The Sunshine Empire

Wisdom From Ben

2010-01-22T07:45:00.000-08:00

"Everywhere I go, DAMN there I am."

-Ben Folds

We are not connected with Sunshine Empire of Singapore

2009-10-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

Please review the statement on our parent site thesunshineempire.com, but we will repeat here that this is a blog about politics and has no connection whatsoever with the Singaporean company called Sunshine Empire or any of their officials currently on trial for fraud. These people are crooks preying upon the innocent and will get what they deserve. Any name similarity is purely coincidental. Please also note that we are THE Sunshine Empire, not just Sunshine Empire.

Top Ten Movie Countdown

2008-04-19T11:48:00.001-07:00

Some time ago here we did a top ten all time comics list. Now on The Sunshine Empire we are running down the top ten movies of all time. Come on over and check out who made the list.

Happy New Year

2008-04-11T09:52:00.001-07:00

We would like to extend a happy new year to our readers in Thailand. Make sure you douse your favorite relative and clean up that Buddha statue.

I ain't washing no clothes

2008-03-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

A long overdue update

2008-03-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

This blog is the prior version of The Sunshine Empire. This blog primarily concerns progressive political commentary, social satire, the occasional rant, and sports commentary. I had intended to write on local Jacksonville and Florida matters on this space, but the national Presidential election had pre-occupied me.

Florida though is again in the news due to the fight over the primary re-do. I was watching CNN this morning and Florida Representative Kendrick Meek was arguing that the people of Florida made their voices heard, which is an absurd claim. With nobody campaigning in the state it can hardly be viewed as fair. Locally the city of Jacksonville seems to be falling apart, and we'll see more as Charlie Crist's foolhardy plan to placate South Floridians turns northern Florida into Youngstown Ohio. No taxes will mean less police. Great.

The Jaguars however have made the moves they needed to in order to succeed past the second round of the playoffs this coming year. But the Titans improved as well. Maybe we'll see a repeat of the glory days of the late '90's. But this time the Jags better win.

For more national political talk please continue to visit our political commentary site The Sunshine Empire.

On the frigid Florida coast

2007-11-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

It is freezing in Florida. We're used to shorts and t-shirts, but it it finally cold. It's weird when you start seeing figures on the news start wearing overcoats, and you have a vague indication that it is getting cold somewhere. Then it finally overtakes you. The foul frigid breath of our Canadian brethren. It's 39 degrees, and I don't care how much snow you walk through that is cold.

I'll be heading down to Gainesville to see the University of Florida play Florida Atlantic University. For our Singapore readers that is a gigantic deal in the southern United States. College Football that is, because that game I am attending has little or no meaning. Just one more week until Free Shoes comes to town. I don't care how down Bobby and the boys may be, I want to pound them into the turf.

Lawton speaks from the grave

2007-09-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

''There's a feeling loose in the land of utter frustration and anger, stronger than I've ever seen it.''

-Lawton Chiles; Former Governor of Florida

On the Jaguars attendence figures and the obligation of our good 'ole boys

2007-09-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

Many national and local sports writers have been lamenting the Jacksonville Jaguars attendance figures this year. The team covers up large amounts of what is one of the largest stadiums in the National Football League in for all intents and purposes is the smallest market in the league. But there is a feeling that somehow the amount of people that are at the average Jaguar game is comparable to any other NFL market. Truth be told they should have to put up the temporary Florida-Georgia game extra seating for every one of the Jacksonville Jaguars home games in this supposedly football mad region of the sunshine state, but the whole story is never told by the liberal sports media in this town and outside it. After week two Jacksonville is drawing more warm bodies (especially in Duval in late summer, which lasts until December) than the Super Bowl Champions. Six other NFL football teams that have played a home game are averaging less than the Jacksonville Jaguars. Including Jesus' favorite football team the Dallas Cowboys. If Michael Vick was not killing dogs the Jags are probably in the middle of the pack in terms of attendance, even with consistent college football National Champions surrounding them.
That being said I think it is embarrassing what has happened in terms of attendance in that stadium. I for one will be in that stadium for the next game. In the old days of Jacksonville politics, great men like Jake Godbold would ensure that public evens like those where attended come hell or high water. When Jacksonville hosted the Olympic gymnastics trial in 1980 Godbold called in his contributors and good ole boys network and gave them the marching orders that those tickets would be sold. John Peyton is a part of one of the most powerful families in Northeast Florida. He should be calling the same people that he gives contracts to to buy those tickets whether it is a game with the Indianapolis Colts or the Bucs of 1976. Trust me, that team needs to make money but whether you like football or not the city has a vested interest in that team succeeding, and you know you love football. What the hell else are going to be doing on Sunday?

