Tuesday, August 20, 2002
it's not such a secret anymore
the sacramento bee is reporting that an elite unit of the california national guard have been put on alert to ship out for a secret mission overseas.
"the deployment of the 19th special forces group, which has headquarters in redwood city and los alamitos and includes members from sacramento, was ordered last week. the soldiers may ship out within a week. no one will say where the soldiers are being sent, with officials citing the need for secrecy."
wherever our troops in uniform may go, we at skippy wish them godspeed and good luck. remember, it's not the soldiers who make war. it's the dumb ass politicians back home.
the sacramento bee is reporting that an elite unit of the california national guard have been put on alert to ship out for a secret mission overseas.
"the deployment of the 19th special forces group, which has headquarters in redwood city and los alamitos and includes members from sacramento, was ordered last week. the soldiers may ship out within a week. no one will say where the soldiers are being sent, with officials citing the need for secrecy."
wherever our troops in uniform may go, we at skippy wish them godspeed and good luck. remember, it's not the soldiers who make war. it's the dumb ass politicians back home.
posted by skippy at
11:04 PM |
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to engage in class warfare, first you must have some class
our favorite greek american, arianna huffington, has an excellent piece on her site wondering who will take up the lead in the charge against corporate excess.
first, she makes her case: "who needs dr. evil when you've got ken lay, bernie ebbers, dennis kozlowski and the seemingly endless dickensian parade of other corporate villains?" while skippy thinks that calling these corporate cheats "dickensian" is giving them too much credit for literacy, he is bound to agree when ms. huffington quotes the numbers:
"ceo salaries went up 442 percent during the ‘90s. in 1980, the average ceo made 42 times more than the average blue-collar worker...in 2000, it was a staggering 531. meanwhile we have 8.3 million people out of work and millions of middle-class americans whose retirement plans have shriveled away. this time, it’s not just the disenfranchised who are getting the short end of the economic stick. It's mr. and mrs. working stiff. which is why the current epidemic of infectious greed has the potential to ignite an explosion of populist outrage...the question is: who will light the fuse?
to answer that question, she goes on to rightfully dismiss democratic national chairman terry macauliff, as the "guy who turned $100,000 and his friendships with bill clinton and gary winnick into an $18 million windfall from the now-bankrupt global crossing." [ed. note: see our postings about the same thing here and here.] she also questions the sincerity of all the wall street pundits who are crying crocadile tears at the current corporate scandals:
"watching [sen. john] corzine and [the business roundtable president] john castellani...sternly wagging their fingers, i wondered: where were they in the ‘90s when, you know, all this was going on? after all, fortune [magazine]'s findings were based on an analysis of ceo stock sales filed with the sec, filings that are available to anyone who chooses to look for them. why weren't they -- and why, for that matter, wasn't fortune -- crying foul about these things ten, five or even one year ago? were they unable to find the sec in the phone book? or were they too caught up in the irrational exuberance to notice?"
ms. huffington then offers some answers to her question as to 'who will light the fuse': she lists a few grass-roots organizations that we here at skippy heartily recommend that we all check out, and use to our advantage: public citizen, common cause, global exchange, the center for public integrity, the pension rights center, workingassetsradio, united for a fair econmy, citizen works, junction-city, and the rolling thunder down home democracy tour.
finally, we end with ms. huffington's closing remarks: "the time has come for these shoppers to leave the malls and take to the streets -- to go from invigorating our economy to reinvigorating our democracy."
you go, girl!
our favorite greek american, arianna huffington, has an excellent piece on her site wondering who will take up the lead in the charge against corporate excess.
first, she makes her case: "who needs dr. evil when you've got ken lay, bernie ebbers, dennis kozlowski and the seemingly endless dickensian parade of other corporate villains?" while skippy thinks that calling these corporate cheats "dickensian" is giving them too much credit for literacy, he is bound to agree when ms. huffington quotes the numbers:
"ceo salaries went up 442 percent during the ‘90s. in 1980, the average ceo made 42 times more than the average blue-collar worker...in 2000, it was a staggering 531. meanwhile we have 8.3 million people out of work and millions of middle-class americans whose retirement plans have shriveled away. this time, it’s not just the disenfranchised who are getting the short end of the economic stick. It's mr. and mrs. working stiff. which is why the current epidemic of infectious greed has the potential to ignite an explosion of populist outrage...the question is: who will light the fuse?
to answer that question, she goes on to rightfully dismiss democratic national chairman terry macauliff, as the "guy who turned $100,000 and his friendships with bill clinton and gary winnick into an $18 million windfall from the now-bankrupt global crossing." [ed. note: see our postings about the same thing here and here.] she also questions the sincerity of all the wall street pundits who are crying crocadile tears at the current corporate scandals:
"watching [sen. john] corzine and [the business roundtable president] john castellani...sternly wagging their fingers, i wondered: where were they in the ‘90s when, you know, all this was going on? after all, fortune [magazine]'s findings were based on an analysis of ceo stock sales filed with the sec, filings that are available to anyone who chooses to look for them. why weren't they -- and why, for that matter, wasn't fortune -- crying foul about these things ten, five or even one year ago? were they unable to find the sec in the phone book? or were they too caught up in the irrational exuberance to notice?"
ms. huffington then offers some answers to her question as to 'who will light the fuse': she lists a few grass-roots organizations that we here at skippy heartily recommend that we all check out, and use to our advantage: public citizen, common cause, global exchange, the center for public integrity, the pension rights center, workingassetsradio, united for a fair econmy, citizen works, junction-city, and the rolling thunder down home democracy tour.
finally, we end with ms. huffington's closing remarks: "the time has come for these shoppers to leave the malls and take to the streets -- to go from invigorating our economy to reinvigorating our democracy."
you go, girl!
posted by skippy at
6:47 PM |
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comments
next let's get congress to pass a death cut - a skippy musing
readers of this space will remember our discussion of memes and how the other side of the aisle seems adept at creating such ideas that have sticking power.
case in point is the campaign to eliminate the "death" tax. luckily, there are still many competent minds on the national scene that realize that eliminating this tax would be disastorous to the economy's health. norman j. ornstein in roll call magazine argues strongly against such an elimination, even though his editorial's subtitle still uses the meme "death tax."
this is one supreme meme. most rational people called this particular tax an "inheritance" tax, because, after all, that is what is being taxed: the estate that is being inherited after someone passes away. however, the other side managed to get the moniker "death tax" attached in popular discussion about this tax, which is, of course, ridiculous.
you are not being taxed when you die. you can't be taxed. you can't be late, you can't be hungry, you can't be libertarian, you can't be obstinate, you can't be in love, you can't be secretive, you can't be flatulent, you can't be content, you can't be anything. you're dead!!
but by renaming it "the death tax," the other side of the aisle was able to make the tax sound sooooo unfair. oh my god, this guy just died, and he's still paying taxes??? what a terrible terrible government we have. we must eliminate this tax forever, just to be fair to the heretofor discriminated-against dead american lobby!! steve forbes, on fox television, was heard to shout out his rallying cry against this tax: "no taxation without respiration." while that is admittedly funny, it is inaccurate and incorrect.
a better, more accurate description of the tax, if we really need to change the name, would be, "the unearned money" tax. after all, the money somebody gets in an inheritance is money which they didn't work for (ok, ladies, don't get started on a "putting up with that man for so many years is so a job" rant). you can bet steve forbes wouldn't be so hot to fight for an "unearned money tax cut." (no taxation without actually having a job! nah, doesn't have the same ring to it).
of course, the term "unearned money tax" is just as (in)complete a description as "death tax," but we think it is more accurate in what exactly is being taxed. but let's be fair (it is the one trait that distinguishes us from the other side). we'll still call it the "inheritance" tax. mr. ornstein, in roll call, is very in favor of a reduction of the tax, which we may or may not argue, but he is not in favor of eliminating it completely. he says, "elimination of the estate tax may turn out to be good politics, especially if republicans continue successfully to redefine it as a death tax. but it is bad and counterproductive policy. there are reasonable and prudent reforms that eliminate undue tax burdens without serious deleterious consequences."
let's start using memes as effectively as the other side. we need the unearned money tax. if you don't work for it, you can't expect to keep it all. period.
readers of this space will remember our discussion of memes and how the other side of the aisle seems adept at creating such ideas that have sticking power.
case in point is the campaign to eliminate the "death" tax. luckily, there are still many competent minds on the national scene that realize that eliminating this tax would be disastorous to the economy's health. norman j. ornstein in roll call magazine argues strongly against such an elimination, even though his editorial's subtitle still uses the meme "death tax."
this is one supreme meme. most rational people called this particular tax an "inheritance" tax, because, after all, that is what is being taxed: the estate that is being inherited after someone passes away. however, the other side managed to get the moniker "death tax" attached in popular discussion about this tax, which is, of course, ridiculous.
you are not being taxed when you die. you can't be taxed. you can't be late, you can't be hungry, you can't be libertarian, you can't be obstinate, you can't be in love, you can't be secretive, you can't be flatulent, you can't be content, you can't be anything. you're dead!!
but by renaming it "the death tax," the other side of the aisle was able to make the tax sound sooooo unfair. oh my god, this guy just died, and he's still paying taxes??? what a terrible terrible government we have. we must eliminate this tax forever, just to be fair to the heretofor discriminated-against dead american lobby!! steve forbes, on fox television, was heard to shout out his rallying cry against this tax: "no taxation without respiration." while that is admittedly funny, it is inaccurate and incorrect.
a better, more accurate description of the tax, if we really need to change the name, would be, "the unearned money" tax. after all, the money somebody gets in an inheritance is money which they didn't work for (ok, ladies, don't get started on a "putting up with that man for so many years is so a job" rant). you can bet steve forbes wouldn't be so hot to fight for an "unearned money tax cut." (no taxation without actually having a job! nah, doesn't have the same ring to it).
of course, the term "unearned money tax" is just as (in)complete a description as "death tax," but we think it is more accurate in what exactly is being taxed. but let's be fair (it is the one trait that distinguishes us from the other side). we'll still call it the "inheritance" tax. mr. ornstein, in roll call, is very in favor of a reduction of the tax, which we may or may not argue, but he is not in favor of eliminating it completely. he says, "elimination of the estate tax may turn out to be good politics, especially if republicans continue successfully to redefine it as a death tax. but it is bad and counterproductive policy. there are reasonable and prudent reforms that eliminate undue tax burdens without serious deleterious consequences."
let's start using memes as effectively as the other side. we need the unearned money tax. if you don't work for it, you can't expect to keep it all. period.
posted by skippy at
12:10 PM |
0
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deadline for martha
"lawyers for martha stewart are expected to turn over documents demanded by a congressional committee probing her sale of imclone systems inc. shares just before the company publicly disclosed bad news," reports cbs news. today is the last day ms. stewart has to comply with the congressional order to turn over these requested documents. "the full committee had threatened to subpoena the documents if not produced, to try to clear up questions about what she knew, if anything, about imclone's problems," cbs says.
the article goes on to quote rep. james greenwood (r - pa) as wondering aloud: "it's hard to understand a scenario in which she would allow herself and company to fall so far in disgrace, if you will, and lose so much financial value, if in fact she had the ability to simply come forward and set forth the facts and exonerate herself."
"lawyers for martha stewart are expected to turn over documents demanded by a congressional committee probing her sale of imclone systems inc. shares just before the company publicly disclosed bad news," reports cbs news. today is the last day ms. stewart has to comply with the congressional order to turn over these requested documents. "the full committee had threatened to subpoena the documents if not produced, to try to clear up questions about what she knew, if anything, about imclone's problems," cbs says.
the article goes on to quote rep. james greenwood (r - pa) as wondering aloud: "it's hard to understand a scenario in which she would allow herself and company to fall so far in disgrace, if you will, and lose so much financial value, if in fact she had the ability to simply come forward and set forth the facts and exonerate herself."
posted by skippy at
9:29 AM |
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comments
Monday, August 19, 2002
we don't think this poll will heal itself
the next time someone from the right side of the aisle says "but bush's ratings remain high!" we will assume they haven't been reading the christian science monitor or investors business daily. this page from the polling report shows the poll by those two publications pegging mr. bush's favorability rating at a low low low point of 57%. of course, other polls still have mr. bush at higher ratings, but a dip in the 50's is certainly something to notice.
the next time someone from the right side of the aisle says "but bush's ratings remain high!" we will assume they haven't been reading the christian science monitor or investors business daily. this page from the polling report shows the poll by those two publications pegging mr. bush's favorability rating at a low low low point of 57%. of course, other polls still have mr. bush at higher ratings, but a dip in the 50's is certainly something to notice.
posted by skippy at
9:30 PM |
0
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does peta know about this?
as if we needed more reasons to want to destroy al qaeda, cnn is showing exclusive videos purportedly made by the terrorist group which depicts chemical warfare tests on dogs (warning! this is not for the faint of heart!)
we don't like to see doggies die, and we are even more in favor of getting osama bin laden (remember him?) the only question we have, why didn't al qaeda use afghans?
as if we needed more reasons to want to destroy al qaeda, cnn is showing exclusive videos purportedly made by the terrorist group which depicts chemical warfare tests on dogs (warning! this is not for the faint of heart!)
we don't like to see doggies die, and we are even more in favor of getting osama bin laden (remember him?) the only question we have, why didn't al qaeda use afghans?
posted by skippy at
6:32 PM |
0
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blogging around
a quick trip around blogtopia (yes! i coined that word!)
david appell, our favorite science journalist over at quark soup, posts this interesting if disturbing blog concerning an essay by peter raven in science magazine entitled "science, sustainability and the human prospect."
we won't go through the whole list that quark soup points out, but mr. raven explains that "we apply 3 million metric tons (6 billion pounds) of 'increasingly toxic pesticides' on our agricultural lands, worldwide...two-thirds of the world's fisheries are being harvested beyond sustainability...over the past half century we have lost a fifth of the world's topsoil, a fifth of its agricultural land, and a third of its forests."
then, if you wonder why all of a sudden the administration is bad-mouthing lawyers even more than usual, check out talk left's post about how a man with a valid visa got arrested and was intimidated into a false confession to nefarious actions (owning an aviation radio) during post-9/11, because he didn't have a lawyer present during his interrogation.
seeing the forest has this to say about bush's approach to the economy (hint: the blog is entitled, "fuming.")
and lisa english over at ruminate this! has a fine essay about our favorite republican-in-democrat-clothing, joe lieberman.
a quick trip around blogtopia (yes! i coined that word!)
david appell, our favorite science journalist over at quark soup, posts this interesting if disturbing blog concerning an essay by peter raven in science magazine entitled "science, sustainability and the human prospect."
we won't go through the whole list that quark soup points out, but mr. raven explains that "we apply 3 million metric tons (6 billion pounds) of 'increasingly toxic pesticides' on our agricultural lands, worldwide...two-thirds of the world's fisheries are being harvested beyond sustainability...over the past half century we have lost a fifth of the world's topsoil, a fifth of its agricultural land, and a third of its forests."
then, if you wonder why all of a sudden the administration is bad-mouthing lawyers even more than usual, check out talk left's post about how a man with a valid visa got arrested and was intimidated into a false confession to nefarious actions (owning an aviation radio) during post-9/11, because he didn't have a lawyer present during his interrogation.
seeing the forest has this to say about bush's approach to the economy (hint: the blog is entitled, "fuming.")
and lisa english over at ruminate this! has a fine essay about our favorite republican-in-democrat-clothing, joe lieberman.
posted by skippy at
5:58 PM |
0
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and we ain't talking ice cream
more reason to stuff money in your mattress: here's an essay from economist.com speculating that we are in for a double dip recession, and they trot out the old chestnut, history, to prove it: "five out of the past six recessions featured more than one dip; the long recessions of 1973-75 and 1981-82 turned out to be triple-dippers. why should the current cycle escape with just one?"
there's an excellent explanation as to why a double dip recession happens in the article; skippy recommends that anybody who has a dollar or more should read it.
meanwhile, cnn is reporting on 13 companies that have failed to meet the new sec rule that the ceo's sign off on their corporate financial statements.
enron, worldcom and adelphia were among the miscreants, no surprise there. but also included in the deliquent 13 were alaska air, consolodate freightways and gemstar-tv guide.
if tv guide gets shut down, how will we know when to watch martha stewart?
more reason to stuff money in your mattress: here's an essay from economist.com speculating that we are in for a double dip recession, and they trot out the old chestnut, history, to prove it: "five out of the past six recessions featured more than one dip; the long recessions of 1973-75 and 1981-82 turned out to be triple-dippers. why should the current cycle escape with just one?"
there's an excellent explanation as to why a double dip recession happens in the article; skippy recommends that anybody who has a dollar or more should read it.
meanwhile, cnn is reporting on 13 companies that have failed to meet the new sec rule that the ceo's sign off on their corporate financial statements.
enron, worldcom and adelphia were among the miscreants, no surprise there. but also included in the deliquent 13 were alaska air, consolodate freightways and gemstar-tv guide.
if tv guide gets shut down, how will we know when to watch martha stewart?
posted by skippy at
5:27 PM |
0
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condit conduct conduit to conducive conditions
the oakland tribune is speculating that gary condit's political career may not be over.
"larry giventer, a professor in the department of politics and administration at california state university, stanislaus, speculated that condit might return to his roots as a former county supervisor. 'condit has a core base of support, particularly in stanislaus county,' giventer said. he noted that the congressman won that county in the march primary despite losing overwhelmingly to new voters in reapportioned areas of san joaquin and merced counties. but, giventer said, 'if he wanted to stay in politics, he could. there are local races'."
the article points out that mr. condit was not ever charged with a formal crime, and is so far guilty only of being a bastard. we wouldn't have to think too hard to find an example where that really wasn't a problem to being elected.
the oakland tribune is speculating that gary condit's political career may not be over.
"larry giventer, a professor in the department of politics and administration at california state university, stanislaus, speculated that condit might return to his roots as a former county supervisor. 'condit has a core base of support, particularly in stanislaus county,' giventer said. he noted that the congressman won that county in the march primary despite losing overwhelmingly to new voters in reapportioned areas of san joaquin and merced counties. but, giventer said, 'if he wanted to stay in politics, he could. there are local races'."
the article points out that mr. condit was not ever charged with a formal crime, and is so far guilty only of being a bastard. we wouldn't have to think too hard to find an example where that really wasn't a problem to being elected.
posted by skippy at
5:18 PM |
0
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but it's not really a sphere, now is it?
newsweek has a great article about the trend of blogging (however, they call the imaginary place where we all publish our thoughts the oft-used blogosphere, thus disappointing our crack staff at skippy who insist on calling it blogtopia).
"indeed, with a new blogger joining the crowd every 40 seconds, weblogs are officially the explosion du jour on the net.," says the article. it goes on, "the genius of this scheme is that you can get going without any mental heavy lifting. 'there’s a low barrier to entry,” says [early blogger meg] hourihan, one of the pyra cofounders. 'you don’t have to come up with a whole essay'."
really? thanks for reminding us.
the end
newsweek has a great article about the trend of blogging (however, they call the imaginary place where we all publish our thoughts the oft-used blogosphere, thus disappointing our crack staff at skippy who insist on calling it blogtopia).
"indeed, with a new blogger joining the crowd every 40 seconds, weblogs are officially the explosion du jour on the net.," says the article. it goes on, "the genius of this scheme is that you can get going without any mental heavy lifting. 'there’s a low barrier to entry,” says [early blogger meg] hourihan, one of the pyra cofounders. 'you don’t have to come up with a whole essay'."
really? thanks for reminding us.
the end
posted by skippy at
5:06 PM |
0
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not a good indication
usa today is reporting that a major economic index experienced its largest monthly decline since last september. "the conference board said the u.s. index of leading economic indicators fell 0.4% last month — the largest decline since a 0.6% fall last september — after a revised 0.2% drop in june," the article says. "the second consecutive decline in the leading indicators index raises fears about the current recovery," according to ken goldstein, the conference board's chief economist.
and although the dow jones went way up today, this economic indicator decline cannot be good news for anybody other than millionaires.
usa today is reporting that a major economic index experienced its largest monthly decline since last september. "the conference board said the u.s. index of leading economic indicators fell 0.4% last month — the largest decline since a 0.6% fall last september — after a revised 0.2% drop in june," the article says. "the second consecutive decline in the leading indicators index raises fears about the current recovery," according to ken goldstein, the conference board's chief economist.
and although the dow jones went way up today, this economic indicator decline cannot be good news for anybody other than millionaires.
posted by skippy at
3:42 PM |
0
comments
we'll leave the light on for ya
according to sharon theimer of the associated press, by way of boston.com, bill clinton doesn't have anything on mr. bush when it comes to letting friends sleep in the white house (get your mind out of the gutter, we really mean sleep)!
"republican fund-raisers, relatives and golfer ben crenshaw are among dozens of white house overnight guests president bush and first lady laura bush have played host to since moving in last year...the bushes' roughly 160 guests include at least six of president bush's biggest fund-raisers and their families...each raised at least $100,000 for bush's 2000 campaign, helping him take in a record $100 million for the primary."
why aren't we hearing about this on the rush limbaugh show?
according to sharon theimer of the associated press, by way of boston.com, bill clinton doesn't have anything on mr. bush when it comes to letting friends sleep in the white house (get your mind out of the gutter, we really mean sleep)!
"republican fund-raisers, relatives and golfer ben crenshaw are among dozens of white house overnight guests president bush and first lady laura bush have played host to since moving in last year...the bushes' roughly 160 guests include at least six of president bush's biggest fund-raisers and their families...each raised at least $100,000 for bush's 2000 campaign, helping him take in a record $100 million for the primary."
why aren't we hearing about this on the rush limbaugh show?
posted by skippy at
3:31 PM |
0
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bizarro world
skippy is back from his vacation, and, at first, we thought we had accidentally gone through a sub-space anomoly and landed in bizarro world.
apparently over the weekend top republicans made the case for not invading iraq. brent snowcroft, who was the national security advisor to poor mr. bush's daddy back in the last millenium, wrote an editorial in the wall street journal, arguing that "allied opposition would require 'a virtual go-it-alone strategy' that risks 'unleashing an armageddon in the middle east' and would 'seriously jeopardize, if not destroy, the global counterterrorist campaign'," reports abc new.com.
and laurence eagleberger, secretary of state for bush's daddy, also questioned the advisability of a first strike on iraq, with statements like this:
"unless [saddam hussein] has his hand on a trigger that is for a weapon of mass destruction and our intelligence is clear, i don't know why we have to do it now when all of our allies are opposed to it. there are any number of other terrorist targets that deserve our attention. we ought to be taking some time to think through whether they are at least as urgent a target as iraq."
even more astounding, general "stormin" norman schwartzkopf, commander of allied forces in desert strom also "joined a growing number of senior us military and political figures yesterday who are opposed to a unilateral invasion of iraq and said president bush 'should not go it alone'," according to the london times.
but then, just when skippy thinks he's fallen into a strange, new world of logic and cool, calm reasoning, we read on cnn.com a story that ends with the redoubtable henry kissinger saying: "I think the president [bush] has made the intellectual case..."
bush intellectual? ah, it's good to be home.
skippy is back from his vacation, and, at first, we thought we had accidentally gone through a sub-space anomoly and landed in bizarro world.
apparently over the weekend top republicans made the case for not invading iraq. brent snowcroft, who was the national security advisor to poor mr. bush's daddy back in the last millenium, wrote an editorial in the wall street journal, arguing that "allied opposition would require 'a virtual go-it-alone strategy' that risks 'unleashing an armageddon in the middle east' and would 'seriously jeopardize, if not destroy, the global counterterrorist campaign'," reports abc new.com.
and laurence eagleberger, secretary of state for bush's daddy, also questioned the advisability of a first strike on iraq, with statements like this:
"unless [saddam hussein] has his hand on a trigger that is for a weapon of mass destruction and our intelligence is clear, i don't know why we have to do it now when all of our allies are opposed to it. there are any number of other terrorist targets that deserve our attention. we ought to be taking some time to think through whether they are at least as urgent a target as iraq."
even more astounding, general "stormin" norman schwartzkopf, commander of allied forces in desert strom also "joined a growing number of senior us military and political figures yesterday who are opposed to a unilateral invasion of iraq and said president bush 'should not go it alone'," according to the london times.
but then, just when skippy thinks he's fallen into a strange, new world of logic and cool, calm reasoning, we read on cnn.com a story that ends with the redoubtable henry kissinger saying: "I think the president [bush] has made the intellectual case..."
bush intellectual? ah, it's good to be home.
posted by skippy at
10:28 AM |
0
comments
Thursday, August 15, 2002
well, it's not like veterans vote or anything
in another move that looks like karl rove is shooting mr. bush squarely in the foot, the american legion is denouncing the white house's decision not to release the $5.1 billion dollars in the appropriations bill (see "bush gets burned" below).
"the top official of the american legion, which represents nearly 3 million wartime veterans, said wednesday that president bush let down all men and women who served in the armed forces when he canceled funds for their medical care...included in the package that bush rejected was $275 million for the department of veterans affairs to reduce backlogs at the nation's va medical centers."
richard santos, national commander of the american legion,"recalled how bush, as a presidential candidate, pledged to the legion's 2000 national convention that he would, if elected, 'work with congress to raise the standard of service not just for veterans, but for our military retirees.'
'now, said santos, 'we feel we've been let down. a verbal promise in front of 6,000 people is something you have to keep.' "
bush breaking a promise? we can't believe our ears!
in another move that looks like karl rove is shooting mr. bush squarely in the foot, the american legion is denouncing the white house's decision not to release the $5.1 billion dollars in the appropriations bill (see "bush gets burned" below).
"the top official of the american legion, which represents nearly 3 million wartime veterans, said wednesday that president bush let down all men and women who served in the armed forces when he canceled funds for their medical care...included in the package that bush rejected was $275 million for the department of veterans affairs to reduce backlogs at the nation's va medical centers."
richard santos, national commander of the american legion,"recalled how bush, as a presidential candidate, pledged to the legion's 2000 national convention that he would, if elected, 'work with congress to raise the standard of service not just for veterans, but for our military retirees.'
'now, said santos, 'we feel we've been let down. a verbal promise in front of 6,000 people is something you have to keep.' "
bush breaking a promise? we can't believe our ears!
posted by skippy at
5:03 PM |
0
comments
of course i don't have a job, that's why i can spend all day blogging
two days after mr. bush's "everything's coming up roses" conference on waco-nomics, reuters is reporting that first-time unemployment claims rose 6,000 this week, more than wall street expected. (the actual street? or the guys who work on it, we suppose...)
"in a sign that people are still struggling to find work, so-called continued claims -- for those who have already drawn at least a week of benefits -- rose to 3.58 million in the week ended aug 3, the latest week for which figures were available, and the highest since matching 3.58 million in the july 6 week."
well, at least mr. bush has a steady job. for another couple of years, at least.
two days after mr. bush's "everything's coming up roses" conference on waco-nomics, reuters is reporting that first-time unemployment claims rose 6,000 this week, more than wall street expected. (the actual street? or the guys who work on it, we suppose...)
"in a sign that people are still struggling to find work, so-called continued claims -- for those who have already drawn at least a week of benefits -- rose to 3.58 million in the week ended aug 3, the latest week for which figures were available, and the highest since matching 3.58 million in the july 6 week."
well, at least mr. bush has a steady job. for another couple of years, at least.
posted by skippy at
2:59 PM |
0
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bush gets burned
[ed. note: we were tempted to title this post "burning bush," but, out of repsect for charlton heston, decided against it]
the international assoication of fire fighters voted unanimously to boycott a national ceremony where mr. bush intends to honor those fallen in the 9/11 tragedy, abc news is reporting. (skip down past the stories about 9/11 victims' families suing the saudi's and the judge who ruled the government can keep detainees' names a secret).
mr. bush is expected to speak at the oct. 6 ceremony in washington, but "the iaff, the umbrella organization for the nation's professional firefighter unions, is enraged by the president's rejection of a $5.1 billion appropriations bill that included $150 million for equipment and training grants requested by some of the nation's 18,000 fire departments."
abc goes on: " 'don't lionize our fallen brothers in one breath, and then stab us in the back by eliminating funding for our members to fight terrorism and stay safe,' [iaff general president harold] schaitberger said. 'president bush, you are either with us or against us. you can't have it both ways'."
we're sure that's the first time mr. bush has ever heard anyone tell him that.
[ed. note: we were tempted to title this post "burning bush," but, out of repsect for charlton heston, decided against it]
the international assoication of fire fighters voted unanimously to boycott a national ceremony where mr. bush intends to honor those fallen in the 9/11 tragedy, abc news is reporting. (skip down past the stories about 9/11 victims' families suing the saudi's and the judge who ruled the government can keep detainees' names a secret).
mr. bush is expected to speak at the oct. 6 ceremony in washington, but "the iaff, the umbrella organization for the nation's professional firefighter unions, is enraged by the president's rejection of a $5.1 billion appropriations bill that included $150 million for equipment and training grants requested by some of the nation's 18,000 fire departments."
abc goes on: " 'don't lionize our fallen brothers in one breath, and then stab us in the back by eliminating funding for our members to fight terrorism and stay safe,' [iaff general president harold] schaitberger said. 'president bush, you are either with us or against us. you can't have it both ways'."
we're sure that's the first time mr. bush has ever heard anyone tell him that.
posted by skippy at
2:54 PM |
0
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gone fishin'
skippy is driving mrs. skippy up to the bay area for a romantic weekend later tonight, and he has given his crack staff a few days off. so we won't be blogging here until monday august 19. until then, we highly recommend all of the links on the right side of this page to keep up with the changing world events, but especially:
buzzflash for the headlines,
smirking chimp for the stories,
media whores online for the action alerts, and
bartcop for the attitude.
blog-wise, be sure to check out altercation, and talking points memo, and abc's the note. (ok, and the daily kos and the rittenhouse review, too. special thanks to the rittenhouse gang for buying our banner ad! thanks, guys! and also thanks to kim at free pie for the kind words!)
and don't forget to use the phone company to send free faxes to various dopes in washington via your browser's email system.
and last but not least, always remember...my cat hates you.
skippy is driving mrs. skippy up to the bay area for a romantic weekend later tonight, and he has given his crack staff a few days off. so we won't be blogging here until monday august 19. until then, we highly recommend all of the links on the right side of this page to keep up with the changing world events, but especially:
buzzflash for the headlines,
smirking chimp for the stories,
media whores online for the action alerts, and
bartcop for the attitude.
blog-wise, be sure to check out altercation, and talking points memo, and abc's the note. (ok, and the daily kos and the rittenhouse review, too. special thanks to the rittenhouse gang for buying our banner ad! thanks, guys! and also thanks to kim at free pie for the kind words!)
and don't forget to use the phone company to send free faxes to various dopes in washington via your browser's email system.
and last but not least, always remember...my cat hates you.
posted by skippy at
2:35 PM |
0
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in re: bush v. the constitution
in what looks to be a showdown between mr. bush's administration and the federal courts, a reagan appointed judge is engaged in a struggle with the justice department over the constitutional rights of american-born "enemy combantant" yaser esam hamdi.
cnn reports: " 'so, the constitution doesn't apply to mr. hamdi?' u.s. district judge robert g. doumar snapped during a testy standoff with justice department lawyers tuesday." cnn also points out "a federal public defender has signed up to represent hamdi, but so far cannot meet or talk with his client," which was something we thought the constitution guaranteed, but maybe we were sleeping during that day in civics class.
the st. petersberg times says "in past rulings, the judge ordered the government to allow hamdi to meet with his attorney...but that ruling was set aside by the 4th u.s. circuit court of appeals, which instructed doumar...to determine whether hamdi had been properly designated an enemy combatant. this is where the government has refused to cooperate."
the justice department has declined to give justice doumar documents related to hamdi's arrest and detention, as was reported in this space last week. the st. petersberg times goes on: "the administration should not be allowed to dismantle fundamental constitutional protections as part of its war on terrorism." with this, we heartily agree.
and cbs news opines "instead of drawing the judicial branch into the terror war as a junior partner, the executive branch is shutting it out of the action almost completely. it's a self-defeating strategy that ultimately will backfire on the white house and justice department."
we at skippy are afraid other u.s. citizens will become collateral damage in that back fire.
to rub salt in the bullet wound even more, if we may extend the metaphor beyond tolerable limits, newsday reports that another "enemy combatant" being held without charges, probably isn't all that big a deal in the war on terror in the first place.
"the fbi's investigation has produced no evidence that jose padilla had begun preparations for an attack and little reason to believe he had any support from al-qaida to direct such a plot," the report says. "two law enforcement officials close to the case say there is no evidence a plot was under way. one had been 'thought out as a possibility,' an official said."
and, to make matters in the detainee department worse, cbs says that "doctors at the u.s. naval base at guantanamo bay, cuba, reportedly say that in the seven months that the u.s. has been keeping al qaeda and taliban prisoners there, about thirty have tried to kill themselves."
that's not fun!
in what looks to be a showdown between mr. bush's administration and the federal courts, a reagan appointed judge is engaged in a struggle with the justice department over the constitutional rights of american-born "enemy combantant" yaser esam hamdi.
cnn reports: " 'so, the constitution doesn't apply to mr. hamdi?' u.s. district judge robert g. doumar snapped during a testy standoff with justice department lawyers tuesday." cnn also points out "a federal public defender has signed up to represent hamdi, but so far cannot meet or talk with his client," which was something we thought the constitution guaranteed, but maybe we were sleeping during that day in civics class.
the st. petersberg times says "in past rulings, the judge ordered the government to allow hamdi to meet with his attorney...but that ruling was set aside by the 4th u.s. circuit court of appeals, which instructed doumar...to determine whether hamdi had been properly designated an enemy combatant. this is where the government has refused to cooperate."
the justice department has declined to give justice doumar documents related to hamdi's arrest and detention, as was reported in this space last week. the st. petersberg times goes on: "the administration should not be allowed to dismantle fundamental constitutional protections as part of its war on terrorism." with this, we heartily agree.
and cbs news opines "instead of drawing the judicial branch into the terror war as a junior partner, the executive branch is shutting it out of the action almost completely. it's a self-defeating strategy that ultimately will backfire on the white house and justice department."
we at skippy are afraid other u.s. citizens will become collateral damage in that back fire.
to rub salt in the bullet wound even more, if we may extend the metaphor beyond tolerable limits, newsday reports that another "enemy combatant" being held without charges, probably isn't all that big a deal in the war on terror in the first place.
"the fbi's investigation has produced no evidence that jose padilla had begun preparations for an attack and little reason to believe he had any support from al-qaida to direct such a plot," the report says. "two law enforcement officials close to the case say there is no evidence a plot was under way. one had been 'thought out as a possibility,' an official said."
and, to make matters in the detainee department worse, cbs says that "doctors at the u.s. naval base at guantanamo bay, cuba, reportedly say that in the seven months that the u.s. has been keeping al qaeda and taliban prisoners there, about thirty have tried to kill themselves."
that's not fun!
posted by skippy at
10:45 AM |
0
comments
it's nice to be validated
readers of this space have heard me opine more than once about how everytime mr. bush opens his mouth to talk about the economy, the dow drops like a jet liner over lockerbee. well, apparently gary trudeau thinks the same thing.
readers of this space have heard me opine more than once about how everytime mr. bush opens his mouth to talk about the economy, the dow drops like a jet liner over lockerbee. well, apparently gary trudeau thinks the same thing.
posted by skippy at
12:31 AM |
0
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dumb and dumber
oops, we mean, california gubernatorial candidates simon and davis. but you have to guess which one is which:
phillip matier and andrew ross of the the san francisco chronicle are reporting new poll "shows embattled republican gubernatorial challenger bill simon trailing by a whopping 17 points." (you'll have to read half-way down the column, past the bit about the viet namese and the watermelons...on second thought, go ahead and read that one).
the chronicle goes on: " 'i guess you could say simon is dropping like a rock,' said pollster jim moore." even though the davis and simon were at a dead heat in july, as soon as the bad press about simon's investment firm troubles begin to appear, "tracking showed simon starting to slip. more stories -- more drop -- to where moore's polling shows it now stands davis 47 percent and simon 30 percent."
but on to the other side. the sacramento bee says that governor gray "pay for play" davis is accused of mis -- or at least over -- using taxpayer money as rewards for catching criminals, in an effort to gain publicity as a "tough on crime" kind of guy.
"state-funded rewards are issued by proclamation of the governor primarily to assist stalled murder investigations," the article explains, "but are sometimes offered to bring arsonists, kidnappers and other criminals to justice." davis has offered the rewards far more than his immediate predecessor pete wilson, and twice as many times as former governor george deukmajian, both republicans. the bee goes on:
" 'gray has found a way to find easy cheap publicity for himself,' said rob stutzman, a spokesman for the california republican party. 'it would be wrong to conclude that he has a greater commitment to public safety. i don't think you can be any more committed to public safety than pete wilson or george deukmejian.'
let's see if the republicans can get any sort of traction on stories like this one. heaven knows simon needs all the help he can get! (thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to rough & tumble for the links to these stories!)
oops, we mean, california gubernatorial candidates simon and davis. but you have to guess which one is which:
phillip matier and andrew ross of the the san francisco chronicle are reporting new poll "shows embattled republican gubernatorial challenger bill simon trailing by a whopping 17 points." (you'll have to read half-way down the column, past the bit about the viet namese and the watermelons...on second thought, go ahead and read that one).
the chronicle goes on: " 'i guess you could say simon is dropping like a rock,' said pollster jim moore." even though the davis and simon were at a dead heat in july, as soon as the bad press about simon's investment firm troubles begin to appear, "tracking showed simon starting to slip. more stories -- more drop -- to where moore's polling shows it now stands davis 47 percent and simon 30 percent."
but on to the other side. the sacramento bee says that governor gray "pay for play" davis is accused of mis -- or at least over -- using taxpayer money as rewards for catching criminals, in an effort to gain publicity as a "tough on crime" kind of guy.
