Monday, June 30, 2003
the deanster reaches his goal
thanks in part to all those out in blogtopia (y!wctp!) howard dean's campaign reached their goal of $7 mill in contributions for this quarter, including $757,896 raised today alone!
dr. dean's efforts tops all the dem candidates for this quarter. and the ap says that "a serious run for the democratic presidential nomination could cost $20 million to $25 million."
if you are so inclined, i am sure they'd still be happy to take any contribution you'd like to give.
on a related note, say hello to the central oregon for dean blog.
thanks in part to all those out in blogtopia (y!wctp!) howard dean's campaign reached their goal of $7 mill in contributions for this quarter, including $757,896 raised today alone!
dr. dean's efforts tops all the dem candidates for this quarter. and the ap says that "a serious run for the democratic presidential nomination could cost $20 million to $25 million."
if you are so inclined, i am sure they'd still be happy to take any contribution you'd like to give.
on a related note, say hello to the central oregon for dean blog.
posted by skippy at
8:52 PM |
0
comments
katherine hepburn, rip
class, grace, humor, confidence, a light that shone off the screen into audience's secret self...all were aspects of the 4 time oscar winner (and 12 time nominee), katherine hepburn, a hollywood legend, who passed yesterday at the age of 96.
newday.com lables her "an innovative businesswoman who took charge of her career at a time when she was labeled 'box-office poison'."
the nytimes says "she seemed to have an unswerving conviction about how life should be lived, without regrets, which could bother people who were busy swerving. it was, in the end, a conviction that enlarged the lives of everyone, male or female, who watched her movies."
and the washpost comments on miss hepburn's career by quoting her own words: "life's what's important. walking, houses, family. birth and pain and joy -- and then death. acting's just waiting for the custard pie. that's all."
feminists saw her as a role model, blazing paths in a times when women were expected to shut up and be dumb. she took control of her career and never backed down. the feminist majority foundation says that even with her fashion choices she made statements:
hepburn began wearing pants in the 1930s, something that was then considered quite unsuitable for women. her fashion preference became so influential that the council of fashion designers of america awarded her a lifetime achievement award in 1986.
friends and co-stars remembered her fondly: "kate was a powerful force of nature," [ "on golden pond" co-star jane] fonda said in a statement. "all who knew her came away the better for it. i am honored to have been one of them."
the lights will dim on broadway tomorrow at 8 pm (est) in her honor. american movie classics and the turner classic movie channel will both air several of her films in the next few days.
you could do worse than watch a few of them.
class, grace, humor, confidence, a light that shone off the screen into audience's secret self...all were aspects of the 4 time oscar winner (and 12 time nominee), katherine hepburn, a hollywood legend, who passed yesterday at the age of 96.
newday.com lables her "an innovative businesswoman who took charge of her career at a time when she was labeled 'box-office poison'."
the nytimes says "she seemed to have an unswerving conviction about how life should be lived, without regrets, which could bother people who were busy swerving. it was, in the end, a conviction that enlarged the lives of everyone, male or female, who watched her movies."
and the washpost comments on miss hepburn's career by quoting her own words: "life's what's important. walking, houses, family. birth and pain and joy -- and then death. acting's just waiting for the custard pie. that's all."
feminists saw her as a role model, blazing paths in a times when women were expected to shut up and be dumb. she took control of her career and never backed down. the feminist majority foundation says that even with her fashion choices she made statements:
hepburn began wearing pants in the 1930s, something that was then considered quite unsuitable for women. her fashion preference became so influential that the council of fashion designers of america awarded her a lifetime achievement award in 1986.
friends and co-stars remembered her fondly: "kate was a powerful force of nature," [ "on golden pond" co-star jane] fonda said in a statement. "all who knew her came away the better for it. i am honored to have been one of them."
the lights will dim on broadway tomorrow at 8 pm (est) in her honor. american movie classics and the turner classic movie channel will both air several of her films in the next few days.
you could do worse than watch a few of them.
posted by skippy at
8:38 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving, the official list
readers of this space know we daily (unfortunately) refer to lunaville's listing of coalition forces who have died in iraq, during and since the war. and anyone who has ever bothered to click on the "details" link on that page has already found specifics...ie, name, rank, age, unit and cause of death for all the soldiers who have fallen on that foreign soil.
now the mainstream press has followed suit. here's a similiar list from newsday, detailing all 201 soldiers killed.
we wonder if the newsday editors just clicked on lunaville's site...
readers of this space know we daily (unfortunately) refer to lunaville's listing of coalition forces who have died in iraq, during and since the war. and anyone who has ever bothered to click on the "details" link on that page has already found specifics...ie, name, rank, age, unit and cause of death for all the soldiers who have fallen on that foreign soil.
now the mainstream press has followed suit. here's a similiar list from newsday, detailing all 201 soldiers killed.
we wonder if the newsday editors just clicked on lunaville's site...
posted by skippy at
3:27 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
3:18 PM |
0
comments
a deanster toots her horn
our favorite dean supporter in texas, anna of annatopia, points out that the governor has raised practically all of the $7 million he projected on his blog for america (he's only $235,523 short of the goal of midnight tonight).
folks are contributing at an amazing rate...so amazing that the cable news networks are starting to bash dean hard. everyone says how tim russert beat dean up on meet the press. we saw parts of that show, and we thought dean held on pretty darn well, especially considering mr. potato head had his questions written by the white house.
dean is doing so well with the rank and file, the mainstream media are already pouncing on him, making him out to be full of flip-flops, struggling for a voice, etc. etc.
they must be scared if they're jumping on him this early.
skippy has not endorsed any candidate, as of yet. however, if you were to go over to blog for america and contribute something to dr. dean, we won't mind.
our favorite dean supporter in texas, anna of annatopia, points out that the governor has raised practically all of the $7 million he projected on his blog for america (he's only $235,523 short of the goal of midnight tonight).
folks are contributing at an amazing rate...so amazing that the cable news networks are starting to bash dean hard. everyone says how tim russert beat dean up on meet the press. we saw parts of that show, and we thought dean held on pretty darn well, especially considering mr. potato head had his questions written by the white house.
dean is doing so well with the rank and file, the mainstream media are already pouncing on him, making him out to be full of flip-flops, struggling for a voice, etc. etc.
they must be scared if they're jumping on him this early.
skippy has not endorsed any candidate, as of yet. however, if you were to go over to blog for america and contribute something to dr. dean, we won't mind.
posted by skippy at
3:15 PM |
0
comments
bill! we love you still
except maybe in n'arleans, where tropical storm bill is expected to dump "some of the heaviest rain you've seen isnce hurricane lili," according to the national weather service.
here's a nice video from the weather channel showing the details.
if you're anywhere on the coast of loozyanne, mississip, or alabam, get inside! and bring your computer with you!
except maybe in n'arleans, where tropical storm bill is expected to dump "some of the heaviest rain you've seen isnce hurricane lili," according to the national weather service.
here's a nice video from the weather channel showing the details.
if you're anywhere on the coast of loozyanne, mississip, or alabam, get inside! and bring your computer with you!
posted by skippy at
2:52 PM |
0
comments
Sunday, June 29, 2003
posted by skippy at
12:13 AM |
0
comments
just don't click on the site during dinner
the government, in a surprise move yesterday, did something that actually helps people.
the federal trade comission unveiled its new web site designed to stop those annoying telemarketing calls. log onto www.donotcall.gov, click a button or two, and you too can eat dinner in peace, according to yahoo.
"consumer registrations continue to be high as we expected," federal trade commission spokeswoman cathy mcfarlane said late saturday.
the sfchron says it was getting 1,000 hits every second at noon yesterday, and by 5 pm over 750,000 names and numbers had been registered.
unfortunately, the site is so popular, it's been flooded with applicants and is becoming bogged down. the st. petersberg times says
so many people want to get on the list to block telemarketing calls that government web servers crumbled under the strain, and [dave] carley never got through.
"everybody in the u.s. wants to sign up and get rid of the burden," carley, 75, of belleair said. "i'm very frustrated, but i'm not surprised."
now if we can do something about those emails from nigeria.
the government, in a surprise move yesterday, did something that actually helps people.
the federal trade comission unveiled its new web site designed to stop those annoying telemarketing calls. log onto www.donotcall.gov, click a button or two, and you too can eat dinner in peace, according to yahoo.
"consumer registrations continue to be high as we expected," federal trade commission spokeswoman cathy mcfarlane said late saturday.
the sfchron says it was getting 1,000 hits every second at noon yesterday, and by 5 pm over 750,000 names and numbers had been registered.
unfortunately, the site is so popular, it's been flooded with applicants and is becoming bogged down. the st. petersberg times says
so many people want to get on the list to block telemarketing calls that government web servers crumbled under the strain, and [dave] carley never got through.
"everybody in the u.s. wants to sign up and get rid of the burden," carley, 75, of belleair said. "i'm very frustrated, but i'm not surprised."
now if we can do something about those emails from nigeria.
posted by skippy at
12:07 AM |
0
comments
Saturday, June 28, 2003
it's a good day to be anti-war
the san francisco d.a. dropped charges against 400 anti-war protesters, citing a lack of evidence, reports the sfchron.
the dismissals came just one week after prosecutors had refiled the cases to keep them from being dropped. prosecutors said friday that the police department had given them nothing to go on to secure convictions against the demonstrators, who were among 2,300 people arrested during more than four days of protests that tied up much of downtown san francisco.
apparently nobody could could actually provide the paperwork necessary to make the cases.
[assistant d.a. mike] menesini said prosecutors always doubted that they could secure convictions based on the underlying misdemeanor on which the protesters originally were arrested, unlawful assembly. many were also arrested for interfering with police, but defense lawyers said police simply could not prove who was guilty of what.
the san francisco d.a. dropped charges against 400 anti-war protesters, citing a lack of evidence, reports the sfchron.
the dismissals came just one week after prosecutors had refiled the cases to keep them from being dropped. prosecutors said friday that the police department had given them nothing to go on to secure convictions against the demonstrators, who were among 2,300 people arrested during more than four days of protests that tied up much of downtown san francisco.
apparently nobody could could actually provide the paperwork necessary to make the cases.
[assistant d.a. mike] menesini said prosecutors always doubted that they could secure convictions based on the underlying misdemeanor on which the protesters originally were arrested, unlawful assembly. many were also arrested for interfering with police, but defense lawyers said police simply could not prove who was guilty of what.
posted by skippy at
11:47 PM |
0
comments
say hello
to the global citizen. we have often linked to doug mcgill's stories from the mcgill report before, and we are now happy to add his blog the global citizen to our blogroll.
to the global citizen. we have often linked to doug mcgill's stories from the mcgill report before, and we are now happy to add his blog the global citizen to our blogroll.
posted by skippy at
8:50 PM |
0
comments
terror level now raised to brown (shirts)
things are getting tighter here at home. now, apparently, sedition can be retro-active. 11 men were arrested in virginia for being part of a terrorist cell. the evidence? they played paintball (which they stopped after 9/11) and they traveled to pakistan in 2000 to listen to lectures by a group that was not labeled a terrorist group at the time, but has since been put on the terror organization list.
us officials believe that lashkar-e-taiba has no official ties to such global terrorist organizations as al qaeda, but that it may be expanding its portfolio to help in muslim conflicts elsewhere in the world, in part through recruiting, plotting and fund-raising in the united states.
that's pre-emptive justice!
and what about american citizen iyman feris? that's right, american citizen. the miami herald reports that one day, all of a sudden, he was "disappeared" from his ohio home. he was arrested, but not allowed a lawyer, or a phone call. then six weeks later, he was "allowed" to plead guilty to plotting to blow up the brooklyn bridge. but of course the trial was secret, the plea was sealed, and so was the sentence.
sure, you heard the pr reports a few weeks ago, the plot to blow up the brooklyn bridge. but you didn't hear that the guy was incommunicado, or that nobody knows where he is now. nor have you heard the government's evidence against the guy.
be afraid. be very afraid.
(big thanks to antiwar.com for the links!)
things are getting tighter here at home. now, apparently, sedition can be retro-active. 11 men were arrested in virginia for being part of a terrorist cell. the evidence? they played paintball (which they stopped after 9/11) and they traveled to pakistan in 2000 to listen to lectures by a group that was not labeled a terrorist group at the time, but has since been put on the terror organization list.
us officials believe that lashkar-e-taiba has no official ties to such global terrorist organizations as al qaeda, but that it may be expanding its portfolio to help in muslim conflicts elsewhere in the world, in part through recruiting, plotting and fund-raising in the united states.
that's pre-emptive justice!
and what about american citizen iyman feris? that's right, american citizen. the miami herald reports that one day, all of a sudden, he was "disappeared" from his ohio home. he was arrested, but not allowed a lawyer, or a phone call. then six weeks later, he was "allowed" to plead guilty to plotting to blow up the brooklyn bridge. but of course the trial was secret, the plea was sealed, and so was the sentence.
sure, you heard the pr reports a few weeks ago, the plot to blow up the brooklyn bridge. but you didn't hear that the guy was incommunicado, or that nobody knows where he is now. nor have you heard the government's evidence against the guy.
be afraid. be very afraid.
(big thanks to antiwar.com for the links!)
posted by skippy at
1:09 PM |
0
comments
the temps are high; the morale, low
time.com has a story this week which says that republican senator richard lugar, chairman of the foreign relations committee, called the white house and urged them to to "level" with the american people about iraq.
fresh from a visit to baghdad, lugar warned: "the idea that we will be in just as long as we need to and not a day more — we've got to get over that rhetoric. it is rubbish! we're going to be there a long time."
and that's not so good for the troops who are still there.
average daily temperatures in baghdad now are upward of 110 degrees, and u.s. troops who had hoped to be home in time for july 4th cookouts instead find themselves facing an enemy indistinguishable from the (often hostile) civilian population. and the enemy's strategy is to avoid ever presenting himself as a visible target, hoping to sap american morale and alienate the u.s. from the local population through hit and run attacks, and sabotage of reconstruction efforts.
and for some reason, other countries are not lining up to help the u.s. by deploying their own troops into iraq. hm. hey, awol, does the word "karma" mean anything to you?
meanwhile, in an effort to spread democracy, the occupations forces have halted free elections in iraq, says the washpost:
the decision to deny iraqis a direct role in selecting municipal governments is creating anger and resentment among aspiring leaders and ordinary citizens, who say the u.s.-led occupation forces are not making good on their promise to bring greater freedom and democracy to a country dominated for three decades by saddam hussein.
oh, that'll make things so much easier for the troops over there.
time.com has a story this week which says that republican senator richard lugar, chairman of the foreign relations committee, called the white house and urged them to to "level" with the american people about iraq.
fresh from a visit to baghdad, lugar warned: "the idea that we will be in just as long as we need to and not a day more — we've got to get over that rhetoric. it is rubbish! we're going to be there a long time."
and that's not so good for the troops who are still there.
average daily temperatures in baghdad now are upward of 110 degrees, and u.s. troops who had hoped to be home in time for july 4th cookouts instead find themselves facing an enemy indistinguishable from the (often hostile) civilian population. and the enemy's strategy is to avoid ever presenting himself as a visible target, hoping to sap american morale and alienate the u.s. from the local population through hit and run attacks, and sabotage of reconstruction efforts.
and for some reason, other countries are not lining up to help the u.s. by deploying their own troops into iraq. hm. hey, awol, does the word "karma" mean anything to you?
meanwhile, in an effort to spread democracy, the occupations forces have halted free elections in iraq, says the washpost:
the decision to deny iraqis a direct role in selecting municipal governments is creating anger and resentment among aspiring leaders and ordinary citizens, who say the u.s.-led occupation forces are not making good on their promise to bring greater freedom and democracy to a country dominated for three decades by saddam hussein.
oh, that'll make things so much easier for the troops over there.
posted by skippy at
1:02 PM |
0
comments
say hello
to the people's republic of seabrook, a fine, fine blog, very popular in blogtopia (y!wctp!) and we at skippy are quite remiss in not having linked to it earlier.
to the people's republic of seabrook, a fine, fine blog, very popular in blogtopia (y!wctp!) and we at skippy are quite remiss in not having linked to it earlier.
posted by skippy at
12:41 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part the next day
the bodies of two missing soldiers who were missing in iraq since wednesday have been found north of baghdad, reports the sfchron.
the soldiers' remains were found 20 miles northwest of the capital, the military said.
sgt. 1st class gladimir philippe, 37, of linden, n.j., and pfc. kevin ott, 27, of columbus, ohio, had disappeared along with their humvee on wednesday from the town of balad, 25 miles north of baghdad. no further details were immediately available
the chronicle now puts the death toll of americans since the war began over "the grim milestone of 200."
the deaths bring to at least 63 the number of u.s. troops killed in iraq since major combat was declared over on may 1. the military has confirmed the identities of 138 soldiers killed before that date, while the names of several other casualties have not yet been made available.
in addition, some 42 british troops have died in the current conflict. the american death toll was still far below the 382 u.s. troops killed in the 1991 gulf war.
let's hope we don't reach that number this time.
the bodies of two missing soldiers who were missing in iraq since wednesday have been found north of baghdad, reports the sfchron.
the soldiers' remains were found 20 miles northwest of the capital, the military said.
sgt. 1st class gladimir philippe, 37, of linden, n.j., and pfc. kevin ott, 27, of columbus, ohio, had disappeared along with their humvee on wednesday from the town of balad, 25 miles north of baghdad. no further details were immediately available
the chronicle now puts the death toll of americans since the war began over "the grim milestone of 200."
the deaths bring to at least 63 the number of u.s. troops killed in iraq since major combat was declared over on may 1. the military has confirmed the identities of 138 soldiers killed before that date, while the names of several other casualties have not yet been made available.
in addition, some 42 british troops have died in the current conflict. the american death toll was still far below the 382 u.s. troops killed in the 1991 gulf war.
let's hope we don't reach that number this time.
posted by skippy at
12:34 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
12:28 AM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part one killed, four wounded
breaking news early saturday morning in iraq: one us soldier killed, four others wounded in northeast baghdad attack, says abc news.
attackers opened fire on a u.s. convoy in northeast baghdad, killing one american soldier and wounding four others, the u.s. military said saturday. the attack occurred just after 11 p.m. friday night in the thawra neighborhood, military spokesman sgt. patrick compton said.
the hour is late as we write this, and therefore have tragically lost count of the coalition forces dead since the end of the war, but know it's substantial.
breaking news early saturday morning in iraq: one us soldier killed, four others wounded in northeast baghdad attack, says abc news.
attackers opened fire on a u.s. convoy in northeast baghdad, killing one american soldier and wounding four others, the u.s. military said saturday. the attack occurred just after 11 p.m. friday night in the thawra neighborhood, military spokesman sgt. patrick compton said.
the hour is late as we write this, and therefore have tragically lost count of the coalition forces dead since the end of the war, but know it's substantial.
posted by skippy at
12:24 AM |
0
comments
Friday, June 27, 2003
"people have died, bush lied"
the guy actually got the rhythm pretty wrong, but at least this little rhyming meme has made the mainstream news.
or at least the san jose mercury news. in this article talking about awol's fundraising in california, the protesters are given the lead paragraph:
although the northern california weather was warm, president bush's welcome to the bay area this morning was not as hundreds of protesters lined the streets near the burlingame marriott hotel where bush spoke at a gop fund-raising event.
then, during a trip down south to los angeles (sorry, skippy was unable to attend this function, either inside or out) awol was greeted by about 2000 protesters outside the century city hotel where he raised more money, says the san jose mercury in another article.
and the local southland fox affiliate says code pink screwed up the meme even worse:
five women from a group called code pink women for peace got a room at the hotel so that they could protest inside. they wore pink bridesmaid-style dresses with hot pink sashes protesting the u.s. involvement in iraq. carol norris, 41, a political writer from san francisco, carried the message: "bush lied how many died?"
ok, people, once more, keep it simple: bush lied, people died, bush lied, people died (repeat ad nauseum, or until you get nauseated yourself).
notice that abc news puts the number of protesters for the entire west coast at "hundreds," which is technically correct. 2000 is 20 hundreds.
we are not surprised. abc is run by hundreds of idiots.
the guy actually got the rhythm pretty wrong, but at least this little rhyming meme has made the mainstream news.
or at least the san jose mercury news. in this article talking about awol's fundraising in california, the protesters are given the lead paragraph:
although the northern california weather was warm, president bush's welcome to the bay area this morning was not as hundreds of protesters lined the streets near the burlingame marriott hotel where bush spoke at a gop fund-raising event.
then, during a trip down south to los angeles (sorry, skippy was unable to attend this function, either inside or out) awol was greeted by about 2000 protesters outside the century city hotel where he raised more money, says the san jose mercury in another article.
and the local southland fox affiliate says code pink screwed up the meme even worse:
five women from a group called code pink women for peace got a room at the hotel so that they could protest inside. they wore pink bridesmaid-style dresses with hot pink sashes protesting the u.s. involvement in iraq. carol norris, 41, a political writer from san francisco, carried the message: "bush lied how many died?"
ok, people, once more, keep it simple: bush lied, people died, bush lied, people died (repeat ad nauseum, or until you get nauseated yourself).
notice that abc news puts the number of protesters for the entire west coast at "hundreds," which is technically correct. 2000 is 20 hundreds.
we are not surprised. abc is run by hundreds of idiots.
posted by skippy at
9:22 PM |
0
comments
confidence up, stocks down, irony all around
in spite of news that personal income, spending, and consumer confidence were all up (plus the fed cutting interest rates again), the market dropped almost 90 points at the last possible moment in trading today.
many people will (accurately) tell you that the second quarter of this year showed amazing gains: 17.6 percent, the first double digit gain in 18 months.
but remember, a percentage is just a comparison of two numbers. without knowing the two numbers, percentages are practically meaningless (which is why mainstream news and repubbblicans love them so much).
that 17.6% gain is from the low point of the last 3 months: 7400 (approximately) in the middle of march (iraq war). now the market is at 9000 or so. the 1600 gain from 7400 to 9000 is 17.6%. ok, that's nice.
what nobody is mentioning is that, if you compare the market to about a year ago, we're basically back to square one. that's right. we are at about 9000, which is where the market was at in july/august '02.
so the percentage there, or the comparison of last year to this year would be...that's right...zero percent. nada. nil. naught. squat. zot. zip. zilch. null set. nothing. goose egg. shut out. love. void. (more synonyms available here)
the truth is, this upward trend looks suspiciously like another bounce of the dead cat for the last two years.
and you don't want to look at the 5 year chart.
in spite of news that personal income, spending, and consumer confidence were all up (plus the fed cutting interest rates again), the market dropped almost 90 points at the last possible moment in trading today.
many people will (accurately) tell you that the second quarter of this year showed amazing gains: 17.6 percent, the first double digit gain in 18 months.
but remember, a percentage is just a comparison of two numbers. without knowing the two numbers, percentages are practically meaningless (which is why mainstream news and repubbblicans love them so much).
that 17.6% gain is from the low point of the last 3 months: 7400 (approximately) in the middle of march (iraq war). now the market is at 9000 or so. the 1600 gain from 7400 to 9000 is 17.6%. ok, that's nice.
what nobody is mentioning is that, if you compare the market to about a year ago, we're basically back to square one. that's right. we are at about 9000, which is where the market was at in july/august '02.
so the percentage there, or the comparison of last year to this year would be...that's right...zero percent. nada. nil. naught. squat. zot. zip. zilch. null set. nothing. goose egg. shut out. love. void. (more synonyms available here)
the truth is, this upward trend looks suspiciously like another bounce of the dead cat for the last two years.
and you don't want to look at the 5 year chart.
posted by skippy at
8:07 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
on tom tomorrow's site, bob harris has a link to a video of awol sitting in the florida classroom for 5 full minutes after being informed the second tower was hit on 9/11.
over at eschaton, leah points out that terry mcauliffe called the daily kos to thank him for kos's idea of epatriots. (we hope terry didn't reverse the charges! he can afford it!) kos is putting together a memo to send to mcauliff with ideas about how blogtopia (y!wctp!) can help the dems, so go over there and leave an idea.
also at the kos: awol's continuing disrespecting of the military, where it counts (ie, benefits, telling the truth, bringing people home, etc) is not going unnoticed by the armed services.
susan, at easy bake oven, links to a report on people who email each other to meet and perform weird interactions in public - very performance art, very new york.
william saffire writes to the rittenhouse review.
plucky punk had the same trouble with blogger this week that we did.
unknown news reports on torture by the us in afghanistan.
talkleft reports on the supreme's overturning of a death sentence because of ineffective councel.
both busy busy busy and south knox bubba have silly pictures of michael weener (are there any other kind?)
according to silflay hraka's theory, our blog is read a little more than 9 and three quarters hours every day. hm.
conrad is traveling, but don't worry, the gweilo diaries are being manned by giles ward in the meantime.
the skeptician has the latest on the anti-crime bill in the senate...including the toasters that electrocute people who try to unwedge slices with a knife.
maxspeak correctly predicted the top two winners in the moveon.org primary (what, carol mosley brown didn't place?)
on tom tomorrow's site, bob harris has a link to a video of awol sitting in the florida classroom for 5 full minutes after being informed the second tower was hit on 9/11.
over at eschaton, leah points out that terry mcauliffe called the daily kos to thank him for kos's idea of epatriots. (we hope terry didn't reverse the charges! he can afford it!) kos is putting together a memo to send to mcauliff with ideas about how blogtopia (y!wctp!) can help the dems, so go over there and leave an idea.
also at the kos: awol's continuing disrespecting of the military, where it counts (ie, benefits, telling the truth, bringing people home, etc) is not going unnoticed by the armed services.
susan, at easy bake oven, links to a report on people who email each other to meet and perform weird interactions in public - very performance art, very new york.
william saffire writes to the rittenhouse review.
plucky punk had the same trouble with blogger this week that we did.
unknown news reports on torture by the us in afghanistan.
talkleft reports on the supreme's overturning of a death sentence because of ineffective councel.
both busy busy busy and south knox bubba have silly pictures of michael weener (are there any other kind?)
according to silflay hraka's theory, our blog is read a little more than 9 and three quarters hours every day. hm.
conrad is traveling, but don't worry, the gweilo diaries are being manned by giles ward in the meantime.
the skeptician has the latest on the anti-crime bill in the senate...including the toasters that electrocute people who try to unwedge slices with a knife.
maxspeak correctly predicted the top two winners in the moveon.org primary (what, carol mosley brown didn't place?)
posted by skippy at
7:38 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
6:17 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part june 27
a u.s. soldier was killed in the town of kufah, south of baghdad today, says the australian broadcast corp. this is of concern to coalition authorities, because until now, the south of iraq was considered to be relatively peaceful, free of the insurgency problems of late.
and another soldier was shot in the neck while buying dvd's in baghdad, reuters reports.
"he took out dollars from his pocket and as i looked at the money i heard a bang. he froze and then fell backwards," the owner [of the store where the soldier was shot] told reuters television. "two other soldiers came in, picked him up and took him away."
this latest incident is one in an increasing amount of violence and sabotage directed against the coalition forces. the boston globe says:
the past two days have seen a torrent of guerrilla-style ambushes that have killed at least two u.s. soldiers, with a third dying in a non-combat accident. two u.s. soldiers remained missing friday night, three days after their apparent abduction from a guard post north of the capital.
saboteurs also have been attacking baghdad's power grid and oil pipelines, foiling coalition efforts to restore services to the iraqi people as temperatures climb as high as 117 degrees.
and, says the canadian globe and mail, an army truck struck what appeared to be a landmine friday, the latest in a series of attacks raising concern that the united states could be confronting a guerrilla war in iraq.
the kansas city star reports neutralizing baathist resistance is proving to be more difficult than the pentagon calculated, and the continuing violence is becoming an embarrassment, said a u.s. official in baghdad.
and nobody's feeling particularly comfortable in baghdad. the boston globe says that sabotage has turned up the heat in that city, or least turned down the air conditioning:
sabotage against baghdad's power grids has blacked out much of the city for days on end, forcing residents to sleep on roofs, fan infants and study by candlelight.
the electric outages are also fueling anti-u.s. sentiment at a time occupation forces are seeking to quell a worsening insurgency that has seen a sharp rise in attacks on american troops.
with temperatures reaching 117 degrees, life has been almost unbearable.
but, don't worry. donald rumsfeld thinks all the violence is just the iraqi criminal element running amok after being released from prison. msnbc reports:
in many cases, attackers were common criminals, [rumsfeld] said, citing ousted president saddam hussein's decision to free ''something in the neighborhood of 100,000'' from prison shortly before the u.s.-led invasion in march.
''those people are out there,'' rumsfeld told reporters on capitol hill after a closed-door meeting with senate members. ''they're doing things that are unhelpful to the iraqi people.''
pretty damn unhelpful to the u.s. soldiers getting shot, too. but rummy doesn't have to worry.
he's back here in the good ol' usa.
a u.s. soldier was killed in the town of kufah, south of baghdad today, says the australian broadcast corp. this is of concern to coalition authorities, because until now, the south of iraq was considered to be relatively peaceful, free of the insurgency problems of late.
and another soldier was shot in the neck while buying dvd's in baghdad, reuters reports.
"he took out dollars from his pocket and as i looked at the money i heard a bang. he froze and then fell backwards," the owner [of the store where the soldier was shot] told reuters television. "two other soldiers came in, picked him up and took him away."
this latest incident is one in an increasing amount of violence and sabotage directed against the coalition forces. the boston globe says:
the past two days have seen a torrent of guerrilla-style ambushes that have killed at least two u.s. soldiers, with a third dying in a non-combat accident. two u.s. soldiers remained missing friday night, three days after their apparent abduction from a guard post north of the capital.
saboteurs also have been attacking baghdad's power grid and oil pipelines, foiling coalition efforts to restore services to the iraqi people as temperatures climb as high as 117 degrees.
and, says the canadian globe and mail, an army truck struck what appeared to be a landmine friday, the latest in a series of attacks raising concern that the united states could be confronting a guerrilla war in iraq.
the kansas city star reports neutralizing baathist resistance is proving to be more difficult than the pentagon calculated, and the continuing violence is becoming an embarrassment, said a u.s. official in baghdad.
and nobody's feeling particularly comfortable in baghdad. the boston globe says that sabotage has turned up the heat in that city, or least turned down the air conditioning:
sabotage against baghdad's power grids has blacked out much of the city for days on end, forcing residents to sleep on roofs, fan infants and study by candlelight.
the electric outages are also fueling anti-u.s. sentiment at a time occupation forces are seeking to quell a worsening insurgency that has seen a sharp rise in attacks on american troops.
with temperatures reaching 117 degrees, life has been almost unbearable.
but, don't worry. donald rumsfeld thinks all the violence is just the iraqi criminal element running amok after being released from prison. msnbc reports:
in many cases, attackers were common criminals, [rumsfeld] said, citing ousted president saddam hussein's decision to free ''something in the neighborhood of 100,000'' from prison shortly before the u.s.-led invasion in march.
