Tuesday, October 31, 2006
bechtel calls it quits in iraq
corporate cut and run...or rather "came to their senses."
bechtel corp. went to iraq three years ago to help rebuild a nation torn by war. since then, 52 of its people have been killed and much of its work sabotaged as iraq dissolved into insurgency and sectarian violence.
now bechtel is leaving. - sfgate
god speed arthur hill
born august 1, 1922, in melfort, saskatchewan, canada, hill served in the royal canadian air force and attended the university of british columbia, where he studied law but was lured to the stage. god speed, arthur.
or as we knew and loved him here in santa barbara, owen marshall - counselor at law.
he put compassionate lawyers and our historic courthouse "on the map"
bushco shortchanging the gulfcoast
yet again.
the interior department has dropped a claim that chevron corp. shortchanged the government $6 million on royalties from some gas it pumped in the gulf of mexico. the department concluded its case would not hold up before an appeals panel.
sen. charles schumer, d-ny, said it was "ironclad proof that this administration sides with big oil over taxpayers. ... there should be no retreat in our efforts to collect what is owed to us."- ap
happy halloween
from the misfits
and the gang at skippy!
and the gang at skippy!
requiem for an ant
after 101 rants, avery the ant is calling it quits.
(apparently avery's partner has been getting so much writing work in the real world that there's just not enough time to do these cyber rants any more.)
we're going to miss the little curmudgeon...he was one of the few in blogtopia (and yes, we coined that phrase!) who knew the difference between snark and actual humor, and who knew the importance of actual humor in cyber-rants.
goodbye, avery, we enjoyed your ranting. good luck in your endeavors, and we hope you continue to be ant-i-everything stupid.
(apparently avery's partner has been getting so much writing work in the real world that there's just not enough time to do these cyber rants any more.)
we're going to miss the little curmudgeon...he was one of the few in blogtopia (and yes, we coined that phrase!) who knew the difference between snark and actual humor, and who knew the importance of actual humor in cyber-rants.
goodbye, avery, we enjoyed your ranting. good luck in your endeavors, and we hope you continue to be ant-i-everything stupid.
the quality of mercy
"the quality of mercy is not strained" - it's the first line of a monologue by portia in shakespeare's "the merchant of venice". i think about that line a lot, and i personally find myself interpreting it as the concept that no matter how personally satisfying shadenfreude is, to allow vengeful thoughts to creep into our laws, the very rules that govern our society, is wrong. it's a tough nut to swallow, but i think we have to.
i was thinking about this while i was trying to wrap my head around the following article: victim's cousin charged with tattooing killer
i can't feel sorry for a killer who was forcibly tattooed, but i know that it was wrong.
i was thinking about this while i was trying to wrap my head around the following article: victim's cousin charged with tattooing killer
columbus, indiana (AP) -- an inmate accused of forcibly tattooing a slain 10-year-old girl's name onto her killer's forehead in an Indiana prison was the victim's cousin, a family friend said.it's cases like this one that are the hardest to hold steady on, and it's one of the main reasons that we have trial by jury, and can't let those who have been hurt by the crimes in question assign the punishment. without at least some level of detachment, there can't really be justice.
i can't feel sorry for a killer who was forcibly tattooed, but i know that it was wrong.
mad about lynne cheney
mad kane, that is! with a special link to mad's appearance on the surreal news show on florida radio!
Monday, October 30, 2006
click the stupid song already so he'll stop sending us emails
our pal robert morgan fisher is beside himself with glee...his song, "we'll buy a flag," is #2 at neil young's war protest song page...and he's begging everyone to go click the link a few hundred times ("you don't even have to listen to the song," he says in his email...thanks, robert!) so he can claim the #1 spot.
please do this, if not for robert, then for skippy, who owes robert for being the first person to tell skippy about osama bin laden (3 years before 9/11, with a song parody to chuck berry's "i'm walkin'." robert was prescient..."bin laden, yes indeed, bin laden, evil screed, bin laden, he's gonna get us all...").
please do this, if not for robert, then for skippy, who owes robert for being the first person to tell skippy about osama bin laden (3 years before 9/11, with a song parody to chuck berry's "i'm walkin'." robert was prescient..."bin laden, yes indeed, bin laden, evil screed, bin laden, he's gonna get us all...").
no, and 'f*ck you' isn't profanity when used by the vice president, either
the brad blog has the entire death-threat letter sent by a wing nut to radio host stephanie miller after her appearance on insanity and colmes:
a man from centerville, ohio, identifying himself as "sock" sokolowski has sent a death threat to radio host stephanie miller after a recent appearance on fox "news'" hannity & colmes.
the brad blog has obtained a copy of the profanity-laced letter from sokolowski which includes a closing salutation claiming that he is "from the right 'right". the letter is posted, unredacted in full at the end of this article.
on her popular stephanie miller show this morning, the radio host telephoned "sock" — who included his address and phone number with the letter — to confront him live and on air about the letter.
update:
– you can now listen to this morning's phone call here [mp3].
– the video of miller's h&c appearance that began the whole "kerfuffle" as producer chris lavoie just described it to us is here via youtube. btw, in this appearance miller brilliantly says to colmes: "it's called journalism, fox news should try it sometime."
the brad blog has obtained a copy of the profanity-laced letter from sokolowski which includes a closing salutation claiming that he is "from the right 'right". the letter is posted, unredacted in full at the end of this article.
on her popular stephanie miller show this morning, the radio host telephoned "sock" — who included his address and phone number with the letter — to confront him live and on air about the letter.
update:
– you can now listen to this morning's phone call here [mp3].
– the video of miller's h&c appearance that began the whole "kerfuffle" as producer chris lavoie just described it to us is here via youtube. btw, in this appearance miller brilliantly says to colmes: "it's called journalism, fox news should try it sometime."
making fun of disabled people still not popular in america
thank goodness this country has some dignity left.
graphic via crooks&liars' bandwidth...thanka you, boys! anna one, anna two...
graphic via crooks&liars' bandwidth...thanka you, boys! anna one, anna two...
Man convicted in terror plot
I wonder why CNN, Fox and ABC news aren't blanket-to-blanket coverage with this terror plot:
If he'd been a Muslim plotting an attack with the same weapons, I have the feeling aWol himself would have been trumpeting the conviction as a victory on the "war" on terrah.
Robert F. Weiler, Jr., age 25, of Forestville, Maryland pleaded guilty today to possessing a pipe bomb (an unregistered destructive device), being a felon in possession of a firearm and attempting to destroy or damage an abortion clinic located on Greenbelt Road in Greenbelt, Maryland, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated, "Mr. Weiler's misguided plan to murder doctors and bomb an abortion clinic could have resulted in deaths or serious injuries. Outstanding investigative work by ATF, the Maryland State Police and the Prince George's County Police prevented a tragedy."
ATF Special Agent in Charge Gregory K. Gant said, "The teamwork displayed throughout the investigation was outstanding. The work of the ATF and other law enforcement agencies does not wait until after a horrific event takes place. Through sound investigative work and diligence, agents and officers prevented what would have been a tragedy had Mr. Weiler not been brought to justice. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank those who made the tough decision to bring their concerns about Mr. Weiler to the attention of law enforcement."
snip
The next day, Weiler advised agents that he was going to use the pipe bomb to blow up an abortion clinic located in Greenbelt, Maryland and that he was going to use the gun to shoot doctors who provided abortions. ATF agents and Prince George’s County Police officers discovered the pipe bomb - consisting of a 1" diameter galvanized pipe, end caps, a length of pyrotechnic fuse and black powder - in a first floor closet at the Riverdale home where it had been hidden by Weiler.
If he'd been a Muslim plotting an attack with the same weapons, I have the feeling aWol himself would have been trumpeting the conviction as a victory on the "war" on terrah.
What results?
Go to Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's campaign web site and click on "Getting things done."
At least she's honest about her accomplishments.
At least she's honest about her accomplishments.
quote of the day
where's your spell check now, moses?
we received this email from a friend, tho we can't verify its contents:
these are supposed to be answers from a catholic elementary school test. kids were asked questions about the old and new testaments.they have not been retouched or corrected.
- in the first book of the bible, guinessis. god got tired of creating the world so he took the sabbath off.
- adam and eve were created from an apple tree. noah's wife was joan of ark. noah built and ark and the animals came on in pears.
- lots wife was a pillar of salt during the day, but a ball of fire
during the night. - the jews were a proud people and throughout history they had
trouble with unsympathetic genitals. - sampson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a jezebel like delilah.
- samson slayed the philistines with the axe of the apostles.
- moses led the jews to the red sea where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients .
- the egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. afterwards, moses went up to mount cyanide to get the ten commandments.
- the first commandments was when eve told adam to eat the apple.
- the seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
- moses died before he ever reached canada . then joshua led the hebrews in the battle of geritol.
- the greatest miricle in the bible is when joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
- david was a hebrew king who was skilled at playing the liar. he fought the finkelsteins, a race of people who lived in biblical times.
- solomon, one of davids sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
- when mary heard she was the mother of jesus, she sang the magna carta.
- jesus was born because mary had an immaculate contrapti on.
- st. john the blacksmith dumped water on his head.
- jesus enunciated the golden rule, which says to do unto others before they do one to you. he also explained a man doth not live by sweat alone.
- it was a miricle when jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tombstone off the entrance.
- the people who followed the lord were called the 12 decibels.
- the epistels were the wives of the apostles.
- one of the oppossums was st. matthew who was also a taximan.