"state-funded rewards are issued by proclamation of the governor primarily to assist stalled murder investigations," the article explains, "but are sometimes offered to bring arsonists, kidnappers and other criminals to justice." davis has offered the rewards far more than his immediate predecessor pete wilson, and twice as many times as former governor george deukmajian, both republicans. the bee goes on:
" 'gray has found a way to find easy cheap publicity for himself,' said rob stutzman, a spokesman for the california republican party. 'it would be wrong to conclude that he has a greater commitment to public safety. i don't think you can be any more committed to public safety than pete wilson or george deukmejian.'
let's see if the republicans can get any sort of traction on stories like this one. heaven knows simon needs all the help he can get! (thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to rough & tumble for the links to these stories!)
posted by skippy at
12:16 AM |
0
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Wednesday, August 14, 2002
new friends
we'd like to take a moment to introduce two new links that we are proud to offer, the erudite talk left (a blog that delves deep into the political ramifications of today's legal issues), and the audacious testify (who does a fine job raising salient points about some unanswered 9/11 questions).
we especially like talk left's use of the editorial 'we.' or is that the royal 'we'? we're not telling.
we'd like to take a moment to introduce two new links that we are proud to offer, the erudite talk left (a blog that delves deep into the political ramifications of today's legal issues), and the audacious testify (who does a fine job raising salient points about some unanswered 9/11 questions).
we especially like talk left's use of the editorial 'we.' or is that the royal 'we'? we're not telling.
posted by skippy at
9:11 PM |
0
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the king is dead
this week marks the 25th anniversary of the day elvis presley died. and his daughter, lisa marie, celebrates by marrying nicholas cage. i can only hope my daughter will do the same for me.
meanwhile, mr. bush celebrates elvis' death by blocking $5.1 billion congress approved for homeland security, "including millions of dollars for the nation's firefighters."
he ain't nothin' but a hound dog.
this week marks the 25th anniversary of the day elvis presley died. and his daughter, lisa marie, celebrates by marrying nicholas cage. i can only hope my daughter will do the same for me.
meanwhile, mr. bush celebrates elvis' death by blocking $5.1 billion congress approved for homeland security, "including millions of dollars for the nation's firefighters."
he ain't nothin' but a hound dog.
posted by skippy at
7:30 PM |
0
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well, at least someone has a job
the rittenhouse review reports that ann "thrax" coulter is getting her old job back at the national review online. apparently the "girly boys" (coulter's phrase) had second thoughts, and rittenhouse conjectures it might have something to do with her being a best selling author. but hey, if that was the case, they'd be hiring a lot of folks.
and, while you're over at rittenhouse, be sure to check out their brother blog, trr, which is a review of things not so portentous, such as movies, books, meat web sites, t-shirt slogans, butterfly feet, and generally the lighter side of life in general.
(ps, the rittenhouse coulter post provides a great pic of annie get your gun!)
the rittenhouse review reports that ann "thrax" coulter is getting her old job back at the national review online. apparently the "girly boys" (coulter's phrase) had second thoughts, and rittenhouse conjectures it might have something to do with her being a best selling author. but hey, if that was the case, they'd be hiring a lot of folks.
and, while you're over at rittenhouse, be sure to check out their brother blog, trr, which is a review of things not so portentous, such as movies, books, meat web sites, t-shirt slogans, butterfly feet, and generally the lighter side of life in general.
(ps, the rittenhouse coulter post provides a great pic of annie get your gun!)
posted by skippy at
5:40 PM |
0
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brother bush's traveling medicine show
while many electronic media were enamored of mr. bush's waco-nomic conference yesterday, several print outlets were not quite as taken. thanks to the smirking chimp for bringing these links to our attention:
robert kuttner at the the boston globe said, "the waco event needs to be understood mainly as theater. the same cynical producers who recruited african-american tokens to integrate the 2000 republican national convention unearthed a handful of 'ordinary' americans to come to waco mainly for their value as props. but, for the most part, bush's summiteers are the usual suspects who have brought the economy to its current pass. serious critics of corporate corruption were not welcome."
joe conason, at the new york observer, said that the forum performed "functions of harmless deception and cheap reassurance. it was meant to demonstrate that this frequently vacationing president is actually a diligent executive; that he’s worried about those who have trouble 'making ends meet'; that he listens to (and is listened to by) the powerful and the important as well as humble wage earners and shopkeepers."
william saletan at slate stated "commerce secretary don evans and treasury secretary paul o'neill...opened with standard bush administration talking points: some people are suffering, but the economy is sound; bush's tax cuts helped cure the recession; and what we need now is more tax cuts and less regulation. then they threw it open to the participants, who suggested that bush should rethink … nothing."
elisabeth bumiller and edmund l. andrews of the new york times reported that "some republicans criticized it as well. william beach, chief economist at the heritage foundation...said the main purpose of the gathering was to shore up shaky public confidence. 'these are frightened people,' mr. beach said, 'and I think that is the main reason for having this fairly meaningless conference.'
but our favorite was david lazarus at the san francisco chronicle, who reported "the associated press described bush at another session as gazing off into space as a speaker read from prepared remarks." mr. lazarus then ends his article with " 'i really do think [mr. bush is] concerned about what's going on,' said tom ramsey, who runs total placement, a waco employment agency. 'i think he's had to work hard to get where he is today.' ramsey thought a moment and added, 'i guess it probably helps when your dad was the president'. "
while many electronic media were enamored of mr. bush's waco-nomic conference yesterday, several print outlets were not quite as taken. thanks to the smirking chimp for bringing these links to our attention:
robert kuttner at the the boston globe said, "the waco event needs to be understood mainly as theater. the same cynical producers who recruited african-american tokens to integrate the 2000 republican national convention unearthed a handful of 'ordinary' americans to come to waco mainly for their value as props. but, for the most part, bush's summiteers are the usual suspects who have brought the economy to its current pass. serious critics of corporate corruption were not welcome."
joe conason, at the new york observer, said that the forum performed "functions of harmless deception and cheap reassurance. it was meant to demonstrate that this frequently vacationing president is actually a diligent executive; that he’s worried about those who have trouble 'making ends meet'; that he listens to (and is listened to by) the powerful and the important as well as humble wage earners and shopkeepers."
william saletan at slate stated "commerce secretary don evans and treasury secretary paul o'neill...opened with standard bush administration talking points: some people are suffering, but the economy is sound; bush's tax cuts helped cure the recession; and what we need now is more tax cuts and less regulation. then they threw it open to the participants, who suggested that bush should rethink … nothing."
elisabeth bumiller and edmund l. andrews of the new york times reported that "some republicans criticized it as well. william beach, chief economist at the heritage foundation...said the main purpose of the gathering was to shore up shaky public confidence. 'these are frightened people,' mr. beach said, 'and I think that is the main reason for having this fairly meaningless conference.'
but our favorite was david lazarus at the san francisco chronicle, who reported "the associated press described bush at another session as gazing off into space as a speaker read from prepared remarks." mr. lazarus then ends his article with " 'i really do think [mr. bush is] concerned about what's going on,' said tom ramsey, who runs total placement, a waco employment agency. 'i think he's had to work hard to get where he is today.' ramsey thought a moment and added, 'i guess it probably helps when your dad was the president'. "
posted by skippy at
4:24 PM |
0
comments
slip slidin' away
poor mr. bush's job approval numbers are not doing so well. according to this page from the polling report, every major poll has his numbers dropping into the 60's, except cnn/harris which has him at a flat 70%.
maybe he should have held a polling conference in waco!
poor mr. bush's job approval numbers are not doing so well. according to this page from the polling report, every major poll has his numbers dropping into the 60's, except cnn/harris which has him at a flat 70%.
maybe he should have held a polling conference in waco!
posted by skippy at
1:04 PM |
0
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ferc: gee, maybe there's something to this enron deal after all
the california papers are full of energy today!
the federal energy regulatory committee has begun an investigation of price fixing, market manipulation and other nasty shenanigans by enron and company in the california energy crisis last year "after a preliminary review found that the bankrupt power-trader had used 'deceit' and 'false information' in an attempt to profit from california's troubled electricity market," according to the mercury news.
enron engaged in specific strategies "which traders gave colorful nicknames like 'death star' and 'get shorty,' [and] were part of a corporate culture that 'fostered a callous disregard for the american energy consumer,' concluded a report by staff of [ferc]" says the san francisco chronicle.
the commission's proposed actions, "outlined in a long-awaited status report to congress, represent some of the strongest steps ferc has taken in months to address california's complaints about runaway power prices in 2000 and 2001," says the sacramento bee.
however, the bee also said that gov. gray davis "didn't like what the ferc staff wrought, since it didn't provide him with the political vindication he has wanted, and he...used such words as 'spineless' and 'impotent' to describe the regulatory agency, and declared that 'they're only interested in padding the pockets of the energy companies.'
and the fresno bee says that "while the report means that the commission is likely to take strong action against enron and maybe other players who also engaged in manipulation, its 107 pages of detail don't add much that congress hasn't already explored."
"in fact, the report does assign some blame to the state, noting that shortages of electricity and underlying problems with the structure of the marketplace created an environment in which prices could be driven up," reports the new york times.
"terrie prosper, a spokeswoman for the california public utilities commission, saw more of value in the ferc report. it echoed the puc's arguments for refunds," says the contra costa times.
and the orange county register states "sen. joseph dunn, d-santa ana, who has been probing market manipulation in the energy market, said ferc's realization should have been obvious two years ago. 'that's like saying you've just discovered the world is not flat,' dunn said. he also estimated that the added refunds could 'end up in the billions'."
we can only hope.
the california papers are full of energy today!
the federal energy regulatory committee has begun an investigation of price fixing, market manipulation and other nasty shenanigans by enron and company in the california energy crisis last year "after a preliminary review found that the bankrupt power-trader had used 'deceit' and 'false information' in an attempt to profit from california's troubled electricity market," according to the mercury news.
enron engaged in specific strategies "which traders gave colorful nicknames like 'death star' and 'get shorty,' [and] were part of a corporate culture that 'fostered a callous disregard for the american energy consumer,' concluded a report by staff of [ferc]" says the san francisco chronicle.
the commission's proposed actions, "outlined in a long-awaited status report to congress, represent some of the strongest steps ferc has taken in months to address california's complaints about runaway power prices in 2000 and 2001," says the sacramento bee.
however, the bee also said that gov. gray davis "didn't like what the ferc staff wrought, since it didn't provide him with the political vindication he has wanted, and he...used such words as 'spineless' and 'impotent' to describe the regulatory agency, and declared that 'they're only interested in padding the pockets of the energy companies.'
and the fresno bee says that "while the report means that the commission is likely to take strong action against enron and maybe other players who also engaged in manipulation, its 107 pages of detail don't add much that congress hasn't already explored."
"in fact, the report does assign some blame to the state, noting that shortages of electricity and underlying problems with the structure of the marketplace created an environment in which prices could be driven up," reports the new york times.
"terrie prosper, a spokeswoman for the california public utilities commission, saw more of value in the ferc report. it echoed the puc's arguments for refunds," says the contra costa times.
and the orange county register states "sen. joseph dunn, d-santa ana, who has been probing market manipulation in the energy market, said ferc's realization should have been obvious two years ago. 'that's like saying you've just discovered the world is not flat,' dunn said. he also estimated that the added refunds could 'end up in the billions'."
we can only hope.
posted by skippy at
12:31 PM |
0
comments
introductions are called for
skippy would like to take a moment to introduce everyone to his long time friend, the purveyor of truth over at resident bush. he has known his friend for over 20 years, and was so happy when his friend's blog was mentioned along with his on this media whores on line page.
please visit resident bush and give them your attention. it's a quality blog.
and while we're at it, we'd like to thank sassafrass for the plug and the link today! check them out also, they've got quite a comprehensive list of links and a whole mess a'bloggin' goin' on (lots of world politics, lots of science, lots of languages, quite a range of subjects. skippy is impressed!)
also, we'd like to thank madeleine kane (aka mad kane) for this link to a new page called political predictions, which is putting on record the remarks of pundits about what will or won't happen in the upcoming national arenas. clever.
and here's a nice little list compiled by peachi keane of various green/lefty blogs.
skippy would like to take a moment to introduce everyone to his long time friend, the purveyor of truth over at resident bush. he has known his friend for over 20 years, and was so happy when his friend's blog was mentioned along with his on this media whores on line page.
please visit resident bush and give them your attention. it's a quality blog.
and while we're at it, we'd like to thank sassafrass for the plug and the link today! check them out also, they've got quite a comprehensive list of links and a whole mess a'bloggin' goin' on (lots of world politics, lots of science, lots of languages, quite a range of subjects. skippy is impressed!)
also, we'd like to thank madeleine kane (aka mad kane) for this link to a new page called political predictions, which is putting on record the remarks of pundits about what will or won't happen in the upcoming national arenas. clever.
and here's a nice little list compiled by peachi keane of various green/lefty blogs.
posted by skippy at
11:02 AM |
0
comments
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
blogging around
our friends over at seeing the forest discuss the bush version of a popular republican meme. that is to say, if the government spends tax money, it's not as good for the economy as if someone else spends it. "does he think that the money the government spends disappears into outer space?" seeing the trees asks. knowing mr. bush like we do, he probably does.
and the fabulous rittenhouse review analyzes the gore/springsteen free ticket "story" with the same jaundiced eye towards that little fiasco that we at skippy immediately had.
and we'd like to introduce you to a new blog on our list, the fascinating lisa english over at ruminate this!, who immediately gets into our 'a' list by linking one of our our screeds (along with that of our economist friend jane galt) on her post here.
our friends over at seeing the forest discuss the bush version of a popular republican meme. that is to say, if the government spends tax money, it's not as good for the economy as if someone else spends it. "does he think that the money the government spends disappears into outer space?" seeing the trees asks. knowing mr. bush like we do, he probably does.
and the fabulous rittenhouse review analyzes the gore/springsteen free ticket "story" with the same jaundiced eye towards that little fiasco that we at skippy immediately had.
and we'd like to introduce you to a new blog on our list, the fascinating lisa english over at ruminate this!, who immediately gets into our 'a' list by linking one of our our screeds (along with that of our economist friend jane galt) on her post here.
posted by skippy at
8:58 PM |
0
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that's tax biz!
many bloggers, including our bud ann salisbury over at two tears in a bucket, are discussing gov. gray "how much is it worth to you" davis' proposed tax credit for the film & tv industry. here's a sacramento bee story outlining the particulars of the state budget log jam, and it's not a very favorable view of the proposed kindness to show biz:
oddly, while the debate over new taxes and spending cuts continues, possibly for weeks or months, [assembly speaker herb] wesson and the davis administration are pushing a measure that would give the politically influential, democrat-friendly motion picture industry a $100 million tax break in the form of credits for production wages. all special tax loopholes are questionable, but giving one favored industry an injection of cash from the state treasury is especially so during a period when billions of dollars in new taxes and loans are being proposed to cover the biggest budget deficit in state history...but as a senate tax staff report says: "the proposed credit, much of which would go to producers who have no intention of leaving california, seems a blunt instrument to use in this battle."
now, skippy is not a democrat, but he is in the movie and tv business, albeit just barely. at our level, anything to help productions stay in-state would be welcome. but we can surely understand the wishes of those who want to balance the budget. and those bloggers who are against tax-payer based subsidies (matt welch comes to mind) argue their case convincingly.
hey, if someone gives skippy his own tv show, he'll shut up about the whole thing!
many bloggers, including our bud ann salisbury over at two tears in a bucket, are discussing gov. gray "how much is it worth to you" davis' proposed tax credit for the film & tv industry. here's a sacramento bee story outlining the particulars of the state budget log jam, and it's not a very favorable view of the proposed kindness to show biz:
oddly, while the debate over new taxes and spending cuts continues, possibly for weeks or months, [assembly speaker herb] wesson and the davis administration are pushing a measure that would give the politically influential, democrat-friendly motion picture industry a $100 million tax break in the form of credits for production wages. all special tax loopholes are questionable, but giving one favored industry an injection of cash from the state treasury is especially so during a period when billions of dollars in new taxes and loans are being proposed to cover the biggest budget deficit in state history...but as a senate tax staff report says: "the proposed credit, much of which would go to producers who have no intention of leaving california, seems a blunt instrument to use in this battle."
now, skippy is not a democrat, but he is in the movie and tv business, albeit just barely. at our level, anything to help productions stay in-state would be welcome. but we can surely understand the wishes of those who want to balance the budget. and those bloggers who are against tax-payer based subsidies (matt welch comes to mind) argue their case convincingly.
hey, if someone gives skippy his own tv show, he'll shut up about the whole thing!
posted by skippy at
4:19 PM |
0
comments
the top ten list you don't want to be on
actually, it's a top 25 list [ed. note: but that's not funny] from fortune magazine of the greediest ceo's in america. now joshua micah marshall of talking points (the original, not the weasly washington post copy cat!) used fortune's list to analyze the guest list of mr. bush's wacky waco wingding.
mr. marshall finds that out of the top 25, 10 were "bush campaign contributors. four out of the top five actually. two of the 25 gave money to al gore. But those two also gave money to bush. So it would seem that even if these flighty ceos were beguiled by clinton's seductive amorality the affliction didn't stop them from supporting george w. bush."
mr. marshall goes on: "two of the bush donors on the cash-out-derby list are also participating in tuesday's economic forum in waco, texas. in fact, number 11 on the list, charles schwab, is the keynote speaker at the panel on small investors & retirement security."
so, apparently, you had to be a big mucky-muck contributor, or at least a ceo to go to waco! that's why skippy wasn't invited!
actually, it's a top 25 list [ed. note: but that's not funny] from fortune magazine of the greediest ceo's in america. now joshua micah marshall of talking points (the original, not the weasly washington post copy cat!) used fortune's list to analyze the guest list of mr. bush's wacky waco wingding.
mr. marshall finds that out of the top 25, 10 were "bush campaign contributors. four out of the top five actually. two of the 25 gave money to al gore. But those two also gave money to bush. So it would seem that even if these flighty ceos were beguiled by clinton's seductive amorality the affliction didn't stop them from supporting george w. bush."
mr. marshall goes on: "two of the bush donors on the cash-out-derby list are also participating in tuesday's economic forum in waco, texas. in fact, number 11 on the list, charles schwab, is the keynote speaker at the panel on small investors & retirement security."
so, apparently, you had to be a big mucky-muck contributor, or at least a ceo to go to waco! that's why skippy wasn't invited!
posted by skippy at
3:51 PM |
0
comments
molly knows memes
our favorite cantankerous texas lady, molly ivins, takes on the popular meme that, when confronting the anti-middle-and-lower class policies of , folks are often accused of class warfare. molly rolls up her sleeves and gets down to it:
i'll tell you what class warfare is:
— when the gingrich republicans mandate that the IRS spend more of its resources auditing working-class people who get the earned income tax credit than it does auditing millionaires who use countless tax evasion schemes, that's class warfare.
— In 1999, the average after-tax income of the middle 60 percent of americans was lower than in 1977. The 400 richest americans between 1982 and 1999 increased their average net worth from $230 million to $2.6 billion, over 500 percent in constant dollars. that's class warfare.
— By 1999, over one decade the average work year had expanded by 184 hours...the typical american worked 350 hours more per year than the typical european. that's class warfare.
— less than half of all americans have any pension plan other than social security. wage-earners in the united states collectively ended the decade with less pension and health coverage, as well as with the industrial west's least amount of vacation time, shortest maternity leaves and shortest average notice of termination...that's class warfare.
— From 1980 to 1999, the 500 largest u.s. corporations tripled their assets and their profits, and enlarged their market value eightfold, as measured by stock prices. during the same period, the 500 corporations eliminated 5 million American jobs. that's class warfare.
molly makes the point that we at skippy have been thinking for some time, to wit, that naming an injustice is not the same as perpetrating that injustice.
our favorite cantankerous texas lady, molly ivins, takes on the popular meme that, when confronting the anti-middle-and-lower class policies of , folks are often accused of class warfare. molly rolls up her sleeves and gets down to it:
i'll tell you what class warfare is:
— when the gingrich republicans mandate that the IRS spend more of its resources auditing working-class people who get the earned income tax credit than it does auditing millionaires who use countless tax evasion schemes, that's class warfare.
— In 1999, the average after-tax income of the middle 60 percent of americans was lower than in 1977. The 400 richest americans between 1982 and 1999 increased their average net worth from $230 million to $2.6 billion, over 500 percent in constant dollars. that's class warfare.
— By 1999, over one decade the average work year had expanded by 184 hours...the typical american worked 350 hours more per year than the typical european. that's class warfare.
— less than half of all americans have any pension plan other than social security. wage-earners in the united states collectively ended the decade with less pension and health coverage, as well as with the industrial west's least amount of vacation time, shortest maternity leaves and shortest average notice of termination...that's class warfare.
— From 1980 to 1999, the 500 largest u.s. corporations tripled their assets and their profits, and enlarged their market value eightfold, as measured by stock prices. during the same period, the 500 corporations eliminated 5 million American jobs. that's class warfare.
molly makes the point that we at skippy have been thinking for some time, to wit, that naming an injustice is not the same as perpetrating that injustice.
posted by skippy at
3:23 PM |
0
comments
somebody stop him before he speechifies again
true to form, mr. bush gave a rousing talk today at his waco economic shindig, and the dow dropped another 200 points. we have pointed out in this space before that every time poor mr. bush talks about the economy, it gets worse. we would think that one of his handlers would have made the connection by now, and whispered in his ear to just shut up, but apparently nobody in the administration has heard of cause and effect.
however, many people are not impressed by mr. bush's big to-do 30 miles away from the "lazy w" ranch. the minneapolis star tribune says that the "economic forum seems a trite and timid response to the nation's economic challenges, especially when there are better tools at hand." a newsday.com editorial states that if mr. bush " had rented the rose bowl and filled it with nubile cheerleaders, he couldn't have made a less subtle pitch for the notion that he is master of the nation's economy." and the new york times, admittedly not mr. bush's biggest fan, quotes forum attendee thomas donahue (president of the us chamber of commerce) as saying "if half the people [attending the forum] were democrats, it would end up being a political debate three months before the election instead of a useful discussion." (thanks to buzzflash for the links to those articles!)
there's a novel idea! if we don't listen to opposing opinions, we save lots of time! who would have thought of that?
true to form, mr. bush gave a rousing talk today at his waco economic shindig, and the dow dropped another 200 points. we have pointed out in this space before that every time poor mr. bush talks about the economy, it gets worse. we would think that one of his handlers would have made the connection by now, and whispered in his ear to just shut up, but apparently nobody in the administration has heard of cause and effect.
however, many people are not impressed by mr. bush's big to-do 30 miles away from the "lazy w" ranch. the minneapolis star tribune says that the "economic forum seems a trite and timid response to the nation's economic challenges, especially when there are better tools at hand." a newsday.com editorial states that if mr. bush " had rented the rose bowl and filled it with nubile cheerleaders, he couldn't have made a less subtle pitch for the notion that he is master of the nation's economy." and the new york times, admittedly not mr. bush's biggest fan, quotes forum attendee thomas donahue (president of the us chamber of commerce) as saying "if half the people [attending the forum] were democrats, it would end up being a political debate three months before the election instead of a useful discussion." (thanks to buzzflash for the links to those articles!)
there's a novel idea! if we don't listen to opposing opinions, we save lots of time! who would have thought of that?
posted by skippy at
2:53 PM |
0
comments
that makes one of us
mr. bush is "incredibly optimistic" about the country, according to cnn. at his economic forum in waco, texas, he "repeated his belief that the economy is on the road to recovery." and any wiccan will tell you, if you say something enough times, it will come true.
mr. bush is "incredibly optimistic" about the country, according to cnn. at his economic forum in waco, texas, he "repeated his belief that the economy is on the road to recovery." and any wiccan will tell you, if you say something enough times, it will come true.
posted by skippy at
10:10 AM |
0
comments
bloggers anonymous - a skippy musing
there is an idea being past around blogtopia (yes! i coined that word!) that those bloggers who post anonymously are less likely to be taken seriously. here is jane galt's take on it, providing links to various other blogs with various other opinions.
what follows is what was supposed to be my reply in jane's comment section, but her software wouldn't let me ramble on over 2500 characters. (what? what's that you say? what's the soul of wit? ah, never mind) any way, here it is:
i find this to be a non-issue, except that i will now take time to address it here. i fail to see how the addition of a "real" name to a post adds credibility to it. it's one thing to call people up late at night and breathe in their ears and hang up, that's annoying. i can see where it's cowardly, and people who stalk others anonymously are probably dangerous as well as being tiny. but that's in the real world, not cyberspace.
posting opinions and views, and then adding whatever nom du jour one wants to, neither takes away from nor adds credibility to the posted argument. for cryin in the sink, what if, from the beginning, i signed all of my stuff "bob johnson" or "telly savalas" or "seymour butts"? would suddenly all of my words gained gravitas?
this is cyberspace, not the physcial world where identity equals a face, a human, accountability. what's to be accountable for in this cyber world? a wisecrack? a badly formed argument? misspellings? what's the punishment? are the blog police going to get me?
so, perhaps many of you dismiss my ramblings because i sign a purposefully-unreal name. i think i can live with that. there are other reasons to dismiss me, also. i can live with that, too.
however, i maintain that it's a false argument, to avoid dealing with the points one makes. i might as well say, anyone who has a blog decked out like the console of a ship from the old star trek shows doesn't have any credibility in my book. by saying as much, i manage to ignore his actual points.
besides, as was pointed out in a post above this, [ed. note: see the comments section on jane's blog] anybody who really wants to find out some blogger's identity can.
i have a modicum of success in my chosen, non-blogging field, and would hope to have more. i am not afraid of losing work over my opinions. but i am afraid of getting harrassed by nut jobs on both sides of the fringes. i have written essays under my real name in various cyber zines/blogs, and indeed, have had my professional web site hacked and damaged, i assume, by the aforesaid nut jobs.
but that's not the reason i am anonymous. (besides, anyone who reads my web site carefully can guess my identity, i already have had one fan figure it out).
we at skippy the bush kangaroo like to be skippy. we like the freedom another identity gives us to create our prose. we like the parody of the gentle jibing a second identity naturally infuses us with. we think it makes us sound rather like the new yorker. we like the use of the plural. are we using the editorial 'we' or the royal 'we'? we will leave it up to our loyal subjects to decide.
we have also gotten flack for our refusal to capitalize anything. we don't care. we are having fun.
jane has also graciously linked to our site on occasion, and we gratefully thank her for it. so apparently our psuedonym does not bother her, and that's good enough for us in our book.
if mr. de best thinks less of us, so be it. we still like to read him. and we think the whole thing is a tempest in a teapot.
there is an idea being past around blogtopia (yes! i coined that word!) that those bloggers who post anonymously are less likely to be taken seriously. here is jane galt's take on it, providing links to various other blogs with various other opinions.
what follows is what was supposed to be my reply in jane's comment section, but her software wouldn't let me ramble on over 2500 characters. (what? what's that you say? what's the soul of wit? ah, never mind) any way, here it is:
i find this to be a non-issue, except that i will now take time to address it here. i fail to see how the addition of a "real" name to a post adds credibility to it. it's one thing to call people up late at night and breathe in their ears and hang up, that's annoying. i can see where it's cowardly, and people who stalk others anonymously are probably dangerous as well as being tiny. but that's in the real world, not cyberspace.
posting opinions and views, and then adding whatever nom du jour one wants to, neither takes away from nor adds credibility to the posted argument. for cryin in the sink, what if, from the beginning, i signed all of my stuff "bob johnson" or "telly savalas" or "seymour butts"? would suddenly all of my words gained gravitas?
this is cyberspace, not the physcial world where identity equals a face, a human, accountability. what's to be accountable for in this cyber world? a wisecrack? a badly formed argument? misspellings? what's the punishment? are the blog police going to get me?
so, perhaps many of you dismiss my ramblings because i sign a purposefully-unreal name. i think i can live with that. there are other reasons to dismiss me, also. i can live with that, too.
however, i maintain that it's a false argument, to avoid dealing with the points one makes. i might as well say, anyone who has a blog decked out like the console of a ship from the old star trek shows doesn't have any credibility in my book. by saying as much, i manage to ignore his actual points.
besides, as was pointed out in a post above this, [ed. note: see the comments section on jane's blog] anybody who really wants to find out some blogger's identity can.
i have a modicum of success in my chosen, non-blogging field, and would hope to have more. i am not afraid of losing work over my opinions. but i am afraid of getting harrassed by nut jobs on both sides of the fringes. i have written essays under my real name in various cyber zines/blogs, and indeed, have had my professional web site hacked and damaged, i assume, by the aforesaid nut jobs.
but that's not the reason i am anonymous. (besides, anyone who reads my web site carefully can guess my identity, i already have had one fan figure it out).
we at skippy the bush kangaroo like to be skippy. we like the freedom another identity gives us to create our prose. we like the parody of the gentle jibing a second identity naturally infuses us with. we think it makes us sound rather like the new yorker. we like the use of the plural. are we using the editorial 'we' or the royal 'we'? we will leave it up to our loyal subjects to decide.
we have also gotten flack for our refusal to capitalize anything. we don't care. we are having fun.
jane has also graciously linked to our site on occasion, and we gratefully thank her for it. so apparently our psuedonym does not bother her, and that's good enough for us in our book.
if mr. de best thinks less of us, so be it. we still like to read him. and we think the whole thing is a tempest in a teapot.
posted by skippy at
12:26 AM |
0
comments
Monday, August 12, 2002
no critics allowed
mr. bush's big economic summit down in waco texas, tomorrow, promises to be a grand time to be had by all who were invited. only thing is, all who were invited are mostly republicans, and nobody who is critical of mr. bush's policies. "i don't think there's any point in picking someone who has the opposite point of view," a white house official said. now, that's democracy!
"democrats brand it a taxpayer-funded infomercial," says the washington post. "house minority leader richard a. gephardt...[who] is being excluded from tuesday's festivities, called it 'a made-for-tv program where the price of admission is a campaign contribution'."
one may wonder what kind of summit is packed with toadys and yes-men. but of course, the answer is, a bush kind of summit! abc's great blog the note has this take on the whole thing:
"but, there will be no true debate about changing course, which means republican candidates on the ballot in 2002 had better hope this works. as a result, the best-case scenario for president bush is likely to be that he's not caught daydreaming or goofing off during his cameo appearances at the various sessions, and that the television coverage conveys an image of an administration that seems to care about those who are hurting, that has a plan for turning the economy around, and that is confident of the economic fundamentals. but that best case is neither all that likely nor all that great, since there is no reason to feel confident that it will sustain beyond the one-day photo op."
so just how effective the whole thing will be? the new york times wonders aloud, "the problem, republicans, economists and the president's supporters say, is that the weakness of the white house economic team has forced mr. bush to become his own economic spokesman. that is a role, they say, that a president should avoid." we agree, any role in which bush actually speaks is not a good one.
oh well, no big thang...what's the worse thing that could happen when a bunch of people from the government go to waco?
mr. bush's big economic summit down in waco texas, tomorrow, promises to be a grand time to be had by all who were invited. only thing is, all who were invited are mostly republicans, and nobody who is critical of mr. bush's policies. "i don't think there's any point in picking someone who has the opposite point of view," a white house official said. now, that's democracy!
"democrats brand it a taxpayer-funded infomercial," says the washington post. "house minority leader richard a. gephardt...[who] is being excluded from tuesday's festivities, called it 'a made-for-tv program where the price of admission is a campaign contribution'."
one may wonder what kind of summit is packed with toadys and yes-men. but of course, the answer is, a bush kind of summit! abc's great blog the note has this take on the whole thing:
"but, there will be no true debate about changing course, which means republican candidates on the ballot in 2002 had better hope this works. as a result, the best-case scenario for president bush is likely to be that he's not caught daydreaming or goofing off during his cameo appearances at the various sessions, and that the television coverage conveys an image of an administration that seems to care about those who are hurting, that has a plan for turning the economy around, and that is confident of the economic fundamentals. but that best case is neither all that likely nor all that great, since there is no reason to feel confident that it will sustain beyond the one-day photo op."
so just how effective the whole thing will be? the new york times wonders aloud, "the problem, republicans, economists and the president's supporters say, is that the weakness of the white house economic team has forced mr. bush to become his own economic spokesman. that is a role, they say, that a president should avoid." we agree, any role in which bush actually speaks is not a good one.
oh well, no big thang...what's the worse thing that could happen when a bunch of people from the government go to waco?
posted by skippy at
9:41 PM |
0
comments
"you got spunk. i hate spunk..."
as the famous lou grant said to mary richards on the first episode of "the mary tyler moore show." but mary didn't have any where near the spunk of ex-enron execs, according to this abc news report.
apparently former ceo jeff skilling, his wife (former corporate secretary) rebecca carter, and vice chairman mark frevert are among the enron insiders asking for millions more in severance pay. "the executives are among 46 laid-off employees who opted not to participate in a settlement that would provide up to $13,500 in severance to each of the workers laid off as a result of enron's dec. 2 bankruptcy," abc reports. "u.s. bankruptcy judge arthur gonzalez said he would decide by the end of the month whether those who opted out of the severance deal are entitled to anything, and if so, how much."
the story goes on to say that frevert is asking for another $6.6 mill in severance; carter, another $875,000; john sherriff, former head of enron europe, $1.6 mill more; kenneth dodson from enron's engineering dvision, $210,000 more, and managing director charles garland wants another $892,000. now, that's spunk!
i hate spunk.
as the famous lou grant said to mary richards on the first episode of "the mary tyler moore show." but mary didn't have any where near the spunk of ex-enron execs, according to this abc news report.
apparently former ceo jeff skilling, his wife (former corporate secretary) rebecca carter, and vice chairman mark frevert are among the enron insiders asking for millions more in severance pay. "the executives are among 46 laid-off employees who opted not to participate in a settlement that would provide up to $13,500 in severance to each of the workers laid off as a result of enron's dec. 2 bankruptcy," abc reports. "u.s. bankruptcy judge arthur gonzalez said he would decide by the end of the month whether those who opted out of the severance deal are entitled to anything, and if so, how much."
the story goes on to say that frevert is asking for another $6.6 mill in severance; carter, another $875,000; john sherriff, former head of enron europe, $1.6 mill more; kenneth dodson from enron's engineering dvision, $210,000 more, and managing director charles garland wants another $892,000. now, that's spunk!
i hate spunk.
posted by skippy at
9:18 PM |
0
comments
why is getting what i paid for considered welfare? a skippy musing
skippy, in an effort to be open to all sides of the story (and what a story it is, so far, dear readers!) has posted a couple of links to blogs that represent the other side of the aisle. while surfing these sites, we ran across this little essay on right wing news that calls medicare "welfare for seniors."
now, this is not the first time we have heard something along these lines. the right side of the aisle seems to think it can get milage out of labling one thing another thing. to be fair, the left side of the aisle is as guilty of this tactic as anyone (for instance, folks, george w. bush is not a nazi. a feudalist, perhaps, but no nazi). in this case, the medicare and social security programs are being labled, unfairly, in our estimation, as welfare.
it seems to us that there's a difference between a program that one has paid into for all of one's working life, and expecting to get something in return (kind of like a, oh what is that word? oh yeah...an investment!!) and getting money from the government simply by virtue of qualifying below the poverty line and applying for the program. you can argue all you want about the pros and cons of welfare, that is not the issue of this musing. our point here is, much like our rapidly disappearing 401k, we have paid into the social security and medicare programs with taxes all our lives, and it would be nice to get something back for that money when we (hopefully) retire someday.
here's one of the arguments right wing news makes: "how did our society produce so many leeches who believe they're owed a large slice of everyone else's paycheck merely because they made it to a certain age without kicking the bucket yet?" apparently right wing news believes that a younger person's paycheck taxes are being used to fund current elder medicare costs. apparently, right wing news is upset that the current incoming money is what is used to pay the program's outgoing expenses. the thing is, we know of no institution that will actually give you back literally the same money you put into it.
just try it. make a mark with a pen on your dollar bill. go to a bank and deposit it. go back the next day. withdraw that dollar. look at it. does it have your secret mark? no? too bad. financial institutions, medicare included, use incoming funds to supply outgoing expenses. i think it's newton's third law of physics or something.
now, just to be fair, we'll counter an argument that right wing news never got around to making (apparently they thought the "leeches" line of reasoning was pithy enough to stop all debaters in their tracks). to wit, social security, as well as medicare, is a failing system that will go broke next week, or sometime soon, any way, at least by 2030.
if nothing is done, true. but here's a suggestion by social security commissioner robert m. ball as to some changes that can be made now to make social security more solvent, including:
"improving the accuracy of social security's cost-of-living adjustments; making the program universal, by covering new state and local government employees; increasing the maximum annual earnings subject to social security tax (and credited for benefits); and taxing benefits to the extent they exceed what the worker paid in."
now, we'll admit, we got that report from the aarp web site, and they have a vested interest in social security and medicare, because they're old!! we imagine if we go to a skateboarder's web site, they won't be as concerned with the subject. however, here's a blog page about medicare, and here's one for social security, both provided by aarp.
so we must take exception to calling a retirement benefit that we have paid for an entitlement. this is a specious argument, used by people that want to earmark money going somewhere else besides tax cuts for their own pockets.
if they really wanted to attack governement spending, we suggest the homeland security department.
skippy, in an effort to be open to all sides of the story (and what a story it is, so far, dear readers!) has posted a couple of links to blogs that represent the other side of the aisle. while surfing these sites, we ran across this little essay on right wing news that calls medicare "welfare for seniors."
now, this is not the first time we have heard something along these lines. the right side of the aisle seems to think it can get milage out of labling one thing another thing. to be fair, the left side of the aisle is as guilty of this tactic as anyone (for instance, folks, george w. bush is not a nazi. a feudalist, perhaps, but no nazi). in this case, the medicare and social security programs are being labled, unfairly, in our estimation, as welfare.
it seems to us that there's a difference between a program that one has paid into for all of one's working life, and expecting to get something in return (kind of like a, oh what is that word? oh yeah...an investment!!) and getting money from the government simply by virtue of qualifying below the poverty line and applying for the program. you can argue all you want about the pros and cons of welfare, that is not the issue of this musing. our point here is, much like our rapidly disappearing 401k, we have paid into the social security and medicare programs with taxes all our lives, and it would be nice to get something back for that money when we (hopefully) retire someday.