''those people are out there,'' rumsfeld told reporters on capitol hill after a closed-door meeting with senate members. ''they're doing things that are unhelpful to the iraqi people.''
pretty damn unhelpful to the u.s. soldiers getting shot, too. but rummy doesn't have to worry.
he's back here in the good ol' usa.
posted by skippy at
6:09 PM |
0
comments
move on to the election
the results of the moveon.org primary are in, and to nobody's surprise (at least here at skippy international headquarters) howard dean walked away with it, to the tune of almost 44% of the votes, compared to dennis "the menance" kusinich's second place showing at just below 24%.
(we like cursor.org's line: "joe liberman bests al sharpton to take 8th place").
here's a press release about the primary. and here's the press coverage the primary received. but most importantly, at least in the mind of howard dean, is a page asking for contributions.
(we include this at the personal request of martin sheen...we know it's personal, because he addressed the email to us "dear friend"!)
the results of the moveon.org primary are in, and to nobody's surprise (at least here at skippy international headquarters) howard dean walked away with it, to the tune of almost 44% of the votes, compared to dennis "the menance" kusinich's second place showing at just below 24%.
(we like cursor.org's line: "joe liberman bests al sharpton to take 8th place").
here's a press release about the primary. and here's the press coverage the primary received. but most importantly, at least in the mind of howard dean, is a page asking for contributions.
(we include this at the personal request of martin sheen...we know it's personal, because he addressed the email to us "dear friend"!)
posted by skippy at
5:48 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
gail davis on line has some stirring excerpts from privatized hell and nation of victims, among other things.
bushies suck! examines the disparity of income between the top and the bottom.
scrapple face is looking for a literary alchemist-agent.
body and soul muses on children's books.
crowgirl looks over strom thurmond's career at magpie.
over at from the inside looking out, lorelei appears to be a genius to us.
the internet ronin discusses his experiences with zealotry, and why it wasn't pretty.
steve gilliard over at the kos looks indepth into the war that keeps on giving.
morons.org looks at the moronic response to the supreme court decision in the texas sodomy case.
peace tree farm is also following the brett bursey case.
gail davis on line has some stirring excerpts from privatized hell and nation of victims, among other things.
bushies suck! examines the disparity of income between the top and the bottom.
scrapple face is looking for a literary alchemist-agent.
body and soul muses on children's books.
crowgirl looks over strom thurmond's career at magpie.
over at from the inside looking out, lorelei appears to be a genius to us.
the internet ronin discusses his experiences with zealotry, and why it wasn't pretty.
steve gilliard over at the kos looks indepth into the war that keeps on giving.
morons.org looks at the moronic response to the supreme court decision in the texas sodomy case.
peace tree farm is also following the brett bursey case.
posted by skippy at
12:02 AM |
0
comments
Thursday, June 26, 2003
we get letters
doug mcgill, of the mcgill report, sends us a heads up to his latest on a possible invasion of iran: give pistachios a chance.
doug mcgill, of the mcgill report, sends us a heads up to his latest on a possible invasion of iran: give pistachios a chance.
posted by skippy at
6:40 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part june 26 part two
we have never been so sorry to create an addendum to a post before. but it seems that news of another u.s. soldier's death in iraq came over the wires since we first wrote about the situation this morning.
abc news says 4 people were killed today, including 2 american soldiers and 2 iraqi's, and another 2 u.s. troops were abducted, in a series of attacks.
bomb and grenade ambushes and hostile fire thursday killed two american soldiers and two iraq civilians, signaling increased anti-american resistance in iraq despite u.s. claims of mopping up opposition. two american soldiers also were apparently abducted.
in the latest reported attack, a member of a u.s. special operations force was killed and eight were injured thursday morning by hostile fire southwest of baghdad, the u.s. military said, giving no further details.
we have never been so sorry to create an addendum to a post before. but it seems that news of another u.s. soldier's death in iraq came over the wires since we first wrote about the situation this morning.
abc news says 4 people were killed today, including 2 american soldiers and 2 iraqi's, and another 2 u.s. troops were abducted, in a series of attacks.
bomb and grenade ambushes and hostile fire thursday killed two american soldiers and two iraq civilians, signaling increased anti-american resistance in iraq despite u.s. claims of mopping up opposition. two american soldiers also were apparently abducted.
in the latest reported attack, a member of a u.s. special operations force was killed and eight were injured thursday morning by hostile fire southwest of baghdad, the u.s. military said, giving no further details.
posted by skippy at
1:36 PM |
0
comments
we forgot to mention...michael weener is a weener
today is savage michael weiner day in blogtopia (y!wctp!) in which all participating blogs should make fun of michael weener, because he is suing some of our friends, including those guys at take back the media. so, here goes:
mike...you're a doody head! bite us!
hey, we're just rising to his level...
today is savage michael weiner day in blogtopia (y!wctp!) in which all participating blogs should make fun of michael weener, because he is suing some of our friends, including those guys at take back the media. so, here goes:
mike...you're a doody head! bite us!
hey, we're just rising to his level...
posted by skippy at
1:13 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
12:39 PM |
0
comments
let's hear it for the supremes!
sometimes life goes and surprises you just when you least expect it.
the supreme court struck down the texas sodomy law, says abc news, handing down a decision that landed squarely on the side of privacy rights, something we thought was unconstitutional under john ashcroft's justice department these days.
the christian science monitor explains it:
in a landmark 6-to-3 decision announced yesterday, america's highest court commanded the states to get out of the business of attempting to regulate what can or can't happen within private, intimate relationships between consenting adults. instead, five of the six majority justices ruled that americans enjoy a fundamental right to conduct the most personal and private aspects of their lives free from the prying eyes of government officials.
this ruling reinforces one of the basic tenants of roe v. wade, relationship privacy, making it very difficult for future courts to weaken that law. "roe v. wade is inviolable for all time," says david garrow, a legal historian and author of the book "liberty and sexuality."
the ruling also is win for people everywhere who enjoy sex and don't particularly want their neighbors to stick their noses into it (unless that's what gets your rocks off).
the data lounge reports that the dissenting judges were (here's a surprise) rehnquist, scalia and thomas.
in an unusual move, justice scalia read his dissent from the bench, a move many felt was intended to underscore the depth of his disagreement with the majority. "the court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda," scalia said.
"the court has taken sides in the culture war," scalia said, adding that he has "nothing against homosexuals."
oh yeah, sure. i bet some of his his vice president's best daughters are gay.
addendum: for a much better analysis of what the supremes did yesterday, visit our friends talkleft and how appealing, who are actual lawyers and know what they're talking about (and talkleft reminds us to take a quick peak at is that legal, another fine law blog).
sometimes life goes and surprises you just when you least expect it.
the supreme court struck down the texas sodomy law, says abc news, handing down a decision that landed squarely on the side of privacy rights, something we thought was unconstitutional under john ashcroft's justice department these days.
the christian science monitor explains it:
in a landmark 6-to-3 decision announced yesterday, america's highest court commanded the states to get out of the business of attempting to regulate what can or can't happen within private, intimate relationships between consenting adults. instead, five of the six majority justices ruled that americans enjoy a fundamental right to conduct the most personal and private aspects of their lives free from the prying eyes of government officials.
this ruling reinforces one of the basic tenants of roe v. wade, relationship privacy, making it very difficult for future courts to weaken that law. "roe v. wade is inviolable for all time," says david garrow, a legal historian and author of the book "liberty and sexuality."
the ruling also is win for people everywhere who enjoy sex and don't particularly want their neighbors to stick their noses into it (unless that's what gets your rocks off).
the data lounge reports that the dissenting judges were (here's a surprise) rehnquist, scalia and thomas.
in an unusual move, justice scalia read his dissent from the bench, a move many felt was intended to underscore the depth of his disagreement with the majority. "the court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda," scalia said.
"the court has taken sides in the culture war," scalia said, adding that he has "nothing against homosexuals."
oh yeah, sure. i bet some of his his vice president's best daughters are gay.
addendum: for a much better analysis of what the supremes did yesterday, visit our friends talkleft and how appealing, who are actual lawyers and know what they're talking about (and talkleft reminds us to take a quick peak at is that legal, another fine law blog).
posted by skippy at
12:35 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part june 26
another u.s. soldier has died in an ambush in isouthwest of baghdad today, raising the total of coalition forces killed since the day the statue died to a whopping 93.
msnbc says:
one american special forces soldier was killed and eight others wounded on thursday by hostile fire in southwestern baghdad, the u.s. military said.
the uk independent says two iraqi's that were traveling with an american convoy were also injured in a separate attack:
an apparent explosive device on the dangerous road between baghdad and the airport killed the soldier and wounded another. the iraqis were in an american convoy when they died in a grenade attack.
amid spiraling assaults on coalition forces, arab satellite station al–jazeera reported today that it had received a statement and videotape from an alleged iraqi resistance group that claimed responsibility for attacks and threatened more.
we agree with the title of this report from the asia times: hell starts now.
the british still don't get the point. minister of defense geoff hoon stressed that his priority was "the security of british forces" - so more reinforcements ultimately will be sent to iraq. but since the "official" end of the war, security for westerners has only been translated into insecurity for the locals. an expert from the royal united forces institute, quoted by agence france presse, admitted that the "honeymoon" between the british and the shi'ite population in the south was over: among other reasons because their aspirations have not been met and there has been no improvement in their lives.
no improvement in their lives? sounds like america during the last 2 years to us.
another u.s. soldier has died in an ambush in isouthwest of baghdad today, raising the total of coalition forces killed since the day the statue died to a whopping 93.
msnbc says:
one american special forces soldier was killed and eight others wounded on thursday by hostile fire in southwestern baghdad, the u.s. military said.
the uk independent says two iraqi's that were traveling with an american convoy were also injured in a separate attack:
an apparent explosive device on the dangerous road between baghdad and the airport killed the soldier and wounded another. the iraqis were in an american convoy when they died in a grenade attack.
amid spiraling assaults on coalition forces, arab satellite station al–jazeera reported today that it had received a statement and videotape from an alleged iraqi resistance group that claimed responsibility for attacks and threatened more.
we agree with the title of this report from the asia times: hell starts now.
the british still don't get the point. minister of defense geoff hoon stressed that his priority was "the security of british forces" - so more reinforcements ultimately will be sent to iraq. but since the "official" end of the war, security for westerners has only been translated into insecurity for the locals. an expert from the royal united forces institute, quoted by agence france presse, admitted that the "honeymoon" between the british and the shi'ite population in the south was over: among other reasons because their aspirations have not been met and there has been no improvement in their lives.
no improvement in their lives? sounds like america during the last 2 years to us.
posted by skippy at
12:12 PM |
0
comments
sorry for the delay
blogger was down for maintenance yesterday, so the staff at skippy was not able to blog. we hope to continue with our fine work today.
blogger was down for maintenance yesterday, so the staff at skippy was not able to blog. we hope to continue with our fine work today.
posted by skippy at
10:09 AM |
0
comments
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
and we're going to film 'oklahoma' as a musical!
miramax announced plans to make "damn yankees" into a movie...and says it still has plans to film "guys and dolls" as well, says yahoo.
uh, harvey...we got some bad news for you...
miramax announced plans to make "damn yankees" into a movie...and says it still has plans to film "guys and dolls" as well, says yahoo.
uh, harvey...we got some bad news for you...
posted by skippy at
9:11 PM |
0
comments
paying the piper for the right to assemble
25 anti-war protesters, who blocked the docks at the port of oakland in april, were charged with failure to disperse today, says the oakland tribune.
many of the people charged claim it's the government's pre-emptive strike against those who have filed claims against the city and police for injuries sustained in the melee.
jack heyman, 59, the elected weekend business agent for the international longshore and warehouse union local 10, was charged with failure to comply with the order of a police officer and resisting or obstructing a police officer. police said he was arrested after he refused to move his car as ordered..."i think it's a cynical pre-emptive strike by the local authorities to shield themselves from a soon-to-be-pending class-action lawsuit on behalf of my client," [attorney ted cassman] said.
police used bean bag guns, rubber bullets and wooden dowels to break up the protest that day.
owch! freedom hurts!
25 anti-war protesters, who blocked the docks at the port of oakland in april, were charged with failure to disperse today, says the oakland tribune.
many of the people charged claim it's the government's pre-emptive strike against those who have filed claims against the city and police for injuries sustained in the melee.
jack heyman, 59, the elected weekend business agent for the international longshore and warehouse union local 10, was charged with failure to comply with the order of a police officer and resisting or obstructing a police officer. police said he was arrested after he refused to move his car as ordered..."i think it's a cynical pre-emptive strike by the local authorities to shield themselves from a soon-to-be-pending class-action lawsuit on behalf of my client," [attorney ted cassman] said.
police used bean bag guns, rubber bullets and wooden dowels to break up the protest that day.
owch! freedom hurts!
posted by skippy at
9:05 PM |
0
comments
entertainment reviews
just have to take time out from our usual rants about awol to weigh in on a couple of pop culture phenoms we like.
skippy was incredibly happy when, for his 50th b-day, mrs. skippy presented him with "how the west was won," the 3-cd set of live performances by led zeppelin.
even without the 24 minute "whole lotta love" psychadelia which includes detours into "hello marylou, goodbye heart" as well as john lee hooker's "boogie chillun," "goin' down slow" and jerry lieber's "let's have a party;" even without 25 minutes of "dazed and confused" (which reminds us that the 70's were really what stereo was invented for...jimmy's notes alternate from speaker to speaker, like it was, man, stereo!); even without the standards "rock and roll," "stairway to heaven," "black dog" and the "bron-yr-aur stomp;" even without all those, john bohham's 17 minute drum solo on "moby dick" define what heavy metal is all about.
you heard us right. 17 minute drum solo! faaaaaar out, man!
eat your heart out metallica!
and, on tv, the entire staff at skippy international headquarters is addicted to hbo's "the wire." this isn't television, folks, this is a filmed novel; it's a 25 hour movie; it's life on the docks and in the ghetto and in the precincts and in the jail cells, and we're just flies on the stinkin' walls privvy to the depths of human behavior.
we said last year it's "war and peace" on crack...brilliant writing. but it's not easy watching, people. you are required to pay attention, and think, and feel. you can not read a book or converse or make a snack while perusing "the wire." you'll miss something, and every single thing is important, and something you won't understand in one episode will come back and bite you on the ass 3 episodes later, just like reality.
in fact, if you haven't been watching "the wire" since the beginning of last year (because this season picks up exactly where last season left off), forget it. you're way behind. you'll never catch up.
just wait for the sopranos to come back on.
just have to take time out from our usual rants about awol to weigh in on a couple of pop culture phenoms we like.
skippy was incredibly happy when, for his 50th b-day, mrs. skippy presented him with "how the west was won," the 3-cd set of live performances by led zeppelin.
even without the 24 minute "whole lotta love" psychadelia which includes detours into "hello marylou, goodbye heart" as well as john lee hooker's "boogie chillun," "goin' down slow" and jerry lieber's "let's have a party;" even without 25 minutes of "dazed and confused" (which reminds us that the 70's were really what stereo was invented for...jimmy's notes alternate from speaker to speaker, like it was, man, stereo!); even without the standards "rock and roll," "stairway to heaven," "black dog" and the "bron-yr-aur stomp;" even without all those, john bohham's 17 minute drum solo on "moby dick" define what heavy metal is all about.
you heard us right. 17 minute drum solo! faaaaaar out, man!
eat your heart out metallica!
and, on tv, the entire staff at skippy international headquarters is addicted to hbo's "the wire." this isn't television, folks, this is a filmed novel; it's a 25 hour movie; it's life on the docks and in the ghetto and in the precincts and in the jail cells, and we're just flies on the stinkin' walls privvy to the depths of human behavior.
we said last year it's "war and peace" on crack...brilliant writing. but it's not easy watching, people. you are required to pay attention, and think, and feel. you can not read a book or converse or make a snack while perusing "the wire." you'll miss something, and every single thing is important, and something you won't understand in one episode will come back and bite you on the ass 3 episodes later, just like reality.
in fact, if you haven't been watching "the wire" since the beginning of last year (because this season picks up exactly where last season left off), forget it. you're way behind. you'll never catch up.
just wait for the sopranos to come back on.
posted by skippy at
8:57 PM |
0
comments
total recall
we can't say we are enamored of gov. gray "is that a contribution in your pocket or are you just happy to see me" davis any more than the next guy (unless the next guy happens to be bill simon), but this recall effort underway now smacks of one more attempt on the part of the rich to buy politics.
the sfchron reports that about half of the signatures needed to get the recall effort qualified for a ballot have been collected by now (although our fav newspaper named after an insect, the sacto bee, says the fraction is closer to one third).
though we are not happy to pay any more for our car registration, we agree with davis when he calls the recall effort "partisan mischief by the right wing." specifically, darrell issa, the san diego repubblican who has funneled $1.5 million of his own dough into the effort, hoping to get the state's top job as a result.
wait a minute, we just read that article about the car fees going up...tripling, even...mr. issa, where do we sign?
we can't say we are enamored of gov. gray "is that a contribution in your pocket or are you just happy to see me" davis any more than the next guy (unless the next guy happens to be bill simon), but this recall effort underway now smacks of one more attempt on the part of the rich to buy politics.
the sfchron reports that about half of the signatures needed to get the recall effort qualified for a ballot have been collected by now (although our fav newspaper named after an insect, the sacto bee, says the fraction is closer to one third).
though we are not happy to pay any more for our car registration, we agree with davis when he calls the recall effort "partisan mischief by the right wing." specifically, darrell issa, the san diego repubblican who has funneled $1.5 million of his own dough into the effort, hoping to get the state's top job as a result.
wait a minute, we just read that article about the car fees going up...tripling, even...mr. issa, where do we sign?
posted by skippy at
8:19 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
we heartily support ampol's campaign to help tucker carlson eat his clothing! (though personally, if we had to watch a right-winger play strip atkins, we wish it was d.a. nancy grace on court tv).
thanks to buzzflash, we found howie kurtzman reporting about right wing blogs taking on bill o'reilly, and cheered each and every one one of them!
speaking of howie, eric alterman takes him on (as well as asserting that, contrary to what timothy noah thinks, awol may be a liar, but he ain't stupid!).
freepie wonders how far away impeachment can be.
on the third hand, kathy kinsley is warning us about "smarter" spam.
the hamster links you to a weatherman who didn't know his live mic was picking him up while using the bathroom (talk about "news leaks"!)
forewarned is forearmed...instapundit tells us anne coulter will soon be blogging (there goes the neighborhood).
the smirking chimp tells us about one teacher's answer to the america's most wanted deck of cards: operation hidden agenda.
talkleft compares dean and kucinich on the issues.
we heartily support ampol's campaign to help tucker carlson eat his clothing! (though personally, if we had to watch a right-winger play strip atkins, we wish it was d.a. nancy grace on court tv).
thanks to buzzflash, we found howie kurtzman reporting about right wing blogs taking on bill o'reilly, and cheered each and every one one of them!
speaking of howie, eric alterman takes him on (as well as asserting that, contrary to what timothy noah thinks, awol may be a liar, but he ain't stupid!).
freepie wonders how far away impeachment can be.
on the third hand, kathy kinsley is warning us about "smarter" spam.
the hamster links you to a weatherman who didn't know his live mic was picking him up while using the bathroom (talk about "news leaks"!)
forewarned is forearmed...instapundit tells us anne coulter will soon be blogging (there goes the neighborhood).
the smirking chimp tells us about one teacher's answer to the america's most wanted deck of cards: operation hidden agenda.
talkleft compares dean and kucinich on the issues.
posted by skippy at
7:38 PM |
0
comments
the chicks are all right
much like the war in iraq itself, the dixie chicks are still going strong, despite what the repubbblicans say.
forbes magazine lists the chicks as the 30th most powerful celebrities in the world, cbs 2 of chicago says (full disclosure: skippy is nowhere on that list).
the boston globe reports that, despite 6 lonely protesters, the chicks' concert at the fleetcenter went wonderfully (except for some "sound glitches," due to the performance in-the-round, which "only neil diamond has truly mastered").
newsday.com says that the song "travelin' soldier" at the new york concerts were met with ovations that were "enormous - in part because maines' delivery was so strikingly beautiful, in part because the chicks' faithful wanted to show their support."
meanwhile, toby keith takes the high road in the supposed "feud" between him and the chicks, says yahoo launch. we're glad somebody does.
much like the war in iraq itself, the dixie chicks are still going strong, despite what the repubbblicans say.
forbes magazine lists the chicks as the 30th most powerful celebrities in the world, cbs 2 of chicago says (full disclosure: skippy is nowhere on that list).
the boston globe reports that, despite 6 lonely protesters, the chicks' concert at the fleetcenter went wonderfully (except for some "sound glitches," due to the performance in-the-round, which "only neil diamond has truly mastered").
newsday.com says that the song "travelin' soldier" at the new york concerts were met with ovations that were "enormous - in part because maines' delivery was so strikingly beautiful, in part because the chicks' faithful wanted to show their support."
meanwhile, toby keith takes the high road in the supposed "feud" between him and the chicks, says yahoo launch. we're glad somebody does.
posted by skippy at
7:23 PM |
0
comments
benton harbor update
we are glad to see that the riots in benton harbor of last week are not going to be swept under the rug and forgotten.
wndu-16 of michigan reports that many groups are calling for investigations into the death last week of motorcyclist terrence shurn, including all the benton harbor city commissioners which asked the u.s. justice department to look into the matter.
the southwest michigan coalition against racism and police brutality is asking michigan governor jennifer granholm for several things. they are asking for: an independent commission to look into shurn's death, a special prosecutor to figure out if police violated shurn's civil rights and legislation eliminating high-speed police chases between towns. they are also asking for financial compensation for shurn's family and the family of 11-year-old trenton patterson, who was struck and killed during another police chase nearly 3-years ago.
the rev. edward pinkney (first brought to our attention by cyndy of mousemusings) is the leader of the black autonomy network community organization (banco), which maintains that the racial biasis in court sentensings are the root of the riots last week.
“one particular group of people, the african americans, usually gets the maximum amount of time a judge can give them. and usually if you're caucasian or white you get the least amount that's available to you."
we hope that authorities will not let this matter fade away.
we are glad to see that the riots in benton harbor of last week are not going to be swept under the rug and forgotten.
wndu-16 of michigan reports that many groups are calling for investigations into the death last week of motorcyclist terrence shurn, including all the benton harbor city commissioners which asked the u.s. justice department to look into the matter.
the southwest michigan coalition against racism and police brutality is asking michigan governor jennifer granholm for several things. they are asking for: an independent commission to look into shurn's death, a special prosecutor to figure out if police violated shurn's civil rights and legislation eliminating high-speed police chases between towns. they are also asking for financial compensation for shurn's family and the family of 11-year-old trenton patterson, who was struck and killed during another police chase nearly 3-years ago.
the rev. edward pinkney (first brought to our attention by cyndy of mousemusings) is the leader of the black autonomy network community organization (banco), which maintains that the racial biasis in court sentensings are the root of the riots last week.
“one particular group of people, the african americans, usually gets the maximum amount of time a judge can give them. and usually if you're caucasian or white you get the least amount that's available to you."
we hope that authorities will not let this matter fade away.
posted by skippy at
6:55 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
6:46 PM |
0
comments
old hippie's trial postponed due to a technicality
no, it's not the technicality of the first amendment, though we wish it were that simple. brett bursey, who readers of this space will know, was arrested for holding a sign saying "no blood for oil" at a south carolina airport where awol was slated to appear, was set for trial today.
though he was denied a jury trial, because, after all, who needs a jury of your peers to judge your rights (what do you think this is, a democracy?), mr. bursey was supposed to go before a magistrate today to learn his fate. however, his lawyers found a technicality in, of all things, the punctuation of the original statute he was being charged under, says the associated press.
part of the technicality has to do a difference in punctuation in the government's complaint and the 500-word statute that bursey is being charged under, said attorney c. rauch wise, who also represented bursey when he was arrested in 1969 during a visit by then-president richard nixon.
the trial has now been postponed for at least a month. you can hear amy goodman interview mr. bursey (before his trial was postponed) at the democracy now page.
no, it's not the technicality of the first amendment, though we wish it were that simple. brett bursey, who readers of this space will know, was arrested for holding a sign saying "no blood for oil" at a south carolina airport where awol was slated to appear, was set for trial today.
though he was denied a jury trial, because, after all, who needs a jury of your peers to judge your rights (what do you think this is, a democracy?), mr. bursey was supposed to go before a magistrate today to learn his fate. however, his lawyers found a technicality in, of all things, the punctuation of the original statute he was being charged under, says the associated press.
part of the technicality has to do a difference in punctuation in the government's complaint and the 500-word statute that bursey is being charged under, said attorney c. rauch wise, who also represented bursey when he was arrested in 1969 during a visit by then-president richard nixon.
the trial has now been postponed for at least a month. you can hear amy goodman interview mr. bursey (before his trial was postponed) at the democracy now page.
posted by skippy at
3:09 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part six
in some of the highest casualty numbers per incident yet, 6 british troops were killed and 8 others wounded in two separate attacks in iraq today, says the bbc.
they mark the heaviest losses to enemy action suffered in a single day by us-led coalition forces since the war in iraq was declared largely over on 1 may, after the toppling of saddam hussein's regime.
it is also the heaviest loss of british life in a single hostile incident since uk forces entered iraq at the start of the war in late march.
bloomberg.com says
godric smith, a spokesman for prime minister tony blair, told reporters in london that the incident took place near the town of al-amarah, north of basra, in southern iraq. he declined to give any further details about the incident.
the killings were followed by a second incident in the same area, in which eight british soldiers from the parachute regiment were injured, three of them ``seriously,'' the ministry of defense said in a statement.
that raises the death toll in iraq of coalition forces to 89 since the day the statue died.
and americans are getting concerned. a new poll by abc news and the washington post shows a rising number of americans find the deaths in iraq since the end of the war to be unacceptable:
while 51 percent of americans in a new abcnews/washington post poll call the current level of u.s. casualties "acceptable," that's down from 66 percent in early april, when baghdad fell with little organized resistance. and the number calling casualties "unacceptable" has jumped by 16 points, to 44 percent.
and in the midst of it all comes this story from yahoo, about two army doctors who refused to help three iraqi children who were burned when they set fire to a bag of explosive powder left over from the war. the children's injuries, according to the doctors, were not "life threatening," nor were they "inflicted by u.s. troops."
that's not the way to win friends and influence people.
in some of the highest casualty numbers per incident yet, 6 british troops were killed and 8 others wounded in two separate attacks in iraq today, says the bbc.
they mark the heaviest losses to enemy action suffered in a single day by us-led coalition forces since the war in iraq was declared largely over on 1 may, after the toppling of saddam hussein's regime.
it is also the heaviest loss of british life in a single hostile incident since uk forces entered iraq at the start of the war in late march.
bloomberg.com says
godric smith, a spokesman for prime minister tony blair, told reporters in london that the incident took place near the town of al-amarah, north of basra, in southern iraq. he declined to give any further details about the incident.
the killings were followed by a second incident in the same area, in which eight british soldiers from the parachute regiment were injured, three of them ``seriously,'' the ministry of defense said in a statement.
that raises the death toll in iraq of coalition forces to 89 since the day the statue died.
and americans are getting concerned. a new poll by abc news and the washington post shows a rising number of americans find the deaths in iraq since the end of the war to be unacceptable:
while 51 percent of americans in a new abcnews/washington post poll call the current level of u.s. casualties "acceptable," that's down from 66 percent in early april, when baghdad fell with little organized resistance. and the number calling casualties "unacceptable" has jumped by 16 points, to 44 percent.
and in the midst of it all comes this story from yahoo, about two army doctors who refused to help three iraqi children who were burned when they set fire to a bag of explosive powder left over from the war. the children's injuries, according to the doctors, were not "life threatening," nor were they "inflicted by u.s. troops."
that's not the way to win friends and influence people.
posted by skippy at
2:56 PM |
0
comments
Monday, June 23, 2003
correction
the lovely anna, the prettiest dean supporter in texas, wants us to know that, although we we cited a poll earlier showing kerry ahead of dean by 9 points, most other polls have the two statistically tied. and she says dean leads kerry among indys by 18 points (and we suppose she doesn't mean race car tracks).
that's what we get for using google.
the lovely anna, the prettiest dean supporter in texas, wants us to know that, although we we cited a poll earlier showing kerry ahead of dean by 9 points, most other polls have the two statistically tied. and she says dean leads kerry among indys by 18 points (and we suppose she doesn't mean race car tracks).
that's what we get for using google.
posted by skippy at
10:57 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
10:55 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
aside from the regular good stuff on eschaton, lambert has taken to capitalizing the 'w' in 'yawn.' (go see for yourself, our style sheet prohibits us from showing you a proper example.)
sullywatch is deconstructing david brooks on the weekly standard.
peace tree farm eulogizes the greats that fell last week, something we were remiss in doing, especially the wonderful hume cronyn, and the nutty george axelrod.
eric at the hamster warns of the beginning onslaught against dean by the conservatives.
the daily kos explains the growing westar/tom delay scandal.
spade hammer links to all the stories about iraq which make you think of the word "quagmire."
dr. carol agrees with jimmy breslin: this isn't your country anymore.
norm over at onegoodmove presents a good graphic (courtesy of tom tomorrow).
talkleft reports on federal judge john s. martin, jr., and his decision to quit the bench because sentensing has become so unfair.
and finally, suckful is on vacation. have a good one, suck!
aside from the regular good stuff on eschaton, lambert has taken to capitalizing the 'w' in 'yawn.' (go see for yourself, our style sheet prohibits us from showing you a proper example.)
sullywatch is deconstructing david brooks on the weekly standard.
peace tree farm eulogizes the greats that fell last week, something we were remiss in doing, especially the wonderful hume cronyn, and the nutty george axelrod.
eric at the hamster warns of the beginning onslaught against dean by the conservatives.
the daily kos explains the growing westar/tom delay scandal.
spade hammer links to all the stories about iraq which make you think of the word "quagmire."
dr. carol agrees with jimmy breslin: this isn't your country anymore.
norm over at onegoodmove presents a good graphic (courtesy of tom tomorrow).
talkleft reports on federal judge john s. martin, jr., and his decision to quit the bench because sentensing has become so unfair.
and finally, suckful is on vacation. have a good one, suck!
posted by skippy at
10:50 PM |
0
comments
ways and memes
is our head getting big? memeufacture (who assures us it's more about links to urls than actual influence) listed our blog as the third most influencial blog on the left.
we are humbled. if we are so influencial, we must use it for good, and not evil
kids, don't drink when you drive. you could spill some and really stink up the car.
is our head getting big? memeufacture (who assures us it's more about links to urls than actual influence) listed our blog as the third most influencial blog on the left.
we are humbled. if we are so influencial, we must use it for good, and not evil
kids, don't drink when you drive. you could spill some and really stink up the car.
posted by skippy at
10:27 PM |
0
comments
wow
no clue how joe 6 pack got this page, but it's pretty damn neat. links to everything and everyone you want.
no clue how joe 6 pack got this page, but it's pretty damn neat. links to everything and everyone you want.
posted by skippy at
9:54 PM |
0
comments
say hello
to society's memory bank, who currently is as astonished as we are that george will said something worthwhile.
to society's memory bank, who currently is as astonished as we are that george will said something worthwhile.
posted by skippy at
9:50 PM |
0
comments
new, improved flavor
we were quite pleased to see a comment by the watchful babbler on our site. doxagora is one of the better, and certainly more well thought out, blogs on the right side of the aisle. and we like the bright new look doxagora is sporting these days!
check it out! watchful does not follow partisan platforms of any stripe, and is actually more independent-minded than a lot of the folks on either side of the aisle. we highly recommend his blog.
we were quite pleased to see a comment by the watchful babbler on our site. doxagora is one of the better, and certainly more well thought out, blogs on the right side of the aisle. and we like the bright new look doxagora is sporting these days!
check it out! watchful does not follow partisan platforms of any stripe, and is actually more independent-minded than a lot of the folks on either side of the aisle. we highly recommend his blog.
posted by skippy at
9:49 PM |
0
comments
vote early and often
remember, the moveon.org primary is tomorrow! be sure to vote! and go here to find out about the candidates!
remember, the moveon.org primary is tomorrow! be sure to vote! and go here to find out about the candidates!
posted by skippy at
2:47 PM |
0
comments
he's a dean among men
it's official! vermont guv howard dean has announced his candidacy for president. we didn't watch the announcment, but you can here (and then let anna know what you think). we were, however, happy to see it was broadcast over msnbc and parts of it over cnn, thus displacing awol talking to biotechies about making money for the sky box class.
and dean seems to be making some in-roads. although kerry leads him by 9 points in new hampshire, dean is kicking repubbblican butt elsewhere. in an informal poll taken in wisconsin by greenbay gazette, dean got 47% to awol's 36%.
joe klein, showing his primary colors, says in time magazine that dean isn't going away:
dean is a master of the snappy formulation. he tells audiences, for example, that the president's tax cuts will "raise local property taxes and reduce services." this has the virtue of being accurate — there will be less money to cities and towns — and accessible. in any case, dean has unlocked a fairly new and vibrant democratic constituency that transcends his left-wing peacenik stereotype. it is young, middle class, white and wired.