Let us alone will you

2007-09-19T19:48:00.001-07:00

This was the first flag of the State of Florida. It sums up my feelings completely when it comes to new growth in this state. If you would like to come and visit we will give you the best time. We will treat you like family. Just don't stay here.

On the state of Duval

2007-09-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

I may start writing back here again on some different subjects. I think if I have some local points about the City of Jacksonville and the First Coast I may just make them here. Please keep going to www.thesunshineempire.com for nation political news and humor. Not to mention the kind of music you know you like. Everyone is represented. But if I have a note to make, like the problems with raw attendance that people have begun to say nationally about the lack of interest in the Jaguars, I will make it here. Think of this as The Sunshine Empire Local Duval edition. By the way, the Jaguars had one of the largest stadiums in the league before they put the tarps on. Just as many people show up for the games as do any other city. So just shut the fuck up.

I think it is also embarrassing that the Duval County Democratic party could not find some reasonable candidate that could have stood against John Peyton. I think he has done an average job in extraordinary circumstances, but he was eminently beatable in his last election and got token opposition. My God rest the soul of Jackie Brown, but there needed to be someone with a little more weight as a candidate running against him. Harry Shorestien stands as the only county-wide elected Democrat and he is leaving soon.

These are just a few of the things that we will be discussing on this space, from time to time. Check us here at http://sunshineempire.blogspot.com for local and http://www.thesunshineempire.com.

Rock the shantytown

2007-08-10T23:12:00.001-07:00

Live from Shantytown in Springfield on West 6th street. One of my favorite places. One of the five best places to have a beer in Jacksonville.

The Rick takes aim at The Starlite

2007-08-03T20:44:00.001-07:00

He was also taking aim at his playing partner, the young lady pool player.

For those still checking the blogspot

2007-08-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

For those of you fine souls who still find this page, please visit the new and inproved The Sunshine Empire. We have all the great politics, music, sports, random rants, and cussing you want. What more do you want? What more, do you NEED? So check out The Sunshine Empire free standing blog for all of your asistimtary needs.

Behind the bar at Starlite

2007-07-05T22:21:00.001-07:00

Multimedia message

2007-07-05T21:41:00.001-07:00

Thesunshineempire.com

2007-07-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

Starting today www.thesunshineempire.com is up and running. We'll be posting some material from this blog and some new material in the next few days. We'll be getting many things that you are used to in this space going on the mothership. Thank you and remember, the future is tomorrow.

www.thesunshineempire.com

2007-06-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce that we are moving on up. Today the URL www.thesunshineempire.com has been registered and hosting has been set up to move our blog to it's own freestanding site. We'll continue to provide political commentary, humor and music for those who have an open, and disturbed mind. We'll be updating you on when to make the switch and we hope you will follow us there. We also would like to thank the good people at Google and Blogger for our time here. We will continue to write here, and will move all of our content to the new site. Thank you and we look forward to the dawn of a new age for The Sunshine Empire.

Kim Jong Il and the Oninon News Network

2007-06-30T01:13:00.001-07:00

In The Know: Kim Jong-Il's Approval Rating Plummets to 120%

God Bless America

2007-06-30T01:03:00.000-07:00

"America... just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable."

-Hunter S. Thompson

The still unanswered question of the WMD

2007-06-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

I was scanning The Huffington Post and I noticed a very small headline that caught my eye. "Four years later, the search for WMD ends." But is it the rantings of an insane liberal to ask the question, why did they get off on this one. This may be the central reason that we are all barreling headlong into irrelevancy as a republic. The government of this nation told us that we needed to invade a sovereign nation because they had mountains, "tons and tons" of chemical and biological weapons that they were going to send halfway around the world in attack aircraft no more complicated than Cessnas to rain death and hellfire on us. We as a nation, with the exception of the Sunshine Empire editorial board, willingly trusted our leaders and committed ourselves to this endeavor, and lo and behold there were no weapons.

It was not so much that this happened, it was that our questions where met with, "fuck, our bad, but whatever WE WON!" Our reaction as a nation was to pay more attention to the winner of American Idol than we did why we caused such a fucking cluster fuck in the most dangerous part of the world. But most who blindly protect the President in this regard most often say that the whole world thought that he had weapons, and that is a bald faced lie. The Germans gave every bit of information stating that they really did not want to give any validity to what they had found. Their double agent, "curveball" has since said everything he told interrogators was a lie. Good that we committed the full force of the United States Armed forces on the word of a high strung ex patriot Arab. If William Jefferson Clinton had lead us into a war promising to find something and it never appeared he would be in a bunker fearing for his life right now. Yet nary a peep out of those same people. They are just being held down by the big bad liberal media. Liberal media just means anything that is not currently or will not probably be owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Many conservatives also state that the WMD where never the main reason for the invasion. The HELL they were not. Why would Condi Rice be talking about a mushroom cloud as proof? The media has basically said, "that's old news," and the Administration has said, "just move on." But why is it so out of line to still ask, did George W. Bush lie to the American public? And if lying to a grand jury about a blow job is impeachable, they why is lying about a war not? And if lying to a grand jury about a blow job was worth millions and a year and a half of investigation, then why is lying about a war not?