- st. paul cavorted to christianity, he preached holy acrimony
which is another name for marraige. - christians have only one spouse. this is called monotony.
in case we win, the voting machines are crooked
the vidiot of vidiot speak finds another case of publicans projecting their own mis-deeds onto the left, this time with voting machines.
also at vidiot speak, the sailor expounds on why torture doesn't work.
also at vidiot speak, the sailor expounds on why torture doesn't work.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
weird but catchy
a song built out of lotr dialogue: they're taking the hobbits to isengard
the don mcclone wars
weird al at his best...
sunday night music club
louis armstrong and his all-stars play "indiana"
hey rube!
some guys had too much time on their hands at their jobs and built an office-wide rube goldberg bowling contraption.
wait, you didn't sign this "alex trebek"!!
on his way to a halloween party last night, skippy stopped by the local borders book store to support his buddy bob harris who was signing copies of his tome prisoner of trebekistan.
bob said that if you told him 6 months ago he'd be reviewed in the nytimes and newsday, he would have jumped for joy. but now he realizes that book promoting is hard work. skippy and bob agreed on the irony that show buisness is not for the shy or retiring, which pretty much screws them both.
but if you haven't yet, be sure to click on the trebekistan ad on our right hand sidebar and order a copy today! bob's a funny, funny guy, and a great writer, to boot!
bob said that if you told him 6 months ago he'd be reviewed in the nytimes and newsday, he would have jumped for joy. but now he realizes that book promoting is hard work. skippy and bob agreed on the irony that show buisness is not for the shy or retiring, which pretty much screws them both.
but if you haven't yet, be sure to click on the trebekistan ad on our right hand sidebar and order a copy today! bob's a funny, funny guy, and a great writer, to boot!
playblog after dark
our buddy daniel mcvicar, of the mcvlog, is starting a new project this week: the late night mash promises to deliver a new 3 minute show every night, with music, comedy, vlogs from around the world, and celebs, apparently starting with our mutual friend andy garcia.
check out the late night mash and give dan some support.
check out the late night mash and give dan some support.
you think american politics are weird? go to italy
michael j. stickings at the reaction finds the story of the transgendered minister of parliment in italy who is having bathroom problems.
fixing virginia
alva goldbrook at nitwit planet finds out that even if you vote absentee in virginia, you still have to use electronic voting machines.
Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium;
atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
"Call it what you will," he said, "but it is a civil war."
Perhaps. But I felt as though I was witnessing something more: the final, frenzied maturity of once-inchoate forces unleashed more than three years ago by the invasion. There was civil war-style sectarian killing, its echoes in Lebanon a generation ago. Alongside it were gangland turf battles over money, power and survival; a raft of political parties and their militias fighting a zero-sum game; a raging insurgency; the collapse of authority; social services a chimera; and no way forward for an Iraqi government ordered to act by Americans who themselves are still seen as the final arbiter and, as a result, still depriving that government of legitimacy.
Civil war was perhaps too easy a term, a little too tidy.
read the whole thing
and we thought "dick armey" was about gays in the military
joe gandelman at the moderate voice analyzes dick armey's washpost article:
where did the revolution go astray? how did we go from the big ideas and vision of 1994 to the cheap political point-ascoring on meaningless wedge issues of today — from passing welfare reform and limited government to banning horsemeat and same-sex marriage?
the answer is simple: republican lawmakers forgot the party's principles, became enamored with power and position, and began putting politics over policy. now, the democrats are reaping the rewards of our neglect — and we have no one to blame but ourselves...
the answer is simple: republican lawmakers forgot the party's principles, became enamored with power and position, and began putting politics over policy. now, the democrats are reaping the rewards of our neglect — and we have no one to blame but ourselves...
Saturday, October 28, 2006
gandhi goes to hollywood
if you're in the socal area today, join the grandson of gandhi and a host of celebrities for the hollywood peace parade, or just watch it on livestream. an email we received tells us:
ktlk am 1150's harrison on the edge invites you to join gandhi's grandson this saturday and parade for world peace
"peace is essential. whenever we can work for peace ...and plant the seeds in the minds of people... we must do it" - arun ghandi, 2006
gandhi's coming to hollywood! imagine walking down hollywood blvd. alongside gandhi's surviving grandson arun gandhi in the name of peace.
mr. gandhi will be joined by harrison and a growing list of supporters and celebrities; mike farrell, sally kirkland, levar burton, larraine newman, mimi kennedy, and filmmaker aaron rousseau. special guest cindy sheehan will be on hand as well, and many more celebrities are signing up as we speak. all are participating with the endorsement of "harrison's national brain trust" - gore vidal, noam chomsky, kurt vonnegut, dr. howard zinn, ed begley jr., former nj governor james mcgreevey, and congresswoman maxine waters.
where: saturday october 28th join ktlk am 1150's harrison and gandhi's grandson arun gandhi
where: hollywood & vine at 11am. arun gandhi will address the crowd and take his first step for peace barefoot, in full grauman’s theater fashion!
ktlk am 1150 is fortunate to be marching in a unified call for peace with the a.n.s.w.e.r. coalition, leaders at the forefront of the peace and social justice movement. a.n.s.w.e.r. will hold a rally at the end of the parade route in front the cnn building at sunset and cole.
map and directions: http://www.goharrison.com/parade_map.html
afterwards, join a celebration of world peace and global unity at plummer park's fiesta hall, 7377 santa monica blvd. west hollywood is opening the park between 2:30 and 5pm. there you will see a special video message from secretary general kofi annan, and hear words from arun gandhi, celebrity co-host hal sparks and peace mom cindy sheehan.
enjoy special performances from chilean singer/songwriter jacqueline fuentes, the balandugu kan african dance troupe, the yuval ron ensemble (sacred music of the middle east), and jonelle romero with red nation. plus, stephen fiske (singer/songwriter performing his earth anthem), ruth gould-goodman (who will lead a tonal prayer), and the "shumei makoto taiko group" led by steven tokunaga.
on the centennial of mahatma gandhi's first non-violent action, march alongside 72 year old arun gandhi.
why now: now's the time to be the change! the southland, where gandhi's ashes were actually laid to rest is the launching point of worldwide peace parades planned for egypt, canada, italy, austria, and japan!
the hollywood parade for world peace is produced and sponsored by:
harrison & linda blake - executive producers,
and co-sponsored by the a.n.s.w.e.r. coalition.
harrison, the award-winning progressive talk-show host of ktlk am 1150's "harrison on the edge" is the creator and executive producer of the parade for world peace. harrison is also the communications media-hub, hosting and covering the parade on october 28th; and all consequential events following the first parade for peace.
bill mccarthy (un association northern california division) - producer/director
joanne tawfilis (un association san diego chapter) - director of visual arts and international outreach
ktlk - la's progressive talk am 1150
the unity foundation art miles mural project
kpfk - pacifica radio
the city of west hollywood
"peace is essential. whenever we can work for peace ...and plant the seeds in the minds of people... we must do it" - arun ghandi, 2006
gandhi's coming to hollywood! imagine walking down hollywood blvd. alongside gandhi's surviving grandson arun gandhi in the name of peace.
mr. gandhi will be joined by harrison and a growing list of supporters and celebrities; mike farrell, sally kirkland, levar burton, larraine newman, mimi kennedy, and filmmaker aaron rousseau. special guest cindy sheehan will be on hand as well, and many more celebrities are signing up as we speak. all are participating with the endorsement of "harrison's national brain trust" - gore vidal, noam chomsky, kurt vonnegut, dr. howard zinn, ed begley jr., former nj governor james mcgreevey, and congresswoman maxine waters.
where: saturday october 28th join ktlk am 1150's harrison and gandhi's grandson arun gandhi
where: hollywood & vine at 11am. arun gandhi will address the crowd and take his first step for peace barefoot, in full grauman’s theater fashion!
ktlk am 1150 is fortunate to be marching in a unified call for peace with the a.n.s.w.e.r. coalition, leaders at the forefront of the peace and social justice movement. a.n.s.w.e.r. will hold a rally at the end of the parade route in front the cnn building at sunset and cole.
map and directions: http://www.goharrison.com/parade_map.html
afterwards, join a celebration of world peace and global unity at plummer park's fiesta hall, 7377 santa monica blvd. west hollywood is opening the park between 2:30 and 5pm. there you will see a special video message from secretary general kofi annan, and hear words from arun gandhi, celebrity co-host hal sparks and peace mom cindy sheehan.
enjoy special performances from chilean singer/songwriter jacqueline fuentes, the balandugu kan african dance troupe, the yuval ron ensemble (sacred music of the middle east), and jonelle romero with red nation. plus, stephen fiske (singer/songwriter performing his earth anthem), ruth gould-goodman (who will lead a tonal prayer), and the "shumei makoto taiko group" led by steven tokunaga.
on the centennial of mahatma gandhi's first non-violent action, march alongside 72 year old arun gandhi.
why now: now's the time to be the change! the southland, where gandhi's ashes were actually laid to rest is the launching point of worldwide peace parades planned for egypt, canada, italy, austria, and japan!
the hollywood parade for world peace is produced and sponsored by:
harrison & linda blake - executive producers,
and co-sponsored by the a.n.s.w.e.r. coalition.
harrison, the award-winning progressive talk-show host of ktlk am 1150's "harrison on the edge" is the creator and executive producer of the parade for world peace. harrison is also the communications media-hub, hosting and covering the parade on october 28th; and all consequential events following the first parade for peace.
bill mccarthy (un association northern california division) - producer/director
joanne tawfilis (un association san diego chapter) - director of visual arts and international outreach
ktlk - la's progressive talk am 1150
the unity foundation art miles mural project
kpfk - pacifica radio
the city of west hollywood
The General endorses Callaghan
Former NATO Supreme Commander Gen. Wesley Clark endorsed Democratic candidate Mike Callaghan for Congress in West Virginia's 2nd District. Announcement (PDF) here.
(Yes I put this up for cookie jill to enjoy.)
(Yes I put this up for cookie jill to enjoy.)
are we sure it was a mask?
water tiger gives us the story of a robber who disguises himself with a mask of awol:
torrington, conn. -- police were looking for a robber whose disguise was a rubber halloween mask of president george w. bush.
charles gardner told police he was on the front steps of his home wednesday when the robber with a gun demanded cash.
police said the robber in the bush mask, who also used a bad southern accent, put the gun barrel to gardner's temple and demanded money.
gardner said he had just been to the bank to cash his $1,000 social security check when he was robbed.
the robber made off with the cash and fled in an older model white car.
charles gardner told police he was on the front steps of his home wednesday when the robber with a gun demanded cash.
police said the robber in the bush mask, who also used a bad southern accent, put the gun barrel to gardner's temple and demanded money.
gardner said he had just been to the bank to cash his $1,000 social security check when he was robbed.
the robber made off with the cash and fled in an older model white car.
big mac o'lantern
capt. dyke found a huge hamburger made out of a pumpkin.
