I know Mark's going to love this one... The Jurisprudence of Gilligan's Island. via Fark.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Dawkins interview in Salon, via Pharyngula.
It [resistance to evolutionary science] comes, I'm sorry to say, from religion. And from bad religion. You won't find any opposition to the idea of evolution among sophisticated, educated theologians. It comes from an exceedingly retarded, primitive version of religion, which unfortunately is at present undergoing an epidemic in the United States. Not in Europe, not in Britain, but in the United States.
My American friends tell me that you are slipping towards a theocratic Dark Age. Which is very disagreeable for the very large number of educated, intelligent and right-thinking people in America. Unfortunately, at present, it's slightly outnumbered by the ignorant, uneducated people who voted Bush in.
But the broad direction of history is toward enlightenment, and so I think that what America is going through at the moment will prove to be a temporary reverse. I think there is great hope for the future. My advice would be, Don't despair, these things pass.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Dark Dungeons
Kizzle and I have been knocking about ideas about a Dungeons and Dragons grifter for a screenplay...
Anyway, while seeing what could be seen on the net, I came across this little piece of hysteria...I remember this Fundie from when I was only a wee Prestidigitator, with only a cheesy light spell and 3 hit points...
Kizzle and I have been knocking about ideas about a Dungeons and Dragons grifter for a screenplay...
Anyway, while seeing what could be seen on the net, I came across this little piece of hysteria...I remember this Fundie from when I was only a wee Prestidigitator, with only a cheesy light spell and 3 hit points...
Cincinnati responds to "feminism".
"I bet you're one of those people - a feminist," one e-mail accused.
"Admit that you're a baby-killing piece of feminist trash," one message demanded.
"Maggie = hairy, ugly, evil feminist," said another - which I'm thinking about stealing for the title of my memoirs.
Did the duel go down with that scallywag Chris Matthews?
Maybe its from the Bush Cheney schiezen fest last summer in the NYC.
Maybe its from the Bush Cheney schiezen fest last summer in the NYC.
Morgan Stanley economist Steven Roach:
via James Wolcott
The rhetorical flourishes of America’s central bankers have dug the US economy -- and by definition, a US-centric global economy -- into a deep hole. To this very day, the Fed has never confessed to the Original Sin of condoning the equity bubble. On the contrary, Greenspan & Company have been on the defensive ever since by dismissing the increasingly dangerous repercussions of the original post-bubble shakeout. Far from playing the role of the tough guy that is required of independent central bankers, the Fed has become an advocate of the easy money of a powerful liquidity cycle. One bubble has since begotten another -- from equities to bonds to fixed income spread products (i.e., emerging market and high-yield debt) to property. And financial markets have gone along for the ride -- not just in the US but also around the world as global investors and foreign central banks have rushed with reckless abandon to finance America’s record current-account deficit.
The day is close at hand when US monetary policy must get real. At a minimum, that will require a normalization of real interest rates. Given the excesses that now exist, it may even require a federal funds rate that needs to move into the restrictive zone -- possibly as high as 5.5%. Yes, this would cause an outcry -- perhaps similar to that which occurred in the spring of 1997 on the occasion of the Original Sin. But in the end, there may be no other choice. Fedspeak has taken us into the greatest moral hazard dilemma of all -- how to wean an asset-dependent system from unsustainably low real interest rates without bringing the entire House of Cards down. The longer the Fed waits, the more perilous the exit strategy.
via James Wolcott
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Molly Bloom's Soliloquouy
Okay, not quite, but hey...its literary travesty. And it has Ann Coulter.
Via Naughty Pundit.
Just when you begin to feel sorry for the harpy...
Okay, not quite, but hey...its literary travesty. And it has Ann Coulter.
Via Naughty Pundit.
Just when you begin to feel sorry for the harpy...
Mos Def on Salon
I've been impressed with this cat since he first hit the scene, and really dug Def Poetry Jam as well. Check him out-it doesn't have to all be bitches and money, after all. Thank god for that.
I've been impressed with this cat since he first hit the scene, and really dug Def Poetry Jam as well. Check him out-it doesn't have to all be bitches and money, after all. Thank god for that.
More Controversey?: Empire Rules!
I'll go along with that. But this is funny...
"It was followed by Return Of The Jedi (1983), and the sixth instalment, Revenge Of The Sith, even though it has not been released yet [...]"
I might go along with that, too...
I'll go along with that. But this is funny...
"It was followed by Return Of The Jedi (1983), and the sixth instalment, Revenge Of The Sith, even though it has not been released yet [...]"
I might go along with that, too...
Okay... What British Music Fans?
Sorry Cov...I know you hate these posts, but c'mon...I like Ok Computer as much as the next person...but the best album of all time? That's a bold assertion...
Sorry Cov...I know you hate these posts, but c'mon...I like Ok Computer as much as the next person...but the best album of all time? That's a bold assertion...
Différence?
Not to get too heavy here, but while I was enjoying my morning coffee, 6:30 ish in the a.m., I came across Cammy Dierking telling me:
"Teens Accused Of Making 'Adult Video'"
with the subtitle:
"Sex, bracelets, and videotape....."
The bracelets, of course, are the infamous jelly bracelets, which, through magical powers, command your children to have sex in variety of kinky ways.
My question is this: Do the bracelets actually mean this, or did they pick up this signification? They must have, but from where? Is this self generated, or did media hysteria create this, vis a vis, "If its on the NEWS, it must be true."
I've been here before, but I find this so damn fascinating.
That, or Derrida and half a pot of black coffee make an overly analytical Wizard.
Not to get too heavy here, but while I was enjoying my morning coffee, 6:30 ish in the a.m., I came across Cammy Dierking telling me:
"Teens Accused Of Making 'Adult Video'"
with the subtitle:
"Sex, bracelets, and videotape....."
The bracelets, of course, are the infamous jelly bracelets, which, through magical powers, command your children to have sex in variety of kinky ways.
My question is this: Do the bracelets actually mean this, or did they pick up this signification? They must have, but from where? Is this self generated, or did media hysteria create this, vis a vis, "If its on the NEWS, it must be true."
I've been here before, but I find this so damn fascinating.
That, or Derrida and half a pot of black coffee make an overly analytical Wizard.
Frist Makes an Offer We can and Should Refuse
Jeez...that's mighty big of him:
"Frist offered to retain the right to filibuster district court nominees in exchange for 100 hours of debate and guaranteed confirmation votes on the nation's highest judgeships."
The saga continues...
Jeez...that's mighty big of him:
"Frist offered to retain the right to filibuster district court nominees in exchange for 100 hours of debate and guaranteed confirmation votes on the nation's highest judgeships."
The saga continues...
Maybe this is photoshopped... I don't know. If it isn't, then republicans are even more stupid than I thought, and believe me, there isn't a razor's space between a republican and a flatworm in my opinion.
UPDATE: It appears to be real.
UPDATE: It appears to be real.
Bolton was using the NSA to spy on members of the US government. Was Powell his target?
The Bolton confirmation hearings have revealed his constant efforts to undermine Powell on Iran and Iraq, Syria, and North Korea. They have also exposed a most curious incident that has triggered the administration's stonewall reflex. The Foreign Relations Committee discovered that Bolton made a highly unusual request and gained access to 10 intercepts by the National Security Agency, which monitors worldwide communications, of conversations involving past and present government officials. Whose conversations did Bolton secretly secure and why?
Staff members on the committee believe that Bolton was likely spying on Powell, his senior advisors, and other officials reporting to the secretary of state on diplomatic initiatives that Bolton opposed. If so, it is also possible that Bolton was sharing this top-secret information with his neoconservative allies in the Pentagon and the vice president's office, with whom he was in daily contact and well known to be working in league against Powell. If the intercepts are ever released, they may disclose whether Bolton was a key figure in a counterintelligence operation run inside the Bush administration against the secretary of state, resembling the hunted character played by Will Smith in "Enemy of the State." Both Republican and Democratic senators have demanded that the State Department, which holds the NSA intercepts, turn them over to the committee. But Rice so far has refused. What is she hiding by her coverup?
Rice's rise has been dependent on her unwavering devotion to the president; in the Bolton case, she is again elevating loyalty to her leader above all else. Will Powell lose once more? But beyond the general's revenge, Rice's fealty, Bolton's contempt or even presidential prerogative, this episode also points to a gathering storm over constitutional government.
Al Gore keeps it real
Al Gore, takes off the tie, and tells it like it is. I wish this Al Gore had shown up in 2000 (I know its a sore spot for a lot of us, and many of you disagree with me on this) instead of the okie dokie quasi alpha male he ran as. He did not need that shit: Sitting on a hay bale and all of that. Kind of like John Kerry and duck hunting...
Anyway, as per tradition, my father and I watch Fox News, which is more hilarious than the 700 Club (and also as sad, because so many buy that snake oil). Typically, fair and balanced (and lo! The Hatchet Man returns!)
I must apologize, though...Sean Hannity told me last night that MoveOn was an extremist organization, so sorry to subject to so much God-hating rhetoric...(Though Sean's still lying about the filibuster).
Al Gore, takes off the tie, and tells it like it is. I wish this Al Gore had shown up in 2000 (I know its a sore spot for a lot of us, and many of you disagree with me on this) instead of the okie dokie quasi alpha male he ran as. He did not need that shit: Sitting on a hay bale and all of that. Kind of like John Kerry and duck hunting...
Anyway, as per tradition, my father and I watch Fox News, which is more hilarious than the 700 Club (and also as sad, because so many buy that snake oil). Typically, fair and balanced (and lo! The Hatchet Man returns!)
I must apologize, though...Sean Hannity told me last night that MoveOn was an extremist organization, so sorry to subject to so much God-hating rhetoric...(Though Sean's still lying about the filibuster).
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Something that's just accepted and seldom even discussed any more. The invasion of Iraq was illegal. Blair and Bush both knew it at the time.
Room-Temperature, Small-Scale Fusion at UCLA
(Note that it's not yet producing more energy than it takes. But it's a new technique and an astounding breakthrough.)
(Note that it's not yet producing more energy than it takes. But it's a new technique and an astounding breakthrough.)
WASHINGTON — All five Republicans on the House ethics committee have financial links to Tom DeLay that could raise conflict-of-interest issues should the panel investigate the GOP majority leader.
Public records show DeLay's leadership political action committee (PAC) gave $15,000 to the campaign of Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa. — $10,000 in 2000 and $5,000 in 2002. Hart would chair a panel to investigate DeLay if the committee moves forward with a probe.
The same political committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, also has donated to the campaigns of ethics Chairman Doc Hastings of Washington, Judy Biggert of Illinois and Tom Cole of Oklahoma. They are among scores of Republicans DeLay has contributed to. Cole and the remaining committee Republican, Lamar Smith of Texas, contributed to DeLay's legal defense fund.
Bush tried to cover it up by refusing to release the yearly terrorism report, but it's out and the news is bad.
The number of serious international terrorist incidents more than tripled last year, according to U.S. government figures, a sharp upswing in deadly attacks that the State Department has decided not to make public in its annual report on terrorism due to Congress this week.
Overall, the number of what the U.S. government considers "significant" attacks grew to about 655 last year, up from the record of around 175 in 2003, according to congressional aides who were briefed on statistics covering incidents including the bloody school seizure in Russia and violence related to the disputed Indian territory of Kashmir.
Terrorist incidents in Iraq also dramatically increased, from 22 attacks to 198, or nine times the previous year's total -- a sensitive subset of the tally, given the Bush administration's assertion that the situation there had stabilized significantly after the U.S. handover of political authority to an interim Iraqi government last summer.
The State Department announced last week that it was breaking with tradition in withholding the statistics on terrorist attacks from its congressionally mandated annual report. Critics said the move was designed to shield the government from questions about the success of its effort to combat terrorism by eliminating what amounted to the only year-to-year benchmark of progress.
Although the State Department said the data would still be made public by the new National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which prepares the information, officials at the center said no decision to publish the statistics has been made.
The controversy comes a year after the State Department retracted its annual terrorism report and admitted that its initial version vastly understated the number of incidents. That became an election-year issue, as Democrats said the Bush administration tried to inflate its success in curbing global terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"Last year was bad. This year is worse. They are deliberately trying to withhold data because it shows that as far as the war on terrorism internationally, we're losing," said Larry C. Johnson, a former senior State Department counterterrorism official, who first revealed the decision not to publish the data.
Is the writing on the wall?
"But [Hastert] and others indicated that his intention was to reverse three rules opposed by Democrats, an action that would require a vote of the full House.
'There is a member, especially on our side, who needs to have the process move forward so he can clear his name,' the speaker said. 'Right now he can't clear his name.' "
Hastert is right about one thing: DeLay can't clear his name. Not now...
"But [Hastert] and others indicated that his intention was to reverse three rules opposed by Democrats, an action that would require a vote of the full House.
'There is a member, especially on our side, who needs to have the process move forward so he can clear his name,' the speaker said. 'Right now he can't clear his name.' "
Hastert is right about one thing: DeLay can't clear his name. Not now...
Depressing
"Actors pretending to be patients with symptoms of stress and fatigue were five times as likely to walk out of doctors' offices with a prescription when they mentioned seeing an ad for the heavily promoted antidepressant Paxil, according an unusual study being published today."
You can go to a Doctor, and get what you want? As Bill Maher said "Doesn't this make you a drug dealer?"
"Actors pretending to be patients with symptoms of stress and fatigue were five times as likely to walk out of doctors' offices with a prescription when they mentioned seeing an ad for the heavily promoted antidepressant Paxil, according an unusual study being published today."
You can go to a Doctor, and get what you want? As Bill Maher said "Doesn't this make you a drug dealer?"
Oligarchies: We Care A Lot.
"BRASILIA, Brazil -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered a message Wednesday aimed at the tens of millions of Latin Americans who have yet to benefit from the region's democratic transformation: 'Do not lose your hope. Do not lose your courage. And most of all do not turn back now.'"
