The Kris and Adam Road Show

I really love their live versions of Mad World and Heartless

hAD to delete I hate auto starts

(Song starts at 3:20 for Mad World)
never mind they didn't post the Heartless version. I don't need to hear No Boundaries.

OK from the Ellen Show:



enjoy! They are both winners!

Glee: Don't Stop Believin' from Hulu; can't stop listening...

Hulu rules the universe, by the way. And I don't say that because of the commercials.

ETA: New Hulu commercial. They are aliens, and they rule the world:

Hair on Letterman: In Case you are Wondering what a "Showstopper" Is

Kradam Final: American Idol Final 2

Adam Lambert: Mad World. I thought there was a twist, so maybe the twist is no shouting. And wearing a goth looking trenchcoat....hope he doesn't inspire any future Colombiners. I can't help it but I thought of that when I see this goth kid singing those lyrics. Those lyrics are haunting. Subdued, great. Paula is better than Kara.....awesome all together. Adam can get away with saying, "we're playing dressup!" Cute...

Kris Allen: Ain't No Sunshine: I heard that today on youtube so I'm ready for it.it's good. not great....certainly not going to win the first round. I think at this point fans have made up their mind? It's one or the other. And the ones who love both...they will pick Adam because he deserves it.

Adam Lambert: Change is Going to Come. Don't know this one...maybe a little bluesy on purpose. Just to point out how versatile he is and Adam is nailin' it. Very restrained and non-shreaky (so far), this guy could do Elvis for gosh sakes....ok now the high end to prove his range. I don't think he is going to win any new ones over, but the sure ones are still with ya, Adam. And, there is the high finale note.

Kris: What's goin' On. Is this motown part two? Did they not do it this year? Anyone who getst the guy on the box gets a good set. The whole war is not the answer scream is not the way to make a point when you are singing Motown Reggae style. He's good, he got to this point, he is not going to win. (Simon just made my point: it was like three guys sitting around a dorm room. nuf said. nothing more)

Final Song: No Boundaries. Adam sang it. sang it. Can hear that on the radio. Wow, Randy bringing out the pitchty for the last song? Adam is so freaking humble. Simon will love it I predict. Kris: really, just average. Don't even hear the tune. Shows how outclassed he is by Adam. Not a slam on Kris, but Adam deserves this and I think even Kris sympathizers would agree. good night, Kris.

All the Fanboys Dreams Come True: Kradam in the Final!

Americal Idol 8 Final 3 Performances

• Danny Gokey - “Dance Little Sister” by Terrance Trent D’Arby -Paula’s Judges Pick - He got a sax solo. “pretty good” sucked didn't even look up from computer
  
• Kris Allen - “Apologize” by OneRepublic - Randy and Kara’s Judges Pick - Kris forgot some words. He’s starting over… “Kris was VERY good.” awesome. it was perfect. absolutely great. I just missed Timbaland going "eh, eh, eh"
  
• Adam Lambert - “One” by U2 - Simon’s Judges Pick “omg…piano onstage…gorgeous…amazing.”

Next is a long piece on Carrie Underwood and Idol gives back. She was in Africa recently
****

• Danny Gokey - “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker - He changed clothes. He’s got a string quartet. “Breathy, strained and awkward.”
• Kris Allen - “Heartless” by Kanye West - “He appeared magically on the side of the stage…”
• Adam Lambert - “Adam is looking “bombalicious, big boots, rocking rhinestone t-shirt, leather jacket…” Cryin Aerosmith

You think Adam is telling Danny THIS is how you do Aerosmith?

My final thoughts: Adam was strangely disappointing. He had the chance to do 2 songs his way, one slow and low and one, well, Adam and screekchy. He turned One into an unrecognizable song. It could have been Mad World part two. He made a point of saying the lyrics are amazing - from what I heard, the lyrics are of a gay son coming out to his dad (I remember that from years ago, 1993?) Anyway I hope he sails through.

I have no words for sucky Danny, he is the judges fav for whatever reason.

Kris is cute, and he can sing. I don't care but if he was in a sing off with the Apologize singer, Kris would win. Why do they criticize for going off song, but criticize for singing the song true?

lets hope for Kris and Adam, but Simon has been doing all the morning shows calling it a Kris and Danny final, and the grandmas who actually watch the network morning shows vote. I just hope Adam didn't blow it, which has made the monkeys and critics concerned.

What's Adam Watching is up too.