here's one of the arguments right wing news makes: "how did our society produce so many leeches who believe they're owed a large slice of everyone else's paycheck merely because they made it to a certain age without kicking the bucket yet?" apparently right wing news believes that a younger person's paycheck taxes are being used to fund current elder medicare costs. apparently, right wing news is upset that the current incoming money is what is used to pay the program's outgoing expenses. the thing is, we know of no institution that will actually give you back literally the same money you put into it.
just try it. make a mark with a pen on your dollar bill. go to a bank and deposit it. go back the next day. withdraw that dollar. look at it. does it have your secret mark? no? too bad. financial institutions, medicare included, use incoming funds to supply outgoing expenses. i think it's newton's third law of physics or something.
now, just to be fair, we'll counter an argument that right wing news never got around to making (apparently they thought the "leeches" line of reasoning was pithy enough to stop all debaters in their tracks). to wit, social security, as well as medicare, is a failing system that will go broke next week, or sometime soon, any way, at least by 2030.
if nothing is done, true. but here's a suggestion by social security commissioner robert m. ball as to some changes that can be made now to make social security more solvent, including:
"improving the accuracy of social security's cost-of-living adjustments; making the program universal, by covering new state and local government employees; increasing the maximum annual earnings subject to social security tax (and credited for benefits); and taxing benefits to the extent they exceed what the worker paid in."
now, we'll admit, we got that report from the aarp web site, and they have a vested interest in social security and medicare, because they're old!! we imagine if we go to a skateboarder's web site, they won't be as concerned with the subject. however, here's a blog page about medicare, and here's one for social security, both provided by aarp.
so we must take exception to calling a retirement benefit that we have paid for an entitlement. this is a specious argument, used by people that want to earmark money going somewhere else besides tax cuts for their own pockets.
if they really wanted to attack governement spending, we suggest the homeland security department.
posted by skippy at
7:04 PM |
0
comments
we can make a delighful subpoena mitt out of pine cones
martha stewart will probably be subpoenaed in the house investigation into the imclone fiasco, according to the associated press. and, cbs news reports that ms. stewart has contacted the investigating committee, asking them to issue a statement exonerating her.
rep. james greenwood, chairman of the house energy and commerce oversight and investigations committee (we'd hate to have to stencil that on his door glass) says that "we can't sweep something like this under the rug because martha stewart is a celebrity." of course, martha herself would not have you sweep it under the rug, but rather into a dustpan, to be taken by the maid out to the waste recepticle brightly decorated with perennials, and painted the same color as the accents on the door frames and window sills of your house.
martha stewart will probably be subpoenaed in the house investigation into the imclone fiasco, according to the associated press. and, cbs news reports that ms. stewart has contacted the investigating committee, asking them to issue a statement exonerating her.
rep. james greenwood, chairman of the house energy and commerce oversight and investigations committee (we'd hate to have to stencil that on his door glass) says that "we can't sweep something like this under the rug because martha stewart is a celebrity." of course, martha herself would not have you sweep it under the rug, but rather into a dustpan, to be taken by the maid out to the waste recepticle brightly decorated with perennials, and painted the same color as the accents on the door frames and window sills of your house.
posted by skippy at
5:17 PM |
0
comments
all hail blue streak
we'd like to give a big thank you to devra over at blue streak for her kind words concerning our discussion of digital tv and why you have to buy it or else. however, in her comments section, we certainly did not mean anything untowards by the use of the words "kow tow" or "grovel." forgive our lack of correct verbage-accessibility at 1 am when we posted on devra's blog.
and while we're at it, we are pleased and honored to have a link to our page posted on the rittenhouse review, whose work we admire daily. be sure to check out the rittenhouse take on ann coulter, lucianne goldberg, michael savage and maxspeak's take-down of mary matalin.
meanwhile, glenn reynolds over at instapundit makes a good point about the press going after steven hatfill, when he's still not even labled as a "suspect" in the anthrax mystery. now, i'm not agreeing with glenn, who is a law professor, because i'm afraid of getting sued, so please, don't get in an uproar. no, i'm afraid of being bored to death by a lecture and then derided in front of the whole class for not understanding his points.
we'd like to give a big thank you to devra over at blue streak for her kind words concerning our discussion of digital tv and why you have to buy it or else. however, in her comments section, we certainly did not mean anything untowards by the use of the words "kow tow" or "grovel." forgive our lack of correct verbage-accessibility at 1 am when we posted on devra's blog.
and while we're at it, we are pleased and honored to have a link to our page posted on the rittenhouse review, whose work we admire daily. be sure to check out the rittenhouse take on ann coulter, lucianne goldberg, michael savage and maxspeak's take-down of mary matalin.
meanwhile, glenn reynolds over at instapundit makes a good point about the press going after steven hatfill, when he's still not even labled as a "suspect" in the anthrax mystery. now, i'm not agreeing with glenn, who is a law professor, because i'm afraid of getting sued, so please, don't get in an uproar. no, i'm afraid of being bored to death by a lecture and then derided in front of the whole class for not understanding his points.
posted by skippy at
12:38 PM |
0
comments
the best of bush on buzzflash
here's a quick trip around the bush/iraq headlines found on buzzflash, a daily read for us!
bush denies time table on iraq from the chicago sun-times.
for bush, a new vulnerability [domestic issues] from the washington post.
anti-saudi arguments heard; critics want u.s. to play harball from usa today.
bush officials may be aiming iraq war talk at 3 audiences from the ny times by way of the seattle times.
even at best, war is unpredictable, again, from the chicago sun-times.
it's amateur hour for administration hawks also from the seattle times.
puncturing the assumptions [of a simple war] from the washington times.
bush falters, but who dare oppose him? from the uk guardian observer.
attack iraq and save the world? bush is dreaming from the sydney morning herald.
here's a quick trip around the bush/iraq headlines found on buzzflash, a daily read for us!
bush denies time table on iraq from the chicago sun-times.
for bush, a new vulnerability [domestic issues] from the washington post.
anti-saudi arguments heard; critics want u.s. to play harball from usa today.
bush officials may be aiming iraq war talk at 3 audiences from the ny times by way of the seattle times.
even at best, war is unpredictable, again, from the chicago sun-times.
it's amateur hour for administration hawks also from the seattle times.
puncturing the assumptions [of a simple war] from the washington times.
bush falters, but who dare oppose him? from the uk guardian observer.
attack iraq and save the world? bush is dreaming from the sydney morning herald.
posted by skippy at
12:30 PM |
0
comments
thanks for the memes
[ed. note: the following is a reposting from a week and a half ago, when the blogger software decided not to archive any of my posts for two days. this particular essay is an important one in the skippy oeuvre, as it contains a couple of salient points to which i will be referring for the rest of my blog.]
as any fan of william gibson and cyberpunk sci-fi can tell you, the word "meme" describes the idea of ideas. that is to say, according to zoologist richard dawkins (who coined the phrase), ideas can replicate themselves from person to person, like a virus, mutating, combining with other ideas to form new ones, taking on a life of their own. or so dr. dawkins says. (hey, skippy has a meme! why don't we just call them all "ideas"?)
but this brings us to our point today. it seems as if the republicans are much more successful at spreading their memes around than the democrats. to be sure, sometimes it looks like the democrats don't even have two memes to rub together. skippy thinks that the dems could do themselves a world of good by taking the republicans' memes and turning them back around on them.
for instance, the meme that is driving us here at skippy the bush kangaroo crazy this past week, is that the lax morals of the clinton administration are responsible for the current wave (tsunami?) of corporate scandals. now, anybody with the ability to think in three dimensions know this is a crock of baloney (including those who repeat this particular meme), but those nasty little replicating memes have pretty well taken over the air waves, propigating this point of view.
we are wondering why no talking head, no democratic pundit, nobody who actually lives in reality, has ever shot back on a round table cable show with the following meme: "hey, guys, harken engery's little adventures in accounting happened in 1989/90. and you know who was president then? george bush the elder!"
and who was president whose lax morals lead to the excesses of michael milken, ivan boesky, charles keating? former president of the screen actors guild himself, the gipper! that's who!
we'd like to come up with some other repub memes that can be twisted back in their faces. for instance, "law suits don't clog the court system, people clog the court system." or how about "how did a disgusting adultering horn dog like newt gingrich ever get into office?"
so if any of you have any great ideas (sorry, i mean, memes) for twisting the patently false right wing propaganda into reality, email them to us here at skippybkroo at aol dot com (assuming aol is still liquid in the future. you never know who's going to jail next for their lax morals in accounting, darn that bubba!)
[ed. note: the following is a reposting from a week and a half ago, when the blogger software decided not to archive any of my posts for two days. this particular essay is an important one in the skippy oeuvre, as it contains a couple of salient points to which i will be referring for the rest of my blog.]
as any fan of william gibson and cyberpunk sci-fi can tell you, the word "meme" describes the idea of ideas. that is to say, according to zoologist richard dawkins (who coined the phrase), ideas can replicate themselves from person to person, like a virus, mutating, combining with other ideas to form new ones, taking on a life of their own. or so dr. dawkins says. (hey, skippy has a meme! why don't we just call them all "ideas"?)
but this brings us to our point today. it seems as if the republicans are much more successful at spreading their memes around than the democrats. to be sure, sometimes it looks like the democrats don't even have two memes to rub together. skippy thinks that the dems could do themselves a world of good by taking the republicans' memes and turning them back around on them.
for instance, the meme that is driving us here at skippy the bush kangaroo crazy this past week, is that the lax morals of the clinton administration are responsible for the current wave (tsunami?) of corporate scandals. now, anybody with the ability to think in three dimensions know this is a crock of baloney (including those who repeat this particular meme), but those nasty little replicating memes have pretty well taken over the air waves, propigating this point of view.
we are wondering why no talking head, no democratic pundit, nobody who actually lives in reality, has ever shot back on a round table cable show with the following meme: "hey, guys, harken engery's little adventures in accounting happened in 1989/90. and you know who was president then? george bush the elder!"
and who was president whose lax morals lead to the excesses of michael milken, ivan boesky, charles keating? former president of the screen actors guild himself, the gipper! that's who!
we'd like to come up with some other repub memes that can be twisted back in their faces. for instance, "law suits don't clog the court system, people clog the court system." or how about "how did a disgusting adultering horn dog like newt gingrich ever get into office?"
so if any of you have any great ideas (sorry, i mean, memes) for twisting the patently false right wing propaganda into reality, email them to us here at skippybkroo at aol dot com (assuming aol is still liquid in the future. you never know who's going to jail next for their lax morals in accounting, darn that bubba!)
posted by skippy at
12:04 PM |
0
comments
more archive re-postings
[ed. note: see ed. note above]
is there such a thing as a "moneyless" recovery?
things aren't looking so chipper on the employment front for the country, according to shihoko goto, the senior business correspondent for united press international. in this report, mr. goto points to disappointing labor department statistics for the last two months.
mr. goto says "the department reported that 6,000 non-farm jobs were created in july...wall street economists on average had expected the job market to expand by 60,000." whoops! that's ten times smaller than expected! he goes on: "given that the unemployment data is a lagging indicator, and employer decisions based on the current economic conditions are likely to be delayed for another three months to six months, many economists fear that the job market could deteriorate still further." then, he quotes mr. mark vitner, an economist at wachovia securities: "it looks an awful lot like a jobless recovery."
what we want to know is, is a jobless recovery anything like a light coma?
speed kills: a skippy musing
any regular surfer of blogtopia (yes! i coined that word!) has probably already run across the news from the canadian and british papers that u.s. pilots in afghanistan have been taking amphetamines to stay awake during missions.
the toronto star reports that "u.s. jet fighter pilots, responsible for at least 10 deadly 'friendly fire' accidents in the afghanistan war, have regularly been given amphetamines to fly longer hours. then when they return to base, the pilots are given sedatives by air force doctors to help them sleep, before beginning the whole cycle again on the next mission, often less than 12 hours later."
in a different article, the star reports that the amphetamine use by american pilots has "caused quite a commotion, quite a reaction, in britain."
the vancouver sun states "that at least one f-16 pilot complained that requirements for crew rest were not being observed and that many of the pilots were overtired. the pilot was told, however, that further questions about crew rest would not be looked on favourably by the wing command. instead, pilots were advised to speak to a flight surgeon about so-called "go/no pills" -- amphetamines used to help stay awake on long missions, and sedatives to help sleep."
the uk independent quotes john pike, of a defense think-tank as saying "when you look at the original story of the [canadian] friendly-fire incident it seems that the pilot was being inexplicably aggressive...the simplest explanation is that the guy had eaten too much speed and was paranoid."
now, you probably think i am going to rail about the lack of coverage by the us press. but actually, i am going to let my mind wander a bit. hmmm...."inexplicably agressive"..."too much speed"..."paranoid"...
say, wasn't there a story about 5 domestic abuse killings in less than two months at fort bragg? you don't suppose....
now, i know i am making accusations without a shred of evidence. i'm on the opposite side of the country from fayetteville, and the opposite side of the world from afghanistan. also, fort bragg is an army, not an air force base. one of the men who killed his wife did not serve in afghanistan. one killing was done by a woman and her daughter, neither of them in the armed forces. this is actually the worst kind of conclusion jumping that a person could be indulging in.
but having gone to college during the early 70's, and having had a father who owned a pharmacy at which i worked as a teenager during my summer months, (and without admitting personal use) i can attest to the destruction that drugs and self-medication wreck upon human beings. i also know (not first hand, mind you) that when drugs are around one place, it's probably pretty easy to get them right down the block.
i'd like to thank reader damien gossett for first bringing up this idea. the more i think about it, the more it fits. of course, that does not mean it's necessarily true. if this were a court of law, i'd be sentenced to jail for contempt of logic. but it's a starting place. i am not saying that speed is the reason for the killings. but i am saying it wouldn't hurt to look into it. it also wouldn't hurt the press to ask some of these questions.
whose crown is it anyway?
according to this story from the associated press, the miss america organization has announced that improvisor wayne brady will serve as the emcee for this year's pagent.
the ap reports that "brady, 30, an emmy-nominated entertainer best known for his work on abc-tv's 'whose line is it anyway?' will headline the sept. 21 telecast culminating in the crowning of miss america 2003."
this is an historic move, because never before has an improvisor hosted the pagent. a look at the previous hosts confirms this unfortunate fact of pop culture history: bert parks, ron ely, regis philbin and kathie lee gifford, donny and marie osmond, gary collins, boomer esiason and meredith viera, john and eva larue callahan, and especially tony danza, have all been known to ad-lib during their turns as emcee, but none were ever considered to be actual improvisors. the choice of an improvisor for emcee of miss america makes the entire improvisor-american community proud.
we at skippy know that wayne will bring respect and dignity to his job hosting the pagent, and will reflect well on improvisor-americans all across this great land of ours.
[ed. note: see ed. note above]
is there such a thing as a "moneyless" recovery?
things aren't looking so chipper on the employment front for the country, according to shihoko goto, the senior business correspondent for united press international. in this report, mr. goto points to disappointing labor department statistics for the last two months.
mr. goto says "the department reported that 6,000 non-farm jobs were created in july...wall street economists on average had expected the job market to expand by 60,000." whoops! that's ten times smaller than expected! he goes on: "given that the unemployment data is a lagging indicator, and employer decisions based on the current economic conditions are likely to be delayed for another three months to six months, many economists fear that the job market could deteriorate still further." then, he quotes mr. mark vitner, an economist at wachovia securities: "it looks an awful lot like a jobless recovery."
what we want to know is, is a jobless recovery anything like a light coma?
speed kills: a skippy musing
any regular surfer of blogtopia (yes! i coined that word!) has probably already run across the news from the canadian and british papers that u.s. pilots in afghanistan have been taking amphetamines to stay awake during missions.
the toronto star reports that "u.s. jet fighter pilots, responsible for at least 10 deadly 'friendly fire' accidents in the afghanistan war, have regularly been given amphetamines to fly longer hours. then when they return to base, the pilots are given sedatives by air force doctors to help them sleep, before beginning the whole cycle again on the next mission, often less than 12 hours later."
in a different article, the star reports that the amphetamine use by american pilots has "caused quite a commotion, quite a reaction, in britain."
the vancouver sun states "that at least one f-16 pilot complained that requirements for crew rest were not being observed and that many of the pilots were overtired. the pilot was told, however, that further questions about crew rest would not be looked on favourably by the wing command. instead, pilots were advised to speak to a flight surgeon about so-called "go/no pills" -- amphetamines used to help stay awake on long missions, and sedatives to help sleep."
the uk independent quotes john pike, of a defense think-tank as saying "when you look at the original story of the [canadian] friendly-fire incident it seems that the pilot was being inexplicably aggressive...the simplest explanation is that the guy had eaten too much speed and was paranoid."
now, you probably think i am going to rail about the lack of coverage by the us press. but actually, i am going to let my mind wander a bit. hmmm...."inexplicably agressive"..."too much speed"..."paranoid"...
say, wasn't there a story about 5 domestic abuse killings in less than two months at fort bragg? you don't suppose....
now, i know i am making accusations without a shred of evidence. i'm on the opposite side of the country from fayetteville, and the opposite side of the world from afghanistan. also, fort bragg is an army, not an air force base. one of the men who killed his wife did not serve in afghanistan. one killing was done by a woman and her daughter, neither of them in the armed forces. this is actually the worst kind of conclusion jumping that a person could be indulging in.
but having gone to college during the early 70's, and having had a father who owned a pharmacy at which i worked as a teenager during my summer months, (and without admitting personal use) i can attest to the destruction that drugs and self-medication wreck upon human beings. i also know (not first hand, mind you) that when drugs are around one place, it's probably pretty easy to get them right down the block.
i'd like to thank reader damien gossett for first bringing up this idea. the more i think about it, the more it fits. of course, that does not mean it's necessarily true. if this were a court of law, i'd be sentenced to jail for contempt of logic. but it's a starting place. i am not saying that speed is the reason for the killings. but i am saying it wouldn't hurt to look into it. it also wouldn't hurt the press to ask some of these questions.
whose crown is it anyway?
according to this story from the associated press, the miss america organization has announced that improvisor wayne brady will serve as the emcee for this year's pagent.
the ap reports that "brady, 30, an emmy-nominated entertainer best known for his work on abc-tv's 'whose line is it anyway?' will headline the sept. 21 telecast culminating in the crowning of miss america 2003."
this is an historic move, because never before has an improvisor hosted the pagent. a look at the previous hosts confirms this unfortunate fact of pop culture history: bert parks, ron ely, regis philbin and kathie lee gifford, donny and marie osmond, gary collins, boomer esiason and meredith viera, john and eva larue callahan, and especially tony danza, have all been known to ad-lib during their turns as emcee, but none were ever considered to be actual improvisors. the choice of an improvisor for emcee of miss america makes the entire improvisor-american community proud.
we at skippy know that wayne will bring respect and dignity to his job hosting the pagent, and will reflect well on improvisor-americans all across this great land of ours.
posted by skippy at
11:54 AM |
0
comments
the color of money: gray
always an equal-opportunity kvetcher, skippy is happy to point out that, even though we've taken our potshots at california gubernatorial candidate bill "what tax returns" simon, we are just as thrilled to bring you news about his nemisis, current governor gray "is that my hand in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?" davis.
the sacremento bee is reporting that many of gov. davis' political appointees are busy shaking down -- sorry, we meant, asking for contributions from -- the very businesses and individuals they regulate.
"at one 90-minute lunch, the bee reports, "the chairman of the board that sets wage regulations solicited a total of $100,000 for davis' campaign from 10 retail giants affected by those rules. a california transportation commissioner has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars on davis' behalf. north state landowners say a regional water board has been stacked against them because a davis fund-raiser has ties to timber interests."
according to the bee, davis is the "most prolific fund-raiser in american gubernatorial politics, raising a record $50 million so far in his bid for a second term." and he's got a snazzy way of getting that dough, too. for instance, in april, the head of the california retailers association of california held a lunch for gov. davis. the price tag for some rubber chicken and a chance at the governor's ear? $10,000 a pop, an amount gladly ponied up by the likes of corporations such as longs drugs, safeway, target and sears.
the punchline is, the luncheon was arranged by the head of the cal. retailers assoc., william dombrowski, a davis appointee to the industrial welfare commission. and what does the iwc regulate? things like overtime, minimum wage, stuff that nobody is intersted in...except folks like longs drugs, safeway, target and sears. getting the picture?
too bad he's not able to work that same kind of money magic on the state's deficit.
always an equal-opportunity kvetcher, skippy is happy to point out that, even though we've taken our potshots at california gubernatorial candidate bill "what tax returns" simon, we are just as thrilled to bring you news about his nemisis, current governor gray "is that my hand in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?" davis.
the sacremento bee is reporting that many of gov. davis' political appointees are busy shaking down -- sorry, we meant, asking for contributions from -- the very businesses and individuals they regulate.
"at one 90-minute lunch, the bee reports, "the chairman of the board that sets wage regulations solicited a total of $100,000 for davis' campaign from 10 retail giants affected by those rules. a california transportation commissioner has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars on davis' behalf. north state landowners say a regional water board has been stacked against them because a davis fund-raiser has ties to timber interests."
according to the bee, davis is the "most prolific fund-raiser in american gubernatorial politics, raising a record $50 million so far in his bid for a second term." and he's got a snazzy way of getting that dough, too. for instance, in april, the head of the california retailers association of california held a lunch for gov. davis. the price tag for some rubber chicken and a chance at the governor's ear? $10,000 a pop, an amount gladly ponied up by the likes of corporations such as longs drugs, safeway, target and sears.
the punchline is, the luncheon was arranged by the head of the cal. retailers assoc., william dombrowski, a davis appointee to the industrial welfare commission. and what does the iwc regulate? things like overtime, minimum wage, stuff that nobody is intersted in...except folks like longs drugs, safeway, target and sears. getting the picture?
too bad he's not able to work that same kind of money magic on the state's deficit.
posted by skippy at
12:39 AM |
0
comments
sad news for the gipper
we at skippy are very sad to learn that president reagan's mental and physical health is worsening. we may not have voted for him, but today's current administration makes mr. reagan's two terms look like fdr in comparison. and besides, mr. reagan was a damn fine president of our union, the screen actors guild. we wish him and his family the best.
we at skippy are very sad to learn that president reagan's mental and physical health is worsening. we may not have voted for him, but today's current administration makes mr. reagan's two terms look like fdr in comparison. and besides, mr. reagan was a damn fine president of our union, the screen actors guild. we wish him and his family the best.
posted by skippy at
12:19 AM |
0
comments
Sunday, August 11, 2002
movie reviews - spoilers!
mrs. skippy and i saw two major flicks this weekend, blood work and signs. if you want to see either of these, skip this post, as i will give away a lot. now, in ascending order of enjoyability:
the good news is signs was not as bad as director/producer/writer (he's a hyphenate!) m. knight shyamalan's last film, unbreakable. the bad news is, it's no sixth sense. newsweek calls shyamalan the new spielberg, and we can see why, because he pretty much rips old steve off, at least for the film's conceit, making this new flick sort of a close encounters of the crop kind (with joaquin phoenix in the terri garr part).
not that shyamalan is not a good director. there's plenty of tense atmosphere, plenty of interesting camera shots. he manages to impart the claustrophobic feeling that being alone in wide open spaces can give one (having grown up on the plains of colorado, i found this to be one of the plus factors in the film). however, and here's the spoiler, kids: as soon as the martians actually are seen, disbelief becomes too heavy to willingly suspend. mrs. skippy and i both agreed that it would have been a much more effective film if the aliens were never actually seen. in fact, i remarked, that the movie would have been so much better if he could have written it like that old twilight zone episode "the monsters are due on maple street" where the monsters never show up, but the townspeople react just the same. so, like unbreakable, shyamalan proves himself to be a fascinating director, but a lack-luster writer that got real real lucky on his first flick, and is trying too hard to catch more lightning in the bottle.
the better film (in the skippys' minds, at least) was blood work, which shows clint eastwood acting his age, something one sees all too rarely in hollywood stars. readers of this space may recall a post in which i told of my anticipation for this film, being a huge fan of the book it was based on, and its author, mystery writer michael connelly. sad to say, the film took great liberties with the book, going so far as to change the identity of the person who was committing the heinous crimes that clint's character was investigating, and also jettisoning one of the truly great moments in the book, the moment where (and how) clint realizes who the bad guy is.
to make matters worse, the film makes one of the books delightful side characters into the bad guy (obviously to give the actor playing the role a nice, meaty part). needless to say, the film falls apart in the last half hour, strangely enough, right when it deviates from the original. that, plus a liberal amount of shooting and running around (also not in the book) made it a disapointment for me. however, mrs. skippy (who didn't read the book) enjoyed it, but also found the running around to be superfluous (her comment: that wasn't clint eastwood doing those stunts!)
what can we say, they don't make 'em like they used to.
mrs. skippy and i saw two major flicks this weekend, blood work and signs. if you want to see either of these, skip this post, as i will give away a lot. now, in ascending order of enjoyability:
the good news is signs was not as bad as director/producer/writer (he's a hyphenate!) m. knight shyamalan's last film, unbreakable. the bad news is, it's no sixth sense. newsweek calls shyamalan the new spielberg, and we can see why, because he pretty much rips old steve off, at least for the film's conceit, making this new flick sort of a close encounters of the crop kind (with joaquin phoenix in the terri garr part).
not that shyamalan is not a good director. there's plenty of tense atmosphere, plenty of interesting camera shots. he manages to impart the claustrophobic feeling that being alone in wide open spaces can give one (having grown up on the plains of colorado, i found this to be one of the plus factors in the film). however, and here's the spoiler, kids: as soon as the martians actually are seen, disbelief becomes too heavy to willingly suspend. mrs. skippy and i both agreed that it would have been a much more effective film if the aliens were never actually seen. in fact, i remarked, that the movie would have been so much better if he could have written it like that old twilight zone episode "the monsters are due on maple street" where the monsters never show up, but the townspeople react just the same. so, like unbreakable, shyamalan proves himself to be a fascinating director, but a lack-luster writer that got real real lucky on his first flick, and is trying too hard to catch more lightning in the bottle.
the better film (in the skippys' minds, at least) was blood work, which shows clint eastwood acting his age, something one sees all too rarely in hollywood stars. readers of this space may recall a post in which i told of my anticipation for this film, being a huge fan of the book it was based on, and its author, mystery writer michael connelly. sad to say, the film took great liberties with the book, going so far as to change the identity of the person who was committing the heinous crimes that clint's character was investigating, and also jettisoning one of the truly great moments in the book, the moment where (and how) clint realizes who the bad guy is.
to make matters worse, the film makes one of the books delightful side characters into the bad guy (obviously to give the actor playing the role a nice, meaty part). needless to say, the film falls apart in the last half hour, strangely enough, right when it deviates from the original. that, plus a liberal amount of shooting and running around (also not in the book) made it a disapointment for me. however, mrs. skippy (who didn't read the book) enjoyed it, but also found the running around to be superfluous (her comment: that wasn't clint eastwood doing those stunts!)
what can we say, they don't make 'em like they used to.
posted by skippy at
10:39 PM |
0
comments
we told him not to burn any bridges behind him
robert reich may be regretting being such a profilic writer at this stage in his career. the boston globe is reporting that, just when mr. reich needs all the help he can get in his run for the democratic nomination for massachusettes gubernatorial candidate, his ex-buddy bill "it takes a spillage" clinton is still upset over the book mr. reich wrote about the clinton cabinet.
"the clintons have been fuming ever since reich, frustrated by his failure to influence policy, left the administration and wrote ''locked in the cabinet.' the clintons felt reich was untruthful about the president in the book, and their nearly 30-year friendship abruptly ended." neither bill nor hillary are looking forward to making nice with mr. reich at a democratic fundraiser in boston this fall, should mr. reich win the primary.
bottom line, if you're going to run for office, don't write a tell-all book about the people you might need to ask for help. actually, don't do that, no matter what you plan on doing. (skippy has not written any books, and plans not to).
robert reich may be regretting being such a profilic writer at this stage in his career. the boston globe is reporting that, just when mr. reich needs all the help he can get in his run for the democratic nomination for massachusettes gubernatorial candidate, his ex-buddy bill "it takes a spillage" clinton is still upset over the book mr. reich wrote about the clinton cabinet.
"the clintons have been fuming ever since reich, frustrated by his failure to influence policy, left the administration and wrote ''locked in the cabinet.' the clintons felt reich was untruthful about the president in the book, and their nearly 30-year friendship abruptly ended." neither bill nor hillary are looking forward to making nice with mr. reich at a democratic fundraiser in boston this fall, should mr. reich win the primary.
bottom line, if you're going to run for office, don't write a tell-all book about the people you might need to ask for help. actually, don't do that, no matter what you plan on doing. (skippy has not written any books, and plans not to).
posted by skippy at
1:40 PM |
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Saturday, August 10, 2002
fighting over who gets to fight jeb
and in the governor's race on the other side of the country, janet reno has twice as many polls points as her rival for the democratic nomination, lawyer bill mcbride. but mr. mcbride has more than twice as much money, according to the miami herald. "mcbride has amassed nearly $2 million in his campaign bank account" the herald says. "enough, his strategists say, to blanket the state's airwaves in the primary's final three weeks and finally eat into reno's near-30-point lead in the polls. reno will have less than half that amount, indicating she'll need to rely on her built-in fame and popularity in south florida and what would be a bare-minimum tv ad campaign."
checking out the daily kos blog (where we can find the latest poll numbers on the major races across the country), we find that in a match up against jeb bush, reno loses with 37% of the vote, and mcbride loses with only 31%. but that's not allowing for the upcoming media blitz by mcbride, or the idea that polls are so much dog crap to begin with.
and in the governor's race on the other side of the country, janet reno has twice as many polls points as her rival for the democratic nomination, lawyer bill mcbride. but mr. mcbride has more than twice as much money, according to the miami herald. "mcbride has amassed nearly $2 million in his campaign bank account" the herald says. "enough, his strategists say, to blanket the state's airwaves in the primary's final three weeks and finally eat into reno's near-30-point lead in the polls. reno will have less than half that amount, indicating she'll need to rely on her built-in fame and popularity in south florida and what would be a bare-minimum tv ad campaign."
checking out the daily kos blog (where we can find the latest poll numbers on the major races across the country), we find that in a match up against jeb bush, reno loses with 37% of the vote, and mcbride loses with only 31%. but that's not allowing for the upcoming media blitz by mcbride, or the idea that polls are so much dog crap to begin with.
posted by skippy at
11:42 PM |
0
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hello, pot? this is kettle...
according to this associated press story, the democrats say that the white house is "adrift." specifically, terry "watch me pull a million out of my hat" macauliffe told party activists: "all this trust. all this support. what an opportunity to lead. but in the end to what end? an administration adrift, with polling numbers as their only compass and high approval ratings as their only destination."
was he sure he wasn't looking in the mirror?
on the brighter side of dem news, senator hillary clinton has decided to donate to charity the $33,000 campaign contribution she got from imclone president sam "sure i know martha stewart" waksal.
according to this associated press story, the democrats say that the white house is "adrift." specifically, terry "watch me pull a million out of my hat" macauliffe told party activists: "all this trust. all this support. what an opportunity to lead. but in the end to what end? an administration adrift, with polling numbers as their only compass and high approval ratings as their only destination."
was he sure he wasn't looking in the mirror?
on the brighter side of dem news, senator hillary clinton has decided to donate to charity the $33,000 campaign contribution she got from imclone president sam "sure i know martha stewart" waksal.
posted by skippy at
4:23 PM |
0
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the incredible shrinking candidate
things just aren't getting any better for bill "successful business" simon these days. first, his investment firm is nailed with a $78 million fraud judgement in court. then, vice president dick cheney, who pops up less often than punxutawney phil, snubs mr. simon completely during a rare appearance in the san francisco bay area this past week.
if that's not bad enough, next mr. simon has to read in the new york times that state republican leaders are less than optimistic about his chances for winning this november. (although the stockton record conjects that a simon loss may indeed help other repubs in their california races...go figure!)
then mr. simon publicly trips himself up trying to back peddle from comments accusing gov. davis of not having the amber alert system in effect to prevent the danielle van dam kidnap & murder case. apparently, the alert system would not have been used, because poor danielle was considered a "missing persons" case for two days. mr. simon was tongue-tied when this was pointed out to him.
and apparently plans to build a baseball field complex in manteca, california, could be affected by the fact that mr. simon's firm owns a sizable percentage of the investment.
things are so complicated for the poor business man, he's had to file for a second extension on paying last year's taxes. things are tough when you're so successful!
things just aren't getting any better for bill "successful business" simon these days. first, his investment firm is nailed with a $78 million fraud judgement in court. then, vice president dick cheney, who pops up less often than punxutawney phil, snubs mr. simon completely during a rare appearance in the san francisco bay area this past week.
if that's not bad enough, next mr. simon has to read in the new york times that state republican leaders are less than optimistic about his chances for winning this november. (although the stockton record conjects that a simon loss may indeed help other repubs in their california races...go figure!)
then mr. simon publicly trips himself up trying to back peddle from comments accusing gov. davis of not having the amber alert system in effect to prevent the danielle van dam kidnap & murder case. apparently, the alert system would not have been used, because poor danielle was considered a "missing persons" case for two days. mr. simon was tongue-tied when this was pointed out to him.
and apparently plans to build a baseball field complex in manteca, california, could be affected by the fact that mr. simon's firm owns a sizable percentage of the investment.
things are so complicated for the poor business man, he's had to file for a second extension on paying last year's taxes. things are tough when you're so successful!
posted by skippy at
4:17 PM |
0
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kickin' back at the lazy w
mr. bush is enjoying himself on vacation at his ranch at crawford, texas, according to this report from the associated press. "president bush is filthy, his wrist is bleeding and sweat is dripping from his chin." while that may sound like he just ate a pretzel, he is really, in fact, hauling "freshly cut cedar to a burn pile. 'we're lifting weights!' he says, a thick log on each shoulder. throwing them onto the pyramid, he cries: 'oh, baby!' "
the report goes on: " 'i'm able to clear my mind and it helps me put it all in perspective,' bush said." we think that was probably the easy part. but in retrospect, he's probably used to carrying dead weight, since tom ridge is still director of homeland security.
(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to wtf is it now for the term "the lazy w"!)
mr. bush is enjoying himself on vacation at his ranch at crawford, texas, according to this report from the associated press. "president bush is filthy, his wrist is bleeding and sweat is dripping from his chin." while that may sound like he just ate a pretzel, he is really, in fact, hauling "freshly cut cedar to a burn pile. 'we're lifting weights!' he says, a thick log on each shoulder. throwing them onto the pyramid, he cries: 'oh, baby!' "
the report goes on: " 'i'm able to clear my mind and it helps me put it all in perspective,' bush said." we think that was probably the easy part. but in retrospect, he's probably used to carrying dead weight, since tom ridge is still director of homeland security.
(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to wtf is it now for the term "the lazy w"!)
posted by skippy at
3:41 PM |
0
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more on worldcom
from tony woodlief, of sand in the gears, who brings us this brilliant take on the worldcom situation.
from tony woodlief, of sand in the gears, who brings us this brilliant take on the worldcom situation.
posted by skippy at
12:26 AM |
0
comments
Friday, August 09, 2002
here's my middle digital
according to this report by david coursey in znet magazine, the fcc, under the leadership of michael "my daddy fought a war" powell, has declared that everybody has to pay more for televisions in the future, whether we want to or not.
the reason, or course, is the congressional-mandated switch to digital delivery of television signals. mr. coursey writes, "the question is: why is the fcc forcing the issue? the simple answer: because congress expects to raise $70 billion by auctioning off broadcast frequencies that tv stations will no longer need when they go digital--and that money is already written into the federal budget. [ed. note: see post about comparing worldcom's accounting to check kiting, three posts below].
the broadcasters will (in theory) move to digital, thus freeing up the analog frequencies for the government to sell to other devices, like 3g phones and wireless data networking (because we all know how much we need that stuff). but here's the rub, according to peter lewis writing in fortune magazine: "you, the consumer, should now collectively have to pay several billion dollars more for digital tv tuners that will be useful for at most 10% of the tv-viewing public."
mr. lewis quotes michelle abraham, a senior analyst for the research group in-stat mdr: "for people who already have analog or digital cable, or satellite, having a digital broadcast tuner in their tvs is not going to matter in the least...for them to have to pay an extra $100 to $150 for their next --it's not good."
and now, skippy's personal opinion: he and mrs. skippy bought a very expensive tv monitor back in the early 90's (when we had an economy). the tv has a huge number of pixels in its definition refresh, and, coupled with a cable tv signal, gives a damn fine picture. we have seen digital tv in department store show rooms, and it actually doesn't look any better -- in fact, we think, worse. there's kind of a funny bunch of teeny tiny lines running horizontally through everybody's face. it just doesn't look like anything we want the government forcing us to buy so they can make money.
it's just another one of the many bush administration programs that makes us want to cry.
according to this report by david coursey in znet magazine, the fcc, under the leadership of michael "my daddy fought a war" powell, has declared that everybody has to pay more for televisions in the future, whether we want to or not.
the reason, or course, is the congressional-mandated switch to digital delivery of television signals. mr. coursey writes, "the question is: why is the fcc forcing the issue? the simple answer: because congress expects to raise $70 billion by auctioning off broadcast frequencies that tv stations will no longer need when they go digital--and that money is already written into the federal budget. [ed. note: see post about comparing worldcom's accounting to check kiting, three posts below].
the broadcasters will (in theory) move to digital, thus freeing up the analog frequencies for the government to sell to other devices, like 3g phones and wireless data networking (because we all know how much we need that stuff). but here's the rub, according to peter lewis writing in fortune magazine: "you, the consumer, should now collectively have to pay several billion dollars more for digital tv tuners that will be useful for at most 10% of the tv-viewing public."
mr. lewis quotes michelle abraham, a senior analyst for the research group in-stat mdr: "for people who already have analog or digital cable, or satellite, having a digital broadcast tuner in their tvs is not going to matter in the least...for them to have to pay an extra $100 to $150 for their next --it's not good."
and now, skippy's personal opinion: he and mrs. skippy bought a very expensive tv monitor back in the early 90's (when we had an economy). the tv has a huge number of pixels in its definition refresh, and, coupled with a cable tv signal, gives a damn fine picture. we have seen digital tv in department store show rooms, and it actually doesn't look any better -- in fact, we think, worse. there's kind of a funny bunch of teeny tiny lines running horizontally through everybody's face. it just doesn't look like anything we want the government forcing us to buy so they can make money.
it's just another one of the many bush administration programs that makes us want to cry.
posted by skippy at
10:14 PM |
0
comments
this sub-title is self-referential
take the stupid on line quiz which stupid on line quiz are you? it turns out skippy is the "which random object or idea are you?" quiz. we could have told you that...