[ed. note: switch to decaf!]
it's official! vermont guv howard dean has announced his candidacy for president. we didn't watch the announcment, but you can here (and then let anna know what you think). we were, however, happy to see it was broadcast over msnbc and parts of it over cnn, thus displacing awol talking to biotechies about making money for the sky box class.
and dean seems to be making some in-roads. although kerry leads him by 9 points in new hampshire, dean is kicking repubbblican butt elsewhere. in an informal poll taken in wisconsin by greenbay gazette, dean got 47% to awol's 36%.
joe klein, showing his primary colors, says in time magazine that dean isn't going away:
dean is a master of the snappy formulation. he tells audiences, for example, that the president's tax cuts will "raise local property taxes and reduce services." this has the virtue of being accurate — there will be less money to cities and towns — and accessible. in any case, dean has unlocked a fairly new and vibrant democratic constituency that transcends his left-wing peacenik stereotype. it is young, middle class, white and wired.
[ed. note: switch to decaf!]
posted by skippy at
2:38 PM |
0
comments
support our troops, now more than ever
funny how two or three months ago, all the dixie chicks cd burnings and shouting down of janine garafalo seemed to indicate a huge ground swell of patriotic support for our troops overseas.
we say it's funny (as in 'odd,' because there is certainly nothing 'humorous' about this), because nowadays you don't hear anything about the troops. nobody seems to care about the men and women who are stuck over there, still putting their lives on the line everyday, for awol's america (update: 77 u.s. troops killed in iraq since the day the statue died).
the boston globe puts it well:
now, no one seems to care, said leemon, whose husband is among thousands of u.s. servicemen and servicewomen still stuck in the sand and sweltering sun, trying to rebuild a smashed country without getting killed first.
''they say there isn't a war,'' [sheryl] leemon said. ''they don't understand. it was a little bit easier when the signs were flying, support our troops.'' leemon is among a legion of wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters still waiting for their loved ones to come home.
it can't be easy over there. the san diego union-tribune says
guerrilla-style attacks continue and many of the soldiers are chafing at their role as peacekeepers as their stay in iraq is extended into the summer and temperatures inside their armored vehicles soar as high as 130 degrees.
the good news is, we may have killed saddam...again! we certainly wounded some syrians.
sorry about that, syria!
funny how two or three months ago, all the dixie chicks cd burnings and shouting down of janine garafalo seemed to indicate a huge ground swell of patriotic support for our troops overseas.
we say it's funny (as in 'odd,' because there is certainly nothing 'humorous' about this), because nowadays you don't hear anything about the troops. nobody seems to care about the men and women who are stuck over there, still putting their lives on the line everyday, for awol's america (update: 77 u.s. troops killed in iraq since the day the statue died).
the boston globe puts it well:
now, no one seems to care, said leemon, whose husband is among thousands of u.s. servicemen and servicewomen still stuck in the sand and sweltering sun, trying to rebuild a smashed country without getting killed first.
''they say there isn't a war,'' [sheryl] leemon said. ''they don't understand. it was a little bit easier when the signs were flying, support our troops.'' leemon is among a legion of wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters still waiting for their loved ones to come home.
it can't be easy over there. the san diego union-tribune says
guerrilla-style attacks continue and many of the soldiers are chafing at their role as peacekeepers as their stay in iraq is extended into the summer and temperatures inside their armored vehicles soar as high as 130 degrees.
the good news is, we may have killed saddam...again! we certainly wounded some syrians.
sorry about that, syria!
posted by skippy at
2:23 PM |
0
comments
another change of address!
joe sixpack's elegant blog has a new name and new address, kids, it's now simply joe 6 pack, found at http://joe6pack.blogeye.com/.
make a note!
joe sixpack's elegant blog has a new name and new address, kids, it's now simply joe 6 pack, found at http://joe6pack.blogeye.com/.
make a note!
posted by skippy at
2:08 PM |
0
comments
don't let overtime get under done
the afl-cio is warning us that the 40 hour work week is in danger of being expanded, with overtime cut away. this site will tell you more.
the afl-cio is warning us that the 40 hour work week is in danger of being expanded, with overtime cut away. this site will tell you more.
posted by skippy at
2:04 PM |
0
comments
Sunday, June 22, 2003
the war that keeps on giving, part the next part
we knew our luck couldn't hold out. after two days of no fatalities in iraq, another u.s. soldier was killed in a grenade attack, says the san jose mercury news.
a grenade attack on a u.s. military convoy south of baghdad killed one soldier and wounded another, the u.s. military said. after the attack in khan azad, just south of the capital, two soldiers were evacuated by ambulance to a combat support hospital, the military said in a statement.
the mercury news reports that the serviceman was the ninth soldier to die of hostile action this month in iraq.
and, abcnews says another pipeline explosion looks like sabotage.
a fuel pipeline exploded and caught fire west of baghdad, a possible act of sabotage that sent flames high into the sky, as iraq returned to world oil markets sunday with its first crude oil exports since the u.s.-led invasion.
we're unsure if abc means sunday was the day of the explosion or the day iraq returned to world oil markets. skippy's staff would write such an unclear sentence.
we knew our luck couldn't hold out. after two days of no fatalities in iraq, another u.s. soldier was killed in a grenade attack, says the san jose mercury news.
a grenade attack on a u.s. military convoy south of baghdad killed one soldier and wounded another, the u.s. military said. after the attack in khan azad, just south of the capital, two soldiers were evacuated by ambulance to a combat support hospital, the military said in a statement.
the mercury news reports that the serviceman was the ninth soldier to die of hostile action this month in iraq.
and, abcnews says another pipeline explosion looks like sabotage.
a fuel pipeline exploded and caught fire west of baghdad, a possible act of sabotage that sent flames high into the sky, as iraq returned to world oil markets sunday with its first crude oil exports since the u.s.-led invasion.
we're unsure if abc means sunday was the day of the explosion or the day iraq returned to world oil markets. skippy's staff would write such an unclear sentence.
posted by skippy at
9:01 AM |
0
comments
Saturday, June 21, 2003
benton harbor update
you won't find any updates in the news. no, everything looks hunky-dory now, according to all the news reports. things have settled down and folks will look into the "problems." go back to your tv's people, there's nothing to be seen here.
luckily, one of skippy's interns thought of googling for "benton harbor" and the rev. edward pinkney. the rev. pinkney has apparently been an activist in the benton harbor area for some time now. here's a message from the freedom-lawyers group on yahoo! (you may have to register to access the board):
rev. pinkney told me the following:
1. an fbi report states that b.harbor men aged 12-28 are fourteen times more likely to be killed by police than the nat'l. average.
2. recently the police have started taking the boys/men/women/girls they pick up directly to jail, bypassing the police station altogether.
3. police used to run the drug ring in the area and would plant drugs in cars to get people convicted, therefore qualifying bh for more federal money. (the money goes to towns with serious drug problems.)
4. police know the judges and lawyers are all bad, so they can do whatever they wish.>
5. judges in bh decide who the public defenders will be - this is not done anywhere else. it causes the defenders to keep judges happy so they can continue to get their $72,000 to $420,000 salaries!!
6. rev. pinkney invited former state atty. general , now gov., jennifer granholm to bh a couple years ago. she vowed she'd help him. instead, she sabotaged a situation he was involved in. there is no one at the state level who will oversee bh, help rev. pinkney, act as watch dog, etc. no one.
7. the jail now has over 500 inmates. the legal limit is 373. 80% are black. the bonds are higher for blacks.
8. blacks always get the maximum sentence, whites always get minimum.
9. not one case has been dropped because money from court costs and fines is what the power structure is after.
it sounds as if the cyclist who died in the police chase was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
you won't find any updates in the news. no, everything looks hunky-dory now, according to all the news reports. things have settled down and folks will look into the "problems." go back to your tv's people, there's nothing to be seen here.
luckily, one of skippy's interns thought of googling for "benton harbor" and the rev. edward pinkney. the rev. pinkney has apparently been an activist in the benton harbor area for some time now. here's a message from the freedom-lawyers group on yahoo! (you may have to register to access the board):
rev. pinkney told me the following:
1. an fbi report states that b.harbor men aged 12-28 are fourteen times more likely to be killed by police than the nat'l. average.
2. recently the police have started taking the boys/men/women/girls they pick up directly to jail, bypassing the police station altogether.
3. police used to run the drug ring in the area and would plant drugs in cars to get people convicted, therefore qualifying bh for more federal money. (the money goes to towns with serious drug problems.)
4. police know the judges and lawyers are all bad, so they can do whatever they wish.>
5. judges in bh decide who the public defenders will be - this is not done anywhere else. it causes the defenders to keep judges happy so they can continue to get their $72,000 to $420,000 salaries!!
6. rev. pinkney invited former state atty. general , now gov., jennifer granholm to bh a couple years ago. she vowed she'd help him. instead, she sabotaged a situation he was involved in. there is no one at the state level who will oversee bh, help rev. pinkney, act as watch dog, etc. no one.
7. the jail now has over 500 inmates. the legal limit is 373. 80% are black. the bonds are higher for blacks.
8. blacks always get the maximum sentence, whites always get minimum.
9. not one case has been dropped because money from court costs and fines is what the power structure is after.
it sounds as if the cyclist who died in the police chase was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
posted by skippy at
11:47 AM |
0
comments
at least they're starting to admit it
the washpost reports that the rising death toll in occupied-iraq is starting to worry some administration officials:
inside the bush administration, where top officials resolutely emphasize postwar progress in iraq while playing down the setbacks, the rising american death toll and the increasing number of attacks on u.s. troops are causing increasing worry.
they'd better worry about getting a good lawyer; independent on line says that belgium is filing war crimes lawsuits against various and sundry people, including our favorite absent without leave jet pilot:
brussles - war crimes lawsuits had been filed in belgium against eight top officials including united states president george bush and british prime minister tony blair, said the belgian authorities
and things are pretty bad on the front lines. when they aren't getting killed, the us troops face boredom, depression, general malaise reports the fort wayne news-sentinel.
“we had our hopes so high, thinking we were going home in june. we'd talk about it every day, about going home, having a barbecue. then it was, `you're going to fallujah,'" said pfc. derrick thomas, 21, of bensalem, pa. "it's time for 3rd id to go home. we fought the war, we won the war and we're still here."
and the pr war here at home is not going much better. even nicholas kristoff of the nytimes is beginning to suspect the pfc lynch story was not all it was cracked up to be:
"i met the americans at the hospital entrance," said dr. hussein salih, adding that mr. abdulrazak then led the americans to private lynch. the staff members all said that there was no resistance, and that they welcomed the americans. is this account the truth? i don't know, but every time i voiced skepticism, the doctors and staff all insisted: "go ask jessica! she'll tell you." the u.s. military has refused to make private lynch available, although that may be out of respect for her privacy; in any case, she is said to have no memory of her capture.
and how's that commission investigating 9/11 coming? not so good, says david corn of the nation:
six months after its birth, it is unclear whether this bipartisan commission is on a path to success. washington is littered with the remains of blue-ribbon panels that were more bust than blast. this commission could be overwhelmed by its task. it could end up thwarted by an administration more eager to stonewall than to share information.
nervous yet? well, you could always do what scientist ronald bailey in reason magazine did: join the aclu:
look people, we are far from living in a police state, but it is time to roll back the encroachments on our liberties that we have already endured. many americans are alarmed at what they regard as an erosion of their civil liberties, so it's not surprising that the aclu's membership is the highest it's ever been, totaling over 400,000 and growing. the aclu recognizes, as do most americans, that there is no tradeoff between liberty and security.
(thanks to antiwar.com for these links...it's a great site to visit, we recommend it daily!)
the washpost reports that the rising death toll in occupied-iraq is starting to worry some administration officials:
inside the bush administration, where top officials resolutely emphasize postwar progress in iraq while playing down the setbacks, the rising american death toll and the increasing number of attacks on u.s. troops are causing increasing worry.
they'd better worry about getting a good lawyer; independent on line says that belgium is filing war crimes lawsuits against various and sundry people, including our favorite absent without leave jet pilot:
brussles - war crimes lawsuits had been filed in belgium against eight top officials including united states president george bush and british prime minister tony blair, said the belgian authorities
and things are pretty bad on the front lines. when they aren't getting killed, the us troops face boredom, depression, general malaise reports the fort wayne news-sentinel.
“we had our hopes so high, thinking we were going home in june. we'd talk about it every day, about going home, having a barbecue. then it was, `you're going to fallujah,'" said pfc. derrick thomas, 21, of bensalem, pa. "it's time for 3rd id to go home. we fought the war, we won the war and we're still here."
and the pr war here at home is not going much better. even nicholas kristoff of the nytimes is beginning to suspect the pfc lynch story was not all it was cracked up to be:
"i met the americans at the hospital entrance," said dr. hussein salih, adding that mr. abdulrazak then led the americans to private lynch. the staff members all said that there was no resistance, and that they welcomed the americans. is this account the truth? i don't know, but every time i voiced skepticism, the doctors and staff all insisted: "go ask jessica! she'll tell you." the u.s. military has refused to make private lynch available, although that may be out of respect for her privacy; in any case, she is said to have no memory of her capture.
and how's that commission investigating 9/11 coming? not so good, says david corn of the nation:
six months after its birth, it is unclear whether this bipartisan commission is on a path to success. washington is littered with the remains of blue-ribbon panels that were more bust than blast. this commission could be overwhelmed by its task. it could end up thwarted by an administration more eager to stonewall than to share information.
nervous yet? well, you could always do what scientist ronald bailey in reason magazine did: join the aclu:
look people, we are far from living in a police state, but it is time to roll back the encroachments on our liberties that we have already endured. many americans are alarmed at what they regard as an erosion of their civil liberties, so it's not surprising that the aclu's membership is the highest it's ever been, totaling over 400,000 and growing. the aclu recognizes, as do most americans, that there is no tradeoff between liberty and security.
(thanks to antiwar.com for these links...it's a great site to visit, we recommend it daily!)
posted by skippy at
11:34 AM |
0
comments
back in kansas, toto
our bud and frequent reader laura newton has just returned from what she describes as "power point hell" from some kind of seminar in some kind of midwest town somewhere for some reason.
she brings our attention to july's vanity fair, where an article ("bush's brain trust") talks about wolfowitz and the decision to invade iraq. unfortunately, laura says, this article is not available on line, so go out there and buy some dead trees.
instead, she links us to this piece from the associated press: nigeria orders psychiatriac tests for bad drivers, and also this one: independence (missouri) man sells testicular implants, now with id chip.
thanks laura! those stories are actually more informing than anything about wolfowitz!
our bud and frequent reader laura newton has just returned from what she describes as "power point hell" from some kind of seminar in some kind of midwest town somewhere for some reason.
she brings our attention to july's vanity fair, where an article ("bush's brain trust") talks about wolfowitz and the decision to invade iraq. unfortunately, laura says, this article is not available on line, so go out there and buy some dead trees.
instead, she links us to this piece from the associated press: nigeria orders psychiatriac tests for bad drivers, and also this one: independence (missouri) man sells testicular implants, now with id chip.
thanks laura! those stories are actually more informing than anything about wolfowitz!
posted by skippy at
11:17 AM |
0
comments
Friday, June 20, 2003
the war that keeps on giving...intermission
thank god for small favors. no american troops were killed today in iraq.
however, two u.s. soliders were injured when saboteurs blew up a transformer with rocket-propelled grenades near the city of fallujah, reports foxnews.
the u.s. military said one of the suffered a concussion and the bruises from the impact of the rockets exploding near two bradley fighting vehicles at the gate [sic]
we're not sure, but apparently saboteurs knocked out one of the nouns from the above sentence, found on foxnews.com .
thank god for small favors. no american troops were killed today in iraq.
however, two u.s. soliders were injured when saboteurs blew up a transformer with rocket-propelled grenades near the city of fallujah, reports foxnews.
the u.s. military said one of the suffered a concussion and the bruises from the impact of the rockets exploding near two bradley fighting vehicles at the gate [sic]
we're not sure, but apparently saboteurs knocked out one of the nouns from the above sentence, found on foxnews.com .
posted by skippy at
11:45 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
4:51 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
4:47 PM |
0
comments
benton harbor update
rev. jesse jackson went to benton harbor to meet with community leaders following two nights of riots, sparked by the death of a motorcyclist during a police chase, says abcnews.
and michigan gov. granholm has promised to help, says the lansing state journal.
after surveying the area and attending what she described as a powerful, frank meeting with community leaders, granholm said, "the state must wrap its arms around this community."
asked why it took so long for officials to pay attention to the problems, she said: "it should never have to take violence to have elected officials pay attention, but we are paying attention and we are moving forward."
though jesse jackson was criticized by some benton harbor activists thursday for coming too late to their cause, on friday he was generally embraced for bringing more focus to their needs.
last night was the second of relative calm, stark contrast to the previous two nights when arson fires and rioting raged. the nation learned about the long simmering problems between affluent, mostly white st. joseph's and benton township, and the small city of benton harbor with an extremely high unemployment rate among its mostly african american population and rocky relationship with the police department.
rev. jesse jackson went to benton harbor to meet with community leaders following two nights of riots, sparked by the death of a motorcyclist during a police chase, says abcnews.
and michigan gov. granholm has promised to help, says the lansing state journal.
after surveying the area and attending what she described as a powerful, frank meeting with community leaders, granholm said, "the state must wrap its arms around this community."
asked why it took so long for officials to pay attention to the problems, she said: "it should never have to take violence to have elected officials pay attention, but we are paying attention and we are moving forward."
though jesse jackson was criticized by some benton harbor activists thursday for coming too late to their cause, on friday he was generally embraced for bringing more focus to their needs.
last night was the second of relative calm, stark contrast to the previous two nights when arson fires and rioting raged. the nation learned about the long simmering problems between affluent, mostly white st. joseph's and benton township, and the small city of benton harbor with an extremely high unemployment rate among its mostly african american population and rocky relationship with the police department.
posted by skippy at
4:42 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
12:18 AM |
0
comments
Thursday, June 19, 2003
more on the michigan riots
cyndy at mousemusings wrote in our comments section that we should check out bob's links and rants for some indepth coverage on the benton harbor riots up in michigan.
and sure enough, we find the kalamazoo gazette reports a different version than the official, cleaned-up, police report. to wit:
shurn died after a chase of his motorcycle, initiated by the berrien county sheriff's department, reached 100 mph, patterson said. the benton township police took over the pursuit and called it off, but "the rider had no way of knowing that and continued on his way. he was not able to maneuver the corner" and crashed, patterson said.
the people in the six-block neighborhood where shurn died see things differently. many say he was bumped by the township police car, causing the crash, which they contend is part of a pattern of brutality from several area police jurisdictions that has gone on for years against poor people.
and, the nytimes says it is only one in a recent series of fatal incidents between the police and the residents of this community.
they were still simmering, many said, over 7-year-old trent patterson, who died in a police chase a few years back, and arthur partee, who was strangled by police officers only two months ago. they said they were still seething over a teenager's mysterious drowning in the st. joseph's river in 1991, and the man who was shot in the back by an officer the year before.
cyndy provides the rev. edward pinkney's phone number (269-925-0001) for anyone who wants to get details.
cyndy at mousemusings wrote in our comments section that we should check out bob's links and rants for some indepth coverage on the benton harbor riots up in michigan.
and sure enough, we find the kalamazoo gazette reports a different version than the official, cleaned-up, police report. to wit:
shurn died after a chase of his motorcycle, initiated by the berrien county sheriff's department, reached 100 mph, patterson said. the benton township police took over the pursuit and called it off, but "the rider had no way of knowing that and continued on his way. he was not able to maneuver the corner" and crashed, patterson said.
the people in the six-block neighborhood where shurn died see things differently. many say he was bumped by the township police car, causing the crash, which they contend is part of a pattern of brutality from several area police jurisdictions that has gone on for years against poor people.
and, the nytimes says it is only one in a recent series of fatal incidents between the police and the residents of this community.
they were still simmering, many said, over 7-year-old trent patterson, who died in a police chase a few years back, and arthur partee, who was strangled by police officers only two months ago. they said they were still seething over a teenager's mysterious drowning in the st. joseph's river in 1991, and the man who was shot in the back by an officer the year before.
cyndy provides the rev. edward pinkney's phone number (269-925-0001) for anyone who wants to get details.
posted by skippy at
7:33 PM |
0
comments
honey, have we paid our health insurance premiums?
sars update! 120 misdiagnosed cases in canada do not necessarily mean a new outbreak. well, that's a relief.
monkey pox update! 87 cases reported in the u.s.!
irritiable bowel syndrome update! drug used to treat alcoholics may help ibs sufferers (and those standing right next to them).
sars update! 120 misdiagnosed cases in canada do not necessarily mean a new outbreak. well, that's a relief.
monkey pox update! 87 cases reported in the u.s.!
irritiable bowel syndrome update! drug used to treat alcoholics may help ibs sufferers (and those standing right next to them).
posted by skippy at
7:11 PM |
0
comments
freedom's just another word for nothin left to lose
remember, next tuesday, june 24, is brett bursey's day in court! (you'll remember, mr. bursey was arrested for refusing to leave the south carolina airport where he was holding a "no blood for oil" sign, because awol was expected to arrive, and doesn't like to think anyone in the whole world could disagree with him).
the economist says
mr bursey's supporters note that mr ashcroft's men have decided to test their anti-protester law in a conservative stronghold, where the armed forces tend to be viewed more generously than elderly hippies and where the case will be heard by a judge without a jury. it is easy to see how mr ashcroft might not warm to mr bursey, who heads a “progressive network” of liberal organisations, used to edit an alternative newspaper, and has organised protests against, among other things, american war policy, nuclear power, racism and the confederate flag.
yikes! we're not taking any book on mr. bursey's freedom...
remember, next tuesday, june 24, is brett bursey's day in court! (you'll remember, mr. bursey was arrested for refusing to leave the south carolina airport where he was holding a "no blood for oil" sign, because awol was expected to arrive, and doesn't like to think anyone in the whole world could disagree with him).
the economist says
mr bursey's supporters note that mr ashcroft's men have decided to test their anti-protester law in a conservative stronghold, where the armed forces tend to be viewed more generously than elderly hippies and where the case will be heard by a judge without a jury. it is easy to see how mr ashcroft might not warm to mr bursey, who heads a “progressive network” of liberal organisations, used to edit an alternative newspaper, and has organised protests against, among other things, american war policy, nuclear power, racism and the confederate flag.
yikes! we're not taking any book on mr. bursey's freedom...
posted by skippy at
7:04 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part 190
another us soldier was killed in iraq today. this time, a medic in a military ambulance was ambushed, says the nytimes.
in the latest in a series of attacks on american troops here, a soldier from the 804th medical brigade was killed today when the military ambulance in which he was traveling came under fire from a rocket-propelled grenade. two other soldiers were wounded, according to a statement from the united states central command.
this brings the total of american dead in iraq since we went to war to 190.
meanwhile, voice of america news reports that a mortar attack on a coalition-run office in baghdad killed 1 iraqi, and wounded 12 others.
a u.s. military statement says a mortar was fired at the civil military operations center in the town of samarra. the center is a coalition-run office that coordinates humanitarian assistance between the military and civilian, non-governmental agencies.
in another incident earlier this week, gunmen fired at the mayor's office and courthouse in the town of fallujah, west of baghdad, and at a police station in khaldiyah.
why are the iraqi's so upset? could it be the complete lack of electricity in baghdad?
could it be the iraqi's distrust of u.s. administrator paul bremer's agenda?
could it be donny rumsfeld downplaying the recent violence in iraq, equating it to everyday violence in american cities? (which in itself should be frightening).
whatever it is, paul wolfowitz is finally admitting we're in the middle of a guerrilla war.
and don't worry about it. we're sending troops to azerbaijan, too. you know, the place the russians couldn't hold onto?
well, at least we know we were justified in invading iraq in the first place.
another us soldier was killed in iraq today. this time, a medic in a military ambulance was ambushed, says the nytimes.
in the latest in a series of attacks on american troops here, a soldier from the 804th medical brigade was killed today when the military ambulance in which he was traveling came under fire from a rocket-propelled grenade. two other soldiers were wounded, according to a statement from the united states central command.
this brings the total of american dead in iraq since we went to war to 190.
meanwhile, voice of america news reports that a mortar attack on a coalition-run office in baghdad killed 1 iraqi, and wounded 12 others.
a u.s. military statement says a mortar was fired at the civil military operations center in the town of samarra. the center is a coalition-run office that coordinates humanitarian assistance between the military and civilian, non-governmental agencies.
in another incident earlier this week, gunmen fired at the mayor's office and courthouse in the town of fallujah, west of baghdad, and at a police station in khaldiyah.
why are the iraqi's so upset? could it be the complete lack of electricity in baghdad?
could it be the iraqi's distrust of u.s. administrator paul bremer's agenda?
could it be donny rumsfeld downplaying the recent violence in iraq, equating it to everyday violence in american cities? (which in itself should be frightening).
whatever it is, paul wolfowitz is finally admitting we're in the middle of a guerrilla war.
and don't worry about it. we're sending troops to azerbaijan, too. you know, the place the russians couldn't hold onto?
well, at least we know we were justified in invading iraq in the first place.
posted by skippy at
6:47 PM |
0
comments
don't make me ang lee. you wouldn't like me when i'm ang lee
not that skippy really enjoyed comics featuring the big green gallut in the first place, but advance word on the street is that the movie "the hulk" is a bore. we've heard that adults think the film is totally unwatchable when the cgi monster is on the screen, and little kids hate the "sensitive, adult" parts that director ang lee (director of "flying actors, hidden wires") infused into the flick.
foxnews says of "ang lee's grouchy hulk, sleeping audience"
the hulk is dark — soooo dark! and gloomy. it's also mind-blowingly slow for the first 40 minutes (i missed the first nine, but i'm assured nothing vital happened).
the nytimes says "tall and green, but no ho ho ho"
like the raging hulk himself, a computer-generated gumby on steroids who comes into full daylight view only after what feels like a whole mini-series' worth of earnest exposition, the movie is bulky and inarticulate, leaving behind a trail of wreckage and incoherence.
msnbc likes it, with a caveat:
“hulk” is more ponderous than it needs to be. it has overscaled emotions and steroid bulges of text too obvious to stand so much morbid emphasis. it isn’t for kids, given the freight of death and father/son strife.
but the seattle post intelligence hates it:
[director ang lee] gives the movie much more weight than it can bear. it's amazingly static and talky for a $150 million popcorn movie, and it misses the zip, the lightness of being and the heart-pounding exhilaration that gave last summer's "spider-man" all that repeat business.
as we said, we aren't particularly interested either way. skippy does have tickets (free) to go see it at the end of the month, so we'll let you know his opinions.
we just wanted to use that terrible pun in the headline to this post (which, full disclosure, we heard at a meeting last night; it's not original with our offices. but then, what is?)
not that skippy really enjoyed comics featuring the big green gallut in the first place, but advance word on the street is that the movie "the hulk" is a bore. we've heard that adults think the film is totally unwatchable when the cgi monster is on the screen, and little kids hate the "sensitive, adult" parts that director ang lee (director of "flying actors, hidden wires") infused into the flick.
foxnews says of "ang lee's grouchy hulk, sleeping audience"
the hulk is dark — soooo dark! and gloomy. it's also mind-blowingly slow for the first 40 minutes (i missed the first nine, but i'm assured nothing vital happened).
the nytimes says "tall and green, but no ho ho ho"
like the raging hulk himself, a computer-generated gumby on steroids who comes into full daylight view only after what feels like a whole mini-series' worth of earnest exposition, the movie is bulky and inarticulate, leaving behind a trail of wreckage and incoherence.
msnbc likes it, with a caveat:
“hulk” is more ponderous than it needs to be. it has overscaled emotions and steroid bulges of text too obvious to stand so much morbid emphasis. it isn’t for kids, given the freight of death and father/son strife.
but the seattle post intelligence hates it:
[director ang lee] gives the movie much more weight than it can bear. it's amazingly static and talky for a $150 million popcorn movie, and it misses the zip, the lightness of being and the heart-pounding exhilaration that gave last summer's "spider-man" all that repeat business.
as we said, we aren't particularly interested either way. skippy does have tickets (free) to go see it at the end of the month, so we'll let you know his opinions.
we just wanted to use that terrible pun in the headline to this post (which, full disclosure, we heard at a meeting last night; it's not original with our offices. but then, what is?)
posted by skippy at
6:25 PM |
0
comments
those old borrow and spend repubbblicans are at it again
nathan newman sends us a link to his post on bush's fiscal mismanagement. complete with a chart, it's bound to make you depressed.
and, speaking of the depression, in spite of a rise in the leading economic indicators, things just don't look good if you don't have a job and want one. yahoo reports:
three out of four employers expect to cut jobs or hold off on hiring this summer, contributing to the worst employment market since the early 1990s, a new survey said tuesday.
about two-thirds of employers said they don't expect to hire any additional workers and 9 percent plan to eliminate jobs during the july-to-september quarter, according to the survey by manpower inc.