Late in the day

2007-06-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

How times change

2007-06-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

"I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d’etat imaginable. And those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka 'Christians,' and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or 'PPs.'"

-Kurt Vonnegut

Lewis Black talks of bias in the media

2007-06-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

Another debate, again, for the first time, for the last time

2007-06-28T20:49:00.001-07:00

I watched the Democratic Candidates forum on PBS this evening and I have to say some things became clear. Bill Richardson's campaign staff must be a bunch of Republicans trying to screw him, because the man has good positions and a resume that puts them all to shame. Yet in these debates, and especially tonight, he looked lost and confused. Christopher Dodd continues to be brilliant at saying nothing at all. I've read this week that John Edwards is taking a turn that will take on right wing sources with direct attacks. This is unheard of in a party that is just discovering it has balls. The right wing media is aghast at this, because they grew up during the age of Bush. Dennis turned a question about education into an anti-Iraq speech, and Mike Gravel is still crazy. I will say Gravel does do this valuable thing, he constantly reminds the candidates and the crowd that they are not all blameless for all the insanity of the last six years. These things are really going to drive people to gouge their eyes out by November. The sad thing is I'll be watching.

A Side Note From Dutch

2007-06-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

I may be the only one on this one, but I've got a little rant that I have to express. I'm getting a little tired of being directed to do obvious shit in public. I don't carry cash as a practice, mainly on the advice of my accountant. But I use my check card a great deal every day. After making a purchase of a Red Bull, or some cheddar Sun Chips, I go to the register and present my card. I indicate that I wish to pay debit, and as I reach for the PIN device I hear the attendant state, "now enter your PIN sir." I don't know why, but that aggravates the shit out of me. I go to the same gas station every morning and I have even developed a method to have my card back in my hand and begin entering the PIN on the device even before the words have left her mouth. If you don't know the deal with debit yet at this late stage, and you need to be prompted for that, you need to have all of your accounts liquidated and invested in a minor's checking account, a piggy bank, and some coloring books.

Grammer in this age

2007-06-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

What is it about our society that we train our young in the ways of writing? These people grow to be lawyers and business owners. They write eloquently, but then open up an email message and then proceed to abandon about 95 percent of the training and experience in the English language. Some of us have decided even that punctuation is optional. One is supposed to assume where the breaks in thought are.

The Sunshine Empire '80's Retrospective: RHCP on Arsenio

2007-06-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

Technorati Profile

The Swamp Sleeps

2007-06-27T20:26:00.001-07:00

On being right

2007-06-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

"The worst tempered people I have ever met were those who knew that they were wrong."

-David Letterman

More on Darth Cheney

2007-06-26T19:19:00.001-07:00

The Surge and the tide turning

2007-06-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

I was speaking to the Emperor Emeritus of The Sunshine Empire tonight and he asked about the comments of Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. He made tacit admissions that "The Surge," which I thought was a failed energy drink, was not working. Where as most in favor of the surge of United States soldiers into Iraq had stated unequivocally that September would be long enough to judge it's effectiveness, he did not feel that we should wait that long. Senator Lugar has always been a practical Republican, and has never been among those who guzzle the neo-con Kool-Aid. Yet he's been reliable conservative that voted with Bush on matters relating to Iraq.

The real news was not his relatively mild statement, which his people assure us is not news to the White House. The news in it was how Jeff Sessions, George Voinevich, and John Warner all stated that they agreed in part. This is not a group of RINO's and had the EE thinking big. Yet Lugar and the group are not joining the Democrats in calling for an immediate withdrawal. The reality is they are simply positioning themselves for September. September will be the critical mass in this entire debacle. When the surge began, those advocating it pointed to September as a benchmark of evaluation to those weary of constant war. This has always been understood as the Hail Mary pass at the end of the game for Bush and those who sold us this. But as violence is up, U.S. deaths are up, and no end or solution is in site, General Petraeus and his puppet masters in the Administration have been backpedaling the surge into this multi-generational long term theory. Those who spoke up today understand this dodge and are positioning themselves for September. The report will come, and barring a huge change it will be more of the same. Those in the Republican party understand that this pointless war lost them the Congress, and could have them holding only the Supreme Court by January of 2009. They are all, aside from Jeff Sessions, very smart politicians and are all planning for September.

