December 22, 2013

I'm wondering why they did it in such a terribly dumb way.

This is a primer on how NOT to carjack: too many accomplices, too many getaway cars, too many victims (one female is considered ideal precisely because she's less likely to fight back); a too-convoluted getaway route. And given that the mall was probably more populated than usual last Sunday night due to the start of Christmas shopping season, it adds up to too many opportunities to be witnessed. Which is why it doesn't add up.


rocktivity

November 25, 2013

And now for a Thanksgiving carol

an Old Thanksgiving tradition


And a new one!



rocktivity

October 26, 2013

RE #5: THE SHOW WAS REVAMPED AS A SUCCESSOR TO THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW

Something else happened in 1994: at CBS, Dave Letterman had successfully settled into direct competition against Jay Leno and Arsenio. No longer the perfect Letterman lead-in, Arsenio had to know he was doomed: he didn't get cancelled so much as got early retirement.




rocktivity

October 19, 2013

And we would be remiss in not mentioning his opening act

which had as much to do with starting the Bush regime backlash as anything.

Despite this being available for free, more than a million purchased a copy on iTunes!


And here's another oldie but goodie:




rocktivity

October 17, 2013

Also known as Cruz-Christie Syndrome

Posted and self-deleted by another DU-er, but an important addition to my Rethug Psycho collection:

A personality disorder of excessive power strivings

None of the existing formal diagnostic categories in psychiatry today addresses adequately the issues of excessive power-seeking, corruption and destructiveness. Excessive power strivings both poison the personality of the individual who is obsessed in his spirit and mind with power and do unacceptable harm to other peoples' lives.

The present proposal of a diagnostic category of a Personality Disorder of Excessive Power Strivings is intended to fit into current diagnostic schema of DSM as well as into an earlier proposal to examine in all psychopathology not only the burdens and damage people do and impose on their own selves and their own functioning, but also the harm they do to other peoples' lives and functioning.

The diagnosis is to be used when the individual displays prolonged and severe manifestations of the following listed criteria.

The basic feature which is always present in this personality disorder is:
Intense and extensive power strivings.

In addition, at least three other of the following characteristics should be present:

1. Lack of empathy for people, and indifference to the suffering of others;


2. "Street smart" alertness and remarkable cunning committed to seizing and expanding power;


3. Ruthlessness in cultivation of power;


4. Scapegoating and projection of blame on to targeted individuals or a group, an insistent need to identify certain others as lowly, worthless and intended victims;


5. Corruption by power and addiction to power;


6. Demands of other people to be dependent on one's powerful personality, or that they become one's obedient followers;


7. Emphasis on symbolisms of pure vs. impure, holy vs. infidel, chosen vs. condemned;


8. A basic disrespect for the lives of others evidenced in callous or indifferent exposure of others to undue risks;


9. An absence of conscience in contexts of self-interest and opportunity;


10. A homicide/suicide orientation.

See also: Bush-Delay Syndrome (Narcissistic Peronality Disorder); Sarah Palin Syndrome (Histrionic Personality Disorder).


rocktivity

September 16, 2013

In loving memory of Tico Torres' Appendix (1953 - 2013)

On October 7, 2013, Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres will turn sixty years old. But he received his birthday present a month earlier -- from his appendix.

On September 10, 2013, the band was preparing to leave their hotel for the Mexico City venue where they would be playing a sold-out show. But Tico began experiencing severe abdominal pains, and they ended up rushing him to a hospital instead.

Two days later, frontman Jon Bon Jovi announced: "...Thankfully, the operation was a success and Tico is now recovering...We'd like to thank the doctors, nurses and all the hospital staff who helped...Tico sends his thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers...He even promised the doctors he would come back for the surgery right after the show..."

Well, Jon, his bandmates, and their fans owe Tico's appendix a lot of thanks, too.

That is, suppose it had decided to hang in for just a few hours more and detonate while Tico was drumming away at the sound check -- or worse, the gig itself. With his heartbeat and body temperature elevated, the attack could very easily have resulted in his appendix bursting. Would he have been correctly diagnosed and transported to the hospital in time? Were only a couple of hours the difference between the world's Bon Jovi fans sending their thoughts and prayers and their sending their condolences?

Of course, Tico is such a good drummer that it's only logical that his appendix would have natural rhythm, too. Or maybe it loved Tico so much, it just couldn't bring itself to destroy them both. Whatever the reason, I am very thankful that Tico is alive and well to perform another day -- and I will be eternally grateful to the body part that sacrificed itself to make his survival possible.

rocktivity

September 12, 2013

The 2013 9/11 Day Memorial Film Festival

Introductory remarks byJon Stewart.




An opening short subject by fellow DUer Symbolman:




And the feature presentation:





rocktivity

September 10, 2013

How much "genius" did Obama need to notice that Syria was a political doomsday plan

in every sense of the word? He knew that his supporters would abandon him, that his detractors would call him either a hypocrite because he criticized Bush for doing the same thing, or an incompetent because he could never wage war as "well" as Bush (or ANY Republican).

So he takes an official pro-war stand, sparking a backlash from "the will of the American people," and from which the Russian government conveniently relieves him. Anything that goes wrong is now on Putin's head, which robs the Rethugs of their critical leverage.

The "Rope-A-Dope Kid" has TKO'd us yet again.


rocktivity

June 3, 2013

Variations on a theme

"It is the beating down of everything 'white' and the promotion and glorification of everything 'black' that makes people angry..."

"Like it or not, most people view B/W marriages with some degree of distaste..."

"This Cheerios ad is yet another attempt to elevate the black man to the point of suggesting to white women that white guys are not what you want..."

"A color-blind society? No way as long as we have Black privilege in America."

"It's a dead-end proposition for whites...There is no benefit whatsoever for a white to breed with a black..."

"When...diversity and tolerance...along with all things progressive, are on the ash heap of history, America will be America once again."

TRANSLATION: "The child in that commercial is a living monument to the white man's fear of the black man's sexual conquest of the white woman."


rocktivity

May 17, 2013

Yes -- and from the Currant, GOOD satire for the very first time

The Onion and Andy Borowitz are the leaders, of course. The Currant's not in their league because they rely too much on cheap shots (Anthony Weiner: ‘I Have A Hard-On’ For New York City) and just plain making stuff up (North Carolina Proposes Ban on Condoms). This article works because it spins a spoonful of inconvenient truth into a three-tiered cake with frosting. Most encouraging!


rocktivity