Against All Odds 2005

How can I just let you walk away, just let you leave without a trace

When I stand here taking every breath with you, ooh

You’re the only one who really knew me at all


How can you just walk away from me,

When all I can do is watch you leave

Cause we’ve shared the laughter

and the pain

and even shared the tears

You’re the only one who really knew me at all


So take a look at me now, oh there’s just an empty space

And there’s nothing left here to remind me,
Just the memory of your face

Ooh take a look at me now, well there’s just an empty space

And you coming back to me is against all odds and that’s what I’ve got to face


I wish I could just make you turn around,

Turn around and see me cry

There’s so much I need to say to you,
So many reasons why
You’re the only one who really knew me at all


So take a look at me now, well there’s just an empty space

And there’s nothing left here to remind me, just the memory of your face

Now take a look at me now, cause there’s just an empty space

But to wait for you, is all I can do and that’s what I’ve got to face


Take a good look at me now, cause I’ll still be standing here

And you coming back to me is against all odds
It’s the chance I’ve gotta take


Take a look at me now

They Get Letters

From John Byrne at RAW STORY (no, not that John Byrne); the Senate Dems are getting tough on Gannon.

Remember: WWND?

Democratic senators Durbin, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg and Reid issued a letter Friday to President Bush calling for a full and transparent investigation into the discredited White House reporter writing under the pseudonym Jeff Gannon, RAW STORY can reveal.

The letter, which was dispatched to the president early this afternoon, cites possibly security breaches and questions whether Gannon was given special access in the context of three other columnists the Bush administration has been secretly paying.

Backed by Senators Reid, Durbin and Kerry, the letter carries the imprimatur of the Senate Democratic leadership. It does not, however, carry the full weight of the caucus.

"Carnies Built This Country (The Carnival Part Of It Anyway)"

USA Next, the lobbying group for Social Security privatization behind this bizarre anti-AARP ad, is apparently nothing more than a bunch of junk-mail carnies.

It appears that USA Next, the front group for Social Security privatization, was really just a junk mail and spam operation in disguise to benefit Richard Viguerie in the 1990s. It appears that it engaged mostly in scaring up donations from conservative activists before becoming a corporate shell for pharmaceutical industry and energy industry money and lobbying.

- "The United Seniors Association burst onto the political scene full grown from Richard Viguerie's head in 1992 with a piece of "fright mail" headlined "All the Social Security Trust Fund Money Is Gone!" and requesting a donation to support United Senior's efforts to "insure the rights and benefits of America's seniors are protected." It raised millions in its first year of operation, only to plow that money back into Viguerie's direct mail operations, renting mailing lists, paying "letter writers, printers, mailers and other subcontractors, always including Mr. Viguerie himself." Paying for direct mail was literally United Seniors' charitable purpose.

There's plenty more at ThereIsNoCrisis.com.

Because You Demanded It

Patrick Bateman.

"Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite."




There’s this girl that’s been on my mind
All the time, sussudio oh oh
Now she don’t even know my name
But I think she likes me just the same
Sussudio oh oh

Oh if she called me I’d be there
I’d come running anywhere
She’s all I need, all my life
I feel so good if I just say the word
Sussudio, just say the word
Oh sussudio

Now I know that I’m too young
My love has just begun
Sussudio oh oh
Ooh give me a chance, give me a sign
I’ll show her anytime
Sussudio oh oh

Ah, I’ve just got to have her, have her now
I’ve got to get closer but I don’t know how
She makes me nervous and makes me scared
But I feel so good if I just say the word
Sussudio just say the word
Oh sussudio, oh

Ah, she’s all I need all of my life
I feel so good if I just say the word
Sussudio I just say the word
Oh sussudio I just say the word
Oh sussudio I’ll say the word
Sussudio oh oh oh
Just say the word

Release The Hounds!

I want everyone to ask themselves WWND.

Think back about seven years: if Bill Clinton were President, and a gay male prostitute with no journalism training, working for a partisan propaganda machine, had continually been allowed access to the White House Press Room -- WWND?

What Would Newt Do?

Two leaders of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee want the federal prosecutor investigating the Valeria Plame case to subpoena a personal journal of controversial White House reporter James Guckert, following Editor & Publisher's disclosure yesterday that Guckert claims he kept the journal for the past two years.

"It is clear that a primary obstacle to the ... investigation is uncovering a precise chronology of when, and to whom, classified information was leaked," Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), one of those seeking the subpoena, told E&P. "The revelation by Editor & Publisher that Mr. Guckert kept contemporaneous records of his 'reporting' activities could well be a major step forward in developing such a chronology."