On having a plan

2007-06-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

-Sun-tzu, The Art of War

The Sunshine Empire 70's retrospective: Emerson Lake and Palmer

2007-06-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

On a summer day in The Sunshine Empire

2007-06-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

The War Of The Roses version 2.0

2007-06-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

I miss that cliche that was "2.0". I was scanning through the front page of Media Matters today and read a headline from commentator Larry Sabato that said, "That every President from 1989 to 2017 may be a Bush or a Clinton is a national disgrace." I didn't read the article but I will say he is exactly right. Our forefathers fought a war against the British so that they would not be ruled by a hereditary monarch, and we have happily re-instituted it ourselves smiling and willing. George H.W. Bush was a dedicated public servant, and Bill Clinton brought untold prosperity to the United States. After this we re-elected Dubya because we thought Kerry was creepy, and he's such a bad President that we as a nation are looking seriously at electing a former First Lady. The Sunshine Empire editorial board is certainly not going to walk down the road of investing the competency needed to be the leader of the free world in a person based solely in a person's last name. I am sure Senator Clinton would make an able leader, and I would certainly vigorously support her if she faces Rudolph Guliani in a general election, but it is still sad that it has come to this. The framers wanted the job to attract those like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, farmer politicians. People who felt the need to serve, then leave. Having a modern day War of the Roses across thirty years on the White House lawn is not what they intended.

This guy loves his air conditioning

2007-06-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

On the Republican message

2007-06-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

"You still have to vote for us 'cause my opponent is a slug, and they're going to tax you into the poorhouse. On the way to the poorhouse, you'll meet a terrorist on every street corner. And when you try to run away from that terrorist, you will trip over an illegal immigrant.'"

-Former President Bill Clinton, on the Republicans' 2006 campaign

If you were a hotdog. . .

2007-06-24T13:08:00.001-07:00

The Sunshine Empire Construction Company

2007-06-23T07:26:00.001-07:00

Working with Habitat for Humanity in the nation's oldest city.

On Etiquette

2007-06-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

"When you enter a room, you have to kiss his ring. I don't mind, but he has it in his back pocket."

-Don Rickles

How last saturday came to an end

2007-06-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

From Speakeasy in Columbia

What?

2007-06-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

On The Guantanamo Bait and Switch

2007-06-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

All of my enthusiasm from yesterday was misplaced. The White House apparently canceled the meeting set to discuss closing Guantanamo because it broke in the press. Oh well.

In reply to my last post a good friend asked, "If constitutional rights are conferred to non-citizens then what is the point of citizenship?" This point is the one that causes me the most consternation. We as Americans have spent our time as an imperial power spreading the great gift of our Constitution to those in the far reaches of the planet. We made evil empires in Germany and Japan model western democracies with free and peaceful people. Yet it seems that today we tell the world that it needs to turn to democratic freedoms, but if you were not born in the 50 states we can treat you however we damn well please. We tell the Iraqis to embrace the rule of law, but we keep our captives in a lawless nether-region. I would ask; if it is so incontrovertible that these people are so dangerous, what is the fear that this cannot be proven in court? Why is it that we feel we cannot let these people play by the rules that we tell the world are the best? It is not that constitutional rights are being given to non-citizens, it is that we seem unable to play by our own rules. If we cannot play by our own rules, then why do we even have them?

On Law and Government

2007-06-21T19:11:00.001-07:00

"Crime is contagious....if the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law."

-- Justice Louis Brandeis

Best Of Sifl and Olly

2007-06-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

Some best of Sifl and Olly

The Origins of a Legend

2007-06-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

Liam Lynch, who directed Tenacious D Pick Of Destiny, and Matt Croco discuss the creation of the legendary Sifl and Olly Show.

More on the discussion.

Rock On Bush

2007-06-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

"George Bush hates midgets."

-Chris Rock

Guantanamo comes under the rule of law

2007-06-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

News is breaking that the Bush Administration is coming to the decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Like many of the positions that the Administration has taken, and insisted if they had not catastrophic hell would break loose, they have changed their minds. In reality they are understanding that the law is against them, no matter what jingoistic Cheney loving lawyers in the Justice Department say otherwise. A decidedly conservative Supreme Court and Several Military judges have stated that the Administration's many plans are contrary to the very rule of law they state they are looking to uphold.

