Monday, March 09, 2009

Obama Retains Another of Bush's Evil Dictatorial Powers

ITYS ... YA:
Supreme Court urged to drop enemy combatant case Yahoo! News, Wed Mar 4, 6:00 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Wednesday renewed its request that the Supreme Court ... not rule on whether a president can indefinitely detain terror suspects in the United States. ... [Click here to read the rest.]
Aw, but it's completely okay if Obama does this sort of thing, because, unlike Larry Moe Curly Soprano-Bush, Obama is civilized and sophisticated and liberal. Right? Evil isn't evil if the leaders committing it are civilized and sophisticated and liberal and supposedly photogenic and supposedly charismatic and supposedly intellectual.
And it doesn't hurt if they are also able to read meaningless rhetoric off of a teleprompter in a supposedly appealing, mesmerizing and inspiring manner.
Oh, and the perpetrators of these evil-for-the-sake-of-good acts must only be members of the U.S. federal government (or members of American law enforcement agencies, or members of foreign governments that have the U.S. government's temporary blessing), because U.S. leaders are the duly self-appointed "good guys"; and the duly self-appointed "good guys" are always allowed to commit evil acts if they are spun as "good causes." Besides, they have been trained (by their very own agencies, mind you) to know "the difference" between "justifiable" and unjustifiable evil far better than anyone outside the U.S. government could ever hope to grasp "the difference."
Yep, that's "hope" and "change," all right. If only I had known that Obama wasn't using those words in the same sense(s) that the dictionary defines them, I might not have been so skeptical about him during the presidential campaign. Well..., Actually, I would have, because every carefully selected presidential candidate is merely a temporary PR manager for a permanently entrenched power elite (aka unelected bureaucracy) that never changes its policies.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Great Question

"All the hardcore, Jim Jones kool-aid drinking Obama supporters never really cared about ending the wars. They just wanted a Democrat to micromanage them. Obama has made it abundantly clear his policies are no different than Bush's. So why then, did all these Obamabots hate Bush so much?" ••• JesseKantstopolis, who wrote it as a comment on this excellent YouTube video on March 4, 2009.

Friday, February 13, 2009

More Inspirational "Change"

Obama has decided to stick to the Bush administration's view on the State Secrets Privilege. Read the rest.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Driving Over the Cliff

By Paul Craig Roberts CounterPunch ...To whose agenda is President Obama being hitched? Writing in the English language version of the Swiss newspaper, Zeit-Fragen, Stephen J. Sniegoski reports that leading figures of the neocon conspiracy--Richard Perle, Max Boot, David Brooks, and Mona Charen--are ecstatic over Obama’s appointments. They don’t see any difference between Obama and Bush/Cheney. Not only are Obama’s appointments moving him into an expanded war in Afghanistan, but the powerful Israel Lobby is pushing Obama toward a war with Iran. The unreality in which he US government operates is beyond belief. A bankrupt government that cannot pay its bills without printing money is rushing headlong into wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. According to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis, the cost to the US taxpayers of sending a single soldier to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq is $775,000 per year! Obama’s war in Afghanistan is the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. After seven years of conflict, there is still no defined mission or endgame scenario for US forces in Afghanistan. When asked about the mission, a US military official told NBC News, “Frankly, we don’t have one.” NBC reports: “they’re working on it.” Speaking to House Democrats on February 5, President Obama admitted that the US government does not know what its mission is in Afghanistan and that to avoid “mission creep without clear parameters,” the US “needs a clear mission.” How would you like to be sent to a war, the point of which no one knows, including the commander-in-chief who sent you to kill or be killed? How, fellow taxpayers, do you like paying the enormous cost of sending soldiers on an undefined mission while the economy collapses? Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. [Read the rest here.]

Obama's Justice Department backs Bush secrecy on renditions suit

Stephen C. Webster Published: Monday February 9, 2009 RawStory.com An attorney for President Obama's Department of Justice has told the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it supports the Bush administration's controversial state secrets defense in a lawsuit over the prior president's "extraordinary rendition" program. [Read the rest here.]

Thursday, February 05, 2009

35 Inconvenient Truths

The errors in Al Gore’s movie. Published by the Science and Public Policy Institute. Click here to read those 35 inconvenient truths. People who are truly open minded (aka "interested in the truth, not political correctness," will have no fear of clicking that link (as well as the one below). I was entirely on Al Gore's side until I built up my courage and did my own investigating. If that isn't enough for you, then watch this excellent documentary produced by Britain's Channel 4 Television: The Great Global Warming Swindle (not your typical "loony conspiracy-theorist" gang, eh?). Obama, of course, is continuing the lie.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Obama to Overthrow a U.S. Puppet?