"let's try not to get anyone too depressed, [ed. note: ha ha! good pun, jeff!] but the facts are the facts," said jeffrey joerres, chairman and chief executive officer of manpower, which surveys 16,000 businesses for its quarterly survey.
to make matters worse, even though unemployment is not as high as it was in the 80's, the standard for full employment has been lowered, making the discrepency between how many are out of work and how many should be out of work, even greater. cnnmoney says:
in fact, 6 percent unemployment was -- in the early 1990s -- considered by many economists to be "full employment," or labor-market nirvana, the level at which the economy was growing strongly, but not so strongly that it fueled inflation.
that level is probably much lower today, however -- the congressional budget office, for example, believes 5.2 percent unemployment is the new standard for full employment.
so with unemployment at 6.1% or so, that's almost a whole percent above the new "full employment" standard. to add to the bad news:
and the labor force has grown much larger; 6.1 percent unemployment in 1994 meant 7.9 million people were out of work; now, 6.1 percent unemployment means 9 million people are jobless...
and today's unemployment rate could be much higher -- if the 4.7 million people who want a job but have given up looking all started looking for work again, thus rejoining the labor force, the unemployment rate would skyrocket to 9.1 percent.
nathan newman sends us a link to his post on bush's fiscal mismanagement. complete with a chart, it's bound to make you depressed.
and, speaking of the depression, in spite of a rise in the leading economic indicators, things just don't look good if you don't have a job and want one. yahoo reports:
three out of four employers expect to cut jobs or hold off on hiring this summer, contributing to the worst employment market since the early 1990s, a new survey said tuesday.
about two-thirds of employers said they don't expect to hire any additional workers and 9 percent plan to eliminate jobs during the july-to-september quarter, according to the survey by manpower inc.
"let's try not to get anyone too depressed, [ed. note: ha ha! good pun, jeff!] but the facts are the facts," said jeffrey joerres, chairman and chief executive officer of manpower, which surveys 16,000 businesses for its quarterly survey.
to make matters worse, even though unemployment is not as high as it was in the 80's, the standard for full employment has been lowered, making the discrepency between how many are out of work and how many should be out of work, even greater. cnnmoney says:
in fact, 6 percent unemployment was -- in the early 1990s -- considered by many economists to be "full employment," or labor-market nirvana, the level at which the economy was growing strongly, but not so strongly that it fueled inflation.
that level is probably much lower today, however -- the congressional budget office, for example, believes 5.2 percent unemployment is the new standard for full employment.
so with unemployment at 6.1% or so, that's almost a whole percent above the new "full employment" standard. to add to the bad news:
and the labor force has grown much larger; 6.1 percent unemployment in 1994 meant 7.9 million people were out of work; now, 6.1 percent unemployment means 9 million people are jobless...
and today's unemployment rate could be much higher -- if the 4.7 million people who want a job but have given up looking all started looking for work again, thus rejoining the labor force, the unemployment rate would skyrocket to 9.1 percent.
posted by skippy at
6:11 PM |
0
comments
bush really does have balls...at least one of 'em!
thanks to the lovely crinkle of crinkle cutz, we were directed to george w. bush's magic war ball on the zug site. this explains a lot.
thanks to the lovely crinkle of crinkle cutz, we were directed to george w. bush's magic war ball on the zug site. this explains a lot.
posted by skippy at
5:56 PM |
0
comments
hussein's personal secretary behind bars
the globe and mail is reporting that saddam hussein's personal secretary has been captured in iraq. this, of course, could spell crushing defeat for any saddam loyalists left to oppose the coalition forces.
without saddam's personal secretary, nobody will be able to remember anyone's birthday. appointments will be missed, and all copying (including collating) in iraq will come to a complete stand still.
"this is a coup for america," said mrs. hilda olsen, donald rumsfeld's personal secretary. "with that bitch out of the way, now maybe some work will get done around baghdad. she was always taking extra long lunches, and her hoity-toity attitude was really pissing all the other secreataries off. plus, she had a little you-know-what problem," mrs. olsen said, making a poorly-mimed gesture of drinking from a glass.
next on the most wanted list: chemical ali's stock room boy.
the globe and mail is reporting that saddam hussein's personal secretary has been captured in iraq. this, of course, could spell crushing defeat for any saddam loyalists left to oppose the coalition forces.
without saddam's personal secretary, nobody will be able to remember anyone's birthday. appointments will be missed, and all copying (including collating) in iraq will come to a complete stand still.
"this is a coup for america," said mrs. hilda olsen, donald rumsfeld's personal secretary. "with that bitch out of the way, now maybe some work will get done around baghdad. she was always taking extra long lunches, and her hoity-toity attitude was really pissing all the other secreataries off. plus, she had a little you-know-what problem," mrs. olsen said, making a poorly-mimed gesture of drinking from a glass.
next on the most wanted list: chemical ali's stock room boy.
posted by skippy at
12:19 AM |
0
comments
chicks update
the country music channel is doing a special on the spat between the dixie chicks and toby keith. it will air this friday at 10 pm, according to media daily news:
cmt is planning a special on the public battle between the dixie chicks' natalie maines and toby keith called natalie vs. toby: both sides of the war. it will premiere at 10 p.m. friday. featuring interviews, photographs and news coverage, cmt explores the issue's impact on country music and how americans are taking sides.
the miami herald reports that the feud started long before nataline maines told the truth about awol when she was in england last spring:
the feud began in 2002, when maines criticized keith's song "courtesy of the red, white and blue," but it escalated when keith displayed a doctored photograph at his concerts, of maines with saddam hussein.
then maines appeared at the 2003 acm awards, wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the letters "futk," which she says stands for "freedom, understanding, tolerance and knowledge."
yeah. yeah, that's what it means. sure...
yahoo launch, however, reports that toby feels differently:
"who knows? i mean, if it was the first incident--run-in--i had had with her, you know, maybe, but she's a very miserable person and must lead a complete miserable existence,” keith said.
we should lead such miserable lives. but whatever the acronym stands for, we agree with dan deluca,of n the philadelphia inquirer, when he says support free speech: give the dixie chicks a break.
bashing and blackballing the chicks is a bad thing for country music, for a whole bunch of reasons. for starters, let's talk aesthetics. as anybody who loves merle haggard, dolly parton and johnny cash knows, country radio is bad, a slick assemblage of assembly-line cowboy-hatted hunks and airbrushed babes who, more often than not, are singing reheated pap and calling it "country." take a listen to such homestead homilies as lonestar's "my front porch looking in" or diamond rio's elevator-music gospel "i believe," and see if you're not repelled.
true enough. but enough bland-music bashing, dan, let's get constitutional:
second, let's talk free speech. i'm tired of high-on-their-horse defenders of the american way spouting off about how they believe in the first amendment, but only in some situations…
hey, guys, get this: if you're free to speak your mind only in "reasoned and principled" ways, and only in certain situations, then you're not free to speak your mind. you're either for free speech in the extreme, or you're against it.
futking right!
the country music channel is doing a special on the spat between the dixie chicks and toby keith. it will air this friday at 10 pm, according to media daily news:
cmt is planning a special on the public battle between the dixie chicks' natalie maines and toby keith called natalie vs. toby: both sides of the war. it will premiere at 10 p.m. friday. featuring interviews, photographs and news coverage, cmt explores the issue's impact on country music and how americans are taking sides.
the miami herald reports that the feud started long before nataline maines told the truth about awol when she was in england last spring:
the feud began in 2002, when maines criticized keith's song "courtesy of the red, white and blue," but it escalated when keith displayed a doctored photograph at his concerts, of maines with saddam hussein.
then maines appeared at the 2003 acm awards, wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the letters "futk," which she says stands for "freedom, understanding, tolerance and knowledge."
yeah. yeah, that's what it means. sure...
yahoo launch, however, reports that toby feels differently:
"who knows? i mean, if it was the first incident--run-in--i had had with her, you know, maybe, but she's a very miserable person and must lead a complete miserable existence,” keith said.
we should lead such miserable lives. but whatever the acronym stands for, we agree with dan deluca,of n the philadelphia inquirer, when he says support free speech: give the dixie chicks a break.
bashing and blackballing the chicks is a bad thing for country music, for a whole bunch of reasons. for starters, let's talk aesthetics. as anybody who loves merle haggard, dolly parton and johnny cash knows, country radio is bad, a slick assemblage of assembly-line cowboy-hatted hunks and airbrushed babes who, more often than not, are singing reheated pap and calling it "country." take a listen to such homestead homilies as lonestar's "my front porch looking in" or diamond rio's elevator-music gospel "i believe," and see if you're not repelled.
true enough. but enough bland-music bashing, dan, let's get constitutional:
second, let's talk free speech. i'm tired of high-on-their-horse defenders of the american way spouting off about how they believe in the first amendment, but only in some situations…
hey, guys, get this: if you're free to speak your mind only in "reasoned and principled" ways, and only in certain situations, then you're not free to speak your mind. you're either for free speech in the extreme, or you're against it.
futking right!
posted by skippy at
12:06 AM |
0
comments
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
posted by skippy at
6:38 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part 74
upon further examination of lunaville's chart mapping out the coalition deaths in iraq (which is now a permanent link on our left hand side bar, right under the theme song for george w of the bush), we made a startling discovery.
the death rate since the end of the war (april 10, the day the statue died), just for u.s. soldiers alone has been more than 50% of fatal casualties during the war (117 during the war, 74 since the end).
spacewar.com puts it this way:
"more americans have been killed in iraq since april the 14th than have died in year we've occupied afghanistan.
"this morning -- like most recent mornings -- we awoke to the news of another servicemember killed in iraq," [missouri representative ike skelton] said. "that makes 51 deaths since may the 1st -- in other words, one dead american each day."
upon further examination of lunaville's chart mapping out the coalition deaths in iraq (which is now a permanent link on our left hand side bar, right under the theme song for george w of the bush), we made a startling discovery.
the death rate since the end of the war (april 10, the day the statue died), just for u.s. soldiers alone has been more than 50% of fatal casualties during the war (117 during the war, 74 since the end).
spacewar.com puts it this way:
"more americans have been killed in iraq since april the 14th than have died in year we've occupied afghanistan.
"this morning -- like most recent mornings -- we awoke to the news of another servicemember killed in iraq," [missouri representative ike skelton] said. "that makes 51 deaths since may the 1st -- in other words, one dead american each day."
posted by skippy at
6:30 PM |
0
comments
don't get mad mad!
uh oh! instapundit has raised madkane's hackles, when, in this article about the differences between good and bad blogs, he made this off the cuff paranthetical:
(and when did lefties become "staid"? about 20 years ago, i'd guess.)
after listing a parcel of un-staid lefty bloggers (including a certain bush kangaroo, thanks, mad!) ms. kane has this to say:
i could go on and on listing far-from-staid voices on the left, but that could be construed as a rant, and we staid lefties never rant.
of course not. we're too boring.
ps. if you want to comment on instapundit's article at tech central, you must register and log in.
addendum: upon receipt of an email from our offices, prof. reynolds admits, quote "you aren't staid." he even capitalized the word "you" (which, as you all know, is not in our style sheet).
we will sleep easier tonight.
uh oh! instapundit has raised madkane's hackles, when, in this article about the differences between good and bad blogs, he made this off the cuff paranthetical:
(and when did lefties become "staid"? about 20 years ago, i'd guess.)
after listing a parcel of un-staid lefty bloggers (including a certain bush kangaroo, thanks, mad!) ms. kane has this to say:
i could go on and on listing far-from-staid voices on the left, but that could be construed as a rant, and we staid lefties never rant.
of course not. we're too boring.
ps. if you want to comment on instapundit's article at tech central, you must register and log in.
addendum: upon receipt of an email from our offices, prof. reynolds admits, quote "you aren't staid." he even capitalized the word "you" (which, as you all know, is not in our style sheet).
we will sleep easier tonight.
posted by skippy at
4:08 PM |
0
comments
talk about a battle creek!
the michigan town of benton harbor is under a state of emergency, following two nights of rioting after a motorcyclist was killed in a high speed police chase.
at least five buildings and several cars -- including four police cruisers -- were set ablaze, a woman and her 6-year-old child were hospitalized, and protestors hurled rocks and bottles at police as hundreds of protestors took to the streets tuesday night, according to police reports. there were also news reports that protestors injured two firefighters, and motorists were dragged from their vehicles and beaten.
observers say that tension between police and residents is nothing new in this impoverished southwest michigan community of about 12,000 people. the latest clash was triggered when 28-year-old terrance shurn was killed monday after losing control of his motorcycle following the chase by benton harbor police. the chase exceeded 100 mph, according to police.
the michigan town of benton harbor is under a state of emergency, following two nights of rioting after a motorcyclist was killed in a high speed police chase.
at least five buildings and several cars -- including four police cruisers -- were set ablaze, a woman and her 6-year-old child were hospitalized, and protestors hurled rocks and bottles at police as hundreds of protestors took to the streets tuesday night, according to police reports. there were also news reports that protestors injured two firefighters, and motorists were dragged from their vehicles and beaten.
observers say that tension between police and residents is nothing new in this impoverished southwest michigan community of about 12,000 people. the latest clash was triggered when 28-year-old terrance shurn was killed monday after losing control of his motorcycle following the chase by benton harbor police. the chase exceeded 100 mph, according to police.
posted by skippy at
11:11 AM |
0
comments
blogging around
be sure to check in with madkane's dubya's daily diary. it's blogoriffic!
the kos is in good form today: why we know it's a quagmire, and the troubles for tony blair just beginning.
thanks to lunaville, we have an update on the deaths of coalition forces in iraq.
k-marx considers class size in florida and how gov. jeb bush lies about it.
congratulations to jo fish, the democratic veteran, who logged in his 20,000th visitor last saturday!
tom tomorrow talks about awol's blocking of a 9/11 investigation.
antiwar.com is full of stories about regime change in iran (because it went so well in iraq).
unknown news finds evidence we are headed towards mass extinction.
from the chimp: what are americans dying for now? and heavy hand of america fans the taliban embers to life and having trouble finding people.
alterman's picking some fights.
and talkleft is worried patriot act ii will become the law of the land, and nobody will ntoice.
be sure to check in with madkane's dubya's daily diary. it's blogoriffic!
the kos is in good form today: why we know it's a quagmire, and the troubles for tony blair just beginning.
thanks to lunaville, we have an update on the deaths of coalition forces in iraq.
k-marx considers class size in florida and how gov. jeb bush lies about it.
congratulations to jo fish, the democratic veteran, who logged in his 20,000th visitor last saturday!
tom tomorrow talks about awol's blocking of a 9/11 investigation.
antiwar.com is full of stories about regime change in iran (because it went so well in iraq).
unknown news finds evidence we are headed towards mass extinction.
from the chimp: what are americans dying for now? and heavy hand of america fans the taliban embers to life and having trouble finding people.
alterman's picking some fights.
and talkleft is worried patriot act ii will become the law of the land, and nobody will ntoice.
posted by skippy at
10:41 AM |
0
comments
once a weener, always a weener
thanks to cursor.org, we find an article by an old high school class mate's of michael weener. some weeners never grow up.
thanks to cursor.org, we find an article by an old high school class mate's of michael weener. some weeners never grow up.
posted by skippy at
10:37 AM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
10:33 AM |
0
comments
america's policy in iraq is taking a ba'ath
one us soldier fired into a crowd of baghdad protesters today, killing two. meanwhile across town, a drive-by shooter killed another american soldier, says reuters.
u.s. military officers said the soldier had acted in self- defense after a military convoy came under a hail of stones as it drove through the crowd into the former presidential compound now housing iraq's new rulers.
many observers think that first laying off, then killing off the populous is not the way to win the hearts and minds of the iraqi people.
critics say [u.s. administrator of iraq paul] bremer's sweeping "de-baathification" policy fails to distinguish between the hard men who enforced saddam's orders, the many who joined the party out of expediency and some genuine adherents to its arab nationalist ideology.
they say the policy has w who may turn to crime or to fighting the u.s.-led occupation, perhaps as part of a baathist underground.
addendum: bloomberg says agence france-presse reports two us soldiers killed in a grenade attack in southern iraq today.
one us soldier fired into a crowd of baghdad protesters today, killing two. meanwhile across town, a drive-by shooter killed another american soldier, says reuters.
u.s. military officers said the soldier had acted in self- defense after a military convoy came under a hail of stones as it drove through the crowd into the former presidential compound now housing iraq's new rulers.
many observers think that first laying off, then killing off the populous is not the way to win the hearts and minds of the iraqi people.
critics say [u.s. administrator of iraq paul] bremer's sweeping "de-baathification" policy fails to distinguish between the hard men who enforced saddam's orders, the many who joined the party out of expediency and some genuine adherents to its arab nationalist ideology.
they say the policy has w who may turn to crime or to fighting the u.s.-led occupation, perhaps as part of a baathist underground.
addendum: bloomberg says agence france-presse reports two us soldiers killed in a grenade attack in southern iraq today.
posted by skippy at
10:25 AM |
0
comments
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
out to lynch
nobody knows what really happened to pfc. jessica lynch, except perhaps her...and apparently she forgot.
her family says she doesn't remember anything about her capture. u.s. military sources say she is unable -- or unwilling -- to say much about anything that happened to her between the morning her army unit was ambushed and when she became fully conscious sometime later at saddam hussein general hospital in nasiriyah, iraq.
got an opinion about lynch? go to the washpost forum and tell them about it!
nobody knows what really happened to pfc. jessica lynch, except perhaps her...and apparently she forgot.
her family says she doesn't remember anything about her capture. u.s. military sources say she is unable -- or unwilling -- to say much about anything that happened to her between the morning her army unit was ambushed and when she became fully conscious sometime later at saddam hussein general hospital in nasiriyah, iraq.
got an opinion about lynch? go to the washpost forum and tell them about it!
posted by skippy at
3:30 PM |
0
comments
don't step on that scorpion, you might squash it
so how's operation desert scorpion going? you know, the massive coalition action to root out all the remaining saddam loyalists in northern iraq?
not great, says albawaba.com:
in khaldiyah, u.s. commanders said they were acting on a tip from an iraqi man captured after he and two other men fired rocket-propelled grenades saturday night at a routine u.s. patrol near an abandoned iraqi ammunition dump. the other two men escaped and the prisoner pointed to two homes he said the operatives had been using as a hideout.
when military police entered the homes, they found only families and a few hundred rounds of pistol and assault rifle ammunition buried in the backyard of one of them.
commenting on the results of the current raids, capt. chris carter, an infantry commander, was quoted as saying "i didn't think we'd find anything, i figured the bad guys would have left by now." "but it shows the people here that we are willing and able to do this kind of thing if we need to."
even worse, another us soldier was killed near baghdad...by a sniper.
scores of heavily armed us troops swept through central baghdad yesterday, sealing off roads and searching houses, after a soldier was killed overnight by sniper fire in the north of the lawless city.
a us military spokesman said the soldier was killed while on patrol on sunday night. us forces have been plagued by ambushes in baghdad and the restive regions nearby. at least 41 soldiers have been killed by hostile action since may 1.
in a separate incident on sunday, a car exploded in western baghdad, and residents said a woman and young girl were killed. they said the blast happened at an intersection where us troops were manning a checkpoint earlier in the day…
the red volkswagen passat was torn apart by the explosion, with its roof sheared off and its interior shredded.
they're blowing up passats? the fiends!
so how's operation desert scorpion going? you know, the massive coalition action to root out all the remaining saddam loyalists in northern iraq?
not great, says albawaba.com:
in khaldiyah, u.s. commanders said they were acting on a tip from an iraqi man captured after he and two other men fired rocket-propelled grenades saturday night at a routine u.s. patrol near an abandoned iraqi ammunition dump. the other two men escaped and the prisoner pointed to two homes he said the operatives had been using as a hideout.
when military police entered the homes, they found only families and a few hundred rounds of pistol and assault rifle ammunition buried in the backyard of one of them.
commenting on the results of the current raids, capt. chris carter, an infantry commander, was quoted as saying "i didn't think we'd find anything, i figured the bad guys would have left by now." "but it shows the people here that we are willing and able to do this kind of thing if we need to."
even worse, another us soldier was killed near baghdad...by a sniper.
scores of heavily armed us troops swept through central baghdad yesterday, sealing off roads and searching houses, after a soldier was killed overnight by sniper fire in the north of the lawless city.
a us military spokesman said the soldier was killed while on patrol on sunday night. us forces have been plagued by ambushes in baghdad and the restive regions nearby. at least 41 soldiers have been killed by hostile action since may 1.
in a separate incident on sunday, a car exploded in western baghdad, and residents said a woman and young girl were killed. they said the blast happened at an intersection where us troops were manning a checkpoint earlier in the day…
the red volkswagen passat was torn apart by the explosion, with its roof sheared off and its interior shredded.
they're blowing up passats? the fiends!
posted by skippy at
3:18 PM |
0
comments
bush's loss is kerry's gain
the washpost reports that a top secrutiy advisor quit awol's administration to hook up with john kerry:
[rand] beers's resignation surprised washington, but what he did next was even more astounding. eight weeks after leaving the bush white house, he volunteered as national security adviser for sen. john f. kerry (mass.), a democratic candidate for president, in a campaign to oust his former boss. all of which points to a question: what does this intelligence insider know?
"the administration wasn't matching its deeds to its words in the war on terrorism. they're making us less secure, not more secure," said beers, who until now has remained largely silent about leaving his national security council job as special assistant to the president for combating terrorism. "as an insider, i saw the things that weren't being done. and the longer i sat and watched, the more concerned i became, until i got up and walked out."
hmmm...the presidential campaign just got a little more interesting...
the washpost reports that a top secrutiy advisor quit awol's administration to hook up with john kerry:
[rand] beers's resignation surprised washington, but what he did next was even more astounding. eight weeks after leaving the bush white house, he volunteered as national security adviser for sen. john f. kerry (mass.), a democratic candidate for president, in a campaign to oust his former boss. all of which points to a question: what does this intelligence insider know?
"the administration wasn't matching its deeds to its words in the war on terrorism. they're making us less secure, not more secure," said beers, who until now has remained largely silent about leaving his national security council job as special assistant to the president for combating terrorism. "as an insider, i saw the things that weren't being done. and the longer i sat and watched, the more concerned i became, until i got up and walked out."
hmmm...the presidential campaign just got a little more interesting...
posted by skippy at
3:11 PM |
0
comments
freep the toe sucker!
clinton's old poll-meister, mr. "i'll pay you money to suck my" dick morris, has established a freeper-friendly online polling website. this site is hard to freep, because the actual freepers live there day and night. however, being a california bush kangaroo, skippy is especially interested in the current poll asking about the gray davis recall on vote.com.
go and freep the freepers.
clinton's old poll-meister, mr. "i'll pay you money to suck my" dick morris, has established a freeper-friendly online polling website. this site is hard to freep, because the actual freepers live there day and night. however, being a california bush kangaroo, skippy is especially interested in the current poll asking about the gray davis recall on vote.com.
go and freep the freepers.
posted by skippy at
2:58 PM |
0
comments
it's time for bush to moveon.org
the good folks at moveon have sent us this email reminder:
if the bush administration distorted intelligence or knowingly used false data to support the call to war, it would be an unprecedented deception. even if weapons are now found, it'll be difficult to justify pre-war language that indicated that the exact location of the weapons was known and that they were ready to deploy at a moment's notice. with a crisis of credibility brewing abroad and the integrity of our president and our foreign policy on the line, we need answers now.
please ask congress to establish an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the distortion of evidence right now, at: moveon.org: distortion of evidence
the good folks at moveon have sent us this email reminder:
if the bush administration distorted intelligence or knowingly used false data to support the call to war, it would be an unprecedented deception. even if weapons are now found, it'll be difficult to justify pre-war language that indicated that the exact location of the weapons was known and that they were ready to deploy at a moment's notice. with a crisis of credibility brewing abroad and the integrity of our president and our foreign policy on the line, we need answers now.
please ask congress to establish an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the distortion of evidence right now, at: moveon.org: distortion of evidence
posted by skippy at
2:53 PM |
0
comments
Monday, June 16, 2003
look that up in your funk and wagnall's
[ed. note: our headline writer is showing his age...]
david rozelle, writing in the madison wisconsin capital times, looks up the definition of facism:
fascism: "a philosophy of government that stresses the primacy and glory of the state ... obedience to its leader, subordination of the individual will to the state's authority ... suppression of dissent. martial virtues are celebrated, while liberal democratic values are denigrated ... led by charismatic leaders who represented to their publics the strength that could rescue their nation from political and economic conditions." - merriam-webster's collegiate encyclopedia.
sound like anyone you know?
[ed. note: our headline writer is showing his age...]
david rozelle, writing in the madison wisconsin capital times, looks up the definition of facism:
fascism: "a philosophy of government that stresses the primacy and glory of the state ... obedience to its leader, subordination of the individual will to the state's authority ... suppression of dissent. martial virtues are celebrated, while liberal democratic values are denigrated ... led by charismatic leaders who represented to their publics the strength that could rescue their nation from political and economic conditions." - merriam-webster's collegiate encyclopedia.
sound like anyone you know?
posted by skippy at
9:31 PM |
0
comments
say hello
to semi-truths.
and thanks to semi-truths, we found on lisa rein's radar, who tells us there's now a video for john "no blood for" cougar "oil" mellancamp's anti-iraqi-war song, called "to washington."
we wonder why he didn't call it "little white houses."
to semi-truths.
and thanks to semi-truths, we found on lisa rein's radar, who tells us there's now a video for john "no blood for" cougar "oil" mellancamp's anti-iraqi-war song, called "to washington."
we wonder why he didn't call it "little white houses."
posted by skippy at
9:15 PM |
0
comments
suddenly the media has ethics
cbs has pulled a major coup (is that what the kids are calling it these days?) by pitching an interview with private first class jessica lynch (she of the 'poor rescued jessica' story of the last war) by doing something sneaky, according to the other networks who didn't think of it first. they are offering lynch some good extras if she consents, including an appearance on mtv, and a possible tv movie based on her hospital stay.
according to the nytimes (in a story not written by jayson blair), a letter from cbs to pfc. lynch mentioned possible projects with other companies owned by viacom, cbs's parent:
attached you will find the outlines of a proposal that includes ideas from cbs news, cbs entertainment, mtv networks and simon & schuster publishers," betsy west, a cbs news senior vice president, wrote to private lynch's military representatives. "from the distinguished reporting of cbs news to the youthful reach of mtv, we believe this is a unique combination of projects that will do justice to jessica's inspiring story."
cnnmoney reports that cbs maintains it has done nothing unethical:
"unlike the new york times' own ethical problems, there is no question about the accuracy or integrity of cbs news' reporting," cbs said monday in a statement that was an apparent allusion to the newspaper's recent ethical travails, specifically the acknowledgment that dozens of articles by reporter jayson blair included made-up quotes, facts, datelines and plagiarized material, which led to the resignations of top executives.
the other media outlets, shocked that cbs would offer something they couldn't for an interview, are all abuzz about how unethical such consideration is.
of course, it's not the same thing when fox news interviews newt gingrich, while having him on the payroll as an 'analyst.' and it's certainly not the same thing as when an msnbc show gets michael weener's opinion while at same time promoting his own failing weekend fiasco on that network.
of course, we notice that none of the media are actually talking about the actual news in this story: the iraqi's side; to wit, the hospital was not guarded, they attempted to turn over pfc. lynch to the coalition only to get shot at, she had neither stab wounds nor gunshot wounds, she was well-cared for, etc etc etc.
no, the important news in the news is the news, according to the news.
top story tonight: tom brokaw talks about aaron brown's views on dan rather's interview with barbara walters...
cbs has pulled a major coup (is that what the kids are calling it these days?) by pitching an interview with private first class jessica lynch (she of the 'poor rescued jessica' story of the last war) by doing something sneaky, according to the other networks who didn't think of it first. they are offering lynch some good extras if she consents, including an appearance on mtv, and a possible tv movie based on her hospital stay.
according to the nytimes (in a story not written by jayson blair), a letter from cbs to pfc. lynch mentioned possible projects with other companies owned by viacom, cbs's parent:
attached you will find the outlines of a proposal that includes ideas from cbs news, cbs entertainment, mtv networks and simon & schuster publishers," betsy west, a cbs news senior vice president, wrote to private lynch's military representatives. "from the distinguished reporting of cbs news to the youthful reach of mtv, we believe this is a unique combination of projects that will do justice to jessica's inspiring story."
cnnmoney reports that cbs maintains it has done nothing unethical:
"unlike the new york times' own ethical problems, there is no question about the accuracy or integrity of cbs news' reporting," cbs said monday in a statement that was an apparent allusion to the newspaper's recent ethical travails, specifically the acknowledgment that dozens of articles by reporter jayson blair included made-up quotes, facts, datelines and plagiarized material, which led to the resignations of top executives.
the other media outlets, shocked that cbs would offer something they couldn't for an interview, are all abuzz about how unethical such consideration is.
of course, it's not the same thing when fox news interviews newt gingrich, while having him on the payroll as an 'analyst.' and it's certainly not the same thing as when an msnbc show gets michael weener's opinion while at same time promoting his own failing weekend fiasco on that network.
of course, we notice that none of the media are actually talking about the actual news in this story: the iraqi's side; to wit, the hospital was not guarded, they attempted to turn over pfc. lynch to the coalition only to get shot at, she had neither stab wounds nor gunshot wounds, she was well-cared for, etc etc etc.
no, the important news in the news is the news, according to the news.
top story tonight: tom brokaw talks about aaron brown's views on dan rather's interview with barbara walters...
posted by skippy at
9:14 PM |
0
comments
we lie...you decide
thanks to antiwar.com, we find (on lewrockwell.com) this blow by blow account of the down right untruths propigated by the faux news network.
thanks to antiwar.com, we find (on lewrockwell.com) this blow by blow account of the down right untruths propigated by the faux news network.