Vote Adam and Kris! boo Danny, he's just another Taylor Hicks, which I can't believe the judges forget about. The runners up always sell more albums. Hello, Elliot?

until this gets deleted, enjoy (maybe won't. it's not the video performance sounds better without watching):

Pelosi is a Pussy (sorry, I couldn't help myself) CIA Briefed her and has the Records to Prove IT

CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of 'Enhanced Interrogations'

By Paul Kane
Intelligence officials released documents this evening saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was briefed in September 2002 about the use of harsh interrogation tactics against al-Qaeda prisoners, seemingly contradicting her repeated statements over the past 18 months that she was never told that these techniques were actually being used.

In a 10-page memo outlining an almost seven-year history of classified briefings, intelligence officials said that Pelosi and then-Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) were the first two members of Congress ever briefed on the interrogation tactics. Then the ranking member and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, respectively, Pelosi and Goss were briefed Sept. 4, 2002, one week before the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The memo, issued by the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency to Capitol Hill, notes the Pelosi-Goss briefing covered "EITs including the use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah." EIT is an acronym for enhanced interrogation technique. Zubaydah was one of the earliest valuable al-Qaeda members captured and the first to have the controversial tactic known as water boarding used against him.

The issue of what Pelosi knew and when she knew it has become a matter of heated debate on Capitol Hill. Republicans have accused her of knowing for many years precisely the techniques CIA agents were using in interrogations, and only protesting the tactics when they became public and liberal antiwar activists protested.

In a carefully worded statement, Pelosi's office said today that she had never been briefed about the use of waterboarding, only that it had been approved by Bush administration lawyers as a legal technique to use in interrogations.

"As this document shows, the Speaker was briefed only once, in September 2002. The briefers described these techniques, said they were legal, but said that waterboarding had not yet been used," said Brendan Daly, Pelosi's spokesman.

Pelosi's statement did not address whether she was informed that other harsh techniques were already in use during the Zubaydah interrogations.

In December 2007 the Washington Post reported that leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees had been briefed in the fall of 2002 about waterboarding -- which simulates drowning -- and other techniques, and that no congressional leaders protested its use. At the time Pelosi said she was not told that waterboarding was being used, a position she stood by repeatedly last month when the Bush-era Justice Department legal documents justifying the interrogation tactics were released by Attorney General Eric Holder.

The new memo shows that intelligence officials were willing to share the information about waterboarding with only a sharply closed group of people. Three years after the initial Pelosi-Goss briefing, Bush officials still limited interrogation technique briefings to just the chairman and ranking member of the House and Senate intelligence committees, the so-called Gang of Four in the intelligence world.

In October 2005, CIA officials began briefing other congressional leaders with oversight of the intelligence community, including top appropriators who provided the agency its annual funding. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam and an opponent of torture techniques, was also read into the program at that time even though he did not hold a special committee position overseeing the intelligence community.

A bipartisan collection of lawmakers have criticized the practice of limiting information to just the "Gang of Four", who were expressly forbidden from talking about the information from other colleagues, including fellow members of the intelligence committees. Pelosi and others are considering reforms that would assure a more open process for all committee members.

Brakewater is Back

I can't help myself. Our President is getting everything he wanted and he deserves it, because the sheeple who elected him would rather vote for a blank slate than someone with issues.

He is going to turn us into the Jimmy Carter years again.

He will run Industry, Finance, Healthcare, Energy, did I miss something?

His Treasurer Secretary defrauded the IRS, and now he is increasing the power of the IRS? WTF??

I will start tomorrow to enlighten you on the shit we are about to suffer, folks.

Our Corrupt Government: Owned by The UAW

The Big Business of Big Labor

By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist | 5/8/09 6:20 AM

Imagine if President George W. Bush used strong-arm tactics to bend the law to favor a politically connected company with $1.2 billion in assets, including a private golf course. What if that company’s political action committee had spent $13 million in the previous election, including more than $4 million to elect him?

Barack Obama has done just that. The company is called the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union - or the UAW for short.

Obama and the Democrats will employ euphemisms when discussing the President’s plan to circumvent bankruptcy law and hand majority ownership of Chrysler over to the UAW. They will speak about “the workers” taking ownership of the company, with some arguing that the workers, by right, are the senior creditors in Chrysler’s bankruptcy.

This paints the union-versus-creditors battle for control of Chrysler as a fight between blue-collar workingmen and greedy hedge fund speculators in suits.

But that abstraction—equating the UAW with “the workers”—is grossly misleading. John Doe on the assembly line will not be running Chrysler or directing the use of billions in bailout dollar. No, the union management will become Chrysler’s management.

So this is a gift to the union management, which, when you look at it closely, is a big, politically connected company whose executives pamper themselves and practice patronage on the backs of the workers.

