Dutch band Shocking Blue's recording of their song Love Buzz, which was later covered by Nirvana for their first single. Awful yet intriguing. I kindof like it:

Quick Quiz! Cursed-to-live-in-interesting-times edition: is it The Onion, or The Washington Post?

The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation.

The Cabinet-level position, to be known as Secretary of the Nation, was established by an executive order Sept. 2, but has remained unfilled in the intervening weeks.

At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, sources said, underscoring the administration's difficulty in enlisting its top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military.

Among the new secretary's duties are preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution of the United States, commanding the U.S. armed forces, appointing judges and ambassadors, and vetoing congressional legislation. The secretary will also be tasked with overseeing all foreign and domestic affairs, including those relating to the economy, natural disasters, national infrastructure, homeland security, poverty, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To fill such a role, the White House is searching for someone with enough stature and confidence to deal directly with heavyweight administration figures such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

Bush said the creation of the post directly addresses the increasingly complex and sometimes overwhelming challenges facing the executive branch in the 21st century. Although he acknowledged that the tasks facing the new appointee will be extraordinary, Bush ended his announcement on a positive note.

"As your president, it is my duty to see this nation through any crisis, no matter how severe. And as your president, I pledge to you that I will find a man capable of doing just that," Bush said. "I will not—I repeat, I will not—let you down."

and the answer is...Both!
Onion, 2005
WaPo, 2007

"YOU'RE STUPID! AND YOU"RE GONNA TO BE STUPID AND DEAD!"

- I strongly suggest you check out this classic 1996 comic based on the video game DOOM.

(my front yard)

Convited Ex-CIA and Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt, admits role in JFK assassination.

A retired Fireman-hazmat-arson investigator told me today about the Fire Department's "Blue Canary Test" where they determine the safe distance to be from a chemical spill by setting up a perimeter at 1200 feet and then watching cops run straight past their perimeter to investigate the spill up-close. The distance from the spill where the cops pass out from the fumes creates a blue circle that you know you shouldn't enter without suiting up into your full biohazzard suit.

He also mentioned the time that he had to repeatedly intervene to stop fellow fireman and cops from walking up to a spill of hydrochloric acid that was eating through the asphalt, sticking their bare finger into it, and tasting it.

Superboy stars in Subtext? What subtext?

Swarm! Swarm!



Oh, nevermind. It's just the vice-president.

Friday Cat Blogging, now daily

List of American Cities ranked by Liberal-ness.

Kansas City is more liberal than Sunnyvale, while Detriot is #1, and Provo, Utah is #237.