Friday, October 27, 2006
roll backs at the wal-mart consulting department
greg sargent over at tpmcafe reports that wal-mart has discontinued its relationship with consultant terry nelson due to his involvement with the infamous "bimbo" ad used against harold ford in tennessee:
terry nelson, the top-flight gop consultant who was political director of bush-cheney 2004, has lost his gig as a consultant to wal-mart because of his role in helping produce the "bimbo" ad targeting dem harold ford, jr. nelson had been hired a month ago by wal-mart to help the company develop its new voter-registration drive, but because of nelson's role in producing the racially-charged ad, wal-mart found itself targeted by severe criticism from jesse jackson and others who demanded that the company fire nelson. wal-mart media relations director david tovar just issued a statement saying that nelson had "sent a letter to wal-mart ending its working relationship with our company. we believe this is the right course of action."
hey, greg, call us!
the geeks shall inherit the earth
john fitzpatrick, co-founder of hotpads.com, sends us this cnet article about various search engines that can help define specific districts for upcoming local races:
as reported on search engine watch, though, there are ways to get a better picture of the races in your particular district. google earth (not maps) has a 2006 election guide layer. it shows you where the congressional district lines are drawn and pops up info about congressional incumbents and candidates. it links to google and google news, of course.
the housing rental site, hotpads, also has a district map, which does a better job of showing district lines: it fills in the districts, making them easier to see, and color-codes them by affiliation of the incumbent. it also pops up names of incumbents and candidates, but links only to wikipedia--comprehensive, perhaps, but not always accurate, especially on contested political issues.
the housing rental site, hotpads, also has a district map, which does a better job of showing district lines: it fills in the districts, making them easier to see, and color-codes them by affiliation of the incumbent. it also pops up names of incumbents and candidates, but links only to wikipedia--comprehensive, perhaps, but not always accurate, especially on contested political issues.
shut up and watch 1 vs. 100
reuters is reporting that nbc and the cw (that's the network that used to be the wb, it doesn't stand for "conventional wisdom" or "country western" in this case) are both refusing to air an ad for the new dixie chicks documentary shut up and sing:
in a press release issued late thursday, the weinstein co. said nbc rejected a spot for "dixie chicks: shut up and sing," because the spot included material that "disparages president bush”…
the weinstein co. distributed documents that appeared to be from nbc's advertising standards division rejecting the spots and with the handwritten remarks about president bush.
an nbc executive declined comment, while cw spokesman paul mcguire said, "the release is flat-out inaccurate."
the weinstein co. distributed a document from cw that referred to "concerns (that) we do not have appropriate programming in which to schedule this spot." cw countered that it had been in conversations with the weinstein co. about taking the spot, but those talks never progressed beyond where on the cw schedule the spot would run…
"it's a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate america," said harvey weinstein, co-chairman of the weinstein co.
you'd think with all the money woes nbc has they couldn't afford to turn down advertising revenue.
the weinstein co. distributed documents that appeared to be from nbc's advertising standards division rejecting the spots and with the handwritten remarks about president bush.
an nbc executive declined comment, while cw spokesman paul mcguire said, "the release is flat-out inaccurate."
the weinstein co. distributed a document from cw that referred to "concerns (that) we do not have appropriate programming in which to schedule this spot." cw countered that it had been in conversations with the weinstein co. about taking the spot, but those talks never progressed beyond where on the cw schedule the spot would run…
"it's a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate america," said harvey weinstein, co-chairman of the weinstein co.
say hello
Happy story campaign
I've launched my last fundraising effort for Mike Callaghan. A happy story fundraiser.
Do you know what would be a really happy story? Replacing a Rubber Stamp, Torture Supporting, Bush Loving, Corruption Enabling Republican like Shelley Moore Capito with a passionate, former federal prosecutor like Mike Callaghan. This is my last pitch for funds. This is a race where every dollar can make a difference.
Won't you help?
UPDATE: And if you can't afford to because you're already contributed to other candidates, please do not feel obligated. This is a long-shot race with the only polling done by Shelley Moore Capito, who did not release the results.
Do you know what would be a really happy story? Replacing a Rubber Stamp, Torture Supporting, Bush Loving, Corruption Enabling Republican like Shelley Moore Capito with a passionate, former federal prosecutor like Mike Callaghan. This is my last pitch for funds. This is a race where every dollar can make a difference.
Won't you help?
UPDATE: And if you can't afford to because you're already contributed to other candidates, please do not feel obligated. This is a long-shot race with the only polling done by Shelley Moore Capito, who did not release the results.
keep it handy 11 days from now
contrapositive has the election night cheat sheet. they tell us:
the cheat sheet focuses on 53 house contests and all the important senate contests, organizing the races by state poll closing times, with brief commentary on the battles that may help us see where the evening is headed.
and remember, vote early and often!
what do you call 100 dead publican congressman at the bottom of the ocean?*
Mean Jean's unintended irony
Atrios posted a letter from Mean Jean.
Now that's rich. It's not Victoria Wulsin's fault that one of the issues in the race is the number of times Schmidt has resorted to personal attacks, name calling, and blatant cheap shots. That's probably not how Schmidt intended in her letter though.
I am saddened by these recent developments and your unwillingness to make this campaign about issues rather than personal attacks, name calling, and blatant cheap shots.
Now that's rich. It's not Victoria Wulsin's fault that one of the issues in the race is the number of times Schmidt has resorted to personal attacks, name calling, and blatant cheap shots. That's probably not how Schmidt intended in her letter though.
ignore ellsberg at your peril
buzzflash has a guest contribution
it seems we aren't a federation planet after all
from punkassblog we find a cloaking device. that makes us klingon or (egads!) romulan...
backlash much?
from the houstonchron, on limbaugh v. fox:
clearly troubled by the ad, radio host rush limbaugh lashed out. not at the cruelty of parkinson's. not at the concept of stem cell research. instead, limbaugh attacked the man…
certainly, fox must have calculated that the imagery in his ad would be unsettling. some viewers, he must have guessed, would object to such an emotionally charged take on a campaign commercial. but others, he probably surmised, would be persuaded that diseases such as parkinson's urgently demand research, including experiments using embryonic stem cells.
then there was rush limbaugh. first and foremost a showman, limbaugh couldn't see beyond the man onscreen. limbaugh seemed incapable of considering that fox has little reason to show his symptoms to the public, beyond advocating for a cure.
only a compulsive showman would fixate not on the disease, the ad or even the issue — but on the fellow entertainer getting some attention. for limbaugh, the instinctive response was to stage an even more disturbing show.
from the toronto star:certainly, fox must have calculated that the imagery in his ad would be unsettling. some viewers, he must have guessed, would object to such an emotionally charged take on a campaign commercial. but others, he probably surmised, would be persuaded that diseases such as parkinson's urgently demand research, including experiments using embryonic stem cells.
then there was rush limbaugh. first and foremost a showman, limbaugh couldn't see beyond the man onscreen. limbaugh seemed incapable of considering that fox has little reason to show his symptoms to the public, beyond advocating for a cure.
only a compulsive showman would fixate not on the disease, the ad or even the issue — but on the fellow entertainer getting some attention. for limbaugh, the instinctive response was to stage an even more disturbing show.
now, i know this may offend those who suffer from this particular condition, and these individuals might not like it much when i suggest that a certain person with this diagnosis is exaggerating his symptoms, but i have to say, i think rush limbaugh is just pretending to be a dick.
while the right-wing radio host does exhibit most, if not all, of the common characteristics of this behaviour, it's so rare for all of them to coalesce at a single moment that one can only conclude limbaugh's most recent performances are nothing short of fraudulent.
i'm no expert diagnostician, but nobody could be this big a one. limbaugh must be acting.
patti davis (yes, reagan's daughter) in newsweek:while the right-wing radio host does exhibit most, if not all, of the common characteristics of this behaviour, it's so rare for all of them to coalesce at a single moment that one can only conclude limbaugh's most recent performances are nothing short of fraudulent.
i'm no expert diagnostician, but nobody could be this big a one. limbaugh must be acting.
limbaugh, on the other hand, flagrantly broke the law by procuring large amounts of drugs and then escaped the punishment that someone who is not white, wealthy and famous would have gotten. he spends his time insulting people and gets paid handsomely to do so; now we have seen that even those with serious diseases don’t get a reprieve from his cruel bluster. and his apology doesn’t cancel out the nastiness of his original comment.
like no business we know.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
skippy loves jon stewart
skippy wishes jon and the daily show a happy 10 f#@king years!cookiejill and her hometown of santa barbara love jon stewart, too, but jon stewart gives santa barbarians notice that on 18 november, he's putting us all on the "seat of heat"
now...that's "hot!"
don't dream it...be it
let's get in the mood for halloween...
collect all 17!
from late night w/david letterman, it's great moments in presidential speeches
technology
decisions
think
lots of set up including mark foley jokes, bob woodward v. charlie rose, and finally, lawyers
technology
decisions
think
lots of set up including mark foley jokes, bob woodward v. charlie rose, and finally, lawyers
a parodies, a pair o' dose...
cookie jill sends us the immigrant national anthem.
addendum: even better, ioho, from the same people, it's snakes on the hindenberg...oh the herpetology!
addendum: even better, ioho, from the same people, it's snakes on the hindenberg...oh the herpetology!
the power of one word
vote
cnn's broken programing
tvnewser tells us that keith olbermann beat cnn's "broken borders" show last week handily.
if it's good enough for new hampshire, it's good enough for the freeway blogger
our blog buddy, the freeway blogger, has been posting the credo "live free or die" across california freeways.
and the fb was a guest on insanity and colmes:
and the fb was a guest on insanity and colmes:
i doubt many of you caught it, but i had a brief appearance on hannity and colmes last week. they showed some of my signs, summarized the project and then hannity said what i'm doing is illegal, costing the taxpayers money and that i was (get this) "trespassing on public property." i said it might be illegal in north korea or someplace like that but that in america when it comes to political speech, public property means my property and i'm free to do as i please. then he said i was wrong, i said i was right, colmes tried to say something but failed and then hannity finished off by saying i was "too cheap to buy a billboard." not really what you'd call a stirring debate, but it did result in an inbox full of hate mail from fox viewers.