Compare the UAW’s political activity to that of the most notorious companies that were cozy with the Bush administration. The autoworker union’s political action committee spent $13.1 million on the 2008 election.

If you take the PACs of Exxon, Halliburton, Peabody Coal, and Lockheed Martin, combine their 2008-cycle political spending, and multiply it by four, you get just over $13.1 million. The UAW’s expenditures on the 2008 presidential contest alone exceed the total House, Senate, and White House expenditures of those four companies.

And even Exxon Mobil gave 11 percent of its donations to Democrats. The UAW gave less than 1 percent of its money to Republicans. The auto workers’ union is far more wedded to the Democratic Party than any company is to the Republican Party.

The union’s $1.98 million to Democratic candidates last cycle (not counting the $4.87 million in independent expenditures to elect Obama president) is more than any PAC spent on Republicans. If you combine the political spending of the top three oil company PACs and the UAW’s PAC, Republicans and Democrats come out about even.

Peer deeper into the UAW’s finances, and it starts to look even more like a big business. The organization sits on nearly $1.2 billion in investments. This is money the UAW took from the paychecks of workers, money that now functions as an endowment out of which the union pays its staff and subsidizes its golf resort.

Black Lake Golf Club, which the UAW brags is "one of the finest anywhere in the nation," is owned by the union. Situated at the very top of Michigan, a drive of more than four hours from Detroit, it’s not exactly accessible to the union rank and file.

The resort is subsidized by workers’ paychecks, too—the union currently has $29.6 million in loans outstanding to the resort. That’s not their only posh real estate. The UAW’s Washington headquarters, home base for the union’s $1.6 million-a-year lobbying operation, is a beautiful $2.98 million townhouse in the DuPont circle neighborhood.

While UAW membership has fallen by 32.5 percent since 2002, the national headquarters has kept its spending nearly the same—a reduction of only 1.9 percent. Add these facts together, and it starts to look like the union management exists largely to preserve union management.

These are the people who would, practically speaking, own Chrysler under Obama’s plan. These are the benefactors of Obama’s upturning bankruptcy law and threatening investors.

But Obama’s team will maintain that it’s “the workers” who are taking ownership of Chrysler under their plan. When Obama and Democrats extend future bailouts and subsidies to Chrysler, they will have even more reason to claim that they are simply helping the workingmen. In truth, subsidies and special favors for the UAW are corporate welfare, and considering the UAW’s political activities, the right word might be crony capitalism.

Timothy P. Carney is The Washington Examiner's Lobbying Editor. His K Street column appears on Wednesdays.

Obama's Run on Healthcare Reform begins: beware average citizens

Obama to Propose More Taxes From Estates, Firms to Fund Health Care Reform

The measures total $60 million, but administration officials describe the plan as eliminating 'tax loopholes' rather than hiking taxes

By The Wall Street Journal

FOXNews.com

Saturday, May 09, 2009

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WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration will propose $60 billion in new tax increases over 10 years on wealthy estates, businesses and others to make up for shortfalls in its fund to pay for an expensive overhaul of the health-care system.

The measures go beyond plans the White House has announced in the past few weeks. Officials said that upon further analysis they realized that they had overestimated savings and tax increases proposed in February to help pay the bill.

The full proposals will come Monday when the White House releases a detailed analysis of its budget blueprint. Administration officials described the new proposals not as tax increases, but as eliminating "tax loopholes."

One element would raise an estimated $24 billion over 10 years by tightening estate-tax rules, giving taxpayers less flexibility to minimize their liability on inherited goods by claiming a different value on the same item for different transactions.

A second element, which would raise $10 billion over 10 years, would require businesses and others who make payments to corporations to report such payments to the Internal Revenue Service. Under current law, payments to individuals are required to be reported on a 1099 form, but no such requirements exist for similar payments to corporations. The goal is to make sure that the recipient corporations report all their taxable income.

How to pay for a health-care overhaul estimated to cost more than a trillion dollars over a decade is one of the trickiest questions facing the administration and Congress. The White House has proposed a combination of health-care spending cuts and tax increases.

Click here for the full story from the Wall Street Journal.

American Idol Vote Off.....Final 4: Allison FTW! You Rock!

Kris is safe. I would sacrafice Kris to save Allison. Really. Gosh she was so much better than the freaking judges think....

If it is anyone but Danny at this point I will erupt RIGHT HERE!

Adam safe............duh.

So Allison and Danny. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOkey Go! No Mo!

shit.....64 million...Danny is safe.