(thanks a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to the citizen of the world at mindscapes, heartstrings and soul-searching!)
and while we're at it, this is scary (thanks to inkgrrl).
take the stupid on line quiz which stupid on line quiz are you? it turns out skippy is the "which random object or idea are you?" quiz. we could have told you that...
(thanks a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to the citizen of the world at mindscapes, heartstrings and soul-searching!)
and while we're at it, this is scary (thanks to inkgrrl).
posted by skippy at
7:09 PM |
0
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coming this summer! bad fall preview commercials
there's two commercials about upcoming fall tv shows that have gotten our attention, and not in a good way. one opens with a young couple nattering at each other, something along these lines:
he: if i'd known the last time we made love would be the last time we made love, i'd have thrown in some better moves.
she: you have better moves?
he: i could have. if i had known...
announcer: hidden hills. it's like your life. only funnier.
analysis: i don't think so.
and, then, the award for the most poorly written copy goes to this one:
coming this fall, on cbs, from the writer of "spider-man" and "panic room"...hack!
analysis: doesn't anybody read these things before they tape them?
there's two commercials about upcoming fall tv shows that have gotten our attention, and not in a good way. one opens with a young couple nattering at each other, something along these lines:
he: if i'd known the last time we made love would be the last time we made love, i'd have thrown in some better moves.
she: you have better moves?
he: i could have. if i had known...
announcer: hidden hills. it's like your life. only funnier.
analysis: i don't think so.
and, then, the award for the most poorly written copy goes to this one:
coming this fall, on cbs, from the writer of "spider-man" and "panic room"...hack!
analysis: doesn't anybody read these things before they tape them?
posted by skippy at
6:21 PM |
0
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and you think you have trouble balancing your checkbook?
worldcom admitted it found another $3.3 billion (with a 'b,' darling) improperly-reported earnings in its financial restatements, bringing the total amount that they fudged up to $7.68 billion.
basically, what they did on a large, multi-national scale, was a bit like when you or i kite checks...write a check to cover a check that we wrote to cover a check that we wrote before that, and hope that we get some money to put in the account before the chickens come home to roost, or at least till the checks clear, or the authorities catch on to us.
well, both the chickens and the authorities got ahold of worldcom, which fired cfo scott sullivan at the end of june and declared bankruptcy in july, then sullivan was arrested last week. but worldcom is just the tip of the iceberg heading towards our titanic national economy. next week is the deadline set by the sec for ceo's and cfo's to certify their companies' financial statements (ie, sign their name to the financial reports, oh yeah, that'll help). opinion is mixed as to whether next week's deadline will help or hinder the market. we are not betting on this ourselves, having put all our money in the qqq when it was at 78.
here's a great scorecard page of corporate corruption from cnn, a subsidiary of aol time warner. the page contains links to reports about the major players who are in trouble, including poor martha stewart, whose buddy, mariana pasternak, is slated to testify against martha concerning the jet flight where ms. stewart allegedly sold her imclone stock based on insider information.
worldcom admitted it found another $3.3 billion (with a 'b,' darling) improperly-reported earnings in its financial restatements, bringing the total amount that they fudged up to $7.68 billion.
basically, what they did on a large, multi-national scale, was a bit like when you or i kite checks...write a check to cover a check that we wrote to cover a check that we wrote before that, and hope that we get some money to put in the account before the chickens come home to roost, or at least till the checks clear, or the authorities catch on to us.
well, both the chickens and the authorities got ahold of worldcom, which fired cfo scott sullivan at the end of june and declared bankruptcy in july, then sullivan was arrested last week. but worldcom is just the tip of the iceberg heading towards our titanic national economy. next week is the deadline set by the sec for ceo's and cfo's to certify their companies' financial statements (ie, sign their name to the financial reports, oh yeah, that'll help). opinion is mixed as to whether next week's deadline will help or hinder the market. we are not betting on this ourselves, having put all our money in the qqq when it was at 78.
here's a great scorecard page of corporate corruption from cnn, a subsidiary of aol time warner. the page contains links to reports about the major players who are in trouble, including poor martha stewart, whose buddy, mariana pasternak, is slated to testify against martha concerning the jet flight where ms. stewart allegedly sold her imclone stock based on insider information.
posted by skippy at
4:50 PM |
0
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just the fax, ma'am
once again, here's your weekly reminder to use the phone company link (on the right side of this page) to send free faxes to your congressjerks in washington via your browser's email system.
once again, here's your weekly reminder to use the phone company link (on the right side of this page) to send free faxes to your congressjerks in washington via your browser's email system.
posted by skippy at
4:05 PM |
0
comments
use an email, lose your job
the folks at la weekly are reporting that one brian robin, a reporter at the la times, was summarily dismissed from his job for mailing a highly partisan email to a congressman from his work computer.
apparently while surfing the great blog bartcop (a daily read for us since the 2000 election, and the place we found the link to this story), mr. robin read a screed by republican congressman bill thomas. mr. robin then composed a particulary snide but still civil rebuttal to the congressman, but then, in mr. robin's own words, he "brainfarted."
"his personal e-mail server wasn't working, so he sent his critical message on his company's e-mail system," the weekly reports. "two days later, he got a phone call from thomas' office simply asking him to confirm that he worked at the times. he did so. later that day, he was summoned by tom johnson, lead editor of the times' community sections, and suspended; a week later, he was terminated. 'i knew when I was called in on the 23rd that I would be fired,' he says. 'my boss went to the mat for me on it, but it was clearly a done deal'."
to be fair to the times, as if we have to be, they do have a written policy forbidding the use of their email system for personal mail. however it's our opinion at skippy that being fired is overkill, when a reprimand, or at most, a suspension for a couple of days, would have driven home the point.
this, along with the draconian on line registering policy just to read their stupid stories, makes skippy long for the days of the old los angeles examiner.
the folks at la weekly are reporting that one brian robin, a reporter at the la times, was summarily dismissed from his job for mailing a highly partisan email to a congressman from his work computer.
apparently while surfing the great blog bartcop (a daily read for us since the 2000 election, and the place we found the link to this story), mr. robin read a screed by republican congressman bill thomas. mr. robin then composed a particulary snide but still civil rebuttal to the congressman, but then, in mr. robin's own words, he "brainfarted."
"his personal e-mail server wasn't working, so he sent his critical message on his company's e-mail system," the weekly reports. "two days later, he got a phone call from thomas' office simply asking him to confirm that he worked at the times. he did so. later that day, he was summoned by tom johnson, lead editor of the times' community sections, and suspended; a week later, he was terminated. 'i knew when I was called in on the 23rd that I would be fired,' he says. 'my boss went to the mat for me on it, but it was clearly a done deal'."
to be fair to the times, as if we have to be, they do have a written policy forbidding the use of their email system for personal mail. however it's our opinion at skippy that being fired is overkill, when a reprimand, or at most, a suspension for a couple of days, would have driven home the point.
this, along with the draconian on line registering policy just to read their stupid stories, makes skippy long for the days of the old los angeles examiner.
posted by skippy at
11:58 AM |
0
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new friends, new links
say hello to some new links we enjoy.
first a rousing "g'day, mate" to tim dunlop of the road to surfdom. tim is from down under in australia, and has been visiting our site for some time now. apparently he thinks it has something to with kangaroos. now what ever would give him that idea?
and i'd like to welcome inkgrrl, who is a married writer living in los angeles. i, also, am a married writer living in los angeles, so i am interested in what she has to say. the only difference is, she has blonde hair, and i have no hair.
then, go check out to seeing the forest, who tells me he "was one of those demonstrators in the streets when nixon was president." i thought i was the only one left! aren't they dead yet? glad to have him aboard.
finally, for the best non-sequitor since monty python broke up, visit the brunching shuttle cocks. subversive humor at its silliest.
say hello to some new links we enjoy.
first a rousing "g'day, mate" to tim dunlop of the road to surfdom. tim is from down under in australia, and has been visiting our site for some time now. apparently he thinks it has something to with kangaroos. now what ever would give him that idea?
and i'd like to welcome inkgrrl, who is a married writer living in los angeles. i, also, am a married writer living in los angeles, so i am interested in what she has to say. the only difference is, she has blonde hair, and i have no hair.
then, go check out to seeing the forest, who tells me he "was one of those demonstrators in the streets when nixon was president." i thought i was the only one left! aren't they dead yet? glad to have him aboard.
finally, for the best non-sequitor since monty python broke up, visit the brunching shuttle cocks. subversive humor at its silliest.
posted by skippy at
11:29 AM |
0
comments
Thursday, August 08, 2002
making the trains run on time, just off track
joshua micah marshall, he of talking points memo authorship, gives us all a sneak preview into his upcoming article in the washington monthly on line, examining george w.'s mythos of competence, and comparing it to the reality of, well, reality.
"the bush administration was full of plans to defy the laws of political gravity," mr. marshall writes. "they would grab the third rail of american politics--social security--and seniors wouldn't notice. they would expand their cut of the african-american vote by tossing a few faith-based grants to black ministers, without blacks noticing the anti-civil rights judges they were appointing. most audaciously, they would overcome a solid consensus in favor of moderate environmental laws by setting the public's desire for a clean environment against its fears of a deteriorating economy."
mr. marshall concludes: "until now, the bush administration has been trading on the promise that all of these things would work out. but that leaves them in the position of a company that borrows against future profits (enron, for instance) or an overextended investor who is buying stock on margin. when the bubble bursts, they will have a long way to fall."
kind of like wile e. coyote in those road runner cartoons.
joshua micah marshall, he of talking points memo authorship, gives us all a sneak preview into his upcoming article in the washington monthly on line, examining george w.'s mythos of competence, and comparing it to the reality of, well, reality.
"the bush administration was full of plans to defy the laws of political gravity," mr. marshall writes. "they would grab the third rail of american politics--social security--and seniors wouldn't notice. they would expand their cut of the african-american vote by tossing a few faith-based grants to black ministers, without blacks noticing the anti-civil rights judges they were appointing. most audaciously, they would overcome a solid consensus in favor of moderate environmental laws by setting the public's desire for a clean environment against its fears of a deteriorating economy."
mr. marshall concludes: "until now, the bush administration has been trading on the promise that all of these things would work out. but that leaves them in the position of a company that borrows against future profits (enron, for instance) or an overextended investor who is buying stock on margin. when the bubble bursts, they will have a long way to fall."
kind of like wile e. coyote in those road runner cartoons.
posted by skippy at
9:35 PM |
0
comments
how greed is my valley
being a los angelesian, if he can make up a word on the spot, skippy is sooner or later obliged to address the valley secession issue. now, anybody who doesn't live in southern california can easily skip this post. but for most of the population of the second largest city in the usa, the concept of the san fernando valley incorporating into its own city, and taking its tax revenues with it, is a great concern.
what are skippy's feelings about the whole thing? ambivalent, at best. we suppose if the valley wants to be its own city, let 'em. as to the arguement that it won't be part of a "world-class city" if it breaks away, we say, come on, we both know what you're worried about is losing the suburb's money to fix the down town pot holes. but, as with many problems, skippy has only looked at it superficially.
however, in our surfing around the net, we have found a wonderful, maddenly non-partisan web site, called valley secession fever, devoted specifically to this issue. one b. fernandez trolls the net for stories on both sides of the equation and presents them without rancor or sarcasm, something skippy should try to do more often.
here is b. fernandez's fine study of the recent allegations that mayor jimmy "my daddy was a big shot" hahn was playing quid pro quo with plush city contracts for anti-secession endorsements, something of a scandal here on the left coast.
and if your local city political tastes run to the more partisan, there's plenty of links to those kinds of blogs on the site too. recommended surfing for all angelesiano's.
being a los angelesian, if he can make up a word on the spot, skippy is sooner or later obliged to address the valley secession issue. now, anybody who doesn't live in southern california can easily skip this post. but for most of the population of the second largest city in the usa, the concept of the san fernando valley incorporating into its own city, and taking its tax revenues with it, is a great concern.
what are skippy's feelings about the whole thing? ambivalent, at best. we suppose if the valley wants to be its own city, let 'em. as to the arguement that it won't be part of a "world-class city" if it breaks away, we say, come on, we both know what you're worried about is losing the suburb's money to fix the down town pot holes. but, as with many problems, skippy has only looked at it superficially.
however, in our surfing around the net, we have found a wonderful, maddenly non-partisan web site, called valley secession fever, devoted specifically to this issue. one b. fernandez trolls the net for stories on both sides of the equation and presents them without rancor or sarcasm, something skippy should try to do more often.
here is b. fernandez's fine study of the recent allegations that mayor jimmy "my daddy was a big shot" hahn was playing quid pro quo with plush city contracts for anti-secession endorsements, something of a scandal here on the left coast.
and if your local city political tastes run to the more partisan, there's plenty of links to those kinds of blogs on the site too. recommended surfing for all angelesiano's.
posted by skippy at
8:44 PM |
0
comments
viva las vegas
giving us all another reason to love nevada, the board of nevada conference of police and sheriffs voted to support decriminalizing possession of marijuana. "under the proposal, marijuana would be sold in state-licensed shops and taxed like cigarettes and other tobacco products. a distribution system would also be set up to provide low-cost pot for medical uses."
we'd walk a mile for a panama red. even in the nevada desert.
giving us all another reason to love nevada, the board of nevada conference of police and sheriffs voted to support decriminalizing possession of marijuana. "under the proposal, marijuana would be sold in state-licensed shops and taxed like cigarettes and other tobacco products. a distribution system would also be set up to provide low-cost pot for medical uses."
we'd walk a mile for a panama red. even in the nevada desert.
posted by skippy at
3:53 PM |
0
comments
wall street, new york, what a wonderful town; the market's up but the economy's down
skippy is always ready to give credit where credit is due. he's been complaining about the market tanking these past few weeks; so he is happy to report that the dow posted its third triple digit gain in as many days, for the first time in 17 months.
but don't break out the bubbly yet. cbs news.com says "the market's run-up failed to dazzle analysts, who attributed it largely to technical factors rather than a turnaround in investor sentiment or business fundamentals. analysts were guarded, refusing to declare that wall street had finally bottomed out and was on a new upward path, and saying that investors remain nervous about committing to stocks."
sounds like a perfect time to make the tax cut permanent.
skippy is always ready to give credit where credit is due. he's been complaining about the market tanking these past few weeks; so he is happy to report that the dow posted its third triple digit gain in as many days, for the first time in 17 months.
but don't break out the bubbly yet. cbs news.com says "the market's run-up failed to dazzle analysts, who attributed it largely to technical factors rather than a turnaround in investor sentiment or business fundamentals. analysts were guarded, refusing to declare that wall street had finally bottomed out and was on a new upward path, and saying that investors remain nervous about committing to stocks."
sounds like a perfect time to make the tax cut permanent.
posted by skippy at
3:09 PM |
0
comments
save a place for me in hell
readers of this space will recall a recent rant of ours about how the other side of the political spectrum seems to come up with all the ideas, true or not, that seem to have traction with the zeitgeist (ie, welfare causes poverty, environmental laws are bad for the earth, etc etc.) one that really grinds our porkchops is the idea of "moral relativism." apparently, because our morals don't conform with theirs, ours are on some kind of cosmic sliding scale, that adjusts to the situation. now, anybody with morals know, that's not the definition of morals. morals are absolute. but just because our morals don't line up with the ones someone else is interpreting from a book centuries old that's been translated from ancient hebrew to ancient greek to middle english, doesn't mean ours aren't valid.
but, as we pointed out in our previous essay on the subject of memes ("thanks for the memes," saturday, aug. 3) what we'd like to see happen is that the very ideas the right are propigating would be turned around back on them. in the case of moral relativism, we would humbly suggest that many on the right are guilty of "biblical relativism." that is to say, they quote the scriptures that fit their agenda, and conveniently forget the other ones.
in our research, we find the bible speaking on the subject of homosexuality a mere 4 times. oh, there are plenty of times the bible talks about sodom, or abusers, or sinners or abominations, but specific references to men being with men (or hot girl on girl action -- sorry, i mean, women with women) are limited to corinthians 6:9, leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, romans 1:27, and 1 timothy 1:8. of course, the bible condemns it in varying fashions. but we hate to bring up this old chesnut; leviticus also warns against eating shell fish, having intercourse during mentration, wearing cloths of two different fibers, and, our favorite, self abuse.
there are those more versed in the bible (pun intended) than we, who will tell us that some of these laws are moral codes, and some are ethical codes, and that jesus was crucified to exempt us from those ethical codes (it's ok, bobby, jesus died so we can eat at red lobster). but this is what we mean by biblical relativism. how nice for the followers of rev. sheldon, that all the inconvenient prohibitions were settled by jesus's death and resurrection. but the ones that a certain cultural mindset really hates, well, what do you know, god really hates them, too! lucky for everyone, eh? good thing madge doesn't have to sit in that special chair when she's on the rag!
here is a fine analysis, by rev. michael piazza, of this whole homosexual-stuff-is-bad-god-says-so thing, and where various interpretations came from. rev. piazza says that "in the context of the new testament there is no record of jesus saying anything about homosexuality. this ought to strike us as very odd in light of the great threat to christianity, family life, and the american way that some would have us believe homosexuality is. jesus saw injustice and religious hypocrisy as a far greater threat to the realm of god."
it would be nice of those on the left would start meeting any accusations of "moral relativism" with equally strong observations of "biblical relativism." or at least a verse of "i'm rubber and you're glue and everything you say bounces off me and sticks to you."
readers of this space will recall a recent rant of ours about how the other side of the political spectrum seems to come up with all the ideas, true or not, that seem to have traction with the zeitgeist (ie, welfare causes poverty, environmental laws are bad for the earth, etc etc.) one that really grinds our porkchops is the idea of "moral relativism." apparently, because our morals don't conform with theirs, ours are on some kind of cosmic sliding scale, that adjusts to the situation. now, anybody with morals know, that's not the definition of morals. morals are absolute. but just because our morals don't line up with the ones someone else is interpreting from a book centuries old that's been translated from ancient hebrew to ancient greek to middle english, doesn't mean ours aren't valid.
but, as we pointed out in our previous essay on the subject of memes ("thanks for the memes," saturday, aug. 3) what we'd like to see happen is that the very ideas the right are propigating would be turned around back on them. in the case of moral relativism, we would humbly suggest that many on the right are guilty of "biblical relativism." that is to say, they quote the scriptures that fit their agenda, and conveniently forget the other ones.
in our research, we find the bible speaking on the subject of homosexuality a mere 4 times. oh, there are plenty of times the bible talks about sodom, or abusers, or sinners or abominations, but specific references to men being with men (or hot girl on girl action -- sorry, i mean, women with women) are limited to corinthians 6:9, leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, romans 1:27, and 1 timothy 1:8. of course, the bible condemns it in varying fashions. but we hate to bring up this old chesnut; leviticus also warns against eating shell fish, having intercourse during mentration, wearing cloths of two different fibers, and, our favorite, self abuse.
there are those more versed in the bible (pun intended) than we, who will tell us that some of these laws are moral codes, and some are ethical codes, and that jesus was crucified to exempt us from those ethical codes (it's ok, bobby, jesus died so we can eat at red lobster). but this is what we mean by biblical relativism. how nice for the followers of rev. sheldon, that all the inconvenient prohibitions were settled by jesus's death and resurrection. but the ones that a certain cultural mindset really hates, well, what do you know, god really hates them, too! lucky for everyone, eh? good thing madge doesn't have to sit in that special chair when she's on the rag!
here is a fine analysis, by rev. michael piazza, of this whole homosexual-stuff-is-bad-god-says-so thing, and where various interpretations came from. rev. piazza says that "in the context of the new testament there is no record of jesus saying anything about homosexuality. this ought to strike us as very odd in light of the great threat to christianity, family life, and the american way that some would have us believe homosexuality is. jesus saw injustice and religious hypocrisy as a far greater threat to the realm of god."
it would be nice of those on the left would start meeting any accusations of "moral relativism" with equally strong observations of "biblical relativism." or at least a verse of "i'm rubber and you're glue and everything you say bounces off me and sticks to you."
posted by skippy at
2:29 PM |
0
comments
Wednesday, August 07, 2002
coulter, congress, and rumsfeld, all mad
but one is crazy mad and the other two are angry mad. and who else to tell us about it other than mad kane, who will link you to joe conason's column gossiping that ann coulter's publishers, crown, "are in deep consultation with the wacky winger about correcting at least one atrocious slander in her bestselling book" slander. apparently the nyt did put a picture of dale earnhardt on its front page. well, now skippy can sleep at nights.
madelyn also takes us to a story from the hill magazine that details how even republican congress people are steamed at the administration's tendency to keep secrets. and finally, she links us to the washington post story observing donald rumsfeld's fury over the recent leaks about a defense department briefing in which our pal, saudi arabia, was described as being less than "our pal."
surf on over there and enjoy.
but one is crazy mad and the other two are angry mad. and who else to tell us about it other than mad kane, who will link you to joe conason's column gossiping that ann coulter's publishers, crown, "are in deep consultation with the wacky winger about correcting at least one atrocious slander in her bestselling book" slander. apparently the nyt did put a picture of dale earnhardt on its front page. well, now skippy can sleep at nights.
madelyn also takes us to a story from the hill magazine that details how even republican congress people are steamed at the administration's tendency to keep secrets. and finally, she links us to the washington post story observing donald rumsfeld's fury over the recent leaks about a defense department briefing in which our pal, saudi arabia, was described as being less than "our pal."
surf on over there and enjoy.
posted by skippy at
7:36 PM |
0
comments
when they outlaw guns, only republican congressmen will have guns
according to the atlanta journal-constitution, a gun accidentally fired while it was being handled by republican bob barr and a local lobbyist. rep. barr's campaign acknowledged that "an antique .38-caliber pistol accidentally discharged as it passed between the congressman and the host of a neighborhood reception in north fulton county."
luckily, nobody was hurt, except a glass door, which apparently was trying to vote democrat. the lobbyist who handed the gun to rep. barr, bruce widener, said "nobody was in any danger. we were handling it safely, except that it was loaded."
good thing they weren't handling it unsafely. (and a big skippy thanks a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to ethel the blog for linking us to that story!)
according to the atlanta journal-constitution, a gun accidentally fired while it was being handled by republican bob barr and a local lobbyist. rep. barr's campaign acknowledged that "an antique .38-caliber pistol accidentally discharged as it passed between the congressman and the host of a neighborhood reception in north fulton county."
luckily, nobody was hurt, except a glass door, which apparently was trying to vote democrat. the lobbyist who handed the gun to rep. barr, bruce widener, said "nobody was in any danger. we were handling it safely, except that it was loaded."
good thing they weren't handling it unsafely. (and a big skippy thanks a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to ethel the blog for linking us to that story!)
posted by skippy at
6:58 PM |
0
comments
computer activism
the folks at working for change have a few action alerts that you can participate in from the comfort of your own computer. here's one to help defeat the bankruptcy bill. and then this action alert will help you register your displeasure at the idea of the homeland security department. and this one will let you send big bird a 'thank you' for having the guts to consider using an hiv-positive muppet on sesame street.
the folks at working for change have a few action alerts that you can participate in from the comfort of your own computer. here's one to help defeat the bankruptcy bill. and then this action alert will help you register your displeasure at the idea of the homeland security department. and this one will let you send big bird a 'thank you' for having the guts to consider using an hiv-positive muppet on sesame street.
posted by skippy at
6:12 PM |
0
comments
it takes a soldier to know war
skippy was pleased to read eric alterman today and not have to cringe at the idea that john fogerty is a genius. instead, mr. alterman published letters he'd received, many from veterans of this great country, weighing in on many things, including the public perceptions of viet nam vets, the struggle to get benefits after desert storm, and the need for congressional and not just executive declaration of war against iraq.
some exerpts:
"..the claim that more vietnam veterans have committed suicide than died in the war is outrageous. the suicide rate for vietnam veterans is no higher than for nonveterans. this is also true of the drug-abuse, homelessness and incarceration rates..."
"...there are many of us who went. We are still paying for carrying out our government’s directives. yet the government itself-which is supposed to be by, of and for us-has gotten away clean, without paying for its aggression. It is the soldier who pays. and will continue to pay. it is always the soldier..."
"...those who served became the scapegoat for all that was wrong, socially and politically. upon their return, instead of joy and welcome, society as a whole left their sons and brothers ashamed, wondering if the death so many had any true purpose..."
"i’m a ‘nam vet. all I can tell you is two things: 1. i wish I could have been there to throw the first shovel of dirt on lbj. 2. my son will not go to fight in this current illegal war. If I have to give up everything to protect him then I will do so."
"...many veterans feel that the va [veterans' administration] is waiting for the army to die, then the problem will be gone. In a way many of us are still fighting the war in vietnam, a war that should have been over decades ago..."
"..i am in the process of defending my country if it calls on me to do so. however, I want the backing of my senators and congressmen to be behind me if I will put my life as well as my soldier’s life in harms way. Not just one man who is my commander in chief..."
"...i wonder what the founding fathers would think of the way that our government operates. i suspect that, were they alive today, we would soon find ourselves in the middle of another revolutionary war. i would gladly join them to help in returning the governance of this country to the people for whom they fought to honorably and bravely..."
"...sure enough, gulf war syndrome ensued and the govt fought claims. my husband is still trying to get the compensation he is entitled to..."
"...the old men responsible for the war have long passed. they got away with their lies and half truths. i could go on but who cares. just remember war is a old man’s game where young men die."
it's an incredibly moving column. please read it.
skippy was pleased to read eric alterman today and not have to cringe at the idea that john fogerty is a genius. instead, mr. alterman published letters he'd received, many from veterans of this great country, weighing in on many things, including the public perceptions of viet nam vets, the struggle to get benefits after desert storm, and the need for congressional and not just executive declaration of war against iraq.
some exerpts:
"..the claim that more vietnam veterans have committed suicide than died in the war is outrageous. the suicide rate for vietnam veterans is no higher than for nonveterans. this is also true of the drug-abuse, homelessness and incarceration rates..."
"...there are many of us who went. We are still paying for carrying out our government’s directives. yet the government itself-which is supposed to be by, of and for us-has gotten away clean, without paying for its aggression. It is the soldier who pays. and will continue to pay. it is always the soldier..."
"...those who served became the scapegoat for all that was wrong, socially and politically. upon their return, instead of joy and welcome, society as a whole left their sons and brothers ashamed, wondering if the death so many had any true purpose..."
"i’m a ‘nam vet. all I can tell you is two things: 1. i wish I could have been there to throw the first shovel of dirt on lbj. 2. my son will not go to fight in this current illegal war. If I have to give up everything to protect him then I will do so."
"...many veterans feel that the va [veterans' administration] is waiting for the army to die, then the problem will be gone. In a way many of us are still fighting the war in vietnam, a war that should have been over decades ago..."
"..i am in the process of defending my country if it calls on me to do so. however, I want the backing of my senators and congressmen to be behind me if I will put my life as well as my soldier’s life in harms way. Not just one man who is my commander in chief..."
"...i wonder what the founding fathers would think of the way that our government operates. i suspect that, were they alive today, we would soon find ourselves in the middle of another revolutionary war. i would gladly join them to help in returning the governance of this country to the people for whom they fought to honorably and bravely..."
"...sure enough, gulf war syndrome ensued and the govt fought claims. my husband is still trying to get the compensation he is entitled to..."
"...the old men responsible for the war have long passed. they got away with their lies and half truths. i could go on but who cares. just remember war is a old man’s game where young men die."
it's an incredibly moving column. please read it.
posted by skippy at
6:00 PM |
0
comments
jobless recovery? how about some praiseless support?
looking around, you can find many examples of people disagreeing with poor mr. bush and mr. cheney's contentions that the economy is sound.
afl-cio president john sweeney says "essentially, the trillion dollar tax cuts passed last spring have produced no new jobs."
don harrison, of the philadelphia daily news, says about the idea of privatizing social security: "can you imagine the hysteria that would sweep through the land if people's social security savings had been invested in wall street stock, while it's been plummeting? yet our chief executive - who is consistent if nothing else - is standing by the cockamamie idea."
usa today points out "there are the economic problems worsened by the corporate scandals — a roiling stock market and sharp declines in consumer confidence — that have spotlighted weaknesses on bush's economic team."
arianna huffington asks about halliburton: "what kind of accountability can we expect when corporations are not only allowed to walk away with little more than a slap on the wrist for defrauding taxpayers but continue to be richly rewarded with government contracts?"
and, alas, we at skippy wonder aloud: "when will our 401k be ok?"
looking around, you can find many examples of people disagreeing with poor mr. bush and mr. cheney's contentions that the economy is sound.
afl-cio president john sweeney says "essentially, the trillion dollar tax cuts passed last spring have produced no new jobs."
don harrison, of the philadelphia daily news, says about the idea of privatizing social security: "can you imagine the hysteria that would sweep through the land if people's social security savings had been invested in wall street stock, while it's been plummeting? yet our chief executive - who is consistent if nothing else - is standing by the cockamamie idea."
usa today points out "there are the economic problems worsened by the corporate scandals — a roiling stock market and sharp declines in consumer confidence — that have spotlighted weaknesses on bush's economic team."
arianna huffington asks about halliburton: "what kind of accountability can we expect when corporations are not only allowed to walk away with little more than a slap on the wrist for defrauding taxpayers but continue to be richly rewarded with government contracts?"
and, alas, we at skippy wonder aloud: "when will our 401k be ok?"
posted by skippy at
4:55 PM |
0
comments
what makes you think the bush administration listens to courts?
the boston globe tells the story of the bush administration's refusal to comply with a federal court order to provide documents supporting the government's position of holding u.s. citizens incommunicado, without being charged, access to lawyers, constitutional rights, yada, yada, yada, you know the rest.
the globe says "government lawyers allowed a noon deadline to pass without handing the materials over, saying that the separation of powers clause of the constitution gave the executive branch the authority to make that determination." apparently, the bush administration is interpreting "separation of powers" to mean 'separating everybody in america from their power.'
this whole brou-ha-ha is over the so-called 'second american taliban,' yaser esam hamdi, who was captured in afghanistan fighting against us forces, but who is american-born, and, under the rules of the last millenium, would be due all rights guaranteed citizens under the constitution. [editor's note: them were the days!]
us district judge robert doumar, whose order is being denied by the administration, is expected to hear arguments tomorrow on the government's ability to classify hamdi as an "enemy combatant," and thus effectively disappear him out of the range of normal constitutional rights (sarcasm ours, not the judge's).
this blanket approach to the denial of american citizens their constitutional rights is so egregious, that even the right-wing sierra times has an editorial calling it "the kind of stories [sic] we've heard about from places like china and the old soviet union." the american bar association is considering a formal recommendation to congress to intervene in the administration's denial of access to lawyers for the enemy combatants.
look for a constitutional tussle tomorrow, folks!
the boston globe tells the story of the bush administration's refusal to comply with a federal court order to provide documents supporting the government's position of holding u.s. citizens incommunicado, without being charged, access to lawyers, constitutional rights, yada, yada, yada, you know the rest.
the globe says "government lawyers allowed a noon deadline to pass without handing the materials over, saying that the separation of powers clause of the constitution gave the executive branch the authority to make that determination." apparently, the bush administration is interpreting "separation of powers" to mean 'separating everybody in america from their power.'
this whole brou-ha-ha is over the so-called 'second american taliban,' yaser esam hamdi, who was captured in afghanistan fighting against us forces, but who is american-born, and, under the rules of the last millenium, would be due all rights guaranteed citizens under the constitution. [editor's note: them were the days!]
us district judge robert doumar, whose order is being denied by the administration, is expected to hear arguments tomorrow on the government's ability to classify hamdi as an "enemy combatant," and thus effectively disappear him out of the range of normal constitutional rights (sarcasm ours, not the judge's).
this blanket approach to the denial of american citizens their constitutional rights is so egregious, that even the right-wing sierra times has an editorial calling it "the kind of stories [sic] we've heard about from places like china and the old soviet union." the american bar association is considering a formal recommendation to congress to intervene in the administration's denial of access to lawyers for the enemy combatants.
look for a constitutional tussle tomorrow, folks!
posted by skippy at
4:41 PM |
0
comments
stranger than headlines
necklace that was swallowed and passed through thief's digestive tract to be put on ebay
theif's toilet paper to be auctioned at southeby's
power failure at jamaican palace leaves visiting presidents in the dark
in america, george w. bush says "so what else is new?"
computers missing from u.s. military headquarters
attorney general john ashcroft still looking for marbles
dear abby creator has alzheimer's
thinks she's ann landers
medical center recalling body parts
middle fingers involunatarily standing upright
man puts curse on sewer system
the hard part was finding a voodoo doll shaped like a sewer system
tyco exec used company money for $6000 shower curtain
company's stock now going down 15 million dollar toilet
bush renews pledge to fight fraud
mistakenly believes saddam hussein's middle name is "fraud"
necklace that was swallowed and passed through thief's digestive tract to be put on ebay
theif's toilet paper to be auctioned at southeby's
power failure at jamaican palace leaves visiting presidents in the dark
in america, george w. bush says "so what else is new?"
computers missing from u.s. military headquarters
attorney general john ashcroft still looking for marbles
dear abby creator has alzheimer's
thinks she's ann landers
medical center recalling body parts
middle fingers involunatarily standing upright
man puts curse on sewer system
the hard part was finding a voodoo doll shaped like a sewer system
tyco exec used company money for $6000 shower curtain
company's stock now going down 15 million dollar toilet
bush renews pledge to fight fraud
mistakenly believes saddam hussein's middle name is "fraud"
posted by skippy at
12:20 PM |
0
comments
Tuesday, August 06, 2002
live evil
the rumor that ann coulter was hosting cnn's crossfire on monday turned out to be correct. and, as we anticipated, the live audience there at george washington university, along with paul begala and various democratic guests, didn't let ms. coulter get away with her usual half-baked screeds.
a look at the transcripts will bear us out, although, watching it in real life would prove our point even more. the transcripts have records of only four occurances of applause. the first was when the guests were introduced, but then, begala mentioned "after clinton taxes on the rich, did we grow or shrink? did we create 23 million jobs, balance the budget, ignite the greatest economic expansion in the country or not?" the audience broke into applause, cutting off former congressman republican bob walker, in mid-sentence.
the second ovation came when democratic consultant mark mellman responded to annthrax's screed asserting that the middle class mainly votes republican. mr. mellman retorted, "you know what, there are middle class people in new york and california, believe it or not. but the reality is, al gore won the popular vote in this country. more people voted for al gore than voted for george bush." even wilder applause.
but the best one was saved for last on the transcript. at this point, after annthrax chided everyone for caring that some american citizens are being held by the justice department without being charged, or having access to attorneys, or just their basic constitutional rights, she was debated by julian epstein, attorney of the dems. he started off: "well, first of all, as usual, ann, you get about three-quarters of the facts wrong in your question to me. first of all, there have been about 1,200 people..." at which point the audience broke into an amazing ovation, cutting off mr. epstein.
however, let us go on the record stating that the cnn transcribers don't do real life justice. there were many more applauses, (or is that 'applausi'?) during the program that they failed to record. and, to be fair, annthrax got a smattering of kudos when she mentioned clinton returning chinese phone calls. but there were many more instances of the audience applauding anybody who would correct ann's twisting of facts.
imagine the temerity of these people, questioning ann! i'm telling you, it's just plain slander.
the rumor that ann coulter was hosting cnn's crossfire on monday turned out to be correct. and, as we anticipated, the live audience there at george washington university, along with paul begala and various democratic guests, didn't let ms. coulter get away with her usual half-baked screeds.
a look at the transcripts will bear us out, although, watching it in real life would prove our point even more. the transcripts have records of only four occurances of applause. the first was when the guests were introduced, but then, begala mentioned "after clinton taxes on the rich, did we grow or shrink? did we create 23 million jobs, balance the budget, ignite the greatest economic expansion in the country or not?" the audience broke into applause, cutting off former congressman republican bob walker, in mid-sentence.
the second ovation came when democratic consultant mark mellman responded to annthrax's screed asserting that the middle class mainly votes republican. mr. mellman retorted, "you know what, there are middle class people in new york and california, believe it or not. but the reality is, al gore won the popular vote in this country. more people voted for al gore than voted for george bush." even wilder applause.
but the best one was saved for last on the transcript. at this point, after annthrax chided everyone for caring that some american citizens are being held by the justice department without being charged, or having access to attorneys, or just their basic constitutional rights, she was debated by julian epstein, attorney of the dems. he started off: "well, first of all, as usual, ann, you get about three-quarters of the facts wrong in your question to me. first of all, there have been about 1,200 people..." at which point the audience broke into an amazing ovation, cutting off mr. epstein.
however, let us go on the record stating that the cnn transcribers don't do real life justice. there were many more applauses, (or is that 'applausi'?) during the program that they failed to record. and, to be fair, annthrax got a smattering of kudos when she mentioned clinton returning chinese phone calls. but there were many more instances of the audience applauding anybody who would correct ann's twisting of facts.
imagine the temerity of these people, questioning ann! i'm telling you, it's just plain slander.
posted by skippy at
11:35 AM |
0
comments
prosperity is just around the corner
thomas oliphant, in the boston globe, has an editoral about poor mr. bush's various minions trying to put the best face on a disastrous set of numbers on the economic front.
oliphant mentions labor secretary elaine cho's analysis of the fact that the new job rate, which skyrocketed to over 66,000 in june, plummeted back to earth with a paltry 6,000 in july (10 times less than expected, as was reported in this space a few days ago). ms. chao said "the country should take heart from the fact that the unemployment rate 'was essentially unchanged'." in other words, yeah, we didn't go forward, but aren't we glad we didn't go back this time?
mr. oliphant says that ms. chao's assesment was "absurd, and it will only heighten suspicions that conditions must be serious if bush advisers go to such silly lengths to fudge the obvious." he says "the puny figure of 6,000 [new jobs] recorded last month represents a return to the so-called jobless recovery pace since the spring." there's that term again, jobless recovery. isn't that a bit like saying, "hey, don't worry, you have a moneyless income"?
then mr. oliphant turns to glenn hubbard, mr. bush's chairman of economic advisors. mr. oliphant says that "hubbard is a white house favorite because he is a reliably true-believing conservative. what pleases a president's base of political support, however, is usually useless for everyone else..." mr. oliphant takes mr. hubbard to task for saying that since the gross domestic product's growth was a measly 1.1% instead of the projected 5%, that the original estimated average of 3% was right on the money [pun ours, not mr. hubbard's].
