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(Coleman Hawkins - never duplicated . . but God knows, they've tried)

As long as we're in a Saxophone state of mind tonight, I thought I would end up this week a little like the way we did last week with some classic Jazz. This time from Coleman Hawkins, and a session he did with the Cozy Cole All Stars for Keynote Records from February 22, 1944 - Thru For The Night.

Says it all.

Lawyers, Guns, & Money: Poor FOX, for them being ignored is the same as being muzzled.

William K. Wolfrum: Wow, come to think of it, Fox Business Network isn't much of a business network.

Oh No They Didn't: Sesame Street Disavows American Apparel. No, really.

Joe My God: Whoops, male McCain voters lost more than an election last November, if ya know what I mean.

Jack & Jill Politics doesn't sugarcoat it about Cheney, and here's some motivational speaker advice for Dubya.

I found this in the comments over at Corrente and wanted to share it:

Insurance companies reserve the right to make changes to their formularies at any time, but are supposed to notify you and allow you one month's supply of your current drug in order to give your medical provider the opportunity to "pre-authorize" your access to said drug. Your doctor cannot simply write a letter saying "I'm the doctor by god, and I want the patient to have this drug". No, he must provide evidence that he has "stepped" you. Stepped means that he/she has tried you on "approved" A, B and C drugs to little or bad results first.

Now, A and C may no longer be on the formulary, so they don't count, so he/she has to find out what approved drugs are on the formulary so that he/she can say that they have been tried and if that is true, or he/she will say it is true, then it will go to the Pre-Authorization department.

If the PA department can't sort it, say because your diagnosis does not fit neatly into what the insurance company says the drug can be used for, albeit that it works for what ails you, the application goes to the in-house pharmacist. The in-house pharmacist (average salary $90,000 per annum) will make the final decision based on following company guidelines and keeping his/her job. If the decision is that you get the drug, then said drug will be approved for you as "off formulary", moved to class 3 and if your co-pay was $25.00, it will now be $60.00 or more.

If the drug is not approved, then you will be properly stepped with the ineffective, approved drugs before your pre-authorization can be reconsidered. After you have been stepped, the drug will still be off formulary and the co-pay will still be increased. It sucks and I am so sorry.

Signed Anguished in the PA Department - United Health Insurance Inc

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h/t Scarce

Oh this is just lovely. From hekebolos at Daily KOS.

So, the story isn't news--go read the diary for the full account--but I'll recap it:

an incident broke out at a town hall at Simpson University in Redding [Northern California] on Tuesday when Herger signaled encouragement to a 67-year-old town hall attendee, Bert Stead, who called himself a "proud right-wing terrorist."

"Amen, God bless you," Herger reportedly replied to the comment. "There is a great American."

BAGnewsNotes: I guess all those dittoheads - oops, I mean citizens - not delivering "high-decibel rants" must be "more reasoned voices."

The Rude Pundit: A few random observations regarding the newest torture report

Bats Left/Throws Right: Thank God our long national nightmare of a wildly successful government program that accomplishes something is over.

Jeff Hoard: A Canadian goes back through the archives and brings together 101 of Fox News's worst moments.

Amygdala: Calley: Wrong, but right

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Private Buffoon, Pulp Friction, UncommonSense, POUR

Tweety really let "Americans for Prosperity" President Tim Phillips have it on Hardball last night. Boy, he's really got a bug up his butt about health-care reform and he just won't let go:

MATTHEWS: "How do we get around the problem that there's so many people out there, and this is why we're having this debate, sir ... the question that's bothered the American people since, what? since Teddy Roosevelt's time, is some people have health insurance and some don't. How do we reconcile that with our sense in this country of looking out for each other, to some extent, to some extent."

"Here's my problem with you guys. The conservatives talk reasonably when the Democrats get in power and say 'well, we've got an alternative that's more free-market, it's less onerous, it's less big-shot, big-government stuff...' but when you guys are in power, you don't do anything on health care. And that's what happens, and that's why for, god, almost a century of foot-dragging on this, the Democrats get in power, whether it's Truman or it's Bill Clinton, or it's Hillary Clinton, or it's Barack Obama, they try something and it fails, because you guys are good at playing negative politics. You're really good at destroying Democrats plans, chances for reform..."

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(The Smoke - Banned at the starting gate)

I doubt The Smoke are a band anyone on this side of the Atlantic has ever heard of, unless you are a die hard collector of psychedelia or knew someone who actually was familiar with this band at the time.

The Smoke was a short-lived outfit famous (or infamous) for their very first hit single "My Friend Jack" - an innocent sounding title, but the rest of the line goes " . . eats sugar lumps". Sugar lumps being something of a code word for the thing LSD was laced with. Right off the bat, it was banned from any airplay in England. So naturally, when anything is banned it races up the charts just on sheer rumor alone. There have been several bands with the name The Smoke, including one that did get released in the States on Tower, but they have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

Sadly though, The Smoke were a one hit wonder. And after several tries, of which this particular single "Have Some More Tea" was one, they gave up and went their separate ways. But not before recording an albums worth of material and making an indelible impression on any record collector who came their way. In later years, "My Friend Jack" has become something of an underground classic, being covered by Boney M (which has a connection to The Smoke) and Wondermints. I actually never heard this band the first time around, but discovered them on the recommendation of a guy named Yves who ran Vinyl Solution in London in 1979.

It's all his fault - thank God.