posted by skippy at
3:50 PM |
0
comments
when freedom is outlawed, only outlaws will be free
here's an update on brett bursey, the man arrested at the columbia, sc, airport for holding a sign saying "no blood for oil."
mr. bursey has been denied a jury trial by a federal judge.
u.s. magistrate judge bristow marchant denied bursey a jury trial. in his order, marchant said the right to a jury trial doesn't include petty offenses such as the one bursey is charged with. in the order, marchant said granting a jury trial to bursey would "establish an unnecessary and unwarranted precedent."
bursey said he trusts marchant will give him a fair trial on june 24.
bursey, who heads the south carolina progressive network, faces a maximum fine of $5,000 and up to six months in jail.
personally, we don't think be arrested simply for disagreeing with the current administration is "petty." we will try to keep you updated on mr. bursey's progress.
here's an update on brett bursey, the man arrested at the columbia, sc, airport for holding a sign saying "no blood for oil."
mr. bursey has been denied a jury trial by a federal judge.
u.s. magistrate judge bristow marchant denied bursey a jury trial. in his order, marchant said the right to a jury trial doesn't include petty offenses such as the one bursey is charged with. in the order, marchant said granting a jury trial to bursey would "establish an unnecessary and unwarranted precedent."
bursey said he trusts marchant will give him a fair trial on june 24.
bursey, who heads the south carolina progressive network, faces a maximum fine of $5,000 and up to six months in jail.
personally, we don't think be arrested simply for disagreeing with the current administration is "petty." we will try to keep you updated on mr. bursey's progress.
posted by skippy at
3:48 PM |
0
comments
three weeks and counting
the uk independent is reporting that the top iraqi official whom all sides can agree on, is stating that iraq has 'three weeks to avoid falling into chaos.'
adnan pachachi, a highly regarded former iraqi foreign minister who is expected to play a big role in a transitional iraqi administration, criticised the heavy-handed us sweeps that have cost more than 100 iraqi lives, calling them "an overreaction''. he said the americans felt "very vulnerable and afraid''.
mr pachachi, 80, may be the only prominent opponent of saddam hussein who all sides are prepared to work with…"the iraqi people are impatient,'' he said. "they want an iraqi government as soon as possible…'' given the embarrassing failure of the us authorities in baghdad to restore living conditions even to the low level enjoyed by iraqis under saddam hussein, the option of giving some power to iraqis is an one that clearly has its attractions for the us.
think we'll make it? it doesn't look good, as us troops launch operation desert scorpion (or, "not necessarily operation desert peninsula") in an attempt to roust out "saddam loyalists," which of course, are defined as any iraqi that doesn't smile for gi joe when he comes rumbling through their huts.
and the scorpion is taking some hits. at least 8 troops have been injured in an ambushes by rocket-propelled grenades.
but it could be worse. the poor iraqi's are taking it on the chin too. the toronto star writes that a 'whole' family' dies in clash with u.s..
three weeks and counting!
the uk independent is reporting that the top iraqi official whom all sides can agree on, is stating that iraq has 'three weeks to avoid falling into chaos.'
adnan pachachi, a highly regarded former iraqi foreign minister who is expected to play a big role in a transitional iraqi administration, criticised the heavy-handed us sweeps that have cost more than 100 iraqi lives, calling them "an overreaction''. he said the americans felt "very vulnerable and afraid''.
mr pachachi, 80, may be the only prominent opponent of saddam hussein who all sides are prepared to work with…"the iraqi people are impatient,'' he said. "they want an iraqi government as soon as possible…'' given the embarrassing failure of the us authorities in baghdad to restore living conditions even to the low level enjoyed by iraqis under saddam hussein, the option of giving some power to iraqis is an one that clearly has its attractions for the us.
think we'll make it? it doesn't look good, as us troops launch operation desert scorpion (or, "not necessarily operation desert peninsula") in an attempt to roust out "saddam loyalists," which of course, are defined as any iraqi that doesn't smile for gi joe when he comes rumbling through their huts.
and the scorpion is taking some hits. at least 8 troops have been injured in an ambushes by rocket-propelled grenades.
but it could be worse. the poor iraqi's are taking it on the chin too. the toronto star writes that a 'whole' family' dies in clash with u.s..
three weeks and counting!
posted by skippy at
3:44 PM |
0
comments
hey mikey!
if you were one of the many who signed the petition from the future of music coalition to convince the fcc not to throw out the consolidation rules, you may want to take a look a the signatures of the people who joined you.
the fmc has a few suggestions about what to do next:
the next few days are an excellent time for you to write or call your federal representatives to express your views on media ownership. it is critical that they hear from constituents who can offer personal stories and experiences about how media consolidation has impacted the quality of radio, newspapers and tv in their communities…
how to find your members of congress: just go to http://www.congress.org and type in your zip code to find the contact information, website address, and phone numbers for both your senators and your house representative.
if you'd like some more information about these issues before making your call or drafting your email, go to the future of music web siteor the free press website .
here are a couple of other good resources:
the new york times has built a special section about the media ownership rules:
fcc votes to ease media ownership rules by frank ahrens, washington post, june 2, includes a great sidebar with links to ownership rules and all the commissioners' statements.
thanks again for your support and let us know if you have any questions.
future of music coalition
jenny toomey jenny@futureofmusic.org
michael bracy mbracy@bracytuckerbrown.com
kristin thomson kristin@futureofmusic.org
if you were one of the many who signed the petition from the future of music coalition to convince the fcc not to throw out the consolidation rules, you may want to take a look a the signatures of the people who joined you.
the fmc has a few suggestions about what to do next:
the next few days are an excellent time for you to write or call your federal representatives to express your views on media ownership. it is critical that they hear from constituents who can offer personal stories and experiences about how media consolidation has impacted the quality of radio, newspapers and tv in their communities…
how to find your members of congress: just go to http://www.congress.org and type in your zip code to find the contact information, website address, and phone numbers for both your senators and your house representative.
if you'd like some more information about these issues before making your call or drafting your email, go to the future of music web siteor the free press website .
here are a couple of other good resources:
the new york times has built a special section about the media ownership rules:
fcc votes to ease media ownership rules by frank ahrens, washington post, june 2, includes a great sidebar with links to ownership rules and all the commissioners' statements.
thanks again for your support and let us know if you have any questions.
future of music coalition
jenny toomey jenny@futureofmusic.org
michael bracy mbracy@bracytuckerbrown.com
kristin thomson kristin@futureofmusic.org
posted by skippy at
3:27 PM |
0
comments
Sunday, June 15, 2003
it's good to be tenth
according to memeufacture, as of 8:29 pm, june 15, skippy is the tenth most influencial political (left) blog! wow!
kids, stay off drugs! finish school! get your elbows off the table! and don't get monkey pox!
according to memeufacture, as of 8:29 pm, june 15, skippy is the tenth most influencial political (left) blog! wow!
kids, stay off drugs! finish school! get your elbows off the table! and don't get monkey pox!
posted by skippy at
7:12 PM |
0
comments
another (im)peachy idea!
the media may be ostriches with their heads stuck in the ground (or up somewhere else) but the people of america are catching on.
todd walburn of canton, ohio, writes in a letter to the editor of the caton rep:
on sept. 7, 2002, mr. bush and prime minister tony blair appeared before television cameras at camp david and announced a new international atomic energy agency report that stated that iraq was “six months away” from building a nuclear weapon. the troubling fact is that there was no “new report” from the iaea.
this was far worse than “hyping” intelligence. this was our president lying to the american people. this is an impeachable offense...
whether or not you supported the war, i think it is truly un-american to support a president who lies to his citizens to place american troops in harm’s way for reasons he has yet to justify.
meanwhile, though unwilling to use the 'i' word himself when speaking about awol, jules whitcover writes in the maryland sunspot:
what is an impeachable offense? in the case of former president bill clinton, democrats argued that his personal misconduct did not rise to that level (though in my mind lying to a grand jury certainly did). in this case, it seems irrefutable that if a president knowingly led the country into war on the basis of faulty or hyped intelligence, such conduct would reach that level.
robert j. mcdermott, writing to the editor of the billings gazette, says:
clinton lied about his sex life. bush lied about the reason for going to war. i believe today that if al gore were president, the inspectors would be in iraq, with no war, our economy would be strong, 3 million people would not be out of work, the national debt would not be going out of sight and we would still have the respect of other nations.
and dave smith's letter, right below in the same paper, says:
i'm not surprised to hear that grizzly bears in yellowstone are pouncing on tents. i covered this topic six years ago in backcountry bear basics. "in denali, where food-conditioned bears are a rarity, most property damage stems from bears just checking things out -- your tent, for example. while you're gone for a day hike, a grizzly will come along and give a tentative push on your tent with its paw. it's easy to imagine the bear's thoughts at this point: 'wow. it springs right back. this is fun. i wonder what would happen if i bit this thing.' it doesn't take much effort for a grizzly to bite a free-standing tent, pick it up, shake it, and just have a good ol' time. bears in denali destroy several tents every summer in this manner. they're just curious."
of course, the last bit had nothing to do with iraq and wmd's and impeaching awol. we just like bear stories.
the media may be ostriches with their heads stuck in the ground (or up somewhere else) but the people of america are catching on.
todd walburn of canton, ohio, writes in a letter to the editor of the caton rep:
on sept. 7, 2002, mr. bush and prime minister tony blair appeared before television cameras at camp david and announced a new international atomic energy agency report that stated that iraq was “six months away” from building a nuclear weapon. the troubling fact is that there was no “new report” from the iaea.
this was far worse than “hyping” intelligence. this was our president lying to the american people. this is an impeachable offense...
whether or not you supported the war, i think it is truly un-american to support a president who lies to his citizens to place american troops in harm’s way for reasons he has yet to justify.
meanwhile, though unwilling to use the 'i' word himself when speaking about awol, jules whitcover writes in the maryland sunspot:
what is an impeachable offense? in the case of former president bill clinton, democrats argued that his personal misconduct did not rise to that level (though in my mind lying to a grand jury certainly did). in this case, it seems irrefutable that if a president knowingly led the country into war on the basis of faulty or hyped intelligence, such conduct would reach that level.
robert j. mcdermott, writing to the editor of the billings gazette, says:
clinton lied about his sex life. bush lied about the reason for going to war. i believe today that if al gore were president, the inspectors would be in iraq, with no war, our economy would be strong, 3 million people would not be out of work, the national debt would not be going out of sight and we would still have the respect of other nations.
and dave smith's letter, right below in the same paper, says:
i'm not surprised to hear that grizzly bears in yellowstone are pouncing on tents. i covered this topic six years ago in backcountry bear basics. "in denali, where food-conditioned bears are a rarity, most property damage stems from bears just checking things out -- your tent, for example. while you're gone for a day hike, a grizzly will come along and give a tentative push on your tent with its paw. it's easy to imagine the bear's thoughts at this point: 'wow. it springs right back. this is fun. i wonder what would happen if i bit this thing.' it doesn't take much effort for a grizzly to bite a free-standing tent, pick it up, shake it, and just have a good ol' time. bears in denali destroy several tents every summer in this manner. they're just curious."
of course, the last bit had nothing to do with iraq and wmd's and impeaching awol. we just like bear stories.
posted by skippy at
7:07 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
tim francis-wright talks about upper class welfare on bear-left!
as of now, there's 346 lefty blogs over at the lefty directory.
oliver willis reports that general clark might be considering a run for the presidency...
the democratic veteran points out the the white house is courting the taliban to help stablize afghanistan.
jim capazzola of the rittenhouse review gives us his statistics in preperation for his run for the senate.
tim francis-wright talks about upper class welfare on bear-left!
as of now, there's 346 lefty blogs over at the lefty directory.
oliver willis reports that general clark might be considering a run for the presidency...
the democratic veteran points out the the white house is courting the taliban to help stablize afghanistan.
jim capazzola of the rittenhouse review gives us his statistics in preperation for his run for the senate.
posted by skippy at
4:06 PM |
0
comments
the chimpster loves the kos!
we're very gratified to see steve gilliard's fine writings from the daily kos posted on the smirking chimp...thus reaffirming our beliefs that steve is a brilliant analyst and fine writer.
also of note found on the chimp today: us media caved into the bush agenda by eric margolis of the toronto sun;
an alarm bell is going off in america by madison (apparently not the city in wisconsin);
iraq might be bush's watergate by tom brazaitis in the cleveland plain dealer(we can hope!)
we love the chimpster! (just don't give us the monkey pox!)
we're very gratified to see steve gilliard's fine writings from the daily kos posted on the smirking chimp...thus reaffirming our beliefs that steve is a brilliant analyst and fine writer.
also of note found on the chimp today: us media caved into the bush agenda by eric margolis of the toronto sun;
an alarm bell is going off in america by madison (apparently not the city in wisconsin);
iraq might be bush's watergate by tom brazaitis in the cleveland plain dealer(we can hope!)
we love the chimpster! (just don't give us the monkey pox!)
posted by skippy at
3:57 PM |
0
comments
Saturday, June 14, 2003
the rhyme made it to the mainstream press
jimmy breslin, no-nonsense columnist, has had it with awol. in his newsday column, truth is the strongest weapon in war, he actually points out that bush lied, people died:
it leaps out that the reason given to americans for going into iraq -- to stop them from blowing us up with nuclear weapons -- was an outright lie. it was told to america by president george w. bush. and people died because of it. [ed. note: emphasis, and bolding, ours. irate anger, breslin's].
repeat it, over and over. bush lied, people died. bush lied, people died...
jimmy breslin, no-nonsense columnist, has had it with awol. in his newsday column, truth is the strongest weapon in war, he actually points out that bush lied, people died:
it leaps out that the reason given to americans for going into iraq -- to stop them from blowing us up with nuclear weapons -- was an outright lie. it was told to america by president george w. bush. and people died because of it. [ed. note: emphasis, and bolding, ours. irate anger, breslin's].
repeat it, over and over. bush lied, people died. bush lied, people died...
posted by skippy at
10:55 PM |
0
comments
how to piss off a country
so how's operation peninsula strike going? it's a rousing success, at least as successful as the war itself.
but it doesn't seem to be endearing us to the iraqi people for some strange reason. msnbc says iraqis irate as us forces roam hostile countryside.
iraqis around balad say their homes have been ransacked and their property damaged by u.s. troops during the raids, which began on monday. many say they were assaulted, or handcuffed and detained for hours for no reason.
''the united states sent the iraqi army home without compensation. they set up checkpoints and prevented farmers from going to work,'' said taleb, a farmer, as he watched a truck full of u.s. soldiers pass in front of his home.
reuters agrees: iraqi anger brews over rough u.s. treatment.
with tears rolling down his cheeks, the octogenarian told reuters if u.s. forces continued to treat iraqis that way they would turn violently against the occupying troops. [khalaf] shabib, one of the wealthiest businessmen in iraq, says he feels humiliated. "i am sad and pained...because i was humiliated by the americans. they treated me like an animal," he said.
"we are not their enemies but they are turning us into enemies. my eyes fill with tears when i remember how they treated me...now i would be lying if i said i don't want the occupiers out."
gee, just 'cause we're occupying their country? you'd think they'd be grateful!
so how's operation peninsula strike going? it's a rousing success, at least as successful as the war itself.
but it doesn't seem to be endearing us to the iraqi people for some strange reason. msnbc says iraqis irate as us forces roam hostile countryside.
iraqis around balad say their homes have been ransacked and their property damaged by u.s. troops during the raids, which began on monday. many say they were assaulted, or handcuffed and detained for hours for no reason.
''the united states sent the iraqi army home without compensation. they set up checkpoints and prevented farmers from going to work,'' said taleb, a farmer, as he watched a truck full of u.s. soldiers pass in front of his home.
reuters agrees: iraqi anger brews over rough u.s. treatment.
with tears rolling down his cheeks, the octogenarian told reuters if u.s. forces continued to treat iraqis that way they would turn violently against the occupying troops. [khalaf] shabib, one of the wealthiest businessmen in iraq, says he feels humiliated. "i am sad and pained...because i was humiliated by the americans. they treated me like an animal," he said.
"we are not their enemies but they are turning us into enemies. my eyes fill with tears when i remember how they treated me...now i would be lying if i said i don't want the occupiers out."
gee, just 'cause we're occupying their country? you'd think they'd be grateful!
posted by skippy at
10:48 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving, part 66
the washpost puts the figure of u.s. troops who have died since the big statue fell at 66..."nearly half as many as died up until then."
as their comrades and families can painfully attest, the war in iraq didn't end that day -- nor was it over when the president appeared on an aircraft carrier may 1 to celebrate under the slogan "mission accomplished." the war was still raging last week, as thousands of u.s. troops conducted sweeps in central iraq aimed at rooting out a scattered and loosely organized but nonetheless lethal enemy. american soldiers continue to fight and to sacrifice their lives, even if the embedded journalists have gone home and the president himself has turned his attention elsewhere. it looks as though they may have to keep at it for a long time to come.
and the washpost is not above irony:
the last time he spoke about iraq, in qatar on june 5, president bush again described the war in the past tense; the only indication he gave of being aware that any fighting was still going on was his passing reference to "pockets of criminality." that was the day pfc. oberleitner died.
the washpost puts the figure of u.s. troops who have died since the big statue fell at 66..."nearly half as many as died up until then."
as their comrades and families can painfully attest, the war in iraq didn't end that day -- nor was it over when the president appeared on an aircraft carrier may 1 to celebrate under the slogan "mission accomplished." the war was still raging last week, as thousands of u.s. troops conducted sweeps in central iraq aimed at rooting out a scattered and loosely organized but nonetheless lethal enemy. american soldiers continue to fight and to sacrifice their lives, even if the embedded journalists have gone home and the president himself has turned his attention elsewhere. it looks as though they may have to keep at it for a long time to come.
and the washpost is not above irony:
the last time he spoke about iraq, in qatar on june 5, president bush again described the war in the past tense; the only indication he gave of being aware that any fighting was still going on was his passing reference to "pockets of criminality." that was the day pfc. oberleitner died.
posted by skippy at
10:41 PM |
0
comments
the fog of oil fires
how's that oil pipeline fire in northern iraq going?
the fire was caused by a gas leak. i heard no reports on sabotage," said a spokesman for the u.s. corps of engineers and iraqi engineers, reports reuters.
oh really? that spokesman apparently hasn't talked with the turkish foreign minister, reports reuters.
turkish foreign minister abdullah gul said on friday sabotage had caused a fire in the iraqi section of a pipeline carrying oil to turkey..."unfortunately there was sabotage there. right now there is an investigation and evaluation but we haven't yet had a report on the size and dimensions of the business. it will become clear this evening," gul told reporters in ankara
don't those guys at reuters compare stories before they file them?
how's that oil pipeline fire in northern iraq going?
the fire was caused by a gas leak. i heard no reports on sabotage," said a spokesman for the u.s. corps of engineers and iraqi engineers, reports reuters.
oh really? that spokesman apparently hasn't talked with the turkish foreign minister, reports reuters.
turkish foreign minister abdullah gul said on friday sabotage had caused a fire in the iraqi section of a pipeline carrying oil to turkey..."unfortunately there was sabotage there. right now there is an investigation and evaluation but we haven't yet had a report on the size and dimensions of the business. it will become clear this evening," gul told reporters in ankara
don't those guys at reuters compare stories before they file them?
posted by skippy at
10:32 PM |
0
comments
happy fathers' day from the bush economic team
prices fell for a second month in a row, sparking widespread fears in deflation, says yahoo.
the labor department reported friday that its producer price index, which measures prices before they reach consumers, fell 0.3 percent in may from april. that decline followed a record 1.9 percent plunge in wholesale prices registered from march to april...
"there are many flavors of deflation," said mark zandi, chief economist at economy.com. "a mild case can hurt businesses but usually isn't a problem for consumers. but in a severe case, ... everyone is going to get nailed."
also falling last month: a closely watched michigan consumer index, which most analysts expected to rise, says cnnmoney.
the university of michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 87.2 from 92.1 in may, according to market sources quoted by reuters. economists, on average, expected a reading of 93.4, according to reuters.
well, if you think it's bad here, you can always move to canada, where the economy is booming. oh, wait...forbes.com says:
canadian finance minister john manley said on saturday that a slowdown in u.s. growth was a bigger threat to the country's economy than the strengthening of the canadian dollar.
"i think our big challenge at the moment that we face is the continuing slow growth in the u.s. economy," manley told reporters a day after the canadian dollar briefly traded above 75 u.s. cents for the first time in seven years.
oh well. happy fathers day!
prices fell for a second month in a row, sparking widespread fears in deflation, says yahoo.
the labor department reported friday that its producer price index, which measures prices before they reach consumers, fell 0.3 percent in may from april. that decline followed a record 1.9 percent plunge in wholesale prices registered from march to april...
"there are many flavors of deflation," said mark zandi, chief economist at economy.com. "a mild case can hurt businesses but usually isn't a problem for consumers. but in a severe case, ... everyone is going to get nailed."
also falling last month: a closely watched michigan consumer index, which most analysts expected to rise, says cnnmoney.
the university of michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 87.2 from 92.1 in may, according to market sources quoted by reuters. economists, on average, expected a reading of 93.4, according to reuters.
well, if you think it's bad here, you can always move to canada, where the economy is booming. oh, wait...forbes.com says:
canadian finance minister john manley said on saturday that a slowdown in u.s. growth was a bigger threat to the country's economy than the strengthening of the canadian dollar.
"i think our big challenge at the moment that we face is the continuing slow growth in the u.s. economy," manley told reporters a day after the canadian dollar briefly traded above 75 u.s. cents for the first time in seven years.
oh well. happy fathers day!
posted by skippy at
10:26 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
7:57 PM |
0
comments
if this is peace, who needs war?
the boston globe reports over 200 iraqi's demonstrated in baghdad yesterday, protesting us soldiers entering a mosque, where they allegedly "mistreated worshippers and took money."
meanwhile, penteledata reports that the coalition forces will not protect foreign diplomats in their own embassies in iraq.
meanwhile, it's not clear how many iraqi's killed in operation peninsula strike were guerillas, and how many were just farmers, the uk independent says.
(thanks to antiwar.com for the links!)
the boston globe reports over 200 iraqi's demonstrated in baghdad yesterday, protesting us soldiers entering a mosque, where they allegedly "mistreated worshippers and took money."
meanwhile, penteledata reports that the coalition forces will not protect foreign diplomats in their own embassies in iraq.
meanwhile, it's not clear how many iraqi's killed in operation peninsula strike were guerillas, and how many were just farmers, the uk independent says.
(thanks to antiwar.com for the links!)
posted by skippy at
7:56 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
lia over at cheesedip met mark linn baker, one of the funniest actors around.
dave johnson has added an annoying pop-up add to seeing the forest...but this one is soliciting money for howard dean...not the most annoying thing to advertise, in our opinion. (also thanks to dave, we found the george w. bush scorecard of evil).
hammerdown is the only blog with a creditialed reporter as a member of the bikini bottom press corps.
missed bill moyer's speech at the take back america conference? don't worry, skimble has a transcript for you!
jerome at mydd suspects (and probably correctly) that the press corps is simply recycling pr from the opposition's camp...in this case, kerry vs. dean.
lia over at cheesedip met mark linn baker, one of the funniest actors around.
dave johnson has added an annoying pop-up add to seeing the forest...but this one is soliciting money for howard dean...not the most annoying thing to advertise, in our opinion. (also thanks to dave, we found the george w. bush scorecard of evil).
hammerdown is the only blog with a creditialed reporter as a member of the bikini bottom press corps.
missed bill moyer's speech at the take back america conference? don't worry, skimble has a transcript for you!
jerome at mydd suspects (and probably correctly) that the press corps is simply recycling pr from the opposition's camp...in this case, kerry vs. dean.
posted by skippy at
7:48 PM |
0
comments
we memes what we sez and we sez what we memes
a few months ago altercation started a little contest...something about the best nickname for bush.
well, we sent in our standard monikker for the leader of the free world..."awol"...but had to admit it was a pun for the written word, and not for the spoken. we don't think we won, or even placed, in that contest.
but, upon reading atrios's fine blog, we noticed that all the writers working there, starting with lambert, had picked up "awol" as the way to refer to bush (as of tuesday, june 10...appropriately, skippy's birthday!) they however, eschew bolding and italics in favor of capitalization of the "w" in "awol," something not allowed on our style sheet.
we are happy to see our memes spread forth. and this is our advice to you all: memes are like monkey pox. if you keep touching those little prairie dogs of ideas, sooner or later, someone will pick it up. this is how it works in blogtopia (y!wctp!).
a few months ago altercation started a little contest...something about the best nickname for bush.
well, we sent in our standard monikker for the leader of the free world..."awol"...but had to admit it was a pun for the written word, and not for the spoken. we don't think we won, or even placed, in that contest.
but, upon reading atrios's fine blog, we noticed that all the writers working there, starting with lambert, had picked up "awol" as the way to refer to bush (as of tuesday, june 10...appropriately, skippy's birthday!) they however, eschew bolding and italics in favor of capitalization of the "w" in "awol," something not allowed on our style sheet.
we are happy to see our memes spread forth. and this is our advice to you all: memes are like monkey pox. if you keep touching those little prairie dogs of ideas, sooner or later, someone will pick it up. this is how it works in blogtopia (y!wctp!).
posted by skippy at
6:53 PM |
0
comments
kos they're the best
far too many good posts over at the kos today to single out any one piece of writing. steve gilliard is kicking some major analytical butt by finding the stories that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the uselessness and idiocy of our current agenda in iraq. for instance, this piece from the nytimes:
it was not supposed to end this way for the brigade's 5,000 soldiers, who were accompanied by a reporter during the war and again this month in baghdad. after fighting their way from the kuwaiti border to saddam international airport in three fierce weeks, they believed that the war — or at least their part of it — was over.
six months after arriving in kuwait and almost three months after entering iraq, they were ready to go home. then they discovered that, at least from a soldier's-eye view on the ground, there seemed to be no american plan for a postwar iraq...
"you call donald rumsfeld and tell him our sorry asses are ready to go home," pfc. matthew c. o'dell, an infantryman in sergeant betancourt's platoon, said as he stood guard on tuesday. "tell him to come spend a night in our building."
steve has also written a bang-on piece about "mckiernan's dilemna," which contains some of the best analytical writing we've seen, either in dead trees or blogtopia (y!wctp!).
go read.
far too many good posts over at the kos today to single out any one piece of writing. steve gilliard is kicking some major analytical butt by finding the stories that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the uselessness and idiocy of our current agenda in iraq. for instance, this piece from the nytimes:
it was not supposed to end this way for the brigade's 5,000 soldiers, who were accompanied by a reporter during the war and again this month in baghdad. after fighting their way from the kuwaiti border to saddam international airport in three fierce weeks, they believed that the war — or at least their part of it — was over.
six months after arriving in kuwait and almost three months after entering iraq, they were ready to go home. then they discovered that, at least from a soldier's-eye view on the ground, there seemed to be no american plan for a postwar iraq...
