Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

[Darth Ed]

It's official, I'm voting for Jack Black for Governor.

That's awesome! Thanks for the link.

[vansmack]

Let this be a warning to you:  do not fuck with me during my "Total Eclipse of the Heart" rendition.

Karaoke Rage Claims Another

[vansmack]

The Beta has gone public so I guess I can share it now:

http://beta.sling.com/

Kind of like Hulu, combined with a Slingplayer.

[vansmack]

Ahh, the winter meetings.

This deal makes sense for one team and one team only.  The Mets.

K-rod to the Mets for 3-years, $37Million

He brings back end and more importantly, confidence to a team that desperately needs it.

As for the Angels, I like letting him go.  I want Teixiera so badly it hurts.

[vansmack]

I was going to head home an hour ago to start my weekend, but I got caught up reading Michael Lewis' essay on Portfolio:
 
 The end of Wall Street's Boom
 
 It'll take about an hour, and I'd wait until Friday lest yee ruin your Thanksgiving, but it's incredible.  I had to shut my door so people weren't bothered by me openly exclaiming "Holy Shit!"

Since I'm sure you all took the time to read that brilliant article above, I thought I'd share a little more.  I'm helping a friend write some articles for the lay person about the bailout and the crisis and I stumbled on these brilliant videos from MarketPlace explaining some of the how and the why using very simple examples.  Enjoy.

Crisis Explained (or what exactly is a CDO

Why "Fallout" for the Financial Crisis

Untangling Credit Default Swaps

Leveraging and Deleveraging

How Credit Cards become Asset-Backed Securities

Getting Naked in Short Selling

Margin Calls and the Financial Markets Decline

Over the Counter, over the top

[Venerable Bede]

Since I'm sure you all took the time to read that brilliant article above, I thought I'd share a little more.  I'm helping a friend write some articles for the lay person about the bailout and the crisis and I stumbled on these brilliant videos from MarketPlace explaining some of the how and the why using very simple examples.  Enjoy.

should i be prepared to be appalled by the article?

[vansmack]

should i be prepared to be appalled by the article?

I think everybody should be appalled by the conduct they read about in the article.

[Venerable Bede]

should i be prepared to be appalled by the article?

I think everybody should be appalled by the conduct they read about in the article.

i'm more appalled by the government reaction, predictably. . .and will be even moreso if the auto bailout gets passed, especially without language on labor.

[vansmack]

i'm more appalled by the government reaction

I'm so bored of this. 

Mods, can we extend the length of the signature line so Venerable can just put that in his signature instead of typing it every other post.  We'd only have to keep it that long for 20 years when the Libertarians (READ: Republicans who are to embarrassed to admit their own social policy shortcomings) produce a viable candidate.

[godsshoeshine]

my uncle recently became really into libertarianism

he's now really appalled by everything

of course he also justified not voting for kerry by using a hunter s thompson quote

[Venerable Bede]

Ahh, the winter meetings.

This deal makes sense for one team and one team only.  The Mets.

K-rod to the Mets for 3-years, $37Million

He brings back end and more importantly, confidence to a team that desperately needs it.

apparently he also got a vested 4th year option for $14 million. . .insane.

[vansmack]

apparently he also got a vested 4th year option for $14 million. . .insane.

Really?  You'd think the Mets would have learned from their cross-town rivals after the Mo deal.

[sweetcell]

smax, have you read RS's "The New Trough"?  gawd i hope those are simply the rantings of a left-wing bush-hater - because if what he writes is actually true, uh, i wouldn't even know where to begin.  orwell couldn't have written something more sinister.  impeachment wouldn't even start to cover it... i say lynch 'em all.

and how hard is it to read that link i have above?!?  can we PLEASE change the stylesheet to have links in a lighter color?!?  please?!?

[Jaguar]

smax, have you read RS's "The New Trough"?  gawd i hope those are simply the rantings of a left-wing bush-hater - because if what he writes is actually true, uh, i wouldn't even know where to begin.  orwell couldn't have written something more sinister.  impeachment wouldn't even start to cover it... i say lynch 'em all.

and how hard is it to read that link i have above?!?  can we PLEASE change the stylesheet to have links in a lighter color?!?  please?!?

Agreed. Something like this (The New Trough) or this (The New Trough) makes it so much easier to read. I'm constantly having to tilt my laptop in order to read the links, names and titles. The current color is just not at all user friendly.



Regarding the article, that's exactly why I absolutely refused to vote for either Barry (Obama) or McCrook.  Both are completely owned and controlled by the war-mongering banksters. Same thieving eungenists who own and control the Bushwackers and Clinton mobster crime families. For me, it's not a right or a left thing. It's more like get me out of this mind-fuck of an illussion!!! Welcome to the Nu-Fascism! I'll stop now... or I won't. I applaud Rolling Stone for having the guts to publish this.

[Venerable Bede]

As if getting 13 No Doubt songs last week wasn't enough......


PEARL JAM SIGNS WITH MTV GAMES AND HARMONIX TO BRING BAND?S DEBUT ALBUM, TEN, TO ROCK BAND

Full Album to be Released as Rock Band DLC Day and Date with the Re-issue of ?Ten?:

Four Special Edition Packages in Stores on March 24, 2009

NEW YORK, NY ? December 15, 2008 ? Harmonix, the world?s premier music video game development company, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom?s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), today confirmed that Ten, the debut album that sold 12 million copies and introduced the world to Pearl Jam (http://www.pearljam.com) in 1991, will be offered for download in the Rock Band Music Store day-and-date with the re-issue of the album in stores on March 24, 2009.


Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President of Electronic Games and Music for MTV Networks Music / Logo Group, added, ?Just hearing the first few notes of Jeremy or Alive brings back all the raw emotion of this incredible, hugely important album. We are honored to be working with Pearl Jam to deliver Ten as it is re-issued.?



In addition to the track ?Alive? that is already available on the Rock Band 2 game disc, the Pearl Jam Ten download pack will include the additional 10 songs from the album:



1. Once
2. Even Flow
3. Why Go
4. Black
5. Jeremy
6. Oceans
7. Porch
8. Garden
9. Deep
10. Release

Pearl Jam released Ten on August 27, 1991. The album reached #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, sold over 12 million copies and became one of the cultural touchstones of the 1990s. Songs such as ?Alive,? ?Black,? ?Even Flow? and Jeremy became staples of rock radio, and still make frequent appearances on the band?s ever-changing concert setlists. The album was produced by Rick Parasher. Pearl Jam?s 1991 lineup was Jeff Ament (bass), Stone Gossard (guitar), Dave Krusen (drums), Mike McCready (guitar) and Eddie Vedder (vocals).

Rock Band 2 features the largest music catalogue of any music-based videogame to date including over 100 songs[1] on the Rock Band 2 soundtrack with an unrivaled blend of classic and new artists including AC/DC, Guns ?N Roses, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Motorhead and more! The Rock Band online music store recently surpassed 30 million paid downloads since the game?s launch in late November 2007. With more than 500 tracks available to date via disc and download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the addition of complete and immediate backwards compatibility for songs purchased from Rock Band?s ever-expanding online music store and the ability to export most songs from the original Rock Band disc, Rock Band continues to deliver the largest library of music ever for a video game.