones
Prison Planet.com
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The messianic fervor which has preceded Barack Obama’s expected ascension to the White House has alarming implications for freedom and is a painful reminder that most Americans have once again been suckered into believing that the two-party monopoly offers any kind of solution to the crisis that we face.
For eight years during the term of Bill Clinton, Alex Jones was labeled a right-wing fascist for opposing him and for the past near-eight years Jones has been derided as a communist and even an Al-Qaeda member for railing against the Bush administration.
Now even regular readers of our own websites are calling Alex a right-wing racist once again merely for questioning the ascension of the new great leader - Barack Obama.
The messianic complex that has been attached to Obama is truly frightening. Bishops like Cornal Garnett Henning are calling Obama the new “Moses” while his supporters refer to him as “the black Jesus”.
In one You Tube clip, a woman hails Obama’s Godly powers by proclaiming that as soon as he is elected, all her problems will simply disappear, saying that Obama will help her personally almost like Jesus healed the sick and wounded.
The election of a new president should not be a mindless act of idolatry and fanfare, it should be a solemn commitment to find a leader who will follow the Constitution.
But Barack Obama will ride into office with a gigantic approval rating to rival that of Bush after 9/11, along with a complete power monopoly over the executive, the legislative, the judicial as well as widespread media support.
This makes Obama more dangerous than Bush and certainly a damn site more dangerous than a McCain administration, because his policies for at least a year or two will enjoy universal acclaim and voices of dissent will be drowned out by a wave of droning acquiescence.
Obama has all the political capital he needs to implement the terrifying policies that he has already announced and beef the architecture of the police state crafted by Bush.
- The creation of a “civilian national security force” that is “just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the U.S. military to enforce Obama’s carbon tax scheme and the total regulation and control of the American middle class.
- Obama has talked openly about his intention to bomb Pakistan under the guise of pursuing terrorists, continuing a Bush administration policy of violating the sovereignty of foreign nations.
- The guarantee to “bankrupt” coal power plants, costing millions of American jobs and skyrocketing energy prices.
- Unbridled implementation and expansion of the banker bailout that is hated by the majority of American citizens yet was vigorously promoted by both Obama and McCain. Doling out taxpayer’s money to Wall Street, causing rampant inflation, a lowering in living standards and the destruction of the dollar.
- Obama has rhetorically supported the second amendment and an individual’s right to bear arms, but his actions tell a different story. Obama supports local gun ban laws, including his endorsement of a state ban on the sale and possession of handguns in Illinois.
- Obama grandstands on the notion that he supports environmentalism with his climate change rhetoric, but his intention to extend biofuel subsidies will only accelerate price food costs that have already risen 75 per cent since 2002, causing economic distress and rioting in such countries as Haiti, Egypt, and Somalia, as well as deforestation on a massive scale.
Mark our words - the causes that the liberal left has been fighting for over the last eight years will simply be forgotten just like conservatives were put to sleep when Bush came to power. Obama is the pacifier that the establishment needs to quiet the simmering anger amongst Americans that has been threatening to boil over.
It will no longer be “fashionable” to fight the police state amongst the political left.
Mark our words - there will be no repeal of the Patriot Act, there will be no repeal of the John Warner Defense Authorization Act, there will be no repeal of warrantless secret surveillance of American citizens.
Democratic control of Congress and the Senate since the 2006 elections has achieved nothing in the way of reversing the Bush administration’s assaults on the Constitution, so why should we expect Obama to do anything different?
Obama may eventually withdraw a portion of troops from Iraq but mark our words, they won’t be home long before they are sent off to bomb another broken-backed third world country, this time in the name of a United Nations-backed “humanitarian” war, just as Bill Clinton presided over in Somalia and Serbia with the full support of the establishment political left.
Indeed, Obama’s running mate Joe Biden has already “promised” and “guaranteed” that Obama will be faced with an international crisis that will mandate him to take “unpopular” and “tough” decisions in the context of foreign policy.
Don’t think for a second that our warnings about Obama are an endorsement for John McCain. We have tirelessly attempted to educate Americans about the two party monopoly and the fact that Democrats and Republicans serve the interests of the elite, not the people, and have for at least five decades since Kennedy was killed.