in the meantime, check out the freeway blogger's latest icon: the mobius endless war ribbon.Labels: freeway blogger, protest
we hate to burst your bubble, but...
real estate prices, as predicted all over blogtopia (and yes! we coined that phrase!) took the biggest tumble in over 35 years last month, leaving no doubt that the bubble has burst and the market slowdown is in full force. cnnmoney:
one man's depression is another man's euphoria (or, in this case, blogtoia, and y!wctp!)...
new home prices took their biggest hit in more than 35 years in september, the government said thursday, the latest sign that builders are struggling to unload a glut of unsold homes as the nation's real estate market cools.
the lower prices may have worked, as the annual pace of new home sales climbed 5.3 percent to 1.08 million last month, according to the census bureau report. economists surveyed by briefing.com had forecast a reading of 1.05 million, which would have been flat with the initial august reading.
but the median price of a new home tumbled 9.7 percent from a year earlier to $217,100. it was the sharpest drop since december 1970, when prices posted an 11.2 percent decline, and was the fourth largest year-over-year decline on record.
the september price slump also marked a 9.3 percent decline from august and a 15.5 percent drop from the record high price of $257,700 posted in april of this year.
but the good news is, prices in the los angeles market fell even more:the lower prices may have worked, as the annual pace of new home sales climbed 5.3 percent to 1.08 million last month, according to the census bureau report. economists surveyed by briefing.com had forecast a reading of 1.05 million, which would have been flat with the initial august reading.
but the median price of a new home tumbled 9.7 percent from a year earlier to $217,100. it was the sharpest drop since december 1970, when prices posted an 11.2 percent decline, and was the fourth largest year-over-year decline on record.
the september price slump also marked a 9.3 percent decline from august and a 15.5 percent drop from the record high price of $257,700 posted in april of this year.
the real estate market decline deepened in september, with home sales tumbling more than 31 percent across california and in los angeles county with prices continuing to weaken, a trade group said wednesday.
last month the median price of a home fell under the year-ago level in nine markets and sales fell by large amounts in all areas, said the los angeles-based california association of realtors.
"the bottom line is we were expecting some fairly big declines," said robert kenneling, the association's deputy chief economist.
why is that good news? because mr. and mrs. skippy are looking for a house!last month the median price of a home fell under the year-ago level in nine markets and sales fell by large amounts in all areas, said the los angeles-based california association of realtors.
"the bottom line is we were expecting some fairly big declines," said robert kenneling, the association's deputy chief economist.
one man's depression is another man's euphoria (or, in this case, blogtoia, and y!wctp!)...
damn those godless commie seniors and negros
via kos, here's publican peter king getting laughed at after he referred to the aarp and naacp as "radical organizations" during a public debate.
The Frighteners
My favorite Michael J. Fox movie is The Frighteners.
The Frighteners is a 1996 horror comedy directed by Peter Jackson, before he went on to Lord of the Rings fame.
Fox plays Frank, a former architect whose wife died under mysterious circumstances in a car crash.
In the crash, Frank received an injury and afterwards could see ghosts and talk with them.
An egotistical, maniacal blow hard federal agent (played by the great Jeffrey Combs) believes Frank is exaggerating. The pill popping, deceitful agent of the federal government keeps up a steady barrage of insults to Frank, trying to get others to not listen to Frank.
Frank, though, is telling the truth. Frank ends up fighting Death at great personal sacrifice to himself. In the end, he wins and they all live happily ever after.
The Frighteners is one of my favorite horror movies and perfect for Halloween viewing. There are gruesome ghosts, some very dark comedy (including sort of a necrophilia scene of undead on dead), and some precursors of scenes and special effects that Jackson would use to great effect in The Lord of the Rings.
Now I’m not saying The Frighteners is by any means a metaphor for the current situation between Michael J. Fox and Rush Limpbaugh, with Rush the crazed, pill popping, egotistical maniac acting on behalf of the federal government in the Jeffrey Combs role. Jeffrey Combs, after all, is much better looking and he’s talented.
But the Republicans in the White House and Congress as well as their friends in the right wing corporate media are frightened. They are terrified of Fox’s role in this campaign of putting a beloved face to the logical outcome of their anti-science policies. They are terrified of us, the grassroots, who are mobilized and working to mobilize others to take back the people’s House on Capitol Hill.
They are frightened of the American people, many of whom have woken up to the danger posed by the right wing ideology to this country. I heard a self-described conservative, Reagan Democrat on the Sam Seder Show this morning filled with a righteous anger. He had once thought he hated liberals and then he realized that the conservative movement had moved so far to the right that he was now on the left. His anger as he spoke of the Republican hypocrisy of recent years.
The fear and desperation coming from the GOP is palpable. They fear Congressional oversight and investigations. They fear people demanding accountability from their representatives in Congress, from our servants in the White House and from the members of the media.
Their world is changing and there is nothing right wingers fear more than change.
In the movie, Michael J. Fox and a group of ghosts he has befriended are The Frighteners.
In reality, we are. With Fox’s help, we’ve put the fear in them.
call it los angelides
lookin' bad for democratic challenger phil angelides in the race for california governor. he's doing so poorly in the polls, he's running 6 points behind ah-nold in san francisco. you heard us right, the most liberal town in america, where it's not only legal, but mandatory to have gay sex while voting for communists in grade school, would rather vote in schwarzenegger than the democratic real estate tycoon-cum treasurer. asspress:
the public policy institute of california's survey shows schwarzenegger with a 18-point advantage.
the spread is ominous for angelides, who's been unable to consolidate his democratic base as the november seventh election draws near.
schwarzenegger leads angelides 40 percent to 34 percent in the bay area. and in another traditionally democratic region -- los angeles -- angelides leads by the slimmest of margins -- 40 percent to 38 percent.
the good news...if there is any...is that ah-nold's move to the left has hurt his chances with the rightthe spread is ominous for angelides, who's been unable to consolidate his democratic base as the november seventh election draws near.
schwarzenegger leads angelides 40 percent to 34 percent in the bay area. and in another traditionally democratic region -- los angeles -- angelides leads by the slimmest of margins -- 40 percent to 38 percent.
but the poll shows that schwarzenegger's success with democrats has hurt his standing in traditionally republican areas: the central valley and the southern california region outside los angeles.
we can't understand why california hasn't rallied around the excitement of a former real estate tycoon turned treasurer. what's more trust worthy than real estate? what's dynamic than accounting? angelides is a perfect choice for the california democratic machine to ensure the governorship...in 2010!
there's more than one guay to go, there's a paraguay
our friend allison of hartsongs sends us this bit of news that awol is buying land in paraguay...
an argentine official regarded the intention of the george w. bush family to settle on the acuifero guarani (paraguay) as surprising, besides being a bad signal for the governments of the region.
luis d elia, undersecretary for the social habitat in the argentine federal planning ministry, issued a memo partially reproduced by digital infobae.com, in which he spoke of the purchase by bush of a 98,842-acre farm in northern paraguay, between brazil and bolivia…
d elia considered this bush step counterproductive for the regional power expressed by presidents nestor kirchner, luiz inacio lula da silva, evo morales, hugo chavez and fidel castro.
he said that "it is a bad signal that the bush family is doing business with natural resources linked to the future of mercosur."
the official pointed out that this situation could cause a hypothetical conflict of all the armies in the region, and called attention to the bush family habit of associating business and politics.
and cocaine, which might be more of a reason.
luis d elia, undersecretary for the social habitat in the argentine federal planning ministry, issued a memo partially reproduced by digital infobae.com, in which he spoke of the purchase by bush of a 98,842-acre farm in northern paraguay, between brazil and bolivia…
d elia considered this bush step counterproductive for the regional power expressed by presidents nestor kirchner, luiz inacio lula da silva, evo morales, hugo chavez and fidel castro.
he said that "it is a bad signal that the bush family is doing business with natural resources linked to the future of mercosur."
the official pointed out that this situation could cause a hypothetical conflict of all the armies in the region, and called attention to the bush family habit of associating business and politics.
hooked on torture
the heretik points out that cheney's casual approach to torture is in itself, cruel.
no brainer? the casual cruelty of torture reveals itself in cheney’s casual attitude.
q would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?
the vice president: it’s a no-brainer for me, but for a while there, i was criticized as being the vice president “for torture.” we don’t torture. that’s not what we’re involved in. we live up to our obligations in international treaties that we’re party to and so forth. but the fact is, you can have a fairly robust interrogation program without torture, and we need to be able to do that.
and thanks to the leadership of the president now, and the action of the congress, we have that authority, and we are able to continue to program.
okay with that? not okay with that?the vice president: it’s a no-brainer for me, but for a while there, i was criticized as being the vice president “for torture.” we don’t torture. that’s not what we’re involved in. we live up to our obligations in international treaties that we’re party to and so forth. but the fact is, you can have a fairly robust interrogation program without torture, and we need to be able to do that.
and thanks to the leadership of the president now, and the action of the congress, we have that authority, and we are able to continue to program.
the u.s. army, senior republican lawmakers, human rights experts and many experts on the laws of war, however, consider water-boarding cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that’s banned by u.s. law and by international treaties that prohibit torture.
cheney confessed what the white house really thinks without getting tortured himself at all. that it is said with a straight face tortures the english language.no brainer? the casual cruelty of torture reveals itself in cheney’s casual attitude.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
say hello
still missing him after 4 years
when we need him so very much today.
