Let's Get Political

497 Hatch F7

Add transition relief for the excise tax on high cost insurance plans for any State with a name the (sic) begins with the letter "U"

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you an amendment added by Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-U fucking kidding me) - Utah, to Sen. Max Baucus' (D-MT) health care mark because of the likelihood that the transition would benefit states like New York, New Jersey and California where the cost of insurance is higher than Utah's.

“The transition relief provided in the chairman’s mark for the 17 states with the least affordable health care is obviously arbitrary and unfair,” Mr. Hatch wrote, explaining the rationale for his amendment. “What about the 18th state? This amendment would add further transition relief in another, but no less arbitrary way to certain states.”

Here are some other amendments added by Republicans:

Ensign 409 - Transparency in Czars.

Hatch 511 - Strike the word “fee” everywhere it appears in the bill and replace with the word “tax.”

Roberts 137 - To prevent Medicare payment policies which discourage physicians from fulfilling their Hippocratic Oath to maintain the good of their patients as their highest priority, and instead encourage the rationing of health care.

Roberts 144 - To ensure that if people like the hometown hospital they have, they can keep it.

No word yet if Republicans will be asking that states that begin with double "U" should be given the same transition relief. You know, states like Washington, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
Two versions of the same song by two great men.
Randy Newman - The Beehive State from Randy NewmanHarry Nilsson - The Beehive State from Nilsson Sings Newman
And something that just feels appropriate
The Sharades - Dumb Head

Kanye Being Kanye or People Talk So Much Shit About Me At Barbershops. They Forget To Get Their Haircut.

Alright, as you all must have seen or heard of by now, Kanye West pulled a real dick move this past Sunday at the VMA's by interrupting a speech by "country star" Taylor Swift. First, I still can't believe they give out awards for music videos to the people who had nothing to do with the creative process of the video, let alone let them speak about what it means to win the award. Why not let the director or someone story boarded the video get up there? Oh, right. Ratings. Anyway, if they just gave the video to the director or someone this whole Kanye/Taylor Swift thing could have been avoided. I blame MTV entirely.

Now anyone who is surprised by Kanye's actions must live under a rock or is over 30 (looking at you everyone in the media) because everyone else knows that Kanye + MTV award show = ahh shit! It doesn't even have to be on this continent and the proverbial shit will still hit the fan.

Kanye West's MTV Tirade | Celebrities | SPIKE.com

See! And you know what, I don't care. Part of my admiration for Kanye West and his music is his ego and the ability to just be a huge asshole. Granted it looks bad when it's done to a 19-year-old, but come on! Did you see that video?

For the last few days we've all had to put up with those godawful, unfunny Kanye interruption memes, and I for one cannot wait to see what Mr. West does with this new found backlash. If you happened to watch him on The Jay Leno Show (is anyone watching that?), you might have seen how an artist can focus all his anger and intensity into a song. Putting up with Leno and his asking about how Kanye's deceased mother would feel about his actions.

In the end, if he refuses to apologize anymore and please God no duet Swift, this will become just another entry on Kanye's wikipedia page, and I may even go in and edit it myself to "Kanye was right" and "whatever happened to Taylor Swift." After all, he was just being what we all expect him to be: himself.

Kanye West - Hey Mama (Grammy 2008 Version)

Kanye West - Robocop from 808s and Heartbreak

Kanye West - Everything I Am from Graduation

Kanye West - Jesus Walks from The College Dropout

Kanye West ft. Consequence & Cam'Ron - Gone from Late Registration

I'm also including the songs that are sampled on "Gone" and "Everything I Am" because they're great.

Otis Redding - It's Too Late from The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads

Prince Phillip Mitchell - If We Can't Be Lovers

So Long, Summer

That's it. Summer is officially done now that Labor Day is behind us. This post will be used to look back on the songs that made up the soundtrack to both MY summer, which seems to include a lot of Kanye West. Oh well, I'm not complaining. There just seemed to be lacking something this summer when it came to the music. There was no "American Boy," (2008)"Hey Ya!," (2003) or "Umbrella" (2007). Nothing that you could hear blasting out of every car that had its windows rolled down or stoop party that went on for the whole night. The closest the summer got to that was when Michael Jackson died and you could literally scan the radio from end to end and hear a Jackson song on nearly every station. That little trick went on for two weeks or so.

I see this summer belonging to the underdog - not counting MJ or Kanye. The songs that made up my summer came from musicians that wanted to make their mark and managed to do so during the time of year that is traditionally the hardest. My number one isn't from a traditional band nor is the sound of the song. Japandroids turn its thrashing lo-fi/noise rock into sing-alongable pop, with childlike glee and superb hooks.

Many of these bands were able to break into the mainstream because the summer lacked that one hit, and I think this summer was better because of that.

1. Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire

2. KiD CuDi - Make Her Say (Ft. Kanye West and Common)

3. Dirty Projectors - No Intention

4. Crocodiles - I Wanna Kill

5. The Dream - Walking On The Moon (Ft. Kanye West)

6. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others

7. Jarvis Cocker - Leftovers

8. Drake - Best I Ever Had

9. Camera Obscura - French Navy

10. Jay-Z - Run This Town (Ft. Kanye West and Rihanna)

Special Mention

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean