Archive - Dec 2010

AFP - At least seven people died and 24 were injured early Saturday in a New Year's Day car bomb attack on a church in Alexandria, hitting Egypt's Christian community, the biggest in the Middle East.

AP - EJ Manuel threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to stop a South Carolina rally and lead Florida State to a 26-17 victory over the turnover-plagued Gamecocks in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Friday night.

Let the countdown on the East Coast begin.

Five, four, three, two ...

Let the countdown in the Midwest begin.

Five, four, three, two ...

Honor the WikiLeakers

When it comes to journalistic achievements in 2010, the elephant in the room is WikiLeaks. I've seen many put-downs of the materials as containing "no smoking guns", or as being essentially trivial communications to the State Department from U.S. diplomats and kindred government agents around the world.

Now, it's true that the cables were le ...

Updated: Fri Dec 31, 2010

The Muppets — Auld Lang Swine/For She’s A Jolly Good Porker, from episode 502 of The Muppet Show.

Hippo Gnu Year everyone!  What’s on your mind?

Dear News Hounds,

Although I enter 2011 with more trepidation than optimism, I still have hope that peace, a living wage, universal health care and good stewardship of the earth can be ours - if not in the coming year then in years to come.

What are your thoughts and hopes for 2011?

Tweet

Kevin Carson on the hero Bradley Manning

AP - A U.S. missile strike on a moving vehicle killed at least six people near the Afghan border Saturday, two Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Happy New Year and Welcome to Diary Rescue. Tonight's Rangers are Louisiana 1976, got a grip, claude, jlms qkw, Purple Priestess, and dadanation, with sunspark says hanging out in front of a computer deep into the evening to handle the editing.

Yes, it's December 31st and this bear of a year is finally over. Feel free in the Open Thread to look back on your favorite and least favorite memories of 2010. Me? I am going to remember this year forever as the year that Christine O'Donnell, Sharon Angle, John Boehner, Sarah Palin, and others drove the stake into the heart of what used to be America. The Mediterranean is looking awfully good for retirement...if I can ever get out from under this mountain of debt...

Anyway, if there is anyone out there not completely inebriated (why the heck not?) and not out celebrating the New Year somewhere, enjoy today's rescues with the rest of us shut-ins! Hey, someone has to have no life at all, and it might as well be us!

In the Historical New Years category:

HiddenHistories explains how we've come to turn the page from one year to the next in Happy Babylonian New Years! (Got a Grip)

With much detail, KAMuston shares the history of champagne in TINY BUBBLES. (Louisiana 1976)

In the Definition of Insanity category:

Translator has a New Year's Eve parable as he considers what might happen on a Desert Island with Stossel, Carlson, and Hannity 20101230. (Purple Priestess)

First-time diarist Aidan Sprague Rice has Some Comments on Deroy Murdock's Defense of the Top 10%. (Purple Priestess)

In the Same Auld Lang Syne category:

D Wreck tells us how Barbour endangers Jamie Scott with release from prison. (Louisiana 1976)

xaxnar continues his brilliant more-than-review of Matt Taibbi's new book in Welcome to Griftopia, Part 2 - The Biggest A**hole in the Universe. (sunspark says)

In the 新年快乐 category:

RLMiller wonders aloud whose purpose is being served by the continued rape of the environment in pursuit of one of the dirtiest forms of energy in Selling coal to China, or strategic coal reserve? (Got a Grip)

FishOutofWater reports on the control China is exerting on the world's production of essential minerals in eKos: Greenpower, Tech & Comm Hit by China REE Export Cuts. (jlms qkw)

In the A Little New Year's Truth category:

wiseacre, who grew up in Franco's Spain, gives us a lesson in Fascism 101 (Not Just Another Tea Party Rant). (Louisiana 1976)

And finally, in the New Year's Pooties category:

michelewin addresses a monologue to her cats, Pixie and Merlin, about things both Old and New. (sunspark says)

jotter bring us today's High Impact Diaries: December 30, 2010 and gizmo59 has Top Comments (12-31-2010) - My Republican Friend Discovers White Priviledge(sic).
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Just a few more words about 2010:

It's...Finally...OVER!!!!!!

Don't hesitate even for a microsecond to promote your favorite diaries (even your own) in the Open Thread. That's what Open Threads are for. (At least this one.) And have a very Happy New Year! (Go Northwestern!)

Happy New Year to everyone from all of us at Crooks and Liars! It's an open thread AND a New Year's Eve party.

What are you doing tonight, hoping for this year, resolving for the next few? Welcome and a toast to our readers and commenters! Cheers!

So it’s that time of year, at long last — the time when bloggers run out of ideas and resort to making lists we reflect thoughtfully on the past year and make resolutions to improve ourselves in the next one.

2010 was a particularly rough year for progressives, and so a few well-considered principles for dealing with the challenges that lie ahead should prove to be especially useful.  Here’s a start on my list:

1.  I will not throw things at the TV/computer* when a White House official/congressperson/corporate media talking head tells me there’s nothing more that the government can do to create jobs.  (*Note: This includes not throwing the computer itself, if it is a laptop.)

2.  I will not throw things at the TV/computer when President Obama or a surrogate informs me that the latest Trojan-horse proposal by Republicans to destroy a progressive goal/program is a “useful starting point” for “compromise” on the issue.

3.  I will not throw things at the TV/computer when some talking head argues that the latest piece of blatant judicial invention from the corporatist Supreme Court majority is in fact the logical result of their strict adherence to the Constitution’s intent.

4.  I will not throw things at the TV/computer when a GOP presidential contender is described as “capturing the imagination of the American people” because the utterly batshit insane portion of the conservative base has to be treated like the true heart of America in a way that progressives can never dream of.

5.  I will not throw things at the TV/computer when… wait, this is all sounding awfully repetitive and downbeat, isn’t it?

Maybe instead of making resolutions to restrain myself, I should turn this into a year-long drinking game instead — you know, drink a shot when any of the above things happens.  It would be more fun.

Then again, alcohol poisoning would be a pretty awful way to die.

Happy new year (if you can bear to think about it)!

Happy New Year from The Music Club! This song's videos, both the Rube Goldberg and Marching Band variations, far outshadow the song itself.

But if you listen to the words as shown in this fanvid, it's the perfect New Year's Eve number for a difficult year.

Our sister site Newstalgia has for its New Year's Eve concert, Aretha Franklin, Live in Stockholm, 1968.

What are you listening to this New Year's Eve?

Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky
	Artist: OK Go Price: $14.42 (As of 12/31/10 01:45 pm details)

While we may look back at the November elections and cry, at least we can still look back at some of the political ads from 2010 and laugh.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Share your favorite ads (or YouTube moments) from the land of Lunacy.

AP - New Pittsburgh coach Mike Haywood was jailed Friday on a domestic violence charge after an incident at his South Bend home.