"never separate the life you live from the words you speak"
"i represent the democratic wing of the democratic party."
paul david wellstone (july 21, 1944 – october 25, 2002)
"never separate the life you live from the words you speak"
"i represent the democratic wing of the democratic party."
paul david wellstone (july 21, 1944 – october 25, 2002)
the torturing states of america
darth admits it.
it's not easy blogging green
but here we go sharing a few stories of the environmental varietal.
germ fighter works as endocrine disrupter. triclosan, popular in soaps and lotions, perturbs the thyroid system of frogs and humans at concentrations found in north american streams.
rp -- japan accord 'toxic'. a new dump for toxic waste may soon open for japan -- and it has 7,100 islands. the philippines will allow the entry of toxic and hazardous waste from japan in exchange for the export of nurses and caregivers.
chaos uncorked. an ill-conceived plan to clean fouled waters with exotic carp goes awry near chicago, and now - three decades later - the great lakes could pay the price.
will new foods have distasteful problems? just when you thought we were heading toward organic consumption, the federal government is set to flood the marketplace with more frankenfoods
air rule change has a bad odor. the u.s. environmental protection agency reportedly is planning to change the way that ethanol plants are treated under the clean air act, and this can only be bad news for clean air.
germ fighter works as endocrine disrupter. triclosan, popular in soaps and lotions, perturbs the thyroid system of frogs and humans at concentrations found in north american streams.
rp -- japan accord 'toxic'. a new dump for toxic waste may soon open for japan -- and it has 7,100 islands. the philippines will allow the entry of toxic and hazardous waste from japan in exchange for the export of nurses and caregivers.
chaos uncorked. an ill-conceived plan to clean fouled waters with exotic carp goes awry near chicago, and now - three decades later - the great lakes could pay the price.
will new foods have distasteful problems? just when you thought we were heading toward organic consumption, the federal government is set to flood the marketplace with more frankenfoods
air rule change has a bad odor. the u.s. environmental protection agency reportedly is planning to change the way that ethanol plants are treated under the clean air act, and this can only be bad news for clean air.
An apology
In my zeal to support Mike Callaghan and to encourage others to support him, I have become obsessive.
As some of you might know, I've written little else of late. I haven't written a `top comments diary in weeks. I've not shaved or changed clothing in almost as long of a period.
And it's time for me to come clean - metaphysically if not physically.
For example, this diary The most important Lamont-Lieberman diary you'll read tonight wasn't even about Ned Lamont or Joe Lieberman. It was about Mike Callaghan and Shelley Moore Capito.
The numerous references to Wild and Wonderful Connecticut were about West Virginia.
As some of you might know, I've written little else of late. I haven't written a `top comments diary in weeks. I've not shaved or changed clothing in almost as long of a period.
And it's time for me to come clean - metaphysically if not physically.
For example, this diary The most important Lamont-Lieberman diary you'll read tonight wasn't even about Ned Lamont or Joe Lieberman. It was about Mike Callaghan and Shelley Moore Capito.
The numerous references to Wild and Wonderful Connecticut were about West Virginia.
When I wrote this diary The GOP needs our help to scare voters, I never intended to actually help the Republican Party.
I never really believed Is Instapundit a serial killer?.
The GBCW (Jag edition) diary? I actually like the dog ad.
But yesterday I went too far. In this diary I implied that this kitten
that looks like she is pleading for her life would die in a victory celebration should Shelley Moore Capito win.
I was very specific that the kitten would be thrown by Capito into a pool of water filled with sharks equipped with frigging lasers attached to their fins. I lied. I'm the one with the shark-filled pool. And I even lied about the lasers. I couldn't ::sob:: get the lasers to work. ::sob:: They kept shorting out in the water.
I just hope all of you can forgive me.
I blame my problems on my addiction to pistachios and I was sexually abused by Mark Foley's priest.
And I promise to stop so obsessively begging for money and volunteer support for Mike Callaghan. Just because he's a great candidate and everything positive I've written or said about him is true and just because we're running against a well-financed rubber stamp Republican whose been bought and paid for by the oil industry and the pharmaceutical giants as well as every crooked Republican to come down the pike while all Mike Callaghan is wonderful, fantastic people like you and terrible diarists like me to support him doesn't mean you should. Donate - Join the dedicated team of volunteers
This experience has shown me we really need publicly financed election campaigns. If you've never seen a candidate in action you wouldn't believe how much time they have to spend asking for money.
And don't worry. No kittens were harmed in the writing of this diary.
yes we're gonna have a party party
vounteer for change suggests you organize a voting party in your neighborhood.
nj supreme court rules on same-sex marriage
the new jersey state supreme court just issued its ruling on same-sex marriage. the court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry because of the equal protection clause of the state constitution. they also instructed the legislature to go pass laws that are in line with the ruling. the report on the radio said that the decision was not unanimous and opinions were kind of all over the map on it.
the ruling said that discrimination against gays and lesbians is no longer permitted within the state. this goes beyond previous rulings regarding the state's equal protection clause. in effect, it puts gays and lesbians in the same class as minorities and women when it comes to equal protection and it goes beyond statements made by other state supreme courts in these types of cases.
here's a link to an article on the ruling. the article is somewhat misleading, from what i heard on the radio. the article seems to say that the legislature has to use a word other than "marriage" when it permits same-sex marriage, but what i heard was that the ruling allows the legislature to use a word other than "marriage", but does not require the legislature to use a different word.
a copy of the decision (in pdf format) is here.
emily latella now works for nytimes
apparently enough readers of media matters emailed the nytimes to point out the abject falseness of their statement that joe-nertia never used the words "stay the course" to warrant their writing a correction (note: registration required!):
addendum: pub&ed; condences the pertinent parts in the rest of the article for us:
senator joseph i. lieberman of connecticut has used the phrase “stay the course” several times in discussing the war in iraq in recent years, echoing a key phrase of the white house, contrary to an article published tuesday in the new york times.
the article used a database to analyze hundreds of mr. lieberman’s war-related comments since 2001. it pointed out that ned lamont, the democratic nominee for united states senate, frequently criticized mr. lieberman for being a strong supporter of the bush administration’s “stay the course” policy on iraq, and said that in the statements reviewed, mr. lieberman had never actually uttered that phrase.
in fact, mr. lieberman has used the phrase more than a half-dozen times over the last two years, during a presidential debate and in television interviews — including several instances that were in the times database. as recently as november 2005, upon returning from a trip to iraq, for instance, he said on cnn’s “american morning” that he agreed with the administration’s view that it was necessary to “stay the course.”
now if we can only get joe-nertia to issue a correction! for the last 18 years!the article used a database to analyze hundreds of mr. lieberman’s war-related comments since 2001. it pointed out that ned lamont, the democratic nominee for united states senate, frequently criticized mr. lieberman for being a strong supporter of the bush administration’s “stay the course” policy on iraq, and said that in the statements reviewed, mr. lieberman had never actually uttered that phrase.
in fact, mr. lieberman has used the phrase more than a half-dozen times over the last two years, during a presidential debate and in television interviews — including several instances that were in the times database. as recently as november 2005, upon returning from a trip to iraq, for instance, he said on cnn’s “american morning” that he agreed with the administration’s view that it was necessary to “stay the course.”
addendum: pub&ed; condences the pertinent parts in the rest of the article for us:
after detailing some of those occasions, the article continued: "the original article noted that the database, which included more than 300 iraq-related comments since the sept 11 terrorist attacks, could not be comprehensive. but five of mr. lieberman’s 'stay the course' references were, in fact, included in the database, and should have been mentioned in the article. it is unclear why the phrase did not come up when the database was checked before publication. the same search on tuesday, after readers complained, yielded the correct results."
mad about awol insisting he never used the words "stay the course"
mad kane, that is!
and it's a losing game, at that
tom englehardt writes about playing the numbers game in iraq over at the tomdispatch.
look who is coming to santa barbara on friday!
general, my general.
what kind of society are we becoming?
this is not what my father taught me on the golf course. nor in life.
two sunnyvale brothers are facing federal charges for allegedly assaulting an older golfer whom they derided as "gramps" on the nasa ames research center golf course in mountain view, court records released today show.
the suspects, ryan maxwell alexander, 21, and charles talmage alexander, 20, allegedly attacked edwin j. league, 61, on sept. 18 after the victim asked them if he could "play through" because they were playing slowly at the golf course at moffett field, authorities said. - sfgate
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
we take back what we said about the gray lady...
sure, the nytimes gave bob harris a good review for "prisoner of trebekistan," but that doesn't mean, apparently, that they've started actually reporting.
via our buddy jane at fdl, who checked in w/media matters, we find a blatant piece of laziness posing as reporting in the esteemed pages of that mmm organ:
well, at least they liked bob!
addendum: apropos of nothing, here's a good example of how bloggered blogger can get. we wrote this post twice, because the first time it disappeared.
suddenly it reappeared here, under monday's postings, complete with the last paragraph suddenly morphing into spanish.
blogger: you get what you pay for.
via our buddy jane at fdl, who checked in w/media matters, we find a blatant piece of laziness posing as reporting in the esteemed pages of that mmm organ:
meanhile, the times' effort to spread lieberman propaganda continues unabated. after what they claim was an "exhaustive" search, they leap to joe's defense with this conclusion:
etc etc etc. we could provide more, but then you wouldn't go read jane and media matters.never, in the statements reviewed, did mr. lieberman utter the words 'stay the course.
which is, of course, the new republican lie du jour — george w. bush has been making the rounds with the same claim. fortunately, there is media matters, who finds this lieberquote from fox news sunday:we can do better. i will do better. i will make it international. i will stay the course, and i'll create a stable, democratizing, modernizing iraq, which would be a tremendous step forward in the middle east and the islamic world and in our war against terrorism.
and then there's this, from the hartford courant:"i thought the president gave the strongest case that i can remember him giving about why we went in and why we have to stay the course," lieberman said.
fox news & friends:"we want to not only stay the course; we want to achieve victory."
well, at least they liked bob!
addendum: apropos of nothing, here's a good example of how bloggered blogger can get. we wrote this post twice, because the first time it disappeared.
suddenly it reappeared here, under monday's postings, complete with the last paragraph suddenly morphing into spanish.
blogger: you get what you pay for.
Save this kitten!
The DCCC has added Mike Callaghan, the Democratic candidate in WV-02, to the "emerging race" list, which should mean more campaign funds and national exposure to this race.
I've written once or twice about Mike Callaghan and Shelley Moore Capito.
Many of you have already contributed. Thank you.
Many others are still holding back, maybe because this race is too much of a long shot to win.
1. If Shelley Moore Capito wins, she might celebrate by throwing this kitten into a pool of water filled with sharks with frigging lasers attached to their fins. Now I do not know this for certain, but as Republican Rep. Patrick Henry would say, I have NO evidence that it is not true so here it is. So it is speculation on my part. But as WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan would say, it would be wrong not to speculate.
2. Mike Callaghan loves animals.
3. Shelley Moore Capito has taken money from Tom Delay and Bob Ney. I bet her father has contributed to her campaign too. She's voted more than 80 percent of the time with George W. Bush. Do we need a representative with this many ties to law breakers and suspected law breakers?