"nice try, but that message is spin, not analysis," mr. oliphant retorts. "the fact is that the 'real' economy's output of goods and services shrank during the second quarter." he goes on to chastize poor mr. bush, because the white house's assertion "that all this news shows the country is 'heading in the right direction' is fatuous, about as helpful to confidence as were his remarks during the recent stock market plunges."
now, we at skippy realize that today there is a stock market rally, which is making up a little less than half the ground lost in the last 3 trading days, but we think this editorial is still relevant. we also would like to thank max speak for giving us a mention in his great blog, and for reminding us of a great title for this post.
thomas oliphant, in the boston globe, has an editoral about poor mr. bush's various minions trying to put the best face on a disastrous set of numbers on the economic front.
oliphant mentions labor secretary elaine cho's analysis of the fact that the new job rate, which skyrocketed to over 66,000 in june, plummeted back to earth with a paltry 6,000 in july (10 times less than expected, as was reported in this space a few days ago). ms. chao said "the country should take heart from the fact that the unemployment rate 'was essentially unchanged'." in other words, yeah, we didn't go forward, but aren't we glad we didn't go back this time?
mr. oliphant says that ms. chao's assesment was "absurd, and it will only heighten suspicions that conditions must be serious if bush advisers go to such silly lengths to fudge the obvious." he says "the puny figure of 6,000 [new jobs] recorded last month represents a return to the so-called jobless recovery pace since the spring." there's that term again, jobless recovery. isn't that a bit like saying, "hey, don't worry, you have a moneyless income"?
then mr. oliphant turns to glenn hubbard, mr. bush's chairman of economic advisors. mr. oliphant says that "hubbard is a white house favorite because he is a reliably true-believing conservative. what pleases a president's base of political support, however, is usually useless for everyone else..." mr. oliphant takes mr. hubbard to task for saying that since the gross domestic product's growth was a measly 1.1% instead of the projected 5%, that the original estimated average of 3% was right on the money [pun ours, not mr. hubbard's].
"nice try, but that message is spin, not analysis," mr. oliphant retorts. "the fact is that the 'real' economy's output of goods and services shrank during the second quarter." he goes on to chastize poor mr. bush, because the white house's assertion "that all this news shows the country is 'heading in the right direction' is fatuous, about as helpful to confidence as were his remarks during the recent stock market plunges."
now, we at skippy realize that today there is a stock market rally, which is making up a little less than half the ground lost in the last 3 trading days, but we think this editorial is still relevant. we also would like to thank max speak for giving us a mention in his great blog, and for reminding us of a great title for this post.
posted by skippy at
11:07 AM |
0
comments
just call him joe stallin'
the boston globe reports that saddam hussein's second invitation for an inspection of iraq's weaponry facilities was rebuffed by congress.
"us officials rejected last week's overture from baghdad and looked skeptically at yesterday's invitation," the story says. it goes on to say that senator joe 'bidin' my time' biden called "baghdad's latest invitation to congressional members part of Iraq's 'stalling tactics'." yeah, probably. stalling the war.
the boston globe reports that saddam hussein's second invitation for an inspection of iraq's weaponry facilities was rebuffed by congress.
"us officials rejected last week's overture from baghdad and looked skeptically at yesterday's invitation," the story says. it goes on to say that senator joe 'bidin' my time' biden called "baghdad's latest invitation to congressional members part of Iraq's 'stalling tactics'." yeah, probably. stalling the war.
posted by skippy at
10:45 AM |
0
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Monday, August 05, 2002
economist, audit thyself
everyone's favorite tv money analyst, lou dobbs, has been running a clever little feature on his cnn program moneyline, called the enron score board. (scroll down to third commercial break in the transcript). it's an obstensively cute little satire device to drive home just how scott-free ken lay and his buddies from enron have gotten away with corporate malfeasance (or, if i were mr. bush, "malfeance"). each day, the number of total indictments of corporate fraud are measured against those specifically of enron. the punch line is, of course, enron's tally is always at zero.
lou invariably then launches into a tirade about justice, and fairness, and yada yada yada: "where are the enron indictments, where are the enron arrests? and judging by your e-mails," mr. dobbs goes on, "you're also astonished by the fact that the justice department, the sec have yet to bring a single charge against any enron executive."
not that most americans wouldn't agree with mr. dobb's sarcastic assesment of the lack of justice department's focus on mr. bush's former friend. but we wonder, is mr. dobbs doing it from a sense of moral outrage, or just plain guilt?
because, remember, lou dobbs earlier this year steadfastly insisted that arthur andersen was being unfairly persecuted by the ashcroft justice department. "no one has shown those shredded documents were material to the investigation into enron's collapse," mr. dobbs said in a commentary on march 19. "andersen is therefore accused of destroying documents that may or may not have anything to do with the enron scandal."
the wall street journal and the new york times called mr. dobbs on this. the times reported the obvious: not only did arthur andersen used to be mr. dobbs' old sponsor on moneyline, but they were his current auditor for his internet business space holdings inc.
so the question remains...just how serious are we suppose to take mr. dobbs when he chastizes the justice department?
everyone's favorite tv money analyst, lou dobbs, has been running a clever little feature on his cnn program moneyline, called the enron score board. (scroll down to third commercial break in the transcript). it's an obstensively cute little satire device to drive home just how scott-free ken lay and his buddies from enron have gotten away with corporate malfeasance (or, if i were mr. bush, "malfeance"). each day, the number of total indictments of corporate fraud are measured against those specifically of enron. the punch line is, of course, enron's tally is always at zero.
lou invariably then launches into a tirade about justice, and fairness, and yada yada yada: "where are the enron indictments, where are the enron arrests? and judging by your e-mails," mr. dobbs goes on, "you're also astonished by the fact that the justice department, the sec have yet to bring a single charge against any enron executive."
not that most americans wouldn't agree with mr. dobb's sarcastic assesment of the lack of justice department's focus on mr. bush's former friend. but we wonder, is mr. dobbs doing it from a sense of moral outrage, or just plain guilt?
because, remember, lou dobbs earlier this year steadfastly insisted that arthur andersen was being unfairly persecuted by the ashcroft justice department. "no one has shown those shredded documents were material to the investigation into enron's collapse," mr. dobbs said in a commentary on march 19. "andersen is therefore accused of destroying documents that may or may not have anything to do with the enron scandal."
the wall street journal and the new york times called mr. dobbs on this. the times reported the obvious: not only did arthur andersen used to be mr. dobbs' old sponsor on moneyline, but they were his current auditor for his internet business space holdings inc.
so the question remains...just how serious are we suppose to take mr. dobbs when he chastizes the justice department?
posted by skippy at
9:27 PM |
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center of gravitas
we've been thinking about the recent remarks made by sen. joe "more aerospace pork, please" lieberman at the recent democratic leadership council soiree. he has said, in so many words, that al gore had moved the democratic party's message away from the center by posing a populist "little guy vs. big business" stance, and, in effect, lost the 200 election that way.
my question is simply: in a democracy, isn't the concept of "the people" the exact center of things? if big business were in the exact center of things, wouldn't that be a plutocracy? (that's a society based on money, not on mickey mouse's dog, by the way). i don't seem to remember abe lincoln calling for a government "of the business, by the business, and for the business." and didn't the democratic party thrive when kennedy and lbj positioned themselves as champions of civil rights?
how can anyone say, especially in these times of no-fault enron scandal, that putting the interests of the business community is in the center? if that's so, and the people are on one side of the teeter-totter, what's on the extreme other side, balancing things out? gazillionaires?
who would support such an unbalanced view of things? oh, yeah, i remember now. joe lieberman.
we've been thinking about the recent remarks made by sen. joe "more aerospace pork, please" lieberman at the recent democratic leadership council soiree. he has said, in so many words, that al gore had moved the democratic party's message away from the center by posing a populist "little guy vs. big business" stance, and, in effect, lost the 200 election that way.
my question is simply: in a democracy, isn't the concept of "the people" the exact center of things? if big business were in the exact center of things, wouldn't that be a plutocracy? (that's a society based on money, not on mickey mouse's dog, by the way). i don't seem to remember abe lincoln calling for a government "of the business, by the business, and for the business." and didn't the democratic party thrive when kennedy and lbj positioned themselves as champions of civil rights?
how can anyone say, especially in these times of no-fault enron scandal, that putting the interests of the business community is in the center? if that's so, and the people are on one side of the teeter-totter, what's on the extreme other side, balancing things out? gazillionaires?
who would support such an unbalanced view of things? oh, yeah, i remember now. joe lieberman.
posted by skippy at
8:48 PM |
0
comments
at seventeen ways to download music: a skippy commentary
we are old enough at skippy the bush kangaroo to gently hum janis ian's "at seventeen" to ourselves when we are feeling nostalgic for the days when we thought the world was full of good and we would someday be millionaires. so imagine our surprise when we came across (thanks to the news drones at daypop) an article written by ms. ian herself, discussing the pros and cons of downloading free music from the internet.
in the article, which was a follow up to this essay, ms. ian weighs both sides of the argument, finally winding up on the side of those who download and don't pay. now, as a performer himself, skippy ought to be on the side of prohiting anybody from enjoying creative endeavors without paying. but strangely, skippy tends to side with ms. ian:
"the naras [national association of recording arts and sciences] people were a bit more pushy. they told me downloads were 'destroying sales', 'ruining the music industry', and 'costing you money'. costing me money? i don't pretend to be an expert on intellectual property law, but i do know one thing. if a music industry executive claims I should agree with their agenda because it will make me more money, I put my hand on my wallet…and check it after they leave, just to make sure nothing's missing."
skippy understands this feeling. when a producer says "trust me," that's the time to insist on reading the contract in toto. and if toto's not around, then high-tail it out of there. but it seems logical, that the music (and by extension, movie and tv) industries are shooting themselves in the feet by restricting consumers from their product. it's rather like taping stuff off the radio on a tape recorder. having access to a great song doesn't make me not want to buy the album. no, on the contrary, it's the ridiculous price that makes me not want to buy an album. so perhaps if the music industry would stop supporting middle management's cocaine habits and par down the need for immense profit, albums would be more affordable, and more might be sold.
we are old enough at skippy the bush kangaroo to gently hum janis ian's "at seventeen" to ourselves when we are feeling nostalgic for the days when we thought the world was full of good and we would someday be millionaires. so imagine our surprise when we came across (thanks to the news drones at daypop) an article written by ms. ian herself, discussing the pros and cons of downloading free music from the internet.
in the article, which was a follow up to this essay, ms. ian weighs both sides of the argument, finally winding up on the side of those who download and don't pay. now, as a performer himself, skippy ought to be on the side of prohiting anybody from enjoying creative endeavors without paying. but strangely, skippy tends to side with ms. ian:
"the naras [national association of recording arts and sciences] people were a bit more pushy. they told me downloads were 'destroying sales', 'ruining the music industry', and 'costing you money'. costing me money? i don't pretend to be an expert on intellectual property law, but i do know one thing. if a music industry executive claims I should agree with their agenda because it will make me more money, I put my hand on my wallet…and check it after they leave, just to make sure nothing's missing."
skippy understands this feeling. when a producer says "trust me," that's the time to insist on reading the contract in toto. and if toto's not around, then high-tail it out of there. but it seems logical, that the music (and by extension, movie and tv) industries are shooting themselves in the feet by restricting consumers from their product. it's rather like taping stuff off the radio on a tape recorder. having access to a great song doesn't make me not want to buy the album. no, on the contrary, it's the ridiculous price that makes me not want to buy an album. so perhaps if the music industry would stop supporting middle management's cocaine habits and par down the need for immense profit, albums would be more affordable, and more might be sold.
posted by skippy at
6:04 PM |
0
comments
get smart, kid!
a teenager was arresting for trying to light his shoe on an airplane, the washington post reports. the canadian teen told police he was "burning loose material off his tennis shoes as the plane taxied into pittsburgh international airport."
he was cited was cited for disorderly conduct and released into the custody of his father, who was seated next to him on the flight, according to allegheny county police sgt. robert clark. "There is no such thing as a joke at an airport anymore," clark said. as a former stand up comic, skippy is bound to agree with that!
and, the post article goes on: "in another incident, fbi agents arrested a man early sunday for allegedly trying to pass through a security checkpoint at seattle-tacoma international airport with razor blades in his shoes."
we wonder why people wouldn't guess that the shoes are the first thing the authorities are going to watch on planes these days. these miscreants might as well be wearing nikes with the slogan "just arrest me."
a teenager was arresting for trying to light his shoe on an airplane, the washington post reports. the canadian teen told police he was "burning loose material off his tennis shoes as the plane taxied into pittsburgh international airport."
he was cited was cited for disorderly conduct and released into the custody of his father, who was seated next to him on the flight, according to allegheny county police sgt. robert clark. "There is no such thing as a joke at an airport anymore," clark said. as a former stand up comic, skippy is bound to agree with that!
and, the post article goes on: "in another incident, fbi agents arrested a man early sunday for allegedly trying to pass through a security checkpoint at seattle-tacoma international airport with razor blades in his shoes."
we wonder why people wouldn't guess that the shoes are the first thing the authorities are going to watch on planes these days. these miscreants might as well be wearing nikes with the slogan "just arrest me."
posted by skippy at
5:34 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
nathan newman's labor monday points out that while poor mr. bush praises the rescued miners in pennsylvania, his administration wants to cut the mine safety and health admistration's budget by 6%.
quark soup takes paul georgia in the national review on line to task for forgetting that math is associative. mr. georgia, while trying to debunk global warming theories, asserted that the $300 billion per year cost of the kyoto treaty (3%of the gross domestic product) would accumulate into 28% over 10 years, conveniently forgetting that if you multiply the $300 billion by 10 years, you have to multiply the gross domestic product by 10 years, to divide to get the percentage, ie, the original 3%. confused? don't be. go read quark soup, then write a nasty letter to national review.
and, finally, because we have to laugh or else we'll cry, always surf over to wtf is it now? maru the crankpot has got a way with words (in fact, she's gotten away with a lot of words) and puts her own unique spin on poor mr. bush's troubles.
nathan newman's labor monday points out that while poor mr. bush praises the rescued miners in pennsylvania, his administration wants to cut the mine safety and health admistration's budget by 6%.
quark soup takes paul georgia in the national review on line to task for forgetting that math is associative. mr. georgia, while trying to debunk global warming theories, asserted that the $300 billion per year cost of the kyoto treaty (3%of the gross domestic product) would accumulate into 28% over 10 years, conveniently forgetting that if you multiply the $300 billion by 10 years, you have to multiply the gross domestic product by 10 years, to divide to get the percentage, ie, the original 3%. confused? don't be. go read quark soup, then write a nasty letter to national review.
and, finally, because we have to laugh or else we'll cry, always surf over to wtf is it now? maru the crankpot has got a way with words (in fact, she's gotten away with a lot of words) and puts her own unique spin on poor mr. bush's troubles.
posted by skippy at
4:14 PM |
0
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new friends, new links
we at skippy are still overwhelmed by the positive traffic generated by the link and good words from our friends at media whores on line. we feel like wayne and garth, on our knees, kow-towing: "we're not worthy! we're not worthy!"
and, checking our traffic reports, we find we are also linked to two other fine blogs, both of which we are happy to reciprocate on our own links. so please take a look at blue streak, a fine california blog, and, if you need one place to find where all the progressive blogs are, be sure to go to the lefty directory.
thanks loads, folks!
we at skippy are still overwhelmed by the positive traffic generated by the link and good words from our friends at media whores on line. we feel like wayne and garth, on our knees, kow-towing: "we're not worthy! we're not worthy!"
and, checking our traffic reports, we find we are also linked to two other fine blogs, both of which we are happy to reciprocate on our own links. so please take a look at blue streak, a fine california blog, and, if you need one place to find where all the progressive blogs are, be sure to go to the lefty directory.
thanks loads, folks!
posted by skippy at
12:58 PM |
0
comments
gee, i must have put that plan to destroy al qaeda somewhere around here
while skippy was checking cnn.com to verify the rumor that ann coulter was guest-hosting tonight's crossfire, he found this time magazine story about plans made late in the clinton administration to dismantle the al qaeda network. however, according to the story, the plans were either (a) put on hold, (b) forgotten about, or (c) fell behind a computer with a missing 'w' key and weren't found again for another few months.
ok, (c) was sarcasm. but the time article says that "the proposals [chairman of counter-terrorism richard] clarke developed in the winter of 2000-01 were not given another hearing by top decision makers until late april, and then spent another four months making their laborious way through the bureaucracy before they were readied for approval by president bush." also, the article says "many of those in the know...were almost frantic with worry that a major terrorist attack against american interests was imminent. it wasn't averted because 2001 saw a systematic collapse in the ability of washington's national-security apparatus to handle the terrorist threat."
the time article goes on to describe the slow down of the anti-al qaeda plans: "the winter proposals became a victim of the transition process, turf wars and time spent on the pet policies of new top officials. the bush administration chose to institute its own 'policy review process' on the terrorist threat."
those who have been watching (or at least, net-surfing) these past few months know that the hart-rudman report, which encouraged a more concentrated focus on the terrorism problem, was also presented to mr. bush early in his administration. but according to this old cbs news.com story, the report apparently was not on mr. bush's front burner, until it was too late [ed. note: conclusion our own, not cbs's]. the cbs story, dated september 22, 2001 (eleven days after the terrible attacks on new york and washington), says that "the hart-rudman commission report has gone from a dusty shelf relic to an action plan in a week."
it will be interesting to hear how the radio talk shows blame this one on bill clinton's sex life.
while skippy was checking cnn.com to verify the rumor that ann coulter was guest-hosting tonight's crossfire, he found this time magazine story about plans made late in the clinton administration to dismantle the al qaeda network. however, according to the story, the plans were either (a) put on hold, (b) forgotten about, or (c) fell behind a computer with a missing 'w' key and weren't found again for another few months.
ok, (c) was sarcasm. but the time article says that "the proposals [chairman of counter-terrorism richard] clarke developed in the winter of 2000-01 were not given another hearing by top decision makers until late april, and then spent another four months making their laborious way through the bureaucracy before they were readied for approval by president bush." also, the article says "many of those in the know...were almost frantic with worry that a major terrorist attack against american interests was imminent. it wasn't averted because 2001 saw a systematic collapse in the ability of washington's national-security apparatus to handle the terrorist threat."
the time article goes on to describe the slow down of the anti-al qaeda plans: "the winter proposals became a victim of the transition process, turf wars and time spent on the pet policies of new top officials. the bush administration chose to institute its own 'policy review process' on the terrorist threat."
those who have been watching (or at least, net-surfing) these past few months know that the hart-rudman report, which encouraged a more concentrated focus on the terrorism problem, was also presented to mr. bush early in his administration. but according to this old cbs news.com story, the report apparently was not on mr. bush's front burner, until it was too late [ed. note: conclusion our own, not cbs's]. the cbs story, dated september 22, 2001 (eleven days after the terrible attacks on new york and washington), says that "the hart-rudman commission report has gone from a dusty shelf relic to an action plan in a week."
it will be interesting to hear how the radio talk shows blame this one on bill clinton's sex life.
posted by skippy at
12:53 PM |
0
comments
Sunday, August 04, 2002
speed kills: a skippy musing
any regular surfer of blogtopia (yes! i coined that word!) has probably already run across the news from the canadian and british papers that u.s. pilots in afghanistan have been taking amphetamines to stay awake during missions.
the toronto star reports that "u.s. jet fighter pilots, responsible for at least 10 deadly 'friendly fire' accidents in the afghanistan war, have regularly been given amphetamines to fly longer hours. then when they return to base, the pilots are given sedatives by air force doctors to help them sleep, before beginning the whole cycle again on the next mission, often less than 12 hours later."
in a different article, the star reports that the amphetamine use by american pilots has "caused quite a commotion, quite a reaction, in britain."
the vancouver sun states "that at least one f-16 pilot complained that requirements for crew rest were not being observed and that many of the pilots were overtired. the pilot was told, however, that further questions about crew rest would not be looked on favourably by the wing command. instead, pilots were advised to speak to a flight surgeon about so-called "go/no pills" -- amphetamines used to help stay awake on long missions, and sedatives to help sleep."
the uk independent quotes john pike, of a defense think-tank as saying "when you look at the original story of the [canadian] friendly-fire incident it seems that the pilot was being inexplicably aggressive...the simplest explanation is that the guy had eaten too much speed and was paranoid."
now, you probably think i am going to rail about the lack of coverage by the us press. but actually, i am going to let my mind wander a bit. hmmm...."inexplicably agressive"..."too much speed"..."paranoid"...
say, wasn't there a story about 5 domestic abuse killings in less than two months at fort bragg? you don't suppose....
now, i know i am making accusations without a shred of evidence. i'm on the opposite side of the country from fayetteville, and the opposite side of the world from afghanistan. also, fort bragg is an army, not an air force base. one of the men who killed his wife did not serve in afghanistan. one killing was done by a woman and her daughter, neither of them in the armed forces. this is actually the worst kind of conclusion jumping that a person could be indulging in.
but having gone to college during the early 70's, and having had a father who owned a pharmacy at which i worked as a teenager during my summer months, (and without admitting personal use) i can attest to the destruction that drugs and self-medication wreck upon human beings. i also know (not first hand, mind you) that when drugs are around one place, it's probably pretty easy to get them right down the block.
i'd like to thank reader damien gossett for first bringing up this idea. the more i think about it, the more it fits. of course, that does not mean it's necessarily true. if this were a court of law, i'd be sentenced to jail for contempt of logic. but it's a starting place. i am not saying that speed is the reason for the killings. but i am saying it wouldn't hurt to look into it. it also wouldn't hurt the press to ask some of these questions.
any regular surfer of blogtopia (yes! i coined that word!) has probably already run across the news from the canadian and british papers that u.s. pilots in afghanistan have been taking amphetamines to stay awake during missions.
the toronto star reports that "u.s. jet fighter pilots, responsible for at least 10 deadly 'friendly fire' accidents in the afghanistan war, have regularly been given amphetamines to fly longer hours. then when they return to base, the pilots are given sedatives by air force doctors to help them sleep, before beginning the whole cycle again on the next mission, often less than 12 hours later."
in a different article, the star reports that the amphetamine use by american pilots has "caused quite a commotion, quite a reaction, in britain."
the vancouver sun states "that at least one f-16 pilot complained that requirements for crew rest were not being observed and that many of the pilots were overtired. the pilot was told, however, that further questions about crew rest would not be looked on favourably by the wing command. instead, pilots were advised to speak to a flight surgeon about so-called "go/no pills" -- amphetamines used to help stay awake on long missions, and sedatives to help sleep."
the uk independent quotes john pike, of a defense think-tank as saying "when you look at the original story of the [canadian] friendly-fire incident it seems that the pilot was being inexplicably aggressive...the simplest explanation is that the guy had eaten too much speed and was paranoid."
now, you probably think i am going to rail about the lack of coverage by the us press. but actually, i am going to let my mind wander a bit. hmmm...."inexplicably agressive"..."too much speed"..."paranoid"...
say, wasn't there a story about 5 domestic abuse killings in less than two months at fort bragg? you don't suppose....
now, i know i am making accusations without a shred of evidence. i'm on the opposite side of the country from fayetteville, and the opposite side of the world from afghanistan. also, fort bragg is an army, not an air force base. one of the men who killed his wife did not serve in afghanistan. one killing was done by a woman and her daughter, neither of them in the armed forces. this is actually the worst kind of conclusion jumping that a person could be indulging in.
but having gone to college during the early 70's, and having had a father who owned a pharmacy at which i worked as a teenager during my summer months, (and without admitting personal use) i can attest to the destruction that drugs and self-medication wreck upon human beings. i also know (not first hand, mind you) that when drugs are around one place, it's probably pretty easy to get them right down the block.
i'd like to thank reader damien gossett for first bringing up this idea. the more i think about it, the more it fits. of course, that does not mean it's necessarily true. if this were a court of law, i'd be sentenced to jail for contempt of logic. but it's a starting place. i am not saying that speed is the reason for the killings. but i am saying it wouldn't hurt to look into it. it also wouldn't hurt the press to ask some of these questions.
posted by skippy at
3:40 PM |
0
comments
a quick trip around the chimp
if you don't visit the smirking chimp on a daily basis, for shame, for shame. that site does some great culling of news articles from around the country and the world. here is just a sample of today's high lights:
broken promises and political deception
a new york times editorial by mr. al gore himself, dissecting the policies of poor mr. bush, and promoting a populist stand. mr. gore says: "i believe bill clinton and i were right to maintain, during our 1992 campaign, that we should fight for 'the forgotten middle class' against the 'forces of greed.' standing up for 'the people, not the powerful' was the right choice in 2000. and, in fact, it is the democratic party's meaning and mission." [editor's note: which democratic party are you talking about?]
political scandal hits the campaign trail
a newsday.com article examining how different candidates in the mid-term elections are trying to use or trying to avoid corporate scandal as an issue.
cheney's disappearing act
a san francisco chronicle article looking at the vice president's upcoming appearance in that city, and if and how the press will be able to actually ask him questions. an interesting tidbit: "when the vice president spoke at a gop fund-raiser in Iowa last week...reporters who had to go to the bathroom required an escort so that they would not be in a position to question cheney about halliburton, according to the associated press account."
the empire strikes back, again, redux, part 2
a great editorial from yahoo about invading iraq by ted rall, the hilarious political cartoonist.
bush's words cast an orwellian shadow across america
a minneapolis star-tribune editorial using the 1984 metaphor yet again. but as the wise man once said, if the surveillance camera fits, wear it!
if you don't visit the smirking chimp on a daily basis, for shame, for shame. that site does some great culling of news articles from around the country and the world. here is just a sample of today's high lights:
broken promises and political deception
a new york times editorial by mr. al gore himself, dissecting the policies of poor mr. bush, and promoting a populist stand. mr. gore says: "i believe bill clinton and i were right to maintain, during our 1992 campaign, that we should fight for 'the forgotten middle class' against the 'forces of greed.' standing up for 'the people, not the powerful' was the right choice in 2000. and, in fact, it is the democratic party's meaning and mission." [editor's note: which democratic party are you talking about?]
political scandal hits the campaign trail
a newsday.com article examining how different candidates in the mid-term elections are trying to use or trying to avoid corporate scandal as an issue.
cheney's disappearing act
a san francisco chronicle article looking at the vice president's upcoming appearance in that city, and if and how the press will be able to actually ask him questions. an interesting tidbit: "when the vice president spoke at a gop fund-raiser in Iowa last week...reporters who had to go to the bathroom required an escort so that they would not be in a position to question cheney about halliburton, according to the associated press account."
the empire strikes back, again, redux, part 2
a great editorial from yahoo about invading iraq by ted rall, the hilarious political cartoonist.
bush's words cast an orwellian shadow across america
a minneapolis star-tribune editorial using the 1984 metaphor yet again. but as the wise man once said, if the surveillance camera fits, wear it!
posted by skippy at
2:45 PM |
0
comments
hot lynx
fairness and accuracy in reporting (fair) has brought this action alert to our attention. it seems that the conservative media are repeating an inaccurate story (ed. note: see the post "thanks for the memes" below) about environmentalists studying the lynx habitat in washington state. the current falsehood accuses scientists of planting lynx hair to unfairly create an endangered species habitat, which, apparently, is all bunk.
according to the article linked by fair, the scientists in question sent captive lynx hair for a control sample to a dna laboratory, just for comparison. however, the washtington times falsely stated "had the deception not been discovered, the government likely would have banned many forms of recreation and use of natural resources in...washington state." fair explains "the biologists did not 'plant' fur in national forests, and they were not trying to--nor could they have--use the Endangered Species Act to 'shut down' the forests for human use."
skippy brings this to your attention because john "truth just doesn't pay enough" stoessel repeated the false story on abc news 20/20. fair provides you with the email addresses of abc news and mr. stossel, to write them letters correcting their dastardly falsehoods. we recommend you use them, and that you visit fair's homepage often, for more alerts to media twisting.
fairness and accuracy in reporting (fair) has brought this action alert to our attention. it seems that the conservative media are repeating an inaccurate story (ed. note: see the post "thanks for the memes" below) about environmentalists studying the lynx habitat in washington state. the current falsehood accuses scientists of planting lynx hair to unfairly create an endangered species habitat, which, apparently, is all bunk.
according to the article linked by fair, the scientists in question sent captive lynx hair for a control sample to a dna laboratory, just for comparison. however, the washtington times falsely stated "had the deception not been discovered, the government likely would have banned many forms of recreation and use of natural resources in...washington state." fair explains "the biologists did not 'plant' fur in national forests, and they were not trying to--nor could they have--use the Endangered Species Act to 'shut down' the forests for human use."
skippy brings this to your attention because john "truth just doesn't pay enough" stoessel repeated the false story on abc news 20/20. fair provides you with the email addresses of abc news and mr. stossel, to write them letters correcting their dastardly falsehoods. we recommend you use them, and that you visit fair's homepage often, for more alerts to media twisting.
posted by skippy at
1:18 PM |
0
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no dialogue please, we're bloggers
jim romenesko's media news says that the national journal is reporting that "msnbc.com is about to introduce 'weblog central,' a portal of regularly updated lists of blogs from throughout the web, arranged by subject," in place of their discussion boards. the article goes on to quote msnbc.com executive producer joan connell as describing the discussion boards as "often chaotic, off-topic and not conducive to the kind of civil and coherent communities we want to develop on this news site." well, we all know that's not the case here in blogtopia!
jim romenesko's media news says that the national journal is reporting that "msnbc.com is about to introduce 'weblog central,' a portal of regularly updated lists of blogs from throughout the web, arranged by subject," in place of their discussion boards. the article goes on to quote msnbc.com executive producer joan connell as describing the discussion boards as "often chaotic, off-topic and not conducive to the kind of civil and coherent communities we want to develop on this news site." well, we all know that's not the case here in blogtopia!
posted by skippy at
12:47 AM |
0
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who has time for terrorists when we've got to give congress a lie detector test?
one of our favorite free papers, the la weekly, is telling the story about another fbi whistle blower, whose investigations into terrorist activities were shot down by his superiors at the agency.
the weekly reports that "chicago-based special agent robert wright has accused the agency of shutting down his 1998 criminal probe into alleged terrorist-training camps in chicago and kansas city." the fbi "just shut down the operations and never told him why."
apparently, mr. wright isn't the only one. according to the article, oklahoma city fbi agent dan vogel had evidence "that tied timothy mcveigh, nichols and a group of iraqis working in oklahoma city to a larger bombing conspiracy," but the justice department stopped him from presenting that evidence before a court last october.
we suppose the fbi has more important things than stopping terrorists on its minds these days, like giving polygraphs to congress.
one of our favorite free papers, the la weekly, is telling the story about another fbi whistle blower, whose investigations into terrorist activities were shot down by his superiors at the agency.
the weekly reports that "chicago-based special agent robert wright has accused the agency of shutting down his 1998 criminal probe into alleged terrorist-training camps in chicago and kansas city." the fbi "just shut down the operations and never told him why."
apparently, mr. wright isn't the only one. according to the article, oklahoma city fbi agent dan vogel had evidence "that tied timothy mcveigh, nichols and a group of iraqis working in oklahoma city to a larger bombing conspiracy," but the justice department stopped him from presenting that evidence before a court last october.
we suppose the fbi has more important things than stopping terrorists on its minds these days, like giving polygraphs to congress.
posted by skippy at
12:22 AM |
0
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Saturday, August 03, 2002
thanks for the memes
as any fan of william gibson and cyberpunk sci-fi can tell you, the word "meme" describes the idea of ideas. that is to say, according to zoologist richard dawkins (who coined the phrase), ideas can replicate themselves from person to person, like a virus, mutating, combining with other ideas to form new ones, taking on a life of their own. or so dr. dawkins says. (hey, skippy has a meme! why don't we just call them all "ideas"?)
but this brings us to our point today. it seems as if the republicans are much more successful at spreading their memes around than the democrats. to be sure, sometimes it looks like the democrats don't even have two memes to rub together. skippy thinks that the dems could do themselves a world of good by taking the republicans' memes and turning them back around on them.
for instance, the meme that is driving us here at skippy the bush kangaroo crazy this past week, is that the lax morals of the clinton administration are responsible for the current wave (tsunami?) of corporate scandals. now, anybody with the ability to think in three dimensions know this is a crock of baloney (including those who repeat this particular meme), but those nasty little replicating memes have pretty well taken over the air waves, propigating this point of view.
we are wondering why no talking head, no democratic pundit, nobody who actually lives in reality, has ever shot back on a round table cable show with the following meme: "hey, guys, harken engery's little adventures in accounting happened in 1989/90. and you know who was president then? george bush the elder!"
and who was president whose lax morals lead to the excesses of michael milken, ivan boesky, charles keating? former president of the screen actors guild himself, the gipper! that's who!
we'd like to come up with some other repub memes that can be twisted back in their faces. for instance, "law suits don't clog the court system, people clog the court system." or how about "how did a disgusting adultering horn dog like newt gingrich ever get into office?"
so if any of you have any great ideas (sorry, i mean, memes) for twisting the patently false right wing propaganda into reality, email them to us here at skippybkroo at aol dot com (assuming aol is still liquid in the future. you never know who's going to jail next for their lax morals in accounting, darn that bubba!)
as any fan of william gibson and cyberpunk sci-fi can tell you, the word "meme" describes the idea of ideas. that is to say, according to zoologist richard dawkins (who coined the phrase), ideas can replicate themselves from person to person, like a virus, mutating, combining with other ideas to form new ones, taking on a life of their own. or so dr. dawkins says. (hey, skippy has a meme! why don't we just call them all "ideas"?)
but this brings us to our point today. it seems as if the republicans are much more successful at spreading their memes around than the democrats. to be sure, sometimes it looks like the democrats don't even have two memes to rub together. skippy thinks that the dems could do themselves a world of good by taking the republicans' memes and turning them back around on them.
for instance, the meme that is driving us here at skippy the bush kangaroo crazy this past week, is that the lax morals of the clinton administration are responsible for the current wave (tsunami?) of corporate scandals. now, anybody with the ability to think in three dimensions know this is a crock of baloney (including those who repeat this particular meme), but those nasty little replicating memes have pretty well taken over the air waves, propigating this point of view.
we are wondering why no talking head, no democratic pundit, nobody who actually lives in reality, has ever shot back on a round table cable show with the following meme: "hey, guys, harken engery's little adventures in accounting happened in 1989/90. and you know who was president then? george bush the elder!"
and who was president whose lax morals lead to the excesses of michael milken, ivan boesky, charles keating? former president of the screen actors guild himself, the gipper! that's who!
we'd like to come up with some other repub memes that can be twisted back in their faces. for instance, "law suits don't clog the court system, people clog the court system." or how about "how did a disgusting adultering horn dog like newt gingrich ever get into office?"
so if any of you have any great ideas (sorry, i mean, memes) for twisting the patently false right wing propaganda into reality, email them to us here at skippybkroo at aol dot com (assuming aol is still liquid in the future. you never know who's going to jail next for their lax morals in accounting, darn that bubba!)
posted by skippy at
6:12 PM |
0
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whose crown is it anyway?
according to this story from the associated press, the miss america organization has announced that improvisor wayne brady will serve as the emcee for this year's pagent.
the ap reports that "brady, 30, an emmy-nominated entertainer best known for his work on abc-tv's 'whose line is it anyway?' will headline the sept. 21 telecast culminating in the crowning of miss america 2003."
this is an historic move, because never before has an improvisor hosted the pagent. a look at the previous hosts confirms this unfortunate fact of pop culture history: bert parks, ron ely, regis philbin and kathie lee gifford, donny and marie osmond, gary collins, boomer esiason and meredith viera, john and eva larue callahan, and especially tony danza, have all been known to ad-lib during their turns as emcee, but none were ever considered to be actual improvisors. the choice of an improvisor for emcee of miss america makes the entire improvisor-american community proud.
we at skippy know that wayne will bring respect and dignity to his job hosting the pagent, and will reflect well on improvisor-americans all across this great land of ours.
according to this story from the associated press, the miss america organization has announced that improvisor wayne brady will serve as the emcee for this year's pagent.
the ap reports that "brady, 30, an emmy-nominated entertainer best known for his work on abc-tv's 'whose line is it anyway?' will headline the sept. 21 telecast culminating in the crowning of miss america 2003."
this is an historic move, because never before has an improvisor hosted the pagent. a look at the previous hosts confirms this unfortunate fact of pop culture history: bert parks, ron ely, regis philbin and kathie lee gifford, donny and marie osmond, gary collins, boomer esiason and meredith viera, john and eva larue callahan, and especially tony danza, have all been known to ad-lib during their turns as emcee, but none were ever considered to be actual improvisors. the choice of an improvisor for emcee of miss america makes the entire improvisor-american community proud.
we at skippy know that wayne will bring respect and dignity to his job hosting the pagent, and will reflect well on improvisor-americans all across this great land of ours.
posted by skippy at
5:40 PM |
0
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i bet the worldcom guys are wishing they worked at enron right about now
here's an interesting analysis by stephen labaton from the ny times business section, wondering aloud why the world com executives scott sullivan and david myers are being charged by the justice department with fraud and conspiracy, but the folks over at enron and halliburton seem to be off mr. ashcroft's radar altogether.
