A Note Of Support

Over the last year GT12 has developed a warm cyber-friendship with someone we 'met' on Twitter.  We first connected through our shared experiences of dachsund ownership and Obama-love. 

Today Jon faced the day that all dog lovers dread and yet also know they will encounter.

We hurt with Jon today and would like offer a gesture of appreciation for a special friend of a special friend.

You may read Jon's own moving tribute here.

Keith Richards Near Death?

How else to explain this?

HELL-RAISING ROLLING STONE KEITH RICHARDS has gone on the wagon - despite claiming he would NEVER give up booze.

The 66-year-old rocker finally quit after getting strict orders from his doctor - and watching bandmate RONNIE WOOD's life unravel through alcoholism.

Now "Keef" has not touched a drop for FOUR MONTHS.

A friend said last night: "There's no guarantees that he'll stay off it - but he's doing really well so far."

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/2822642/Keith-Richards-off-booze-for-four-months.html#ixzz0djPmovGQ

Who's The Boss?

Clearly, No Sex

Our Hero

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Two-Faced
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Now, This IS Special

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Special Comment - Keith Olbermann's Name-Calling
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Nothing New Under The Sun

Pochatar:

All That I Have To Give

The Gloves Are Off

'Dexter' star Hall being treated for cancer

Sent from Express News
LOS ANGELES - "Dexter" star Michael C. Hall is undergoing treatment for cancer and the disease is in remission, a spokesman said. "I feel fortunate to have been diagnosed with an imminently treatable and curable condition, and I thank my doctors and nurses for their expertise and care," Hall, 38, said Wednesday in a statement.

The actor was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the body's immune system. The disease is considered highly treatable with the potential for full recovery.
By LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer

R&B singer Pendergrass dead in Pa. at 59

Sent from Express News
NEW YORK - R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass, who had been one of the most electric and successful figures in music until a car crash 28 years ago left him in a wheelchair, has died of colon cancer. He was 59.

Before the crash, Pendergrass established a new era of R&B with an explosive, raw voice that symbolized masculinity, passion and the joys and sorrow of romance in songs such as "Close the Door," "It Don't Hurt Now," "Love T.K.O." and other hits that have since become classics.
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY AP Music Writer

What Year IS This?

Idiot America is centered in Texas

Boy, 4, Chooses Long Locks and Is Suspended From Class

HOUSTON — A suburban Dallas school district has suspended a 4-year-old from his prekindergarten class because he wears his hair too long and does not want his parents to cut it.

The boy, Taylor Pugh, says he likes his hair long and curly. But on Monday night, the school board in Mesquite voted unanimously to enforce its ban on Beatles haircuts, much less anything approaching coiffures of bands like Led Zeppelin. School officials say the district’s dress code serves to limit distractions in the classroom.

No exception could be made for the pint-size rebel, who sat through the hearing with his hair in a ponytail, manifestly bored.

“It’s a trade-off,” said one board member, Gary Bingham, an insurance agent, in an interview. “Do the parents value his education more than they value a 4-year-old’s decision to make his own grooming choices?”

The boy’s parents, Delton Pugh and Elizabeth Taylor, have argued that it is unfair to punish Taylor for his longish locks; it suggests, they say, that the district cares more about appearances than education.

“I don’t think it’s right to hold a child down and force him to do something,” Mr. Pugh, a tattoo artist, told The Associated Press. “It’s not hurting him or affecting his education.”

The parents rejected a compromise proposed by the board under which they would braid his hair and pin it up.

This Has Nothing To Do With The Fact That I Have Hated Jay Leno For, Well, All Time

Andrew's Greatest Find

How Gay Is The Catholic Priesthood?
Every now and again, the vestments slip. Check out this Amazon page where priests can buy communion wafers. Now check out what the frequent buyers of such wafers also bought.
(Hat tip: Buzzfeed.)