4. Mike Callaghan, as a federal prosecutor for nearly a decade, put law breakers in prison.
5. Big oil companies gave Shelley Moore Capito money they took personally from me and many of my friends. The bastards.
6. Mike Callaghan was secretary of the environment trying to make the air and land cleaner.
7. Shelley Moore Capito claims to support the troops. The association representing Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans listed her as C+. That grade might be good enough to become a Republican nominee for president, but it ain't good enough to honor those that served their nation.
8. Mike Callaghan wants to bring the troops home as soon as possible.
9. Shelley Moore Capito is a Republican, although she's trying to keep that a secret by not listing her party on her signs or her campaign web site. She's also trying to keep her position on issues secret by not listing them on her web site. Of course when you were one of the first touting President Bush's privateer plan for Social Security, you'd want to keep your stance secret.
10. Mike Callaghan is proud of being a Democrat. And he wants to protect Social Security from those attempting to loot the treasury.
So hear the pleas of the kitten. Support Mike Callaghan. Donate - Join the dedicated team of volunteers
I've written once or twice about Mike Callaghan and Shelley Moore Capito.
Many of you have already contributed. Thank you.
Many others are still holding back, maybe because this race is too much of a long shot to win.
1. If Shelley Moore Capito wins, she might celebrate by throwing this kitten into a pool of water filled with sharks with frigging lasers attached to their fins. Now I do not know this for certain, but as Republican Rep. Patrick Henry would say, I have NO evidence that it is not true so here it is. So it is speculation on my part. But as WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan would say, it would be wrong not to speculate.
2. Mike Callaghan loves animals.
3. Shelley Moore Capito has taken money from Tom Delay and Bob Ney. I bet her father has contributed to her campaign too. She's voted more than 80 percent of the time with George W. Bush. Do we need a representative with this many ties to law breakers and suspected law breakers?
4. Mike Callaghan, as a federal prosecutor for nearly a decade, put law breakers in prison.
5. Big oil companies gave Shelley Moore Capito money they took personally from me and many of my friends. The bastards.
6. Mike Callaghan was secretary of the environment trying to make the air and land cleaner.
7. Shelley Moore Capito claims to support the troops. The association representing Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans listed her as C+. That grade might be good enough to become a Republican nominee for president, but it ain't good enough to honor those that served their nation.
8. Mike Callaghan wants to bring the troops home as soon as possible.
9. Shelley Moore Capito is a Republican, although she's trying to keep that a secret by not listing her party on her signs or her campaign web site. She's also trying to keep her position on issues secret by not listing them on her web site. Of course when you were one of the first touting President Bush's privateer plan for Social Security, you'd want to keep your stance secret.
10. Mike Callaghan is proud of being a Democrat. And he wants to protect Social Security from those attempting to loot the treasury.
So hear the pleas of the kitten. Support Mike Callaghan. Donate - Join the dedicated team of volunteers
or else just change the title to "the cbs evening lifestyle report"
tvnewser reports that variety's peter bart has a suggestion for cbs: why not add some "news" back into the "evening news"?
"since the network's epiphany in recruiting katie couric as anchor has failed to reignite the nightly news, how about reversing the second part of your revisionist approach? that means injecting some actual news back into your nightly equation and dropping some of your riveting "lifestyle" stories, such as the three-minute interview with choreographer twyla tharp. since you've essentially reduced iraq coverage to a single sentence and north korea to a clause, will katie next try to encapsulate the approaching election results in a 30-second soundbite?"
how 'bout just giving bob schieffer his old job back?
master debater
the new haven independent enjoyed last night's final debate among joe-nertia, lamont, and especially alan "big sucking sound in the basement" schlesinger:
it’s true. even though not a single act of terrorism on our soil has involved mexicans crossing the rio grande to pick strawberries in connecticut, republican alan schlesinger (pictured) really did identify mexican immigrants as the group to fear most, and to keep out of the country, in the interests of homeland security.
the remarkable exchange took place in the debate monday night at new london’s garde theater as the campaign hurtles to its nov. 7 finale…
“of the three men before you i am the only man with a tough stand on immigration,” schlesinger said. “… we don’t only let them in illegally. many of our refugees get social security.”
his comments prompted an incredulous george stephanopolous, the debate’s celebrity moderator, to interrupt. “can you restate your question?”he asked mann.
“the question is really focused more on terrorism…” mann said.
schlesinger was undaunted.
“when you talk about terrorism in our homeland, illegal immigration is the spearhead of that,” he said. “joe wants to give them amnesty. ned wants to give them scholarships. i want to give them the boot…“that is where our main threat is coming. it’s coming from mexico. people can come through with a dirty bomb…”
meanwhile, joe-nertia once again proves his inability to understand the world situation:the remarkable exchange took place in the debate monday night at new london’s garde theater as the campaign hurtles to its nov. 7 finale…
“of the three men before you i am the only man with a tough stand on immigration,” schlesinger said. “… we don’t only let them in illegally. many of our refugees get social security.”
his comments prompted an incredulous george stephanopolous, the debate’s celebrity moderator, to interrupt. “can you restate your question?”he asked mann.
“the question is really focused more on terrorism…” mann said.
schlesinger was undaunted.
“when you talk about terrorism in our homeland, illegal immigration is the spearhead of that,” he said. “joe wants to give them amnesty. ned wants to give them scholarships. i want to give them the boot…“that is where our main threat is coming. it’s coming from mexico. people can come through with a dirty bomb…”
“islamic terrorists … are out to destroy our way of life and as many of us as we can,” joe lieberman (pictured after the debate) said. “we have to do everything we can to capture and kill them.” at the same time, the u.s. needs to work hard to win the islamic world’s “hearts and minds.”
that’s why he doesn’t want to “pull out of iraq” without a clear victory, lieberman said – he worries that doing so would encourage terrorists. “i’ve traveled to just about arab country except iran” and learned the importance of this issue, lieberman said.
uh, joe? iran isn't an arab country:that’s why he doesn’t want to “pull out of iraq” without a clear victory, lieberman said – he worries that doing so would encourage terrorists. “i’ve traveled to just about arab country except iran” and learned the importance of this issue, lieberman said.
iran is a large country with a population of about 70 million. it is bordered on the west by iraq and on the east by the muslim countries of pakistan, afghanistan, and turkmenistan. prior to 1991, turkmenistan was part of the soviet union. it is not an arab country. over half of the population consists of ethnic persians and 89% adhere to the stricter shiite branch of the muslim religion. in terms of human development, iran like most middle eastern countries is in the middle range. the unemployment rate is over 10% and 40% of the population is beneath the poverty line.
oh, and joe? $387,000 isn't petty cash.
from your paper to god's ears
the seattle times sez independents are siding w/democrats:
two weeks before midterm elections, republicans are losing the battle for independent voters, who now strongly favor democrats on iraq and other major issues facing the country and overwhelmingly prefer to see them take over the house in november, according to a new washington post-abc news poll.
the poll underscores how much of a drag the war threatens to be on republican candidates in competitive races. with debate under way in washington about possible course changes in iraq, more americans polled cite the war as the most important issue in determining their vote next month, and those who do favor democrats over republicans by 76 percent to 21 percent.
independents are poised to play a pivotal role in next month's elections because democrats and republicans are basically united behind candidates of their own parties. the independent voters surveyed said they plan to support democratic candidates over republicans by roughly 2 to 1 — 59 percent to 31 percent — the largest ratio in any post-abc news poll this year.
the poll underscores how much of a drag the war threatens to be on republican candidates in competitive races. with debate under way in washington about possible course changes in iraq, more americans polled cite the war as the most important issue in determining their vote next month, and those who do favor democrats over republicans by 76 percent to 21 percent.
independents are poised to play a pivotal role in next month's elections because democrats and republicans are basically united behind candidates of their own parties. the independent voters surveyed said they plan to support democratic candidates over republicans by roughly 2 to 1 — 59 percent to 31 percent — the largest ratio in any post-abc news poll this year.
researchers, start your engines!
mydd has an excellent idea on how to use google this election.
in the 90's we used to call 'em 'nerds'
joe gandelman over at the moderate voice points us to his co-blogger's elrod's latest, revenge of the independents.
Monday, October 23, 2006
the apocalypse....now
pelosi flunks negotiating 101
she takes impeaching awol off of the table before even getting to the table...
i think a better answer would have been:
i think a better answer would have been:
impeachment talk is a bit premature. republicans have killed all investigations into alleged wrong doing so i can't commit to a course of action until we know the full extent of the illegal wiretapping.
kids, don't try this at home
billmon tries to think like a publican.
number 11, the ho chi minh trail goes thru basra
the satirical political report gives us the top ten signs iraq is becoming viet nam.
while we're on the subject (the subject being silly political posts) the assimilated press reports that condoleeza rice is pregnant's with awol's love child; and media bloodhound points out that the military is sure that rumsfeld's praise will crush the insurgency.
while we're on the subject (the subject being silly political posts) the assimilated press reports that condoleeza rice is pregnant's with awol's love child; and media bloodhound points out that the military is sure that rumsfeld's praise will crush the insurgency.
when filling out a voter registration form
please keep in mind a few things.
1) write legibly. someone actually has to try to interpret your chicken scratch.
2) provide a phone number or email so that when your chicken scratch can't be deciphered they can actually contact you to ask questions.
3) please remember where you live...provide the proper address of your residence, not a p.o. box.
4) spell your name correctly.
5) sign where the form indicates that you sign.
6) try to remember where you were born.
7) try to remember what day and year you were born.
8) turn in forms on time. when the deadline clearly states on the form "must be submitted to the office by such a date and no date stamps will be accepted..." it means just that.
9) know what a registration form looks like.
10) if you have moved after the last election....reregister.
11) if you have changed your name after the last election....reregister.
12) if you have changed your party affiliation....reregister.
13) if you have changed your signature....reregister.
14) know what county you live in.
15) know what state you live in. (kid you not, kids on this one....)