Eric Margolis Contributing foreign editor for Sun National Media Canada February 3, 2009 Washington is rife with rumors that the Obama administration plans to dump the US-installed president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, and replace him by one of four CIA-groomed candidates. The problem is, three new stooges won’t be any better than one old stooge. London is warning Washington both against a precipitous change of regime in Kabul that would be widely viewed as crass political manipulation. ... Obama’s dismaying eagerness to expand the war demonstrates political inexperience and a faulty grasp of events in Afghanistan. ... The Afghan War will have to be ended by a political settlement that includes the Taliban-led nationalist alliance that represents over half of Afghanistan’s population, the Pashtun people. There is simply no purely military solution to this grinding conflict – as even the Secretary General of NATO admits. But instead of diplomacy, the new administration elected to stick its head ever deeper into the Afghan hornet’s nest. The bill for an intensified war will likely reach $4 billion monthly by midyear at a time when the United States is bankrupt and running on borrowed money from China and Japan. ... Why is President Obama, who came to power on an antiwar platform, committed to expanding a war where there are no vital US interests? Oil is certainly one reason. The proposed route for pipelines taking oil and gas from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea coast run right through Taliban-Pashtun territory. ... The US and its allies cannot be seen to be defeated by a bunch of Afghan tribesmen. Coming after the epic defeat in Vietnam and the trillion-dollar fiasco in Iraq, defeat in Afghanistan is simply unthinkable to the military-industrial-petroleum-financial complex that still seems to be calling many of the shots in Washington. [Click here to read the rest.]

Monday, February 02, 2009

Obama Continues Crime of CIA Rendition

The role of the CIA's controversial prisoner-transfer program may expand, intelligence experts say. By Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times February 1, 2009 Reporting from Washington -- The CIA's secret prisons are being shuttered. Harsh interrogation techniques are off-limits. And Guantanamo Bay will eventually go back to being a wind-swept naval base on the southeastern corner of Cuba. But even while dismantling these programs, President Obama left intact an equally controversial counter-terrorism tool. Under executive orders issued by Obama recently, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the United States. [Read the rest.]

Friday, January 30, 2009

Already - Three Promises Broken (at the very least)

A slightly expanded version of the following for clips is included at the end of this post.
----------
Obama airstrikes kill 22 in Pakistan The Sunday London Times, January 25, 2009
US pours cold water over hopes of Iran deal The London Times, January 30, 2009
In America, Speaking the Truth is a Career-Ending Event Counterpunch, January 26, 2009
CounterPunch, January 23, 2009
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I Told You So Palitone Press, January 25-30, 2009 For those of us who stand outside the pathetic sham that is American two-party politics and study it objectively, the future under the faux intellectual, Barack Obama, and his cabinet of warmongers is ENTIRELY predictable (almost as if we are reading directly from "the establishment's" game plan — which, basically, we are). But trying to point this out to Americans who unquestioningly believe in that sham is like trying to talk sense to members of a cult who are excessively arrogant and self-righteous due to their cult's long history and almost universal acceptance. The first time you try to convince members of this cult to, at the very least, investigate objectively all cult leaders — including their favorite ones — in order to discover that they are all frauds, the "cultists" look at you with smiles (or frowns) of supreme condescension, as if you are either a harmless, but deluded, blasphemer or a potential nuisance. If you continue to try to convince them, they will become annoyed and ignore you. If you persist beyond that, they will become openly hostile and shut you out completely. No amount of rational debate or proof is going to convince them to doubt their favorite leaders or their own deeply ingrained, highly partisan perceptions of reality. To them, the phrase, "open-minded, scholarly investigation," is just a trick to get them to read the "loony, biased opinions of deluded fringe groups." "Luckily," the newest cult leader (Obama) has already started to break his promises to his devoted cultists (even if they refuse to see it), as we tried to tell them he would. Severe disillusionment among his followers is predicted for the not-too-distant future. This I welcome, as disillusionment often leads to a recognition, once and for all, that American two-party politics is, indeed, a sham — a sinister sham. Update: According to the January 26, 2009, edition of the London Daily Mail, Fifteen percent of Americans appear to have become disillusioned with Obama already. Contrary to what most Obama supporters may think, I think these people have given him more than a fair chance. He just blew it in record time. However, I realize that he has promises to keep to the sleazy establishment that put him in the presidency. Making promises to them is like making promises to the Mafia. You break them at your own risk. That is the sham that is two-party politics. P.S. Of course, it is always possible (actually, highly probable) that millions of liberals will either deny, ignore and/or justify Obama's broken promises throughout his entire presidency, just as millions of fanatical conservatives continued to deny, ignore and/or justify Bush's actions throughout his entire presidency. As always, in such cases, the permanent beneficiary is our massive, increasingly Orwellian federal government, that continues to function like clockwork, regardless of party.
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Expanded version of the above four titles/links:
Obama airstrikes kill 22 in Pakistan The Sunday London Times, January 25, 2009 Islamabad is the first to get a taste of the president’s ‘tough love’ policy. ... The airstrikes were authorised under a covert programme approved by Obama, according to a senior US official.
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US pours cold water over hopes of Iran deal The London Times, January 30, 2009 The White House warned Iran last night that military action is still one of its options despite the "hand of friendship" offered by President Obama.
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In America, Speaking the Truth is a Career-Ending Event Counterpunch, January 26, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts The Bush regime was a lawless regime. This makes it difficult for the Obama regime to be a lawful one. A torture inquiry would lead naturally into a war crimes inquiry. General Taguba said that the Bush regime committed war crimes. President Obama was a war criminal by his third day in office when he ordered illegal cross-border drone attacks on Pakistan that murdered 20 people, including 3 children. The bombing and strafing of homes and villages in Afghanistan by US forces and America's NATO puppets are also war crimes. Obama cannot enforce the law, because he himself has already violated it.
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CounterPunch, January 23, 2009 By Ron Jacobs (retitled by MW of Palitone Press) ...Since he was elected, Mr. Obama has hedged on this promise [to bring the troops home from Iraq]. Since he was inaugurated, the Pentagon and its civilian boss, Robert Gates, have hedged even more. Now, they insist, US troops should remain. ... Even if Barack Obama overrides the Pentagon and Mr. Gates ... there will still be around fifty thousand US troops in Iraq. This is because Obama's call to bring all troops home from Iraq that began his campaign somehow morphed into a call to bring home only those troops determined to be "combat troops."
----------

Friday, January 23, 2009

The More Things "Change" ...