"you call donald rumsfeld and tell him our sorry asses are ready to go home," pfc. matthew c. o'dell, an infantryman in sergeant betancourt's platoon, said as he stood guard on tuesday. "tell him to come spend a night in our building."
steve has also written a bang-on piece about "mckiernan's dilemna," which contains some of the best analytical writing we've seen, either in dead trees or blogtopia (y!wctp!).
go read.
posted by skippy at
6:27 PM |
0
comments
wmd are awol
it's starting to rear its ugly head in the mainstream media.
what? monkey pox?
no. full-scale doubts about bush's veracity when it came to the reasons to attack iraq.
cbsnews: americans more skeptical on wmd
more than four in ten americans say the bush administration overestimated the number of weapons of mass destruction in iraq, but despite recent scrutiny of the administration's pre-war claims about those weapons, most americans express confidence that the u.s. will eventually uncover those weapons, according to a new cbs news poll…
finding those weapons does matter to most americans. so does finding saddam hussein. fifty-eight percent say it matters whether the u.s. finds weapons, and even more - nearly two-thirds - say it matters whether the u.s. is able to find saddam hussein.
the nytimes: the boys who cried wolfowitz:
what the bush administration did was gild the lily — disseminating information that ranged from selective to preposterous. the president himself gave credence to the claim that iraq was trying to buy uranium in africa, a story...based on transparently fraudulent information. colin powell...insisted that those famous aluminum tubes iraq bought were intended for bomb-making, although the technical experts at the department of energy had made an awfully strong case that the tubes were for conventional rocket launchers. and as james risen disclosed in the times this week, two top qaeda planners in custody told american interrogators — one of them well before the war was set in motion — that osama bin laden had rejected the idea of working with saddam. that inconclusive but potent evidence was kept quiet in the administration's zeal to establish a meaningful iraqi connection to the fanatical war on america.
the queens chronicle: where are the weapons (and saddam?)
the president still insists the weapons are there, but more questions are being asked as to why our nation’s leader and its first line of defense disagree, much to the consternation of those being called into question. they say weapons of mass destruction will be found eventually. but that will not appease the families of soldiers who died, nor a public deserving the truth.
the oregonian: the ides -- and weapons -- of march:
but march, if you remember, was all about urgency. that was why we couldn't wait around for the united nations, not another month, not another couple of weeks. fundamentally, that's why we're now virtually alone in iraq, with tens and tens of thousands of u.s. soldiers trying to maintain order and defend themselves. it's why the rest of the world is not only not with us in baghdad, but also deeply dubious about what we're doing next -- and why.
and although truthout is not considered mainstream media, we definitely love william rivers pitt's title for his op/ed piece: the dog ate my wmd's.
it's starting to rear its ugly head in the mainstream media.
what? monkey pox?
no. full-scale doubts about bush's veracity when it came to the reasons to attack iraq.
cbsnews: americans more skeptical on wmd
more than four in ten americans say the bush administration overestimated the number of weapons of mass destruction in iraq, but despite recent scrutiny of the administration's pre-war claims about those weapons, most americans express confidence that the u.s. will eventually uncover those weapons, according to a new cbs news poll…
finding those weapons does matter to most americans. so does finding saddam hussein. fifty-eight percent say it matters whether the u.s. finds weapons, and even more - nearly two-thirds - say it matters whether the u.s. is able to find saddam hussein.
the nytimes: the boys who cried wolfowitz:
what the bush administration did was gild the lily — disseminating information that ranged from selective to preposterous. the president himself gave credence to the claim that iraq was trying to buy uranium in africa, a story...based on transparently fraudulent information. colin powell...insisted that those famous aluminum tubes iraq bought were intended for bomb-making, although the technical experts at the department of energy had made an awfully strong case that the tubes were for conventional rocket launchers. and as james risen disclosed in the times this week, two top qaeda planners in custody told american interrogators — one of them well before the war was set in motion — that osama bin laden had rejected the idea of working with saddam. that inconclusive but potent evidence was kept quiet in the administration's zeal to establish a meaningful iraqi connection to the fanatical war on america.
the queens chronicle: where are the weapons (and saddam?)
the president still insists the weapons are there, but more questions are being asked as to why our nation’s leader and its first line of defense disagree, much to the consternation of those being called into question. they say weapons of mass destruction will be found eventually. but that will not appease the families of soldiers who died, nor a public deserving the truth.
the oregonian: the ides -- and weapons -- of march:
but march, if you remember, was all about urgency. that was why we couldn't wait around for the united nations, not another month, not another couple of weeks. fundamentally, that's why we're now virtually alone in iraq, with tens and tens of thousands of u.s. soldiers trying to maintain order and defend themselves. it's why the rest of the world is not only not with us in baghdad, but also deeply dubious about what we're doing next -- and why.
and although truthout is not considered mainstream media, we definitely love william rivers pitt's title for his op/ed piece: the dog ate my wmd's.
posted by skippy at
5:58 PM |
0
comments
Friday, June 13, 2003
dumb and dumberer
which man is stupider?
the guy that called 911 and reported his own plans to assassinate the leader of the free world?
or the leader of the free world?
which man is stupider?
the guy that called 911 and reported his own plans to assassinate the leader of the free world?
or the leader of the free world?
posted by skippy at
10:27 PM |
0
comments
we loves da ladies!
we can't disagree with jim capazzola's list of great female bloggers over at the rittenhouse review.
although we'd add gail davis, and sasha of sasha undercover, and trish wilson, natasha and mary at the watch, jg at mac-a-ro-nies, cyndy at mousemusings, ellen at amcgltd.com, and the lovely jenny at little red cookbook.
we can't disagree with jim capazzola's list of great female bloggers over at the rittenhouse review.
although we'd add gail davis, and sasha of sasha undercover, and trish wilson, natasha and mary at the watch, jg at mac-a-ro-nies, cyndy at mousemusings, ellen at amcgltd.com, and the lovely jenny at little red cookbook.
posted by skippy at
10:26 PM |
0
comments
we hope we don't get monkey pox from the smirking chimp
because the chimpster is always a great source for stories from around the country. three today are particularly of note:
first, the mainstream media joins blogtopia (y!wctp!) in questioning awol's manipulations of the facts about wmd's, as the carolina morning news presents john david rose's piece: fabric of lies unraveling.
then, for you conspiracy buffs (and we were always suspicious that paul wellstone's death was so convenient for the gop): the boston weekly dig has david wildman's pass the tin foil hat.
a bit more centered in reality (or at least plausibility) is alternet's presentation of william o. breeman's piece, barbershop wisdom says bush is in trouble.
just don't get the monkey pox, chimpster!
because the chimpster is always a great source for stories from around the country. three today are particularly of note:
first, the mainstream media joins blogtopia (y!wctp!) in questioning awol's manipulations of the facts about wmd's, as the carolina morning news presents john david rose's piece: fabric of lies unraveling.
then, for you conspiracy buffs (and we were always suspicious that paul wellstone's death was so convenient for the gop): the boston weekly dig has david wildman's pass the tin foil hat.
a bit more centered in reality (or at least plausibility) is alternet's presentation of william o. breeman's piece, barbershop wisdom says bush is in trouble.
just don't get the monkey pox, chimpster!
posted by skippy at
10:05 PM |
0
comments
we tend to believe the army when it comes to war
how do we know the war in iraq isn't over? we read it in the army times:
when president bush declared on may 1 that major combat operations had ended in iraq, there was little discussion of what he meant. for all practical purposes, it seemed the war was over.
it is not.
since the president made his statement to waves of applause from sailors aboard the carrier abraham lincoln, 45 american servicemen have died in iraq. commanders say there is much more fighting ahead.
the total number of american deaths in iraq since the war began march 19 is 183, according to the pentagon’s count. the number stood at 138 on may 1; two weeks ago it was at 171.
although large parts of iraq are relatively peaceful and u.s. military control overall is not in doubt, an amalgam of shadowy resistance forces, including unknown numbers of non-iraqi fighters, are carrying out almost daily hit-and-run attacks against the american occupation forces.
we'll believe it's over when we read about it in the army times, an excellent source for military news.
how do we know the war in iraq isn't over? we read it in the army times:
when president bush declared on may 1 that major combat operations had ended in iraq, there was little discussion of what he meant. for all practical purposes, it seemed the war was over.
it is not.
since the president made his statement to waves of applause from sailors aboard the carrier abraham lincoln, 45 american servicemen have died in iraq. commanders say there is much more fighting ahead.
the total number of american deaths in iraq since the war began march 19 is 183, according to the pentagon’s count. the number stood at 138 on may 1; two weeks ago it was at 171.
although large parts of iraq are relatively peaceful and u.s. military control overall is not in doubt, an amalgam of shadowy resistance forces, including unknown numbers of non-iraqi fighters, are carrying out almost daily hit-and-run attacks against the american occupation forces.
we'll believe it's over when we read about it in the army times, an excellent source for military news.
posted by skippy at
6:47 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving - part 250
no, we're not reporting new american casualties, thank god. and we assume you've heard elsewhere about operation peninsula strike, which has claimed over 100 iraqi lives (presumably bad iraqi's, because we've already killed a huge number of innocent civilians).
rather, we are talking about an iraqi oil pipeline in the north, which is currently on fire, after a series of explosions, as reported by bloomberg.com.
an oil pipeline in northern iraq is on fire after two bombs exploded 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the refinery town of baiji, agence france-presse reported, citing its correspondent and local residents.
the pipeline, which carries oil north to turkey, was on fire in two places, the news agency said, citing its reporter. the pipeline is close the main highway linking baghdad and mosul, the northern regional capital.
good thing we won!
no, we're not reporting new american casualties, thank god. and we assume you've heard elsewhere about operation peninsula strike, which has claimed over 100 iraqi lives (presumably bad iraqi's, because we've already killed a huge number of innocent civilians).
rather, we are talking about an iraqi oil pipeline in the north, which is currently on fire, after a series of explosions, as reported by bloomberg.com.
an oil pipeline in northern iraq is on fire after two bombs exploded 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the refinery town of baiji, agence france-presse reported, citing its correspondent and local residents.
the pipeline, which carries oil north to turkey, was on fire in two places, the news agency said, citing its reporter. the pipeline is close the main highway linking baghdad and mosul, the northern regional capital.
good thing we won!
posted by skippy at
6:42 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
6:12 PM |
0
comments
happy blogiversary!
to our good friend, jeralyn merritt, of talkleft, one of the more erudite and rational blogs in blogtopia (y!wctp!)
sunday marks one year of blogging by ms. merritt, who somehow manages to also be one of the premiere defense attorneys in the country, while keeping us all up to date on legal injustices, great and small (plus, if you look at her picture you'll agree, she's a babe!)
we are personally indebted to her, not only for her references and early support of our blog, but her contribution of our site to altercation's blogroll, which was our first big referral. and her many supportive emails to skippy have kept us going with our daily blog routine (we aren't counting the paypal rant fiasco).
happy one year, talkleft! and many more to follow!
to our good friend, jeralyn merritt, of talkleft, one of the more erudite and rational blogs in blogtopia (y!wctp!)
sunday marks one year of blogging by ms. merritt, who somehow manages to also be one of the premiere defense attorneys in the country, while keeping us all up to date on legal injustices, great and small (plus, if you look at her picture you'll agree, she's a babe!)
we are personally indebted to her, not only for her references and early support of our blog, but her contribution of our site to altercation's blogroll, which was our first big referral. and her many supportive emails to skippy have kept us going with our daily blog routine (we aren't counting the paypal rant fiasco).
happy one year, talkleft! and many more to follow!
posted by skippy at
6:10 PM |
0
comments
these are the real grass roots (no astroturf here)
the folks at moveon.org are starting a "presidential grassroots interview process." they hope to get questions for the various democratic presidential candidates from you, the citizens, and submit them accordingly. but of course, for this to work, you, the citizens, have to ask some questions. go to this page and submit some questions.
the daily kos also talks about this process.
the folks at moveon.org are starting a "presidential grassroots interview process." they hope to get questions for the various democratic presidential candidates from you, the citizens, and submit them accordingly. but of course, for this to work, you, the citizens, have to ask some questions. go to this page and submit some questions.
the daily kos also talks about this process.
posted by skippy at
5:48 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
janet, at beyond corporate, postulates that while things look like they may be slowly turning around in the economy, most employed people she talks to complain of being terribly overworked (could that be because their co-workers have been fired and they got that extra work load dumped on them for no extra pay? hmmmm?)
over at skimble, a reader points out possible nepotism between jebbie as gov of fla, and brother neil who is neck-deep into the software company that developed programs to help students prepare for the florida comprehensive assessement test that jebbie is pushing so hard. hmmmmmm.
cursor.org pounds away at the secrecy still surrounding 9/11, including widow kristen breitweiser (of the jersey girls) and her demands to know why awol sat reading to school kids for 25 minutes after being informed the country was after attack.
independent online reports that saddam hussein is in israel...in the form of a new baby whose parents resorted to legal action to name him after the missing leader of iraq.
antiwar.com keeps us up to date on the 100 'saddam loyalists' killed in 'operation peninsula strike' currently underway in iraq, as well as a purported letter from saddam promising new attacks.
over at unknown news, they are reporting about the former police officer who began an anti-drug program in mcminville, tennessee, and has been busted for making methamphetamine. twice.
janet, at beyond corporate, postulates that while things look like they may be slowly turning around in the economy, most employed people she talks to complain of being terribly overworked (could that be because their co-workers have been fired and they got that extra work load dumped on them for no extra pay? hmmmm?)
over at skimble, a reader points out possible nepotism between jebbie as gov of fla, and brother neil who is neck-deep into the software company that developed programs to help students prepare for the florida comprehensive assessement test that jebbie is pushing so hard. hmmmmmm.
cursor.org pounds away at the secrecy still surrounding 9/11, including widow kristen breitweiser (of the jersey girls) and her demands to know why awol sat reading to school kids for 25 minutes after being informed the country was after attack.
independent online reports that saddam hussein is in israel...in the form of a new baby whose parents resorted to legal action to name him after the missing leader of iraq.
antiwar.com keeps us up to date on the 100 'saddam loyalists' killed in 'operation peninsula strike' currently underway in iraq, as well as a purported letter from saddam promising new attacks.
over at unknown news, they are reporting about the former police officer who began an anti-drug program in mcminville, tennessee, and has been busted for making methamphetamine. twice.
posted by skippy at
5:33 PM |
0
comments
jenna and barbara, your daddy would sure like some wmd's for father's day
ok, we stole that line from jay leno (who also said, "sure bush is convinced there's wmd's in iraq. he's also convinced he won the 2000 election!"), but it made a great segue to this bit from working for change.
they're calling for an investigation into awol's intelligence (is that an oxymoron?) concerning the wmd's in iraq. they have provided a pre-written letter to sens. daschle and frist, urging them to "convene a select senate committee immediately, with sufficient funding and investigative power, to learn the truth about what the bush administration really knew about weapons of mass destruction in iraq."
skippy suggestion: they provide you with the pre-written letter, but allow you to edit it for your own words. we strongly suggest re-wording it, at least the first couple of paragraphs, to make it look less like astro-turf, and besides, we're the side of politics that believe in individuality, no matter what the libertarians tell you. it means more if it comes from your heart, and not working for change's heart (tho they have a good heart, to be sure!)
ok, we stole that line from jay leno (who also said, "sure bush is convinced there's wmd's in iraq. he's also convinced he won the 2000 election!"), but it made a great segue to this bit from working for change.
they're calling for an investigation into awol's intelligence (is that an oxymoron?) concerning the wmd's in iraq. they have provided a pre-written letter to sens. daschle and frist, urging them to "convene a select senate committee immediately, with sufficient funding and investigative power, to learn the truth about what the bush administration really knew about weapons of mass destruction in iraq."
skippy suggestion: they provide you with the pre-written letter, but allow you to edit it for your own words. we strongly suggest re-wording it, at least the first couple of paragraphs, to make it look less like astro-turf, and besides, we're the side of politics that believe in individuality, no matter what the libertarians tell you. it means more if it comes from your heart, and not working for change's heart (tho they have a good heart, to be sure!)
posted by skippy at
5:29 PM |
0
comments
mikey doesn't like it! hey mikey!
we got an email from common cause about the upcoming senate vote for legislation reversing the recent fcc consolidation:
june 19 is the next big day in the fight, as legislation reversing several fcc rules will come before the senate commerce committee.
the legislation up for a vote in committee is s.1046, and it would overturn some of the most egregious parts of the fcc rule change. this bipartisan bill would keep a single company from owning broadcast outlets that reach more than 35% of american households (as opposed to 45% post-rule-change). a crucial amendment sponsored by senators dorgan and snowe would keep newspapers and tv stations from merging.
two minutes of your time will make the difference: please take action now.
22 states are represented on the commerce committee. if you live in one of the states listed below, please click this link and enter your zip code
alaska, arizona, california, florida, hawaii, illinois, kansas, louisiana, maine, massachusetts, mississippi, montana, nevada, new hampshire, new jersey, north dakota, oregon, south carolina, texas, virginia, washington, or west virginia
if you don’t live in one of the commerce committee states, please click this link to contact your senators
let's do it, kids!
we got an email from common cause about the upcoming senate vote for legislation reversing the recent fcc consolidation:
june 19 is the next big day in the fight, as legislation reversing several fcc rules will come before the senate commerce committee.
the legislation up for a vote in committee is s.1046, and it would overturn some of the most egregious parts of the fcc rule change. this bipartisan bill would keep a single company from owning broadcast outlets that reach more than 35% of american households (as opposed to 45% post-rule-change). a crucial amendment sponsored by senators dorgan and snowe would keep newspapers and tv stations from merging.
two minutes of your time will make the difference: please take action now.
22 states are represented on the commerce committee. if you live in one of the states listed below, please click this link and enter your zip code
alaska, arizona, california, florida, hawaii, illinois, kansas, louisiana, maine, massachusetts, mississippi, montana, nevada, new hampshire, new jersey, north dakota, oregon, south carolina, texas, virginia, washington, or west virginia
if you don’t live in one of the commerce committee states, please click this link to contact your senators
let's do it, kids!
posted by skippy at
5:19 PM |
0
comments
Thursday, June 12, 2003
posted by skippy at
6:32 PM |
0
comments
say hello
to the unknown news. (we like their comment about people logging suspicious behavior about their neighbors in diaries to be sent to the police: yes, it's a fairly novel approach, but the novel is "1984"!)
to the unknown news. (we like their comment about people logging suspicious behavior about their neighbors in diaries to be sent to the police: yes, it's a fairly novel approach, but the novel is "1984"!)
posted by skippy at
2:32 PM |
0
comments
bush's numbers are dropping faster than joe scarborough's ratings
newest poll numbers in for awol don't look good. the latest three polls have his job approval ratings sliding out of the 60's into the 50's (don't worry, fox still has his numbers slightly higher than god).
we can always rely on professor pollkatz to graphically depict how things are looking for awol.
newest poll numbers in for awol don't look good. the latest three polls have his job approval ratings sliding out of the 60's into the 50's (don't worry, fox still has his numbers slightly higher than god).
we can always rely on professor pollkatz to graphically depict how things are looking for awol.
posted by skippy at
2:28 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
jenny of little red cookbook is back from vacation and in fightin' mode, blogging about the enivornmental groups who are targeting dixie chicks' nemesis toby keith for his ties to ford motor company. (we like jenny's title of her piece).
the kos is expecting a phone call from terry mcauliffe to thank him for the idea of epatriots...and kos wants to know, what should he say to terry? now, keep it clean, and constructive, kids!
(personally, we'd ask him why he didn't get more workers on the ground door-to-door in the mcbride campaign in florida...he could have won if he had any actual physical support from the naitonal party...the electorate was just itchin' to dump jebby, but needed people to light some fires under them, and the black voters needed to be assured that their vote would count this time. but that would have taken actual work, terry! too bad!)
jenny of little red cookbook is back from vacation and in fightin' mode, blogging about the enivornmental groups who are targeting dixie chicks' nemesis toby keith for his ties to ford motor company. (we like jenny's title of her piece).
the kos is expecting a phone call from terry mcauliffe to thank him for the idea of epatriots...and kos wants to know, what should he say to terry? now, keep it clean, and constructive, kids!
(personally, we'd ask him why he didn't get more workers on the ground door-to-door in the mcbride campaign in florida...he could have won if he had any actual physical support from the naitonal party...the electorate was just itchin' to dump jebby, but needed people to light some fires under them, and the black voters needed to be assured that their vote would count this time. but that would have taken actual work, terry! too bad!)
posted by skippy at
2:12 PM |
0
comments
r.i.p. atticus finch
one of the greatest american actors of all time (and the arguement could be made, the greatest american actor) gregory peck, is dead at age 87.
he was a ground-breaker with his movie "gentlemen's agreement," a look at anti-semitism in this country. he was an academy award winner with "to kill a mockingbird," (whose hero, which he portrayed, has just been named the top movie hero of all time by the american film institute). a man whose acting work was as big as the silver screen itself, his range of portrayals ran from douglas macarthur to abraham lincoln to f. scott fitzgerald to joseph mengele.
he was reported to be as kind and dignified off screen as his presence onscreen. he worked tirelessly for the national cancer society and the national endowment for the arts, among others.
mr. peck was a giant among men, and will truly be missed by all here at skippy international headquarters.
also in the ground: archer daniels midland spokesperson david brinkely.
one of the greatest american actors of all time (and the arguement could be made, the greatest american actor) gregory peck, is dead at age 87.
he was a ground-breaker with his movie "gentlemen's agreement," a look at anti-semitism in this country. he was an academy award winner with "to kill a mockingbird," (whose hero, which he portrayed, has just been named the top movie hero of all time by the american film institute). a man whose acting work was as big as the silver screen itself, his range of portrayals ran from douglas macarthur to abraham lincoln to f. scott fitzgerald to joseph mengele.
he was reported to be as kind and dignified off screen as his presence onscreen. he worked tirelessly for the national cancer society and the national endowment for the arts, among others.
mr. peck was a giant among men, and will truly be missed by all here at skippy international headquarters.
also in the ground: archer daniels midland spokesperson david brinkely.
posted by skippy at
1:59 PM |
0
comments
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
the people have spoken
at least one person in fresno has, anyway. citizen jim mckinney, writing to the editor of the coshocton tribune, suggests we impeach george w. bush.
bush's greatest fear? democracy itself! bush can run, but he cannot hide from his pathetic record.
bush's tenure is in office, which he cannot unspin, proves that he is an obstructer of justice, hence no 9-11 investigation! his economy that has lost two million jobs and raised to an all time record debt level, because of one tax cut is bound to benefit from another tax cut? 2+2=what george? also, with wealth disparity at record levels w's economy qualifies him for "pimp of plutocracy."
bush has proven to be an imperialist via iraq. his reasons for conquering iraq changed so often that it would make a chameloon "red" with envy!
environmentally speaking, "w" = 0 at best! supreme pacifist for the war on pollution!
mr. mckinney's mixing of metaphors is more than made up for by his passion. we salute you, citizen mckinney!
at least one person in fresno has, anyway. citizen jim mckinney, writing to the editor of the coshocton tribune, suggests we impeach george w. bush.
bush's greatest fear? democracy itself! bush can run, but he cannot hide from his pathetic record.
bush's tenure is in office, which he cannot unspin, proves that he is an obstructer of justice, hence no 9-11 investigation! his economy that has lost two million jobs and raised to an all time record debt level, because of one tax cut is bound to benefit from another tax cut? 2+2=what george? also, with wealth disparity at record levels w's economy qualifies him for "pimp of plutocracy."
bush has proven to be an imperialist via iraq. his reasons for conquering iraq changed so often that it would make a chameloon "red" with envy!
environmentally speaking, "w" = 0 at best! supreme pacifist for the war on pollution!
mr. mckinney's mixing of metaphors is more than made up for by his passion. we salute you, citizen mckinney!
posted by skippy at
5:47 PM |
0
comments
blix nixed dick's tricks
chief un weapons inspector hans blix is blasting out against the administration, calling them "bastards," among other things, for a smear campaign against him, reports mbnbc.
[the uk guardian] quoted blix as saying he believed ''some elements'' of the pentagon engaged in a smear campaign against him. He also said Iraqis spread rumors about him being homosexual and ''going to Washington to pick up my instructions every two weeks.''
''i have my detractors in washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media. not that i cared very much,'' the guardian quoted blix as saying.
''it was like a mosquito bite in the evening that is there in the morning as an irritant,'' he added.
he's lucky he didn't have sex with an intern.
chief un weapons inspector hans blix is blasting out against the administration, calling them "bastards," among other things, for a smear campaign against him, reports mbnbc.
[the uk guardian] quoted blix as saying he believed ''some elements'' of the pentagon engaged in a smear campaign against him. He also said Iraqis spread rumors about him being homosexual and ''going to Washington to pick up my instructions every two weeks.''
''i have my detractors in washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media. not that i cared very much,'' the guardian quoted blix as saying.
''it was like a mosquito bite in the evening that is there in the morning as an irritant,'' he added.
he's lucky he didn't have sex with an intern.
posted by skippy at
5:42 PM |
0
comments
write those dead trees publications!
lambert makes an excellent point while writing over on atrios' site: letters to the editor count! keep sending your opinions, especially about bush lied/people died, to the main stream publications of the us. the more letters they get, the more they are bound to print a few, and the more other americans will start to question awol.
and if you don't want to kill any trees, and why would you, you can use the mr. smith emails the media web site; specifically, the list of newspaper emails page.
lambert makes an excellent point while writing over on atrios' site: letters to the editor count! keep sending your opinions, especially about bush lied/people died, to the main stream publications of the us. the more letters they get, the more they are bound to print a few, and the more other americans will start to question awol.
and if you don't want to kill any trees, and why would you, you can use the mr. smith emails the media web site; specifically, the list of newspaper emails page.
posted by skippy at
4:42 PM |
0
comments
we'd hate to think what it would be like if we didn't win
we wish our troops could come home from iraq, because keeping the peace over there seems to be as dangerous as fighting the war.
the washpost reports us soldiers face growing resistance:
the persistence and evolution of tactics is giving the violence the appearance of a guerrilla movement. in the last two weeks, eight u.s. soldiers have been killed and another 25 wounded, according to pentagon announcements and news reports. the numbers of iraqis killed, wounded or apprehended number in the dozens…
"these are military-type attacks," said capt. john ives, of the 3rd infantry division's 2nd brigade in fallujah, 35 miles west of baghdad. "it could get worse before it gets better. it's a matter that some people want us dead. we're just going to have to take them out." the division was recently dispatched from baghdad to reinforce the 3rd armored cavalry regiment in west central iraq.
and the sydney morning herald says that toll grows as attacks on troops get smarter:
the hostility to us forces appears to be most intense in a region west and north of baghdad dominated by sunni muslims, who were at the core of the baath party and saddam's government.
"these are military-type attacks," said captain john ives, of the third infantry division's 2nd brigade in fallujah, 56 kilometres west of baghdad.
thanks to antiwar.com for the links!
we wish our troops could come home from iraq, because keeping the peace over there seems to be as dangerous as fighting the war.
the washpost reports us soldiers face growing resistance:
the persistence and evolution of tactics is giving the violence the appearance of a guerrilla movement. in the last two weeks, eight u.s. soldiers have been killed and another 25 wounded, according to pentagon announcements and news reports. the numbers of iraqis killed, wounded or apprehended number in the dozens…
"these are military-type attacks," said capt. john ives, of the 3rd infantry division's 2nd brigade in fallujah, 35 miles west of baghdad. "it could get worse before it gets better. it's a matter that some people want us dead. we're just going to have to take them out." the division was recently dispatched from baghdad to reinforce the 3rd armored cavalry regiment in west central iraq.
and the sydney morning herald says that toll grows as attacks on troops get smarter:
the hostility to us forces appears to be most intense in a region west and north of baghdad dominated by sunni muslims, who were at the core of the baath party and saddam's government.
"these are military-type attacks," said captain john ives, of the third infantry division's 2nd brigade in fallujah, 56 kilometres west of baghdad.
thanks to antiwar.com for the links!
posted by skippy at
4:16 PM |
0
comments
here's a surprise
most repubbblican lawmakers are resisting the call for hearings on iraqi wmd intelligence failures, says the sfchron.
congressional republicans on wednesday rejected democratic calls for a formal investigation into intelligence on iraq's weapons programs, contending that such a probe could harm intelligence agencies' work.
but one important gop'er disagrees. yahoo says that john mccain calls for investigations as soon as possible.
''sooner or later, we will have hearings. it's entirely appropriate to do so,'' said mccain, the no. 2 republican on the senate armed services committee, which could hold hearings soon. rejecting the white house argument that u.s. search parties should first be given time to comb hundreds of possible weapons sites, mccain said: ''any delay will, i think, not be in the interest of the american people. let's move forward, have those hearings and have the american people in on it.''
on this issue, we're hitchin' a ride on the straight-talk express.
most repubbblican lawmakers are resisting the call for hearings on iraqi wmd intelligence failures, says the sfchron.
congressional republicans on wednesday rejected democratic calls for a formal investigation into intelligence on iraq's weapons programs, contending that such a probe could harm intelligence agencies' work.
but one important gop'er disagrees. yahoo says that john mccain calls for investigations as soon as possible.
''sooner or later, we will have hearings. it's entirely appropriate to do so,'' said mccain, the no. 2 republican on the senate armed services committee, which could hold hearings soon. rejecting the white house argument that u.s. search parties should first be given time to comb hundreds of possible weapons sites, mccain said: ''any delay will, i think, not be in the interest of the american people. let's move forward, have those hearings and have the american people in on it.''
on this issue, we're hitchin' a ride on the straight-talk express.
posted by skippy at
4:00 PM |
0
comments
happy flag day from the bush economic team
much like skippy in the morning, the us economy was "sluggish" in april and may, according to the federal reserve, says forbes.com.
"although reports from the twelve federal reserve districts indicated some signs of increased economic activity in april and may, conditions remained sluggish in most districts," the fed said in its "beige book" report, an anecdotal summary of economic conditions around the country.
"the unwinding of war-related concerns appears to have provided some lift to business and consumer confidence, but most reports suggested that the effect has not been dramatic."
and worse than "sluggish," cnnmoney reports that the fed gives the economy a 'd' (we suppose, for 'dubya!'):
the federal reserve gave the u.s. economy's performance in april and may a barely-passing grade wednesday, in a report likely to solidify market expectations that an interest-rate cut is on the way.
in the fed's periodic "beige book" report, named for the color of its cover, the twelve fed districts reported economic activity that ranged from mediocre to so-so, defying expectations that the end of the u.s.-led war with iraq would boost the economy.
"from mediocre to so-so"? sounds like our opinion of awol's performance altogether.
much like skippy in the morning, the us economy was "sluggish" in april and may, according to the federal reserve, says forbes.com.
"although reports from the twelve federal reserve districts indicated some signs of increased economic activity in april and may, conditions remained sluggish in most districts," the fed said in its "beige book" report, an anecdotal summary of economic conditions around the country.
"the unwinding of war-related concerns appears to have provided some lift to business and consumer confidence, but most reports suggested that the effect has not been dramatic."
and worse than "sluggish," cnnmoney reports that the fed gives the economy a 'd' (we suppose, for 'dubya!'):
the federal reserve gave the u.s. economy's performance in april and may a barely-passing grade wednesday, in a report likely to solidify market expectations that an interest-rate cut is on the way.
in the fed's periodic "beige book" report, named for the color of its cover, the twelve fed districts reported economic activity that ranged from mediocre to so-so, defying expectations that the end of the u.s.-led war with iraq would boost the economy.
