Twostepcublog

Sugarbear and I were at the local Wegman's last week, and I was in a quandary on whether to pick up possibly the last affordable chance to get one of the most flavorful cheese ever - Roquefort . Only made in the same-titled town in the south of France, Roquefort makes an awesome blue cheese sauce for steak, as well as being a savory cracker spread. Well unfortunately former U.S. Trade Representative and culinary cunt Susan Schwab (as in, my vagina's so nasty that CSI has to Schwab it for evidence) did a proverbial middle finger to France by imposing a 300% duty on the cheese rendering it possibly unprofitable to market in the states. The semi-official explanation/bitch is that it was retaliation for the European Union banning US Beef with hormones. Yeah, God forbid they would want to control a potential health risk from our shitty agricultural policies. Sue, and I don't give a shit is you don't like me calling you Sue, don't let the door hit your fat Republican a...

Tonight DSS is from Mando Diao, a garage-rock band from Borlänge , a town in central Sweden. Even though they do sing in English, they are massive in Europe, notably in Germany, where "Dance With Somebody" is currently at #2. It's a cool piece of indie rock... Their new album, Give Me Fire , comes out in Europe on February 13, but until then you can catch them on Myspace by clicking here .

Failed Governor candidate and apologist Michael Steele (pictured above) was elected as head of the Republican National Committee after (count 'em) after six rounds of voting that threatened to be cutoff by the deadline of...wait a minute...a pending wedding party booked for that room. Heralded as being a moderate choice forward for the Repukes, moderate apparently means comparing stem cell research to the Holocaust . Lesson: Fucktards come in all shades.

It's time for my tunes for the week. This week Nickelback reclaims the top spot for a non-consecutive sixth week, while Sugarland (pictured above) hangs on in the top-5. Former big hits by Kim Sozzi and Jamey Johnson drop off, while Britney Spears, Darius Rucker, and Kanye West make the biggest jumps. Link-O-Rama is back, so you can click on the name of any artist to go to their website. Ahh, sleep. This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Gotta Be Somebody - Nickelback (2) 2. Hot N Cold - Katy Perry (1) 3. Keeps Gettin' Better - Christina Aguilera (3) 4. Human - The Killers (4) 5. Already Gone - Sugarland (5) 6. Addicted - Saving Abel (10) 7. Let Me Be Myself - 3 Doors Down (9) 8. I Don't Care - Apocalyptica f/ Adam Gontier (6) 9. Just Dance - Lady GaGa f/ Colby O'Donis (23) 10. Sex On Fire - Kings Of Leon (15) 11. Don't - Billy Currington ...

Few new songs these days make me so emotional that I want to cry. This is one. And that's a good thing. From the amazing Matt Alber , here's "End Of The World".. You can buy a copy of this and his new album Hide Nothing at I-Tunes, Zune's Marketplace, and Amazon.com . It's worth it. The song and video together are the best thing out so far this year by far.

Now, can we all get on already without this dog-and-pony show? Yes, with no absolute surprise, Rod Blagojevich was successfully impeached and removed from the Governorship of Illinois. Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn will be his replacement. Not to at all condone his behavior, but the gall of these Illinois lawmakers who live and die by the pay for play rulebook to feign despair over something they in one way or another routinely do, is beyond me. Show me them really setting ethics standards and then we'll talk. Thanks to Sugarbear (happy anniversary again) for the below clip...

It seems like every crossbred republican Senator/Representative is on the teevee, spouting their wisdom on economics that apparently won them an election in an alternate universe. It was always apparent that they would pull a "Mean Girls" hissy and not support the stimulus package en masse, but they proved loyal dicks to the Rush Limbaugh teet, with not a one GOP rep voting for the bill . Fuck them. They're just playing games with the fate of the American economy. I say marginalize the fuckers, now. It's time for both President Obama (I know they hate that moniker) as well as every important Democratic legislator and thinker and come out and explain to the people why we need this to work and what the obstruction is. And here's more inspiration, bitches...

Go to Pundit Kitchen for more political hilarity. It's an outbranch of LOLcats ("I can haz cheezburger") which is a funny as hell time-suck.

One more for the night...silly, I know.