Obama is Coca-Cola and McCain is Pepsi - at the end of the day you’re still drinking the same beverage.
The two-party monopoly offers no solutions for the problems we face, in fact the two-party monopoly that you will be helping to maintain should you vote for either Obama or McCain - is the problem.
Stop falling for the same bait and switch trick again and again every eight years.
When George W. Bush was elected, conservatives were in adulation and awe, confident that after eight years of federal government expansion under Clinton, Bush - complete with slick conservative rhetoric and promises of change - would shrink the size of government and restore dignity to the office of President.
Nearly eight years later and what have we witnessed, a record expansion in the size of government and an almost universal contempt for America around the world.
When Tony Blair swept into power with a landslide in the British general election in 1997, the country breathed a collective sigh of relief that this new young dynamo would put right years of Tory malfeasance and provide the “change” that everyone was crying out for.
When Blair left office in 2007 he had created a Socialist surveillance police state and eliminated a huge popular approval lead the Labour Party had enjoyed over the Tories, leaving most of the public once again to demand Conservative rule.
When are we going to wake up to the fact that voting in the lesser of two evils is not a solution?
When are we going to realize that participating in a rigged system, where our vote means virtually nothing anyway because it is counted by a completely compromised and hackable voting machine, not only fails to address any of our problems, but actually compounds them because of our passive obedience in participating in the phony virtual reality presented to us as “democracy”?
When are we going to realize that by continually electing Democrats and Republicans, we are voting away our own freedom as the march towards a new world order and an American police state proceeds no matter who takes office?
No Excuses....
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/
Now that a Democrat has been elected president, the Democrats in Congress have no excuse. They can no longer pretend that they have to "hold back" to win the election.
They have no excuse to delay war crimes charges against Bush, Cheney and company for Iraq.
They have no excuse to delay war crimes charges for torture.
They have no excuse to delay criminal charges for spying on Americans.
They have no excuse to delay criminal charges for 9/11.
Now is not the time for Democratic machine politics. Now is the time to implement true American values - cherished across the political aisle - of liberty and justice.
There can be no liberty in America unless the tyrants who have tried to imprison us and enslave us are prosecuted.
There can be no justice in America unless the high and mighty are held accountable for their actions.
Obama is a former Constitutional law professor. He knows the value of the Constitution and the rule of law. He promised during his campaign to curb the unconstitutional practices of the executive branch.
But that is not enough. Because if the tyrants in both parties who have trampled on the vision of the founding fathers are not held accountable, then future tyrants will learn that they can get away with it, also.
Now that Obama has won, there is no excuse. Those who have trampled on our country and our people must be held to account for the whole world and future generations to see.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The Lesser Of Two Evils...
I guess since I'm broke, Socialism ain't that bad...
congrats, Mack... And Kudos to the American People, for finally voting an African-American man president...
congrats, Mack... And Kudos to the American People, for finally voting an African-American man president...
Monday, November 3, 2008
Big Day Tomorrow....
...Do this country a favor. Don't let the Republicans or Democrats keep destroying what The United States Of America stand for...
vote 3rd Party....
Cynthia McKinney....
Ralph Nader...
Bob Barr...
Use your Fucking Brain...
Vote for REAL change....
vote 3rd Party....
Cynthia McKinney....
Ralph Nader...
Bob Barr...
Use your Fucking Brain...
Vote for REAL change....
Vacation...
If you need me.... I'll be sleeping till Wednesday.
Unless Chinese Democracy leaks... Don't wake me up.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
I Think God Is Trying To Tell Me Something...
..Twice today, I heard someone on TV say "Vagina"...
Coincidence?
I Think Not...
Coincidence?
I Think Not...
Obama Faults Bankers....Then Takes Their Money....
Obama Faults Bankers' `Greed and Irresponsibility,' Takes Cash
By Jonathan D. Salant
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aTTJaS.t0Rn8&refer=home
Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama relies on the Internet to bring in millions of small-dollar donors. For heftier-size contributions, he counts on hundreds of fundraisers, many with ties to the financial firms he decries on the campaign trail.