London Times Online January 23, 2009 President Obama 'orders Pakistan drone attacks' Missiles fired from suspected US drones killed at least 15 people inside Pakistan today, the first such strikes since Barack Obama became president and a clear sign that the controversial military policy begun by George W. Bush has not changed. ... locals also said that three children lost their lives. [Read the rest.]
Update 1 of 2, 8:38 AM, January 24, 2009:
Obama Dips His Hands in Blood Posted by Lew Rockwell at 07:28 AM Obama seemed like a decent guy, but as president, he has no hesitation in killing a group of people in Pakistan, including three little children. But what is murder in the private "sector is just public policy for the state, and Obama is head of state, so he wields his terrible, swift Predator on people he doesn't know, and of whom he knows nothing. During the campaign, he famously said that if missiles were endangering his daughters, he would "do anything" to stop them. Think anyone else feels the same way? (Via Antiwar.com)
Update 2 of 2, 8:38 AM, January 24, 2009: I say: Obama "finally" has some innocent blood on his hands; and he even broke international law to accomplish it too. What an enlightened soul. Of course, like most war criminals Obama can always say, "I was only following orders." However, if he really believes that then he didn't need to run for president in the first place, because he knew what he was getting himself into. If he didn't know from the beginning, then it should have become abundantly clear by the time he was the sole remaining democratic presidential nominee.

Monday, June 09, 2008

I Knew It By Heart

I'm almost too restless to write this entry.

Last week, I read an article in the local newspaper about an historical display that begins at noon today in my town and concludes two days from now. I have never seen one of these items in person in my life, but I have seen many, many, many of them on TV and in books since I was a kid. I have fantasized most of my life about seeing one in person. I remembered this event again yesterday and was thinking about going, but I had once again forgotten all about it this morning.

About twenty minutes ago (which was right at noon), I was sitting at my computer here in my basement. I had the world completely tuned out because I was concentrating on the task at hand. Suddenly, I heard an airplane approaching the house. This is not too terribly uncommon since our small airport (which caters only to small planes) is only about five or six miles east-northeast of my house, and Denver is southwest of my house; but the sound of that plane snapped me out of my trance so quickly you wouldn't believe it.

I said out loud to myself, "Oh my God! That's it!"

I knew the sound of that plane by heart even though I had never heard one in person in my life. I jumped out of my desk chair and ran to the window.

And there it was! Flying low right in front of my house!

A fully restored World War II B-17 bomber!

This very plane!

It is named "Sentimental Journey" and is one of the very few fully restored B-17s in the world that still actually flies. Even though this isn't an uncommon route for airplanes to take to the local airport, it certainly isn't the only route. I couldn't believe it actually flew right past my house on the way to the local airport.

I only caught a glimpse of it through the window. I could have seen it really well if I had only stood still and watched, but I didn't. I wanted to film it!

I knew I would be too late in getting outside, but I still quickly grabbed my new Canon ZR-700 digital camcorder, unzipped its bag while running to the front door (trying to remain calm enough not to fumble the unzipping process), and ran outside. By the time I started filming and had barely reacquainted myself with the On, Record and Zoom buttons, the plane was already too far away to capture its features very well (and the video quality of my new camcorder stinks, which is very depressing). Here are two images of the plane just before it disappeared behind the apartment building next door and one image just after it reappeared behind the building. I'm sure the history lovers among you will still be able to recognize that very familiar outline.




[P.S. Even though the video quality of my camcorder royally stinks, it does an amazing job of importing old VHS videos, so I couldn't bring myself to return it for a refund because that's why I really wanted it.]

[Update 6-10-08: Here is the local newspaper's story on this plane. Several press people got to take the first ride in it yesterday. I shall have more later.]

Friday, June 06, 2008

Robert F. Kennedy, 40 Years Ago Today

Canadian journalist and author Barrie Zwicker was once asked this question: "Do you take offense at the term 'conspiracy theorist'?" Zwicker replied, "I welcome being called a conspiracy theorist, as this exposes the intellectual bankruptcy of the person applying it and provides me with an opportunity to point out that intellectual bankruptcy."

Part One: The Men Who Killed Robert F. Kennedy In memory of Robert F. Kennedy, who was killed 40 years ago today, I present a fifteen-minute BBC report from November 2006 (scroll down). Once you've watched it, most of you will agree that the evidence presented is very difficult to refute.

Fifteen minutes is a very short period of time. You could be finished watching this report before you have even finished your first glass of wine or beer. So please consider taking some time out of your regular routine in order to enlighten yourself as to what is almost certainly the truth. We owe it to ourselves and to his memory to learn what really happened that day.

