THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

FOUR MORE DAYS!!!

AP Headline Makes Nani Urinate in His UnderRoos

"Palin says Obama infomercial short on specifics"

Turns out someone was short on the specifics of her Pennsylvania location:

Palin received a smattering of boos when she said she was glad to be in the home state of the World Series-champion Philadelphia Phillies. Northwestern Pennsylvania baseball fans favor the Cleveland Indians or Pittsburgh Pirates.

Grandma, she thinks you're a Phillies fan

Where's the Joe?

Update: McCain campaign can't manage to summon one particular individual to crucial Ohio rally. It appears Joe the Plumber didn't know he was supposed to go.

What would Jesus do?

So, the mother-in-law called last night. She was upset by a phone call she had just received from her sister. She had called to urge her to vote for McCain. Apparently while the mother-in-law spent the weekend at the O'Toole's, spending time with her new grand daughter, Baby O'Toole, she missed the preacher at her church urge the congregation to vote for McCain. His reasons......not the failing economy, not the war, but because Republicans display better morals than democrats. He basically then went on to argue "it's what Jesus would do!". Over the past few weeks, using the candidates positions on issues and issues that the mother in law felt were important to her, we had shown her Obama spoke for most of her issues. However she hadn't expected Jesus to endorse McCain. So now she is confused and upset at the prospect of being struck down as she places a vote for the anti-Christ.
Remember...... November 4th, don't vote on policy, the state of the nation, or the war. Just know that any vote for anyone other than McCain is a sin. You are morally redundant and should be ashamed of yourself. When you die you will burn in HELL!!!

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

5 MORE DAYS!!!

World Champs!!

Congratulations Philadelphia Phillies!! You've finally given me a reason to post this picture of Pete Rose from 1980 - the last year the Phillies won it all.

Obama admits to being secret communist...

Stay Classy, Kansas City

This report filed by the Midtown Miscreant in Kansas City, MO

Some unique Joe Biden coverage from Damon Weaver...

Campain-o-lanterns

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PATTERNS

Brilliant...

Two Videos for Obama and Supporters

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

Europe |MTV Music

A Call To Action

“A Call to Action” depicts how voter registration organization HeadCount, and other non-profits, have turned the live music community into a politically influential force. Join Bob Weir, Trey Anastasio, Marc Brownstein, Al Schnier, Bela Fleck and many other HeadCount supporters as they reflect upon the history of the organization, its mission and the live music scene’s increased mobilization around causes.

Who Dey Revolution: Project Mayhem

http://www.whodeyrevolution.com/whodeyrevolution/

Task #1 - Call the JERK line, (513-381-JERK), on Mike Brown during Sunday's game.

McCain Cancels, Obama Rallies

Andrew Sullivan points out the headline at, get this, Fox News. Guess you can't run from the facts every time.

The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 65

A fascinating look into the McCain-Palin internecine war.

As a footnote to this, I saw McCain flack Nicolle Wallace on David Gregory's show last night, and having previously seen her on other television shows strenuously pushing the McCain party line, I could tell something about her performance was "off." I don't know that I'd go as far as to say she was mailing it in, but certainly, she had lost the fire she displayed in the days after the Palin pick. I remember in particular watching her reject a journalist's suggestion that Palin should face press questions by dismissively stating, "Why should she talk to you? She's going to talk to the American people." Of course, I hated her answer and found her loathsome, but clearly she was passionate about her candidate.

Last night, not so much. I'd call it resignation to fate. It reminded me of this report and Wallace's quote in it:

Wallace declined to engage publicly in the finger-pointing that has consumed the campaign in the final weeks.

"I am in awe of [Palin's] strength under constant fire by the media," she said in an e-mail. "If someone wants to throw me under the bus, my personal belief is that the most graceful thing to do is to lie there."

Like that moment I had during Hardball where I felt sorry for Nancy Pfotenhauer as Chris Matthews took her apart, I am starting to feel sorry for yet another Republican Stepford fembot. I must be getting soft in my anticipation of the impending Obama electoral victory.

As encouraging as the McCain-Palin implosion has been, I still wonder if it will make a difference to voters. It should. We've had eight years of dysfunction, incompetence, and self-righteous idiocy. Time to turn the page.