Democracy...the kind the Batistas, the Contras and Carl Lindner like: pro fascist death squads, serfdom, crushing poverty, AIDS-Real American type stuff.
"BRASILIA, Brazil -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered a message Wednesday aimed at the tens of millions of Latin Americans who have yet to benefit from the region's democratic transformation: 'Do not lose your hope. Do not lose your courage. And most of all do not turn back now.'"
Democracy...the kind the Batistas, the Contras and Carl Lindner like: pro fascist death squads, serfdom, crushing poverty, AIDS-Real American type stuff.
Damn Italians...how dare they question our findings
This can't be good for Silvio...
"But a senior US defense official said the investigation into the March 4 friendly fire shooting is expected to raise concerns about the rules of engagement in Baghdad[...]"
This can't be good for Silvio...
"But a senior US defense official said the investigation into the March 4 friendly fire shooting is expected to raise concerns about the rules of engagement in Baghdad[...]"
Shocked that Americans now overwhelmingly identify the GOP as the party of corruption, House Republicans are scrambling to reverse the ethics rules changes.
Just who is the face of the GOP?
Four years ago, Perkins addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), America's premier white supremacist organization, the successor to the White Citizens Councils, which battled integration in the South. In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a right-wing Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke.
As the emcee of Justice Sunday, Tony Perkins positioned himself beside a black preacher and a Catholic "civil rights" activist as he rattled off the phone numbers of senators wavering on President Bush's judicial nominees. The evening's speakers studiously couched their appeals on behalf of Bush's stalled judges in the vocabulary of victimhood, accusing Democratic senators of "filibustering people of faith."
People still just don't get it. via KG.
Three women who worked for Oppenheimer & Co.'s general counsel have charged the 43-year-old lawyer with trying to turn the company's legal department into his personal harem.
Eric J. Shames would offer to give massages, talk about how "sexy" one of the women looked, compliment her on her bra and continuously asked one to describe a pornographic photo that popped up on her computer, court papers charge.
The three women claim Oppenheimer knew about Shames' harassment but did nothing, allowing the crude behavior to continue "unchecked and unimpeded." Each of the three suits seek $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
One of the three, hired as a prelaw clerk, claims Shames even proposed marriage and offered a $4,000 bonus after she tendered her resignation after just eight months, unable to put up with Shames' constant onslaught, Papers filed in Manhattan state court charge.
In fact, after she turned down his come-ons during the tense meeting in his office, Shames continued his offensive. He told her he respected her more than anyone else in the office and, given that respect, didn't understand why she didn't want to date him, it is charged.
The May 2003 meeting grew so tense, it is charged, that some co-workers tried to enter Shames' office and rescue the woman.
Shames allegedly refused to allow anyone to enter his office and barred the woman from leaving. In court filings in response to the suits, Shames denied all the charges. Attempts to reach him at Oppenheimer and at his home were unsuccessful.
The women worked for Shames during 2002 and 2003.
The former paralegal said in her complaint that less than a month after she started at Oppenheimer, which was then known as Fahnestock & Co., she discovered a pornographic picture on her hard drive.
She reported it immediately to Shames, court papers allege, who asked her to describe the photo — in detail.
When the paralegal refused, he pressed her on the issue. She claims he would continue to bring it up during the upcoming weeks and even called her at the office from home for a description of the photo, it is charged. Again, she refused. "What are you, a prude?" he asked, court papers charge.
After months of such behavior, she asked Shames why he was harassing her.
"Maybe it's because I'm sexually attracted to you. I find you attractive," the alleged legal department lothario replied, court papers charge.
The paralegal later left on maternity leave. She claims she was later fired when Shames set an impossible-to-meet part-time schedule for her.
The law clerk, who put up with Shames' antics for just a year before she left to study for her bar exam, refused a coveted full-time position with the company as a lawyer. She said in court papers that she turned it down because of the "hostile work environment" fostered by Shames.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
"Happy Slapping" Assaults for the purpose of cell-phone video laughs.
Wonder how long that "craze" is going to last after the first time some jackasses catch on camera their friends getting shot in the face. Predators only last so long as they think every one else is prey.
Wonder how long that "craze" is going to last after the first time some jackasses catch on camera their friends getting shot in the face. Predators only last so long as they think every one else is prey.
Fresh discussions of A Prayer for Dawn.
Since Nathan's forums got wiped out by a hacker, discussions of the book are starting from scratch.
Since Nathan's forums got wiped out by a hacker, discussions of the book are starting from scratch.
Tolerant Oregon
Next time someone says the Northwest is full of mamby pamby libruls, you tell to talk to this guy.
Next time someone says the Northwest is full of mamby pamby libruls, you tell to talk to this guy.
A reminder, Brad Thacker joins Melissa McQueen and Jim Florentine at the Funny Bone tomorrow through Sunday. Buy Tickets Here.
I'm having trouble finding any straight standup mp3s from Florentine on the web, but his Terrorizing Telemarketers cds are hilarious:
I'm having trouble finding any straight standup mp3s from Florentine on the web, but his Terrorizing Telemarketers cds are hilarious:
Once, Florentine pretended he was giving his grandfather a bath when the telemarketer rang. The old fellow just wouldn't be quiet while Jim was on the phone, so eventually he stuck grandpa's head under the water.
"I tell the lady, 'Oh, he's stopped breathing' and she's like 'OK, your package will be there in two to three weeks.' So then I ask her, 'Should I call 911?' and she says 'Yeah,' and I say 'What should I tell them?' and she says, 'Just say he fell.' "
The same woman called back an hour later to see how things were. Florentine told her his grandfather had died.
"Maybe it was his time to go," was her reply.
Frist-ing
Bend over...try to relax...Dr. Bill, yer so tough...
"Republican leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he isn't interested in any deal that fails to ensure Senate confirmation for all of President Bush's judicial nominees. "
Update: Selling Frist
Bend over...try to relax...Dr. Bill, yer so tough...
"Republican leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he isn't interested in any deal that fails to ensure Senate confirmation for all of President Bush's judicial nominees. "
Update: Selling Frist
Okay...Is Bush torpedoe-ing his own Social Security Plan?
Because nothing screams "trust" to the American People, particularly with their retirement, like Tom DeLay.
Because nothing screams "trust" to the American People, particularly with their retirement, like Tom DeLay.
PZ Myers on creationism in the Star Tribune.
The whole argument is surreal. Creationists are just morons. Why do we have to even bother responding to their bizarre 12th century mythology? Because they're a majority of the country.
The whole argument is surreal. Creationists are just morons. Why do we have to even bother responding to their bizarre 12th century mythology? Because they're a majority of the country.
Something Wicked This Way Comes...
From Today's Enquirer:
Rove to speak at GOP dinner
"Butler County Republicans have landed a key White House official as speaker for their annual Lincoln Day dinner next week. Karl Rove, senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President Bush, is scheduled for Monday's event at Sharonville Convention Center, said Scott Owens, executive director of the Butler County GOP. A reception begins at 5 p.m., the program is at 6 p.m. Call (513) 893-5292 for tickets, which are $60."
From Today's Enquirer:
Rove to speak at GOP dinner
"Butler County Republicans have landed a key White House official as speaker for their annual Lincoln Day dinner next week. Karl Rove, senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President Bush, is scheduled for Monday's event at Sharonville Convention Center, said Scott Owens, executive director of the Butler County GOP. A reception begins at 5 p.m., the program is at 6 p.m. Call (513) 893-5292 for tickets, which are $60."
The Disappearing Wall
Interesting editorial in today's Times...
"A recent want ad posted by a taxpayer-financed vocational program of the Firm Foundation for inmates in a Pennsylvania jail stipulated that a job seeker must be 'a believer in Christ and Christian Life today' and that the workday 'will start with a short prayer.' A major portion of inmates' time is spent on religious lectures and prayer, according to a lawsuit filed by two civil liberties groups."
Interesting editorial in today's Times...
"A recent want ad posted by a taxpayer-financed vocational program of the Firm Foundation for inmates in a Pennsylvania jail stipulated that a job seeker must be 'a believer in Christ and Christian Life today' and that the workday 'will start with a short prayer.' A major portion of inmates' time is spent on religious lectures and prayer, according to a lawsuit filed by two civil liberties groups."
Black Gold
Hmmm...The President (an Oil Shill) meets with a Saudi Prince to talk about the precious stuff...Even though its becoming clear that we are nearing peak oil, again, like tax cuts which in the short term stimulate the economy but in the long term borrow us into bankruptcy, they decide to pump more oil. Of course, we can't really refine all that much here, so I wonder who will profit the most.
Update: Hmmm...It must be a Christmas Miracle!
Hmmm...The President (an Oil Shill) meets with a Saudi Prince to talk about the precious stuff...Even though its becoming clear that we are nearing peak oil, again, like tax cuts which in the short term stimulate the economy but in the long term borrow us into bankruptcy, they decide to pump more oil. Of course, we can't really refine all that much here, so I wonder who will profit the most.
Update: Hmmm...It must be a Christmas Miracle!
Monday, April 25, 2005
Pope Ratzinger's cute lie. The nazi had been campaigning for the papacy for a decade, like some kind of hell-bent cheerleader running for prom-queen. Frankly, it would be an undignified embarassment even if he wasn't the worst candidate among the entire college of cardinals. But to claim that he "prayed not to be chosen"? Heh. Whevever, padre.
Discipline and Punish: Welcome to the Panopticon
Everytime I read something like this, I think of Michel Foucault, and the panopticon...
Everytime I read something like this, I think of Michel Foucault, and the panopticon...
This is a shock... I though he was going to win easily, but now it's clear that Tony Blair is doomed.
Christopher Hitchens endorsed him. Hitchens has an amazing talent to be wrong about nearly everything. I'd rather tongue-kiss an oozing shit-beast out of the nightmares of William S. Burroughs than have Hitchens take my side in an argument.
Christopher Hitchens endorsed him. Hitchens has an amazing talent to be wrong about nearly everything. I'd rather tongue-kiss an oozing shit-beast out of the nightmares of William S. Burroughs than have Hitchens take my side in an argument.
Survival of the Fittest
Delusion:
"About the purpose of college, [Robin Bhalla] says: 'You go so you can get a job and make money when you're older. But at the same time you get life experiences that are priceless, like networking.' He expects that to pay off: 'I've made so many connections I never would have been able to make without it, and these are all my friends and people that I know from the bars and from classes and, you know, people that I've hung out with that later in life I'm going to be able to call on and be like: 'I know you have a job with this company. Do you know if they're hiring, or can you get me an application? Can I use you as a reference?' "
I can relate to some of these students' complaints, particularly about getting lost in large universities and being intimidated early on in college, etc...I resolved this issue by going to smaller schools, both undergraduate and graduate. Even then, it was sometimes difficult.
But at the risk of being overly pedantic, I got over it... I wanted the education, I wanted the knowledge, I wanted the paper. The difference is I wanted the paper to mean something.
A lot of incoming freshmen labor under the assumption that, since they paid the money, they are "owed" a degree. No, they are owed an education...but if they do not show up to collect, so to speak, what are we to do?
Moreover, they also believe that the degree is a magic voucher for future riches. Intellectual riches, yes? Financial riches? Don't bet on it. Having the degree isn't enough. If you have the paper, yet you are wholly unequipped to deal with problem solving and other such knowledge related to your field, you will not last very long in your job (unless you're the President, of course, and I expect some political hay to be made from this).
I feel sorry for students who feel alienated, but that does not alleviate their responsibility to themselves. Too often, students still feel and act like they're in high school, yet they certainly do not want any of the rules that went along with that-they still want "Thirstdays".
In college, there is plenty of time for work and play, and believe me, I played hard when it was time. I also worked my ass off.
You have to work for it.
Delusion:
"About the purpose of college, [Robin Bhalla] says: 'You go so you can get a job and make money when you're older. But at the same time you get life experiences that are priceless, like networking.' He expects that to pay off: 'I've made so many connections I never would have been able to make without it, and these are all my friends and people that I know from the bars and from classes and, you know, people that I've hung out with that later in life I'm going to be able to call on and be like: 'I know you have a job with this company. Do you know if they're hiring, or can you get me an application? Can I use you as a reference?' "
I can relate to some of these students' complaints, particularly about getting lost in large universities and being intimidated early on in college, etc...I resolved this issue by going to smaller schools, both undergraduate and graduate. Even then, it was sometimes difficult.
But at the risk of being overly pedantic, I got over it... I wanted the education, I wanted the knowledge, I wanted the paper. The difference is I wanted the paper to mean something.
A lot of incoming freshmen labor under the assumption that, since they paid the money, they are "owed" a degree. No, they are owed an education...but if they do not show up to collect, so to speak, what are we to do?
Moreover, they also believe that the degree is a magic voucher for future riches. Intellectual riches, yes? Financial riches? Don't bet on it. Having the degree isn't enough. If you have the paper, yet you are wholly unequipped to deal with problem solving and other such knowledge related to your field, you will not last very long in your job (unless you're the President, of course, and I expect some political hay to be made from this).
I feel sorry for students who feel alienated, but that does not alleviate their responsibility to themselves. Too often, students still feel and act like they're in high school, yet they certainly do not want any of the rules that went along with that-they still want "Thirstdays".
In college, there is plenty of time for work and play, and believe me, I played hard when it was time. I also worked my ass off.
You have to work for it.
Congratulations, Captain Fantastic
You see, in the civilized world, love is the foundation of marriage. And hey, at least when you play New Haven, Conn., it'll even be recognized...
You see, in the civilized world, love is the foundation of marriage. And hey, at least when you play New Haven, Conn., it'll even be recognized...
Via Slashdot, MIT Tech Review article predicting that the environmental movement might avoid complete destruction by adopting obvious (though not unconflicted) technological solutions to the core problems.
Where is the editor?
This headline might be in bad taste:
Woman Fingered in Wendys Finger Caper
from Market-Day.net
This headline might be in bad taste:
Woman Fingered in Wendys Finger Caper
from Market-Day.net
Metal Guru, is it you?
