Anyone get pics of the naked cyclists???

Let the tax breaks for the rich expire and frame it that they are responsible for the deficits! That they refuse to pay their fair share. And that the Reppublicans only care about those rich enough to pay off the Republican party.

Re the Iowa dam break:

Much of the flooding occurred in farm areas instead of well-populated neighborhoods, Flansburg said, adding a would-be catastrophe was avoided.

I'm sure the flooded farms feel catastrophized, non-numerous though they may be.

And good to know that "trained weather spotter" Amanda Duck will be in no danger, no matter what happens.

Re: Iowa damn... last I read there were no structural issues with the dam before it broke.

The republicans wanted the unemployment benefit extensions to be paid for by cutting spending... so let the tax cuts expire: done and done!

A little good news with regard to Clay Greene and Sonoma County. You all remember the elder abuse he and his partner suffered after Harolds fall. And, how Clay was not permited to be with Harold in his last moments...

http://www.bilerico.com/2010/07/a_victor…

Is it cool to hate Kings of Leon now? I don't want to accidentally play "Use Somebody" on my car stereo and be accosted by hipsters.

Farms in Iowa damn well better have flood insurance

@6 - thanks, that's good to read.

"Band flees like sissies" conjures up visions of running on tiptoe with hands waving in the air, uttering little shrieks. Thank you for that, Unpaid Intern.

@7 you are screwed, unless you are playing on your dash-mounted Victrola your equipment won't be cool enough, unless you can get a sufficiently square and "working class" radio that only has a cassette deck then you might be okay.

Thank you so much, Kim. I still feel sad and empty about this. About all the settlement will do is pay Clay's living expenses for now, and nursing-home bills later if needed (which Medicaid would have done eventually anyway), and that just means some other services will be cut somewhere else. The emotional trauma is irreparable, and the home they built together along with all their treasured memorabilia from a lifetime of work are gone forever. Nothing about criminal charges for those who profited from the sale of their possessions. This is truly lipstick on a pig.

@12,

I'm very curious to know how much of that Hollywood memorabilia is currently sitting in those thieves' homes.

While it is probably the worst of all possible options, given the complexity of the issue and the degree of gridlock in Congress, I have little doubt that the tax cuts will expire at the end of the year with nothing to take their place. Hope you all enjoy having a smaller paycheck come January.

I agree, Rob. It is heartbreaking. It is one more example of the evil that is DOMA, in my opinion.

Police policy in Seattle for events such as the Fremont Solstice Parade is typically for nude riders to be allowed to ride, as long as there are no public complaints.

I'm glad the naked bikers are allowed to ride in the Fremont Parade (and think they should be even if there are some complaints) but I find it very hard to believe there are no public complaints each year. There must be a few complaints but the SPD likely ignores them because the bikers are a tradition and most people like them (or at least aren't offended.)

Too bad about the nineteen people killed at Duisburg. Crowds can be very scary, especially when people panic or get very excited, and this brings back a memory. In 1979, eleven people were killed in Cincinnati when there was a crush of people trying to get into an arena for a Who concert. It was festival seating and people rushed towards the doors when they mistook the band's sound check for the concert having started. People were trampled and crushed before the doors were unlocked. Just about a month prior to that, a friend & I had seen the Who at an arena in downtown St. Paul and the same thing almost happened. As they began to open the doors, which opened outwards, there was a huge surge of people toward them, pinning people against the doors. People in front tried to push back and there was a lot of screaming and cursing. My friend & I and people near us, who were about ten feet from the doors, start shoving people in back of us, yelling at them to back off because people were being crushed. I remember a bigger guy next to me throwing punches at people in back of him. There were some minor injuries but fortunately no one was killed and, having gone through that, I wasn't surprised when I learned of the tragedy in Cincinnati.

Hey, it's almost august -- is it time to start panicking about the Climate Prediction Center's seasonal outlooks for this winter? Far below average temperatures and above average precipitation, more cold air ridging beginning in mid-september and persisting through to June.

I'm buying Yak Trax and a snow shovel with my next paycheck because I'm paranoid like that.

@14 Wrong tax bracket, 5280. The effects of the 10% tax bracket were nearly unobservable.

Wasn't these tax cuts that gave us the deficit? Let them expire!

Here's an idea. Tell the people that oppose the end of the tax breaks that as soon as we pay off the TRILLION dollars spent by the Republicans in Iraq, we'll reinstate them!

@20, $2-3 trillion by the time we pay all the lifetime care expenses for wounded veterans with traumatic brain injury, amputations, PTSD, etc., etc., which is UNQUESTIONABLY the right and moral thing to do.

Oh, and decommissioning/stand-down expenses for the occupation forces (if we ever get to that point). That should be good for another $1 trillion minimum. I know I've said this before, but I'll stop being a broken record the day the neocons, garden-variety cons, and tea party fucks blow themselves to kingdom come.

A lot of the motorized ground transport and aircraft is going to be hopelessly clapped out from dragging around all the extra armor/armamentsand/or operating in sand, dust, temperature extremes, etc. But it's still got to be physically removed from theatres of operation so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands, which usually means flying it back to the U.S., scrapped out/salvaged, and in many cases (for the sake of "military readiness" and "eternal vigilance") REPLACED.

Major wargasm for defense contractors.

Here's another thing I've yapped about before: Compared to the above-mentioned amounts, a mere (!) $500 billion would, at current prices, put 4 kilowatts worth of solar panels on 20 MILLION HOMES across America ($25,000 per home), providing demand AND infrastructure for 20-40 million plug-in hybrid electric cars, which in typical use would provide the equivalent of sub-$1/gallon gasoline but without the [same] environmental costs, and provide greater national security through decentralized but grid-tied power generation and distribution.

I'm not saying we should, in our current circumstances, essentially print money to make this happen. BUT THAT'S HOW THE WARS AND THEIR AFTERMATH WERE, AND WILL BE, FINANCED.

Which of these two classes of expenditures (wars of adventure vs. investment in renewable energy) would be more likely to bring about a more peaceful, prosperous future? DUH.

Great blog post listing issues with Vehicular Cycling:

Twelve Reasons Why Vehicular Cycling Isn't Enough

http://psystenance.com/2010/07/25/twelve…

@12, you said, "I'll stop being a broken record the day the neocons, garden-variety cons, and tea party fucks blow themselves to kingdom come."

While I share your disgust with the conservative war-mongers who have created this disastrous, tragic situation, I noticed you didn't say anything about Democrats. And the sad fact is that none of this disastrous, tragic situation came about (perhaps even could have come) without the deliberate cooperation of the Democratic Party.

lost opportunity: carry on my hayward son

@25, right you are. The Democrats are terrified of being seen as soft on terrorism and national defense, soft on crime, etc. They don't seem to have any fear whatsoever of betraying core principles again and again, though it never buys them any approval from conservatives.