The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 64

A civil war is a-broo-in', with Sarah Palin as the lightning rod (or is it lightnin' in her neck of the woods?).

Quote:

If I read this right, the GOP is set splinter into a trio of factions: the Palin-philes, the Romney remainders, and those excommunicated from the movement for daring to make a lick of sense at one point. Fitting isn't it, that a McCain loss might precipitate his party coming to resemble the factionalism of the Iraqi misadventure they all cooked up in the first place.

Fox News' Megyn Kelly Is So Very Funny & Angry

Nice work here by Bill Burton not getting "real" on Megyn.
I know people lap this up like free ice cream, but I don't understand how. Phony outrage is so lame especially when you are lying. I love how Megyn slips into her female Bill-O impression, it's really what the American people need right now.

I AM LOUDER THAN YOU, THEREFORE MORE CORRECT!!!!

"As you know I don't appreciate the sarcasm. You can save it for your friends on the other channels. We don't put up with that here."

As the kids would say... BWAHAHAHAHA

I'm a Georgia voter...

The scene at the Dekalb County, Georgia, early voting location at Lianne Levitan Park at Brook Run in Dunwoody, Georgia, was, in two words, calm & steady. Not many people spoke to one another; some talked on cell phones; many read books. All tried to stay warm in the hour-long line on a 36-degree morning. Although people weren't overly talkative, their faces communicated mouthfuls. The telling voter visages could, by my account, be divided into thirds.

One-third were people not giving off an ounce of emotion, maybe too afraid to draw the ire of a rival party supporter or the ire of a party mate they'd turned on, or maybe they were just trying to bear the frigid temperatures.

One-third grimaced, seriously, seemingly under the impression that their vote was an individual attempt to defend REAL AMERICA from certain takeover by ____________ (fill in the blank with Muslims, terrorists, blacks, gays, liberals, socialists, or atheists). I could taste the fear on their faces. (Update: after re-read, this must have been the part of the morning that I was licking peoples' faces in an attempt to cheer them up)

The final third beamed of hope. One black woman in her mid-to-late-20s exited the building and crossed through our line. She smiled ear-to-ear as she looked down at the "I'm a Georgia Voter" sticker which she literally was caressing.

The interesting thing about the racial make-up of the thirds was this: looks of demise could really only be seen on faces of the old guard, white people who looked conservative in appearance and who looked like the ones from McCain/Palin rallies.

On the flip-side, hope, relief, and elation could be seen on a mixture of races and ages, likely indicating, too, a mixture of creeds. And since Americans in 2008 ARE this heterogenous group, it is clear which candidate is capable of uniting America.

Today, I was very proud to be among the group that is turning the page on fear and division in favor of hope and optimism, and I burned into my brain the image of the voting machine screen when my fingertip illuminated an "X" next to Barack Obama and Joe Biden for President and Vice President of the United States of America.

Name/Location Change

Please allow me to introduce myself....my name is Humpty....er....Freddy Fourth Street, fka Freddy College Park. With a new residence comes a new identity. I have officially moved to downtown 'nati. City living is quite nice so far except for incompetent construction workers causing "poo-ey" water to flow into a bathroom and hallway and spending a week plus calling Directv to install my satellite dish, which turned out to be too large for my balcony. I was under the impression that advances in technology led to electronics coming in smaller packages. Apparently they wanted to install a Bo Diaz type dish on my balcony. Any time you are in the 'nati, especially at Tina's across the street, don't forget to call or stop by and see old Freddy Fourth Street. (If you listen close enough to the video you can hear me discussing next year's first round draft pick with Nani).
-F4ST out

Vote Antichrist

As part of the Guardian Online coverage of the US election, reporter Ed Pilkington went to a Missouri Ethanol plant to research a story on the differences between Obama and McCains alternate fuel plans. He ended up finding a different story.

Sometimes the most revealing insights strike at the most unexpected moments, jolting you out of the reality you thought you were in and transporting you somewhere else entirely. For instance, when reporting a story on the political differences between Barack Obama and John McCain over ethanol as an alternative fuel, you don't expect to be confronted with details of a plot by the devil to take over the White House.