It's about time...
Most Americans are woefully ignorant of the sheer genius of the original 20th Century Boy, cosmic punk, space boogie star child Marc Bolan and the mighty T Rex. This vintage DVD comes out June 7. I wait, with baited breath. With my top hat and glitter jacket.
It's about time...
Most Americans are woefully ignorant of the sheer genius of the original 20th Century Boy, cosmic punk, space boogie star child Marc Bolan and the mighty T Rex. This vintage DVD comes out June 7. I wait, with baited breath. With my top hat and glitter jacket.
The Smartest Guys in The Room
This is the first I've heard of this. It sounds interesting. Has anybody seen it?
This is the first I've heard of this. It sounds interesting. Has anybody seen it?
Magical Thinking, Death Spells and Federal Agencies...
"With a vote of hand-picked lobbyists, the president could terminate any federal agency he dislikes "
So much for the Department of Education.
American Express goes Everywhere.
"The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff's credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number."
Can we finally say that DeLay is crooked as a barrell of snakes. Good.
"The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff's credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number."
Can we finally say that DeLay is crooked as a barrell of snakes. Good.
Civil Politics: Frist takes it to the "Faithful".
"In a short videotaped statement included in the telecast, which was called Justice Sunday and emanated from a packed Baptist mega-church here, Dr. Frist, the Senate majority leader, neither referred to religious faith nor addressed criticism that the event was inappropriately dragging religion into a partisan battle."
Hey...isn't Meet the Press still on...Wait, that would mean that he might have to answer questions... Wow, he's acting more Presidential everyday...
Amusingly, here's a cheerleader for Bill on something called The American Thinker...
Also: Kamel El Din and the "Final Solution" to the "Filibuster" Question.
"In a short videotaped statement included in the telecast, which was called Justice Sunday and emanated from a packed Baptist mega-church here, Dr. Frist, the Senate majority leader, neither referred to religious faith nor addressed criticism that the event was inappropriately dragging religion into a partisan battle."
Hey...isn't Meet the Press still on...Wait, that would mean that he might have to answer questions... Wow, he's acting more Presidential everyday...
Amusingly, here's a cheerleader for Bill on something called The American Thinker...
Also: Kamel El Din and the "Final Solution" to the "Filibuster" Question.
The Secret Service is now saying that male-prostitute/press-whore Jeff Gannon twice didn't check out of the white house at the end of the day. It looks like the fine tradition of White House blowjobs continues. They're just not hetero this time.
Guckert made more than 200 appearances at the White House during his two-year tenure with the fledging conservative websites GOPUSA and Talon News, attending 155 of 196 White House press briefings. He had little to no previous journalism experience, previously worked as a male escort, and was refused a congressional press pass.
Perhaps more notable than the frequency of his attendance, however, is several distinct anomalies about his visits.
Guckert made more than two dozen excursions to the White House when there were no scheduled briefings. On many of these days, the Press Office held press gaggles aboard Air Force One—which raises questions about what Guckert was doing at the White House. On other days, the president held photo opportunities.
On at least fourteen occasions, Secret Service records show either the entry or exit time missing. Generally, the existing entry or exit times correlate with press conferences; on most of these days, the records show that Guckert checked in but was never processed out.
In March, 2003, Guckert left the White House twice on days he had never checked in with the Secret Service. Over the next 22 months, Guckert failed to check out with the Service on fourteen days. On several of these visits, Guckert either entered or exited by a different entry/exit point than his usual one. On one of these days, no briefing was held; on another, he checked in twice but failed to check out.
The Wacky Misadventures of the Over-zealous Republican Staffer, in this week's This Modern World.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Shit rolls down hill...so does culpability: The Hell, You Say, part II...
"A high-level U.S. Army investigation has cleared four of the most senior army officers overseeing prison policies and operations in Iraq of responsibility for the abuses of prisoners there, congressional and administration officials said."
"A high-level U.S. Army investigation has cleared four of the most senior army officers overseeing prison policies and operations in Iraq of responsibility for the abuses of prisoners there, congressional and administration officials said."
Pope Benedict XVI faced claims last night he had 'obstructed justice' after it emerged he issued an order ensuring the church's investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret.
The order was made in a confidential letter, obtained by The Observer, which was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001.
It asserted the church's right to hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood. The letter was signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected as John Paul II's successor last week.
Lawyers acting for abuse victims claim it was designed to prevent the allegations from becoming public knowledge or being investigated by the police. They accuse Ratzinger of committing a 'clear obstruction of justice'.
Under US law, these men were required to report these criminal acts. They are accessories to those crimes.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
"Meet Benedict XVI: Shy, Orderly, Funny"
Bacholette #1: If we got married, what kind of wife would you be:
" If we got...married.. Well, I guess that you, my husband, own me mind and body. I will deliver a litter of the faithfull, the issue of your loins, and I will never question anything you say.
Bacholette # 2: What is your dream job?
"submission, be it convent or kitchen".
Bacholette #3: Since I am the "President" of our Marriage: As First Lady, what are your views on geopolitics
"The left are stalinist atheists bent on destroying creation".
Funny guy.
Bacholette #1: If we got married, what kind of wife would you be:
" If we got...married.. Well, I guess that you, my husband, own me mind and body. I will deliver a litter of the faithfull, the issue of your loins, and I will never question anything you say.
Bacholette # 2: What is your dream job?
"submission, be it convent or kitchen".
Bacholette #3: Since I am the "President" of our Marriage: As First Lady, what are your views on geopolitics
"The left are stalinist atheists bent on destroying creation".
Funny guy.
The Hell you say?
"Conservatives 'win Saudi polls' "
Probably should read :
"Conservatives 'win' Saudi polls [...]"
But you know me...I'm just a nihilist...
"Conservatives 'win Saudi polls' "
Probably should read :
"Conservatives 'win' Saudi polls [...]"
But you know me...I'm just a nihilist...
Great. We finally let go yet another completely innocent man... but not until we brutally tortured him for months.
But within several months they concluded he was the victim of mistaken identity, the officials said. His name was similar to a Qaeda suspect on an international watch list of possible terrorist operatives, they said.
By then, Mr. Masri, 41, a car salesman who lives in Ulm, Germany, had been flown on a C.I.A.-chartered plane to the prison under a secret American program of transferring terror suspects from country to country for interrogation, officials said. At the prison in Kabul, Mr. Masri said, he was shackled, beaten, photographed nude and injected with drugs by interrogators who pressed him to reveal ties to Al Qaeda.
For reasons that are unclear, he remained for months at a prison known locally as the "Salt Pit." The case reached Ms. Rice in May 2004, officials said, and twice, over several weeks, she ordered him immediately freed. He was released in Albania on May 29, 2004.
The old idea of the intellectual as the one who speaks truth to power is still an idea worth holding on to. Tyrants fear the truth of books because it's a truth that's in hock to nobody, it's a single artist's unfettered vision of the world. They fear it even more because it's incomplete, because the act of reading completes it, so that the book's truth is slightly different in each reader's different inner world, and these are the true revolutions of literature, these invisible, intimate communions of strangers, these tiny revolutions inside each reader's imagination, and the enemies of the imagination, politburos, ayatollahs, all the different goon squads of gods and power, want to shut these revolutions down, and can't. Not even the author of a book can know exactly what effect his book will have, but good books do have effects, and some of these effects are powerful, and all of them, thank goodness, are impossible to predict in advance.
Literature is a loose cannon. This is a very good thing.
©Salman Rushdie
I'm sure you've seen this elsewhere by now, but just in case...
Bolton was one of the right-wing enforcers sent to Florida in 2000 to stop the vote and steal the election.
Bolton was one of the right-wing enforcers sent to Florida in 2000 to stop the vote and steal the election.
Friday, April 22, 2005
What's in the jello pudding?
"Per court papers filed this week by accuser Andrea Constand, the man once deemed America's Dad committed "prior similar sexual assaults and/or drugging incidents" against at least 10 other women. All 10 alleged victims are willing to testify against Cosby in the pending sexual assault case brought by Andrea Constand."
One hell of a Goldwater quote on how religious extremists are the enemy of conservatism:
"However, on religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.'" - Senator Barry Goldwater
What a pathetic fucking whore. Santorum really has sponsored a bill to cut us off from access to the National Weather Service?
Here's why I don't believe in Karma... if there were balance and justice in the universe, Rick Santorum would be clawing at the herpes sores infesting his eyeballs.
Here's why I don't believe in Karma... if there were balance and justice in the universe, Rick Santorum would be clawing at the herpes sores infesting his eyeballs.
Forget that nazi pretender squatting in Rome... Gene sends us the seal of the true Pope, glory of the hot sausages.
Keep Your Vagina Out of My Face
So...its okay to use the word "Vagina" in health class (maybe...does anybody know), but in Minnesota, you can't have it on a button, which refers to theatrical literature...
Maybe it has something to do with Abstinence Only instruction...
So...its okay to use the word "Vagina" in health class (maybe...does anybody know), but in Minnesota, you can't have it on a button, which refers to theatrical literature...
Maybe it has something to do with Abstinence Only instruction...
Poll of Ohio Republicans. Heh. You voted for him, dumbasses.
Tom DeLay discusses strategies for destroying the American justice system, suggesting removing funding from courts.
An audio recording obtained by the Los Angeles Times features two of the nation's most influential evangelical leaders, at a private conference with supporters, laying out strategies to rein in judges, such as stripping funding from their courts in an effort to hinder their work.
The discussion took place during a Washington conference last month that included addresses by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who discussed efforts to bring a more conservative cast to the courts.
Frist and DeLay have not publicly endorsed the evangelical groups' proposed actions. But the taped discussion among evangelical leaders provides a glimpse of the road map they are drafting as they work with congressional Republicans to achieve a judiciary that sides with them on abortion, same-sex marriage and other elements of their agenda.
"There's more than one way to skin a cat, and there's more than one way to take a black robe off the bench," said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, according to an audiotape of a March 17 session. The tape was provided to The Times by the advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
DeLay has spoken generally about one of the ideas the leaders discussed in greater detail: using legislative tactics to withhold money from courts.
"We set up the courts. We can unset the courts. We have the power of the purse," DeLay said at an April 13 question-and-answer session with reporters.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Fark photoshop contest - blame the muppets.
These photoshop contests are usually hilarious, but this one is great.
There's an interesting subculture there if you follow it... in-jokes, jargon, really an entire symbolic dictionary of references to prior threads. It would make an interesting sociology thesis.
These photoshop contests are usually hilarious, but this one is great.
There's an interesting subculture there if you follow it... in-jokes, jargon, really an entire symbolic dictionary of references to prior threads. It would make an interesting sociology thesis.
Via Washington Monthly, more John "Fucking Psychofreak" Bolton.
"Bolton was running his own counterintelligence operation." So who is withholding the NSA intercepts from the SFRC committee to date? State or NSA or some other entity? More on this soon. Meantime, someone close to the investigation suggested that the 10 NSA intercepts Bolton demanded he be given with the identity of the redacted US persons revealed is an enormously interesting subject. "Bolton was running his own counterintelligence operation, was using the intelligence to figure out how he can get back at people." That would be against US officials. In the tradition of J. Edgar Hoover. I doubt this is behavior even Republican Senators are going to consider legitimate or tolerable, when they learn the details. Is this not an illegitimate, illegal and highly improper use of US signals intelligence, for a US official to spy on other US officials he doesn't trust? Talk about going behind someone's back! And was Jack Pritchard the only subject of Bolton's counterintelligence operations, or was Bolton's boss, Richard Armitage himself, and the staff who worked for him, also targets?
WTF!!!
"A federal court in Washington yesterday took the rare step of closing an entire oral argument to the public in the case of a former FBI translator who says she was fired for complaining about security breaches."
"A federal court in Washington yesterday took the rare step of closing an entire oral argument to the public in the case of a former FBI translator who says she was fired for complaining about security breaches."
Congratulations to Nathan... A Prayer for Dawn has been announced a finalist for Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year in the literary fiction category.
Updates from Brad:
This Saturday I will be taking part in a role in a indie short film called "HA!" you can find out more about these guys who are doing it at www.transitfilms.com They have a heist flick they are working on and I would love to be a part of that too.
Don't forget next week Wednesday April 27-Sunday May 1st see me with Melissa McQueen (www.melissamcqueen.com) and Jim Florentine (Special Ed/Bobby Fletcher from Crank Yankers www.jimflorentine.com)
here are some other dates:
Friday May 20-Rohs Street Cafe (www.rohsstreetcafe.com) THE ORIGINAL BEARDS OF COMEDY (Brad Thacker, Dave Waite, Mike Cody, Butch Wesley, Matt Stanton)
Friday June 24-Saturday June 25 -New York Comedy Club-Boca Raton, FL with Rev. Bob Levy and Sal the Stockbroker (tenative)
Saturday September 17-The Webster Theater-Hartford, CT with Artie Lange, Rev. Bob Levy and more TBA (tenative)
http://www.myspace.com/bradthacker
Demythologizing depression.
We idealize depression, associating it with perceptiveness, interpersonal sensitivity and other virtues. Like tuberculosis in its day, depression is a form of vulnerability that even contains a measure of erotic appeal. But the aspect of the romanticization of depression that seems to me to call for special attention is the notion that depression spawns creativity.
Objective evidence for that effect is weak. Older inquiries, the first attempts to examine the overlap of madness and genius, made positive claims for schizophrenia. Recent research has looked at mood disorders. These studies suggest that bipolar disorder may be overrepresented in the arts. (Bipolarity, or manic-depression, is another diagnosis proposed for van Gogh.) But then mania and its lesser cousin hypomania may drive productivity in many fields. One classic study hints at a link between alcoholism and literary work. But the benefits of major depression, taken as a single disease, have been hard to demonstrate. If anything, traits eroded by depression -- like energy and mental flexibility -- show up in contemporary studies of creativity.
[...]