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(The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - all good clean fun . . .sort of)

Okay, this is a slight cheat tonight. The album this cut comes from has been reissued (thank God) by at least one label, but I forgot about that as I was playing the lp and remembering how great they were when I saw them live a couple of lifetimes ago.

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (or WCPAEB . .but even that was a mouthful when you were stoned) were something of a phenomenon as far as West Coast psychedelia were concerned. They looked like your quintessential surf band, only on acid. And even though on the surface they could sound pretty tuneful and innocent, they were insane - but in a good sense. There was a lot behind the band rather than the effect and the fuzz.

This track "Smell of Incense" is a classic and it's off their second album for Warner/Reprise issued in 1968. They would go on to do a few more albums, with personnel and label changes, but would never achieve household name status.

Thanks to reissues they've gotten an audience who had never heard of them before and a newfound appreciation of people who missed them the first time around.

Further evidence good music is timeless.

No More Mister Nice Blog: South Carolina has a dishonest hypocrite for a Governor because of liberalism

Roger (the good one) Ailes: Another randy Republican having trouble keeping his pants on

Calculated Risk: How bad is the recession? Check new home sales

Liberal Values: God and Science

mandroppings: Fox News has won a court ruling that holds that broadcasters have a 1st Amendment right to deliberately distort news or outright lie on the air.

Coal Tattoo: Blockbuster studies describe Mountain Top Removal impacts 

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There are many people who are full-on crackpots who try to hide who they are behind religion. I don't want to hear anything more ever said about morals or values coming from them.

Colmes: ...you then said, I asked for whom else are you praying in that fashion and you said President Obama. Are you praying for his death?

Drake: Yes.

Colmes: So you're praying for the death of the president of the United States?

Drake: Yes. Are you concerned that by saying that you might find yourself on some secret service call or FBI most wanted list. Do you think it's appropriate to say something like that or even pray for something like that?

Drake: I think it's appropriate to pray for the will of God. I'm not saying anything, what I'm doing is repeating what God is saying, if that puts me on somebodies list then I'll just have to be on their list.

Colmes: You would like for the president of the United States to die?

Drake: If he does not turn to God and does not turn his life around I am asking God to enforce in imprecatory prayers throughout the scripture that would cause him death, that's correct.

Oh, it's God that's saying it, OK, I feel better now. What a freak. He also was a running mate with inmate Alan Keyes and said this about Dr. Tiller:

A former Southern Baptist Convention officer who on June 2 called the death of abortion provider George Tiller an answer to prayer said later in the day he is also praying "imprecatory prayer" against President Obama.

Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., and former running mate of American Independent Party presidential candidate Alan Keyes, said June 2 on Fox News Radio he didn't understand why people were upset with his comments quoted by Associated Baptist Press from a webcast of his daily radio talk show.

Drake said he didn't pray for Tiller to be murdered -- only that God would take his life by some method -- but that he "absolutely" believed that God wanted the doctor dead.

Here's what it says on his homepage:

Join us on the "Wiley Drake in Buena Park" show Monday thru Thursday at 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. California time. www.crusaderadio.com

The theme of the show is Do Justice, Love Mercy, and Walk with God. This theme is based on Micah 6:8 and Matthew 23:23.

In his case I guess mercy means that he hopes President Obama dies...
You can see what he looks like in this clip.

Pastor Wiley Drake in action at the Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting on March 10, 2009 as he attacks Planned Parenthood and Obama.

He's also a birther and calls President Obama an illegal alien.

(Please donate to C&L's 2009 fundraiser if you can. We need your support.)

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Good God. This looks like the latest episode in what is looking like the spate of right-wing violence we've been predicting:

WASHINGTON - At least two people were shot at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington on Wednesday, authorities say.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes said a person walked into the museum with a rifle and shot a guard. Hughes says the shooter was also shot.

Hughes says the victims' conditions were not known. Both were being rushed to a hospital.

I was just in the Holocaust Museum on Friday. It is a sacred and hallowed place, and this man was clearly out to defile it. More details as they arrive.

UPDATE: MSNBC's Pete Williams is reporting that the suspect was an elderly man who belonged to white-supremacist organizations. More details shortly.

UPDATE2: Here are the details so far from Williams:

The suspect, who was not identified, was reportedly a man, born in 1920, who had possible connections to hate groups or anti-government groups.

(Please donate to C&L's 2009 fundraiser if you can. We need your support.)

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April 21, 2009 C-SPAN

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Rush Limbaugh joined Great Van Susteren last night and spent about 15 minutes bashing President Obama for everything from shaking Hugo Chavez' hand to thinking he's a GOD-like man, who has a messianic complex---who hates America which was immoral until he took office, but still he wants to destroy.

This was a particularly painful segment to watch so I just picked a few minutes out of the many distortions and smears that I could stomach. This man can spew garbage at record levels and he surely holds a place in the Guinness World Book of Records for the trash he can deliver.

Limbaugh: I think we're looking at a person with a God or messianic complex, certainly narcissistic, who looks at these trips, not just to Central America and the G20 in Europe. Looks at all these trips as making it about "him." The US is an immoral and unjust until "he" was elected...and President Obama wants to tear apart the foundation that built this country into the greatest country in the world, American exceptionalism and make it in an image that is closer to something that would be approved of by Daniel Ortega and people like Hugo Chavez.

Without comment....

December 08, 2008 ABC Nightline

Part 1

Part 2