"from mediocre to so-so"? sounds like our opinion of awol's performance altogether.
posted by skippy at
3:54 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
3:45 PM |
0
comments
it's hammerdown time!
our friend spadehammer sends us a link to his latest post asking just why is it that the repubblicans are thought to be invincible on the security issue?
in afghanistan the taliban and al qaeda are reconstituting, and just last week peacekeeping forces were attacked and killed. and didn't the bu$hco misadministration budget exactly 0 dollars for takin' care o' bidness there this year?
in iraq the quagmire is already neck-deep and rising. us soldiers are getting picked off there at a rate of about 5-10 a week now. the place is a powder keg engulfed in flames, ready to blow sky-high at any time.
in israel, meanwhile, patronizing president soundbite scoots through on his golf cart last week after coming down from the mountain with his "road map to peace." in his tumultuous wake, the carnage meter is pegged as the israeli government resumes assassination attempts on arabs, and busloads of jews are exploding again.
nice picture, spadehammer! we couldn' t have said it better ourselves!
our friend spadehammer sends us a link to his latest post asking just why is it that the repubblicans are thought to be invincible on the security issue?
in afghanistan the taliban and al qaeda are reconstituting, and just last week peacekeeping forces were attacked and killed. and didn't the bu$hco misadministration budget exactly 0 dollars for takin' care o' bidness there this year?
in iraq the quagmire is already neck-deep and rising. us soldiers are getting picked off there at a rate of about 5-10 a week now. the place is a powder keg engulfed in flames, ready to blow sky-high at any time.
in israel, meanwhile, patronizing president soundbite scoots through on his golf cart last week after coming down from the mountain with his "road map to peace." in his tumultuous wake, the carnage meter is pegged as the israeli government resumes assassination attempts on arabs, and busloads of jews are exploding again.
nice picture, spadehammer! we couldn' t have said it better ourselves!
posted by skippy at
3:29 PM |
0
comments
can anyone say "viet nam"?
thanks to steve gilliard writing in the daily kos, we found this nytimes article: gi's in iraqi city are stalked by facelss enemies at night.
falluja, iraq, june 10 — since the american command quadrupled its military presence here last week, not a day has gone by without troops weathering an ambush, a rocket-propelled grenade attack, an assault with automatic weapons or a mine blast.
american forces are still not clear exactly who their opponent is. enemy fighters they have killed have not carried identification, and local residents have provided only limited intelligence about who is behind the attacks.
but one thing is already clear. american forces seem to be battling a small but determined foe who has a primitive but effective command-and-control system that uses red, blue and white flares to signal the advance of american troops. the risk does not come from random potshots. the american forces are facing organized resistance that comes alive at night.
and nobody seems to know exactly who's fighting us, or why.
military officials do not know if the attacks in falluja are coordinated by a single group or whether various factions are involved. nor is it clear whether former baathists are paying residents to fight the americans or whether the attacks are being instigated by arabs from other countries.
but what is certain is that some attacks are premeditated and involve cooperation among small groups of fighters, including a system of signaling the presence of american forces.
hey hey lbj how many kids did you kill today? sorry, we mean, bush lied, people died, bush lied, people died...
thanks to steve gilliard writing in the daily kos, we found this nytimes article: gi's in iraqi city are stalked by facelss enemies at night.
falluja, iraq, june 10 — since the american command quadrupled its military presence here last week, not a day has gone by without troops weathering an ambush, a rocket-propelled grenade attack, an assault with automatic weapons or a mine blast.
american forces are still not clear exactly who their opponent is. enemy fighters they have killed have not carried identification, and local residents have provided only limited intelligence about who is behind the attacks.
but one thing is already clear. american forces seem to be battling a small but determined foe who has a primitive but effective command-and-control system that uses red, blue and white flares to signal the advance of american troops. the risk does not come from random potshots. the american forces are facing organized resistance that comes alive at night.
and nobody seems to know exactly who's fighting us, or why.
military officials do not know if the attacks in falluja are coordinated by a single group or whether various factions are involved. nor is it clear whether former baathists are paying residents to fight the americans or whether the attacks are being instigated by arabs from other countries.
but what is certain is that some attacks are premeditated and involve cooperation among small groups of fighters, including a system of signaling the presence of american forces.
hey hey lbj how many kids did you kill today? sorry, we mean, bush lied, people died, bush lied, people died...
posted by skippy at
12:10 PM |
0
comments
but he's such an easy target
we found an article by william saletan writing in slate [ed. note: aren't you glad the organ we write in is not an anagram of our name? or you'd be reading the "shit poo ka ka breeng pusy" blog].
mr. saletan reports, rather facetiously, that the democrats call bush a liar.
while analyzing most of the dem candidates speeches at an iowa picnic last sunday, saletan notes that most of them are "po'd about wmd."
the alleged misrepresentation of u.s. intelligence about iraqi weapons of mass destruction is catching fire on the democratic campaign trail, if not among the general public. howard dean opened his speech with the wmd issue and openly alluded to watergate. "what did the president know, and when did he know it?" asked dean. he often looks angry when he's talking about bush, but this time he looked furious.
in fact, saletan seemed most impressed with dean's performance:
dean is far and away the most interesting player in the race. not since clinton have democrats seen a talent like this. here's dean on the federal budget:
"when ronald reagan came into office, he cut taxes, we had big deficits, and we lost 2 million jobs. when bill clinton came into office, he raised taxes without a single republican vote; we balanced the budget; we gained 6 and a half million jobs. george bush has already lost 2 and a half million. i want a balanced budget because that's how you get jobs in this country is to balance the books. no republican president has balanced the budget in 34 years. …you had better elect a democrat, because the republicans cannot handle money. … we're the party of responsibility, and they're not."
when you hear dean talk like this, you wonder why no one else can make the party's case so simply. if more democrats spoke this way, maybe they'd control a branch of government.
although saletan does have a bit of advice for dean: p.s.: no politician who's truly foreign to the beltway talks about "the beltway."
we found an article by william saletan writing in slate [ed. note: aren't you glad the organ we write in is not an anagram of our name? or you'd be reading the "shit poo ka ka breeng pusy" blog].
mr. saletan reports, rather facetiously, that the democrats call bush a liar.
while analyzing most of the dem candidates speeches at an iowa picnic last sunday, saletan notes that most of them are "po'd about wmd."
the alleged misrepresentation of u.s. intelligence about iraqi weapons of mass destruction is catching fire on the democratic campaign trail, if not among the general public. howard dean opened his speech with the wmd issue and openly alluded to watergate. "what did the president know, and when did he know it?" asked dean. he often looks angry when he's talking about bush, but this time he looked furious.
in fact, saletan seemed most impressed with dean's performance:
dean is far and away the most interesting player in the race. not since clinton have democrats seen a talent like this. here's dean on the federal budget:
"when ronald reagan came into office, he cut taxes, we had big deficits, and we lost 2 million jobs. when bill clinton came into office, he raised taxes without a single republican vote; we balanced the budget; we gained 6 and a half million jobs. george bush has already lost 2 and a half million. i want a balanced budget because that's how you get jobs in this country is to balance the books. no republican president has balanced the budget in 34 years. …you had better elect a democrat, because the republicans cannot handle money. … we're the party of responsibility, and they're not."
when you hear dean talk like this, you wonder why no one else can make the party's case so simply. if more democrats spoke this way, maybe they'd control a branch of government.
although saletan does have a bit of advice for dean: p.s.: no politician who's truly foreign to the beltway talks about "the beltway."
posted by skippy at
12:05 PM |
0
comments
gee, this isn't as easy as rummy said it would be
those darn iraqi's! you'd think they'd just shut up and do what we tell them! after all, we invaded their country and killed a lot of them to liberate them, what do they want?
but apparently, according to the denver abc affiliate, stablizing iraq is harder than expected.
joseph collins, deputy assistant secretary of defense for stability operations, said the job is more difficult than predicted mainly because of violence and sabotage that appears to be organized by trained forces…
resistance has been disorganized and organized, and some of it has been "quite professional," collins said, adding that some of the trouble is being caused by common criminals.
disorganized and organized? professional and common criminals? damn those insidious bastards! using every trick in the book!
(ps, great online poll to freep on the denver abc page!)
now, we usually don't like to link to al jazeera, hoping instead to find points of view reflecting ours in the main american media. but we just love this headline: rumsfeld cracks jokes, but the iraqi's aren't laughing.
if ever an oscar was deserved for minimizing catastrophic reports coming out of iraq with jocular "henny penny" disbelief, then rumsfeld has a date with hollywood.
“television is merely running the same footage of the same man stealing a vase over and over,” he joked, adding he didn't think there were that many vases in iraq. the us may be the strongest nation in the world, but their history is incomparable to that of iraq – a region that has been described as the cradle of civilization.
flippant remarks cannot replace priceless artefacts that have disappeared from the national museum in baghdad, or the books of the university of mosul – one of the oldest and best universities in the whole of the middle east.
those darn iraqi's! you'd think they'd just shut up and do what we tell them! after all, we invaded their country and killed a lot of them to liberate them, what do they want?
but apparently, according to the denver abc affiliate, stablizing iraq is harder than expected.
joseph collins, deputy assistant secretary of defense for stability operations, said the job is more difficult than predicted mainly because of violence and sabotage that appears to be organized by trained forces…
resistance has been disorganized and organized, and some of it has been "quite professional," collins said, adding that some of the trouble is being caused by common criminals.
disorganized and organized? professional and common criminals? damn those insidious bastards! using every trick in the book!
(ps, great online poll to freep on the denver abc page!)
now, we usually don't like to link to al jazeera, hoping instead to find points of view reflecting ours in the main american media. but we just love this headline: rumsfeld cracks jokes, but the iraqi's aren't laughing.
if ever an oscar was deserved for minimizing catastrophic reports coming out of iraq with jocular "henny penny" disbelief, then rumsfeld has a date with hollywood.
“television is merely running the same footage of the same man stealing a vase over and over,” he joked, adding he didn't think there were that many vases in iraq. the us may be the strongest nation in the world, but their history is incomparable to that of iraq – a region that has been described as the cradle of civilization.
flippant remarks cannot replace priceless artefacts that have disappeared from the national museum in baghdad, or the books of the university of mosul – one of the oldest and best universities in the whole of the middle east.
posted by skippy at
11:57 AM |
0
comments
bush lied...now ask why
we're glad to see dead trees publications beginning to ask the same questions blogtopia (y!wctp!) have been asking about awol's manipulations of the truth to justify killing iraqi babies. here's an ediatorial from the oregonian by retired naval officer michael stabeno titled, bush owes the war dead some straight answers:
if there are no stockpiled wmd representing an imminent threat to the united states, then an obscene human tragedy has occurred. without those wmd, all those soldiers on both sides died because president bush or people in his administration misread or hyped data -- or actually lied about the very existence of wmd.
meanwhile, back in blogtopia (y!wctp!):
terry m. neal, in the washpost's sticky-fingered blog (stealing josh marshall's title talking points, the bastards!) is saying that iraq's missing wmd's may be an election issue:
the public is thrilled to see saddam hussein gone. the president's staunchest supporters will stand by him no matter what happens. but that group in the middle – the ever-influential and fickle moderate swing voters – will eventually demand accountability. and should they not find it, the 2004 presidential campaign might actually be a race. maybe.
howard fineman, the man that makes jimmy olson look macho, writes for msnbc.com: are the demos asking the right question?
if the democrats want to beat bush next year, they aren’t going to do it by turning him into nixon of arabia. if the president is vulnerable on terrorism — and he may be — the real question will be, “are we safer than we were on 9/11?” if bush can’t answer “yes,” then he’ll be in jeopardy and iraq will look like a misadventure — no matter what the president knew when.
meanwhile, the senate intelligence committee will begin closed door hearings on the subject next week.
we're glad to see dead trees publications beginning to ask the same questions blogtopia (y!wctp!) have been asking about awol's manipulations of the truth to justify killing iraqi babies. here's an ediatorial from the oregonian by retired naval officer michael stabeno titled, bush owes the war dead some straight answers:
if there are no stockpiled wmd representing an imminent threat to the united states, then an obscene human tragedy has occurred. without those wmd, all those soldiers on both sides died because president bush or people in his administration misread or hyped data -- or actually lied about the very existence of wmd.
meanwhile, back in blogtopia (y!wctp!):
terry m. neal, in the washpost's sticky-fingered blog (stealing josh marshall's title talking points, the bastards!) is saying that iraq's missing wmd's may be an election issue:
the public is thrilled to see saddam hussein gone. the president's staunchest supporters will stand by him no matter what happens. but that group in the middle – the ever-influential and fickle moderate swing voters – will eventually demand accountability. and should they not find it, the 2004 presidential campaign might actually be a race. maybe.
howard fineman, the man that makes jimmy olson look macho, writes for msnbc.com: are the demos asking the right question?
if the democrats want to beat bush next year, they aren’t going to do it by turning him into nixon of arabia. if the president is vulnerable on terrorism — and he may be — the real question will be, “are we safer than we were on 9/11?” if bush can’t answer “yes,” then he’ll be in jeopardy and iraq will look like a misadventure — no matter what the president knew when.
meanwhile, the senate intelligence committee will begin closed door hearings on the subject next week.
posted by skippy at
11:48 AM |
0
comments
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
more fun with google
here's a few interesting articles we found with the google search "bush" "lies":
the charlotte observer.com: who cares when bush lies? could gore get away with the fibs this administration tells?
the salem statesmanjournal.com: beware of republican lies.
the new yorker talk of the town: might and right.
the york daily record: bush waged war and then tries to justify it.
the dc dispatch: corporate lying is bad. but allowing it is good.
cnn.com: us officials: al qaeda detainees deny iraq link.
and most interestingly: the voice of america news: intelligence officer challenges bush administration on 'why they hate us.'
but in a new book entitled "through our enemies' eyes," one senior american intelligence officer, simply dubbed "anonymous," sharply disagrees with that view.
"there are a lot of people who say he hates our freedoms, as you said, or hates our liberties, and hates us for what we are, rather than what we do," said the author. "that is a very common piece of analysis, and i think it is entirely wrong. bin laden has resonance in the muslim world because he has focused his dislike for the things we do, not what we are."
keep your eyes open for "through our enemies' eyes." (there's a joke there somewhere, but we are too tired to find it).
here's a few interesting articles we found with the google search "bush" "lies":
the charlotte observer.com: who cares when bush lies? could gore get away with the fibs this administration tells?
the salem statesmanjournal.com: beware of republican lies.
the new yorker talk of the town: might and right.
the york daily record: bush waged war and then tries to justify it.
the dc dispatch: corporate lying is bad. but allowing it is good.
cnn.com: us officials: al qaeda detainees deny iraq link.
and most interestingly: the voice of america news: intelligence officer challenges bush administration on 'why they hate us.'
but in a new book entitled "through our enemies' eyes," one senior american intelligence officer, simply dubbed "anonymous," sharply disagrees with that view.
"there are a lot of people who say he hates our freedoms, as you said, or hates our liberties, and hates us for what we are, rather than what we do," said the author. "that is a very common piece of analysis, and i think it is entirely wrong. bin laden has resonance in the muslim world because he has focused his dislike for the things we do, not what we are."
keep your eyes open for "through our enemies' eyes." (there's a joke there somewhere, but we are too tired to find it).
posted by skippy at
8:47 PM |
0
comments
chicks on a roll
the dixie chicks are still going strong, setting attendance records in st. paul. and they are getting rave reviews in the midwest, from the critics and the crowds.
and we have to agree with aaron brown (no, not that aaron brown, this one makes sense) the editor of the hibbing minnesota daily tribune, when he says dixie chicks deserve break from right-wing wrath:
if you want to stop buying dixie chicks albums because you don’t like the music, go for it. that’s what happened to chumbawumba.
but don’t let a corporate broadcasting network, or a calculated political movement, tell you what music to listen to. the last thing we need shaping modern songs of love, fun and celebration are partisan political hacks of any stripe.
at least the dixie chicks play their own instruments.
the dixie chicks are still going strong, setting attendance records in st. paul. and they are getting rave reviews in the midwest, from the critics and the crowds.
and we have to agree with aaron brown (no, not that aaron brown, this one makes sense) the editor of the hibbing minnesota daily tribune, when he says dixie chicks deserve break from right-wing wrath:
if you want to stop buying dixie chicks albums because you don’t like the music, go for it. that’s what happened to chumbawumba.
but don’t let a corporate broadcasting network, or a calculated political movement, tell you what music to listen to. the last thing we need shaping modern songs of love, fun and celebration are partisan political hacks of any stripe.
at least the dixie chicks play their own instruments.
posted by skippy at
3:24 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving - part 205
another u.s. soldier was killed in iraq today, when rocket propelled grenades were fired at american troops in baghdad, reports the atlanta journal constitution.
before the latest death, a u.s. military spokesman had said that the number of coalition troops killed since the beginning of the u.s.-led invasion of iraq had reached 205.
of those, 135 were killed in hostile activities and 70 by friendly fire or other accidents, col. rick thomas said. those killed in action included 56 u.s. marines, 59 u.s. army soldiers, a u.s. navy sailor and 19 british servicemen.
another u.s. soldier was killed in iraq today, when rocket propelled grenades were fired at american troops in baghdad, reports the atlanta journal constitution.
before the latest death, a u.s. military spokesman had said that the number of coalition troops killed since the beginning of the u.s.-led invasion of iraq had reached 205.
of those, 135 were killed in hostile activities and 70 by friendly fire or other accidents, col. rick thomas said. those killed in action included 56 u.s. marines, 59 u.s. army soldiers, a u.s. navy sailor and 19 british servicemen.
posted by skippy at
3:16 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
2:59 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
2:46 PM |
0
comments
better living through slogans
we like the one meteorblades came up with on the daily kos comment section:
bush lies - freedom fries!
we like the one meteorblades came up with on the daily kos comment section:
bush lies - freedom fries!
posted by skippy at
2:41 PM |
0
comments
fascism makes strange bedfellows
the chicago tribune is reporting that since 9/11, the aclu's membership has grown to the largest number in that organization's history. and more surprisingly, the majority of the new members are from the conservative side of the aisle.
while it is impossible to know for sure, aclu leaders and conservatives believe a major portion of the 100,000 members who have joined since the sept. 11 attacks have come from conservative ranks. the dramatic expansion has brought the aclu's membership to 400,000, by far the largest in the group's 80-year history.
the increase suggests that despite the war on terrorism, many americans remain deeply troubled by the potential for the federal government overreaching that is embodied in such anti-terrorism measures as the usa patriot act, which expands eavesdropping powers. the aclu has often served as a barometer of public anxiety about big government.
and that barometer is falling.
the chicago tribune is reporting that since 9/11, the aclu's membership has grown to the largest number in that organization's history. and more surprisingly, the majority of the new members are from the conservative side of the aisle.
while it is impossible to know for sure, aclu leaders and conservatives believe a major portion of the 100,000 members who have joined since the sept. 11 attacks have come from conservative ranks. the dramatic expansion has brought the aclu's membership to 400,000, by far the largest in the group's 80-year history.
the increase suggests that despite the war on terrorism, many americans remain deeply troubled by the potential for the federal government overreaching that is embodied in such anti-terrorism measures as the usa patriot act, which expands eavesdropping powers. the aclu has often served as a barometer of public anxiety about big government.
and that barometer is falling.
posted by skippy at
2:20 PM |
0
comments
more (im)peachy ideas!
geov parrish in working for change takes up the charge. is lying about reasons to go to war an impeachable offense?
if he did know it, he has lied to congress -- just like clinton -- and to america and the world, but repeatedly and on a far more serious matter than the definition of "sex." bush, instead, used his lies to intentionally sacrifice the lives of american soldiers -- along with other coalition soldiers and countless iraqis, soldier and
civilian alike.
for this egregious abuse of his oath of office, george w. bush should be impeached.
geov parrish in working for change takes up the charge. is lying about reasons to go to war an impeachable offense?
if he did know it, he has lied to congress -- just like clinton -- and to america and the world, but repeatedly and on a far more serious matter than the definition of "sex." bush, instead, used his lies to intentionally sacrifice the lives of american soldiers -- along with other coalition soldiers and countless iraqis, soldier and
civilian alike.
for this egregious abuse of his oath of office, george w. bush should be impeached.
posted by skippy at
2:13 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
2:06 PM |
0
comments
sorry we missed it
looks like a veritable who's who of progressives attended the conference to take back america, last week in dc.
some of the prominent attendees: bill moyers, howard dean, arianna huffington, our bud eric alterman, john kerry, john edwards, john sweeny, robert reich, bill maher, carol moseley braun, katrina vandenheuvel, to name but a few. sounds like it was a rabble-rousing good time, and we hope there is a similar event on the left coast where the skippy international headquarters are, as we'd like to press a few palms ourselves.
looks like a veritable who's who of progressives attended the conference to take back america, last week in dc.
some of the prominent attendees: bill moyers, howard dean, arianna huffington, our bud eric alterman, john kerry, john edwards, john sweeny, robert reich, bill maher, carol moseley braun, katrina vandenheuvel, to name but a few. sounds like it was a rabble-rousing good time, and we hope there is a similar event on the left coast where the skippy international headquarters are, as we'd like to press a few palms ourselves.
posted by skippy at
2:04 PM |
0
comments
we're still taking back the media
you may remember we told you about michael weener suing a few bloggers for picking on him, including our friends at take back the media. we are very pleased that buzzflash, the grandaddy of all liberal blogs, has taken up the cause, and in fact interviews tbtm founder mike stinson for an indepth look at the dirty depths that weener will sink to, in order to silence his opposition.
here's a bit from that interview.
take back the media: oh yeah, he changed his name to "savage" from weiner -- now i'm not sure how that's pronounced. it's either weener or whiner, anyone know? the question you pose here is the answer (as usual buzzflash is on the money). we do believe this is a publicity stunt because his ratings are in the crapper. that's just our opinion but wiser folks than me have said the same thing. go to arbitron and look this guy up. as far as i know you can reach a status there where your viewership is so low that you don't even register on their map. scarborough is rapidly reaching that status as well.
but these guys still could use some financial help (lawyers ain't cheap!) so go donate what you can at take back the media.
you may remember we told you about michael weener suing a few bloggers for picking on him, including our friends at take back the media. we are very pleased that buzzflash, the grandaddy of all liberal blogs, has taken up the cause, and in fact interviews tbtm founder mike stinson for an indepth look at the dirty depths that weener will sink to, in order to silence his opposition.
here's a bit from that interview.
take back the media: oh yeah, he changed his name to "savage" from weiner -- now i'm not sure how that's pronounced. it's either weener or whiner, anyone know? the question you pose here is the answer (as usual buzzflash is on the money). we do believe this is a publicity stunt because his ratings are in the crapper. that's just our opinion but wiser folks than me have said the same thing. go to arbitron and look this guy up. as far as i know you can reach a status there where your viewership is so low that you don't even register on their map. scarborough is rapidly reaching that status as well.
but these guys still could use some financial help (lawyers ain't cheap!) so go donate what you can at take back the media.
posted by skippy at
1:52 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
1:32 PM |
0
comments
dear dubya
we are glad to know that madkane, our favorite blogger who writes song parodies, has started up one of her blog's most popular features again. dubya's daily diary is back and in good form. please go check it out!
we are glad to know that madkane, our favorite blogger who writes song parodies, has started up one of her blog's most popular features again. dubya's daily diary is back and in good form. please go check it out!
posted by skippy at
1:24 PM |
0
comments
Monday, June 09, 2003
blogging around
dr. avedon carol, at the sideshow, links to d. allan kerr's the gang that couldn't think straight, in which is echoed something we said a couple days ago: how ridiculous is it when a reformed klansman has to carry the banner of moral courage for the democratic party?
untelevised examines the ramifications of the nytimes report that top al-qaeda members deny links between their group and saddam hussein.
leah, over at atrios' site, tells us that there's still time to email congress to get them to overturn michael powell's gutting of the fcc (and she directs you to ruminate this! for particulars).
kynn over at the shock portion of shock and awe tells about anti-muslim literature distributed at university of california san diego
dr. avedon carol, at the sideshow, links to d. allan kerr's the gang that couldn't think straight, in which is echoed something we said a couple days ago: how ridiculous is it when a reformed klansman has to carry the banner of moral courage for the democratic party?
untelevised examines the ramifications of the nytimes report that top al-qaeda members deny links between their group and saddam hussein.
leah, over at atrios' site, tells us that there's still time to email congress to get them to overturn michael powell's gutting of the fcc (and she directs you to ruminate this! for particulars).
kynn over at the shock portion of shock and awe tells about anti-muslim literature distributed at university of california san diego
posted by skippy at
8:59 PM |
0
comments
congrats from one mammal to another!
we're happy our bud eric's site, the hamster, was named one of the top 25 blogs on line by truemajority.org. big congrats, eric! do we get some of that ben and jerry's?
update: woah! and our very good friend talkleft was also named as one of the top 25 blogs! good going, talkleft! (now we're bound to get some ben and jerry's, one way or the other!)
we're happy our bud eric's site, the hamster, was named one of the top 25 blogs on line by truemajority.org. big congrats, eric! do we get some of that ben and jerry's?
update: woah! and our very good friend talkleft was also named as one of the top 25 blogs! good going, talkleft! (now we're bound to get some ben and jerry's, one way or the other!)
posted by skippy at
8:53 PM |
0
comments
1984-ward, march!
the problem, the media is saying these days, is not that nobody's finding those wmd's in iraq. no, the problem is that people keep asking "where are those wmd's in iraq?"
this op/ed piece in the maryland sunspot gives out the orwell awards to the self-righteous wingers who master double speak to refute charges of awol's lies about the wmd's.
in mr. safire's parallel universe, the problem is not that we're not finding weapons of mass destruction - which means either we were lied to by the bush administration or there was a massive intelligence failure. no, the problem is that the people asking the question are "the crowd that bitterly resent america's mission to root out the sources of terror" and are "whipping up its intelligence hoax hype."
got that? if you ask, "where are the weapons of mass destruction?" - a fairly obvious question at this point - you are the problem.
"but who's trying to deceive whom here?" thunders the [wall street] journal. "that saddam had biological or chemical weapons was a probability that everyone assumed to be true, even those who were against the war." so there!
no literary metaphors spice the metrowest daily news op/ed piece from boston, but it pretty much says the same thing:
congress is reluctant to challenge president bush on issues of national security, but there are times when hard questions must be asked, and one that demands an answer from the administration is: what happened to iraq's weapons of mass destruction?
baghdad fell on april 9, and since then, despite diligent searching by special u.s. teams, no chemical, biological or nuclear weapon has turned up nor have any signs of recent manufacture.
but john david rose, in the hilton head lowcountrynow, puts it most succinctly, when he writes half truths are whole lies:
the biggest lie of all? "i am a man of peace," delivered as he sent our troops on a deadly wild-goose chase for hussein's "vast storehouses" of wmds. bush lied; our soldiers died.
the problem, the media is saying these days, is not that nobody's finding those wmd's in iraq. no, the problem is that people keep asking "where are those wmd's in iraq?"
this op/ed piece in the maryland sunspot gives out the orwell awards to the self-righteous wingers who master double speak to refute charges of awol's lies about the wmd's.
in mr. safire's parallel universe, the problem is not that we're not finding weapons of mass destruction - which means either we were lied to by the bush administration or there was a massive intelligence failure. no, the problem is that the people asking the question are "the crowd that bitterly resent america's mission to root out the sources of terror" and are "whipping up its intelligence hoax hype."
got that? if you ask, "where are the weapons of mass destruction?" - a fairly obvious question at this point - you are the problem.
"but who's trying to deceive whom here?" thunders the [wall street] journal. "that saddam had biological or chemical weapons was a probability that everyone assumed to be true, even those who were against the war." so there!
no literary metaphors spice the metrowest daily news op/ed piece from boston, but it pretty much says the same thing:
congress is reluctant to challenge president bush on issues of national security, but there are times when hard questions must be asked, and one that demands an answer from the administration is: what happened to iraq's weapons of mass destruction?
baghdad fell on april 9, and since then, despite diligent searching by special u.s. teams, no chemical, biological or nuclear weapon has turned up nor have any signs of recent manufacture.
but john david rose, in the hilton head lowcountrynow, puts it most succinctly, when he writes half truths are whole lies:
the biggest lie of all? "i am a man of peace," delivered as he sent our troops on a deadly wild-goose chase for hussein's "vast storehouses" of wmds. bush lied; our soldiers died.
posted by skippy at
4:21 PM |
0
comments
freep the beard!
today, wolf is asking if awol exaggerated the wmd threat in iraq. go click!
(thanks to annatopia for the alert!)
today, wolf is asking if awol exaggerated the wmd threat in iraq. go click!
(thanks to annatopia for the alert!)
posted by skippy at
3:55 PM |
0
comments
ecampaigns
the daily kos is very excited about a new program the democratic party has initiated, called epatriots. it's a way for grass rooters, like us, to pledge money to the party, and hopefully bypass the special interest groups. (and the dems graciously and correctly give kos credit for thinking up the idea!)
who knows if it will work? we do know kos is jumping out of his skin about it, so we recommend you at least go read his post, and consider it.
the daily kos is very excited about a new program the democratic party has initiated, called epatriots. it's a way for grass rooters, like us, to pledge money to the party, and hopefully bypass the special interest groups. (and the dems graciously and correctly give kos credit for thinking up the idea!)
who knows if it will work? we do know kos is jumping out of his skin about it, so we recommend you at least go read his post, and consider it.
posted by skippy at
2:05 PM |
0
comments
"oils well that ends well
reuters reports that since the end of the war, there is a rash of sabotage to iraq's oil fields.
phillip carroll, the u.s.'s top oil advisor in baghdad, claims that "well-organised saboteurs are targeting iraqi oil facilities in a campaign designed to hamper efforts to revive crude exports."
there have been numerous incidents since the end of hostilities that have resulted in considerable damage to the more important oil facilities. it is very difficult to defend and secure an operation which is as geographically dispersed as the oil industry in iraq," said carroll.
paul salopek, writing for the chicago tribune, reports that saboteurs are targeting power lines around basra in an attempt to shut down the grid to cripple the large oil refinery near that city.
a series of destructive attacks on carefully selected power lines around basra in recent weeks has played havoc with the basra refinery, an important source of gasoline for the domestic market…
"it's a systematic effort, not random," said thaer ibrahim, the director general of basra's sprawling oil refinery, the second-biggest in iraq. "they know that if they strangle fuel production, it will cause chaos."
damn! just when gas prices were starting to fall again...
(thanks to cursor.org for the original reuters link).
reuters reports that since the end of the war, there is a rash of sabotage to iraq's oil fields.
phillip carroll, the u.s.'s top oil advisor in baghdad, claims that "well-organised saboteurs are targeting iraqi oil facilities in a campaign designed to hamper efforts to revive crude exports."
there have been numerous incidents since the end of hostilities that have resulted in considerable damage to the more important oil facilities. it is very difficult to defend and secure an operation which is as geographically dispersed as the oil industry in iraq," said carroll.
paul salopek, writing for the chicago tribune, reports that saboteurs are targeting power lines around basra in an attempt to shut down the grid to cripple the large oil refinery near that city.
a series of destructive attacks on carefully selected power lines around basra in recent weeks has played havoc with the basra refinery, an important source of gasoline for the domestic market…
"it's a systematic effort, not random," said thaer ibrahim, the director general of basra's sprawling oil refinery, the second-biggest in iraq. "they know that if they strangle fuel production, it will cause chaos."
damn! just when gas prices were starting to fall again...