Part Two: The Men Who Killed John F. Kennedy Each video segment in this section is just over nine minutes in length (for the sake of avoiding a slow browsing experience I am only creating links to these YouTube videos instead of embedding them).

There are three episodes in this truly excellent series, but I have only included Episodes 1 and 3. Episodes 1 and 2 were aired on the History Channel a few years ago, but a very influential family (you'll guess who when you watch it) forced the History Channel at the last second not to air Episode 3 (coincidentally, the History Channel has become little more than a pathetic joke in the days since they aired this series). Luckily, some civic-minded person put all three episodes on YouTube in November 2006, and I watched them at that time.

I first heard about the theory that is expressed in (the censored) Episode 3 in about 1990 when a native Texan and her South Dakota husband, who had been in the Air Force in Texas, told me about it. They said that large numbers of Texans believe it. They completely believe it too and were determined to convince me. I was polite and open-minded (they were my close friends, after all), but I didn't believe a word of what they said. Episode 3 set me straight. It starts out a little too abruptly with its theory, which may put the viewer on the defensive, as it did me, but it soon gathers lots of steam and leaves little, if any, room for doubt. Episode 1 does a great job of setting the stage for Episode 3.

If a skeptic watches these videos and still has any doubts afterward, then I don't know what to say to that person. The same holds true of the very convincing segments on Robert F. Kennedy.
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Part One: RFK

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Part Two: JFK

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Hey! I Like an Angry Song! ;-)

I just found this independently produced music video via a link at another web site and must admit that it is quite catchy. Furthermore, not only is Aimee Allen very attractive (in spite of those tattoos), but she has a great grasp on the situation (so say I). You will also notice that her anger has a positive message behind it (with such an appealing smile, how could she not be promoting a positive message?). I am feeling very tempted to be infatuated with her, regardless of (sob!) my being "too old." But I won't. I'm not that much of a weakling (ha?).

Note: In spite of the immediate goal of this video, which you will learn at the 23-second mark (forgive me ;-), the overall theme, which begins at the 37-second mark, is quite well done. I hope you won't stop watching it. It's not that long, and it isn't (unlike yours truly) a broken record (no pun intended).

Update: No wonder she is predisposed to sing a song like this (and I am predisposed to be infatuated with her): She's a native of Montana. ;-)


https://dai.ly/x3yrih6

P.S. I also really like the softer songs that play automatically at her MySpace link above (especially the second one, which is entitled I'm Here). She's got a beautiful voice and a nice old-fashioned style.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Excruciating Gatherings

This post originally started out as a comment at Kat's Musings and Meanderings, but, as usual, it became too long, and, in spite of what most of her readers may think, I don't like being one of the very few people who has more to say than everyone else. If I wasn't one of the only ones to be so long winded, maybe I wouldn't be so self-conscious (or maybe I'm actually "normally winded," and everyone else in this "sound-bite" world is too "short winded" ;-).

[Update 5/22/08: It was only after writing this comment that I discovered I had misread what Kathleen wrote. That meant I had done all this writing for nothing. She then replied to my comment this morning in a way that allows me to post my comment anyway (the first three comments at the link below explain it all).]

Kathleen's Question:
In her latest post, Kathleen asks: "Who invented bridal/baby shower games? Can they be shot? Strung up by their toenails? Waterboarded? Honestly."

My Know-It-All Response
I'm sure bridal/baby showers are a carryover from past decades/centuries when young couples were too poor to buy stuff on their own -- and had no credit-cards to entice them to buy stuff anyway --, and shopping was a rare luxury, not a nationwide addiction. But probably even more importantly, in those days there were no TVs (with god-awful, lowest-common-denominator shows like American Idol), no radios, no internet, no tune-out-the-world iPods, no cell phones, no beepers, no Blackberries, no "IM-ing," no fast cars to take us to impersonal bars and malls, no fast-paced, high-pressure careers (which have, regrettably -- for far too many people -- become an end in and of themselves instead of a means to an end) to help us "pass" all our time as painlessly as possible in solitary seclusion (except with regard to careers). In the old days the only real entertainment or contact people had with the outside world in a leisurely manner -- aside from reading daily or weekly newspapers, or a rare book or two, or a very rare letter or two per month from friends and family -- was to gather together and visit. Since transportation was extremely slow and opportunities relatively rare (especially in the sparsely populated west), they usually made the most of those visits by making them last for hours. Besides that, since life was so much more slowly paced in those days, and since there were few, if any, other entertainment alternatives, they were seldom in any hurry to leave.

Well sadly, times have changed, and many people are not only more isolated than ever, they seem to have grown to prefer it (I've become very guilty of it myself, although I hate it at the same time), but the custom of bridal/baby showers appears to have endured for some reason, maybe because lots of women will always love babies and weddings -- or at least the idea of babies and weddings; and they just assume that all other women feel the same way too, so they inconsiderately expect them to participate.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Sandy Denny - Mesmerizing (IMHO)

At one time in my life, this would have been a very typical post for me. If only I could return (full time) to those days once again.

I had never heard anything by Sandy Denny before a few minutes ago. In fact, I don't think I have ever heard her name before now (although I cannot say for sure). Here, in a session that was recorded in 1971, she sings a song entitled, Late November.