Crap. Goodbye Allison. so unfair. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

American Idol Final 4 Spoilers: Ambulances? Slow Ride, Take it Easy, Adam and Allison FTW!

arrrgggggghhhhhhh, taking so long! Want! Need! Adam and Allison must be in finals...will update as received (live blog at the end)

Danny Gokey — Dream On (I'm glad he is doing Aerosmith, should be a massive fail, especially if he doesn't tackle the falsetto. (he did it and it SUCKED! Screams! Horror movie! Bye Bye! this is the Daugherty stunner we been waiting for. Jesus freaks don't text!) I heard Living on the Edge on the way home and thought of Adam, though I really hope Adam does GnR but doubt Axl will let him)

Kris Allen –

GARARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH! Not all well in Idol land. Debbie fell, the stage collapsed, lion tigers and bears! Really I hope everyone is ok and the show goes as planned:

UPDATE: On the phone with someone there. Debbie The Stage Manager (THE GODDESS) fell down the stairs! And then was wheeled off on a stretcher. And then when Ryan came out, THE STAGE STARTED FALLING APART.

HELLO? I said those spinning orbs squeaked! The GYROSCROPE FELL INTO A GIANT SILVER ARCH!

Then everyone cleared out of rehearsal, ambulances were everywhere.

THESE SPOILERS COULD BE COMPLETE SHIT. SINCE REHEARSAL WAS CANCELED, WHO KNOWS…

Wow, not only is there no GnR music, but they only play Velvet Revolver in introducing Slash. Stay classy, Axl.

Adam: Whole lotta Love. Led Zepplin. hope he kills. Back in rockout mode, makeup hair and all. Sounds like Robert Plant. Not many flaws here, unless you hate his shrieking. Not a favorite of mine, not a Led fan, but capable. Simon will probably be bored by it. GGreat ending though....acapelo Led Zep.

Allison: Crybaby. Could be good. Could be boring.....But I like it. I would love Adam/Allison final. She's got chops, nothing has changed. Again, could be Kelly Clarkson, Pink, and latch on to the Disney Hispanic demographic (Selena, Demi). let's see what the judges say: agree, not love, just the same words. Janis, good. Simon, don't let me down: staggering transformance, complete confidence. don't try too hard. pick another song...let's go! I'm just going to talk alot! nice.

Ohh, Duet: Kris and Danny! Renegade! I love this song! Kris looks terrified. neither doing to good. I don't think Kris likes Danny. not smiling at all. I mean this is a competition...Kris' voice is cracking, not doing too well. Danny is yelling. ouch. for both. I'll just close my eyes and think of Kris singing "falling slowly"...just...not...good.

Kris Allen: Beatles? man the spoilers sucked today. Just hope Debbie ok, she's a favorite of the writers who attend these things!;

owwwwwww I just burnt my hand on soup....owwwwwwwwwwww AI curse...

Come together: with Slash's guitar! Awesome! well he's so cute and awesome he's got the cute boy vote....I love it so much better than the duet....shut up Randy.

Danny: finally got the pimp spot. We will tell who Simon wants to win. Wait, what about Adam/Allison duet? that will be the pimp spot. Ouch I hate the Dream On scream. I hope it sucks....HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!!!!! yes took it too far!!!!!! YEs he is gone!aweful!

Allison Adam: aka the final two: wouldn't Don't go breakin my heart be funny? Any Fleetwood Mac song would be awesome....crosses fingers: SLow Ride Foghat! glam and glam together! That is what fun looks like, Kris and Danny! I think it is cute Adam took Allison to his hair dresser! Gosh this song reminds me of Guitar Hero....Allison is rocking it...great harmonies...final 2 FTW!

Hitfix agrees with me: Allison and Adam final 2 now beyotch!

Sepinwall as well.

I can't wait for tomorrow's EW Popwatch review and LATimes Rushfield, who can give us some behind the scenes. Debbie get well!

ETA: This is your next American Idol, bitches. There is no debate about it:

Sci Guy: Swine Flu Antgenitic Shift, aka H1N1 (don't want to piss off the farmers)

I always liked the sciguy from the chron, who kept us all well-informed during Ike. Here is a good article on the Swine Flu. and what is a mutation. Someone tell me if I am taking your copyright information, I will just link if so...

Why swine flu scares public officials

One of the most common questions during today's live chat concerned the public health and media reaction to the swine flu outbreak. What, the readers asked, is the big deal with a virus that's infected just 40 Americans and made only one of them sick enough to require
hospitalization?

Annenberg Media See larger version.

It's a very good question.