Yet the most curious and missed point in all of this is the complete hypocrisy that the Administration's line of thinking was. It may seem the rantings of a pompous American, but the values set forth by the framers in the 18th century are the most intrinsic and universal rights that the World desires for. Freedom is the God given right of every human walking the face of the Earth, but for some reason the Bushies feel that some deserve it and some don't. The cornerstone of the great American legal system is the right of a person to be innocent until proven guilty. It is for that right that countless Americans have died. But with Guantanamo we have essentially let the world know that that is not always the case. Now I am not saying that all the men that reside at the facility are all a bunch of huggy-bears but they deserve their day in court. American values are universal values, and the world needs to know that we are serious about it. Democracy is not always a Jimmy Stewart movie. I give the Administration credit for finally coming to this view. Too bad Darth Cheney.

Twilight Empire

2007-06-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Well, the Michael Bloomberg factor has been inserted into the 2008 race. I am extremely tired, but I can say my interest lies in who he draws votes away from. Will he draw from Hillary instead of Mitt, or McCain instead of Obama. The signals are mixed at this time. Initial polling seems to say Bloomberg turns more states blue than he does red in three way match-ups. Yet Republican pollsters seem to be rejoicing, convinced that this means a sure thing for the Party of Lincoln. For a quick aside though, why is the Republican party known as the Grand Old Party (GOP) despite the fact that the Democratic party is an older organization? But does Bloomberg want to be remembered at the Ross Perot, or the Ralph Nader of this election? Have I used the question mark much to often in this post? Yes.

On Qualifications for the Presidency

2007-06-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

"Any American who is prepared to run for President should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from every doing so."

-Gore Vidal

The Sunshine Empire; Roger World Tour Photos

2007-06-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

The taps at The Flying Saucer in Columbia

Weakness breeding terrorism

2007-06-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

He's the Governor of a major state

2007-06-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

"It became mainstream, it became sexy, attractive. And this is exactly what has to happen with the environmental movement. Like bodybuilders, the environmentalists were thought of as kind of weird fanatics also. You know the kind of serious tree huggers. Environmentalists were no fun. They were like prohibitionists at the fraternity party."

-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Sunshine Empire Author's Corner

2007-06-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

This man is often quoted and is considered one of the great authors of our time, by those who are sitting at this computer, typing right now.

On Law and Order, and Presidential Politics

2007-06-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

Much has been made recently about the coming candidacy of former Tennessee Senator and Hollywood know-it-all Fred Thompson. He has announced that he will announce his intentions for the Presidency of The United States of America sometime after Independence Day. One of my favorite new features of this Presidential election is the need to have your official announcement of your candidacy 14 separate times. Thompson has the punditocracy absolutely aflutter, and he has stormed to double digit showings in most primary states having not spent a dime. The sheer skill and timing of his campaign reeks of the legendary figures of professional politics. When back rooms where still filled with smoke and intrigue and you could enter the race after the first primary had already been staged. But as much as I have tried to pillory the fraud that is Mitt, I have to say to look deeper is impossible because there is no substance to Senator Thompson.

To start, his positions are almost in lockstep with the inept and hated boy king in the White House. Let's accept Iraq as the 51st state and Scooter's lying to a grand jury shouldn't mean jail, it should mean a raise. He also has barely six years in any elective office, and he's a lawyer from Hollywood. I've read many blogs that have made the point of the rank hypocrisy from the right when it comes to Hollywood. They are rich, and spoiled, and should just keep their mouth shut. Yet if you put an R next to your name they'll actually put you in charge of actual shit. If Carl Weathers is a republican they'll jump at the chance to make him the third cast member of Predator to be a Governor. Maybe he can replace that whiny pussy Kansas Governor who complained about the disaster relief equipment being in Iraq. Tornadoes are avowed America haters.

The real reason for the rock star treatment of Thompson boils down to the awkward group that are declared for the nomination now. A cross-dressing gay-loving New York City Mayor? A Mormon Massachusetts Governor who tried to out liberal Ted Kennedy when he tried to unseat him? Or maybe the man against torture who still has the bruise from Dubya's cock slapping him in the face so many times? Seems strange that Thompson is the answer. I would have thought that the Republicans would have strayed from the "pretty name and face" candidate considering how it turned out the last time.

All this could be upset by the decision of Michael Bloomberg to change his affiliation to unaffiliated. If he's leaving the Republican party that he joined just to become Mayor, but did not return to the Democrats, that means he's toying with the third party run jive. That could cause the whole dynamic to turn, 15 months before we should be bothering with this.

On Eating Healthy

2007-06-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

"What's the two things they tell you are healthiest to eat? Chicken and fish. You know what you should do? Combine them, eat a penguin."