She is neither pretentious nor full of herself, as so many "folk singers" seem to be these days. Her representation of the folk-music genre isn't over the top either, as so many neo-folk-music songs seem to be in the 21st century. For Ms. Denny it is TRULY all about the song and the feeling, not herself or some angry agenda. Her minimalist performance is beautiful, mesmerizing and enchanting, at least to a nostalgic, sentimental pushover like me who loves these trips back in time.




[Update 5/20/08: I learned today that I actually have seen Sandy Denny's name in print before and heard her beautiful voice in one particular song (I just had not heard of her before). Hers is the amazing female voice in the Led Zeppelin song, The Battle of Evermore (based on a battle in the Lord of the Rings trilogy). I have always been very impressed by her voice in that song, but I didn't think I would ever learn who she is. I dug out my Stairway to Heaven album today and played the song again for the first time in years. Her name is printed on the album's inside sleeve, but it doesn't say what she does on the album, so I had no idea she is the female singer in The Battle of Evermore. In fact, I had no idea if Sandy, in this particular case, is a man's or a woman's name. Whether you like Led Zeppelin or not, it's worth listening to the song at the link just to hear her voice. I actually like The Battle of Evermore. It has an almost hypnotic rhythm.]

Monday, May 05, 2008

I Knew This, But Did You?

From The Air Force Times:
From January 2007 through March of this year, service members or civilian employees of the military donated at least $766,000 to presidential candidates... The analysis included donations of at least $200...
[Staunchly anti-war candidate Ron] Paul... received the most military contributions, with $201,271. That’s significantly more than the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain from Arizona, who received $132,133 from military donors... Obama, meanwhile..., has received $178,456 in military contributions, compared to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s $85,000, the analysis shows... [Read the rest.]
What do these military folks know that most civilian folks don't know (or don't want to know)? It's too bad that any of these military donors believe that either of the democratic candidates will end the war, because they won't. They have made too many promises to the powerful, pro-war, corporate and media elites who have put them where they are today.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Solar Revolution

I've been a strong (actually, fanatical) proponent of alternative energies since I was a kid, not only because they save the environment (which was once my main reason), but also because they have the potential to put the all-powerful, mafia-like oil companies out of business, once and for all.* Therefore, I love short articles like this one, which was just published today:
The Solar Revolution and the End of Big Energy by Joe Schembrie Is Big Government necessary for Big Energy? The zealots of Big Energy claim that if we wish to keep the lights from going out, we must accept mammoth public utilities, mandatory conservation measures, and even imperialist military conflicts. We are told that to receive more electrical power, we must surrender more personal freedom. Contrary to the politicians, however, the reality is that we are in the midst of a Solar Revolution, in which the free market is answering our energy needs through technological improvements in photovoltaic solar panels. With investments made on a local and household basis, solar panels offer a personalized form of energy that is independent of Big Government. Yet the ideologues of Big Energy won't give up, and are fighting against the Solar Revolution by resorting to demagogic propaganda. One of their most common lies, for example, is that sunlight is "too dilute" – implying that even if we covered the entire Earth with solar panels we would still not capture enough sunlight to power our civilization. But let's run the numbers, shall we? -- [Click here to read the remaining ten paragraphs.]
Bonus link: I also present to you this amazing and inspiring documentary from the late 1990s: Free Energy: The Race to Zero Point. The production quality may make it seem a little dated, but don't let that fool you. The many examples of almost science-fiction-like free energy (but which already exist!) are what count, not the production values.
Footnote: *Abundant alternative energies would also mean the end of unjust, criminal wars -- at least as far as oil goes, that is. I'm sure the military contractors who control our government would find other excuses to demonize, then invade and, finally, rob tiny countries that pose no threat to our security as an independent nation (as President Eisenhower tried to warn us in 1961 -- 2.5 minutes long).

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

La La La Means Blah Blah Blah

On April Fool's Day, 2008, I posted an entry that contains every Top 100 song from 1950 to 1989 that has any variation of the word "Fool" in the title. That post was the result of a last-second change of plans "in honor" of that day. This was the post I had originally intended to post first.


The April Fool's Day post didn't require much work. This one did. In spite of that, and in spite of the fact that very few of these songs are "my type," it was fun, nostalgic and maybe even a bit "educational."


Why Did I Publish this List?
Answer (also be sure to refer to LL's comment of 8:11 AM, 4/24/08, and my reply): When I converted a Top 100 list from text files into database files (for MUCH easier referencing than always thumbing through my Billboard Top 100 book), I was continually (that's an understatement) seeing songs with gibberish titles. The endless procession of them was quite "impressive," so I decided it was a subject worthy of a blog post. Note: While I was creating the links to these songs, I discovered that many of them are of the "soul" and/or "Motown" variety. Songs with smiley faces at the end are what I consider to be somewhat humorous. I have also randomly labeled two or three as being "GOOD," even though it is the first time I had ever heard them (if I remember correctly).
The dates are those on which the songs peaked on the Cash Box charts. Their highest point on the charts is indicated in parentheses.

I encourage you to change your routine for once and actually listen to a few of these songs, especially the ones that you would normally never consider worthy of your time, and/or the ones that you think you've never heard before. Just remember that you are traveling back in time when you do this and are hearing songs that billions of ears have not heard since about the time they were released.



Links finally updated on May 15, 2012 (it took several hours of monotonous copying, searching, linking, etc.).