Shy'm is a French singer whose fourth top-10 single in France is my Distant Shores song of the night. Shy'm (nee Tamara Marthe) has a heritage from the Caribbean isle of Martinique (through her father) and the rough western suburbs of Paris (her birthplace). Her new song, "Si Tu Savais" ("If You Know"), would sound totally in place on American pop radio (if we could only get past the language barrier). You can get a copy of Shy'm's album Reflets: Nulle Part Ailleurs here . Shy'm's Myspace: Link

The president has been trying to play nice all day with the Republican caucus in Congress to get his stimulus package passed. Obama is playing the bipartisanship card, and the fucktards in the GOP (namely turkey-neck Senator Mitchell and orange-glow Rep. Boehner) are sabotaging the plan no matter what concessions are made, such as removing family-planning money (which would create jobs in the health industry as well as keep poorer families from being forced to have the burden of an unplanned pregnancy - and I'm just talking birth control here) to mortgage revision (to allow bankruptcy judges to lower undue interest rates on burdened homeowners). I say go by your first instinct, Mr. President. You won. The American people overwhelmingly wants YOUR guidance for the country, not theirs. You have fucking capital now, USE it. Best take on the subject is the amazing Digby at the Hullabaloo Blog. Go read. Now.

This week's C-U-N-T winner, for the woman who proves that the glass ceiling is truly broken for dickishness, is former Surgeon General Antonia Novello , who after serving as SG under George H.W. Bush, secured herself a high-profile job as New York's state health commissioner in 1999. It seems like she used the position to turn herself into a little Leona Helmsley. Dr. Novello is now under investigation by the Inspector General, and his report was released today, and it is a damning slug at her possibly felonious actions. The New York Times has more of the story, here's a clip... A report from the office of Inspector General Joseph Fisch to be released Tuesday depicts Dr. Novello as preoccupied with shopping and routinely abusive of her authority over employees, ordering them to buy her groceries, pick up her dry cleaning and even water her houseplants. On one occasion, Dr. Novello purchased a heavy statue of Buddha during a shopping excursion in Troy, N.Y., then required a ...

I wanted to have a recurring post about songs I'm discovering from Europe, Africa, and Asia, either by local artists, or international artists having success overseas but not yet in the States - hence "Distance Shores Songs". Tonight's DSS is a familiar face, Enrique Iglesias . He was red-hot in the turn of the century, having five top-40 hits between 1999 and 2002, including two #1 songs in "Bailamos" and "Be With You". Lately though, he's been underperforming on pop radio, save for the surprise top-40 showing for "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)" in 2007. It's not due to lack of quality material, as songs like "Not In Love", "Tired Of Being Sorry", "Somebody's Me", and "Can You Hear Me" are just an enjoyable as, say, "Hero" ever aspired to be. His new single, "Takin' Back My Love", with R&B siren Ciara, is no different. Not a blip here, but luckily finding ...

TalkingPointsMemo broke down the ten worst things ultra-douche John Thain of Bank of America (well, formerly of Bank of America) had done during the fiscal crisis/bailout. It's worth an entire read just for the gasp factor... here's a snippet... 5. The In-Retrospect-Ill-Advised Ski Trip In mid December, Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis learns that Merrill's fourth quarter losses will be much larger than expected. Lewis gets the bad news not from Thain himself , but from the transition team handling the merger -- perhaps because, after the losses surface, Thain takes off for his ski house in Vail. (A "person familiar with the matter" tells the Journal , hilariously, that Thain was "working and available" while in Vail.) Jesus H. Christ. Read the whole thing. It's astonishing. And not to be outdouched, Citibank, who just begged for more bailout money, is in the process of buying another tricked-out corporate jet . And again not to be outdouched...

Timothy Geithner was confirmed as the country's Secretary Of the Treasury by a Senate vote of 60-34. As much as a conformist as he can be, the choice was a very centrist and steady choice. Imagine if a real thinker/progressive/realist like Paul Krugman would have been up for the job. It is ironic that the man who will be the head of the Internal Revenue Service didn't file his taxes correctly, but it's not like he skipped out on filing anything, and did correct what the IRS declared owed. He has a broad swath of support among the economic community, and with the state this nation and the world is in, we unfortunately don't have the time to dot every "i" in overscrutinizing his nomination. However, I do think it's laughable that Republican douchebag John Cornyn apparently saw no problem in voting for him, yet against Hilary Clinton for State. But then, considering the trouble that Hilda Solis has in a quick confirmation as Secretary Of Labor , maybe this ...