16) don't swipe someone elses absentee ballot application and fill it out by crossing out their name
17) if you know that you will be out of town on election day, don't wait until the last minute to apply for an absentee ballot
18) if you know that you will be out of the country, don't assume that the elections office will pony up for a fed-ex next day delivery to you to fill out your absentee ballot application
19) you might not be able to vote for those candidates you see advertising on t.v....they might not be running in your district. yelling at the people in the elections office will not change that fact.
and lastly,
20) know when election day is.
1) write legibly. someone actually has to try to interpret your chicken scratch.
2) provide a phone number or email so that when your chicken scratch can't be deciphered they can actually contact you to ask questions.
3) please remember where you live...provide the proper address of your residence, not a p.o. box.
4) spell your name correctly.
5) sign where the form indicates that you sign.
6) try to remember where you were born.
7) try to remember what day and year you were born.
8) turn in forms on time. when the deadline clearly states on the form "must be submitted to the office by such a date and no date stamps will be accepted..." it means just that.
9) know what a registration form looks like.
10) if you have moved after the last election....reregister.
11) if you have changed your name after the last election....reregister.
12) if you have changed your party affiliation....reregister.
13) if you have changed your signature....reregister.
14) know what county you live in.
15) know what state you live in. (kid you not, kids on this one....)
16) don't swipe someone elses absentee ballot application and fill it out by crossing out their name
17) if you know that you will be out of town on election day, don't wait until the last minute to apply for an absentee ballot
18) if you know that you will be out of the country, don't assume that the elections office will pony up for a fed-ex next day delivery to you to fill out your absentee ballot application
19) you might not be able to vote for those candidates you see advertising on t.v....they might not be running in your district. yelling at the people in the elections office will not change that fact.
and lastly,
20) know when election day is.
the $387,000 question
hey, no mojo joe, that sort of scratch ain't petty. ask lie-berman where he got the dough, here.
Plunging the toilet for democracy
As I plunged a clogged toilet at Mike Callaghan headquarters on Saturday afternoon, I thought, "This sums up what we're trying to do for the country." The Republicans have left us with a shitty mess and we've got to get the system working again to benefit everyone.
Let me begin at the beginning.
The Apple Harvest Parade was Saturdayin Martinsburg. Mike Callaghan's local campaign office is on North Queen Street along the parade route.
We met early to make up signs and even though I suck at sign making (my daughters do better at making the signs than I do since I have trouble making my letters and staying within the lines).
Mike said he needed to wash his truck since his was dirty. When you don't rake in the big money from the DCCC for your campaign, you wash your own truck for the parade.
Jane (injured foot) and I (torn calf muscle, partly torn Achilles tendon) decided to stay at the headquarters to pass out apples and allow parade watchers to use our restroom.
Being nice to parade goers, of course, is part of our nefarious plot to win votes. At least, I'm sure that's how Republican Rubber Stamp Shelley Moore (I never said stay the course!) Capito would describe it.
Afterall, she's the one who calls this ad by Mike Callaghan an "attack" on her.
Apparently those who live in fear of terrorists organizations like Florida Quakers and human rights activists are really weak-kneed when a Democrat criticizes bad decisions to go to war and Republicans protecting a sexual predator to hold on to political power.
When she marched in the parade, she stayed in the center of the road surrounded by her supporters like they were human shields to protect her from harm. When she marched by Callaghan headquarters her smile froze. She went "tharn" as javajunkey aptly described it in the comments Saturday. I burst out laughing and kept laughing as she and her supporters walked by and laughed even louder with some Republican named Raese's supporters marched by. A Raese supporter said "Vote for some first name Raese, our next U.S. Senator." I chuckled loudly and he looked up, and tried to pass out literature to people who wouldn't reach out their hands to take it. Say what you will about Senator Robert C. Byrd (and I've certainly said my share) he's got a lot of supporters among Democrats and Republicans in this state.
Callaghan didn't ride in his shiny and clean truck, which was covered by signs (My "Vote 4 Mike" sign didn't look too bad from the distance). Instead he walked along the parade route, shaking hands with people along the route.
So Jane and I watched the parade route from a table set up with campaign literature and bumper stickers to pass out and when people asked to use our rest room (long parade with no public facilities nearby) I'd show them where it was.
After one use by a young girl, her mother told me the toilet was clogged.
Being a campaign volunteer often involves promoting the lofty ideas of the political party.
And sometimes it means wielding the plunger.
I thanked her for telling me, told her I was experienced at this with three children of my own, and went to work.
You see, even if you're angry at the Democratic Party for whatever reason, this is not the time to bail out on them.
This is the time to roll up the sleeves and do what ever it takes to get Democrats elected.
We have plenty of Torturecrats to oust from office in the future (I'm looking at you Senator Rockefeller), but the only way to put the brakes on this illegal war in Iraq and the on-going corrupt looting of the U.S. treasury by the Republicans.
The only way to protect Social Security and to provide real Medicaid drug benefits for the people instead of the pharmaceutical giants is to elect Democrats. The only way to implement real security measures as recommended by the 9/11 Commission is to elect Democrats.
Get off the computer and go volunteer. Go canvass neighborhoods and march in parades and wave signs and phonebank and yes, plunge toilets when needed.
Let me begin at the beginning.
The Apple Harvest Parade was Saturdayin Martinsburg. Mike Callaghan's local campaign office is on North Queen Street along the parade route.
We met early to make up signs and even though I suck at sign making (my daughters do better at making the signs than I do since I have trouble making my letters and staying within the lines).
Mike said he needed to wash his truck since his was dirty. When you don't rake in the big money from the DCCC for your campaign, you wash your own truck for the parade.
Jane (injured foot) and I (torn calf muscle, partly torn Achilles tendon) decided to stay at the headquarters to pass out apples and allow parade watchers to use our restroom.
Being nice to parade goers, of course, is part of our nefarious plot to win votes. At least, I'm sure that's how Republican Rubber Stamp Shelley Moore (I never said stay the course!) Capito would describe it.
Afterall, she's the one who calls this ad by Mike Callaghan an "attack" on her.
Apparently those who live in fear of terrorists organizations like Florida Quakers and human rights activists are really weak-kneed when a Democrat criticizes bad decisions to go to war and Republicans protecting a sexual predator to hold on to political power.
When she marched in the parade, she stayed in the center of the road surrounded by her supporters like they were human shields to protect her from harm. When she marched by Callaghan headquarters her smile froze. She went "tharn" as javajunkey aptly described it in the comments Saturday. I burst out laughing and kept laughing as she and her supporters walked by and laughed even louder with some Republican named Raese's supporters marched by. A Raese supporter said "Vote for some first name Raese, our next U.S. Senator." I chuckled loudly and he looked up, and tried to pass out literature to people who wouldn't reach out their hands to take it. Say what you will about Senator Robert C. Byrd (and I've certainly said my share) he's got a lot of supporters among Democrats and Republicans in this state.
Callaghan didn't ride in his shiny and clean truck, which was covered by signs (My "Vote 4 Mike" sign didn't look too bad from the distance). Instead he walked along the parade route, shaking hands with people along the route.
So Jane and I watched the parade route from a table set up with campaign literature and bumper stickers to pass out and when people asked to use our rest room (long parade with no public facilities nearby) I'd show them where it was.
After one use by a young girl, her mother told me the toilet was clogged.
Being a campaign volunteer often involves promoting the lofty ideas of the political party.
And sometimes it means wielding the plunger.
I thanked her for telling me, told her I was experienced at this with three children of my own, and went to work.
You see, even if you're angry at the Democratic Party for whatever reason, this is not the time to bail out on them.
This is the time to roll up the sleeves and do what ever it takes to get Democrats elected.
We have plenty of Torturecrats to oust from office in the future (I'm looking at you Senator Rockefeller), but the only way to put the brakes on this illegal war in Iraq and the on-going corrupt looting of the U.S. treasury by the Republicans.
The only way to protect Social Security and to provide real Medicaid drug benefits for the people instead of the pharmaceutical giants is to elect Democrats. The only way to implement real security measures as recommended by the 9/11 Commission is to elect Democrats.
Get off the computer and go volunteer. Go canvass neighborhoods and march in parades and wave signs and phonebank and yes, plunge toilets when needed.
Because if you believe this administration and Republican-controlled Congress has left us in a world of shit, you've got to roll up your sleeves and unclog the mess. Because a clogged toilet isn't going to plunge itself. And it can't be fixed just by posting on a blog.
Donate - Join the dedicated team of volunteers
Also please freep this poll (on the right) for Mike at the Charleston Gazette.
UPDATE: The DCCC picked Mike today as an emerging race. Huzzah! I also collected most of my race diaries here/
the gray lady gets one right
congrats to our blog buddy bob harris for a great review of prisoner of trebekistan in the nytimes sunday book review!
paper victories
on the cal sec of state front, both the sfchron and the san jose mercury news endorse debra bowen.
(for the record, so does skippy.)