A Philanderer ... and A Crazy Wife

Via Andrew, Hillary's greatest weakness was who we all figured it would be. And John Edwards had a surprising problem:

From the Heileprin 2008 campaign gossip motherlode:

The [Clinton] war room within a war room dismissed or discredited much of the gossip floating around, but not all of it. The stories about one woman were more concrete, and after some discreet fact-finding, the group concluded that they were true: that BIll was indeed having an affair -- and not a frivolous one-night stand but a sustained romantic relationship. ... For months, thereafter, the war room within a war room braced for the explosion, which her aides knew could come at any moment.

The real revelation of the book is its portrayal of Elizabeth Edwards. If the book is accurate, then the discrepancy between her public and saintly image with the private, quite awful reality, is one of the starkest in American public life:

I would be remiss if I did not point to the chapters about the unbelievably dysfunctional husband and wife team of John and Elizabeth Edwards. Not only, it turns out, did many senior Edwards staffer suspect that John was having an affair, several confronted John Edwards about it, and came away believing the rumors. At least three campaign aides resigned because of their knowledge of the affair well before the national media picked up on those early National Enquirer stories.

And John and Elizabeth (who the book says was known to Edwards insiders as an "abusive, intrusive, paranoid, condescending, crazywoman") fought, in front of staffers, about the affair. The authors describe a moment where Elizabeth, in a such a state of fury, deliberately tears her blouse in the parking lot of a Raleigh airport terminal, "exposing herself. 'Look at me," she wailed at John and then staggered, nearly falling to the ground." (That's page 142.) (This was in October, by the way, well before the media took the reports of the Hunter affair seriously.)

Ambers has more juicy dope here.

Mock Of The Decade

Everybody's Gonna Have This One

So why not us too?

Praise Jesus!

"The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So My message to Tiger would be, "Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

- Brit Hume, "Political" "Reporter"

Like these guys ....

Democrats:

1. Wayne Hays (1976): Affair with secretary (one of the first major sex scandals)

2. Allan Howe (1976): Solicited sex with two prostitutes (both of whom were undercover cops)

3. John Young (1976): Staffer alleged sexual harrassment

4. Fred Richmond (1978): Charged with soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy.

5. Gerry Studds (1983): Reprimanded for having sex with a male teenage House page

6. Gary Hart (1988): Affair with model Donna Rice.

7. Barney Frank (1989): Affair with male prostitute, who also conducted business in Frank's home.

8. Chuck Robb (1991): Admitted to receiving a nude massage from a former Miss Virginia.

9. Brock Adams (1992): Eight women accused him of sexual harassment, abuse, and rape.

10. Mel Reynolds (1994): Sexual relationship with 16-year-old campaign volunteer.

11. Bill Clinton (1998): Affair with intern Monica Lewinsky.

12. Gary Condit (2001): Affair with (murdered) intern Chandra Levy.

13. Paul Patton (2002): Affair with nursing home operator; when the affair ended the state of Kentucky filed numerous violations against her business.

14. Bob Wise (2003): Affair with a state government staffer

15. Jim McGreevey (2004): Resigned as NJ governor after admitting that he is "a gay American"

16. Neil Goldschmidt (2004): Admitted to having a relationship with a 14-year-old girl in the 1970s.

17. Roosevelt Dobbins (2005): Congressman form Arkansas, pleaded guilty to fondling a 16-year-old.

18. Gavin Newsom (2007): Affair with the wife of a top aide.

19. Antonio Villaraigosa (2007): Affair with a television reporter.

20. Tim Mahoney (2008): Admitted to multiple affairs.

21. Eliot Spitzer (2008): Involved in prostitution scandal.

22. Paul Morrison (2008): Affair with administrative staffer while Attorney General of Kansas, pressured her to reveal information about Kansas D.A.

23. Marc Dann (2008): Attorney General of Ohio, had an affair with a staffer.

24. David Paterson (2008): Admitted that both he and his wife had extramarital affairs

25. John Edwards (2008): Had an affair with a campaign employee while running for President.

26. Kwame Kilpatrick (2008): Text messaging sex scandal

27. Sam Adams (2009): Portland, OR mayor lied about relationship with 18-year-old male intern.

TALLY: 27

Republicans:

1. Tom Evans (1980): Along with other politicians, accused of being involved with lobbyist/former Playboy model Paula Parkinson.