In addition, E&P has confirmed an online report that Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) is circulating a letter among his colleagues that asks President Bush to launch an investigation into how Guckert, who writes under the byline “Jeff Gannon,” gained access to White House press briefings over two years despite having no journalism background and using a false name.

Both letters are just the latest in a string of inquiries by congressional leaders, which have included a previous request by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) for documents related to Guckert's continued White House access.

No Town Hall Meeting For You!

Bush, the meeting-Nazi; from Der Spiegel.

During his trip to Germany on Wednesday, the main highlight of George W. Bush's trip was meant to be a "town hall"-style meeting with average Germans. But with the German government unwilling to permit a scripted event with questions approved in advance, the White House has quietly put the event on ice. Was Bush afraid the event might focus on prickly questions about Iraq and Iran rather than the rosy future he's been touting in Europe this week?

The much-touted American-style "town hall" meeting the White House has been planning with "normal Germans" of everyday walks of life will be missing during his visit to the Rhine River hamlet of Mainz this afternoon. A few weeks ago, the Bush administration had declared that the chat -- which could have brought together tradesmen, butchers, bank employees, students and all other types to discuss trans-Atlantic relations -- would be the cornerstone of President George W. Bush's brief trip to Germany.

...

But on Wednesday, that town hall meeting will be nowhere on the agenda -- it's been cancelled. Neither the White House nor the German Foreign Ministry has offered any official explanation, but Foreign Ministry sources say the town hall meeting has been nixed for scheduling reasons -- a typical development for a visit like this with many ideas but very little time. That, at least, is the diplomats' line. Behind the scenes, there appears to be another explanation: the White House got cold feet. Bush's strategists felt an uncontrolled encounter with the German public would be too unpredictable.

Brilliant

I see no possible way in which this could go catastrophically wrong.

Intent on securing the vulnerable Arizona border from illegal immigrant crossings, U.S. officials are bracing for what they call a potential new threat this spring: the Minutemen. Nearly 500 volunteers have already joined the Minuteman Project, anointing themselves civilian border patrol agents determined to stop the immigration flow that routinely, and easily, seeps past federal authorities.

They plan to patrol a 40-mile stretch of the southeast Arizona border throughout April when the tide of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border peaks.

"I felt the only way to get something done was to do it yourself," said Jim Gilchrist, a retired accountant and decorated Vietnam War veteran who is helping recruit Minutemen across the country.


"Look Ma, I'ma catch me an Al Qaeda!"

RIP Raoul Duke

I bet he's blowing shit up in heaven as we speak.

Hunter S. Thompson, whose life and writing, vivid and quirky reflections of each other, made him one of the principal symbols of the American counterculture, shot and killed himself yesterday at his home near Aspen.

Thompson, 67, was celebrated as a practitioner of an outraged form of personal journalism, offering off-beat ideas and observations in a style that was wildly and vividly his own and that brought him cult-like status and widespread recognition.

...

Jonathan Yardley, writing last year in The Washington Post, called him "a genuinely unique figure in American journalism," citing his comic writing and social criticism.

Thompson, often seen wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap and with a cigarette dangling from his lips, showed up frequently as Uncle Duke in "Doonesbury," the Garry Trudeau comic strip.

Part of what created his image of outlaw independence and defiance of norms and conventions was his claim to intimate familiarity with a variety of drugs and mind altering chemicals.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone . . . but they've always worked for me," he once wrote.

And just for the record:

Why exactly did you try to deliver an elk's heart to Jack Nicholson's house?

I thought it would be fun and it's in the spirit of our relationship. A little humor. I don't know, it just came to me tonight. I had a few bombs, you know. We do that pretty frequently, exchange bizarre presents. I couldn't have foreseen the horrible circumstances around it. He had just gotten in from LA. I didn't know it, but he had a stalker. I saw him the afternoon he got in. I said I'd see him later. I figured, shit, I have some presents for the kids. I was supposed to get there a little earlier. I feel a little queasy looking back on the night. Of course it was all in good humor. It went wrong in so many weird ways. I went out there and sort of did my thing and left, feeling rejected sort of. Bear in mind I was pretty much wanked up, in the mood I frequently get in with Jack. He's pretty fast. He's one of the natural aristocrats of our time.

For The Love Of Christ

I'm finally better.

What an awful week. Anyway, updates to follow.