I had hopped on to the GuardianFilms bus as it made its way across the US. We were joining forces to make a film about the ethanol issue, which has earned Obama the criticism of environmentalists because of his support for the controversial corn-based variety of the fuel that has helped to drive up world food prices.

We stopped at an ethanol plant in Craig, Missouri, where we were greeted by the general manager, Roger Hill, and shown around the plant. He said something odd early on in our tour, responding to the news that I was British by commenting on how Muslims had become dominant in my country. I only half heard his remark, and let it go; we were here to talk about ethanol.

Later though, he brought up the subject again, when I suggested to him that as an ethanol manufacturer he must logically back Obama over McCain, who has openly criticised federal subsidies of the fuel. That's when he invoked Revelations, chapter 13. If you lack instant recall of the contents of Revelations 13, as I have to admit I did, it's the bit in the Bible where the beast rears his ugly head, or rather many heads, and reveals the mark on his right hand or forehead: 666.

Yes, Hill was likening Obama to the devil, with Revelations 13 as the proof. Which gave me pause. I've heard many, many people tell me that Obama is a Muslim, but I'd never quite heard him compared to Satan.

Back at the hotel we looked into it, and were surprised to find that the Obama-as-devil conspiracy theory is rife on the internet. Tap in Obama and Revelations 13 into Google and 904,000 entries come up. This is insidious stuff. And it jumps out at you when you least expect it. Even in an ethanol plant in the Great Plains.

I think what makes this even more sickening is that this isn't just some Hillbilly he's speaking to, the man is in charge of the entire plant........some where along the road his employers have promoted him up the ladder, giving him more and more responsibility, trusting him to make decision on the safety and welfare of his employees.

To see the video accompanying the story follow this link. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/uselectionroadtrip/2008/oct/27/barack-obama-muslim-antichrist

The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 63

Quote:

Palin knows nothing, understands even less, and most depressingly she does not seem interested in learning anything. Even in prepared speeches, when she ostensibly has had the time to read and reflect on what she's going to say, she says the most boneheaded things (is it possible that any educated person in her 40s, in 2008, who's gone to college, or even reads a newsmagazine or a newspaper now and then, would not know the importance of fruit flies in basic genetic research?). What's worse Palin is so self-righteous about her own ignorance.

- Commenter, Aris-Akritas, in response to the (believe it or not) non-ironic article, Sarah Palin's A Brainiac on The Daily Beast.

Yeah, I know, do your best to stifle your laughter at that one.

The article in question was written by someone named Elaine Lafferty, a self-identified "Democrat," and self-proclaimed "feminist."

Her argument is basically this: Critics of Palin don't really know Palin (OK, fair enough), and once you get to know her, you see she's actually got the skills to function as well as anyone with an IQ above 80. And for examples of just how smart she is, look at ........ uh, well........ Well, says Lafferty, just trust me - after all, I'm a Democrat and a feminist, so I wouldn't vouch for Palin's intelligence if it was not true.

That's the argument.

Oh, did I mention that Elaine Lafferty is a paid staff member of .... wait for it ... the John McCain campaign? Yep. She is. Don't suppose that's coloring her view of Sarah Palin at all.

"Are you joking? Is this a joke?"

Joe Biden sat down for an interview with Florida television anchor Barbara West Thursday and wonders how he has suddenly entered the No Spin Zone. You have to admire Biden's demeanor here. At least he laughs it off instead of really saying what was going through his mind. Which I imagine would be something along the lines of, "Does Sean Hannity have his hand up your butt right now?"

<><><><><><><>

Interviewer: "You may recognize this famous quote: "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." That's from Karl Marx. How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?"

Biden: "Are you joking? Is this a joke?"

Interviewer: "No"

Biden: "Is that a real question?"

Interviewer: "That's a real question"

<><><><><><><>

Hal Kant, Grateful Dead attorney, dies at 77

Sadly, for the second time in a week, the TTT reports a Grateful Dead related obituary.

__________________________________________________________________

Harold "Hal" Kant, the Grateful Dead's longtime principal lawyer and corporate general counsel who spent more than three decades helping protect the legendary rock band's lucrative musical legacy, has died. He was 77.

The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 62

Smackdown: McCain v. Palin!