And now for the second installment in my recap of last year's biggest tunes. I'm continuing with the Billboard Adult Top 40, with all your white-bread rock with little soul and no rap. Oh well, on we go... 81. Staind – Believe Rating: C+ Keywords: Faith, Arrangement: Electric Style: Post-Grunge Rock Tempo: Slow/Mid My Take: Staind is trying to be positive, but it’s hard with the plodding backdrop and Aaron Lewis’ groaning voice. He’s vaguely telling someone (a lover? God?) that they should be patient with him while he gets his depressing ass in gear. 82. Flyleaf – All Around Me Rating: C+ Keywords: Love-Obsession Arrangement: Electric Style: Goth-Rock Tempo: Mid My Take: Flyleaf is taking the Goth flag from Evanescence, with a dark and vague exercise in desire, with all the usual pierced-lip buzzwords complete with angels, shadows, and the like. For someone in love, she’s sure got issues. Pretty background, though it does sound like something I’ve...

Hey folks, it's time for my tunes for the week. This week Katy Perry hangs on to the top for a second week, while Christina Aguilera (pictured above) makes it into the top-3. There's only one new song in the whole top-100, while songs by Leona Lewis, Britney Spears and Alexandra Burke make the biggest moves. You like the color, it's Jungle Red! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Hot N Cold - Katy Perry (1) 2. Gotta Be Somebody - Nickelback (2) 3. Keeps Gettin' Better - Christina Aguilera (5) 4. Human - The Killers (4) 5. Already Gone - Sugarland (6) 6. I Don't Care - Apocalyptica f/Adam Gontier (3) 7. Here - Rascal Flatts (7) 8. Better In Time - Leona Lewis (8) 9. Let Me Be Myself - 3 Doors Down (12) 10. Addicted - Saving Abel (10) 11. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz (11) 12. Crush - David Archuleta (13) 13. Magic Touch - Robin Thicke f/Mary J. Blige (9) 1...

I don't know why I think this is hysterical... HIGH-FIVE INAUGURATION! - watch more funny videos

----the poet sucked bigtime. ----Justice Roberts totally fucked the president up giving the oath. ----Aretha's thinking "Fuck y'all who are hatin' on my hat!" ----I soooooo would like to be a fly on the wall when Joe Biden and Hilary Clinton met up. ----I had a tear in my eye when the Obamas got out of the motorcade to walk. ----Rick Warren should listen to himself sometimes. ----If I hear another person say either the word "historic" or "groundbreaking" I'm going to scream. ----It was fun watching Andrea Mitchell out riding the back of a truck. ----Sen. Cornyn of Oklahoma sucks major monkey balls. Face it, Hilary will be voted in anyway so what the fuck are you doing? ----I hope the country followed his words, and not "the moment". ----Media pundits who attribute the drop at the stock market to Obama can go shove a dildo up their collective asses. ----I'm so glad we can be finally rid of that unintelligent, uninquisitive, rea...

I never thought this day would come. This criminal dolt will no longer be the leader of our country. I can again be proud in our country not because we elected a Democrat, but because we elected someone I believe capable to navigate the tough times we have as America staring at us. I may not agree with him at times, vehemently so, but I believe he is listening to all of us and making decision based to rationality instead of ideology. Thank God for that. I'm off today (by chance) from work, so I'm able to catch the inauguration. I consider it a blessing. We're behind you, now let's get to work.

Hey everyone, it's time for my tunes for the week. This week Katy Perry takes over the top for the first time, while the Killers (pictured above) move up in the top-5. Tim McGraw, Dave Aude, and Jody Watley drop off the list, while Leona Lewis, Donna Summer, and Taylor Swift make the biggest moves. Link-O-Rama is still in effect, so you can click on the name of any artist to go to their website. Groovy! Yes, you are the funniest person... This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Hot N Cold - Katy Perry (2) 2. Gotta Be Somebody - Nickelback (1) 3. I Don't Care - Apocalyptica f/ Adam Gontier (3) 4. Human - The Killers (5) 5. Keeps Gettin' Better - Christina Aguilera (7) 6. Already Gone - Sugarland (8) 7. Here - Rascal Flatts (10) 8. Better In Time - Leona Lewis (4) 9. Magic Touch - Robin Thicke f/ Mary J. Blige (6) 10. Addicted - Saving Abel (14) 11. I'm...