The List
01/14/50 - Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Good-Bye) - Art Mooney & Orchestra - (31)
02/04/50 -
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song) - Jo Stafford & Gordon Macrae - (7)**
06/10/50 -
Hoop-Dee-Doo - Perry Como - (4)
02/24/51 -
Zing Zing, Zoom Zoom - Perry Como - (10)
03/17/51 -
Tonda Wonda Hoy - Dean Martin - (33)
04/02/51 -
Aba Daba Honeymoon - Debbie Reynolds & Carleton Carpenter - (27)
03/21/53 -
Kaw-Liga - Hank Williams & Drifting Cowboys - (19)
09/05/53 -
Rub-A-Dub-Dub - Ralph Flanagan & Orchestra - (29)~~
09/12/53 -
Chicka Boom - Guy Mitchell - (16)~~
05/08/54 -
A Girl, A Girl (Zoom-Ba Di Alli Nella) - Eddie Fisher - (6)
06/19/54 -
Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenelle Bogen By The Sea - Four Lads - (28)
08/07/54 -
Sh-Boom - Crew-Cuts - (1)
10/02/54 -
Oop-Shoop - Crew-Cuts - (13)~~
01/22/55 -
Ling, Ting, Tong - Five Keys - (24)
06/18/55 -
Chee Chee-Oo Chee (Sang The Little Bird) - Perry Como & Jaye P. Morgan - (17)~~
07/30/55 -
Piddily Patter Patter - Patti Page - (25)
05/05/56 -
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo - Dick Hyman Trio (also Roger Williams) - (41)
06/16/56 -
Ooby Dooby - Roy Orbison & Teen Kings - (48)
07/28/56 -
Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent & Blue Caps - (5)
09/22/56 -
Ka-Ding Dong - G-Clefs - (17)
10/20/56 -
Heeby-Jeebies - Little Richard - (50)
11/17/56 -
Chincherinchee - Perry Como - (44)
12/15/56 -
Tra La La - Georgia Gibbs - (36)
02/09/57 -
Wringle Wrangle - Fess Parker - (12)
05/11/57 -
Ring-A-Ding-A-Ding - Tommy Sands - (31)
06/29/57 -
Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am The Japanese Sandman) - Cellos - (46)
09/28/57 -
Zip Zip - Diamonds - (36)**
11/09/57 -
Be-Bop Baby - Ricky Nelson - (6)
02/01/58 -
La Dee Dah - Billy & Lillie - (4)
03/01/58 -
Click-Clack - Dickey Doo & Don'ts - (29)~~
03/08/58 -
Bop-A-Lena - Ronnie Self - (60)
05/03/58 -
Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu - Dicky Doo & Don'ts - (60)~~
07/19/58 -
Op - Honeycones - (65)
10/18/58 -
La-Do-Da Da - Dale Hawkins - (35)
12/27/58 -
Bimbombey - Jimmie Rodgers - (11)
02/28/59 -
Blah, Blah, Blah - Nicola Paone - (36) ;-) ;-) (a few seconds of another song plays first)
04/04/59 -
Boom-A-Dip-Dip - Stan Robinson - (75)
04/18/59 -
The Wang Dang Taffy-Apple Tango (Mambo Cha Cha Cha) - Pat Boone - (61)
07/11/59 -
Ring-A-Ling-A-Lario - Jimmie Rodgers - (38)
10/10/59 -
Poco-Loco - Gene & Eunice - (73)~~
11/14/59 -
Woo-Hoo - Rock-A-Teens - (18) (GOOD!)
01/02/60 -
Coocoo-U - Kingston Trio - (72)
01/23/60 -
Do-Re-Mi - Mitch Miller & Orchestra - (48)
02/20/60 -
Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop - Little Anthony & Imperials - (21)
06/04/60 -
Ding-A-Ling - Bobby Rydell - (17)
06/04/60 -
Ooh Poo Pah Doo (Pt. 2) - Jessie Hill - (32)
07/02/60 -
The Yen Yet Song - Gary Cane & Friends - (93)
07/16/60 -
Be Bop A-Lula - Everly Brothers - (84)
08/20/60 -
Bongo Bongo Bongo - Preston Epps - (60)09/24/60 - Ta Ta - Clyde McPhatter - (23)
10/08/60 -
(I Do The) Shimmy Shimmy - Bobby Freeman - (55)
12/03/60 -
Ruby Duby Du - Tobin Matthews & Co. - (27)
10/28/61 -
The Hoochi Coochi Coo - Hank Ballard & Midnighters - (14)
02/18/61 -
Ja-Da - Johnny & Hurricanes - (88)
04/15/61 -
Ling-Ting-Tong - Buddy Knox - (95)~~
04/15/61 -
Shu Rah - Fats Domino - (34)~~
05/13/61 -
Bumble Boogie - B. Bumble & Stingers - (21) (GOOD)
06/10/61 -
Buzz Buzz A-Diddle-It - Freddy Cannon - (35)
06/24/61 -
Rama Lama Ding Dong - Edsels - (21)
07/15/61 -
Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta - Ernie K-Doe - (43)
07/22/61 -
The Switch-A-Roo - Hank Ballard & Midnighters - (45)~~
07/29/61 -
Dum Dum - Brenda Lee - (4)
09/23/61 -
Who Put The Bomp (In The Bomp, Bomp, Bomp) - Barry Mann - (7)
10/28/61 -
Ya Ya - Lee Dorsey - (8)
12/02/61 -
A-One A-Two A-Cha Cha Cha - Lawrence Welk & Orchestra - (94)