-Dave Attell

The 2008 Race on the web

2007-06-17T20:44:00.001-07:00

Clown Assasains

2007-06-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Bow Ties

2007-06-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Through a gracious gift of by my good friend Andy in Columbia I now own my first bow tie. I can tie a normal necktie in a second. I have a dearth of wonderful long neck ties, and now a pretty neat bow tie. They do not tie the same though. I was not a very good Boy Scout, and did not get my knots merit badge. I have looked through two separate diagrams and still cannot tie the damn thing. I even did it reverse on my leg to try to understand but even that does not work. If only I could speak to the late Senator Paul Simon, or Tucker Carlson. I need help.

In the shadow of the Statehouse at The Hunter Gatherer

2007-06-16T19:24:00.001-07:00

Appearance Tonight

2007-06-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

Come out to the Speakeasy in the Five Points area of Columbia for an appearance live. Biggus Rickus will be drinking and I will be smoking a giant cigar, because I can.

Late at night and lots to drink

2007-06-15T22:19:00.001-07:00

Live from Art Bar in Columbia S.C.

Just a side note

2007-06-14T21:06:00.001-07:00

I hate Ann Coulter. Just wanted to go on record with that.

Roger Blog Series Nationwide Tour

2007-06-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

The real bulk of the Roger Blog Series Nationwide tour begins this weekend when both Biggus Rickus and I will be appearing in the Columbia South Carolina area this Friday to Sunday. This coming after Jolemite's glorious return to the First Coast. Then in early July Biggus Rickus visits the West Coast office and Jolemite. Followed in late July when the roses bask in The Sunshine Empire as I visit Portland. You'll be able to notice us this weekend, as we will be drinking it up with our good pal Woodsy. Maybe we'll also run into the Head Ball Coach.

Not a huge fan of dogs, but. . .

2007-06-13T19:28:00.001-07:00

House Of Sunshine Music Extravaganza: Vanilla Fudge

2007-06-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

421sth Post, for those who arrived late

2007-06-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

Did you know that one million one dollar bills weigh as much as 5873.714933333 hockey pucks. Think about it.

Democrats and Republicans

2007-06-11T20:28:00.001-07:00

"“A republican stands up in congress and says 'I GOT A REALLY BAD IDEA!!' and the democrat stands up after him and says 'AND I CAN MAKE IT SHITTIER!!'”

-Lewis Black

The Beatie Boys in jars in the future

2007-06-11T20:25:00.001-07:00

Republicans stand firmly against pointless vote

2007-06-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

Any claim made in politics is a lie. Any person that occupies the seat of power is only just the most desirable sack of bullshit. The Congress took up the fascinating and European concept of a no-confidence motion against Alberto Gonzalez. First off, Gonzalez is a no talent toady rubber stamp of the Bush Administration. He has turned the Justice Department into some kind of sick College Republicans Jesus club. That being said I don't think a vote of anything except impeachment means jack shit in the scheme of things. He serves at the pleasure of the President and he's more useful to any Democratic cause still in office still being the most clueless public liar in memory.

All of that aside one thing struck me about the process. During the Judicial nominee's battles two years ago, when Democrats where pushing a series of social workers and Republicans wanted men and women so right wing they viewed Robert Bork as no different than George Soros, Conservatives assailed the 60 vote cloture rule as some sort of shackle on Democracy, and threw around the idea of the nuclear option. Now they result in blocking what they had always demanded from the mountaintops, an up or down vote. It would not have mattered for them either. All of the GOP senators that had demanded the Attorney General resign, had all given signals that they would not vote for the motion. Lieberman, who has no principle by riding the fence and always voting with Bush, would have voted with them so they would have had a tie that Cheney would have decided in defeat for the Democrats. But they no longer see the value of the precious up or down vote.

It has to be coming to America

2007-06-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

House of Sunshine Music Extravaganza: Zero 7 live from The Matrix

2007-06-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

The Chairman of the Board on the man upstairs

2007-06-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

" I believe in you and me. I'm like Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I have a respect for life--in any form. I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky, in everything I can see or that there is real evidence for. If these things are what you mean by God, then I believe in God."

-Francis Albert Sinatra

For Our Asian Readers

2007-06-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

This proves that Asian game shows are so much better than anything that the West has to offer.

When was the last GOOD series finale?

2007-06-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

I sat with a group to watch the last episode of The Sopranos tonight. This group was made up of two dedicated fans of the show, and my sister. Like my sister I have never had an interest in the show, but I watched last week and had a vague interest because of the hype. I've never bought into the orgiastic delight that most public figure use to discuss how "brilliant" the show is, but with that said it is a good show. The show does build to a good climax, and then just ends with a blank screen. The first thing I thought of was the Seinfeld finale. Everybody was so incensed about how bad it was. Now it was a piss-poor episode, let alone a series finale, but I think much of the consternation was just over-expectation. Well sure enough the finale of The Sopranos was a news story on The ABC Nightly News. That's a little much. But as I read tonight, the HBO website has crashed due to angry fans of the show. Fan sentiment will be bad. It's all just a lead in to a Sopranos movie, and I can't blame them. The show must go on, but it does come to an end. As all good things do.