"in political terms, the case [against worldcom], involving what may be the biggest corporate fraud ever uncovered, is the easy one," mr. labaton says. "how, for instance, will the white house deal with results of the investigations of companies like halliburton, which vice president cheney once headed, and enron, which had long associations with the bush family?" mr. labaton goes on to ask the hard question: "why has enron escaped charges by the justice department and the securities and exchange commission?"
and apparently mr. ashcroft had an answer: "all of these cases proceed at their own and independent paces."
here's an interesting analysis by stephen labaton from the ny times business section, wondering aloud why the world com executives scott sullivan and david myers are being charged by the justice department with fraud and conspiracy, but the folks over at enron and halliburton seem to be off mr. ashcroft's radar altogether.
"in political terms, the case [against worldcom], involving what may be the biggest corporate fraud ever uncovered, is the easy one," mr. labaton says. "how, for instance, will the white house deal with results of the investigations of companies like halliburton, which vice president cheney once headed, and enron, which had long associations with the bush family?" mr. labaton goes on to ask the hard question: "why has enron escaped charges by the justice department and the securities and exchange commission?"
and apparently mr. ashcroft had an answer: "all of these cases proceed at their own and independent paces."
posted by skippy at
3:26 PM |
0
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if you're going to the middle east, hold your breath!
the uk times is reporting that saddam hussein is planning to arm the palestinians with biological weapons. "using mobile laboratories for their research," the story says, "the team of scientists working for saddam are believed to be developing a range of biological agents that can be 'delivered' by an aerosol system."
just something to make you sleep a little less well tonight (and a big skippy thanks and tip of the bush kangaroo hat to little green footballs for the link!)
the uk times is reporting that saddam hussein is planning to arm the palestinians with biological weapons. "using mobile laboratories for their research," the story says, "the team of scientists working for saddam are believed to be developing a range of biological agents that can be 'delivered' by an aerosol system."
just something to make you sleep a little less well tonight (and a big skippy thanks and tip of the bush kangaroo hat to little green footballs for the link!)
posted by skippy at
2:57 PM |
0
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watching the detectives
we at skippy are looking forward with anticipation to the opening of blood work starring clint eastwood next week. although clint is a favorite of ours, he's not the main draw of our interest. the film is based on a novel by one of the best mystery writers working today, michael connelly.
the novel blood work that the movie is based on, concerns a retired fbi agent (eastwood) who is lured back into investigating a series of murders that somehow are connected with his recent heart transplant. the case is taxing on his strength, his intellect and his emotions. (hey, i should write for amazon.com!)
the book is so good, (as are all of mr. connelly's works) that skippy accidentally read it twice. the first time was many years ago when it first came out; and then last year, he picked it up again at the library while browsing for mystery novels. about a third of the way through, he realized he had read it before, but mr. connelly's pacing and off-beat characters are so engaging, he finished the book for a second time, something skippy usually doesn't do (life is too short to do things twice. and don't make me repeat it!)
the great thing about blood work was that the answer to the mystery was laid out in plain sight by mr. connelly, so the estute reader could solve the case (skippy was not that estute). it reminded us in that way of another great mystery/courtroom novel, the 13th juror by john lescroart.
be sure to catch blood work in theatres starting august 9.
we at skippy are looking forward with anticipation to the opening of blood work starring clint eastwood next week. although clint is a favorite of ours, he's not the main draw of our interest. the film is based on a novel by one of the best mystery writers working today, michael connelly.
the novel blood work that the movie is based on, concerns a retired fbi agent (eastwood) who is lured back into investigating a series of murders that somehow are connected with his recent heart transplant. the case is taxing on his strength, his intellect and his emotions. (hey, i should write for amazon.com!)
the book is so good, (as are all of mr. connelly's works) that skippy accidentally read it twice. the first time was many years ago when it first came out; and then last year, he picked it up again at the library while browsing for mystery novels. about a third of the way through, he realized he had read it before, but mr. connelly's pacing and off-beat characters are so engaging, he finished the book for a second time, something skippy usually doesn't do (life is too short to do things twice. and don't make me repeat it!)
the great thing about blood work was that the answer to the mystery was laid out in plain sight by mr. connelly, so the estute reader could solve the case (skippy was not that estute). it reminded us in that way of another great mystery/courtroom novel, the 13th juror by john lescroart.
be sure to catch blood work in theatres starting august 9.
posted by skippy at
2:44 PM |
0
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is there such a thing as a "moneyless" recovery?
things aren't looking so chipper on the employment front for the country, according to shihoko goto, the senior business correspondent for united press international. in this report, mr. goto points to disappointing labor department statistics for the last two months.
mr. goto says "the department reported that 6,000 non-farm jobs were created in july...wall street economists on average had expected the job market to expand by 60,000." whoops! that's ten times smaller than expected! he goes on: "given that the unemployment data is a lagging indicator, and employer decisions based on the current economic conditions are likely to be delayed for another three months to six months, many economists fear that the job market could deteriorate still further." then, he quotes mr. mark vitner, an economist at wachovia securities: "it looks an awful lot like a jobless recovery."
what we want to know is, is a jobless recovery anything like a light coma?
things aren't looking so chipper on the employment front for the country, according to shihoko goto, the senior business correspondent for united press international. in this report, mr. goto points to disappointing labor department statistics for the last two months.
mr. goto says "the department reported that 6,000 non-farm jobs were created in july...wall street economists on average had expected the job market to expand by 60,000." whoops! that's ten times smaller than expected! he goes on: "given that the unemployment data is a lagging indicator, and employer decisions based on the current economic conditions are likely to be delayed for another three months to six months, many economists fear that the job market could deteriorate still further." then, he quotes mr. mark vitner, an economist at wachovia securities: "it looks an awful lot like a jobless recovery."
what we want to know is, is a jobless recovery anything like a light coma?
posted by skippy at
2:20 PM |
0
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pbs presents "now" with crazy guggenheim
according to this fox news report, bill moyers, host of now on pbs, was arrested for drunk driving yesterday.
"moyers swerved repeatedly across the centerline of the road and had trouble negotiating a curve, according to trooper travis kline of the vermont state police." the report goes on to say that moyers' alcohol blood content tested at 0.10, when the legal limit is .08. mr. moyers says he will contest the charges, although it will be pretty hard to disprove the breathalyzer results. what is he, drunk?
this is a blow to liberals, who are already under-represented on television. if mr. moyers has to face jail time, that only leaves us with alan colmes, and that weird guy with the pony tail who argues with curtis sliwa.
according to this fox news report, bill moyers, host of now on pbs, was arrested for drunk driving yesterday.
"moyers swerved repeatedly across the centerline of the road and had trouble negotiating a curve, according to trooper travis kline of the vermont state police." the report goes on to say that moyers' alcohol blood content tested at 0.10, when the legal limit is .08. mr. moyers says he will contest the charges, although it will be pretty hard to disprove the breathalyzer results. what is he, drunk?
this is a blow to liberals, who are already under-represented on television. if mr. moyers has to face jail time, that only leaves us with alan colmes, and that weird guy with the pony tail who argues with curtis sliwa.
posted by skippy at
2:04 PM |
0
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just the fax, ma'am
this is your weekly reminder to make use of the phone company link provided on the right side of this page to send free faxes to those jerks in washington by using your email system on your web browser!
remember, kids, democracy works, one citizen at a time!
this is your weekly reminder to make use of the phone company link provided on the right side of this page to send free faxes to those jerks in washington by using your email system on your web browser!
remember, kids, democracy works, one citizen at a time!
posted by skippy at
12:46 AM |
0
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Friday, August 02, 2002
some surprises are not that nice
today on which way l.a.?, the excellent los angeles local public radio political show hosted by warren olney, guest arnold steinberg, a california republican political consultant, discussed the ramifications of the recent fraud judgement against bill "don't call me paul" simon's family investment firm (to the tune of more than $78 million).
mr. steinberg said on the program that, since "perception trumps reality," mr. simon faces a hurdle with the public, even if the judgement gets overturned. "the surprise element can play against a candidate so that if the press feels they're taken by surprise and it's news, it's going to be covered much more extensively than if it's old hat."
when asked by mr. olney the question that skippy has posed previously in this space, ie, "will this make the republicans long for richard riordan?" mr. steinberg pointed out quite rightly that governor gray "the color of money" davis' numbers are "almost without precedent in being bad, and being durably bad and in staying bad." so apparently, at least in that republican's mind, it's still anybody's game.
there are no transcripts of the interview as of press time, but you can listen to it here.
skippy would like to point out that, since he lives in los angeles, the california governor's race is of great interest to him. but for those of you who might actually care about some other race in some other part of the country, may we direct your attention to taegan goddard's political wire, and the rittenhouse review, where you can find updates on all the political news of the day, as well as the daily kos, which posts a running tally of poll numbers of various races from around the nation.
today on which way l.a.?, the excellent los angeles local public radio political show hosted by warren olney, guest arnold steinberg, a california republican political consultant, discussed the ramifications of the recent fraud judgement against bill "don't call me paul" simon's family investment firm (to the tune of more than $78 million).
mr. steinberg said on the program that, since "perception trumps reality," mr. simon faces a hurdle with the public, even if the judgement gets overturned. "the surprise element can play against a candidate so that if the press feels they're taken by surprise and it's news, it's going to be covered much more extensively than if it's old hat."
when asked by mr. olney the question that skippy has posed previously in this space, ie, "will this make the republicans long for richard riordan?" mr. steinberg pointed out quite rightly that governor gray "the color of money" davis' numbers are "almost without precedent in being bad, and being durably bad and in staying bad." so apparently, at least in that republican's mind, it's still anybody's game.
there are no transcripts of the interview as of press time, but you can listen to it here.
skippy would like to point out that, since he lives in los angeles, the california governor's race is of great interest to him. but for those of you who might actually care about some other race in some other part of the country, may we direct your attention to taegan goddard's political wire, and the rittenhouse review, where you can find updates on all the political news of the day, as well as the daily kos, which posts a running tally of poll numbers of various races from around the nation.
posted by skippy at
9:38 PM |
0
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a victory for everyone's favorite nut
you have to admire persistence, especially when it pays off.
the associate press is reporting that larry klayman and his self-described consumer protection agency, judicial watch, has scored one against the big guys. "a federal judge warned...he would reject any white house effort to block the release of records on vice president dick cheney's energy task force unless government lawyers provided specific reasons," the story states. judicial watch and the sierra club "have filed lawsuits to shed light on the task force's membership and its influences."
mr. klayman, who may be sue-happy, but he'll be happy to sue who's ever in the white house be they dem or repub, said "we want all of the information on the energy task force to come out as soon as possible." again we say, you go, larry! we agree with your slogan, "because no one is above the law"!
you have to admire persistence, especially when it pays off.
the associate press is reporting that larry klayman and his self-described consumer protection agency, judicial watch, has scored one against the big guys. "a federal judge warned...he would reject any white house effort to block the release of records on vice president dick cheney's energy task force unless government lawyers provided specific reasons," the story states. judicial watch and the sierra club "have filed lawsuits to shed light on the task force's membership and its influences."
mr. klayman, who may be sue-happy, but he'll be happy to sue who's ever in the white house be they dem or repub, said "we want all of the information on the energy task force to come out as soon as possible." again we say, you go, larry! we agree with your slogan, "because no one is above the law"!
posted by skippy at
4:59 PM |
0
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like that's the first time she ever broke the law?
upi is reporting that katherine harris finally got around to resigning as the florida secretary of state, because since she is a candidate for congress, holding that office is apparently, ahem, illegal.
"harris resigned abruptly thursday, two weeks after filing, after learning she was breaking one of the election laws she was elected to enforce," the story reports. it goes on to say, "harris admitted to making a mistake and abruptly resigned as secretary of state." too bad she didn't think of that in december 2000.
"there are reports that democrats would like to go to court to stop her from running for Congress, but legal experts say there is little chance that would be successful," the report says. of course, that never stopped political lawsuits in florida before.
upi is reporting that katherine harris finally got around to resigning as the florida secretary of state, because since she is a candidate for congress, holding that office is apparently, ahem, illegal.
"harris resigned abruptly thursday, two weeks after filing, after learning she was breaking one of the election laws she was elected to enforce," the story reports. it goes on to say, "harris admitted to making a mistake and abruptly resigned as secretary of state." too bad she didn't think of that in december 2000.
"there are reports that democrats would like to go to court to stop her from running for Congress, but legal experts say there is little chance that would be successful," the report says. of course, that never stopped political lawsuits in florida before.
posted by skippy at
4:47 PM |
0
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mutual admiration society
a big skippy thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to media whores on line for their great mention on their site. readers of this space know that the media horse is the best place for interactive cyber democracy, and to keep the corporate screeching news heads honest. visit their site daily, and make use of their links!
a big skippy thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to media whores on line for their great mention on their site. readers of this space know that the media horse is the best place for interactive cyber democracy, and to keep the corporate screeching news heads honest. visit their site daily, and make use of their links!
posted by skippy at
4:40 PM |
0
comments
ya gotta laugh, or else you'll cry
we at skippy are always happy to brag about our friends in show biz. so here's a hilarious parody in the democratic underground written by our good friend gil christner. it's called "rumsfeld 'furious' over surprise party leaks."
"secretary of defense donald rumsfeld blasted the new york yimes, among other media outlets, for its inopportune reporting of secret plans to throw lynn cheney a surprise birthday party in the upcoming weeks," the article says. "according to the source, president and mrs. bush, nr. cheney himself, the white house staff, most of the cabinet members, their family and friends were to be hiding in the dark down in the bunker. then, when mrs. cheney entered, the plan called for ari fleischer to turn on lights while everybody jumped out from behind the shelves stocked with mre's and shouted 'surprise!' "
very funny stuff. and while we're plugging our show biz friends, if you haven't seen minority report, go see it. not because it's a particularly good movie, but because our good friend ann ryerson has a small part in it. she plays the lady judge on the tv monitor that tom cruise has to convince to give him a search warrant, or some silly stuff like that, we must admit, we weren't really paying attention at that point. but ann's good, as she always is. personally, we thought the film wasn't the best dick we've ever seen.
we at skippy are always happy to brag about our friends in show biz. so here's a hilarious parody in the democratic underground written by our good friend gil christner. it's called "rumsfeld 'furious' over surprise party leaks."
"secretary of defense donald rumsfeld blasted the new york yimes, among other media outlets, for its inopportune reporting of secret plans to throw lynn cheney a surprise birthday party in the upcoming weeks," the article says. "according to the source, president and mrs. bush, nr. cheney himself, the white house staff, most of the cabinet members, their family and friends were to be hiding in the dark down in the bunker. then, when mrs. cheney entered, the plan called for ari fleischer to turn on lights while everybody jumped out from behind the shelves stocked with mre's and shouted 'surprise!' "
very funny stuff. and while we're plugging our show biz friends, if you haven't seen minority report, go see it. not because it's a particularly good movie, but because our good friend ann ryerson has a small part in it. she plays the lady judge on the tv monitor that tom cruise has to convince to give him a search warrant, or some silly stuff like that, we must admit, we weren't really paying attention at that point. but ann's good, as she always is. personally, we thought the film wasn't the best dick we've ever seen.
posted by skippy at
12:45 PM |
0
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damn good coffee
skippy was trolling around blogtopia (yes, i coined that word! stupid, isn't it?) the other night, and clicked a link to free pie. imagine our consternation when it turned out not to offer pumpkin, peach and pecan, but progressive points and punditry. aside from the clever alliteration that it brought to our mind, we also thought kim has a nice unassuming style when making her arguments, so we are pleased to put a link to free pie under our political blogs section (just to the right of this column).
we really had our taste buds set for some key lime, though!
skippy was trolling around blogtopia (yes, i coined that word! stupid, isn't it?) the other night, and clicked a link to free pie. imagine our consternation when it turned out not to offer pumpkin, peach and pecan, but progressive points and punditry. aside from the clever alliteration that it brought to our mind, we also thought kim has a nice unassuming style when making her arguments, so we are pleased to put a link to free pie under our political blogs section (just to the right of this column).
we really had our taste buds set for some key lime, though!
posted by skippy at
12:32 PM |
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fort bragg news
skippy is quite embarrassed to have alerted everyone earlier this week to watch a cnn report about the fort bragg domestic abuse murders that connie chung apparently never did. skippy is furious at connie, and vows from now on to watch donahue on msnbc instead. that'll show her.
but we did actually see with our own eyes a report on wolf blitzer tonight! or whatever his cnn show is called. wolf actually interviewed colonel tad davis, the fort bragg garrison commander; and sergeant alex thompson of the fayetteville police department, discussing these terrible murders. here is a transcript of the show (scroll down to the third commercial break).
colonel davis says that the authorities "do not believe at this point in time that there is any connection to the service that [the accused killers] may or may not have had in afghanistan." which makes sense, because at least one of the men who killed his wife did not serve in afghanistan.
and, speaking of news coverage of this tragic story, here's a preview of the newsweek article coming in the august 5th issue.
skippy is quite embarrassed to have alerted everyone earlier this week to watch a cnn report about the fort bragg domestic abuse murders that connie chung apparently never did. skippy is furious at connie, and vows from now on to watch donahue on msnbc instead. that'll show her.
but we did actually see with our own eyes a report on wolf blitzer tonight! or whatever his cnn show is called. wolf actually interviewed colonel tad davis, the fort bragg garrison commander; and sergeant alex thompson of the fayetteville police department, discussing these terrible murders. here is a transcript of the show (scroll down to the third commercial break).
colonel davis says that the authorities "do not believe at this point in time that there is any connection to the service that [the accused killers] may or may not have had in afghanistan." which makes sense, because at least one of the men who killed his wife did not serve in afghanistan.
and, speaking of news coverage of this tragic story, here's a preview of the newsweek article coming in the august 5th issue.
posted by skippy at
12:14 PM |
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america isn't the andy griffith show
skippy was pleased to find this editorial in the atlanta constitution (the paper, not the legal document). what was pleasing was that it argued against the ill-advised tips program, which mr. bush and mr. ashcroft wanted to use to pit americans spying on americans. but what was most pleasing about this editorial was that it was written not by a pundit or talking head or think tank minion, but by a regular guy, a normal american, a delivery man.
mr. butch traylor, a ups delivery man, speaks of being bothered that "those charged with defending our freedom would so cavalierly foster such an atmosphere of fear and suspicion." he, very cleverly, i may add, likens john ashcroft's attempt to deputize americans in the war against terror to "deputy sheriff barney fife," of the andy griffith show. he writes, "if there was even a hint of crime or danger in mayberry, the ever vigilant barney was eager to spring into action, lay a dragnet around the city, form a posse and deputize everyone from otis the town drunk to floyd the barber." [editor's note: floyd was our favorite!] "always on the ready, barney would pull out his lone bullet, chamber it into his side arm and inevitably fire it into the ground, barely missing his own foot."
finally, mr. traylor, no pundit, no constitutional scholar, no big-bucked corporate talking news head, makes such a clear and beautiful point: "part of being free in america is knowing that the people who live and work in your neighborhood are not reporting on your activities. to surrender that freedom is to give a victory to the terrorists..."
mr. traylor astutely points out that "the same people who last summer thwarted an fbi field office investigation of zacarias moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attack, want to enlist every goober who installs phone lines or delivers pizza to be the next ace ventura terrorist detective."
this, friends, is what america is really about.
skippy was pleased to find this editorial in the atlanta constitution (the paper, not the legal document). what was pleasing was that it argued against the ill-advised tips program, which mr. bush and mr. ashcroft wanted to use to pit americans spying on americans. but what was most pleasing about this editorial was that it was written not by a pundit or talking head or think tank minion, but by a regular guy, a normal american, a delivery man.
mr. butch traylor, a ups delivery man, speaks of being bothered that "those charged with defending our freedom would so cavalierly foster such an atmosphere of fear and suspicion." he, very cleverly, i may add, likens john ashcroft's attempt to deputize americans in the war against terror to "deputy sheriff barney fife," of the andy griffith show. he writes, "if there was even a hint of crime or danger in mayberry, the ever vigilant barney was eager to spring into action, lay a dragnet around the city, form a posse and deputize everyone from otis the town drunk to floyd the barber." [editor's note: floyd was our favorite!] "always on the ready, barney would pull out his lone bullet, chamber it into his side arm and inevitably fire it into the ground, barely missing his own foot."
finally, mr. traylor, no pundit, no constitutional scholar, no big-bucked corporate talking news head, makes such a clear and beautiful point: "part of being free in america is knowing that the people who live and work in your neighborhood are not reporting on your activities. to surrender that freedom is to give a victory to the terrorists..."
mr. traylor astutely points out that "the same people who last summer thwarted an fbi field office investigation of zacarias moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attack, want to enlist every goober who installs phone lines or delivers pizza to be the next ace ventura terrorist detective."
this, friends, is what america is really about.
posted by skippy at
9:59 AM |
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happy ending for kidnapped girls, lousy ratings for cable news
we are so happy to report that those two mojave desert teenage girls kidnapped at gun point yesterday are free and safe. the daily news reports that man who abducted tamara brooks, 16, and jacqueline marris, 17 "was shot and killed thursday after a shootout in neighboring kern county."
thank goodness, this kidnapping had a happy ending (except, of course, for the guy who got shot, but he knew the job was dangerous when he took it). but all morning long the screeching heads on cable news were talking about another "child" kidnapping. now, not to make light of the poor girls' ordeal, but they were in no way able to be considered "children." for cryin' in the sink, they were old enough to drive, and jacqueline could even join the armed services, if she wanted to!
this brings up a good point made by michelle cottle in the new republic on line. ms. cottle likens this summer's plethora of child abduction news stories to last summer's shark attacks. always looking for explotative headlines, the news networks have latched onto these families' tragedies to get your attention.
"the national center for missing and exploited children estimates that," ms. cottle explains, "even in a non-epidemic year, 100 children nationwide are abducted and either murdered, held for ransom, or simply never returned." so, without sounding grim or flip about this terrible phenomenon, this summer doesn't seem to be any worse (perhaps even better) than the norm.
so why are we constantly watching parents give press conferences? well, for the parents, we would imagine it's one possible way to keep hope alive, and perhaps to reach out to somebody that knows something about their poor abducted child. but don't kid yourselves, folks, for the cable news networks, it's a whole nother issue. ms. cottle opines:
"don't talk to me about the media's duty to 'inform the public.' The public didn't need to watch little samantha's funeral 'live ... in its entirety' on cnn. the public didn't need to listen to larry king bloviate about this topic night after night...with celebrity hack dominick dunne. It's fine to alert the public when a child is missing or there's a serial killer on the loose in the neighborhood, but that's largely a job for local news. what larry king, bill o'reilly, and the rest are doing is something else entirely: It's sensationalizing other people's tragedy."
we couldn't agree more. and while we hope that all child abduction cases are resolved happily, we think there's some dignity to be had by not exploiting the news. sheesh, if worse came to worse, let's hear about those stupid shark attacks instead.
we are so happy to report that those two mojave desert teenage girls kidnapped at gun point yesterday are free and safe. the daily news reports that man who abducted tamara brooks, 16, and jacqueline marris, 17 "was shot and killed thursday after a shootout in neighboring kern county."
thank goodness, this kidnapping had a happy ending (except, of course, for the guy who got shot, but he knew the job was dangerous when he took it). but all morning long the screeching heads on cable news were talking about another "child" kidnapping. now, not to make light of the poor girls' ordeal, but they were in no way able to be considered "children." for cryin' in the sink, they were old enough to drive, and jacqueline could even join the armed services, if she wanted to!
this brings up a good point made by michelle cottle in the new republic on line. ms. cottle likens this summer's plethora of child abduction news stories to last summer's shark attacks. always looking for explotative headlines, the news networks have latched onto these families' tragedies to get your attention.
"the national center for missing and exploited children estimates that," ms. cottle explains, "even in a non-epidemic year, 100 children nationwide are abducted and either murdered, held for ransom, or simply never returned." so, without sounding grim or flip about this terrible phenomenon, this summer doesn't seem to be any worse (perhaps even better) than the norm.
so why are we constantly watching parents give press conferences? well, for the parents, we would imagine it's one possible way to keep hope alive, and perhaps to reach out to somebody that knows something about their poor abducted child. but don't kid yourselves, folks, for the cable news networks, it's a whole nother issue. ms. cottle opines:
"don't talk to me about the media's duty to 'inform the public.' The public didn't need to watch little samantha's funeral 'live ... in its entirety' on cnn. the public didn't need to listen to larry king bloviate about this topic night after night...with celebrity hack dominick dunne. It's fine to alert the public when a child is missing or there's a serial killer on the loose in the neighborhood, but that's largely a job for local news. what larry king, bill o'reilly, and the rest are doing is something else entirely: It's sensationalizing other people's tragedy."
we couldn't agree more. and while we hope that all child abduction cases are resolved happily, we think there's some dignity to be had by not exploiting the news. sheesh, if worse came to worse, let's hear about those stupid shark attacks instead.
posted by skippy at
9:59 AM |
0
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perhaps possible progress in the anthrax case, maybe
the fbi seems to appear to be making some possible progress perhaps in the anthrax case maybe. at least, they are looking at a man as a possible suspect. well, not really, but they're back at his house looking around again. that's progress, isn't it? cbsnews is reporting that the feds are searching through the garbage cans outside of, as well as the inside of stephen hatfill's apartment. again. and, while hatfill is not really a suspect, he's "the chief guy we're looking at" according to law enforcement sources. cbs goes on to say "the sources were careful not to use the word suspect, but said they were 'zeroing in on this guy' and that he is 'the focus of the investigation'." zeroing in? yeah, that's progress, sure!
meanwhile, fox news reports that mr. hatfill "worked for two years for the army medical research institute of infectious diseases, center of the nation's biological warfare defense research." ick! and the foxnews report says that "hatfill...commissioned a study of a hypothetical anthrax attack in february 1999."
not a smoking test tube, to be sure, but still, it makes one wonder.
the fbi seems to appear to be making some possible progress perhaps in the anthrax case maybe. at least, they are looking at a man as a possible suspect. well, not really, but they're back at his house looking around again. that's progress, isn't it? cbsnews is reporting that the feds are searching through the garbage cans outside of, as well as the inside of stephen hatfill's apartment. again. and, while hatfill is not really a suspect, he's "the chief guy we're looking at" according to law enforcement sources. cbs goes on to say "the sources were careful not to use the word suspect, but said they were 'zeroing in on this guy' and that he is 'the focus of the investigation'." zeroing in? yeah, that's progress, sure!
meanwhile, fox news reports that mr. hatfill "worked for two years for the army medical research institute of infectious diseases, center of the nation's biological warfare defense research." ick! and the foxnews report says that "hatfill...commissioned a study of a hypothetical anthrax attack in february 1999."
not a smoking test tube, to be sure, but still, it makes one wonder.
posted by skippy at
9:59 AM |
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more trouble for the man who would be governor
poor bill simon can't get a break if he sold his stock options for one! this story in the san francisco chronicle tells of a recent court judgement against mr. simon's company in a fraud liability case. apparently paul hindelang's phone company pacific coin was seized by banks after a risky public offering, so he sued william e. simon & sons, who had taken over controlling interest of the firm.
"a los angeles superior court jury awarded hindelang $22.2 million in general damages tuesday," the story says. "on wednesday, jurors added $65 million in punitive damages." this decision against mr. simon's business cannot be good for his candidacy, especially when he's running on the platform of being a "successful business man." this doesn't sound so successful to us.
the chronicle story postulates that "the decision puts a spotlight on simon's financial dealings," as well as "a series of damaging stories [that] has raised questions about simon's corporate background and personal finances, including the candidate's income taxes."
mr. simon "called the decision 'fundamentally flawed,' saying hindelang was a convicted drug dealer"
the story goes on: "the lawsuit by hindelang claimed that simon and other investors destroyed his company by misleading him -- suggesting that they would abide by his conservative business plan, while secretly racking up debt with an aggressive strategy to maximize profits for a public offering." hm, sound familiar, anyone?
poor bill simon can't get a break if he sold his stock options for one! this story in the san francisco chronicle tells of a recent court judgement against mr. simon's company in a fraud liability case. apparently paul hindelang's phone company pacific coin was seized by banks after a risky public offering, so he sued william e. simon & sons, who had taken over controlling interest of the firm.
"a los angeles superior court jury awarded hindelang $22.2 million in general damages tuesday," the story says. "on wednesday, jurors added $65 million in punitive damages." this decision against mr. simon's business cannot be good for his candidacy, especially when he's running on the platform of being a "successful business man." this doesn't sound so successful to us.
the chronicle story postulates that "the decision puts a spotlight on simon's financial dealings," as well as "a series of damaging stories [that] has raised questions about simon's corporate background and personal finances, including the candidate's income taxes."
mr. simon "called the decision 'fundamentally flawed,' saying hindelang was a convicted drug dealer"
the story goes on: "the lawsuit by hindelang claimed that simon and other investors destroyed his company by misleading him -- suggesting that they would abide by his conservative business plan, while secretly racking up debt with an aggressive strategy to maximize profits for a public offering." hm, sound familiar, anyone?
posted by skippy at
9:58 AM |
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Wednesday, July 31, 2002
we didn't make a profit so it doesn't count
while congress decries the "unpatriotic" use of off-shore tax havens, the new york daily news reports that harken energy set up an off-shore subsidiary while mr. bush was on the board of directors. "harken registered harken bahrain oil co. on sept. 1, 1989, according to cayman islands government documents," the article states. but in defense of our beleaguered president, "a spokesman for bush said the offshore company did not save any taxes because it failed to find oil or make a profit." well, then i guess that's all right, then!
a big skippy thanks and tip of the kangaroo hat to the note at abcnews.com for the link to this story!
while congress decries the "unpatriotic" use of off-shore tax havens, the new york daily news reports that harken energy set up an off-shore subsidiary while mr. bush was on the board of directors. "harken registered harken bahrain oil co. on sept. 1, 1989, according to cayman islands government documents," the article states. but in defense of our beleaguered president, "a spokesman for bush said the offshore company did not save any taxes because it failed to find oil or make a profit." well, then i guess that's all right, then!
a big skippy thanks and tip of the kangaroo hat to the note at abcnews.com for the link to this story!
posted by skippy at
8:01 PM |
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will wonders never cease
skippy is wondering if this is a sign of the coming apocalypse, but here is a commentary by phyllis schlafly that we agree with. its seems that ms. schlafly is as opposed to operation tips as we are, and for much the same reasons.
"operation tips calls on americans...to monitor and report 'suspicious' activities to a central reporting center," ms. schlafly writes. "you can bet that all those 'suspicious' activities will be entered on a national database available to the prying eyes of federal bureaucrats." we were waiting for another reference to big brother and 1984, but instead found this well-articulated arguement: "if u.s. troops are to defend us against terrorists, they should be used to prevent suspicious aliens from coming across our borders, not for police work against u.s. citizens. gen. ralph e. eberhart...said we should review the posse comitatus act of 1878 'if we think it ties our hands.' but tying the hands of the military over civilians is what posse comitatus is supposed to do."
skippy agrees with ms. schlafly's commentary so much, he's beginning to wonder if he should become a stay at home mom.
skippy is wondering if this is a sign of the coming apocalypse, but here is a commentary by phyllis schlafly that we agree with. its seems that ms. schlafly is as opposed to operation tips as we are, and for much the same reasons.
"operation tips calls on americans...to monitor and report 'suspicious' activities to a central reporting center," ms. schlafly writes. "you can bet that all those 'suspicious' activities will be entered on a national database available to the prying eyes of federal bureaucrats." we were waiting for another reference to big brother and 1984, but instead found this well-articulated arguement: "if u.s. troops are to defend us against terrorists, they should be used to prevent suspicious aliens from coming across our borders, not for police work against u.s. citizens. gen. ralph e. eberhart...said we should review the posse comitatus act of 1878 'if we think it ties our hands.' but tying the hands of the military over civilians is what posse comitatus is supposed to do."
skippy agrees with ms. schlafly's commentary so much, he's beginning to wonder if he should become a stay at home mom.
posted by skippy at
7:30 PM |
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you'll be sleeping with the fishes, or at least scott hamilton
in a development that shows just what a rank amateur tonya harding was, the associated press is reporting that the russian mob was behind the skating judge gold medal scandal in the last winter olympics.
"an alleged russian crime boss was arrested in italy on u.s. charges he tried to fix the ice dancing competition at the 2002 olympics," the report says. and this report from cnn, says "[alimzan] tokhtakhounov is accused of brokering a deal in which [the russian skaters] would be awarded the gold medal in the pairs competition in return for a french pair...winning the gold in ice dancing."
the cnn report says that the canadian skaters who originally lost the gold, much to the world's dismay stated that "they were not surprised by charges that their competition...in salt lake city was fixed."
we at skippy are crest-fallen that the olympics are no longer pure. next you'll be telling us the atheletes use steroids!
in a development that shows just what a rank amateur tonya harding was, the associated press is reporting that the russian mob was behind the skating judge gold medal scandal in the last winter olympics.