The answer is a bit more complicated than one could address during a live chat so I thought I'd take a crack at it in a blog entry.

The influenza viruses we're most familiar with evolve from year to year and mutate all the time, a process known as antigenic drift. This drift, a gradual mutation in the genetics of a virus, causes the proteins on the surface of a virus to change, too. If these proteins change enough our immune systems may no longer recognize the flu virus. In years with enough antigenic drift a vaccine may no longer match its target.

However, there's another kind of change to viruses that concerns scientists even more: antigenic shift. During this process at least two different strains of a flu virus combine to form a new subtype. This can happen when two strains — say swine flu and predominantly human influenza — infect the same cell, replicate and assemble a brand new virus.

Here's a helpful graphic which shows how this process can occur.

The current virus in circulation has elements of human, swine, and avian viruses normally found in Europe or Asia, and it may have originated as a result of an antigenic shift. It is for this reason — we are dealing with an entirely new and unknown virus — that has elevated the level of concern for this outbreak.

It remains unclear how virulent the virus will ultimately be in humans, and the hope is that most people who become infected will not become terribly sick, and for those that do there remain ample supplies of antiviral drugs.

But those are far from certainties at this time, so rigorous vigilance and preparation are indeed warranted.

American Idol Final 5: Houston Edition Brat Pack Night: Feeling Good Muse

Wow we got so much rain in the last 24 hours. I left work yesterday at 430 because the red cells were coming, and Houston is known for two things: Hot Humidity and Flash Floods.

It rained almost all night long - The house literally rattled with the lightning and thunder. I looked out the window a couple of times to make sure the street was ok, but they don't call it the "Heights" for nothing.

West Houston (Katy, Cypress, I10-Beltway 8) got hammered hard, about a foot of water overnight. There is only one confirmed death - I don't understand the desire to drive to work at 6 in the morning when the news is saying stay home! I checked the tv, the internet and got to work ok around 0730 - it was a typical Houston drive in driving rain and stupid drivers. I say one guy drive right into another - he wasn't even looking. And why be on you cell phone, on your left ear reducing even more visibility? And no lights? Yes drivers are stupid stupid stupid, but they affect my life because I have to avoid them and get stuck in traffic because of them.

And the spoilers for tonight's AI, from mjblog:

Kris Allen - “The Way You Look Tonight” - Jamie said “I want to make an album with you now” a little disappointing, definitely overhyped by judges, I like my krissy.....
Allison Iraheta - “Someone to Watch Over Me” she's got chops. won't win, will succeed...
Matt Giraud - “My Funny Valentine” - Jamie suggested changes - Matt doesn’t play piano I don't care he is vote for the worst pic this week for a reason....

EDIT: They don't want Allison anywhere near the finals. Why tell Matt he was great? And tell her that she doesn't want to be in the finals? Look at the tween demographics - chicks sell, Demi, Seleni, Myley. I don't even know who they are but they sell. Allison is hispanic. Maybe they want to save her for a Daugherty like success, since we all know winning USUALLY gets you no where unless you are Kelly, Carrie or David? I don't get it


Danny Gokey - “Come Rain Come Shine” - Jamie suggested changes don't care TCO will lose.
Adam Lambert - “Feeling Good” (the muse version) -Jamie liked Adam I love Muse....lets see if he goes megaphone....

I love Muse, don't know this version (or song?):

Thanks St Lukes: Second follow up post

so after a 39K dollar bill, my responsibility is around $640. I love health insurance. I will be really sad when it gets nationalized, and I will never be able to get care like this no questions

asked again.

$0.00	$0.00	$633.55
				Your Responsibility: $633.55

Hospital Incidentals	$108.75	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Hospital Incidentals	$19.25	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Hospital Incidentals	$6,160.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Hospital Incidentals	$732.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Hospital Incidentals	$2,886.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Lab Services	$392.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Lab Services	$25.00	$25.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Lab Services	$149.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Lab Services	$120.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Lab Services	$147.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Lab Services	$164.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Hospital Incidentals	$3,718.00	$416.75	$333.40	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$83.35
03/25/2009 Hospital Incidentals	$7,360.00	$1,834.00	$1,467.20	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$366.80
03/25/2009 X-Ray or Lab Services	$17,527.00	$917.00	$733.60	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$183.40
03/25/2009 Hospital Incidentals	$3.75	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 Hospital Incidentals	$4.25	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
03/25/2009 X-Ray or Lab Services	$314.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	Y
Total	$39,830.00	$3,192.75	$2,534.20	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$633.55
				Your Responsibility: $633.55