Shirley cripples a young Benicio Del Toro in the '60's

2007-06-09T08:54:00.001-07:00

Find The Path

2007-06-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

"I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed."

-Vincent Van Gogh

TSE Commentary: The Paris Hilton Affair, day 4

2007-06-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

As I came in to work word spread that some Hotel heiress had been let out of jail after having served a very short sentence. I also have it on good authority that this woman is known to have had sexual intercourse on the internet. That's good enough to be famous in the greatest country on earth. I had the opposite reaction to most of the members of the "water cooler" gang. I was kind of annoyed at the fact that this was a subject of conversation. There are plenty of rich, vapid whores getting away with murder in this country. To fixate on this particular silicon receptacle is just nakedly shallow. American men are being slaughtered on the other side of the planet and we are concerned by this. Conservatives are fond of saying, "if this were during World War II." If this were then FDR having a good morning constitutional would be news above this. This is Huxley's vision come true and Neil Postman was right. We are amusing ourselves to death.

House of Sunshine Music Master Series

2007-06-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

If you get the privilege to pay to see this man perform, you will feel afterward that you scammed him by paying so little. I watched him at the SCAD auditorium in Savannah and at the old Florida Theater in Gainesville, and I'll see him again. This is perhaps one of my favorite of his songs.

On salvation

2007-06-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

"Saints fly only in the eyes of their disciples"

-Old Hindu Saying

Bill Hicks on Marketing. Comedy from beyond the grave

2007-06-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

Nixon vs. Bush, a fight to the finish

2007-06-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Theodore Roosevelt may have been this nation's finest President, but my favorite has to be Richard Nixon. Such a bizarre icon and towering flawed character. I feel the closest comparison to him of modern President's is the current one. Bush and Nixon are so much alike, but many I know don't seem to agree. They both craved utter secrecy and both took the law into their own hands. Both appealed widely, but ended up universally derided. Both could not have imagined what nightmares their second terms were to become after their triumphs for re-election. Nixon was found to be cold, heartless and out of touch. Bush has just been found to be incompetent. Both the men have legacies that many would have though Democratic accomplishments. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency, and Bush created the huge Medicare drug entitlement. Both men carried on unpopular wars long past the public appetite for them, and Dick Cheney and Spiro Agnew are both dicks as well. The difference is Nixon had experience in the Federal Government and was an adept diplomat. Things that I personally miss the President having. I think Bush might beat Nixon in a fight though, because he's all fit. A man of his skills and abilities and he's as healthy as an ox. Although I've never been an authority of the overall health of oxen.

Happy in the rain

2007-06-06T19:49:00.001-07:00

I know this will make me come off as some kind of 14 year old emo bitch from the suburbs, but I've been in sort of a miserable mood. Yet the thing is I'm really strangely clear-headed in the last days. I'm a little creeped out. Maybe she was right, this song was written about me.

Yeah, we're.... number...... 1?

2007-06-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

"If you think the United States has stood still, who built the largest shopping center in the world?"

-Richard M. Nixon

The House of Sunshine Music Extravaganza: Tenacious D

2007-06-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is the greatest and best song in the world.

Sunshine Empire Post debate coverage: Who can be nominated President of 9/11

2007-06-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

I did not get to watch too much of the Republican debate tonight on CNN due to work, but I have seem a smattering at this point and want to cover some points. John McCain seemed to perform well. Mitt Romney took his positions of the evening. Yet his positions are like shooting stars, blink and they're gone. Rudolph Guliani almost got struck by lighting, and Tom Tancredo actually seemed to talk about what a bad President Bush had been. Bush will be only the fourth man to serve two full terms since the passing of the 23rd Amendment, and he's not Jesus like Reagan was at this point. Some don't care for him more than Judas really. The one moment that does have me calcifying in my Democratic roots after watching it, was the group all coming to the defense of poor old Lew Libby. When, the man most wing nuts view as the greatest threat to democracy on the planet, Bill Clinton lied to a grand jury we were told the republic would fall if this transgression went un-punished. Yet when a man with an elephant on his lapel lies to a grand jury about a matter of some importance above a private sexual encounter, the right treats him as if he is Jesus in the hands of the Pharisees. They all tonight spoke of an over ambitious prosecutor only out to score political points. I closed my eyes, and I could here the same script verbatim that the left was using in 1998. They all talk of the harm this will do to his family. I'm more concerned about the damage to political discourse in this country and the Federal laws that he broke. It's always a witch hunt when you're the one in the pointy black hat.