"an alleged russian crime boss was arrested in italy on u.s. charges he tried to fix the ice dancing competition at the 2002 olympics," the report says. and this report from cnn, says "[alimzan] tokhtakhounov is accused of brokering a deal in which [the russian skaters] would be awarded the gold medal in the pairs competition in return for a french pair...winning the gold in ice dancing."
the cnn report says that the canadian skaters who originally lost the gold, much to the world's dismay stated that "they were not surprised by charges that their competition...in salt lake city was fixed."
we at skippy are crest-fallen that the olympics are no longer pure. next you'll be telling us the atheletes use steroids!
posted by skippy at
5:51 PM |
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plugging the holes
united press international reports that our favorite republican senator, john mccain, introduced his own legislation to "close major gaps in the federal firearms background check system that in a 30-month period allowed some 10,000 felons and others prohibited from gun ownership to obtain weapons." apparently the nation's data bases are in terrible shape, allowing people guilty of numerous crimes to slip through the cracks and get guns. theoretically, this bill by sen. mccain will put some caulk into those cracks. "on the issue of domestic violence," the report quotes mccain as saying, "twenty states lack a database for either domestic violence misdemeanants or temporary restraining orders or both."
once again skippy is reminded that, if al gore really wants to win in '04, he should name mccain as his running mate...just a thought!
united press international reports that our favorite republican senator, john mccain, introduced his own legislation to "close major gaps in the federal firearms background check system that in a 30-month period allowed some 10,000 felons and others prohibited from gun ownership to obtain weapons." apparently the nation's data bases are in terrible shape, allowing people guilty of numerous crimes to slip through the cracks and get guns. theoretically, this bill by sen. mccain will put some caulk into those cracks. "on the issue of domestic violence," the report quotes mccain as saying, "twenty states lack a database for either domestic violence misdemeanants or temporary restraining orders or both."
once again skippy is reminded that, if al gore really wants to win in '04, he should name mccain as his running mate...just a thought!
posted by skippy at
5:29 PM |
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put it all on 22 black, uh, i mean, worldcom!
harley sorenson of the san francisco chronicle writes a pretty entertaining essay comparing the stock market to las vegas. "from what I've seen, the stock market is the world's biggest casino," he says. "its most salient feature is that it provides off-track betting. all you need to place a bet in the market is a telephone or a mouse."
that's not bad enough, he goes on, but the so-called media "experts" telling us about it, cannot be trusted. "almost every reporter, every anchor, every news-outlet owner has money invested in the market. thus, they're involved in the market story." mr. sorenson goes on: if you really want to see a journalistic charade, you should watch the cable program featuring the editorial board of the wall street journal...i haven't seen such a collection of virtual pimps and whores in one place since willie brown kicked the real hookers out of the tenderloin." and he concludes: "we're riding a very prolonged, very nasty cold streak. and we're gambling in a casino that's not very honest."
harley sorenson of the san francisco chronicle writes a pretty entertaining essay comparing the stock market to las vegas. "from what I've seen, the stock market is the world's biggest casino," he says. "its most salient feature is that it provides off-track betting. all you need to place a bet in the market is a telephone or a mouse."
that's not bad enough, he goes on, but the so-called media "experts" telling us about it, cannot be trusted. "almost every reporter, every anchor, every news-outlet owner has money invested in the market. thus, they're involved in the market story." mr. sorenson goes on: if you really want to see a journalistic charade, you should watch the cable program featuring the editorial board of the wall street journal...i haven't seen such a collection of virtual pimps and whores in one place since willie brown kicked the real hookers out of the tenderloin." and he concludes: "we're riding a very prolonged, very nasty cold streak. and we're gambling in a casino that's not very honest."
posted by skippy at
4:51 PM |
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morton in the middle
there are those that would argue morton kondracke is a liberal, and i'd concur, if those arguing were the marqui de sade and genghis kahn. but here at skippy the bush kangaroo, we are always ready to admit when we agree with people we don't agree with.
and so we happily admit we agree with mr. kondracke when he says that congress and mr. bush should do some compromising on both sides of the aisle to get some medicare prescription drug legislation passed this year.
mr. kondracke says in this week's issue of roll call, that "according to the congressional budget office, drug costs are rising at such a rate that by 2005 a quarter of seniors will be paying $4,000 a year or more to stay well." yow! skippy's not that young or that rich to ignore these facts. so we must support mr. kondracke's position that between "government-heavy $600 billion (over 10 years) democratic proposal" and the "light weight $190 billion gop bill," there should be some middle figure that everyone can live with. we also give a hearty hear, hear, when he concludes his musings with "it wouldn't hurt if bush called daschle and made a deal at, say, $400 billion. whoever didn't go along with that would then deserve the onus for failure."
and, while we're trolling through inside the beltway editorials, here's a fine one from the hill admonishing congress to "leave social security alone," because, the editorial says, "in the real world, however, privatization can lead to a significant loss of retirement income when (not if) markets tumble."
just thinking about it, skippy needs an aspirin!
there are those that would argue morton kondracke is a liberal, and i'd concur, if those arguing were the marqui de sade and genghis kahn. but here at skippy the bush kangaroo, we are always ready to admit when we agree with people we don't agree with.
and so we happily admit we agree with mr. kondracke when he says that congress and mr. bush should do some compromising on both sides of the aisle to get some medicare prescription drug legislation passed this year.
mr. kondracke says in this week's issue of roll call, that "according to the congressional budget office, drug costs are rising at such a rate that by 2005 a quarter of seniors will be paying $4,000 a year or more to stay well." yow! skippy's not that young or that rich to ignore these facts. so we must support mr. kondracke's position that between "government-heavy $600 billion (over 10 years) democratic proposal" and the "light weight $190 billion gop bill," there should be some middle figure that everyone can live with. we also give a hearty hear, hear, when he concludes his musings with "it wouldn't hurt if bush called daschle and made a deal at, say, $400 billion. whoever didn't go along with that would then deserve the onus for failure."
and, while we're trolling through inside the beltway editorials, here's a fine one from the hill admonishing congress to "leave social security alone," because, the editorial says, "in the real world, however, privatization can lead to a significant loss of retirement income when (not if) markets tumble."
just thinking about it, skippy needs an aspirin!
posted by skippy at
4:36 PM |
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i guess he doesn't like cross-dressers
and on the stranger side, upi's capitol comment is reporting that rep. dan "shoot that watermelon" burton introduced legislation to remove j. edgar hoover's name from fbi headquarters on pennsylvania avenue. according to the report, rep. burton's office released a statement saying "evidence indicates that...hoover himself turned a blind eye to numerous murders in order to develop and protect informants." yikes! good thing nothing like that happens with the fbi today (especially not in boston)!
and on the stranger side, upi's capitol comment is reporting that rep. dan "shoot that watermelon" burton introduced legislation to remove j. edgar hoover's name from fbi headquarters on pennsylvania avenue. according to the report, rep. burton's office released a statement saying "evidence indicates that...hoover himself turned a blind eye to numerous murders in order to develop and protect informants." yikes! good thing nothing like that happens with the fbi today (especially not in boston)!
posted by skippy at
11:56 AM |
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bush doesn't blow (or at least, he doesn't want you to)
nathan newman over at news and views sends us a heads up that he's discussing mr. bush's machinations to "rip the heart out of the whistleblower protections." nathan's post is worth a look.
nathan newman over at news and views sends us a heads up that he's discussing mr. bush's machinations to "rip the heart out of the whistleblower protections." nathan's post is worth a look.
posted by skippy at
11:43 AM |
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fort bragg news update update
around blogtopia, some people are wondering aloud at the scant news coverage the domestic abuse killings at fort bragg in north carolina are getting. specifically, ann salisbury at two tears in a bucket has this and this to say, and my favorite uppity negro, aaron hawk, talks about it here.
well, skippy is pleased to announce that as he was listening to cnn this morning, watching the market drop, he saw a promo for connie chung tonight, saying that ms. chung would analyze this story and talk to some people from fort bragg. we can only hope ms. chung does her usual good work.
around blogtopia, some people are wondering aloud at the scant news coverage the domestic abuse killings at fort bragg in north carolina are getting. specifically, ann salisbury at two tears in a bucket has this and this to say, and my favorite uppity negro, aaron hawk, talks about it here.
well, skippy is pleased to announce that as he was listening to cnn this morning, watching the market drop, he saw a promo for connie chung tonight, saying that ms. chung would analyze this story and talk to some people from fort bragg. we can only hope ms. chung does her usual good work.
posted by skippy at
11:22 AM |
0
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Tuesday, July 30, 2002
"time" is not on bush's side
according to my economist bud jane galt over at live from the wtc, next week's issue of time takes real issue with poor mr. bush. jane herself lables the story "snotty" in tone, and, while applauding the story's intent, skippy might have to agree with her assesment: "does another bush not get it? sure, the son has got to focus on a war to preserve the nation's security, as his father did. but like dad, he misjudges the nation's economy at his peril." (disclosure: skippy likes "snotty tones.") jane is not going to renew her subscription to time, something skippy let lapse years ago. there's only so many magazines one can read in a day.
anyway, be sure to check out jane's take on the whole thing, and look at her comments section for spirited debate, something we could use more of at this site!
according to my economist bud jane galt over at live from the wtc, next week's issue of time takes real issue with poor mr. bush. jane herself lables the story "snotty" in tone, and, while applauding the story's intent, skippy might have to agree with her assesment: "does another bush not get it? sure, the son has got to focus on a war to preserve the nation's security, as his father did. but like dad, he misjudges the nation's economy at his peril." (disclosure: skippy likes "snotty tones.") jane is not going to renew her subscription to time, something skippy let lapse years ago. there's only so many magazines one can read in a day.
anyway, be sure to check out jane's take on the whole thing, and look at her comments section for spirited debate, something we could use more of at this site!
posted by skippy at
9:09 PM |
0
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nobody likes an old duck anyway
according to the orange county register, several ex-employees of disneyland have sued the theme park, accusing the happiest place on earth of age discrmination.
the report says that david koenig, author of the behind-the-ears book "mouse tales" testified on behalf of the plaintiffs that "disneyland terminated some of its most experienced, hardest-working employees, namely those long-term employees age 40 and older, and replaced them with younger, less-experienced persons under age 40."
skippy can certainly empathize with those folks. he worked at disneyland at the notorious golden horseshoe saloon reviewback in the 80's, and was let go after a couple of seasons (however, it was probably because he broke his foot, rather than being over 40). but he was fired just a couple of years ago from his comedy writing job at a subsidiary of a major communications corporation, with little cause given. since he was the oldest employee in the department, and his work was given to his younger assistant, he just put two and two together. however, we don't want to mention that corporation by name.
according to the orange county register, several ex-employees of disneyland have sued the theme park, accusing the happiest place on earth of age discrmination.
the report says that david koenig, author of the behind-the-ears book "mouse tales" testified on behalf of the plaintiffs that "disneyland terminated some of its most experienced, hardest-working employees, namely those long-term employees age 40 and older, and replaced them with younger, less-experienced persons under age 40."
skippy can certainly empathize with those folks. he worked at disneyland at the notorious golden horseshoe saloon reviewback in the 80's, and was let go after a couple of seasons (however, it was probably because he broke his foot, rather than being over 40). but he was fired just a couple of years ago from his comedy writing job at a subsidiary of a major communications corporation, with little cause given. since he was the oldest employee in the department, and his work was given to his younger assistant, he just put two and two together. however, we don't want to mention that corporation by name.
posted by skippy at
8:43 PM |
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what was so great about that depression, anyway?
here's an editorial by robert brent toplin in the tallahassee democrat comparing the michael douglas character of gordon gekko from the movie "wall street", to today's corporate scandals.
what is interesting, though, is not the movie metaphor, but that mr. toplin makes yet another reference in today's media to the great depression of the 1920's. we at skippy are seeing more and more of these comparisons.
"the gekko character is a familiar figure in u.s. economic history," mr. toplin says. "his most notable earlier appearance was in the 1920s...a time of fast-rising stock prices, [when] manipulative financiers gave the public distorted information about the condition of their business enterprises."
but at least he realizes that this is not a movie: "the final minutes, gekko's protege turned him in to the authorities. in real life, it takes more than a single act of heroism to deal with the challenges posed by excessive greed. government must establish the rules of fair play."
we wish.
here's an editorial by robert brent toplin in the tallahassee democrat comparing the michael douglas character of gordon gekko from the movie "wall street", to today's corporate scandals.
what is interesting, though, is not the movie metaphor, but that mr. toplin makes yet another reference in today's media to the great depression of the 1920's. we at skippy are seeing more and more of these comparisons.
"the gekko character is a familiar figure in u.s. economic history," mr. toplin says. "his most notable earlier appearance was in the 1920s...a time of fast-rising stock prices, [when] manipulative financiers gave the public distorted information about the condition of their business enterprises."
but at least he realizes that this is not a movie: "the final minutes, gekko's protege turned him in to the authorities. in real life, it takes more than a single act of heroism to deal with the challenges posed by excessive greed. government must establish the rules of fair play."
we wish.
posted by skippy at
4:47 PM |
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boring follow ups
luckily for us, the asteroid that was supposed to destroy the earth in early 2019, won't.
and, also perhaps just as luckily, jim traficant, who said "i'll go to jail before I resign," will.
oh, and bruce springsteen is on tour, in case you don't read eric alterman.
luckily for us, the asteroid that was supposed to destroy the earth in early 2019, won't.
and, also perhaps just as luckily, jim traficant, who said "i'll go to jail before I resign," will.
oh, and bruce springsteen is on tour, in case you don't read eric alterman.
posted by skippy at
4:27 PM |
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scary monsters
united press international is reporting that osama bin laden is not only alive, but he has plotted a number of operations against the west, slated to be carried out in the month of august, according to the london-based newspaper ash sharq al-awsat.
the upi report says that sources who were "close to bin Laden's supporters, told ash sharq al-awsat [that] al qaida had completed plans for its operation. targets were not mentioned, however."
pretty scary stuff. good thing our president will be on the job during august. huh? what's that you say?
united press international is reporting that osama bin laden is not only alive, but he has plotted a number of operations against the west, slated to be carried out in the month of august, according to the london-based newspaper ash sharq al-awsat.
the upi report says that sources who were "close to bin Laden's supporters, told ash sharq al-awsat [that] al qaida had completed plans for its operation. targets were not mentioned, however."
pretty scary stuff. good thing our president will be on the job during august. huh? what's that you say?
posted by skippy at
4:15 PM |
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jeeves, give the poor homeless man the rest of my pate fois
the rittenhouse review (a daily skippy favorite) gives this fabulous deconstruction of michael novak's foray into the working class via mr. novak's article about the pennsylvania miners getting rescued.
the rittenhouse review suspects that "novak sees precious few working-class or blue-collar americans as he goes about his daily business..while ensconced in a nice office in a respectable yet undistinguished building at the corner of 17th and m streets, n.w., in washington, d.c., the most white-collar large city in america."
the rittenhouse review (a daily skippy favorite) gives this fabulous deconstruction of michael novak's foray into the working class via mr. novak's article about the pennsylvania miners getting rescued.
the rittenhouse review suspects that "novak sees precious few working-class or blue-collar americans as he goes about his daily business..while ensconced in a nice office in a respectable yet undistinguished building at the corner of 17th and m streets, n.w., in washington, d.c., the most white-collar large city in america."
posted by skippy at
1:07 PM |
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hillary for president, or at least toastmaster general
the hartford courant reports that senator hillary clinton "eclipses the rest" when she spoke to the democratic leadership council. and the new york post says she "stole the show."
the courant article states that the applause for senator clinton "dwarfed the polite receptions given to the more somber and conventional musings of sens....lieberman...kerry...and majority leader...daschle."
and hey, you know it takes a lot to make millionaires who want to be perceived as populist candidates applaud!
the hartford courant reports that senator hillary clinton "eclipses the rest" when she spoke to the democratic leadership council. and the new york post says she "stole the show."
the courant article states that the applause for senator clinton "dwarfed the polite receptions given to the more somber and conventional musings of sens....lieberman...kerry...and majority leader...daschle."
and hey, you know it takes a lot to make millionaires who want to be perceived as populist candidates applaud!
posted by skippy at
12:40 PM |
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more worrisome numbers (if you're a republican)
usa today reports that the dems get "an edge on the economy" in their latest poll. the article says that americans, when polled, postulated "which party would do a better job in congress of setting the right economic course: 42% say democrats, and 37% say republicans. in may, republicans led democrats 43%-34%." it's even worse for poor mr. bush: in october "72% approved of the president's economic performance. now, 52% do" according to the usa today/cnn/gallup poll.
but skippy always wondered why it takes 3 national organizations to do one lousy little poll? how hard is it to phone people up and ask leading questions?
usa today reports that the dems get "an edge on the economy" in their latest poll. the article says that americans, when polled, postulated "which party would do a better job in congress of setting the right economic course: 42% say democrats, and 37% say republicans. in may, republicans led democrats 43%-34%." it's even worse for poor mr. bush: in october "72% approved of the president's economic performance. now, 52% do" according to the usa today/cnn/gallup poll.
but skippy always wondered why it takes 3 national organizations to do one lousy little poll? how hard is it to phone people up and ask leading questions?
posted by skippy at
12:29 PM |
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plugging away
skippy is so flattered to be getting mail from other blogs around the blogopia (yes, i coined that term! what, never heard of it? damn! shows you how much my coins are worth!)
jack thoreau has begun a new site called fight the right. he's got plenty of action alerts, with links that can help you implement your interactive democracy from the comfort of your own computer, as well as essays and letters that could be of interest.
jack also directed us to this essay that he wrote about invading iraq on america held hostile. it's worthy of a read because it contains the names and email addresses and/or phone and fax numbers of all the members of the foreign relations committee in the senate. and skippy wants you to remember to use the phone company to send free faxes to these guys using your email.
also, dave johnson has begun a new blog called seeing the forest which is worth a look. thanks for the link, dave!
skippy is so flattered to be getting mail from other blogs around the blogopia (yes, i coined that term! what, never heard of it? damn! shows you how much my coins are worth!)
jack thoreau has begun a new site called fight the right. he's got plenty of action alerts, with links that can help you implement your interactive democracy from the comfort of your own computer, as well as essays and letters that could be of interest.
jack also directed us to this essay that he wrote about invading iraq on america held hostile. it's worthy of a read because it contains the names and email addresses and/or phone and fax numbers of all the members of the foreign relations committee in the senate. and skippy wants you to remember to use the phone company to send free faxes to these guys using your email.
also, dave johnson has begun a new blog called seeing the forest which is worth a look. thanks for the link, dave!
posted by skippy at
11:55 AM |
0
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Monday, July 29, 2002
free faxes to washington
hey kids, here's your weekly reminder to use the phone company link on the right side of this page to send free faxes to your jerks in washington, using your brower's email system!
hey kids, here's your weekly reminder to use the phone company link on the right side of this page to send free faxes to your jerks in washington, using your brower's email system!
posted by skippy at
2:17 PM |
0
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mea culpa
a few posts ago, i postulated that the democrats would probably not be able to do much with the "four aces" of corporate scandal that they were dealt. i used it, knowing i had heard it somewhere else, but not remembering where. well, now i remember.
mark shields first used that phrase in this commentary. so, for taking it and making it my own, without proper attribution, i apologize. and just to show what a sport i am, i'm recommending this article by mr. shields, which asks the question, is it "fun being a republican candidate in the late summer of 2002"? he apparently thinks not.
but i wonder if mr. shields got the idea for his opening paragraph in that article from this letter in the arizona republic?
a few posts ago, i postulated that the democrats would probably not be able to do much with the "four aces" of corporate scandal that they were dealt. i used it, knowing i had heard it somewhere else, but not remembering where. well, now i remember.
mark shields first used that phrase in this commentary. so, for taking it and making it my own, without proper attribution, i apologize. and just to show what a sport i am, i'm recommending this article by mr. shields, which asks the question, is it "fun being a republican candidate in the late summer of 2002"? he apparently thinks not.
but i wonder if mr. shields got the idea for his opening paragraph in that article from this letter in the arizona republic?
posted by skippy at
2:12 PM |
0
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if he's in the center i'm off the map
here's two interesting items about joe "do you have enough insurance" lieberman: this one, from yahoo, tells of the senator saying that the broad powers that poor mr. bush wants over the homeland security department is "an insult to unionized government employees." the report quotes the senator lieberman as saying "this is a phony issue, and it ought not to stop the president from signing this bill."
but before you think the good senator might have some gumption growing between his legs, take a look at this new york times story, where joe rags on his former buddy, al gore, because mr. gore "drifted away from the centrist democratic appeal ." apparently poor joe doesn't want to tick off the huge business interests that are such good friends with his campaign, as well as the dlc.
and while we're spreading nasty political stories, here's an interesting review of dick cheney's business history with halliburton, from the toronto star.
here's two interesting items about joe "do you have enough insurance" lieberman: this one, from yahoo, tells of the senator saying that the broad powers that poor mr. bush wants over the homeland security department is "an insult to unionized government employees." the report quotes the senator lieberman as saying "this is a phony issue, and it ought not to stop the president from signing this bill."
but before you think the good senator might have some gumption growing between his legs, take a look at this new york times story, where joe rags on his former buddy, al gore, because mr. gore "drifted away from the centrist democratic appeal ." apparently poor joe doesn't want to tick off the huge business interests that are such good friends with his campaign, as well as the dlc.
and while we're spreading nasty political stories, here's an interesting review of dick cheney's business history with halliburton, from the toronto star.
posted by skippy at
1:46 PM |
0
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eating jim crow
not that we particularly love the new york times, but we just keep finding editorials from that paper that we agree with. here's one discussing the changes (or lack thereof) in the sufferage laws around the country. apparently, some judge in florida threw out a lawsuit challenging that state's disenfranchisement laws. the report tells of the judge "deciding that florida had the right to disenfranchise people as long as the motive was to deny felons, rather than a specific racial group, the vote."
well, isn't that enlightened!
not that we particularly love the new york times, but we just keep finding editorials from that paper that we agree with. here's one discussing the changes (or lack thereof) in the sufferage laws around the country. apparently, some judge in florida threw out a lawsuit challenging that state's disenfranchisement laws. the report tells of the judge "deciding that florida had the right to disenfranchise people as long as the motive was to deny felons, rather than a specific racial group, the vote."
well, isn't that enlightened!
posted by skippy at
12:12 PM |
0
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you must like to laugh, you're reading this site
so if you really like a good chuckle or two, we heartily recommend the ironic times. almost as funny as the real news.
so if you really like a good chuckle or two, we heartily recommend the ironic times. almost as funny as the real news.
posted by skippy at
12:01 PM |
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the lesser of two heckles
the contra costra times reports that california gubernatorial candidate bill simon got heckled in a recent appearnce in oakland. but apparently, the report states, "the call to action stemmed more from disdain for simon than enthusiasm for the democratic incumbent" (gray 'pay for play' davis).
the report quotes one of the protestors as saying, "not that gray davis is any better (than simon), but he's the lesser of two evils."
as someone who has done stand-up comedy in his life, skippy wonders what kind of comeback simon had.
the contra costra times reports that california gubernatorial candidate bill simon got heckled in a recent appearnce in oakland. but apparently, the report states, "the call to action stemmed more from disdain for simon than enthusiasm for the democratic incumbent" (gray 'pay for play' davis).
the report quotes one of the protestors as saying, "not that gray davis is any better (than simon), but he's the lesser of two evils."
as someone who has done stand-up comedy in his life, skippy wonders what kind of comeback simon had.
posted by skippy at
11:57 AM |
0
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Sunday, July 28, 2002
by george w. orwell
in a fit of deja vu i would rather not have experienced, the san francisco chronicle has an article that likens living in george w. bush's america to george orwell's 1984, much like i did in an off-handed remark yesterday.
"president bush may not be as menacing a figure (as big brother)," the article postulates, "but he has hardly concealed his desire for greater powers...by abandoning many of the checks and balances established in the constitution...bush has already achieved the greatest expansion of executive powers since nixon."
what's scarier, comparing bush to big brother or nixon?
in a fit of deja vu i would rather not have experienced, the san francisco chronicle has an article that likens living in george w. bush's america to george orwell's 1984, much like i did in an off-handed remark yesterday.
"president bush may not be as menacing a figure (as big brother)," the article postulates, "but he has hardly concealed his desire for greater powers...by abandoning many of the checks and balances established in the constitution...bush has already achieved the greatest expansion of executive powers since nixon."
what's scarier, comparing bush to big brother or nixon?
posted by skippy at
7:05 PM |
0
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blogging around
even though most would consider yours truly left-leaning, and that same most would consider the doxagora blog right-leaning, i am always pleased and surprised to find posts on that site that i agree with 100%. (perhaps it's time to junk such last-millenium terms as "right" and "left" although i'm not sure what we would replace them with.)
i must give a hearty "hear hear" to doxagora's take on how the new york times assumes to tell general colin powell how to do his job. like doxagora, i believe "the fact that i tend to agree more with secretary powell's take on international affairs... doesn't obviate the fact that international policy is his to execute, not his to make." personally, i believe general powell to be the best thing about mr. bush's administration, and would hope his expertise and insights will be around to guide the white house for another 2 years, 5 months and 23 days.
and then, doxagora and i both agree about the exciting to watch david horowitz vs. scoobie davis fracas. here's a well-laid out argument by doxagora that, of the two, scoobie seems to be the more intellectually honest participant in this cyberstreet fight, at least in this case.
we provide no link to mr. horowitz's site. if you really want to go there, you can google-search it. but don't come back crying to us.
also, our thanks to drudge for drudging up this tidbit about yet another loophole in the tax system to let billionaires be billionaires.
and buzzflash takes time out of their busy hunt for anti-bush stories to bring us this note: the washington post is reporting a ufo. where's muldar when you need him?
speaking of buzzflash's hunt, here's an interesting note from, again, the washington post, concerning the pentagon's decidedly unenthusiastic feelings towards an invasion of iraq.
(skippy comes from a proud navy family, and has never seen the miliatary as the problem in the world's woes. skippy knows that our brave men and women in uniform, the top brass included, are only doing their jobs as directed by the jerks in washington. so, even though nobody asked, skippy would suggest listening to the military's opinions when it comes to little things like waging war. just an idea.)
even though most would consider yours truly left-leaning, and that same most would consider the doxagora blog right-leaning, i am always pleased and surprised to find posts on that site that i agree with 100%. (perhaps it's time to junk such last-millenium terms as "right" and "left" although i'm not sure what we would replace them with.)
i must give a hearty "hear hear" to doxagora's take on how the new york times assumes to tell general colin powell how to do his job. like doxagora, i believe "the fact that i tend to agree more with secretary powell's take on international affairs... doesn't obviate the fact that international policy is his to execute, not his to make." personally, i believe general powell to be the best thing about mr. bush's administration, and would hope his expertise and insights will be around to guide the white house for another 2 years, 5 months and 23 days.
and then, doxagora and i both agree about the exciting to watch david horowitz vs. scoobie davis fracas. here's a well-laid out argument by doxagora that, of the two, scoobie seems to be the more intellectually honest participant in this cyberstreet fight, at least in this case.
we provide no link to mr. horowitz's site. if you really want to go there, you can google-search it. but don't come back crying to us.
also, our thanks to drudge for drudging up this tidbit about yet another loophole in the tax system to let billionaires be billionaires.
and buzzflash takes time out of their busy hunt for anti-bush stories to bring us this note: the washington post is reporting a ufo. where's muldar when you need him?
speaking of buzzflash's hunt, here's an interesting note from, again, the washington post, concerning the pentagon's decidedly unenthusiastic feelings towards an invasion of iraq.
(skippy comes from a proud navy family, and has never seen the miliatary as the problem in the world's woes. skippy knows that our brave men and women in uniform, the top brass included, are only doing their jobs as directed by the jerks in washington. so, even though nobody asked, skippy would suggest listening to the military's opinions when it comes to little things like waging war. just an idea.)
posted by skippy at
2:21 PM |
0
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mo' money mo' money mo' money: a commentary
i'm a big fan of glen reynolds' work at instapundit and read him daily. he's thoughtful and concise, not afraid to back up his opinions with cites and refereces (always a plus in skippy's book!). but i would respectfully offer a different opinion than he does about the partisan reaction to corporate scandals.
on this post, glen says that he has "been noting that the financial-scandal angle won't work for the democrats because they're just as corrupt as republicans" and then goes on to provide an instance found by the armed liberal showing as much.
we at skippy would have to agree with both bloggers: yes, the dems are just as big money-grubbers as the repubs. hell, i don't want to mention joe lieberman by name, but i'm sure i wouldn't have to surf too far to find corraborating evidence.
but i think that misses the point (maybe not glen's point, to be sure, but the dem's point. and let's face it, the dems are dropping the ball sooo much these days, we ought to look a little harder at what they are trying to say, just in the name of good sportsmanship).
rightly or wrongly, the republicans, and poor mr. bush and mr. cheney in particular, are seen to be closely tied to big business. the current administration ran on the idea that they were "bidness men." mr. bush proudly states he is our first president with an mba. that wasn't the dems' idea, it came from the bowels of the republican brain trusts.
sure, dems took money from enron. but as we all know, it was less than the repubs took. (63% to the r's, 37% to the d's in 2000). there are those that argue, "shop lifting is illegal, whether you steal 37 cents or 63 cents worth of candy!" true, but in the law, there are degrees. think not? ask yourself if you'd rather be convicted of first degree murder or manslaughter. yes, the dems are dirty in enron. it's just that the republicans are almost twice as dirty.
and remember newt gingrich and his contract with america? not to nit pick, but he didn't call it a "promise" to america, or a "declaration of financial rights" for america, or even "here's a really good idea, america." no, it was a contract. a standard business form. and which party was known in the 90's for their love of deregulation? two guesses, and the answer doesn't begin with a "d."
now, i am sure there are plenty of people that can argue, and very intelligently, i imagine, that deregulation had nothing to do with corporate scandals. and, maybe in the past (when i was still drinking) i could honestly believe that the lack of oversight and rules didn't encourage cheating and fraud. sure, makes sense to me. but to the great majority of people who bother to read the news, it seems like the guys who called for a kinder, gentler sec must take some responsibility with the results.
granted, today's democrats are far too stupid and wimpy and greedy to actually make these arguments out loud. what they need is a democrat who is ruthless. but, alas, there is no such thing today.
so we must leave it to the people's perceptions. and, i truly believe, most people perceive (again i repeat, rightly or wrongly) that the republicans are closer to big business, and therefore, the corporate scandals, than the dems.
as we often say in this space, you reap what you sow.
i'm a big fan of glen reynolds' work at instapundit and read him daily. he's thoughtful and concise, not afraid to back up his opinions with cites and refereces (always a plus in skippy's book!). but i would respectfully offer a different opinion than he does about the partisan reaction to corporate scandals.
on this post, glen says that he has "been noting that the financial-scandal angle won't work for the democrats because they're just as corrupt as republicans" and then goes on to provide an instance found by the armed liberal showing as much.
we at skippy would have to agree with both bloggers: yes, the dems are just as big money-grubbers as the repubs. hell, i don't want to mention joe lieberman by name, but i'm sure i wouldn't have to surf too far to find corraborating evidence.
but i think that misses the point (maybe not glen's point, to be sure, but the dem's point. and let's face it, the dems are dropping the ball sooo much these days, we ought to look a little harder at what they are trying to say, just in the name of good sportsmanship).
rightly or wrongly, the republicans, and poor mr. bush and mr. cheney in particular, are seen to be closely tied to big business. the current administration ran on the idea that they were "bidness men." mr. bush proudly states he is our first president with an mba. that wasn't the dems' idea, it came from the bowels of the republican brain trusts.
sure, dems took money from enron. but as we all know, it was less than the repubs took. (63% to the r's, 37% to the d's in 2000). there are those that argue, "shop lifting is illegal, whether you steal 37 cents or 63 cents worth of candy!" true, but in the law, there are degrees. think not? ask yourself if you'd rather be convicted of first degree murder or manslaughter. yes, the dems are dirty in enron. it's just that the republicans are almost twice as dirty.
and remember newt gingrich and his contract with america? not to nit pick, but he didn't call it a "promise" to america, or a "declaration of financial rights" for america, or even "here's a really good idea, america." no, it was a contract. a standard business form. and which party was known in the 90's for their love of deregulation? two guesses, and the answer doesn't begin with a "d."
now, i am sure there are plenty of people that can argue, and very intelligently, i imagine, that deregulation had nothing to do with corporate scandals. and, maybe in the past (when i was still drinking) i could honestly believe that the lack of oversight and rules didn't encourage cheating and fraud. sure, makes sense to me. but to the great majority of people who bother to read the news, it seems like the guys who called for a kinder, gentler sec must take some responsibility with the results.
granted, today's democrats are far too stupid and wimpy and greedy to actually make these arguments out loud. what they need is a democrat who is ruthless. but, alas, there is no such thing today.
so we must leave it to the people's perceptions. and, i truly believe, most people perceive (again i repeat, rightly or wrongly) that the republicans are closer to big business, and therefore, the corporate scandals, than the dems.
as we often say in this space, you reap what you sow.
posted by skippy at
11:18 AM |
0
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Saturday, July 27, 2002
apparently, mother nature reads this blog
we at skippy are very relieved and happy to hear that the fire threatening the sequoias has now changed directions and is burning away from the big trees. cbs news reports that "weather conditions saturday had been favorable for fire fighters, since increased winds that had been expected Saturday afternoon had not materialized."
thank you, god, for small favors.
we at skippy are very relieved and happy to hear that the fire threatening the sequoias has now changed directions and is burning away from the big trees. cbs news reports that "weather conditions saturday had been favorable for fire fighters, since increased winds that had been expected Saturday afternoon had not materialized."
thank you, god, for small favors.
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5:17 PM |
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now we'll just have to go back to spying on each other over the internet
the miami herald is reporting that mr. bush's tips program (an effort to encourage americans to turn in their fellow americans to the authorities seems to be dead. "the homeland security bill passed...by the house..." the report states, "appears to kill operation tips."
this was one issue that both the far left and far right (and anybody else who didin't want to live in a production of "1984") agreed on, according to the report. "it drew fire from republican conservatives and from the american civil liberties union, which charged that it would encourage 'government-sanctioned peeping toms.' "
now, we are all for peeping toms, but don't relish the idea of getting the feds involved.
the miami herald is reporting that mr. bush's tips program (an effort to encourage americans to turn in their fellow americans to the authorities seems to be dead. "the homeland security bill passed...by the house..." the report states, "appears to kill operation tips."
this was one issue that both the far left and far right (and anybody else who didin't want to live in a production of "1984") agreed on, according to the report. "it drew fire from republican conservatives and from the american civil liberties union, which charged that it would encourage 'government-sanctioned peeping toms.' "
now, we are all for peeping toms, but don't relish the idea of getting the feds involved.
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5:14 PM |
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quick, lassie, find timmy's stash!
drug sniffing dogs are causing quite a stir in one south dakota school, according to this report from the new york times. we're not sure what kind of drugs kindergardeners are using these days, but apparently federal officials in souix falls let the dogs frighten the children "so badly that they cried and at least one urinated involuntarily."
personally, we at skippy have a zero-tolerance policy for stupid adults scaring kids.
drug sniffing dogs are causing quite a stir in one south dakota school, according to this report from the new york times. we're not sure what kind of drugs kindergardeners are using these days, but apparently federal officials in souix falls let the dogs frighten the children "so badly that they cried and at least one urinated involuntarily."
personally, we at skippy have a zero-tolerance policy for stupid adults scaring kids.
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5:01 PM |
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timing is everything
what do you do when the responsibilites of your job begin to spin out of control, and huge scandals come to light under your watch, and several highly visible people call for your resignation? well, if you're harvey pitt, you ask for a raise.
the washington post says that the beleaguered mr. pitt not only asked congress for more money, but also asked "lawmakers to elevate his sec job to cabinet status." apparently, this did not go down well with some people. senator daschle said, "of all the things that he has to think about, it is amazing to me that this is what he's spending his time thinking about."
personally, skippy likes the man's moxie! the next time skippy screws up at work, he'll ask for more money and a promotion!
what do you do when the responsibilites of your job begin to spin out of control, and huge scandals come to light under your watch, and several highly visible people call for your resignation? well, if you're harvey pitt, you ask for a raise.
the washington post says that the beleaguered mr. pitt not only asked congress for more money, but also asked "lawmakers to elevate his sec job to cabinet status." apparently, this did not go down well with some people. senator daschle said, "of all the things that he has to think about, it is amazing to me that this is what he's spending his time thinking about."
personally, skippy likes the man's moxie! the next time skippy screws up at work, he'll ask for more money and a promotion!
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4:40 PM |
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Friday, July 26, 2002
blogging around
check out the rittenhouse review's take on poor samantha runnion's mother appearing on larry king the day after her abducted daughter was buried. skippy remarked much the same sort of feelings to mrs. skippy when he watched the grieving (?) mother on her national television appearance. apparently the woman wasn't shaken up too much by her daughter's abduction, sexual molestation and murder because she was still able to get into the make up chair for her big debut with larry.
and as to the markets (finally closing in positive territory for a change), my favorite economist jane galt posts this musing on when and where we will see the end of the bears (check out the comments section, where she and her intelligent readers answer skippy's question, "aside from how i feel when i look at my 401k, what's the difference between a recession and a depression?")
and, on a lighter note, make sure that mad kane's dubya's daily diary is on your "favorites" button.
check out the rittenhouse review's take on poor samantha runnion's mother appearing on larry king the day after her abducted daughter was buried. skippy remarked much the same sort of feelings to mrs. skippy when he watched the grieving (?) mother on her national television appearance. apparently the woman wasn't shaken up too much by her daughter's abduction, sexual molestation and murder because she was still able to get into the make up chair for her big debut with larry.
and as to the markets (finally closing in positive territory for a change), my favorite economist jane galt posts this musing on when and where we will see the end of the bears (check out the comments section, where she and her intelligent readers answer skippy's question, "aside from how i feel when i look at my 401k, what's the difference between a recession and a depression?")
and, on a lighter note, make sure that mad kane's dubya's daily diary is on your "favorites" button.
posted by skippy at
3:47 PM |
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ducking subpoenas for fun and profit
apparently, if you're the vice president, you don't have to ever worry about getting any unwanted subpoenas, according to this report from the cybercast news service. the report says, "a process server was threatened with arrest when he went...to deliver a copy of the legal complaint against dick cheney on behalf of halliburton shareholders."
and, as if you need yet another example of the difference between this white house and bill clinton, here it is: judicial watch (the self-proclaimed public service organization that is bringing the suit on behalf of the shareholders) says "we have served many a lawsuit on bill clinton, al gore, and hillary clinton...the clinton white house accepted the papers. never before have our process servers been threatened with arrest."
apparently, if you're the vice president, you don't have to ever worry about getting any unwanted subpoenas, according to this report from the cybercast news service. the report says, "a process server was threatened with arrest when he went...to deliver a copy of the legal complaint against dick cheney on behalf of halliburton shareholders."
and, as if you need yet another example of the difference between this white house and bill clinton, here it is: judicial watch (the self-proclaimed public service organization that is bringing the suit on behalf of the shareholders) says "we have served many a lawsuit on bill clinton, al gore, and hillary clinton...the clinton white house accepted the papers. never before have our process servers been threatened with arrest."
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3:12 PM |
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those darn numbers!
the christian science monitor has this report by john zogby of zogby international, stating that poor mr. bush's poll numbers are expected to go down even more. although "last week the president dropped to a still-high 62 percent job rating," mr. zogby goes on to say "...i believe bush's numbers will go down about 6 or 7 points more."
and, speaking of numbers, paul krugman takes mr. bush's plan to privatize social security to task in this new york times editorial. aside from the fact that mr. bush's basic math was a bit fuzzy ("based on the claim that 2-1=4"), mr. krugman points out that the biggest benefactors of a privatized social security plan would be "a handful of designated private investment funds" because of the "...enormous commissions for the managers of those funds." i.e., more bucks for mr. bush's millionaire friends.
and finally, john balzar makes this commentary in the contra-costa times, examining poor mr. bush's explanation of his harken dealings in relation to the other corporate scandals plaguing the countryside. "Audaciously, bush asks us to believe that harken's disreputable accounting is an example of a system that works," mr. balzar writes, because "...we are told that since no one was actually charged with wrongdoing, then everything was legal and right, thank you."
the christian science monitor has this report by john zogby of zogby international, stating that poor mr. bush's poll numbers are expected to go down even more. although "last week the president dropped to a still-high 62 percent job rating," mr. zogby goes on to say "...i believe bush's numbers will go down about 6 or 7 points more."
and, speaking of numbers, paul krugman takes mr. bush's plan to privatize social security to task in this new york times editorial. aside from the fact that mr. bush's basic math was a bit fuzzy ("based on the claim that 2-1=4"), mr. krugman points out that the biggest benefactors of a privatized social security plan would be "a handful of designated private investment funds" because of the "...enormous commissions for the managers of those funds." i.e., more bucks for mr. bush's millionaire friends.
and finally, john balzar makes this commentary in the contra-costa times, examining poor mr. bush's explanation of his harken dealings in relation to the other corporate scandals plaguing the countryside. "Audaciously, bush asks us to believe that harken's disreputable accounting is an example of a system that works," mr. balzar writes, because "...we are told that since no one was actually charged with wrongdoing, then everything was legal and right, thank you."
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2:56 PM |
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just direct your thousand feet to 42nd street
cnn reports that a new species of centipede was found in, of all places, central park.
the report states that "the central park centipede...is so unusual that scientists have classified it as the only species in a completely new genus," making it unique among the other slimy disgusting things in the park (we supposed winos are the same genus as bums). "like all centipedes, it is a carnivorous predator armed with venomous fangs" the report goes on to say. well, it should feel right at home in new york city, then.
but it begs the question, exactly who was looking for it?
cnn reports that a new species of centipede was found in, of all places, central park.
the report states that "the central park centipede...is so unusual that scientists have classified it as the only species in a completely new genus," making it unique among the other slimy disgusting things in the park (we supposed winos are the same genus as bums). "like all centipedes, it is a carnivorous predator armed with venomous fangs" the report goes on to say. well, it should feel right at home in new york city, then.
but it begs the question, exactly who was looking for it?
posted by skippy at
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Thursday, July 25, 2002
is a mirror looking into a mirror really infinity or just plain zero?
we at skippy are all for fact-checking, ombudsmanship and keeping each other honest, but after a while, one has to ask one's self, at what point does it become redundant?
of course, we love media whores on line (except not this month, they're on vacation. but any other month, they are the cat's pajamas!) this media watchdog site was personally responsible for putting the kibosh on the ugly rumor that clinton invited ken lay for a sleepover in the lincoln bedroom. they did this by (shudder!) researching the facts, then admonishing their readers to email offending media outlets demanding corrections of the misinformation. good job, whores on line!
and in the name of fairness and the first amendment, we have no objection to media whores on line watch. this blog purports to "correct" the fallacies offered on media whores. we at skippy rarely agree with mwo watch, and find their arguements to be specious at best, and third-grade at worst. but, as we said somewhere else in our lives, it's a free country.
and, in theory, we don't really have a problem with media whores on line watch watch, which tries to keep mwo watch honest while they try to keep mwo honest. but you can see where we're going with this.
it seems to us at skippy, that a debate is an exchange of ideas, ie, a dialogue, and not a constant nit picking of context, challenging of usage and tossing about of straw-men arguments. catching someone in a lapse of logic is one thing, continual finger pointing is another.
all we can say is, we dread the day when someone directs us to skippy the bush kangaroo watch watch watch watch.
we at skippy are all for fact-checking, ombudsmanship and keeping each other honest, but after a while, one has to ask one's self, at what point does it become redundant?
of course, we love media whores on line (except not this month, they're on vacation. but any other month, they are the cat's pajamas!) this media watchdog site was personally responsible for putting the kibosh on the ugly rumor that clinton invited ken lay for a sleepover in the lincoln bedroom. they did this by (shudder!) researching the facts, then admonishing their readers to email offending media outlets demanding corrections of the misinformation. good job, whores on line!
and in the name of fairness and the first amendment, we have no objection to media whores on line watch. this blog purports to "correct" the fallacies offered on media whores. we at skippy rarely agree with mwo watch, and find their arguements to be specious at best, and third-grade at worst. but, as we said somewhere else in our lives, it's a free country.
and, in theory, we don't really have a problem with media whores on line watch watch, which tries to keep mwo watch honest while they try to keep mwo honest. but you can see where we're going with this.
it seems to us at skippy, that a debate is an exchange of ideas, ie, a dialogue, and not a constant nit picking of context, challenging of usage and tossing about of straw-men arguments. catching someone in a lapse of logic is one thing, continual finger pointing is another.
all we can say is, we dread the day when someone directs us to skippy the bush kangaroo watch watch watch watch.
posted by skippy at
9:43 PM |
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what, did he vote for himself?
cnn reports that in a 420 to 1 vote, the house of representatives expelled bon vivant, man-about-the-hill and avante garde hair stylist jim traficant, making him only the second house member "since the civil war to be kicked out of congress."
cnn says that mr. traficant, in his final speech before the house, declared "i'll go to jail before I resign and admit to something I didn't do."
looks like he'll get his wish.
cnn reports that in a 420 to 1 vote, the house of representatives expelled bon vivant, man-about-the-hill and avante garde hair stylist jim traficant, making him only the second house member "since the civil war to be kicked out of congress."
cnn says that mr. traficant, in his final speech before the house, declared "i'll go to jail before I resign and admit to something I didn't do."
looks like he'll get his wish.