As I spoke with audiences about mood disorders, I came to believe that part of what stood between depression and its full status as disease was the tradition of heroic melancholy. Surely, I would be asked when I spoke with college students, surely I saw the value in alienation. One medical philosopher asked what it would mean to prescribe Prozac to Sisyphus, condemned to roll his boulder up the hill.
That variant of the what if question sent me to Albert Camus's essay on Sisyphus, where I confirmed what I thought I had remembered -- that in Camus's reading, Sisyphus, the existential hero, remains upbeat despite the futility of his task. The gods intend for Sisyphus to suffer. His rebellion, his fidelity to self, rests on the refusal to be worn down. Sisyphus exemplifies resilience, in the face of full knowledge of his predicament. Camus says that joy opens our eyes to the absurd -- and to our freedom. It is not only in the downhill steps that Sisyphus triumphs over his punishment: ''The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.''
I came to suspect that it was the automatic pairing of depth and depression that made the medical philosopher propose Sisyphus as a candidate for mood enhancement. We forget that alienation can be paired with elation, that optimism is a form of awareness. I wanted to reclaim Sisyphus, to set his image on the poster for the campaign against depression.
[...]
Depression is not a perspective. It is a disease. Resisting that claim, we may ask: Seeing cruelty, suffering and death -- shouldn't a person be depressed? There are circumstances, like the Holocaust, in which depression might seem justified for every victim or observer. Awareness of the ubiquity of horror is the modern condition, our condition.
But then, depression is not universal, even in terrible times. Though prone to mood disorder, the great Italian writer Primo Levi was not depressed in his months at Auschwitz. I have treated a handful of patients who survived horrors arising from war or political repression. They came to depression years after enduring extreme privation. Typically, such a person will say: ''I don't understand it. I went through -- '' and here he will name one of the shameful events of our time. ''I lived through that, and in all those months, I never felt this.'' This refers to the relentless bleakness of depression, the self as hollow shell. To see the worst things a person can see is one experience; to suffer mood disorder is another. It is depression -- and not resistance to it or recovery from it -- that diminishes the self.
Beset by great evil, a person can be wise, observant and disillusioned and yet not depressed. Resilience confers its own measure of insight. We should have no trouble admiring what we do admire -- depth, complexity, aesthetic brilliance -- and standing foursquare against depression.
Peak Oil.
"Just kiss your lifestyle goodbye"
Some experts believe that global oil production will peak as early as next year, radically changing the world as we know it.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By John Vidal
April 21, 2005 | The one thing that international bankers don't want to hear is that the second Great Depression may be around the corner. But last week, a group of ultraconservative Swiss financiers asked a retired English petroleum geologist living in Ireland to tell them about the beginning of the end of the oil age.
They called Colin Campbell, who helped found the London-based Oil Depletion Analysis Center, because he is an industry man through and through, has no financial agenda and has spent most of a lifetime on the front line of oil exploration on three continents. He was chief geologist for Amoco, was a vice president of Fina and has worked for BP, Texaco, Shell, ChevronTexaco and Exxon in a dozen different countries.
"Don't worry about oil running out; it won't for very many years," the Oxford Ph.D. told the bankers in a message that he will repeat to businessmen, academics and investment analysts at a conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, next week. "The issue is the long downward slope that opens on the other side of peak production. Oil and gas dominate our lives, and their decline will change the world in radical and unpredictable ways," he says.
Campbell reckons global peak production of conventional oil -- the kind associated with gushing oil wells -- is approaching fast, perhaps even next year. His calculations are based on historical and present production data, published reserves and discoveries of companies and governments, estimates of reserves lodged with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, speeches by oil chiefs and a deep knowledge of how the industry works.
"About 944 billion barrels of oil has so far been extracted, some 764 billion remains extractable in known fields, or reserves, and a further 142 billion of reserves are classed as "yet-to-find," meaning what oil is expected to be discovered. If this is so, then the overall oil peak arrives next year," he says.
If he is correct, then global oil production can be expected to decline steadily at about 2 to 3 percent a year, and the cost of everything from travel, heating, agriculture, trade and anything made of plastic will rise. And the scramble to control oil resources will intensify. As one U.S. analyst said this week: "Just kiss your lifestyle goodbye."
Via DarkSyd, normal torture isn't evil enough for us... now we're arranging to have unconvicted prisoners boiled to death.
Re: "My feet are the size of the Atlantic Ocean and my head the size of a pea"
One pill makes you larger, one pill makes you small...
Is chronic narcissist Ann Coulter freaking out? Is this the result of too many space cakes during her Dead days, or some kind of psychotic reaction as a result of her alledged love of drink. Could it be when she gets called out on her slander, misrepresentation and out and out lies (By Allen Colmes, no less-sorry,bud...) her pea sized head can't handle it. Could it be that one of Karl Rove's Fembot's is slowing blowing a chip, and the orders from the Crawford Mothership are too confusing (and when can we expect Michelle Malkin's spontaneous combustion)? Was it because Sean Hannity won't let her lick his Florsheim's clean anymore, and now she'll never be Mrs. Hannity. Or, if you, if you'll permit me some vulgarity (and even if you won't), is the bratty little twat just as myopic and childish as you'd expect, and now, everybody knows...
Regardless, watch the fun for yourself.
Via Lisa Rein's most excellent Radar.
Update: Try this link...it seems to load faster. If anyone can find a transcript, I'll post it.
One pill makes you larger, one pill makes you small...
Is chronic narcissist Ann Coulter freaking out? Is this the result of too many space cakes during her Dead days, or some kind of psychotic reaction as a result of her alledged love of drink. Could it be when she gets called out on her slander, misrepresentation and out and out lies (By Allen Colmes, no less-sorry,bud...) her pea sized head can't handle it. Could it be that one of Karl Rove's Fembot's is slowing blowing a chip, and the orders from the Crawford Mothership are too confusing (and when can we expect Michelle Malkin's spontaneous combustion)? Was it because Sean Hannity won't let her lick his Florsheim's clean anymore, and now she'll never be Mrs. Hannity. Or, if you, if you'll permit me some vulgarity (and even if you won't), is the bratty little twat just as myopic and childish as you'd expect, and now, everybody knows...
Regardless, watch the fun for yourself.
Via Lisa Rein's most excellent Radar.
Update: Try this link...it seems to load faster. If anyone can find a transcript, I'll post it.
Daley was against the War?
Funny, you would have never known it, what with all the cracked skulls, tear gas, and, of course, the "mugging" of Dan Rather on the Convention Floor.
But hey, at least the MC5 played the Nero to this mess. Rama Lama, Fa Fa Fa...
Funny, you would have never known it, what with all the cracked skulls, tear gas, and, of course, the "mugging" of Dan Rather on the Convention Floor.
But hey, at least the MC5 played the Nero to this mess. Rama Lama, Fa Fa Fa...
Congratulations Connecticut
At least some states care about equal rights...
"Connecticut became the second state to offer civil unions to same-sex couples — and the first to do so without being forced by the courts."
At least some states care about equal rights...
"Connecticut became the second state to offer civil unions to same-sex couples — and the first to do so without being forced by the courts."
Divorce rate among women college graduates is plummeting.
"....Since 1980...women without undergraduate degrees have remained at about the same rate, their risk of divorce or separation within the first 10 years of marriage hovering at around 35 percent. But for college graduates, the divorce rate in the first 10 years of marriage has plummeted to just over 16 percent of those married between 1990 and 1994 from 27 percent of those married between 1975 and 1979."
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Ummm... what?
You think they mean, perhaps, 180 degrees?
The selection of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new Pope is bad news for the liberal currents within global Catholicism. Unless Benedict XVI (as Ratzinger has named himself as Pope) executes a 360 degree turn from his past, those who are developing and practicing so-called “dissident” movements within the Church will find little-to-no traction for official support or recognition from the Vatican.
You think they mean, perhaps, 180 degrees?
"Coalition of the whining'': Who's whining Now?
"[Rod Paige] later referred to the NEA as a 'terrorist organization' for the way it opposed the law, a comment for which he later apologized".
"[Rod Paige] later referred to the NEA as a 'terrorist organization' for the way it opposed the law, a comment for which he later apologized".
Knee Slapper!
"Democrats continue to bring these accusations up and trump them up and make unfounded allegations, and we need to get John Bolton to the United Nations because this is an important position. We need to get him there sooner rather than later[...]"
Because the White House would never dream of trumping up accusations to accomplish political ends.
"Democrats continue to bring these accusations up and trump them up and make unfounded allegations, and we need to get John Bolton to the United Nations because this is an important position. We need to get him there sooner rather than later[...]"
Because the White House would never dream of trumping up accusations to accomplish political ends.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
$2 billion giveaway to oil companies.
A little-noted provision backed by Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the majority leader and an ally of the oil industry, would bypass Congress's normal spending process to funnel up to $2 billion over 10 years into research for recovering oil and gas from the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Supporters of what some lawmakers refer to as the "DeLay ultra-deep-water provision" say it is crucial to developing new technology to prevent the nation from becoming as dependent on foreign sources of natural gas as it is now for oil. The only way to undertake research of that magnitude, they said, is with a guaranteed flow of money over the long term.
Mr. DeLay's spokesman, Dan Allen, defended the move, saying, "American consumers will ultimately benefit from this provision because it will reduce our dependence on foreign energy and, more importantly, reduce personal energy costs."
But the direct spending on behalf of oil and gas companies, coming at a time when Congress is trying to tighten its belt and energy profits are up, strikes some as unjustified.
Just a coincidence, but a fitting one.
9th Circuit OKs Suit Against Vatican Over Holocaust
Tuesday April 19, 2:59 am ET
Jeff Chorney, The Recorder
Just in time for the picking of a new pope, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Monday that Holocaust survivors can pursue the Vatican Bank for profiting from a Nazi puppet regime.
The decision in Alperin v. Vatican Bank, 05 C.D.O.S. 3216, revives a class action that had been dismissed by San Francisco U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney.
Groups of Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian Holocaust victims -- potentially hundreds of thousands, according to plaintiffs attorneys -- had sued the Vatican Bank, the Franciscan Order, the Croatian Liberation Movement and various banks in 1999.
Plaintiffs allege the defendants "profited from the genocidal acts of the Croatian Ustasha political regime," which was installed by the Nazis during World War II, according to the opinion.
The Ustasha regime operated death camps where as many as 700,000 Serbs died. After the Croatian government collapsed at the end of the war, its leaders fled to Italy and some assets went into Vatican control, according to a State Department report. Plaintiffs allege that the Vatican Bank, an arm of the sovereign Vatican government, essentially laundered the money, said plaintiffs lawyer Thomas Easton of Eugene, Ore.
Scratch our backs...we'll scratch yours.
So...
A Utah based company is allowed to filter sex and violence to protect "the children"...but, to throw 'em a bone, you can now get 3 years for bootlegging a song or movie...
Smells like bullshit to me.
So...
A Utah based company is allowed to filter sex and violence to protect "the children"...but, to throw 'em a bone, you can now get 3 years for bootlegging a song or movie...
Smells like bullshit to me.
"My feet are the size of the Atlantic Ocean and my head the size of a pea." - Ann Coulter
CDC overstated the mortality risks of obesity by 14 times.
I think I'll celebrate with chili for dinner.
I think I'll celebrate with chili for dinner.
Looks like my old cult has a new Grand Ayatollah. Unless, of course, everyone is cheering the grill-smoke coming from the Vatican kitchens.
No word yet on who it is.
UPDATE: It's looking like Ratzinger, but that hasn't been officially declared yet. So now the entire catholic church is controlled by the former head of the Inquisition. To call him radical right wing would be an understatement. It does sort of fit the narrative arc of the times... Russia is lead by the former head of the KGB, and the US is in thrall to a radical clique of neo-fascist Straussians.
Reportedly, he's chosen the name Benedict XVI.
"Hey Torquemada, what do ya say?"
...and who would of thought we'd have a pope who was a member of the HITLER YOUTH?
No word yet on who it is.
UPDATE: It's looking like Ratzinger, but that hasn't been officially declared yet. So now the entire catholic church is controlled by the former head of the Inquisition. To call him radical right wing would be an understatement. It does sort of fit the narrative arc of the times... Russia is lead by the former head of the KGB, and the US is in thrall to a radical clique of neo-fascist Straussians.
Reportedly, he's chosen the name Benedict XVI.
"Hey Torquemada, what do ya say?"
...and who would of thought we'd have a pope who was a member of the HITLER YOUTH?
Integrity. More scientists should have the strength to turn down money from religious groups like the Templeton Fund, who only want to buy cover for their cryptoreligious attacks on real science.
Oklahoma City Bombing anniversary on This Modern World, via Half Mad Spinster.
"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building."
--Ann Coulter as quoted in the New York Observer, Aug. 20, 2002
"RE: McVeigh quote. Of course I regret it. I should have added, 'after everyone had left the building except the editors and reporters.'"
--Ann Coulter, from an interview with Right Wing News
I've been pondering this for a while...
If Churches want to get involved with Politics...fine. They should lose any tax exempt status and pay up like any other PAC.
If Churches want to get involved with Politics...fine. They should lose any tax exempt status and pay up like any other PAC.
Ann Coulter Quotes, from a 2001 Washington Monthly article.