It's happening. Palin may be as dumb as a post when it comes to national public policy, but give her this: she is a shrewd politician. Those skills actually do translate to the national stage.

There was a trickle of stories coming out about her clashing with the McCain campaign and positioning herself to emerge as the new party standard-bearer after the McCain candidacy fails, as it surely will. Those stories are becoming a steady stream. And you can bet post-November 4th, it's going to be a flood. There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing.

My favorite account (so far) comes from a "second anonymous" McCain staffer, who said of Palin:

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

No shit - you think?

Next time, dumbasses, try vetting yout VP pick. You've created a fucking monster who is going to split your party in two.

Quote of the Day

David Kurtz:

Barack Obama is noted for his powerful intellect, but I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for the mental dexterity it takes to be simultaneously an Islamic theocrat, atheistic communist and national socialist while posing as a center left candidate. Those must be the compartmentalization skills they taught him at that Manchurian madrasah in Indonesia.

The fact that Obama embodies the worst nightmares of so many on the political right says far more about them that it does him.

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it's Halloween

stay tuned as I get my photoblog on at park tavern
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"God will be very mad if you tell anyone about our secret (garden)..."

Surrogate blogging for a friend:

anyone want to blog on this: "Sorry about the molesting, here's some flowers" - Catholick Church

By the way, I like the phrase, "blog on." Though unintentional in this instance, I believe I'll start using "get my blog on" a lot more, moving forward.

World Series Tied 1-1...Who do you think will win?

Courtesy of The Smoking Gun

Breakin'

Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off - Watch more free videos

Friday Night Spotlight

This edition of FNS comes in a bit heavy. Today we learned of the passing of one of my all time favorite keyboard players Merl Saunders. Born in San Mateo, California on February 14, 1934; he passed away early this morning (October 24, 2008) at Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco.

(from jambase.com)

Saunders grew up in San Francisco and was a proficient piano player by age 10. He attended Polytechnic High School, Served in the Air Force and Attended University of Mainz in Germany. Saunders married Betty Crenshaw and leaves behind three children (Anthony Saunders, Merl Saunders Jr., Susan Saunders) and a number of grand kids.

Saunders became one of the preeminent Hammond B-3 player of his generation; beginning his long strange trip by apprenticing with the great Jimmy Smith. In 1970 Saunders began playing with Jerry Garcia in the Bay Area under bands called Legion of Mary and then Garcia/Saunders. The duo recorded a number of famous albums including Heavy Turbulence, Fire Up, and Live at the Keystone. Their 1990 collaboration, Blues from the Rainforest, was a Billboard Top 10 in the New Age category.

Saunders contributed to the Grateful Dead album Grateful Dead (1971), and in the mid-1980s worked with the band as musical director for the "Twilight Zone" television show.

He became known as the senior member of the jam band scene having played with Phish, Blues Traveler and Widespread Panic. He was instrumental in allowing young talent to play and record with him, giving first opportunity to the likes of Sheila E, Chris Hayes (Huey Lewis & the News), Bonnie Hayes (Billy Idol) and Bob Steeler (Hot Tuna).

In parallel to his rock career, Saunders worked as a jazz trio player, performing and recording with Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, and Paul Butterfield. He also contributed to the scores of the films "Heavy Traffic" and "Fritz the Cat."

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I got to see him play a few times, but the most memorable was Easter weekend in 1998. He came to Cincinnati and played two nights at the infamous and now defunct Ripley's Alive in Clifton. The room was packed to the rafters and the show was beyond stellar. But what really stood out was Merl. After the show ended he wrapped things up and headed to the back of the bar to just chill. A few of us approached him to thank him for the wonderful two nights and he was as thankful if not more to us for coming. We chatted for a while and then grabbed us a few photos, signed them and bade us good night.
I still have that and will always treasure it.
Thanks a lot, Merl. You will be greatly missed.



I'll also throw in one of my favorite recordings:

Reconstruction from the Keystone in Berkely, CA.
July 8th, 1979

link

Make It Better
Someday Baby
Soul Roach
What You Won't Do For Love
Lyinda
It's No Use
Tellin' My Friends
The Jealous Kind
That's What Love Will Make You Do
Fast Tone
Dear Prudence

Greenspan: “My Bad, Y’all!”