2. Bob Bauman (1980): Solicited sex from a 16-year-old boy

3. Jon Hinson (1980): Caught attempting to have oral sex in a men's House restroom.

4. John G. Schmitz (1982): Had an affair that led to an out-of-wedlock child.

5. Dan Crane (1983): Reprimanded for having sex with a teenage House page.

6. (Buz Lukens (1989): Spent time in jail after having sex with a 16-year-old girl.

7. Jon Grunseth (1990): Swam nude with group of 13-year-old girls; suspended gubernatorial run.

8. Ken Calvert (1993): Arrested while soliciting a prostitute.

9. Bob Packwood (1995): Resigned from Senate amid allegations of sexual harassment and abuse.

10. Bob Livingston (1998): Admitted to multiple extramarital affairs.

11. Helen Chenoweth-Hage (1998): Admitted to a six year affair with a married rancher in her home state of Idaho

12. Henry Hyde (1998): Admitted he'd had an affair many years prior

13. Rudy Giuliani (2002): Ex-wife Donna Hanover accused him of "notorious adultery"; he's now married to Judith Nathan, his girlfriend at the time.

14. Steve LaTourette (2003): Accused of affair with staffer, who he later married.

15. Jack Ryan (2004): Former wife Jeri claimed he took her to sex clubs and pressured her to have sex in public.

16. James West (2005): Removed as mayor of Spokane, WA after an gay Internet sex scandal.

17. Don Sherwood (2006): Affair with 29-year-old woman while he was a PA congressman.

18. Mark Foley (2006): Involved in a texting scandal with male House pages

19. Bob Allen (2007): Solicited oral sex from a male undercover cop.

20. Newt Gingrich (2007):Acknowledged having an affair in the 1990s

21. Charles Boutin (2007): Resigned from MD Public Service Comission after email exchanges with a prostitute surfaced.

22. David Vitter (2007): Part of the DC Madam scandal

23. Larry Craig (2007): Bathroom sex solicitation scandal.

24. Vito Fossella (2008): Affair with a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.

25. John Ensign (2009): Admitted to having an affair with a married staffer.

26. Mark Sanford (2009): Affair with a woman in Argentina.

TALLY: 26

Why Birthdays Are Important

January 4, 1966. 8th Birthday. My First Beatles Album. A Dauntingly High Bar Was Set.

Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the British rock band The Beatles, released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market. Unlike the five albums that preceded it, Rubber Soul was the first Beatle album recorded during a specific period without being interrupted by tour dates (though the group's debut album Please Please Me was technically recorded in a single day, four of the tracks were recorded several months before). All of the Beatle albums after Rubber Soul (except Magical Mystery Tour) followed this process. Track list changes to the US release, including two acoustic songs held over from the previous album, Help!, gave the album a folk rock feel, which critics attributed to The Byrds and Bob Dylan. The original UK release, however, shows the "soul" influence of the album's title. The album was seen as a major artistic achievement, attaining widespread critical and commercial success, with reviewers taking note of The Beatles' developing musical vision.

McCartney conceived the album's title after overhearing a black musician's description of Mick Jagger's singing style as "plastic soul". Lennon confirmed this in a 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, stating, "That was Paul's title... meaning English soul. Just a pun."[1] McCartney said a similar phrase, "Plastic soul, man. Plastic soul...", at the end of "I'm Down" take 1, on Anthology 2.

Rubber Soul is often cited as one of the greatest albums in pop music history. In 1998, Q magazine readers voted it the 40th greatest album of all time, while in 2000 the same publication placed it at number 21 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.[2] In 2001, VH1 placed it at number 6.[3] In 2003, the album was ranked number 5 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[4] In 2006, the album was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.[5]

Music
According to Richie Unterberger, "[The Beatles] and George Martin were beginning to expand the conventional instrumental parameters of the rock group, using a sitar on 'Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)', French-like guitar lines on 'Michelle' and 'Girl', fuzz bass on 'Think for Yourself', and a piano made to sound like a harpsichord on the instrumental break of 'In My Life'."[6]