"[Clinton] masturbates in the sinks."---Rivera Live 8/2/99
"God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'"---Hannity & Colmes, 6/20/01
The "backbone of the Democratic Party" is a "typical fat, implacable welfare recipient"---syndicated column 10/29/99
To a disabled Vietnam vet: "People like you caused us to lose that war."---MSNBC
"Women like Pamela Harriman and Patricia Duff are basically Anna Nicole Smith from the waist down. Let's just call it for what it is. They're whores."---Salon.com 11/16/00
Juan Gonzales is "Cuba's answer to Joey Buttafuoco," a "miscreant," "sperm-donor," and a "poor man's Hugh Hefner."---Rivera Live 5/1/00
On Princess Diana's death: "Her children knew she's sleeping with all these men. That just seems to me, it's the definition of 'not a good mother.' ... Is everyone just saying here that it's okay to ostentatiously have premarital sex in front of your children?"..."[Diana is] an ordinary and pathetic and confessional - I've never had bulimia! I've never had an affair! I've never had a divorce! So I don't think she's better than I am."---MSNBC 9/12/97
"I think there should be a literacy test and a poll tax for people to vote."---Hannity & Colmes, 8/17/99
"I think [women] should be armed but should not [be allowed to] vote."---Politically Incorrect, 2/26/01
"If you don't hate Clinton and the people who labored to keep him in office, you don't love your country."---George, 7/99
"We're now at the point that it's beyond whether or not this guy is a horny hick. I really think it's a question of his mental stability. He really could be a lunatic. I think it is a rational question for Americans to ask whether their president is insane."---Equal Time
"It's enough [to be impeached] for the president to be a pervert."---The Case Against Bill Clinton, Coulter's 1998 book.
"Clinton is in love with the erect penis."---This Evening with Judith Regan, Fox News Channel 2/6/00
"I think we had enough laws about the turn-of-the-century. We don't need any more." Asked how far back would she go to repeal laws, she replied, "Well, before the New Deal...[The Emancipation Proclamation] would be a good start."---Politically Incorrect 5/7/97
"If they have the one innocent person who has ever to be put to death this century out of over 7,000, you probably will get a good movie deal out of it."---MSNBC 7/27/97
"If those kids had been carrying guns they would have gunned down this one [child] gunman. ... Don't pray. Learn to use guns."---Politically Incorrect, 12/18/97
"The presumption of innocence only means you don't go right to jail."---Hannity & Colmes 8/24/01
"I have to say I'm all for public flogging. One type of criminal that a public humiliation might work particularly well with are the juvenile delinquents, a lot of whom consider it a badge of honor to be sent to juvenile detention. And it might not be such a cool thing in the 'hood to be flogged publicly."---MSNBC 3/22/97
"Originally, I was the only female with long blonde hair. Now, they all have long blonde hair."---CapitolHillBlue.com 6/6/00
"I am emboldened by my looks to say things Republican men wouldn't."---TV Guide 8/97
"Let's say I go out every night, I meet a guy and have sex with him. Good for me. I'm not married."---Rivera Live 6/7/00
"Anorexics never have boyfriends. ... That's one way to know you don't have anorexia, if you have a boyfriend."---Politically Incorrect 7/21/97
"I think [Whitewater]'s going to prevent the First Lady from running for Senate."---Rivera Live 3/12/99
"My track record is pretty good on predictions."---Rivera Live 12/8/98
"The thing I like about Bush is I think he hates liberals."---Washington Post 8/1/00
On Rep. Christopher Shays (d-CT) in deciding whether to run against him as a Libertarian candidate: "I really want to hurt him. I want him to feel pain."---Hartford Courant 6/25/99
"The swing voters---I like to refer to them as the idiot voters because they don't have set philosophical principles. You're either a liberal or you're a conservative if you have an IQ above a toaster. "---Beyond the News, Fox News Channel, 6/4/00
"My libertarian friends are probably getting a little upset now but I think that's because they never appreciate the benefits of local fascism."---MSNBC 2/8/97
"You want to be careful not to become just a blowhard."---Washington Post 10/16/98
"[Clinton] masturbates in the sinks."---Rivera Live 8/2/99
"God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'"---Hannity & Colmes, 6/20/01
The "backbone of the Democratic Party" is a "typical fat, implacable welfare recipient"---syndicated column 10/29/99
To a disabled Vietnam vet: "People like you caused us to lose that war."---MSNBC
"Women like Pamela Harriman and Patricia Duff are basically Anna Nicole Smith from the waist down. Let's just call it for what it is. They're whores."---Salon.com 11/16/00
Juan Gonzales is "Cuba's answer to Joey Buttafuoco," a "miscreant," "sperm-donor," and a "poor man's Hugh Hefner."---Rivera Live 5/1/00
On Princess Diana's death: "Her children knew she's sleeping with all these men. That just seems to me, it's the definition of 'not a good mother.' ... Is everyone just saying here that it's okay to ostentatiously have premarital sex in front of your children?"..."[Diana is] an ordinary and pathetic and confessional - I've never had bulimia! I've never had an affair! I've never had a divorce! So I don't think she's better than I am."---MSNBC 9/12/97
"I think there should be a literacy test and a poll tax for people to vote."---Hannity & Colmes, 8/17/99
"I think [women] should be armed but should not [be allowed to] vote."---Politically Incorrect, 2/26/01
"If you don't hate Clinton and the people who labored to keep him in office, you don't love your country."---George, 7/99
"We're now at the point that it's beyond whether or not this guy is a horny hick. I really think it's a question of his mental stability. He really could be a lunatic. I think it is a rational question for Americans to ask whether their president is insane."---Equal Time
"It's enough [to be impeached] for the president to be a pervert."---The Case Against Bill Clinton, Coulter's 1998 book.
"Clinton is in love with the erect penis."---This Evening with Judith Regan, Fox News Channel 2/6/00
"I think we had enough laws about the turn-of-the-century. We don't need any more." Asked how far back would she go to repeal laws, she replied, "Well, before the New Deal...[The Emancipation Proclamation] would be a good start."---Politically Incorrect 5/7/97
"If they have the one innocent person who has ever to be put to death this century out of over 7,000, you probably will get a good movie deal out of it."---MSNBC 7/27/97
"If those kids had been carrying guns they would have gunned down this one [child] gunman. ... Don't pray. Learn to use guns."---Politically Incorrect, 12/18/97
"The presumption of innocence only means you don't go right to jail."---Hannity & Colmes 8/24/01
"I have to say I'm all for public flogging. One type of criminal that a public humiliation might work particularly well with are the juvenile delinquents, a lot of whom consider it a badge of honor to be sent to juvenile detention. And it might not be such a cool thing in the 'hood to be flogged publicly."---MSNBC 3/22/97
"Originally, I was the only female with long blonde hair. Now, they all have long blonde hair."---CapitolHillBlue.com 6/6/00
"I am emboldened by my looks to say things Republican men wouldn't."---TV Guide 8/97
"Let's say I go out every night, I meet a guy and have sex with him. Good for me. I'm not married."---Rivera Live 6/7/00
"Anorexics never have boyfriends. ... That's one way to know you don't have anorexia, if you have a boyfriend."---Politically Incorrect 7/21/97
"I think [Whitewater]'s going to prevent the First Lady from running for Senate."---Rivera Live 3/12/99
"My track record is pretty good on predictions."---Rivera Live 12/8/98
"The thing I like about Bush is I think he hates liberals."---Washington Post 8/1/00
On Rep. Christopher Shays (d-CT) in deciding whether to run against him as a Libertarian candidate: "I really want to hurt him. I want him to feel pain."---Hartford Courant 6/25/99
"The swing voters---I like to refer to them as the idiot voters because they don't have set philosophical principles. You're either a liberal or you're a conservative if you have an IQ above a toaster. "---Beyond the News, Fox News Channel, 6/4/00
"My libertarian friends are probably getting a little upset now but I think that's because they never appreciate the benefits of local fascism."---MSNBC 2/8/97
"You want to be careful not to become just a blowhard."---Washington Post 10/16/98
Secret FBI report on right wing terrorist cells.
NEW YORK, April 18, 2005 -- A secret FBI report, obtained by ABC News, identifies 22 domestic terror organizations as the current subjects of 338 active FBI field investigations.
The Aryan Nations, and other white supremacist groups, are cited in the report for hate crimes, fire bombings, threats via mail, as well as robberies and murders. The National Alliance, one of the largest neo-Nazi organizations in the world, is subject to 51 FBI investigations alone, according to the report.
In fact there are "ticking time bombs," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, "who have the capacity, skill and hatred to carry out acts worse than what Timothy McVeigh carried out 10 years ago."
Levin, and other terrorism experts, say that the Internet has become the principal recruitment tool, attracting the loners and the disturbed who boast of finding viable U.S. targets.
"We are likely to see more terrorist attacks by lone wolves, or small cells," Levin said, "They're in their bedroom accessing bomb-making information on the Net, and accessing hateful rhetoric which empowers them."
James P. Wickstrom, who calls himself the world chaplain of the Aryan Nation, uses "Death to the Jew" as a mantra of sorts. He also regularly calls for the deaths of government leaders, including the president.
"There is none of them in this Cabinet that damnably deserves to breathe the air in this country today," Wickstrom said in a speech given at the Aryan Nations World Congress in Pennsylvania in July 2002.
Federal officials say his calls to action are not unlike those of the leader of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden. Wickstrom has declared himself an enemy of the United States government.
"I tell you we do not need this Congress and legislative body," he said in the same speech. "We don't need these vile bastards telling us what to do on our property and with our water and with our children. We don't need to tell them we have to wear a seat belt. We don't need have to be told anything."
Wickstrom's popular Web site, part of the "United Aryan Terror" Web ring, and others, portray executed Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh as a martyr and patriot.
"The Internet is where law enforcement should be looking," said Levin. "Because that is where the next Timothy McVeigh probably is right now."
Several of the groups under FBI investigation sponsor neo-Nazi concerts and produce their own records as a way to raise money.
And there is growing concern about the recruitment of disaffected teenagers by domestic terror groups.
Just recently, officials in Riverside, Calif., discovered a huge collection of automatic weapons, narcotics and Nazi paraphernalia — the efforts, they suspect, of a volunteer high school football coach and the teenagers he had recruited for a neo-Nazi group. Among the weapons cache, Riverside County Sheriff's Department deputies and the FBI found over 75 firearms, 15,000 rounds of ammunition and several bulletproof vests. The coach and 18 others are awaiting trial.
"We were like, wow, here we are with narcotics, we have over a hundred weapons and we have this group that is promoting hate," said Sgt. Earl Quinata, spokesman for the sheriff's department. "It was a very dangerous situation."
Hearts and minds.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi lawmaker accused a U.S. soldier of grabbing him by the throat and shoving him to the ground Tuesday after he parked his car in Baghdad's Green Zone.
Fattah al-Sheikh, an independent, said he had parked his car before a session of parliament when U.S. troops approached him and told him he didn't have the right permit.
He said a soldier then kicked his car, insulted him and grabbed him by the throat with both hands as others looked on, before tying his hands behind his back with white plastic cuffs and shoving him to the ground.
"I don't speak English and so I said to the Iraqi translator with them, 'Tell them that I am a member of parliament,' and he replied, 'To hell with you, we are Americans,"' Sheikh told parliament, fighting back tears as he recounted the story.
The U.S. military said it was investigating the incident.
"We are aware of the reported incident involving a member of Iraq's Transitional National Assembly and we are investigating it at this time," a military spokesman said.
Bolton: Death Valley Days.
Okay folks, its the 11th hour here. Is there any hope that sanity will come out of this, and that this sociopath will get sent packing?
The Intellectual Conservative says the Dems have acted shamefully by not going along with this, and the Chicago Tribune asks "Why did Bolton want the '[...] identities of 10 U.S. officials involved in secret NSA intercepts during the past four years'?".
Place your bets...Place your bets.
Update: Bolton Vote delayed!
"'I've heard enough today that I don't feel comfortable about voting for Mr. Bolton,' said Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio [...]".
Okay folks, its the 11th hour here. Is there any hope that sanity will come out of this, and that this sociopath will get sent packing?
The Intellectual Conservative says the Dems have acted shamefully by not going along with this, and the Chicago Tribune asks "Why did Bolton want the '[...] identities of 10 U.S. officials involved in secret NSA intercepts during the past four years'?".
Place your bets...Place your bets.
Update: Bolton Vote delayed!
"'I've heard enough today that I don't feel comfortable about voting for Mr. Bolton,' said Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio [...]".
Tolerance
Whether or not you visit our friends over at Cincinnati Blog, never let it be said that Monsieur Griffin censors anybody...
So, in keeping with our theocratic nut watch, give this guy's screed a read. Disgusting, hatefilled, paranoid...but its always good to keep your enemies close.
But don't feel bad...He (?) decided for you what the relationship would be:
"For centuries those who made this country great were called people of faith until the 60's birthed out of the slime they are so interested in promoting as where human life came from the influx of aethist who love themselves and no one else. The cities where these type of people breed will indeed be the ghettos of future America and those of faith will continue to move away [...]"
Whether or not you visit our friends over at Cincinnati Blog, never let it be said that Monsieur Griffin censors anybody...
So, in keeping with our theocratic nut watch, give this guy's screed a read. Disgusting, hatefilled, paranoid...but its always good to keep your enemies close.
But don't feel bad...He (?) decided for you what the relationship would be:
"For centuries those who made this country great were called people of faith until the 60's birthed out of the slime they are so interested in promoting as where human life came from the influx of aethist who love themselves and no one else. The cities where these type of people breed will indeed be the ghettos of future America and those of faith will continue to move away [...]"
Monday, April 18, 2005
The Importance of MLA.
"'I deeply regret that I missed what I missed,' Sawyer-Laucanno said. 'But while I clearly missed a few citations, I am not willing to admit to plagiarism.'''
Sorry buddy, but for a literary scholar to not be mindful of such is at the least plagiarism and at the most fraud. Please, spare me...25 years is long enough to learn the rules that most get a handle on by their sophomore year.
"'I deeply regret that I missed what I missed,' Sawyer-Laucanno said. 'But while I clearly missed a few citations, I am not willing to admit to plagiarism.'''
Sorry buddy, but for a literary scholar to not be mindful of such is at the least plagiarism and at the most fraud. Please, spare me...25 years is long enough to learn the rules that most get a handle on by their sophomore year.
Clueless Idiot.
"Another absurdity from the Ivy League: Graduate students at Columbia and Yale are on the verge of going on strike. That's right, students."
The absurdity here is the Ivy League, but that's beside the point: Graduate Students often end up doing the bulk of the work for whatever professors they work for, including, lecturing the "unsexy" classes Mr/Ms. Tenure may be required to teach (undergrad classes), and more often than not, they are paid a pittance or not at all for doing someone else's job. The critical word here, folks, is exploitation. Let's not kid ourselves. Of course, that doesn't get mentioned in the piece. But it does here.