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on the economic crisis: “Yo man, that’s all me. We’ll get ‘em next time.” Don’t worry, bro, it’s cool who needs that $10 trillion anyway. It’s only the economy. But maybe next time you want to experiment on something get a grade school science book.

Byrne Baby Byrne!!!

Got this email from a good friend this morning:

"Last night we rocked out (so hard) to David Byrne at the Allen Theater. Following what was unanimously decided as one of the best shows EVER (and a brief hang at for some drinks), we were on our way home. Fak's phone rang. It was a co-worker of his (he had not been at the show but knew we had) telling us to head to Major Hooples in the Flats (a mere minute from our house). It was a good call... a very good call."

Click HERE to see what it would be like to stand next to David Byrne in a bar in Cleveland.

The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 61

This crap about Sarah Palin saying that she thinks that the role of the Vice President is to be "in charge" (her words) of the U.S. Senate was obviously ludicrous, and deeply disturbing. After all, in July of this year, she asked (rhetorically we all had hoped) if someone could tell her just what it is that the "V.P." does.

Then, two weeks from the election, we find out the ugly truth: that for all her skill in delivering sarcastic zingers and in slash-and-burn politics, she has no idea what is involved in occupying the office for which she is running.

Ugh.

But for all Palin has done to divide the United States into its various tribes (the pro- and anti-America camps [how's that working out for you, Rep. Bachman (R-MN)]), Palin's latest "PDI" (Public Display of Ignorance) produced one bipartisan moment.

Yes, I actually felt sorry for Republican flack, Nancy Pfotenhauer (I pronounce that, "Puff-n-huffer") when she appeared on Hardball last night.

God, it was brutal - BRUTAL. Matthews was right though - defending Palin's remarks is next to impossible. Watch and cringe:

The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 60

Palin: "Who's it all about? Me!"

Interesting chatter about Palin eyeing the 2012 Presidential Race. Keep an eye out for this theme developing. I think it will be more interesting to see whether she can win re-election in Alaska in 2010.

Aaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Pay Attention To Who You Vote For

Sadly, this isn't surprising, but you should be aware that it's happening



If you have any problems voting on or before election day feel free to call 1-866-OUR-VOTE

good ol' days

remember when you didn't care about the economy or politics or your blog?
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This happened in McCain's home state, in Tempe, and also in...

...my Atlanta neighborhood, once to me by some nearby party-goers (who I assume were drunk), and once to one of our neighbors. ::Nani shakes fist while typing one-handed::

The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 59

The self-parody continues.

In this episode, all around "woman-of-the-people" and self-described "hockey mom" is revealed to have been the subject of some rather un-blue collar-like clothing expenditures, the likes of which would make the producers of TLC's What Not To Wear blush:

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

OK, Republicans - keep those lectures about "Real America" coming!

Terrorists for McCain

Al-Qaeda gives its influential endorsement to McCain. No shit.

For those of you keeping score at home, significant endorsements in the last 7 days are as follows:

Obama: Colin Powell
McCain: Al-Qaeda

Quote of the Day

Ezra Klein (again):

Is anyone surprised that in the final weeks of the race, when they're trailing by 5-10 points, the McCain campaign is "reconsidering" their refusal to make an issue of Jeremiah Wright? And why wouldn't they? What could be more mavericky than first adopting a principled refusal to deploy Jeremiah Wright then reversing course and using him as part of a straightforwardly racist effort to close the gap in the final days of the election?

Baby O'Toole

Baby O'Toole arrived on October the 15th. I later asked her what she thought of the first 4 years of her life under a McCain Palin prsidency. She lay back, kicked her feet in the air, screwed up her face and shat herself......Exactly the same responce daddy O'Toole has.

And So It Begins...

Machine Problems Plague 1st Day Of Early Voting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- People lined up to be among the first to vote at several early voting sites around Jacksonville Monday morning had an extra long wait and some left frustrated when machines at several locations refused to record the ballots.

"It was very shocking to have the very first ballot at 10 o'clock this morning not go into the machine," said state Rep. Audrey Gibson, who hoped to be first to vote at the Gateway location.