Overall the evening only proves the same thing that the Democratic shin-dig was on Sunday. Mitt, John, Rudy and Fred the inexperienced hot flavor of the week actor Thompson will be the four to beat and the rest will just wither and die as they see the money dry up.

Don Rickles is a master

2007-06-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

Don Rickles was close to making the The Sunshine Empire Top Ten Comics, but here is a great interview with David Letterman.

400th Post

2007-06-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

"Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us."

-P. J. O'Rourke

In the UFC Octogon, to decide the Presidency

2007-06-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

I listen to a great deal of Howard Stern and Bubba The Love Sponge while driving during the day, and they constantly talk about UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship. Now very quietly to the average sports fan this has crept up to a status almost on par with boxing in terms of money made. I know very little about what it looks like, and that Joe Rogan is the announcer for the broadcasts. But I thought that if we are going to stretch out our Presidential electoral cycle out two years, then the people who want to perpetrate that on the American people should be forced to physically fight for it in the Octagon.

You would have to seed the contestants at first, so you would see first round laughers Obama vs. Dennis and Clinton fighting the old Mike Gravel. I imagine Clinton dressed like Chun Li from Street Fighter. In the other bracket you would have a huge match-up between Rudy and Fred. That's got to be more dangerous than dog grooming day at the Vick household. Sam Brownback would still be eaten alive by McCain even though he's 97. The brackets would inevitably come down to a Fred Thompson vs. Barak Obama match-up for the ages. The winner will be revealed in the upcoming Spiderman 4: Shiny shit, just buy the ticket asshole. That should hit theaters in September of '08, then we can all text our votes and watch American Idol all day, or watch the neighbor kick the shit out of his lawnmower.

House of Sunshine Music Extravaganza: Move over rover, and let Jimi take over

2007-06-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Honor among the stupid

2007-06-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

"In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity."

-Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

When talk shows made sense

2007-06-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

If daytime talk shows were still like this I would have it set for automatic record. Richard Bey now guest hosts a liberal political satellite radio show. Here he reveals his dislike of his competition. I miss this guy.

The Sunshine Empire Post Debate Coverage

2007-06-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

I did not plan to, but I ended up watching quite a bit of the Democratic Presidential debate. I will start by saying I think it is absolutely absurd that in June of 2007 that this race is actively on. That being said I had some observations from the group. Senator Obama seemed to slightly improve his standing in my eyes. I think he is a great candidate but I am wary of his rock star status and want to see deeper. Joe Biden is a smart guy, but he seemed to be laying on a little to much righteous indignation. I was just really struck by the fact that Chris Dodd said absolutely nothing. He talked with the best of him but he really just said what comedians say when they are mocking a politician saying nothing. The exception being he was saying it for real. Hillary Clinton looked perfectly competent to fill the Oval Office if needed, but she's certainly not my choice. Bill Richardson is the most qualified to hold the job of all of them, but he is nowhere near the polished type needed to win the White House. This is all a charade in a sense. Voters will probably still end up nominating Guliani and Clinton. No doubt then we will be treated to campaign hijinks of the sort when the two briefly ran against each other in the 2000 New York Senate race. Guliani declared his candidacy in Arkansas to mock Hillary's claim to be a New Yorker. He did this despite the fact Hillary was not born in Arkansas, but in Chicago.

But hands down Wolf Blitzer is a horrible debate moderator. CNN began the debate in the traditional podium row format. Yet for some reason, for the questions from the audience segment, CNN took a break to change the set to resemble something like an airport smoking lounge. They put Mike Gravel and Dennis the Menace on the far edges like they had TB. By and large though, Clinton, Obama, and Edwards simply solidified their current status at the top. Richardson did not hurt himself, and Dodd might as well have been in Florida watching the debate with me. I will try my best to watch the Republican debate on Tuesday. My question to you, how many times do you think the term "9/11" will be used. Maybe I can find a jar of jelly beans as a prize for whoever wins.

On Wiretapping sans warrant

2007-06-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Onion News discusses the important issues

2007-06-01T23:36:00.001-07:00

In The Know: War On Terror

Sunshine Empire Live: Full Roger Effect

2007-06-01T19:07:00.001-07:00

Biggus Rickus performs with Jolemite and The Secrets, live at Lillians.

Sunshine Empire Live: Jolemite Returns. Live At Lillians

2007-06-01T18:22:00.001-07:00

The Secrets, featuring Portland's own Jolemite, live at Lillians on the Westside.

It defies logic at this point

2007-05-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

More from Sir Winston

2007-05-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

-Sir Winston Churchill