"Another absurdity from the Ivy League: Graduate students at Columbia and Yale are on the verge of going on strike. That's right, students."
The absurdity here is the Ivy League, but that's beside the point: Graduate Students often end up doing the bulk of the work for whatever professors they work for, including, lecturing the "unsexy" classes Mr/Ms. Tenure may be required to teach (undergrad classes), and more often than not, they are paid a pittance or not at all for doing someone else's job. The critical word here, folks, is exploitation. Let's not kid ourselves. Of course, that doesn't get mentioned in the piece. But it does here.
More stories of Bolton the psychopath.
"After Townsel complained to officials about work being done by the company Bolton represented, she said Bolton "proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel -- throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door and, generally, behaving like a madman." She said this conduct continued for nearly two weeks, and that she eventually resorted to staying in her hotel room to avoid Bolton, but that he "routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats." Later, she said, Bolton attempted to smear her with false stories suggesting that she was facing a criminal investigation."
"After Townsel complained to officials about work being done by the company Bolton represented, she said Bolton "proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel -- throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door and, generally, behaving like a madman." She said this conduct continued for nearly two weeks, and that she eventually resorted to staying in her hotel room to avoid Bolton, but that he "routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats." Later, she said, Bolton attempted to smear her with false stories suggesting that she was facing a criminal investigation."
Terrence McKenna, what is this?
As I understand it, with the exception of Rastafari, psychotropic sacrements are protected, no?
As I understand it, with the exception of Rastafari, psychotropic sacrements are protected, no?
The Lord Humungous...the Warrior of the Wasteland...The Ayatollah of Rockin' Rollah.
"I honestly don't know how that could be [a real threat], because 'Road Warrior' was so over the top," he said.
Try to remember that that assless chaps and a Mustang with a Blower make you no less geeky than people who walk around dressed like Spock or Obi Wan.
Update: Where the convoy rolled out of?!?
"I honestly don't know how that could be [a real threat], because 'Road Warrior' was so over the top," he said.
Try to remember that that assless chaps and a Mustang with a Blower make you no less geeky than people who walk around dressed like Spock or Obi Wan.
Update: Where the convoy rolled out of?!?
Sunday, April 17, 2005
SWAT Monkey.
Why doesn't he pitch it as a reality show?
Weighing only 3 to 8 pounds with tiny humanlike hands and puzzle-solving skills, Truelove said it could unlock doors, search buildings and find suicide victims on command. Dressed in a Kevlar vest, video camera and two-way radio, the small monkey would be able to get into places no officer or robot could go.
It has been a little over a year since Truelove filed a grant proposal with the U.S. Department of Defense under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and he is still waiting for word.
If the grant goes through, Truelove plans on learning how to train the monkey himself and keeping the sociable monkey at home, just like a K-9 officer would. He projects that $85,000 in grant money would outfit the monkey with gear and pay for veterinarian care, food and habitat for three years.
Why doesn't he pitch it as a reality show?
Poverty, wealth, and distribution curves in Norway.
In late March, another study, this one from KPMG, the international accounting and consulting firm, cast light on this paradox. It indicated that when disposable income was adjusted for cost of living, Scandinavians were the poorest people in Western Europe. Danes had the lowest adjusted income, Norwegians the second lowest, Swedes the third. Spain and Portugal, with two of Europe's least regulated economies, led the list.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Always tip well.
Just do 20% and up. The math is simplest, you'll get better service, and sometimes the servers start buying you the drinks when they get off work.
What always surprises me, and really makes me judge them for it, is when people comment that they think I'm leaving too much. The only thing worse is when someone insists that everyone give them cash so that they can get "sky miles" on their credit card, then they leave a shitty tip for the server when the rest of us have given them 30%+.
Also consider the time you're paying for. If you spend all afternoon in Sitwell's but only spent $2, your tip should be more than 100%.
Just do 20% and up. The math is simplest, you'll get better service, and sometimes the servers start buying you the drinks when they get off work.
What always surprises me, and really makes me judge them for it, is when people comment that they think I'm leaving too much. The only thing worse is when someone insists that everyone give them cash so that they can get "sky miles" on their credit card, then they leave a shitty tip for the server when the rest of us have given them 30%+.
Also consider the time you're paying for. If you spend all afternoon in Sitwell's but only spent $2, your tip should be more than 100%.
What makes science work.
"There's virtue in trying to address a subject critically, and maybe the student would learn something from comparing both sides of the story, but I'd also have to tell them something bluntly: if I got a paper that concluded that dinosaurs never existed, I'd put a big "F" on it. I wouldn't care how beautifully written it was, or how elegant and lucid the logic was; the evidence is against their position. I don't teach rhetoric, I teach science, and you don't do science by trying to argue the evidence out of existence."
Friday, April 15, 2005
I know it's been floating around for a couple of days, but really this has to be the Quote of the Year.
"I blame Congress over the last 50 to 100 years for not standing up and taking its responsibility given to it by the Constitution. The reason the judiciary has been able to impose a separation of church and state that's nowhere in the Constitution is that Congress didn't stop them. The reason we had judicial review is because Congress didn't stop them. The reason we had a right to privacy is because Congress didn't stop them." - Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay's House of Scandal diagram. Warning, the rollover noises are too loud on my system.
Oil For Food, part 2
"The US and Britain have rejected allegations by UN chief Kofi Annan that they turned a blind eye to oil smuggling by Saddam Hussein's regime".
Then, how is it that a British business man and an American Business man were indicted yesterday for this? How could so much oil pass through unnoticed? Hmmm.
"The US and Britain have rejected allegations by UN chief Kofi Annan that they turned a blind eye to oil smuggling by Saddam Hussein's regime".
Then, how is it that a British business man and an American Business man were indicted yesterday for this? How could so much oil pass through unnoticed? Hmmm.
The Rudolph Manifesto (excerpt)
Though only an excerpt...sounds alot like some of the "more conservative" members of congress.
Can't wait to read the full thing...most exciting manifesto since the Unabomber.
Though only an excerpt...sounds alot like some of the "more conservative" members of congress.
Can't wait to read the full thing...most exciting manifesto since the Unabomber.
That deadly flu? Which governments would you LEAST trust with samples?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that two thirds of a batch of deadly viruses misplaced in analysis kits have been destroyed, but that the kits to be shipped to Mexico and Lebanon have gone missing.
The WHO had previously asked for the destruction of the viruses that were sent to a total of 18 countries including US, Canada, France, and Brazil. The WHO's flu ourbreak director Klaus Stohr said that these have been destroyed, but that information from Mexico and Lebanon labratories say the kits were never received. Stohr added that even though there is a posssiblity that the shipments were never sent, they cannot be certain.
According to Stohr, in Hong Kong, Belgium, Singapore, Canada, Chile, Germany, France, Italy, South Korea, and Taiwan, the viruses have been destroyed. No confirmation of destruction has been received from Saudi Arabia, Bermuda, Brazil, Israel, and Japan though some have asked the WHO how to destroy the viruses.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Army covers up Tillman's death, again.
From everything that I've read, Pat Tillman was a hero. He was a truly incredible individual, who sacrificed everything for what he believed in, and died in the kind of FUBAR that will always be a part of war.
The fact that the bastards continue to piss on his family by failing to come clean shows that this Administration has no respect for American soldiers like him.
From everything that I've read, Pat Tillman was a hero. He was a truly incredible individual, who sacrificed everything for what he believed in, and died in the kind of FUBAR that will always be a part of war.
The fact that the bastards continue to piss on his family by failing to come clean shows that this Administration has no respect for American soldiers like him.
Holy crap... you mean the standard sitcom joke is right? The average man lasts 7.3 minutes?
Oil For Food
"Attorney David Kelley said the following people have been indicted on kickback charges:
- David Chalmers, head of Houston-based oil refiner and distributor Bayoil USA, who is the first American charged in the case.
- Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian citizen living in the United States, who like Chalmers was arrested Thursday morning at his Houston home.
-John Irving, whose extradition from Britain will be sought."
Am I just a cynical S.O.B, or might there be a White House connection, here. We are talking about Texas Oilmen, here.
"Attorney David Kelley said the following people have been indicted on kickback charges:
- David Chalmers, head of Houston-based oil refiner and distributor Bayoil USA, who is the first American charged in the case.
- Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian citizen living in the United States, who like Chalmers was arrested Thursday morning at his Houston home.
-John Irving, whose extradition from Britain will be sought."
Am I just a cynical S.O.B, or might there be a White House connection, here. We are talking about Texas Oilmen, here.
WASHINGTON - More than 10,000 fugitives, many wanted for violent crimes, were rounded up over the past week in a coordinated nationwide effort led by U.S. marshals.
Spirituality and College Freshman
This interests me only in so far as what it reveals about the religious right and the "multicultural liberal indoctrination"...
"Eighty-three percent agree that 'nonreligious people can lead lives that are just as moral as those of religious believers'. "
This interests me only in so far as what it reveals about the religious right and the "multicultural liberal indoctrination"...
"Eighty-three percent agree that 'nonreligious people can lead lives that are just as moral as those of religious believers'. "
The U.K.: Kamel Bourgass, a 31-year old Algerian, has been found guilty of 'conspiracy to commit a public nuisance by using poisons and explosives'.
Well, at least hysteria and the injustices in the wake of 9/11 is pan-anglo...
"But the trial has finally forced the authorities to admit that there never was any trace of ricin found in the first place."
Bourgass did kill a detective, though...
Well, at least hysteria and the injustices in the wake of 9/11 is pan-anglo...
"But the trial has finally forced the authorities to admit that there never was any trace of ricin found in the first place."
Bourgass did kill a detective, though...
Shalom, Catepillar! Shalom!
"The resolution, brought by four Roman Catholic orders of nuns and the Berkeley-based group Jewish Voices for Peace, says that Israel has used the bulldozers to destroy thousands of homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."
"The resolution, brought by four Roman Catholic orders of nuns and the Berkeley-based group Jewish Voices for Peace, says that Israel has used the bulldozers to destroy thousands of homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."
He's Sorry...now...
"'Sometimes I get a little more passionate, and particularly during the moment, and the day that Terri Schiavo was starved to death, emotions were flowing,' DeLay said. 'I probably said -- I did, I didn't probably -- I said something in an inartful way, and I shouldn't have said it that way, and I apologize for saying it that way'."
Yeah, he's passionate...about graft and one party rule.
"'Sometimes I get a little more passionate, and particularly during the moment, and the day that Terri Schiavo was starved to death, emotions were flowing,' DeLay said. 'I probably said -- I did, I didn't probably -- I said something in an inartful way, and I shouldn't have said it that way, and I apologize for saying it that way'."
Yeah, he's passionate...about graft and one party rule.
Air America (the CIA program, not the show) Revistited.
Well, the kids love their techno...gotta dance...all nite long...
"Two members of the New York Air Force National Guard have been arrested and charged with smuggling 290,000 Ecstasy tablets [...]"
Well, the kids love their techno...gotta dance...all nite long...
"Two members of the New York Air Force National Guard have been arrested and charged with smuggling 290,000 Ecstasy tablets [...]"
Personally, I think there should be an exception to the laws of assault and battery to exclude from prosecution anyone who drags a moralist out of their pharmacist's perch and beats them stupid right there for refusing service on the basis of their cult.
But this seems like a calmer way to look at it:
But this seems like a calmer way to look at it:
The best tool I can offer to sort out this conundrum is the "least cost avoider" model from law and economics. Where the burden can either fall on a pharmacist (who knows in advance of her own moral reservations and is in a position to provide a patient with suitable alternatives) or on an unknowing patient (who may well be pregnant, frantic, poor, and short on time), the burden must properly fall on the pharmacist. Patients cannot have their expectations of timely, professional service undermined by unanticipated bursts of conscientious objection. That's why the counterproposals under consideration in at least four other states grappling with reluctant pharmacists seem eminently reasonable: Such laws would require druggists to fill all prescriptions unless they can find alternatives that don't inconvenience the patient. This is essentially the mechanism created earlier this month when Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich filed a 150-day emergency rule requiring drugstores to either fill prescriptions or otherwise accommodate their patients.
These solutions don't force individual pharmacists to undermine their personal religious views. They do place high costs on the drugstores, which would now need to implement fixes such as posted warnings, agreements with other pharmacies, and the hiring of extra pharmacists, even if they can ill afford it. If an individual service provider wants to reserve the right to deny services, they should be free to do so, and if a drugstore wants to employ such a person, they should also do so. But these celebrations of religious conscience should happen at their own cost and never at the expense of citizens requiring services.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
3... 2... 1... Now. The "Revelations" miniseries god lightning-bolts the child for having a temporary tattoo, and "talkin' sassy."
That's the moment when the mass-market, hysterical, millennialist, fundamentalist, death-worshiping brand of christianity jumped the shark in this country. Good riddance, assholes.
That's the moment when the mass-market, hysterical, millennialist, fundamentalist, death-worshiping brand of christianity jumped the shark in this country. Good riddance, assholes.
Harboring terrorists.
Of course, it would be hard to top Bush the Elder for supporting terrorism, especially in the pardon of Orlando Bosch.
CORAL GABLES -- A Cuban militant linked to assassination plots against Fidel Castro and wanted in Venezuela for a 1976 Cuban airliner bombing asked Wednesday for political asylum in the United States, his lawyer said.
Cuba and Venezuela contend that the Bush administration would be harboring a terrorist if Luis Posada Carriles, 77, is granted asylum.
Of course, it would be hard to top Bush the Elder for supporting terrorism, especially in the pardon of Orlando Bosch.
Pelosi hits the GOP with both barrels. Then reloads. Then beats their remains to pulp with the shattered stock.