The Duval County elections office confirmed problems with voting machines at the Gateway Shopping Center and libraries on Edgewood Avenue, at Regency Square and Webb Wesconnett. Channel 4 heard from voters experiencing problems at other polling places, as well.

read on

If the candidates were trains...

Thanks to Cosmic Variance for the lead, originally posted at fark.com

The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 58

Ezra Klein on Palin's SNL performance:

I think it's safe to call it underwhelming. Not that Palin did a bad job, In the 35 seconds she spent on-screen, she did just fine. But the show kept her in a tight box. They let her use the platform to signal that she's a good sport, but not rehabilitate her image. It wasn't like what they did with Hillary Clinton earlier in the year. And that's presumably because Tina Fey and others on the show really loathe Palin -- as Tina Fey has said -- and didn't want to use the program to help her out. Under those circumstances, it would have been better for Palin if she'd avoided the program entirely so she could retain some purity in her attacks on the liberal media. As it is, it looks a bit absurd to be breathing fire against them at rallies and begging them for party invites on weekends.

Quote of the Day

Matthew Yglesias:

If I were a multimillionaire who owned eight houses and thirteen cars, with over $200,000 in annual servant expenditures I, too, would be strongly opposed to spreading the wealth around. But I’m not! So it seems to me that spreading the wealth around might not be such a bad idea. At a minimum, watching a guy stand around in $520 shoes lecturing me about the evils of spreading the wealth around isn’t all that persuasive.

Colin Powell Endorses Obama, Calls Palin Unfit

After seeing TTT headline, Palin reportedly enrolls in a Pilates class.

Campaignin' with the Hot Rod

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Vote Early, Rock Late Part 2

More pics from last night's event

Quote of the Day / The Sarah Palin Files, Pt. 57

Sarah Palin at a North Carolina fund raiser last night, reading her prepared remarks:

"And I, I begged our speechwriters, 'Don’t make me say Joe the Plumber, please, in any speeches.'

"And I was asked, 'Just one time, just at this fundraiser.'"

Right. That conversation happened. The groveling and all. "Oh please! Don't make me pander to the base again! Nooooooo!"

As the young people say, "ROFLMFAO."

The only place that conversation occurred was within the cranium of Palin's speechwriter. And talk about metacognition - just imagine the speechwriter typing out this line of shit about an argument between himself and the speaker of his words (Palin) about how the speech he was then writing should be written?

Can you follow that? It's enough to make the Governor's head spin! Well, that, foreign policy, economics, and a whole lot of other things too, but still. you get the point....

Study Explains Why I Have Such Incredible Expertise in Accurately Judging Others

A new study reveals why I'm so sharp when it comes to labeling others. The report explains:

Rejection can make a person more intuitive. New research suggests individuals who have faced the cold shoulder can more easily spot phony people.

The ability to spot a fabricated smile, exhibited by test subjects who had suffered rejection, could be a relic of our past, the researchers said.

"This seems to be a skill we've acquired through evolution," said researcher Michael Bernstein, a doctoral student in social psychology at Miami University in Ohio. "Living in groups several hundreds of years ago was extremely important to survival. Being kicked out of the group was like death, so they became very good at reading facial expressions and social cues."

However, it appears that Americans of all levels of training have been able to spot these phoney smiles.

Natalie Site Plugs the TTT...

The TTT was given some credit at NataliePortman.com
Big time, Conway!

We've also had a bunch of traffic driven by the exclusive coverage being linked at a Pixies' Breeders forum at NoAloha.com

Vote Early, Rock Late

Well, a good time was had by all tonight in downtown Cincinnati at Fountain Square.
The Breeders came on early banging out their usual bag of hits including Divine Hammer, Cannonball, and a cover of The Beatles Happiness Is A Warm Gun.
They were followed by several speakers who at this point in the election process are pretty much talking to a large group of people who really don't need to be swayed.
Which is dumb, unless the speaker is Natalie Portman. Her speech was short just like her stature, but nobody seemed to mind. She knew that it really didn't matter what she said, but promised to party with us later (still wondering where that's taking place).
Natalie finished her speech by introducing The National who came out and rocked the Square.
It's events like this that make me hope Ohio remains a battleground state long into the future.