Even as he condemns special interests and refuses money from lobbyists, Obama has followed a fundraising model created by President George W. Bush, enlisting 561 people to ``bundle'' donations from friends, family and co-workers.
The fundraisers -- who have brought in more than $76 million to his presidential campaign -- include 35 executives and members of law firms that lobby for companies at the center of the nation's financial crisis, from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and American International Group Inc. to Fannie Mae.
``It would be naive for any of us to think that these same people don't want something specific out of an Obama administration,'' said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, a Washington-based advocacy group, referring to the corporate executives bundling for the candidate.
The Illinois Democrat's campaign has raised around half its record $605 million in chunks of $200 or less and touts its 3.1 million donors, a grassroots campaign that far surpasses any other in U.S. presidential-election history.
Still, 47 individuals have raised at least $500,000 each for Obama. They are able to tap networks to get hundreds of people to give up to the maximum $2,300 contribution to a candidate and as such become invaluable to campaigns raising money.
McCain's Bundlers
His Republican opponent, Arizona Senator John McCain, has also counted on bundlers to help fund his campaign, and they've accounted for a far greater percentage of the money he has raised. Unlike Obama, McCain, 72, is taking public money for the general election, so is no longer raising campaign funds, though bundlers are still collecting money for the Republican National Committee.
McCain has 538 bundlers who raised at least $77.8 million for him until he got his party's nomination last month.
Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman, said the Democrat hasn't accepted any money from registered federal lobbyists or political action committees, unlike McCain.
``John McCain has raised $2.26 million from Washington lobbyists and PACs during this campaign, while Barack Obama hasn't accepted a dime,'' LaBolt said. He said Obama and fellow Senator Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, led the fight for the 2007 ethics law that required lobbyists to disclose who they're bundling money for. The Federal Election Commission is drafting the disclosure rules.
Lawyers and Bankers
Members of the securities and investment industry make up Obama's second-biggest group of bundlers, 56, behind only the 80 lawyers who have raised funds, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.
Even so, Obama, 47, has laid much of the blame for the nation's credit crunch on investment banks, condemning the ``greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street that got us into this mess'' in an Oct. 9 speech in Dayton, Ohio.
His biggest source of campaign cash are the employees of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and their families, who contributed $739,521 through Aug. 31. Goldman Sachs changed to a bank holding company last month, giving it access to deposits, while increasing federal regulation.
UBS Connection
Employees of UBS AG and their families were Obama's ninth- biggest source of money, giving $419,550. UBS Americas Chairman Robert Wolf has raised more than $500,000 for Obama and has met with the candidate on the financial crisis. The Swiss company, which has suffered the biggest losses of any European bank from the global credit crisis, is getting a $59.2 billion aid infusion from Switzerland's government.
Three of Obama's fundraisers work for firms registered to lobby for AIG: Peter Bynoe of DLA Piper, David Jacobson of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, and Edward Lazarus of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, according to House disclosure records and Public Citizen.
The federal government took control of New York-based AIG last month in exchange for an $85 billion loan to prevent the bankruptcy of the nation's biggest insurer. The company said yesterday it would suspend its lobbying activities.
The government also took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and took those companies out of the lobbying business last month.
James Johnson
One of Obama's fundraisers is former Fannie Mae Chairman James Johnson, who brought in between $200,000 and $500,000 for the campaign. Johnson left Obama's vice presidential search committee on June 11 after just a week, following reports that he received preferential mortgage rates from Countrywide Financial Corp., which suffered losses due to the collapse of the subprime-mortgage market and was bought by Bank of America Corp.
McCain's campaign also has ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Several lobbyists for the companies are among his top fundraisers, including Kirk Blalock and Wayne Berman, who each raised more than $500,000; former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York, who brought in between $250,000 and $500,000; and Richard Hohlt, who raised at least $100,000. A Freddie Mac board member, Geoffrey Boisi, raised at least $100,000 for McCain.
``Now, all the benefit is going to the candidate,'' said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. ``Once the next administration and Congress are in place, that's payback time.''
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