(for the record, so does skippy.)
eric kinda hearts obama
eric alterman thinks obama is the real deal. we might concur in a few years (as bob herbet thinks, per bigtentdem over at talkleft), after he's had some experience in politics.
live blogging live blogs
chicago dyke is currently at the center for american progress listening to sid blumenthal and glenn greenwald speak. she tells us:
one thing is important enough for me to want to live blog. sid says that wilkerson, powell’s old chief of staff, believes that the correct number of victims in secret bush prisons is 35,000, only %5 of which “may” have to do with terrorism. more than twice what i thought, and hardly any to do with the “war on terror.”
wake up america, it’s getting closer.
wake up america, it’s getting closer.
arianna one anna two...
scott bardell of the idea grove writes us to let us know that arianna huffington will be live on blog radio tomorrow:
skippy,
i'm writing because we thought your readers might be interested in talking with arianna huffington live tomorrow.
huffington will be appearing on blogtalkradio on tuesday, oct. 24, at 5 p.m. eastern / 2 p.m. pacific. blogtalkradio is a new "live podcasting" service that lets listeners call in or im live so hosts can respond to their questions on the air. the call in number for tomorrow's show is 877-548-3376.
you can read more about the interview on huffington's host page at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ariannahuffington, on the btr blog at http://blog.blogtalkradio.com/index.php/2006/10/19/go-fearless-with-arianna-huffington-live-on-blogtalkradiocom/, or at the huffington post at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/becoming-fearless/.
anyone can be a host at blogtalkradio -- and it's free. if you're interested, you can learn how it works here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/faq.aspx
take care!
scott baradell
president
the idea grove
we love arianna for two reasons: one, she actually invited the skippy's (and a thousand other people) to her house for a party one night, and two, she told skippy at ykos that he had the best name for a blog.
i'm writing because we thought your readers might be interested in talking with arianna huffington live tomorrow.
huffington will be appearing on blogtalkradio on tuesday, oct. 24, at 5 p.m. eastern / 2 p.m. pacific. blogtalkradio is a new "live podcasting" service that lets listeners call in or im live so hosts can respond to their questions on the air. the call in number for tomorrow's show is 877-548-3376.
you can read more about the interview on huffington's host page at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ariannahuffington, on the btr blog at http://blog.blogtalkradio.com/index.php/2006/10/19/go-fearless-with-arianna-huffington-live-on-blogtalkradiocom/, or at the huffington post at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/becoming-fearless/.
anyone can be a host at blogtalkradio -- and it's free. if you're interested, you can learn how it works here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/faq.aspx
take care!
scott baradell
president
the idea grove
he put the "petty" in "petty cash"
joe-nertia is facing some financial questions as ned lamont filed a complaint w/the federal elections commission over joe's sloppy record-keeping for his campaign's "petty cash" fund. background from the bosglobe:
ned lamont's campaign says sen. joe lieberman has failed to account for $387,000 in petty cash disbursements his campaign made in the final days before the state's august democratic primary…
the lieberman camp on sunday denied any wrongdoing. lieberman spokeswoman tammy sun said the cash payments were made to campaign coordinators in the field who then distributed money to workers who were involved with canvassing efforts. the payments to workers, many of them students, ranged from $50 to $100 per day, sun added…
the lamont camp cited at least 10 petty cash payments to volunteers from july 25 to aug. 7, the day before the primary. the largest was $135,000 on aug. 4. there was a $75,000 payment on aug. 7.
and fauxnews says ned made it formal today:the lieberman camp on sunday denied any wrongdoing. lieberman spokeswoman tammy sun said the cash payments were made to campaign coordinators in the field who then distributed money to workers who were involved with canvassing efforts. the payments to workers, many of them students, ranged from $50 to $100 per day, sun added…
the lamont camp cited at least 10 petty cash payments to volunteers from july 25 to aug. 7, the day before the primary. the largest was $135,000 on aug. 4. there was a $75,000 payment on aug. 7.
ned lamont's campaign filed a complaint with the federal election commission on monday, accusing sen. joe lieberman of failing to account for $387,000 in petty cash his campaign spent days before the democratic primary. the lieberman campaign has denied any wrongdoing.
we'll see, joe. we'll see.
we take it back what we said about the gray lady...
[ed. note: yes, this looks like a repeat of the above post. but what it really is, is blogger at its best. we thought we wrote this post on tuesday. then suddenly, it disappeared. now, just as suddenly, it re-appears under monday's writings. and, for some reason, it suddenly switches to spanish in the last paragraph. we can assure you, we don't write in spanish.
we keep this post here instead of deleting it to remind you of what we have always mainainted: blogger...you get what you pay for.]
sure, the nytimes gave bob harris a good review for "prisoner of trebekistan," but that doesn't mean, apparenlty, that they've started actually reporting.
via our buddy jane at fdl, who checked in w/media matters, we find a blatant piece of laziness posing as reporting in the esteemed pages of that mmm organ:
we keep this post here instead of deleting it to remind you of what we have always mainainted: blogger...you get what you pay for.]
sure, the nytimes gave bob harris a good review for "prisoner of trebekistan," but that doesn't mean, apparenlty, that they've started actually reporting.
via our buddy jane at fdl, who checked in w/media matters, we find a blatant piece of laziness posing as reporting in the esteemed pages of that mmm organ:
meanhile, the times' effort to spread lieberman propaganda continues unabated. after what they claim was an "exhaustive" search, they leap to joe's defense with this conclusion:
etc etc etc. we could provide more, but t9m os direitos de transmissão dos jogos. Sua equipe não "viaja" para trazer novidades, não buscam parcerias, não conhecem marketing.never, in the statements reviewed, did mr. lieberman utter the words 'stay the course.
which is, of course, the new republican lie du jour — george w. bush has been making the rounds with the same claim. fortunately, there is media matters, who finds this lieberquote from fox news sunday:we can do better. i will do better. i will make it international. i will stay the course, and i'll create a stable, democratizing, modernizing iraq, which would be a tremendous step forward in the middle east and the islamic world and in our war against terrorism.
and then there's this, from the hartford courant:"i thought the president gave the strongest case that i can remember him giving about why we went in and why we have to stay the course," lieberman said.
fox news & friends:"we want to not only stay the course; we want to achieve victory."
change of address card
the fabulous cookie jill points out that our co-blogger, carnacki's own blog, the mystery of the haunted vampire, is now at a new url.
he has moved from blogger to word press (something we'd do if we cared more about blogging).
as jill sez, change the bookmark before halloween! boo!
he has moved from blogger to word press (something we'd do if we cared more about blogging).
as jill sez, change the bookmark before halloween! boo!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
one can always hope
tvnewser is repeating rumors that both tucker "dancing with the mildly recognizable" carlson and rita "anybody got a throat lozenge" cosby are, quote, toast, unquote. jossip sez:
we're quite willing to let the other gossips do our legwork, as happens with scoop thief radar pinging tucker carlson for comment. says tuck: "it's bullshit. it's total bullshit. i talked to abrams last night. i've got another year on my contract. that's my comment: bullshit." and while we're willing to believe abrams and tucker did have a chat last night regarding his tenure, and that tucker throws around "bullshit" like george allen does "macaca," our source at nbc (who's privy to chatter above msnbc's decision makers) says otherwise: "zucker can't stand him. he wants to see him go. [from what i understand] zucker has been more than hinting to abrams that tucker and rita need to go."
from your blog to god's ears, as they say.
happy bday, ipod
5 years old. close to 7,000 songs on mine and still going strong. i'm a pod person and proud of it.for a little white box that was greeted almost universally with disappointment, apple computer's ipod has come a long way since its debut five years ago. initial responses ranged from warm to openly dismissive. "lame" was the final word of a reaction to the player on slashdot. - businessweek
“if apple ever lowers the ipod’s price and develops windows software for it, watch out: the invasion of the ipod people will surely begin in earnest.”—david pogue, new york times (2001) - playlist
rip jane wyatt
jane wyatt, the impeccable actress who was the mother on "father knows best" and the mother of spock on star trek, died at the age of 96 friday. the washpost:
jane wyatt, 96, a onetime socialite who specialized in playing well-bred ingenues on stage and film and is best known as the understanding mother in the television sitcom "father knows best," died oct. 20 at her home in bel air, calif. the family said she died in her sleep but did not give further details.
ms. wyatt was dropped from the new york social register after becoming an actress, but she later reacquired her standing through marriage. meanwhile, she enjoyed an active career on the broadway stage and then in hollywood.
something we didn't know was that jane was blacklisted in teh 50's:ms. wyatt was dropped from the new york social register after becoming an actress, but she later reacquired her standing through marriage. meanwhile, she enjoyed an active career on the broadway stage and then in hollywood.
she later said her work dried up in the early 1950s because of her association with a group of politically liberal actors campaigning against the anti-communist blacklist, including lauren bacall and humphrey bogart. she said that she was never a communist and that the worst label that anyone applied to her was "prematurely anti-fascist."
the offer to appear in "father knows best," long a fixture on radio, came as a surprise. the show ran first on cbs, and that network's decision to cancel the program resulted in loud protests. nbc picked it up from 1955 to 1958 before the show returned to cbs.
although ms. wyatt said in later years that she found aspects of the show dated, she took some comfort in its ability to appeal to audiences around the world.
"when we did it we had no idea it would make such a big splash," she told the associated press in 1989. "i went to peru on a botanical trip last year. the stewardesses on the plane were all over us. in lima, we were besieged by people. the show's called 'papa lo sabe todo' there."
rip jane wyatt.
the offer to appear in "father knows best," long a fixture on radio, came as a surprise. the show ran first on cbs, and that network's decision to cancel the program resulted in loud protests. nbc picked it up from 1955 to 1958 before the show returned to cbs.
although ms. wyatt said in later years that she found aspects of the show dated, she took some comfort in its ability to appeal to audiences around the world.
"when we did it we had no idea it would make such a big splash," she told the associated press in 1989. "i went to peru on a botanical trip last year. the stewardesses on the plane were all over us. in lima, we were besieged by people. the show's called 'papa lo sabe todo' there."
no hablamos el voting rights act en condado del orange, california
the controversial and very probably illegal letter sent to spanish speaking new voters in southern california warning them they could be arrested if they were immigrants who tried to vote has splintered the california publican party. background from the chitrib:
but the latimes reports that fingers are pointing at the publican:
a california republican's congressional campaign went into meltdown thursday after he said a staff member was responsible for sending thousands of letters to new voters with hispanic surnames telling them--wrongly--that it is illegal for them to vote if they are immigrants. candidate tan nguyen said the letters went out without his knowledge and the staff member has been fired. the orange county republican party immediately called for nguyen to withdraw from the race. as many as 14,000 letters were sent in the district, represented by democratic rep. loretta sanchez.
in spite of both his office and home getting raided, in spite of the head of the orange county publicans urging his withdrawl, and even in spite of gov. ah-nold arguments that he should quit the race, nguyen has denied having anything to do with the letter himself and refused to drop out.but the latimes reports that fingers are pointing at the publican:
nguyen, himself a vietnamese immigrant, said thursday that he had fired his campaign office manager because of the letter but that he had no prior knowledge of it. however, the chairman of orange county's republican party has said that he was told by the mailing company that sent the letter that nguyen was personally involved.
loretta sanchez is pretty popular in her district and has little to worry about from nguyen. but this controversy isn't going to help him.
sunday night music club
with the brilliant belafonte (and the "tallybear" and friends....)
imac a point of it
via the lovely georgia10 at dkos, a couple of youtube parodies just in time for elections...
better
country
where's steve jobs when you need him?
better
country
where's steve jobs when you need him?
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