Musically, The Beatles broadened their sound, most notably with influences drawn from the contemporary folk-rock of the Byrds and Bob Dylan.[4][7] The album also saw The Beatles broadening rock 'n' roll's instrumental resources, most notably on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Although both The Yardbirds and The Kinks had used Indian influences in their music, this track is generally credited as being the first pop recording to use an actual sitar, an Indian stringed instrument, and "Norwegian Wood" sparked a musical craze for the sound of the novel instrument in the mid-1960s.[4] The song is now acknowledged as one of the cornerstones of what is now usually called "world music" and it was a major landmark in the trend towards incorporating non-Western musical influences into Western popular music. George Harrison had been introduced to Indian classical music and the sitar earlier that year, that interest later being fuelled by fellow Indian music fan David Crosby of The Byrds, whom Harrison met and befriended in August 1965.[8] Harrison soon became fanatically interested in the genre and began taking sitar lessons from renowned Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar.[9] A broadening use of percussive arrangements, led by Ringo Starr's backbeats and frequently augmented by maracas and tambourine, can also be heard throughout the album, showcased in tracks such as "Wait" and "Think for Yourself". Perhaps Starr's most unusual percussion source on the album, which was revealed by him to Barry Tashian of The Remains in the book Ticket To Ride, is created by his tapping a pack of matches with his finger. This "tapping" sound can be heard in the background of "I'm Looking Through You".

Recording innovations were also made during the recording of the album—for instance, the keyboard solo in "In My Life" sounds like a harpsichord, but was actually played on a piano. George Martin found he could not match the tempo of the song while playing in this baroque style, so he tried recording with the tape running at half-speed. When played back at normal speed during the mixdown, the sped-up sound gave the illusion of a harpsichord.[10][11] Other production innovations included the use of electronic sound processing on many instruments, notably the heavily compressed and equalised piano sound on John Lennon's "The Word"; this distinctive effect soon became extremely popular in the genre of psychedelic music.
Also on Rubber Soul, the Beatles were seen heading into psychedelic rock. As well as the sitar on "Norwegian Wood" and "The Word", they voiced the drug-influenced peace-and-love sentiments that would colour many psychedelic lyrics.[12]

The song "Wait" was initially recorded for, and then left off, the album Help!. The reason the song was released on Rubber Soul was that the album was one song short, and with the Christmas deadline looming, The Beatles chose to release "Wait" instead of recording a new composition.

US release
Rubber Soul, the ninth Capitol Records album and eleventh official U.S. release (ST-2442), came out in the United States three days after the British release, and began its 59-week long chart run on Christmas Day. It topped the charts for six weeks from 8 January 1966, before dropping back. The album sold 1.2 million copies within nine days of its release, and to date has sold over six million copies in America.

Like other pre-Sgt. Pepper Beatles albums, Rubber Soul differed markedly in its US and UK configurations; indeed, through peculiarities of sequencing, the US Rubber Soul was deliberately reconfigured to appear a "folk rock" album to angle the Beatles into that emerging and lucrative American genre during 1965,[17] thanks to the addition of "I've Just Seen a Face" and "It's Only Love" (leftovers from the UK Help!) and the deletion of some of the more upbeat tracks ("Drive My Car", "Nowhere Man", "If I Needed Someone", and "What Goes On"). The tracks missing on the US version would later surface on the Yesterday and Today collection (with "Nowhere Man" and "What Goes On" being released on a single in the meantime). The track variation resulted in a shorter album length, clocking in at 29:59. In addition, the stereo mix sent to the US from England has what are commonly called "false starts" at the beginning of "I'm Looking Through You." The track is also slightly shorter at the end. The false starts are on every American stereo copy of the album from 1965 to 1990 and are also on the CD boxed set, The Capitol Albums Vol. 2. The US version of "The Word" is also recognisably different because it has Lennon's double-tracking vocals, extra falsetto harmonies on the left channel and fades a little longer. Also on the USA mono LP of this album, the version of "Michelle" is different because it has louder percussion and fades a little longer.

The Canadian LP shares the false start on "I'm Looking Through You".