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9:17 PM |
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from the "i told you so" dept.
douglas rushkoff, in the uk guardian, says that he predicted the aol-time warner fiasco back in 2000, but the new york times refused to run his analysis of the bubble bursting. mr. rushkoff writes, "all the experts - at least all the experts the times was listening to - believed that the aol purchase of time warner indicated 'new' media's domination of 'old' media. interactivity would take over."
now it looks like the sec is considering taking over.
(and a big skippy thanks to the jim romenesko's media news blog for linking us to that guardian article!)
douglas rushkoff, in the uk guardian, says that he predicted the aol-time warner fiasco back in 2000, but the new york times refused to run his analysis of the bubble bursting. mr. rushkoff writes, "all the experts - at least all the experts the times was listening to - believed that the aol purchase of time warner indicated 'new' media's domination of 'old' media. interactivity would take over."
now it looks like the sec is considering taking over.
(and a big skippy thanks to the jim romenesko's media news blog for linking us to that guardian article!)
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9:13 PM |
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ancient trees in danger
we here at skippy are sorely disheartened to watch the raging forest fires that threaten the sequoias. sequoia national park and its big trees is one of the most beautiful spots in the state of california, if not the world. mr. and mrs. skippy has spent many a peaceful afternoon among the giant trees, and can tell you there is nothing as calming to the soul or as humbling to the ego as walking through redwood and sequoia forests. we hope the fire does not do the sort of damage that the 1988 fire in yellowstone national park did.
we here at skippy are sorely disheartened to watch the raging forest fires that threaten the sequoias. sequoia national park and its big trees is one of the most beautiful spots in the state of california, if not the world. mr. and mrs. skippy has spent many a peaceful afternoon among the giant trees, and can tell you there is nothing as calming to the soul or as humbling to the ego as walking through redwood and sequoia forests. we hope the fire does not do the sort of damage that the 1988 fire in yellowstone national park did.
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5:23 PM |
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they can always get a job on the lecture circuit
in the july 25 edition of rollcall magazine, stuart rothenberg postulates that for president bush, it's time to let a head (or two) to roll. mr. rothenberg says, "paul o'neill and...harvey pitt are the two biggest problems for bush, and if they really want to help him, both should leave their posts voluntarily."
skippy seconds the motion! mr. rothenberg goes on to say "the president's top foreign affairs advisers begin with a reservoir of credibility...the same can't be said of o'neill or pitt." and, our favorite paragraph in the piece opens with the fact that "so far, o'neill is best known for contradicting the president, (and) accompanying singer bono on an international journey..."
skippy bets that mr. bush wonders why bono ever left cher.
in the july 25 edition of rollcall magazine, stuart rothenberg postulates that for president bush, it's time to let a head (or two) to roll. mr. rothenberg says, "paul o'neill and...harvey pitt are the two biggest problems for bush, and if they really want to help him, both should leave their posts voluntarily."
skippy seconds the motion! mr. rothenberg goes on to say "the president's top foreign affairs advisers begin with a reservoir of credibility...the same can't be said of o'neill or pitt." and, our favorite paragraph in the piece opens with the fact that "so far, o'neill is best known for contradicting the president, (and) accompanying singer bono on an international journey..."
skippy bets that mr. bush wonders why bono ever left cher.
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5:02 PM |
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stranger than headlines
in other news:
court rules aqua song "barbie girl" not an infringement on mattel's copyright
lassie's litigation against "who let the dogs out" still pending
corporate fraud bill sent to president
president retorts, "i'm not paying this bill!"
an hour after entering it, zacharias moussaoui withdraws his guilty plea
moussaoui requests emily latella for his lawyer.
viagra helps children with pulminary hypertension
skeptics ask, helps them do what, exactly?
pope john paul visits the faithful in toronto
blue jays still suck.
in other news:
court rules aqua song "barbie girl" not an infringement on mattel's copyright
lassie's litigation against "who let the dogs out" still pending
corporate fraud bill sent to president
president retorts, "i'm not paying this bill!"
an hour after entering it, zacharias moussaoui withdraws his guilty plea
moussaoui requests emily latella for his lawyer.
viagra helps children with pulminary hypertension
skeptics ask, helps them do what, exactly?
pope john paul visits the faithful in toronto
blue jays still suck.
posted by skippy at
4:57 PM |
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posse comatose
apparently, according to reuters, the united states armed forces are not too keen on the administration's idea of giving domestic police powers to the military.
the reuters story quotes army vice chief of staff gen. john keane as saying "military leaders have always resisted policing the american people. we have police forces...to do that." president bush has asked congress to review the idea of repealing the 1878 "posse comitatus" law that forbids the military from making arrests.
if that happens, skippy has a suggestion for the color of their shirts
apparently, according to reuters, the united states armed forces are not too keen on the administration's idea of giving domestic police powers to the military.
the reuters story quotes army vice chief of staff gen. john keane as saying "military leaders have always resisted policing the american people. we have police forces...to do that." president bush has asked congress to review the idea of repealing the 1878 "posse comitatus" law that forbids the military from making arrests.
if that happens, skippy has a suggestion for the color of their shirts
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4:41 PM |
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trust us, the rest of the cruise will go swimmingly
amy goldstein, in the washington post, is reporting that the white house is still firmly behind poor mr. bush's plan to privatize social security, in spite of the recent downturn of the markets.
and in the same issue, mike allen reports that white house budget director michael daniels, jr., says that the economy is "is doing better than everybody predicted."
the white house sounds to us rather like the captain of the titanic insisting that luxury liners are the best way to travel.
amy goldstein, in the washington post, is reporting that the white house is still firmly behind poor mr. bush's plan to privatize social security, in spite of the recent downturn of the markets.
and in the same issue, mike allen reports that white house budget director michael daniels, jr., says that the economy is "is doing better than everybody predicted."
the white house sounds to us rather like the captain of the titanic insisting that luxury liners are the best way to travel.
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4:25 PM |
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she's feisty, to say the least
i love reading the site wtf is it now. maru the crankpot churns out the usual links to stories about poor mr. bush, but she does it in such a, ahem, colorful way, that it demands a daily perusal. read the july 25 post to get such wonderful nicknames for poor mr. bush as reznit clueless and emporer snippy. but most of all, i like her name for mr. bush's crawford texas ranch: the lazy w.
i love reading the site wtf is it now. maru the crankpot churns out the usual links to stories about poor mr. bush, but she does it in such a, ahem, colorful way, that it demands a daily perusal. read the july 25 post to get such wonderful nicknames for poor mr. bush as reznit clueless and emporer snippy. but most of all, i like her name for mr. bush's crawford texas ranch: the lazy w.
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3:48 PM |
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leave it to a scientist to insist on using facts
one reason i love the postings at quark soup is that since blogger david appell is a scientist, he's one of the few people in the blogosphere that actually uses cites, sources, footnotes, and research. check out his entry for july 25, where he contends that if the u.s. took part in the kyoto treaty, the economy (including jobs) would not be as severely affected as critics have been touting.
david writes: "stabilizing greenhouse gases at a level that would prevent global warming would be hardly noticeable in a hundred years time: the world would be ten times richer in the year 2102 instead of the year 2100" a mere two years per century of delayed economic gratification. that seems to us like a small price to pay for a healthy ecosystem.
one reason i love the postings at quark soup is that since blogger david appell is a scientist, he's one of the few people in the blogosphere that actually uses cites, sources, footnotes, and research. check out his entry for july 25, where he contends that if the u.s. took part in the kyoto treaty, the economy (including jobs) would not be as severely affected as critics have been touting.
david writes: "stabilizing greenhouse gases at a level that would prevent global warming would be hardly noticeable in a hundred years time: the world would be ten times richer in the year 2102 instead of the year 2100" a mere two years per century of delayed economic gratification. that seems to us like a small price to pay for a healthy ecosystem.
posted by skippy at
11:20 AM |
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every blog wants to get in on the act!
much to our chagrin, salon.com is offering their own blogging software. you know it's become passe if salon is reporting about it.
the problem is, of course, salon wants you to pay money. when readers of skippy know that you can set up your own blog for free by going to blogger.
much to our chagrin, salon.com is offering their own blogging software. you know it's become passe if salon is reporting about it.
the problem is, of course, salon wants you to pay money. when readers of skippy know that you can set up your own blog for free by going to blogger.
posted by skippy at
11:04 AM |
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Wednesday, July 24, 2002
i'm too popular to be sued
skippy has never heard of the legal theory that celebrity negates fiduciary responsibility, but that's the case that paula zahn's lawyer is making.
ap reports that ms. zahn thinks that, since she is a celebrity, she shouldn't have to be deposed in a suit for failure of payment brought by the zahn's landscaper. her lawyer "filed a motion last week seeking a protective order, arguing that zahn should not be deposed because she has 'celebrity status'."
skippy hasn't heard of that legal precedent, but thinks it's a doozy. go ahead, folks, sue me! i'm a celebrity, you can't make it stick!
skippy has never heard of the legal theory that celebrity negates fiduciary responsibility, but that's the case that paula zahn's lawyer is making.
ap reports that ms. zahn thinks that, since she is a celebrity, she shouldn't have to be deposed in a suit for failure of payment brought by the zahn's landscaper. her lawyer "filed a motion last week seeking a protective order, arguing that zahn should not be deposed because she has 'celebrity status'."
skippy hasn't heard of that legal precedent, but thinks it's a doozy. go ahead, folks, sue me! i'm a celebrity, you can't make it stick!
posted by skippy at
5:18 PM |
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sound familiar?
"i'm not a stock broker or a stock picker" mr. bush said on monday (we won't speculate as to if he's a nose broker or a...oh, never mind). but he went on to say that "corporate profits are improving."
or, to quote another republican of a few years ago, "prosperity is just around the corner!"
"i'm not a stock broker or a stock picker" mr. bush said on monday (we won't speculate as to if he's a nose broker or a...oh, never mind). but he went on to say that "corporate profits are improving."
or, to quote another republican of a few years ago, "prosperity is just around the corner!"
posted by skippy at
4:42 PM |
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can you spell whitewater?
thanks to teagan goddard's political wire for linking us to this item by alexander bolton in the hill: apparently senators joe lieberman and carl levin are considering hearings on the past business dealings of poor mr. bush and mr. cheney. mr. bolton writes that senator levin "said if bush and cheney do not make public documents that shed light on their private-sector activities, congress might have to step in."
as we have said in this space before, what goes around comes around.
thanks to teagan goddard's political wire for linking us to this item by alexander bolton in the hill: apparently senators joe lieberman and carl levin are considering hearings on the past business dealings of poor mr. bush and mr. cheney. mr. bolton writes that senator levin "said if bush and cheney do not make public documents that shed light on their private-sector activities, congress might have to step in."
as we have said in this space before, what goes around comes around.
posted by skippy at
4:30 PM |
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of course mr. bush is relevant!
joe conason, in today's new york observer, explains to us all why bush's tangled past is relevant today. without going into excruciating detail about poor mr. bush's insider dealings (except to point out that the sale of the texas rangers, that made mr. bush a multi-millionaire, happened only 4 years ago), mr. conason explains that poor mr. bush "cannot raise his hand against what Teddy Roosevelt called the 'malefactors of great wealth,' because they’re his backers, his colleagues, his friends and his family."
joe conason, in today's new york observer, explains to us all why bush's tangled past is relevant today. without going into excruciating detail about poor mr. bush's insider dealings (except to point out that the sale of the texas rangers, that made mr. bush a multi-millionaire, happened only 4 years ago), mr. conason explains that poor mr. bush "cannot raise his hand against what Teddy Roosevelt called the 'malefactors of great wealth,' because they’re his backers, his colleagues, his friends and his family."
posted by skippy at
4:12 PM |
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impeach terry mcauliffe
bruce f. cole, over at the progressive common dreams, wonders (as has skippy) why the democrats can't get their act together. among other things, mr. cole says that it's difficult for the dems to credibly point their accusing fingers at the repubs' corporate scandal involvements, thanks to the creative accounting techniques of terry mcauliffe, the chairman of the democratic national committee (or republican lite, as we like to call it).
mcauliffe, in a fancy deal with some union electrician officials, "slickly parlayed an initial investment of $100 into $2,450,000 working capital, courtesy of his union pals," writes mr. cole. he says the deal "smells as bad as anything stinking up the Potomac these days," and further calls upon mr. mcauliffe to resign.
skippy, thinking the dems need to look good on this issue, would tend to agree.
bruce f. cole, over at the progressive common dreams, wonders (as has skippy) why the democrats can't get their act together. among other things, mr. cole says that it's difficult for the dems to credibly point their accusing fingers at the repubs' corporate scandal involvements, thanks to the creative accounting techniques of terry mcauliffe, the chairman of the democratic national committee (or republican lite, as we like to call it).
mcauliffe, in a fancy deal with some union electrician officials, "slickly parlayed an initial investment of $100 into $2,450,000 working capital, courtesy of his union pals," writes mr. cole. he says the deal "smells as bad as anything stinking up the Potomac these days," and further calls upon mr. mcauliffe to resign.
skippy, thinking the dems need to look good on this issue, would tend to agree.
posted by skippy at
3:58 PM |
0
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shout out to the bucket
skippy would like to thank ann salisbury over at two tears in a bucket for mentioning this site. two tears is a definite daily read for us here at skippy, because of ann's insightful musings about politics, especially those in our mutual home state of california.
skippy would like to thank ann salisbury over at two tears in a bucket for mentioning this site. two tears is a definite daily read for us here at skippy, because of ann's insightful musings about politics, especially those in our mutual home state of california.
posted by skippy at
3:31 PM |
0
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the one with the beady eyes is my agent
cnn is reporting that the drought in southern california is forcing rats to forage for food in places they usually don't go. mainly, beverly hills.
for some strange reason, the residents of the pricey neighborhood are not particularly pleased to see the rodents. "the unwelcome guests nibbled her african violets and dirtied the gleaming white tiles of her kitchen floor. and they seemed to feel right at home," the report states.
nothing is mentioned about the rats' shopping habits.
cnn is reporting that the drought in southern california is forcing rats to forage for food in places they usually don't go. mainly, beverly hills.
for some strange reason, the residents of the pricey neighborhood are not particularly pleased to see the rodents. "the unwelcome guests nibbled her african violets and dirtied the gleaming white tiles of her kitchen floor. and they seemed to feel right at home," the report states.
nothing is mentioned about the rats' shopping habits.
posted by skippy at
11:47 AM |
0
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help, my tv has fallen and it can't get up!
according to abcnews.com, an email virus has invaded the web tv network, causing infected tvs to shut down, reboot, and then call 911.
abc says that "several people have reported this happening and then having a police officer show up at their door." the report goes on to say that "a customer service supervisor at microsoft confirms that 18 customers have called in to report the suspicious webtv behavior."
and nothing is worse than suspicious tv behavior.
according to abcnews.com, an email virus has invaded the web tv network, causing infected tvs to shut down, reboot, and then call 911.
abc says that "several people have reported this happening and then having a police officer show up at their door." the report goes on to say that "a customer service supervisor at microsoft confirms that 18 customers have called in to report the suspicious webtv behavior."
and nothing is worse than suspicious tv behavior.
posted by skippy at
11:42 AM |
0
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as if we didn't have enough to worry about
just our luck. the one day that the dow manages to show positive gains, comes word from the bbc that a huge asteroid may be on a collision course with, you guessed it, earth.
according to the story, "a preliminary orbit suggests that 2002 nt7 is on an impact course with earth and could strike the planet on 1 february, 2019" but don't worry too much folks, the story goes on to say that further observations will probably prove that the uncertainties of an actual impact "will be large."
but just in case, somebody call bruce willis, ben affleck and bily bob thorton.
just our luck. the one day that the dow manages to show positive gains, comes word from the bbc that a huge asteroid may be on a collision course with, you guessed it, earth.
according to the story, "a preliminary orbit suggests that 2002 nt7 is on an impact course with earth and could strike the planet on 1 february, 2019" but don't worry too much folks, the story goes on to say that further observations will probably prove that the uncertainties of an actual impact "will be large."
but just in case, somebody call bruce willis, ben affleck and bily bob thorton.
posted by skippy at
11:36 AM |
0
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Tuesday, July 23, 2002
and now, here's alanis morrisette for prilosec!
it seems ironic that chevy is using smashmouth's "might as well be walking on the sun" as background music for their new ads touting their cars. didn't anybody at the ad agency or chevy listen to the lyrics? it's a highly sarcastic put down of our consumer society. or maybe i'm interpeting their words incorrectly:
And just like any fad it retracts before impact
And just like fashion its a passion for the with-it and hip
If ya got the goods they'll come and buy it just
To stay in the clique
maybe it's chevrolet being self-consciously deconstructionist (yeah, that's it!) or maybe some guy in a suit said "these kids today, with their rock and their roll. they'll buy anything."
whatever.
it seems ironic that chevy is using smashmouth's "might as well be walking on the sun" as background music for their new ads touting their cars. didn't anybody at the ad agency or chevy listen to the lyrics? it's a highly sarcastic put down of our consumer society. or maybe i'm interpeting their words incorrectly:
And just like any fad it retracts before impact
And just like fashion its a passion for the with-it and hip
If ya got the goods they'll come and buy it just
To stay in the clique
maybe it's chevrolet being self-consciously deconstructionist (yeah, that's it!) or maybe some guy in a suit said "these kids today, with their rock and their roll. they'll buy anything."
whatever.
posted by skippy at
9:46 PM |
0
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free faxes to washington
this is your weekly reminder to make use of the phone company web site (on the right side of this page under "links") to send free faxes to your congresspeople in washington using your browser's email system.
this is your weekly reminder to make use of the phone company web site (on the right side of this page under "links") to send free faxes to your congresspeople in washington using your browser's email system.
posted by skippy at
9:23 PM |
0
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once is not enough
skippy loves a good laugh, especially at the expense of those in power, so we are pleased to rerun the parody article by our good friend gil christner. this article, printed at the democratic undergound, is entitled bush's harken mistakes blamed on clinton's penis.
gil writes, in part: "white house spokesman ari fleischer said that clinton's reputation as a womanizer and indiscriminate horn dog weighed so heavily on george w. bush's mind, that he inadvertently forgot to file the proper forms with the sec reporting the harken stock sale and the resulting 200% profit."
the scary thing is, it sounds like something limbaugh would say!
ps, while we're plugging our friends who are stand up comics, be sure to check out joel leder if he's at a comedy spot near you. he is a ventroliquist who deconstructs the entire art form, funny but edgy as well!
skippy loves a good laugh, especially at the expense of those in power, so we are pleased to rerun the parody article by our good friend gil christner. this article, printed at the democratic undergound, is entitled bush's harken mistakes blamed on clinton's penis.
gil writes, in part: "white house spokesman ari fleischer said that clinton's reputation as a womanizer and indiscriminate horn dog weighed so heavily on george w. bush's mind, that he inadvertently forgot to file the proper forms with the sec reporting the harken stock sale and the resulting 200% profit."
the scary thing is, it sounds like something limbaugh would say!
ps, while we're plugging our friends who are stand up comics, be sure to check out joel leder if he's at a comedy spot near you. he is a ventroliquist who deconstructs the entire art form, funny but edgy as well!
posted by skippy at
8:16 PM |
0
comments
taxing experience
readers of this space know that california gubernatorial candidate bill simon has refused to release his tax returns, unlike his opponent, incumbent governor moneybags, uh, i mean, gray davis.
so, no tax returns forthcoming from mr. simon. that is, until yesterday...well, kind of.
as david lazarus of the san francisco chronicle points out, simon's restrictions on the reporters' ability to view said tax returns were so draconian as to render the whole thing an exercise in futility. mr. lazarus writes that mr. simon's "ludicrous ground rules all but guaranteed that nothing would come of the late-afternoon effort but frustration and a serious headache."
mr. simon's restrictions included: no making copies or taking pictures of the returns, no accountants or even calculators allowed in the room, the reporters were allowed only 2 hours to view the documents, and, this is the one skippy likes the best, the reporters couldn't use their own paper, but had to write on note pads provided by the simon campaign.
the los angeles times (which we refuse to link to, as they want to know how much money you make just so you can read their story) reports that mr. simon's 1995 tax returns were not even included in yesterday's fiasco. and on kcrw's "which way la?," warren olney played part of the press conference where, when asked how reporters were supposed to make sense of the returns under such adverse restrictions, mr. simon shot back "well, take notes." paul lynde couldn't have been bitchier.
now, we're not saying a picture of mussolini comes to mind in this case. more like, something like this.
readers of this space know that california gubernatorial candidate bill simon has refused to release his tax returns, unlike his opponent, incumbent governor moneybags, uh, i mean, gray davis.
so, no tax returns forthcoming from mr. simon. that is, until yesterday...well, kind of.
as david lazarus of the san francisco chronicle points out, simon's restrictions on the reporters' ability to view said tax returns were so draconian as to render the whole thing an exercise in futility. mr. lazarus writes that mr. simon's "ludicrous ground rules all but guaranteed that nothing would come of the late-afternoon effort but frustration and a serious headache."
mr. simon's restrictions included: no making copies or taking pictures of the returns, no accountants or even calculators allowed in the room, the reporters were allowed only 2 hours to view the documents, and, this is the one skippy likes the best, the reporters couldn't use their own paper, but had to write on note pads provided by the simon campaign.
the los angeles times (which we refuse to link to, as they want to know how much money you make just so you can read their story) reports that mr. simon's 1995 tax returns were not even included in yesterday's fiasco. and on kcrw's "which way la?," warren olney played part of the press conference where, when asked how reporters were supposed to make sense of the returns under such adverse restrictions, mr. simon shot back "well, take notes." paul lynde couldn't have been bitchier.
now, we're not saying a picture of mussolini comes to mind in this case. more like, something like this.
posted by skippy at
7:32 PM |
0
comments
and besides, the authors probably think jerry lewis is a genius
from the far left, the gang over at counterpunch are examining the phenomenae of reviewing a book without having actually read it. the book in this case, is the french publication forbidden truth: the u.s.-taliban secret oil diplomacy, saudi arabia and the failed search for osama bin laden by brisard and dasquie.
now, skippy is a big fan of conspiracy theories, but counterpunch is not weaving anything more sinister than the idea that journalists today seem content to be lapdogs rather than watchdogs. mr. madsen writes, in part, "that washington's media elite appears to be anesthetized to bush's current drive to turning the united states into some mirror image of east germany, china, or pinochet's chile cannot be overstated." fightin' words? perhaps. but these just might be times for fightin'.
from the far left, the gang over at counterpunch are examining the phenomenae of reviewing a book without having actually read it. the book in this case, is the french publication forbidden truth: the u.s.-taliban secret oil diplomacy, saudi arabia and the failed search for osama bin laden by brisard and dasquie.
now, skippy is a big fan of conspiracy theories, but counterpunch is not weaving anything more sinister than the idea that journalists today seem content to be lapdogs rather than watchdogs. mr. madsen writes, in part, "that washington's media elite appears to be anesthetized to bush's current drive to turning the united states into some mirror image of east germany, china, or pinochet's chile cannot be overstated." fightin' words? perhaps. but these just might be times for fightin'.
posted by skippy at
5:45 PM |
0
comments
daily rant about the economy
ok, kids, all together now, one, two three: the market is tanking again. yes, yes, i know this blog is beginning to sound like a broken record (a metaphor understood only by people over 30). but paul krugman at the new york times echoes our sentiments in his article living with bears, to wit: pep talks from poor mr. bush not only don't seem to help, they are transparently what cartoonists call "the illusion of movement."
not only do the pep talks seem desparate, mr. krugman writes, "most important, the fundamentals aren't actually all that great. doubts about corporate governance are growing, not fading away. state and local governments are in a desperate fiscal crisis. and even before the sudden plunge in the markets, the data were pointing not to a boom but to a "jobless recovery," in which the economy grows too slowly to make much if any dent in the unemployment rate."
ok, kids, all together now, one, two three: the market is tanking again. yes, yes, i know this blog is beginning to sound like a broken record (a metaphor understood only by people over 30). but paul krugman at the new york times echoes our sentiments in his article living with bears, to wit: pep talks from poor mr. bush not only don't seem to help, they are transparently what cartoonists call "the illusion of movement."
not only do the pep talks seem desparate, mr. krugman writes, "most important, the fundamentals aren't actually all that great. doubts about corporate governance are growing, not fading away. state and local governments are in a desperate fiscal crisis. and even before the sudden plunge in the markets, the data were pointing not to a boom but to a "jobless recovery," in which the economy grows too slowly to make much if any dent in the unemployment rate."
posted by skippy at
5:25 PM |
0
comments
leo mckern dead at 82
if you're a fan of mystery! on pbs, the beatles' movies, the cult tv classic the prisoner or just good english drama, please take a moment to mourn the passing of the great leo mckern. he died this morning after a long illness.
a quick peak at the international movie data base entry for mr. mckern reveals a long list of great and not so great productions he took part in. as a child i first happened upon his perfect comic timing when he played clang in the beatles' flick help! and as a young man, serious and imaginative, i was enthralled at mr. mckern's 3 appearances as number two in the cult classic tv show the prisoner. but most of the world will remember his cigar smoking, irrascible blusterings as rumpole of the bailey.
the world has lost a superb character actor, and we at skippy feel a little less full this morning because of it.
if you're a fan of mystery! on pbs, the beatles' movies, the cult tv classic the prisoner or just good english drama, please take a moment to mourn the passing of the great leo mckern. he died this morning after a long illness.
a quick peak at the international movie data base entry for mr. mckern reveals a long list of great and not so great productions he took part in. as a child i first happened upon his perfect comic timing when he played clang in the beatles' flick help! and as a young man, serious and imaginative, i was enthralled at mr. mckern's 3 appearances as number two in the cult classic tv show the prisoner. but most of the world will remember his cigar smoking, irrascible blusterings as rumpole of the bailey.
the world has lost a superb character actor, and we at skippy feel a little less full this morning because of it.
posted by skippy at
11:56 AM |
0
comments
Monday, July 22, 2002
the skippy theme song
that's right, this blog has its own theme song. although the dialogue box seems to be in some nordic language, press the button that says hør ringelyden to hear the lovely theme to skippy the bush kangaroo.
that's right, this blog has its own theme song. although the dialogue box seems to be in some nordic language, press the button that says hør ringelyden to hear the lovely theme to skippy the bush kangaroo.
posted by skippy at
9:23 PM |
0
comments
more blogging news
information week has published a great article called "are you blogging yet?" give it a read.
information week has published a great article called "are you blogging yet?" give it a read.
posted by skippy at
5:08 PM |
0
comments
stranger than headlines
and now skippy is pleased to bring you some of the stranger items of the day:
pothole state park flops
while its sister attraction, road kill snack stand, does record business.
san antonio named sweatiest city
jersey city demands recount.
brothels to seduce investors into float
when these stocks go down, they really go down.
transvestite girl scout identified
insert your own "cookie" joke here.
and now skippy is pleased to bring you some of the stranger items of the day:
pothole state park flops
while its sister attraction, road kill snack stand, does record business.
san antonio named sweatiest city
jersey city demands recount.
brothels to seduce investors into float
when these stocks go down, they really go down.
transvestite girl scout identified
insert your own "cookie" joke here.
posted by skippy at
4:58 PM |
0
comments
more awol alerts
listening to cnbc babble on about the dropping dow, skippy was amazed to hear another reference to being "awol." on the program "business center" with ron insana and sue herera, mention was made of secretary of treasury paul o'neill being overseas today instead of here with the rest of us watching the dow tank. the question was asked, is he "absent without leave?" once again, we believe, referencing poor mr. bush's supposed non-completion of his tour of duty with the texas air national guard in the 70's.
listening to cnbc babble on about the dropping dow, skippy was amazed to hear another reference to being "awol." on the program "business center" with ron insana and sue herera, mention was made of secretary of treasury paul o'neill being overseas today instead of here with the rest of us watching the dow tank. the question was asked, is he "absent without leave?" once again, we believe, referencing poor mr. bush's supposed non-completion of his tour of duty with the texas air national guard in the 70's.
posted by skippy at
2:59 PM |
0
comments
we always suspected
skippy has found a site that is a perect example of why the internet was invented. be sure to check out my cat hates you.com. we cannot argue with the basic premise, ie, all cats, especially those owned by the guy who put the site together, hate you.
skippy has found a site that is a perect example of why the internet was invented. be sure to check out my cat hates you.com. we cannot argue with the basic premise, ie, all cats, especially those owned by the guy who put the site together, hate you.
posted by skippy at
2:40 PM |
0
comments
start spreadin' the word
thanks a tip of the hat to the smirking chimp (another daily read for skippy) for bringing us the following articles from around the country asking serious questions about poor mr. bush's abilities to handle things:
the king has no clothes from the pittsburgh post-gazette
don't blame bubba from us news & world report
bush clan full of black sheep from the san francisco gate
explaining bush is a full time job from the boulder colorado daily camera
the president's new pitch from the toronto star
(ok, technically, toronto is not in this country, but their ball team is in the american league east, so i included it).
thanks a tip of the hat to the smirking chimp (another daily read for skippy) for bringing us the following articles from around the country asking serious questions about poor mr. bush's abilities to handle things:
the king has no clothes from the pittsburgh post-gazette
don't blame bubba from us news & world report
bush clan full of black sheep from the san francisco gate
explaining bush is a full time job from the boulder colorado daily camera
the president's new pitch from the toronto star
(ok, technically, toronto is not in this country, but their ball team is in the american league east, so i included it).
posted by skippy at
11:33 AM |
0
comments
h.l. mencken, call your agent
is there even a reason to pit bloggers versus journalists? skippy doesn't think so, but the san francisco chronicle's tech section has an interesting article posing that question.
"mark my words, this is going to be the altamont of the blogging movement" the article quotes somebody as saying. not sure what that means, but anytime skippy can find a quote using the words "altamont" and "blogging" in the same sentence, he'll use it!
is there even a reason to pit bloggers versus journalists? skippy doesn't think so, but the san francisco chronicle's tech section has an interesting article posing that question.
"mark my words, this is going to be the altamont of the blogging movement" the article quotes somebody as saying. not sure what that means, but anytime skippy can find a quote using the words "altamont" and "blogging" in the same sentence, he'll use it!
posted by skippy at
12:11 AM |
0
comments
Sunday, July 21, 2002
breaking (or is that just plain "broke") news
worldcom is declaring bankruptcy. oh, yeah, and the sky is blue, too.
worldcom is declaring bankruptcy. oh, yeah, and the sky is blue, too.
posted by skippy at
5:29 PM |
0
comments
where can i comment about the lack of comments?
earlier in this space, we recommended teagan goddard's political wire and the comment section for good political debate, featuring rational thought (and some less rational) from all sides of the spectrum. much to our chagrin, political wire has discontinued its comments section. (skippy still highly recommends a daily reading of the blog though; great stories you won't find anywhere else!)
but, if you still want to rant and rave, be sure to visit the indefatigable max speak for his comments section, or the always entertaining news and views for that comment forum. sorry, conservatives, both blogs lean to the left, but if you like libertarians, check out my economist bud jane galt and her comments. or, you could always leave a comment here (hint hint).
earlier in this space, we recommended teagan goddard's political wire and the comment section for good political debate, featuring rational thought (and some less rational) from all sides of the spectrum. much to our chagrin, political wire has discontinued its comments section. (skippy still highly recommends a daily reading of the blog though; great stories you won't find anywhere else!)
but, if you still want to rant and rave, be sure to visit the indefatigable max speak for his comments section, or the always entertaining news and views for that comment forum. sorry, conservatives, both blogs lean to the left, but if you like libertarians, check out my economist bud jane galt and her comments. or, you could always leave a comment here (hint hint).
posted by skippy at
5:11 PM |
0
comments
is it getting hot in here, or am i just crazy?
everyone's favorite brit, andrew sullivan, takes issue with the new york times' assertion about rising temperatures in alaska (i can't link you to the original times' article, they want you to pay for it). my good friends at doxagora review the sullivan v. times brou-ha-ha with their usual good common sense. and for a scientific approach to the original scientific question, why not ask a scientist? be sure to check out the science blog quark soup for their take on the whole shebang (look for the "july 19" entry).
everyone's favorite brit, andrew sullivan, takes issue with the new york times' assertion about rising temperatures in alaska (i can't link you to the original times' article, they want you to pay for it). my good friends at doxagora review the sullivan v. times brou-ha-ha with their usual good common sense. and for a scientific approach to the original scientific question, why not ask a scientist? be sure to check out the science blog quark soup for their take on the whole shebang (look for the "july 19" entry).
posted by skippy at
5:03 PM |
0
comments
this is scary
one thing i'm noticing more and more of in the news these days, are references to the great depression, and the use of the word "crash." and, scariest of all, bruce freed makes some unnervingly accurate comparisions between poor mr. bush and herbert hoover.
even though hoover was a "believer in limited government," mr freed states, he "failed because his personal ideology and inclinations precluded him from making the policy leaps the crisis demanded," hm, where have i heard that before? are you scared yet?
one thing i'm noticing more and more of in the news these days, are references to the great depression, and the use of the word "crash." and, scariest of all, bruce freed makes some unnervingly accurate comparisions between poor mr. bush and herbert hoover.
even though hoover was a "believer in limited government," mr freed states, he "failed because his personal ideology and inclinations precluded him from making the policy leaps the crisis demanded," hm, where have i heard that before? are you scared yet?
posted by skippy at
3:01 PM |
0
comments
even a broken clock is right twice a day
i can't believe i'm about to agree with anything mr. "i'll suck your toes while you suck my" dick morris has to say, but he makes an interesting argument in the hill magazine calling for rudy giuliani to be named as the director of the sec.
dickie boy says: "giuliani’s prosecutorial instincts, his administrative skills, and his popular credibility make him the ideal candidate to replace (harvey) pitt..." for once, i'd say dickie was right on the money (assuming he hasn't already given the money to a pro)!
i can't believe i'm about to agree with anything mr. "i'll suck your toes while you suck my" dick morris has to say, but he makes an interesting argument in the hill magazine calling for rudy giuliani to be named as the director of the sec.
dickie boy says: "giuliani’s prosecutorial instincts, his administrative skills, and his popular credibility make him the ideal candidate to replace (harvey) pitt..." for once, i'd say dickie was right on the money (assuming he hasn't already given the money to a pro)!
posted by skippy at
2:52 PM |
0
comments
harken back to when we knew we were in trouble
the washington post is reporting that mr. bush knew harken energy was in trouble before he sold his stock in that company. the article states that bush "received a letter from management...warning that the company would 'continue to be severely limited in our activities due to cash constraints.' "
now, the fact that bush had info about upcoming harken problems is not news. salon's anthony york reported the same thing over a week ago. the news is that it's finally getting into the washington post.
it's about time the major media of this great country of ours actually did some reporting.
the washington post is reporting that mr. bush knew harken energy was in trouble before he sold his stock in that company. the article states that bush "received a letter from management...warning that the company would 'continue to be severely limited in our activities due to cash constraints.' "
now, the fact that bush had info about upcoming harken problems is not news. salon's anthony york reported the same thing over a week ago. the news is that it's finally getting into the washington post.
it's about time the major media of this great country of ours actually did some reporting.
posted by skippy at
1:51 PM |
0
comments
the heartbreak of war
lest anyone continue to think war is simply a good political ploy to get votes, they should check out this new york times slide show of photos of the civilian casualties of the war in afghanistan.
lest anyone continue to think war is simply a good political ploy to get votes, they should check out this new york times slide show of photos of the civilian casualties of the war in afghanistan.
posted by skippy at
1:17 PM |
0
comments
sunday night orgasm
by the way, mrs. skippy wants me to remind everyone that sex and the city begins a new season tonight!
by the way, mrs. skippy wants me to remind everyone that sex and the city begins a new season tonight!
posted by skippy at
1:01 PM |
0
comments
don't tell the isley brothers
is it just me, or does anybody else think that the chad kroeger/josey scott song "hero" from the spider-man soundtrack sounds suspiciously like "kiss from a rose" by seal for the original batman movie?
is it just me, or does anybody else think that the chad kroeger/josey scott song "hero" from the spider-man soundtrack sounds suspiciously like "kiss from a rose" by seal for the original batman movie?
posted by skippy at
12:32 PM |
1
comments
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