Friedman expects another terrorist attack. Well that's genius. Tell you what, I'll make a prediction too, that there will be another terrorist attack within 7 years. Why? Because I could roll back, off the top of my head, a terrorist-style attack for every decade all the way to before the civil war.
He's also playing the same stupid trick of blending the insurgents with al qaeda. Two different groups, two different agendas. Yep, we're going to be attacked again. The only way to mitigate the results of the attack is to spend what must be spent to upgrade our emergency response infrastructure, to get real intelligence and force those who would lie about it for politics out of office, and to quit supporting middle eastern dictatorships like those in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and the apartheid in Israel. Not exactly rocket science, eh? You'd think even Tom Freidman would get it eventually.
He's also playing the same stupid trick of blending the insurgents with al qaeda. Two different groups, two different agendas. Yep, we're going to be attacked again. The only way to mitigate the results of the attack is to spend what must be spent to upgrade our emergency response infrastructure, to get real intelligence and force those who would lie about it for politics out of office, and to quit supporting middle eastern dictatorships like those in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and the apartheid in Israel. Not exactly rocket science, eh? You'd think even Tom Freidman would get it eventually.
Whoa, this is just amazing. How many ethical and legal errors can you pack into a single police sting operation in a strip club?
Here's an interesting argument... that Andrea Dworkin was a pioneer of the discourse-destroying hyperbole that is the main tool of talk-radio demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and Michael "Savage" Wiener.
There was a study years ago that determined that "judge" is the best title for getting good service, beating out "ambassador" even, so a friend of mine used to add "judge" to everything... every time he made dinner reservations, got his car fixed, even when he ordered shirts from catalogs. Ok, so he actually WAS a judge at the time, but the other judges I knew didn't do the same.
So I'm convinced this is true:
So I'm convinced this is true:
As conservatives try to whip up anger against the judiciary, they’re running into a problem that liberals have struggled with for years.
People generally like judges.
Certainly more than they like politicians.
Judges are seen as above politics, all dignified and stately with their fancy robes, not like money-grubbing two-faced pols.
So it doesn’t easily resonate when you argue that the judiciary should have less power, and Congress should have more.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Well my goodness. Potential flu pandemic, right here in river city.
"Dr. Jared Schwartz, an official with the pathology college, said a private company, Meridian Bioscience Inc. (VIVO) of Cincinnati, Ohio, is paid to prepare the samples. The firm was told to pick an influenza A sample and chose from its stockpile the deadly 1957 H2N2 strain."
Speaking of interdenominational overdrive, Wes F. made reference to Dominionists on another blog (I think) , and lo and behold, an article in the new Rolling Stone.
A name that came up that I recognized was Rich DeVos, of Amway fame. In the bowels of the early 80's recession, my folks, broke as fuck, took up with these folks in an attempt to generate some income. Instead, they found a scam, more financial woes and shady political dealings.
God help us...these people are fucking crazy. And their ranch flavored snacks sucked, too.
A name that came up that I recognized was Rich DeVos, of Amway fame. In the bowels of the early 80's recession, my folks, broke as fuck, took up with these folks in an attempt to generate some income. Instead, they found a scam, more financial woes and shady political dealings.
God help us...these people are fucking crazy. And their ranch flavored snacks sucked, too.
Tie a Yellow Ribbon: Bush thanks troops.
Yeah, right...like most flag waving neo con morons, Bush loves to talk about "heroes" and "sacrifice". They'll even show you how much they love the troops with cheap kitch like car flags, and those damn ubiquitous ribbon stickers. Hell, they even managed to conflate Bush with the troops; If you support the troops, you have to support the President, or you are a traitorous heathen.
Like Matthew 6 says, beware of such ostentatious displays of Patriotism for the Lazy, because after the parades are over and we all feel real good about kicking ass, there are those who actually sacrificed body and mind. Do we treat them like heroes then? Never. Ever.
This is the real thanks they get for giving everything. If you don't believe me, there is a VA Hospital on Vine St. in Corryville. Ask these guys how "thanked" they feel.
Yeah, right...like most flag waving neo con morons, Bush loves to talk about "heroes" and "sacrifice". They'll even show you how much they love the troops with cheap kitch like car flags, and those damn ubiquitous ribbon stickers. Hell, they even managed to conflate Bush with the troops; If you support the troops, you have to support the President, or you are a traitorous heathen.
Like Matthew 6 says, beware of such ostentatious displays of Patriotism for the Lazy, because after the parades are over and we all feel real good about kicking ass, there are those who actually sacrificed body and mind. Do we treat them like heroes then? Never. Ever.
This is the real thanks they get for giving everything. If you don't believe me, there is a VA Hospital on Vine St. in Corryville. Ask these guys how "thanked" they feel.
The Rape of Nanking: "Hey, when you dress like that, it seems like you wanted it..."
China has a right to be pissed off about this, as should any human being.
Japan has never owned up to its despicable atrocities in the course of its empire, particularly those against what was perceived as the "subhuman", viz a viz Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Philipinos. I would suggest checking out some history if you can stomach it. These are war crimes on par with the Nazis, and yet, for a variety of reasons, most people are ignorant of them.
China has a right to be pissed off about this, as should any human being.
Japan has never owned up to its despicable atrocities in the course of its empire, particularly those against what was perceived as the "subhuman", viz a viz Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Philipinos. I would suggest checking out some history if you can stomach it. These are war crimes on par with the Nazis, and yet, for a variety of reasons, most people are ignorant of them.
Just wait until these fainting milksops run across Japanese tentacle-sex. Atrios is talking about it too.
Here's a shocking thought that seems to have been lost since the 70's... you assholes raise your own fucking kids, and quite trying to dumb down and soften adult culture. I don't have kids. I do spend a lot of money on "culture." Like every other American, I spend my money on what appeals to me. That's why it's profitable. That's why the billions of dollars Americans spend on entertainment they enjoy is ALWAYS going to trump the whiny censorship of the church-lady types.
You don't want your kids exposed to it? Want three guesses whose fault it is if they are? Face it. You are lousy, miserable parents, and your kids are going to despise you for spending all your time and energy bitching about culture and scolding them for their music, instead of asking them how they are doing.
Want to guess why the only worthwhile television is on HBO, while the networks are all bullshit, mindless, "reality" shows?
"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint." Hesiod - 8th century B.C.
Update: More on dKos now.
Here's a shocking thought that seems to have been lost since the 70's... you assholes raise your own fucking kids, and quite trying to dumb down and soften adult culture. I don't have kids. I do spend a lot of money on "culture." Like every other American, I spend my money on what appeals to me. That's why it's profitable. That's why the billions of dollars Americans spend on entertainment they enjoy is ALWAYS going to trump the whiny censorship of the church-lady types.
You don't want your kids exposed to it? Want three guesses whose fault it is if they are? Face it. You are lousy, miserable parents, and your kids are going to despise you for spending all your time and energy bitching about culture and scolding them for their music, instead of asking them how they are doing.
Want to guess why the only worthwhile television is on HBO, while the networks are all bullshit, mindless, "reality" shows?
"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint." Hesiod - 8th century B.C.
Update: More on dKos now.
Stop Hillary and log cabin self hatred.
Admittedly, I am no Hillary fan, but there must be something that scares the living dogshit out of the GOP to unleash the attack dogs before she announces anything.
Admittedly, I am no Hillary fan, but there must be something that scares the living dogshit out of the GOP to unleash the attack dogs before she announces anything.
While I find her to be sometimes obnoxious, Ariana's Blog has some interesting stuff on it, plus she's gutsy.
Cops commit routine perjury in protest cases.
Videos Challenge Accounts of Convention Unrest
By JIM DWYER
Published: April 12, 2005
Dennis Kyne put up such a fight at a political protest last summer, the arresting officer recalled, it took four police officers to haul him down the steps of the New York Public Library and across Fifth Avenue.
"We picked him up and we carried him while he squirmed and screamed," the officer, Matthew Wohl, testified in December. "I had one of his legs because he was kicking and refusing to walk on his own."
Accused of inciting a riot and resisting arrest, Mr. Kyne was the first of the 1,806 people arrested in New York last summer during the Republican National Convention to take his case to a jury. But one day after Officer Wohl testified, and before the defense called a single witness, the prosecutor abruptly dropped all charges.
During a recess, the defense had brought new information to the prosecutor. A videotape shot by a documentary filmmaker showed Mr. Kyne agitated but plainly walking under his own power down the library steps, contradicting the vivid account of Officer Wohl, who was nowhere to be seen in the pictures. Nor was the officer seen taking part in the arrests of four other people at the library against whom he signed complaints.
A sprawling body of visual evidence, made possible by inexpensive, lightweight cameras in the hands of private citizens, volunteer observers and the police themselves, has shifted the debate over precisely what happened on the streets during the week of the convention.
For Mr. Kyne and 400 others arrested that week, video recordings provided evidence that they had not committed a crime or that the charges against them could not be proved, according to defense lawyers and prosecutors.
Among them was Alexander Dunlop, who said he was arrested while going to pick up sushi.
Last week, he discovered that there were two versions of the same police tape: the one that was to be used as evidence in his trial had been edited at two spots, removing images that showed Mr. Dunlop behaving peacefully. When a volunteer film archivist found a more complete version of the tape and gave it to Mr. Dunlop's lawyer, prosecutors immediately dropped the charges and said that a technician had cut the material by mistake.
The First i Pod
"No black artists, no gay artists, no world music, only one woman, [...] and no Beatles."
"No black artists, no gay artists, no world music, only one woman, [...] and no Beatles."
Rich Lowry on John Bolton
It always helps to pay attention to the National Review.
And the New York Times, which does not feast on the jock of the GOP.
Update: Even Carl W. Ford thinks this guy is an asshole.
It always helps to pay attention to the National Review.
And the New York Times, which does not feast on the jock of the GOP.
Update: Even Carl W. Ford thinks this guy is an asshole.
Welcome to the Morass
You break it, you bought it...I think Colin Powell said that. But, of course, never let a 4 star general with actual combat experience stop you from an ill advised foreign adventure, cuz dammit, we have our ideology...
You break it, you bought it...I think Colin Powell said that. But, of course, never let a 4 star general with actual combat experience stop you from an ill advised foreign adventure, cuz dammit, we have our ideology...
Monday, April 11, 2005
I'm not seeing any specific description of what people think is suspicious about a guy with suitcases in one of the biggest tourist destinations in the western hemisphere.
UPDATE: They let him go, but blew up his luggage just for fun.
UPDATE: They let him go, but blew up his luggage just for fun.
This is Cute...
"you can't blow up a bag of kittens with a shotgun, just because they themselves never did it for a harmless prank when they were young. Then these folks wants to turn around and put their values, or lack of values, on everybody else".
"you can't blow up a bag of kittens with a shotgun, just because they themselves never did it for a harmless prank when they were young. Then these folks wants to turn around and put their values, or lack of values, on everybody else".
The Prince and the Pope(r)
"THE PRESIDENT: I did. It's hard to follow -- my Spanish is not very good -- (laughter) -- nevertheless, it is decent enough to pick up sounds that then can help me follow the Italian. "
Not to be a dick...but it sounded like Latin to me.
But anyway... It's an interesting read...
"THE PRESIDENT: I did. It's hard to follow -- my Spanish is not very good -- (laughter) -- nevertheless, it is decent enough to pick up sounds that then can help me follow the Italian. "
Not to be a dick...but it sounded like Latin to me.
But anyway... It's an interesting read...
The March of Freedom?
"Lebanese Officials Agree New Pro-Syrian Govt".
I thought this was proof of the Bush Doctrine working...that Lebanon would be free? Was it all bullshit?
"Lebanese Officials Agree New Pro-Syrian Govt".
I thought this was proof of the Bush Doctrine working...that Lebanon would be free? Was it all bullshit?
How Can We Be Lovers If We Can't Be Friends?
Okay, I know that its a Michael Bolton reference, and we're talking about John Bolton, who, of course, thinks the U.N. needs some strict discipline from Uncle Sam. The question is, will he mutilate this world body the way Michael Bolton mutilated Otis Redding?
Have you heard that version of "Sittin' on the Dock o' the Bay".
Okay, I know that its a Michael Bolton reference, and we're talking about John Bolton, who, of course, thinks the U.N. needs some strict discipline from Uncle Sam. The question is, will he mutilate this world body the way Michael Bolton mutilated Otis Redding?
Have you heard that version of "Sittin' on the Dock o' the Bay".
Good for her!
"Heinz Kerry unveils $4 million gift to Warhol."
If you haven't been to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, go. Unless you hate Warhol. Then nevermind.
"Heinz Kerry unveils $4 million gift to Warhol."
If you haven't been to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, go. Unless you hate Warhol. Then nevermind.
Fer Chrissakes!
How can something with "monster" in his name be "moderate"? I mean, doesn't the name the "Tofu Monster" or something just plain suck?
How can something with "monster" in his name be "moderate"? I mean, doesn't the name the "Tofu Monster" or something just plain suck?
Cardinal Law, as the man who contributed the most to John Paul II's historic legacy, leads the memorial mass today. The service will be followed by a pre-teen boys choir singing "Ave Maria" while wearing assless chaps.
Of Course he does...
Why wouldn't he. They can't do a damn thing on their own, and the insurgency is in full swing.
Why wouldn't he. They can't do a damn thing on their own, and the insurgency is in full swing.
Solicitation?
Why do this?
Either this is B.S., or the Times is getting off the chain. Really...
"In a subsequent conversation, it was made clear the Times wanted the prominent Republican to say DeLay should step aside for the good of the party."
Why do this?
Either this is B.S., or the Times is getting off the chain. Really...
"In a subsequent conversation, it was made clear the Times wanted the prominent Republican to say DeLay should step aside for the good of the party."
Not much different than a frat bar.
Women in bikinis put on a show for men
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
Ajman: More than 50 men stood around watching two women who were sunbathing in bikinis at Ajman Open Beach on Friday.
Passers-by saw the crowd of people and apparently thought a swimmer had drowned.
They urged others to call the rescue teams, which showed up a short time later ready to do their job.