01/27/62 -
Do-Re-Mi - Lee Dorsey - (33)
03/10/62 -
Chip Chip - Gene McDaniels - (16)
04/21/62 -
Tra La La La La - Ike & Tina Turner - (55)
07/07/62 -
Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker - (83)
07/21/62 -
The Wah Watusi - Orlons - (2)
08/11/62 -
Lolita Ya-Ya - Ventures - (100)
09/08/62 -
Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow - Rivingtons - (35)
10/13/62 -
Hully Gully Baby - Dovells - (21)
11/03/62 -
Pop Pop Pop-Pie - Sherrys - (40)
11/24/62 -
The Cha-Cha-Cha - Bobby Rydell - (13)
11/24/62 -
Wiggle Wobble - Les Cooper & Soul Rockers - (21)
12/08/62 -
Diddle-Dee-Dum (What Happens When Your Love Has Gone) - Belmonts - (51)~~
01/05/63 -
Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah - Bob B. Soxx & Blue Jeans - (9)
02/09/63 -
Loop De Loop - Johnny Thunder - (9)
02/16/63 -
Puddin' N' Tain (Ask Me Again, I'll Tell You The Same) - Alley Cats - (49)
03/16/63 -
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo - Richard Chamberlain - (60)
06/15/63 -
Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home) - Crystals - (4)
07/27/63 -
Hootenanny - Glencoves - (39)~~
08/17/63 -
Dum Dum De Dum - Johnny Cymbal - (81)
08/24/63 -
Surfin' Hootenanny - Al Casey - (39)
09/28/63 -
Wham! - Lonnie Mack - (28)
10/05/63 -
Eefananny - Ardells - (85) (Goofy and fun ;-).
12/21/63 -
Ally Ally Oxen Free - Kingston Trio - (60)~~
12/28/63 -
Drip Drop - Dion Di Muci - (5)
01/04/64 -
Bon-Doo-Wah - Orlons - (43)
01/18/64 -
Tra La La La Suzy - Dean & Jean - (36)~~
02/15/64 -
Wow Wow Wee (He's The Boy For Me) - Angels - (40)
02/15/64 -
Hooka Tooka - Chubby Checker - (16)
02/15/64 -
Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um - Major Lance - (4)
02/22/64 -
Shimmy Shimmy - Orlons - (62)
04/11/64 -
Sha-La-La - Shirelles - (59)
04/11/64 -
Hippy Hippy Shake - Swinging Blue Jeans - (23)
04/18/64 -
The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) - Betty Everett - (6)
10/10/64 -
La La La La La - Blendells - (74)
10/17/64 -
Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann - (1)
10/24/64 -
Chug-A-Lug - Roger Miller - (6)
01/09/65 -
Boom Boom - Animals - (35)
01/09/65 -
Do-Wacka-Do - Roger Miller - (34)
01/16/65 -
Hey-Da-Da-Dow - Dolphins - (69)~~
01/23/65 -
Sha La La - Manfred Mann - (15)
05/15/65 -
Super-Cali-Fragil-Istic-Expi-Ali-Docious - Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke And Pearlies - (80)
05/22/65 -
Iko Iko - Dixie Cups - (19)
06/12/65 -
Boo-Ga-Loo - Tom & Jerrio - (43)
06/19/65 -
Wooly Bully - Sam The Sham & Pharaohs - (2)
07/17/65 -
Yakety Axe - Chet Atkins - (85)
08/28/65 -
Oowee, Oowee - Perry Como - (68)~~
11/20/65 -
Ring Dang Doo - Sam The Sham & Pharaohs - (28)~~
03/05/66 -
Smokey Joe's La La - Googie Rene Combo - (98)
04/02/66 -
La La La - Gerry & Pacemakers - (87)
05/28/66 -
Dum-De-Da - Bobby Vinton - (32) (Nice one)
06/11/66 -
S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song) - Joe Tex - (53)
07/09/66 -
Hanky Panky - Tommy James & Shondells - (1)
11/05/66 -
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) - Otis Redding - (38)
12/17/66 -
Alvin's Boo-Ga-Loo - Alvin Cash & Registers - (79)
01/28/67 -
Wack Wack - Young Holt Trio - (53)
03/04/67 -
Peek-A-Boo - New Vaudeville Band - (94)
03/25/67 -
Mairzy Doats - Innocence - (75)
06/24/67 -
The Oogum Boogum Song - Brenton Wood - (43)
11/04/67 -
Karate-Boo-Ga-Loo - Jerryo - (57)
11/04/67 -
Shout Bamalama - Mickey Murray - (49)
02/03/68 -
Zabadak - Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - (56) (Great)
02/17/68 -
Itchycoo Park - Small Faces - (13)
03/30/68 -
La-La-Means I Love You - Delfonics - (4)
04/06/68 -
Tapioca Tundra - Monkees - (47)
05/25/68 -
Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day - Stevie Wonder - (7)
09/28/68 -
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly - (56) (Classic)
10/26/68 -
Do The Choo Choo - Archie Bell & Drells - (46)