When they arrived at the beach, they discovered the two beauties - and their blonde hair and blue and green eyes.
The civil defence officials demanded the men leave the two women alone so that they could enjoy their time on the beach.
The crowd finally - hesitatingly - dispersed, leaving the twentysomething women in peace.
A witness who happened to be at a nearby internet cafe watched the crowd of male onlookers, amazed that such a scene attracted so many admirers.
Later, he, too, stood there gazing at the wonderful sight and enjoying the scene just like the 50 other men.
Is there anything these bastards won't lie about?
According to David Gibbs, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents, Terri sobbed in her mother's arms after the courts condemned her to death. "Terri Schiavo was as alive as any person sitting here," he said. "Anything you saw on the videos, multiply times two hundred. I mean completely animated, completely responsive, desperately trying to talk." Schiavo, said Gibbs, would struggle to repeat the word "love" after her mother, and managed to get out something like "loooo."
Gibbs was speaking to a banquet of religious right activists and conservative operatives last Thursday, the first night of the Confronting the Judicial War on Faith conference in Washington. The 100 or so people in the audience had converged on the Washington Marriott from 25 states. Many cried as they listened.
via Atrios... the future of music, as the main stunt coordinator from Star Trek decides to start a new career.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Tettamanzi, the next Pope.
Like John Paul, he is very conservative about church doctrine - taking strong positions against homosexuality, stem cell research and abortion - but liberal when it comes to issues of social justice.
Some Vatican watchers contend he's a lock because of his courting of the politically powerful Opus Dei.
Like all but one of the voting cardinals, Tettamanzi is not a member of the secretive archtraditionalist group, but he has allied himself with them.
He once compared Opus Dei founder José Maria Escriva to St. Francis of Assisi and has published fundamentalist papers such as one warning that the devil is real - "very intelligent, astute and charming" - and walking the Earth. Tettamanzi listed 10 practical ways to resist Satan and, in an echo of the famous "usual suspects" movie line, wrote:
"He is a liar, and his greatest lie is that he does not exist."
Tettamanzi has also been at the forefront of the church's opposition to what he called "gay culture" - especially same-sex unions.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Well, the ethics problems in the Ohio GOP just crossed the line from tragedy to farce.
Since 1998, Ohio has invested millions of dollars in the unregulated world of rare coins, buying nickels, dimes, and pennies. Controlling the money for the state? Prominent local Republican and coin dealer Tom Noe, whose firm made more than $1 million off the deal last year alone.
The agreement to invest the money in rare coins is rare itself: The Blade could find no other instance of a state government investing in a rare coin fund. Neither the state nor Mr. Noe could provide one.
"I don't think I'd be excited to invest in rare coins," Vermont Treasurer Mike Ablowich said. "It's a little unusual."
The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation has continued to be the sole investor in Mr. Noe's Capital Coin funds despite strong concerns raised by an auditor with the bureau about possible conflicts of interest and whether the state's millions were adequately protected.
Friday, April 08, 2005
From Delhi? The suburb, or is there another Delhi in Ohio?
UPDATE: Oops. Looks like she's from Lawrenceburg.
You guys must be so proud.
UPDATE: Oops. Looks like she's from Lawrenceburg.
You guys must be so proud.
I finally watched Sideways last night, and see what everyone's been raving about.
Here's Salon's hack review. There's something deeply entertaining in reading a really bad review of a good work. It's like watching Christian Bale praise bad 80's music in American Psycho... the content of the speech is useless blather, but the passion says so many wonderfully unflattering things about the author.
It's like eavesdropping on the snickering at the back of a poetry reading or gallery opening, listening to the smug narcissism of the talentless.
Here's Salon's hack review. There's something deeply entertaining in reading a really bad review of a good work. It's like watching Christian Bale praise bad 80's music in American Psycho... the content of the speech is useless blather, but the passion says so many wonderfully unflattering things about the author.
It's like eavesdropping on the snickering at the back of a poetry reading or gallery opening, listening to the smug narcissism of the talentless.
Polls.
Bush's job approval is at 44 percent, with 54 percent disapproving. Only 37 percent have a favorable opinion of the work being done by the Republican-controlled Congress, according to an AP-Ipsos poll.
Bush's job approval was at 49 percent in January, while Congress was at 41 percent.
Lawrence Summers got a clue!
In contrast to his January comments, he spoke last night at length about research on "implicit bias." He described studies showing that orchestras hired more women when auditions were conducted behind a screen and said research shows that academic papers submitted to peer-reviewed journals met different fates depending on whether a man or woman's name was attached.
Summers recommended that people visit the website of psychology professor Mahzarin Banaji, who offers tests measuring bias.
"If a lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client, any of us who thinks we can judge whether we are biased or not is probably making a serious mistake," Summers said.
He also pointed out that half of Harvard students start college with plans to major in science, but only one-quarter actually do. The attrition rate, he said, is slightly greater for female students.
Summers added that professors need to be aware of the great influence that positive or negative signals can have on their students. He said he had been drawn to economics but also was dissuaded from some other fields "by experiences where I lagged slightly and where I was made to feel inadequate."
And while Blogger is letting me post, for the moment, a few more quickies:
DLC exodus.
Draft.
Cardinal Law honored by the Vatican.
DeLay scandal scorecard
DLC exodus.
Draft.
Cardinal Law honored by the Vatican.
DeLay scandal scorecard
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Improv Everywhere: Massive scale pranks.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Florida to allow personal preemptive killing upon perception of a threat?
Even Monty Python's Terry Jones, it seems, can't outdo our own self-parody.
Even Monty Python's Terry Jones, it seems, can't outdo our own self-parody.
We should be at high alert for right-wing terrorism.
Matthew Hale was just sentenced.
Eric Rudolph's trial is about to begin.
And April 19th is going to be the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and the 12th anniversary of end of the Branch Davidian compound siege.
Matthew Hale was just sentenced.
Eric Rudolph's trial is about to begin.
And April 19th is going to be the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and the 12th anniversary of end of the Branch Davidian compound siege.
Kevin Smith interviews Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez for NPR. (the extended audio is worth the extra time)
New polls.
• By 55%-40%, respondents say Republicans, traditionally the party of limited government, are "trying to use the federal government to interfere with the private lives of most Americans" on moral values.
• By 53%-40%, they say Democrats, who sharply expanded government since the Depression, aren't trying to interfere on moral issues.
[...]
By more than 2-to-1, 39%-18%, Americans say the "religious right" has too much influence in the Bush administration. That's a change from when the question was asked in CBS News/New York Times polls taken from 2001 to 2003. Then, approximately equal numbers said conservative Christians had too much and too little influence.
via my brother, Delay transferred $500,000 from his political action committee funds to his wife and daughter.
This is, of course, the same daughter that DeLay sends to "entertain" lobbyists, who for the right price get to pour champagne over her in a hot tub in Vegas.
This is, of course, the same daughter that DeLay sends to "entertain" lobbyists, who for the right price get to pour champagne over her in a hot tub in Vegas.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Americans waking up.
Here are the ratings for presidents as recorded by Gallup in the March following their re-election:
Truman, 1949: 57%
Eisenhower, 1957: 65%
Johnson, 1965: 69%
Nixon, 1973: 57%
Reagan, 1985: 56%
Clinton, 1997: 59%
Bush, 2005: 45%
Curveball
Yet, as the commission's report makes indelibly clear, the U.N. inspectors — who exercised extraordinary access in Iraq before the March 2003 invasion — were right. From the aluminum tubes debunked by the U.S. Energy Department to the Africa uranium story debunked by Ambassador Joe Wilson, from the anthrax-laden drone aircraft that White House briefers told senators threatened Florida to Curveball's futuristic-sounding mobile bio-weapons labs that have never been found, Powell and the White House were, as the president's commission has just unanimously concluded, "dead wrong."
The case of Curveball was relevant to the election because it went to the heart of the administration's competency in managing national security. At best, what emerges from the presidential commission's report is a picture of an American leadership in total disarray on national security; at worst, it shows widespread complicity at the top in a concerted effort to deceive the electorate on matters of war.
Deep within this set visit for Aronofsky's The Fountain, is a little surprising blurb... David Bowie is writing another Major Tom song on which to end the movie.
Just saw this on a blog ad. I'm guessing it's viral marketing for a film or novel.
The character of the cardinals who will be electing the next pope.
John Paul II has been almost the polar opposite of John XXIII, who dragged Catholicism to confront 20th-century realities after the regressive policies of Pius IX, who imposed the peculiar doctrine of papal infallibility on the First Vatican Council in 1870, and after the reign of terror inflicted by Pius X on Catholic theologians in the opening decades of the 20th century. Unfortunately, this pope was much closer to the traditions of Pius IX and Pius X than to his namesakes. Instead of mitigating the absurdities of Vatican I's novel declaration of papal infallibility, a declaration that stemmed almost wholly from Pius IX's paranoia about the evils ranged against him in the modern world, John Paul II tried to further it. In seeking to impose conformity of thought, he summoned prominent theologians like Hans Kung, Edward Schillebeeckx and Leonardo Boff to star chamber inquiries and had his grand inquisitor, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, issue condemnations of their work.
But John Paul II's most lasting legacy to Catholicism will come from the episcopal appointments he made. In order to have been named a bishop, a priest must have been seen to be absolutely opposed to masturbation, premarital sex, birth control (including condoms used to prevent the spread of AIDS), abortion, divorce, homosexual relations, married priests, female priests and any hint of Marxism. It is nearly impossible to find men who subscribe wholeheartedly to this entire catalogue of certitudes; as a result the ranks of the episcopate are filled with mindless sycophants and intellectual incompetents. The good priests have been passed over; and not a few, in their growing frustration as the pontificate of John Paul II stretched on, left the priesthood to seek fulfillment elsewhere.
Monday, April 04, 2005
We have a winner (loser?) for the first "news" outlet to take seriously the hallucinations of Malachy. They do miss the point that the "Peter the Roman" section was not in the original, but was added in 1820.
Whose your Papa?
One thing I am fairly sure of: The next Pope will not be French.
Also, the relationship between Ireland and Rome is interesting as well.
One thing I am fairly sure of: The next Pope will not be French.
Also, the relationship between Ireland and Rome is interesting as well.
Cynicles, The Post Modern Hero
Okay, not to piss on anyone's funeral procession, but why the hell are we lowering flags at half staff for the Pope? I mean in a country that does not honor MLK day in toto, does it make sense to lower flags for the Pope.
Hell yes, if it makes points with the religious right...which leads me to another question: How long can this denominational and inter-faith love in last, given that each of the partners are convinced of their infallibililty?
Okay, not to piss on anyone's funeral procession, but why the hell are we lowering flags at half staff for the Pope? I mean in a country that does not honor MLK day in toto, does it make sense to lower flags for the Pope.
Hell yes, if it makes points with the religious right...which leads me to another question: How long can this denominational and inter-faith love in last, given that each of the partners are convinced of their infallibililty?
I Love the 80's...part 4362: Alas poor Caspar, I wish I'd never known ye...
"Caspar W. Weinberger, a former secretary of defense, R. James Woolsey, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and 64 other retired arms control specialists and diplomats are lined up in support of John R. Bolton, whose nomination to be the American ambassador to the United Nations has stirred some opposition."
Of course they are...but Cap Weinberger? First John Poindexter shows up in this Admin, now Weinberger. Is James Watt going to come out in favor of Clear Skies? Does this cronyism know no bounds?
"Caspar W. Weinberger, a former secretary of defense, R. James Woolsey, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and 64 other retired arms control specialists and diplomats are lined up in support of John R. Bolton, whose nomination to be the American ambassador to the United Nations has stirred some opposition."
Of course they are...but Cap Weinberger? First John Poindexter shows up in this Admin, now Weinberger. Is James Watt going to come out in favor of Clear Skies? Does this cronyism know no bounds?
"To Western reporters, al-Hassani puts forth a secular appearance and underscores his time in the United States. But his former ties to the Iraqi Islamic Party indicate that he could support conservative Islamic policies for the new government. "
A google search of Hajim al-Hassani turns up a number of items concerning Iraqi debt, and statements concerning the repayment of that debt, namely that Iraq should not have to pay the debt Saddam racked up for war and cronyism. However, I have a hard time believing the creditor nations are going to let them off so easy, and from a US standpoint, a debt ridden Iraq might be preferable.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
When Teuku Jacob stole the "hobbit" specimens, it was shocking. What he did to them is a scandal that is really hard to believe. He is still holding some of the bones. Who knows what condition they'll be in if the world ever gets them back.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Friday, April 01, 2005
The Malachy "prophecies" claimed originally that the pope about to be elected in Rome will be the one who sees the end of the world, and identified him as having something to do with the glory of olives. In 1820, they added one more, just for the fuck of it, bringing Peter back as a frame story.
Perhaps there's a confusion in the translation, and the "glory of olives" has replaced the "miracle of the juniper bush"
Perhaps there's a confusion in the translation, and the "glory of olives" has replaced the "miracle of the juniper bush"
Friday Comic Blogging...
Meet the 21st century's leading contrarian post-pre-post-modernist spoken word artist and political firebrand, described by TeenBeat Magazine as "a sleek, flightless Bill Hicks"...
PENGUIN!
Tonight at the Southgate House.
With comics Brad Thacker, Darin Overholser, Brandon Johnson, Tim Jones, and musical guests Eddie and The Fuck Munkeys.
Meet the 21st century's leading contrarian post-pre-post-modernist spoken word artist and political firebrand, described by TeenBeat Magazine as "a sleek, flightless Bill Hicks"...
PENGUIN!
Tonight at the Southgate House.
With comics Brad Thacker, Darin Overholser, Brandon Johnson, Tim Jones, and musical guests Eddie and The Fuck Munkeys.
Voting Irregularities in South Florida...You must be joking.
"a succession of problems that included several hundred votes being lost in the most recent election [...]"
"a succession of problems that included several hundred votes being lost in the most recent election [...]"
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