11/23/68 -
Bang-Shang-A-Lang - Archies - (9)
12/07/68 -
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Paul Mauriat & Orchestra - (86)
01/18/69 -
Shake A Poo Poo - Chet "Poison" Ivey & Fabulous Avengers - (100)
01/18/69 -
Tit For Tat (Ain't No Taking Back) - James Brown - (50)~~
02/01/69 -
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - Arthur Conley - (74)**
03/01/69 -
Witchi Tai To - Everything Is Everything - (61)
09/13/69 -
Keem-O-Sabe - Electric Indian - (18)
10/11/69 -
Mah-Na-Mah-Na - Piero Umiliani - (44) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)
11/08/69 -
Ooh Ooh Ooh - Sam & Dave - (98)
12/13/69 -
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - Steam - (3)
01/17/70 -
La La La (If I Had You) - Bobby Sherman - (11)
01/24/70 -
Jingle Jangle - Archies - (8)
01/31/70 -
Look-Ka Py Py - Meters - (55)
05/02/70 -
Uhh - Dyke & Blazers - (85)~~
07/11/70 -
Gimme Dat Ding - Pipkins - (7) ;-) ;-)
09/05/70 -
Hi-De-Ho - Blood, Sweat & Tears - (9)
09/19/70 -
Riki Tiki Tavi - Donovan - (40)
05/29/71 -
Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It) - Daddy Dewdrop - (5)
06/19/71 -
Ooh Poo Pah Doo - Ike & Tina Turner - (37)
07/17/71 -
Crazy About The La La La - Smokey Robinson & Miracles - (49)~~
09/11/71 -
K-Jee - Nite-Liters - (39)
10/09/71 -
Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - Mac & Katie Kissoon - (18)
10/09/71 -
Co-Co - Sweet - (85)
10/23/71 -
Yo-Yo - Osmonds - (2)
03/11/72 -
Floy Joy - Supremes - (16)
05/06/72 -
Iko Iko - Dr. John - (52)
10/21/72 -
My Ding-A-Ling - Chuck Berry - (1) ;-)
11/04/72 -
Deteriorata - National Lampoon - (88) ;-)
02/03/73 -
Tweedlee Dee - Little Jimmy Osmond - (49)
02/03/73 -
Hi, Hi, Hi - Wings - (6)
03/17/73 -
Boo, Boo, Don't 'Cha Be Blue - Tommy James - (40) (Nice)
04/28/73 -
Oh La De Da - Staple Singers - (35)
07/21/73 -
Shambala - Three Dog Night - (1)
02/09/74 -
Wang Dang Doodle - Pointer Sisters - (69)
02/16/74 -
Abra-Ca-Dabra - Defranco Family - (23)
02/23/74 -
Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) - Rolling Stones - (10)
06/29/74 -
Sho Nuff Boogie (Pt. 1) - Sylvia & Moments - (91)
11/30/74 -
La La Peace Song - Al Wilson - (46)
12/14/74 -
Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy) - Al Green - (7)
02/08/75 -
Ding Dong; Ding Dong - George Harrison - (36)
02/08/75 -
Hot Dawgit - Ramsey Lewis & Earth, Wind & Fire - (72)~~
08/16/75 -
(Shu-Doo-Pa-Poo-Poop) Love Being Your Fool - Travis Wammack - (50)
09/25/76 -
Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang - Silver - (16) (A classic)
12/18/76 -
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - Beatles - (47)
01/22/77 -
Dazz - Brick - (5)
02/19/77 -
Dis-Gorilla (Pt. 1) - Rick Dees & Cast Of Idiots - (81)
07/09/77 -
Da Doo Ron Ron - Shaun Cassidy - (1)
11/19/77 -
Dusic - Brick - (30)
02/18/78 -
Cocomotion - El Coco - (52)
09/16/78 -
Boogie Oogie Oogie - Taste Of Honey - (1)
01/17/81 -
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - Police - (13)
02/28/81 -
Ooo-Eee - Nicolette Larson - (85)
11/21/81 -
La La Means I Love You - Tierra - (64)
02/06/82 -
Abacab - Genesis - (40)
08/28/82 -
Abracadabra - Steve Miller Band - (1)\
02/18/84 -
Yah Mo B There - James Ingram (With Michael Mcdonald) - (25)
04/14/84 -
Radio Ga-Ga - Queen - (14)
09/29/84 -
She Bop - Cyndi Lauper - (3)
03/02/85 -
Ooh Ooh Song - Pat Benatar - (35)
05/18/85 -
Oo-Ee-Diddley-Bop! - Peter Wolf - (67)
06/01/85 -
My Toot Toot - Jean Knight - (64)**
06/29/85 -
Sussudio - Phil Collins - (1)
08/17/85 -
Abadabadango - Kim Carnes - (70)~~
03/08/86 -
Bop - Dan Seals - (48)
06/21/86 -
Land Of La La - Stevie Wonder - (83)
10/11/86 -
Paranoimia - Art Of Noise With Max Headroom - (32)
05/09/87 -
Sela - Lionel Richie - (24)
06/11/88 -
Rooty Toot Toot - John Cougar Mellencamp - (70)
12/10/88 -
Peek-A-Boo - Siouxsie & Banshees - (60)
12/10/88 -
Hippy Hippy Shake - Georgia Satellites - (51)