(thanks to cursor.org for the original reuters link).
posted by skippy at
2:02 PM |
0
comments
when you're up to your ass in alligators...
from the we assume they know what they're doing dept: the fbi is draining a pond in frederick, maryland, to find evidence in the anthrax letters case (just after 9/11), says abcnews.
the idea to drain the pond stems from an fbi theory revealed may 11 by the washington post about how the person behind the attacks could have packed the deadly spores into envelopes without being infected or leaving traces in homes, buildings or on open land.
the post reported that items recovered from one of the ponds searched over the winter included a clear box, with holes that could accommodate gloves to protect the user during work, the post reported. also recovered were vials wrapped in plastic.
sure, the anthrax letter sender would want to dump his evidence in a shallow pond, because maryland isn't anywhere near a deep body of water, like, say, an ocean.
from the we assume they know what they're doing dept: the fbi is draining a pond in frederick, maryland, to find evidence in the anthrax letters case (just after 9/11), says abcnews.
the idea to drain the pond stems from an fbi theory revealed may 11 by the washington post about how the person behind the attacks could have packed the deadly spores into envelopes without being infected or leaving traces in homes, buildings or on open land.
the post reported that items recovered from one of the ponds searched over the winter included a clear box, with holes that could accommodate gloves to protect the user during work, the post reported. also recovered were vials wrapped in plastic.
sure, the anthrax letter sender would want to dump his evidence in a shallow pond, because maryland isn't anywhere near a deep body of water, like, say, an ocean.
posted by skippy at
1:47 PM |
0
comments
it takes a weener to sue a blog
as some of you may already know, michael weener has such a thin skin, that he is suing a handful of blogs for making fun of him. here's an alternet article telling the whole sad story.
actually, the suit claims that the blogs might confuse wiener's listeners into thinking it was his blog, trademark infringment, etc etc etc. but it's really about a man who can dish it out but can't take it.
we bring this up because some of those being sued are our friends over at take back the media! they have posted an editorial about the whole fiasco, and we strongly urge everyone not only to go read it, but to pass the word that media giants like talk radio network participate in retaliatory lawsuits to shut down dissenting voices.
send the tbtm editorial as well as the alternet article to as many people as you can think of. let's get this story out of the dark and into the light, and show weener to be the bully he is.
as some of you may already know, michael weener has such a thin skin, that he is suing a handful of blogs for making fun of him. here's an alternet article telling the whole sad story.
actually, the suit claims that the blogs might confuse wiener's listeners into thinking it was his blog, trademark infringment, etc etc etc. but it's really about a man who can dish it out but can't take it.
we bring this up because some of those being sued are our friends over at take back the media! they have posted an editorial about the whole fiasco, and we strongly urge everyone not only to go read it, but to pass the word that media giants like talk radio network participate in retaliatory lawsuits to shut down dissenting voices.
send the tbtm editorial as well as the alternet article to as many people as you can think of. let's get this story out of the dark and into the light, and show weener to be the bully he is.
posted by skippy at
1:38 PM |
0
comments
Sunday, June 08, 2003
posted by skippy at
1:20 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
skippy was in orlando this week, so he missed this big story last wednesday. but talkleft, in her usual thoroughness, brought it to you with lucidity and alacrity: guru of ganja walks free.
the daily dystopian tells us about 2 chapel hill police officers who posed as fbi agents to grill a high school student about her blog.
over on atrios's place, leah links us to busy busy busy's image capture of bill o'reilly admitting the media is not liberal. and, as both bloggers said, who are we to argue with bill?
speaking of o'reilly, lunaville documents bill's pledge to apologize if no wmd's are found, and asks, so where's the apology?
anna of annatopia is going to take a page from skippy's playbook and start stamping "y!wctt" ("yes! we coined that term!") everytime someone uses "dean-lite." we say, anna, more power to you! (n!wdctt!)
magpie suggests that the iranians may not welcome regime change as easily as the iraqi's.
those kids at oviedo high found this on ebay: kangaroo scrotum. (eewwwww! poor skippy is doubled over in sympathy pains).
calpundit thinks awol is more interested in defeating his enemies than furthering a cause (any cause).
the skeptician weighs in on gun rights (and does it very humorously, we might add).
steve gilliard, writing in the daily kos, points out how tony blair is having an even worse time than awol because no wmd's were found in iraq yet.
blah3 links to yet another article calling for awol's impeachment.
hedgetoad talks about motivation to make things better vs. the temptation to be lazy.
trish wilson has an excellent post about impeaching awol and the reasons for it.
brad de long points out alan greenspan thinks the economy isn't really growing.
a certain shade of [green] points out the fallacy in finding nemo (which should be titled "grinding nemo").
and the smirking chimp posts this article about awol's wmd lies. and this article. and this one. and this one. and this one. and this one. and even this one.
skippy was in orlando this week, so he missed this big story last wednesday. but talkleft, in her usual thoroughness, brought it to you with lucidity and alacrity: guru of ganja walks free.
the daily dystopian tells us about 2 chapel hill police officers who posed as fbi agents to grill a high school student about her blog.
over on atrios's place, leah links us to busy busy busy's image capture of bill o'reilly admitting the media is not liberal. and, as both bloggers said, who are we to argue with bill?
speaking of o'reilly, lunaville documents bill's pledge to apologize if no wmd's are found, and asks, so where's the apology?
anna of annatopia is going to take a page from skippy's playbook and start stamping "y!wctt" ("yes! we coined that term!") everytime someone uses "dean-lite." we say, anna, more power to you! (n!wdctt!)
magpie suggests that the iranians may not welcome regime change as easily as the iraqi's.
those kids at oviedo high found this on ebay: kangaroo scrotum. (eewwwww! poor skippy is doubled over in sympathy pains).
calpundit thinks awol is more interested in defeating his enemies than furthering a cause (any cause).
the skeptician weighs in on gun rights (and does it very humorously, we might add).
steve gilliard, writing in the daily kos, points out how tony blair is having an even worse time than awol because no wmd's were found in iraq yet.
blah3 links to yet another article calling for awol's impeachment.
hedgetoad talks about motivation to make things better vs. the temptation to be lazy.
trish wilson has an excellent post about impeaching awol and the reasons for it.
brad de long points out alan greenspan thinks the economy isn't really growing.
a certain shade of [green] points out the fallacy in finding nemo (which should be titled "grinding nemo").
and the smirking chimp posts this article about awol's wmd lies. and this article. and this one. and this one. and this one. and this one. and even this one.
posted by skippy at
1:07 PM |
0
comments
kerry and dean? wasn't that a 50's comedy duo?
zogby puts john kerry and howard dean leading the pack of democratic hopefuls in the new hampshire primary, which is just around the corner, eyah.
kerry is at 25% and dean at 22%, says the sfchron. the new hapmshire primary will be next january, right after iowa.
zogby puts john kerry and howard dean leading the pack of democratic hopefuls in the new hampshire primary, which is just around the corner, eyah.
kerry is at 25% and dean at 22%, says the sfchron. the new hapmshire primary will be next january, right after iowa.
posted by skippy at
1:02 PM |
0
comments
this is the best smelling flower in the whole garbage dump!
gotta love those cock-eyed optimists. many market watchers are overjoyed that the dow is up 20% since march. and yes, the 3 month chart looks quite impressive.
just don't look at the 12 month chart. then you're right back to zero sum gains (in fact, we're still about 800 points below this time last year).
and don't start to wonder what the chart would like like for all of awol's term in office thus far.
gotta love those cock-eyed optimists. many market watchers are overjoyed that the dow is up 20% since march. and yes, the 3 month chart looks quite impressive.
just don't look at the 12 month chart. then you're right back to zero sum gains (in fact, we're still about 800 points below this time last year).
and don't start to wonder what the chart would like like for all of awol's term in office thus far.
posted by skippy at
12:55 PM |
0
comments
duck!
we haven't followed hockey this season as closely as we should have. imagine our surprise when the mighty ducks of anaheim (home to the world baseball champion angels) came back from a 0-2 game deficit in the stanley cup finals to now actually be in a 3-game apiece neck and neck tie with the new jersey devils to win the trophy.
is anaheim the home of come-from-behind long-shot sports teams this year? could be. we'll be watching tomorrow night.
we haven't followed hockey this season as closely as we should have. imagine our surprise when the mighty ducks of anaheim (home to the world baseball champion angels) came back from a 0-2 game deficit in the stanley cup finals to now actually be in a 3-game apiece neck and neck tie with the new jersey devils to win the trophy.
is anaheim the home of come-from-behind long-shot sports teams this year? could be. we'll be watching tomorrow night.
posted by skippy at
12:47 PM |
0
comments
not enough eyeliner for this roo
a reader of ours, screen name galeni, sends us this bit of fluff. it's an animation called skippy the goth kangaroo. it's very funny, and it strikes close to this bush kangaroo's heart. (and apparently there's a whole newsletter called skippy the goth kangaroo).
skippy is a bit old to have enjoyed the goth movement, but he's all for anything rebellious and literate, so we imagine if he had been a bit younger he would have at least checked it out. (mrs. skippy often points out that skippy was "grunge" before "grunge" was cool, but that's just because he doesn't wash his plaid flannel shirts all that often).
a reader of ours, screen name galeni, sends us this bit of fluff. it's an animation called skippy the goth kangaroo. it's very funny, and it strikes close to this bush kangaroo's heart. (and apparently there's a whole newsletter called skippy the goth kangaroo).
skippy is a bit old to have enjoyed the goth movement, but he's all for anything rebellious and literate, so we imagine if he had been a bit younger he would have at least checked it out. (mrs. skippy often points out that skippy was "grunge" before "grunge" was cool, but that's just because he doesn't wash his plaid flannel shirts all that often).
posted by skippy at
12:21 PM |
0
comments
Saturday, June 07, 2003
the ethicist is no brown noser
thanks to maru the crankpot, we were alerted to something we always like to see: aaron brown getting his ass kicked by a guest on his show.
randy cohen, who writes for "the ethicist" and "new york times" (irony lives!) took on the ethics, or lack thereof, of awol's reasons to invade iraq:
cohen: i see you being surprising gentle, aaron. i think the story -- and i think this is the big ethical story of the week -- is many people are asserting that the president is a liar, that the president lied about -- in order to get our country into a war. that's a serious story.
brown: well, yes, but it's also -- that would be a very serious story. one should have evidence of that, though, shouldn't one, before one makes that argument?
cohen: do you mean, before one drags the country into a war?
go read the transcript (pertinent part about 4/5 of the way down the page).
thanks to maru the crankpot, we were alerted to something we always like to see: aaron brown getting his ass kicked by a guest on his show.
randy cohen, who writes for "the ethicist" and "new york times" (irony lives!) took on the ethics, or lack thereof, of awol's reasons to invade iraq:
cohen: i see you being surprising gentle, aaron. i think the story -- and i think this is the big ethical story of the week -- is many people are asserting that the president is a liar, that the president lied about -- in order to get our country into a war. that's a serious story.
brown: well, yes, but it's also -- that would be a very serious story. one should have evidence of that, though, shouldn't one, before one makes that argument?
cohen: do you mean, before one drags the country into a war?
go read the transcript (pertinent part about 4/5 of the way down the page).
posted by skippy at
8:32 PM |
0
comments
what have we been saying?
it's always nice when a major dead trees publication basically agrees with one of our postulations (in this case, that the war in iraq is still going on).
it's even nicer when that same publication is our own home town newspaper.
the rocky mountain news declares war's 'end' a fallacy:
the war is not over. not for the husbands, wives and children of soldiers still in iraq…
eight soldiers with fort carson [colorado] ties have been killed since may 1 - the day president bush made a dramatic landing on the uss abraham lincoln, where he announced that "major combat operations in iraq have ended."
of the 179 americans killed in operation iraqi freedom, 41 have died since bush's may 1 pronouncement.
it would, however, be nicer if some papers confirmed one of our less fatal and destructive theories...like, reality tv is just for people who can't handle the manipulations and hidden agendas of a real job.
it's always nice when a major dead trees publication basically agrees with one of our postulations (in this case, that the war in iraq is still going on).
it's even nicer when that same publication is our own home town newspaper.
the rocky mountain news declares war's 'end' a fallacy:
the war is not over. not for the husbands, wives and children of soldiers still in iraq…
eight soldiers with fort carson [colorado] ties have been killed since may 1 - the day president bush made a dramatic landing on the uss abraham lincoln, where he announced that "major combat operations in iraq have ended."
of the 179 americans killed in operation iraqi freedom, 41 have died since bush's may 1 pronouncement.
it would, however, be nicer if some papers confirmed one of our less fatal and destructive theories...like, reality tv is just for people who can't handle the manipulations and hidden agendas of a real job.
posted by skippy at
8:12 PM |
0
comments
that's a (im) peachy idea, john!
bob harris, blogging on tom tomorrow's site, tells us that john dean (of watergate fame) opines that awol's lies about the reasons to invade iraq could be grounds for impeachment:
to put it bluntly, if bush has taken congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked. manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the constitution's impeachment clause. it would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony "to defraud the united states, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose."
we personally think he's vulnerable because he is still absent without leave from the tang during wartime...we are not legal scholars, but we bet that's a crime in some states!
in the meantime, here's some more fun with google.
bob harris, blogging on tom tomorrow's site, tells us that john dean (of watergate fame) opines that awol's lies about the reasons to invade iraq could be grounds for impeachment:
to put it bluntly, if bush has taken congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked. manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the constitution's impeachment clause. it would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony "to defraud the united states, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose."
we personally think he's vulnerable because he is still absent without leave from the tang during wartime...we are not legal scholars, but we bet that's a crime in some states!
in the meantime, here's some more fun with google.
posted by skippy at
7:58 PM |
0
comments
more rosey altercations
our reader chris tells us his opinions of eric alterman v. christopher hitchens on the charlie rose show. (as we discussed below, we missed it. sorry. we were working, what can we say?)
alterman articulately k.o.'ed hitchens friday night on the topic of u.s. foreign policy. and even got to mention that bush and his crew were lying about gulf war 2 (and i still have not seen any other mainstream us journalist say that on tv.) so imho, a first round knockout.
if you get the charlie rose show repeats during the afternoons like where i live, be sure to fire up the vcr for sometime on monday, june 9 (trust me on this.) check your local listings at these 2 areas:
http://www.charlierose.com
http://www.pbs.org
thanks for the email, chris. and we point out that, it's not there yet, but we assume the show will be on the charlie rose archives soon.
our reader chris tells us his opinions of eric alterman v. christopher hitchens on the charlie rose show. (as we discussed below, we missed it. sorry. we were working, what can we say?)
alterman articulately k.o.'ed hitchens friday night on the topic of u.s. foreign policy. and even got to mention that bush and his crew were lying about gulf war 2 (and i still have not seen any other mainstream us journalist say that on tv.) so imho, a first round knockout.
if you get the charlie rose show repeats during the afternoons like where i live, be sure to fire up the vcr for sometime on monday, june 9 (trust me on this.) check your local listings at these 2 areas:
http://www.charlierose.com
http://www.pbs.org
thanks for the email, chris. and we point out that, it's not there yet, but we assume the show will be on the charlie rose archives soon.
posted by skippy at
7:50 PM |
0
comments
and now a word about...kangaroos
our friend laura newton sends us several pages about our cousins down under. in southwest of australia, near the little town of boyup brook, is a wildlife sactuary known as roo gully. and roo gully is home to the "bush gang."
but most interestingly, is that a couple of days after 9/11, the proprietors of roo gully took in a little orphaned roo, and named him "george w of the bush." and little george w, not to be out done by skippy, even has his own theme song.
as long as he doesn't have his own blog, we don't mind.
our friend laura newton sends us several pages about our cousins down under. in southwest of australia, near the little town of boyup brook, is a wildlife sactuary known as roo gully. and roo gully is home to the "bush gang."
but most interestingly, is that a couple of days after 9/11, the proprietors of roo gully took in a little orphaned roo, and named him "george w of the bush." and little george w, not to be out done by skippy, even has his own theme song.
as long as he doesn't have his own blog, we don't mind.
posted by skippy at
7:28 PM |
0
comments
please mr. postman
we get letters from readers and bloggers alerting us to stories of interest:
dr. tom of thinking it through talks about a senior official in awol's homeland security department who bought 3 fake degrees from a wyoming diploma mill.
reader laura newton sends us these links to tell us that santana will donate all the proceeds from his current us tour to artists for the new south africa, a fund-raising group dedicated to fighting aids.
reader chris lark sent us a notice that our bud eric alterman was going to debate christopher hitchens on the charlie rose show. unfortunately, we were in orlando, and we missed it. we are sure eric knocked the wind out of the holocaust-denier.
the democratic veteran blogs about how awol's buddies get high paying contracts to rebuild iraq, but veterans with small businesses get the shaft.
nathan newman blogs about the results in illinois of democratic control of all branches of the government, and he rates those results as "stunning."
we get letters from readers and bloggers alerting us to stories of interest:
dr. tom of thinking it through talks about a senior official in awol's homeland security department who bought 3 fake degrees from a wyoming diploma mill.
reader laura newton sends us these links to tell us that santana will donate all the proceeds from his current us tour to artists for the new south africa, a fund-raising group dedicated to fighting aids.
reader chris lark sent us a notice that our bud eric alterman was going to debate christopher hitchens on the charlie rose show. unfortunately, we were in orlando, and we missed it. we are sure eric knocked the wind out of the holocaust-denier.
the democratic veteran blogs about how awol's buddies get high paying contracts to rebuild iraq, but veterans with small businesses get the shaft.
nathan newman blogs about the results in illinois of democratic control of all branches of the government, and he rates those results as "stunning."
posted by skippy at
7:04 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
12:43 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
liberal oasis rightly asks why the democratic leadership council is being such a snot about its own rank and file.
a couple of articles on the smirking chimp ponder impeachment for lying about the reasons to go to war.
liberal oasis rightly asks why the democratic leadership council is being such a snot about its own rank and file.
a couple of articles on the smirking chimp ponder impeachment for lying about the reasons to go to war.
posted by skippy at
12:35 PM |
0
comments
it's official...we have now entered bizarro world
we say we're in bizarro world because the only democrat saying anything about awol's deceit and manipulations is a senile old klan member. we hate to take sides with such a man, but sen. robert byrd is the only person in congress with enough guts to tell it like it is:
we have waged a costly war against iraq. we have prevailed. but, we are still losing american lives in that nation. and the troubled situation there is far from settled. american troops will likely be needed there for years. billions of american tax dollars will continue to be needed to rebuild. i only hope that we have not won the war only to lose the peace. until we have determined the fate of iraq's weapons of mass destruction, or determined that they, in fact, did not exist, we cannot rest, we cannot claim victory.
we say we're in bizarro world because the only democrat saying anything about awol's deceit and manipulations is a senile old klan member. we hate to take sides with such a man, but sen. robert byrd is the only person in congress with enough guts to tell it like it is:
we have waged a costly war against iraq. we have prevailed. but, we are still losing american lives in that nation. and the troubled situation there is far from settled. american troops will likely be needed there for years. billions of american tax dollars will continue to be needed to rebuild. i only hope that we have not won the war only to lose the peace. until we have determined the fate of iraq's weapons of mass destruction, or determined that they, in fact, did not exist, we cannot rest, we cannot claim victory.
posted by skippy at
12:33 PM |
0
comments
and the war in afghanistan is over, too
meanwhile, a couple of countries over, a car bomb blast in kabul, afganistan, killed several people, including german soldiers who were acting as peace keepers.
different reports vary on the exact number killed, but up to 30 people were injured, when a taxi drove up next to a bus carrying the soldiers, and exploded.
meanwhile, a couple of countries over, a car bomb blast in kabul, afganistan, killed several people, including german soldiers who were acting as peace keepers.
different reports vary on the exact number killed, but up to 30 people were injured, when a taxi drove up next to a bus carrying the soldiers, and exploded.
posted by skippy at
12:28 PM |
0
comments
brothers can't you see, this is not the way we put the end to war?
another u.s. soldier was shot and killed today in iraq, in an ambush-style attack near saddam's home of tikrit, says the voice of america.
four other soldiers were wounded in the attack. the voa says:
the attack was similar to one thursday west of baghdad in the town of fallujah, when one u.s. soldier was killed and five were wounded. many residents in fallujah have said they will continue to resist coalition forces, which have come under a spate of attacks since saddam hussein was ousted from power.
"u.s. military commanders say the attacks are not well organized," the report goes on to say.
tell that to the dead guys.
another u.s. soldier was shot and killed today in iraq, in an ambush-style attack near saddam's home of tikrit, says the voice of america.
four other soldiers were wounded in the attack. the voa says:
the attack was similar to one thursday west of baghdad in the town of fallujah, when one u.s. soldier was killed and five were wounded. many residents in fallujah have said they will continue to resist coalition forces, which have come under a spate of attacks since saddam hussein was ousted from power.
"u.s. military commanders say the attacks are not well organized," the report goes on to say.
tell that to the dead guys.
posted by skippy at
12:16 PM |
0
comments
Friday, June 06, 2003
posted by skippy at
9:09 PM |
0
comments
gee, but it's good to be back home again
skippy and his staff are back home from a week of rainy work in orlando florida. we are all happy to be back in familiar surroundings.
however, we are all pretty jet lagged, so there will be no topical posting today. however, we did manage to catch on the news that more and more people are asking questions about the missing wmd's, and also the rising unemployment rate (the highest in nine years). luckily for us, skippy is no longer among those numbers, at least not this week! [ed. note: however, skippy is so jet lagged, he keeps over-using the word "however."]
also, we don't know anything about no wmd's!
thanks so much for the good wishes about our work. it was just a one week job, but it should pay pretty well. however [see ed. note above], everyone is back home in california, and we hope to resume regular blogging tomorrow.
in the mean time, did anybody find any more cats that hate you?
skippy and his staff are back home from a week of rainy work in orlando florida. we are all happy to be back in familiar surroundings.
however, we are all pretty jet lagged, so there will be no topical posting today. however, we did manage to catch on the news that more and more people are asking questions about the missing wmd's, and also the rising unemployment rate (the highest in nine years). luckily for us, skippy is no longer among those numbers, at least not this week! [ed. note: however, skippy is so jet lagged, he keeps over-using the word "however."]
also, we don't know anything about no wmd's!
thanks so much for the good wishes about our work. it was just a one week job, but it should pay pretty well. however [see ed. note above], everyone is back home in california, and we hope to resume regular blogging tomorrow.
in the mean time, did anybody find any more cats that hate you?
posted by skippy at
8:58 PM |
0
comments
Monday, June 02, 2003
good news, bad news
the good news is, skippy got a job!
the bad news is, it's in orlando, florida, which precludes any blogging skippy would want to do this week.
(the other good news is, skippy's never been to orlando, and he loves to see new places).
look for some new posts later on this weekend. in the mean time, visit anyone of the great blogs on our blog roll. we especially recommend this one.
the good news is, skippy got a job!
the bad news is, it's in orlando, florida, which precludes any blogging skippy would want to do this week.
(the other good news is, skippy's never been to orlando, and he loves to see new places).
look for some new posts later on this weekend. in the mean time, visit anyone of the great blogs on our blog roll. we especially recommend this one.
posted by skippy at
8:31 PM |
0
comments
monopoly isn't just a game from parker brothers
in case you haven't heard, mikey and the fcc voted to relax the rules on media ownership today, despite all your fine and hard work to convince them otherwise. talkleft has the lowdown, and ruminate this has the specifics, while the guardian has the blow-by-blow account.
we don't know how the senate thinks it can do anything (in light of how it has refused to do anything in the past 3 years) but cnnmoney reports that some senators are seeking to roll back the rule adopted today by the fcc:
a bipartisan group of senators opposed to television networks expanding their reach expressed confidence they had the votes to roll back a rule adopted by communications regulators monday.
the group said it was pressing ahead with legislation to retain limits keeping a network from owning stations that together reach more than 35 percent of the national audience.
and here's something scary: trent lott said something we were happy to hear:
"a lot of republicans, in fact, probably most of the republicans in congress, would not agree with this decision," said lott, the former republican leader of the senate.
good luck, senators! you'll need it!
in case you haven't heard, mikey and the fcc voted to relax the rules on media ownership today, despite all your fine and hard work to convince them otherwise. talkleft has the lowdown, and ruminate this has the specifics, while the guardian has the blow-by-blow account.
we don't know how the senate thinks it can do anything (in light of how it has refused to do anything in the past 3 years) but cnnmoney reports that some senators are seeking to roll back the rule adopted today by the fcc:
a bipartisan group of senators opposed to television networks expanding their reach expressed confidence they had the votes to roll back a rule adopted by communications regulators monday.
the group said it was pressing ahead with legislation to retain limits keeping a network from owning stations that together reach more than 35 percent of the national audience.
and here's something scary: trent lott said something we were happy to hear:
"a lot of republicans, in fact, probably most of the republicans in congress, would not agree with this decision," said lott, the former republican leader of the senate.
good luck, senators! you'll need it!
posted by skippy at
8:27 PM |
0
comments
stuffing the cyber ballot box
we're not sure why we're doing this, or even exactly what it is we're doing, but here's a link to mac-a-ronies' piece about anger in the blogosphere. apparently, linking to it helps her in the truth laid bear's new blog contest, so, go get em' mac!
(let us be clear about two things: one, we love mac-a-ronies, as evidence by our inclusion of her fine blog on our blogroll. but, two, we would have been happier to link to her piece had it been called anger in blogtopia, because, yes! we coined that phrase!)
we're not sure why we're doing this, or even exactly what it is we're doing, but here's a link to mac-a-ronies' piece about anger in the blogosphere. apparently, linking to it helps her in the truth laid bear's new blog contest, so, go get em' mac!
(let us be clear about two things: one, we love mac-a-ronies, as evidence by our inclusion of her fine blog on our blogroll. but, two, we would have been happier to link to her piece had it been called anger in blogtopia, because, yes! we coined that phrase!)
posted by skippy at
8:16 PM |
0
comments
soundly bitten
our bud oliver willis directs us to this nice piece by greg beato (you know him as soundbitten) about the power of lefty bloggers:
currently, blogs and other forms of independent web media are the new talk-radio: informal, flexible, personal, and participatory, they engage people in a way that more institutionalized forms of media find it difficult to match. and, thus, with little fanfare and less funding, a liberal network of sorts has already arisen on the web, not through the efforts of influential party operatives scheming in back rooms or well-funded corporate visionaries, but rather through thousands of individuals eager to help disseminate information and express their opinions.
gee! we didn't know we were the new talk radio! in that case, buy gold bond powder, and natural erection cream!
our bud oliver willis directs us to this nice piece by greg beato (you know him as soundbitten) about the power of lefty bloggers:
currently, blogs and other forms of independent web media are the new talk-radio: informal, flexible, personal, and participatory, they engage people in a way that more institutionalized forms of media find it difficult to match. and, thus, with little fanfare and less funding, a liberal network of sorts has already arisen on the web, not through the efforts of influential party operatives scheming in back rooms or well-funded corporate visionaries, but rather through thousands of individuals eager to help disseminate information and express their opinions.
gee! we didn't know we were the new talk radio! in that case, buy gold bond powder, and natural erection cream!
posted by skippy at
8:07 PM |
0
comments
gee, ate somethin' disagreeable?
still a lot of dissent in the streets over in switzerland, where the g8 summit is wrapping up. ic wales reports that g8 protest descends into violence.
for more than nine hours, police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon against several thousand militants who rampaged through geneva's elegant streets…
the protesters looted petrol stations, pharmacies and other shops, leaving central geneva in chaos and its self-described status as a "city of peace" in tatters.
only a handful of shops were left intact - mainly those which had anti-g8 or anti-war banners in their windows. even the bullet-proof windows of big banks were smashed.
here's the indymedia uk's take on the protests today, and here's a page of links to various stories of what went on there tomorrow (remember, the past happened earlier over there than back here. what?)
still a lot of dissent in the streets over in switzerland, where the g8 summit is wrapping up. ic wales reports that g8 protest descends into violence.
for more than nine hours, police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon against several thousand militants who rampaged through geneva's elegant streets…
the protesters looted petrol stations, pharmacies and other shops, leaving central geneva in chaos and its self-described status as a "city of peace" in tatters.
only a handful of shops were left intact - mainly those which had anti-g8 or anti-war banners in their windows. even the bullet-proof windows of big banks were smashed.
here's the indymedia uk's take on the protests today, and here's a page of links to various stories of what went on there tomorrow (remember, the past happened earlier over there than back here. what?)
posted by skippy at
7:58 PM |
0
comments
lies and the big fat liars
here's a couple of run-downs on the franken v. o'reilly fight (or the bandages in los angeles, as our intern called it) seen this weekend on cspan 2's looks at books. one account from a buzzflash reader, and another from usatoday.
here's a couple of run-downs on the franken v. o'reilly fight (or the bandages in los angeles, as our intern called it) seen this weekend on cspan 2's looks at books. one account from a buzzflash reader, and another from usatoday.
posted by skippy at
7:50 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
7:44 PM |
0
comments
but i wanna tell ya
we are a bit belated in wishing bob hope a happy 100th birthday.
bob hope has always been one of our favorites, and skippy was actually lucky enough in the 80's to meet mr. hope, when skippy warmed up the audience for a taping of "this is your life" in which bob participated.
although bob's monologue jokes were always pretty tame, they were, at least, non-partisan...or should we say, omni-partisan, as he made fun of everybody, no matter what his political leanings were (and he leaned pretty damn far to the right, let us assure you). as the modesto bee says:
he needled or mocked every president since fdr without ever being insulting. and throughout, hope ventured abroad every holiday season for decades to wherever american troops were in harm's way, entertaining and saluting them in the way he knew best.
but it wasn't really bob's jokes on tv that makes us admiring him so much, as his incredible list of movie comedies. especially when partnered with his old friend bing crosby in those silly road pictures (which, we think gave the zucker brothers some ideas), bob had a lightness and grace in in performance that you usually don't find with comedians.
and americans of all political stripes can only applaud bob's annual visits to our troops overseas. we know if his health would have permitted it, he would have been in iraq this year, too.
happy birthday, bob!
we are a bit belated in wishing bob hope a happy 100th birthday.
bob hope has always been one of our favorites, and skippy was actually lucky enough in the 80's to meet mr. hope, when skippy warmed up the audience for a taping of "this is your life" in which bob participated.
although bob's monologue jokes were always pretty tame, they were, at least, non-partisan...or should we say, omni-partisan, as he made fun of everybody, no matter what his political leanings were (and he leaned pretty damn far to the right, let us assure you). as the modesto bee says:
he needled or mocked every president since fdr without ever being insulting. and throughout, hope ventured abroad every holiday season for decades to wherever american troops were in harm's way, entertaining and saluting them in the way he knew best.
but it wasn't really bob's jokes on tv that makes us admiring him so much, as his incredible list of movie comedies. especially when partnered with his old friend bing crosby in those silly road pictures (which, we think gave the zucker brothers some ideas), bob had a lightness and grace in in performance that you usually don't find with comedians.
and americans of all political stripes can only applaud bob's annual visits to our troops overseas. we know if his health would have permitted it, he would have been in iraq this year, too.
happy birthday, bob!
posted by skippy at
5:24 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
5:05 PM |
0
comments
fan mail
some fellow blogges have alerted us to their latest...
eric at the hamster is very proud of his series on o'reilly's no-truth zone...
nathan newman discusses the gop's hypocrisy on federalism...
our bud laura newton directs us to a few items: hatespeak 101 from buzzflash, as well as this miami herald piece on personal accountability, and this one on being human. plus, she recommends this site: goliberal.org.
some fellow blogges have alerted us to their latest...
eric at the hamster is very proud of his series on o'reilly's no-truth zone...
nathan newman discusses the gop's hypocrisy on federalism...
our bud laura newton directs us to a few items: hatespeak 101 from buzzflash, as well as this miami herald piece on personal accountability, and this one on being human. plus, she recommends this site: goliberal.org.
posted by skippy at
4:57 PM |
0
comments
Sunday, June 01, 2003
but how do you feel about your son's plans for the fcc, gen. powell?
bob harris, blogging over on tom tomorrow's site, links us to this week's us news & world report, which reports that colin powell was having major difficulties toeing the party line about saddam and the wmd's before the war:
for six hours that saturday, the men and women of the bush administration argued about what secretary of state colin powell should--and should not--say at the united nations security council four days later. not all the secret intelligence about saddam hussein's misdeeds, they found, stood up to close scrutiny. at one point during the rehearsal, powell tossed several pages in the air. "i'm not reading this," he declared. "this is bulls- - -."
[ed. note: the word is "shit." "bull...shit." please make a note of it]
bob harris, blogging over on tom tomorrow's site, links us to this week's us news & world report, which reports that colin powell was having major difficulties toeing the party line about saddam and the wmd's before the war:
for six hours that saturday, the men and women of the bush administration argued about what secretary of state colin powell should--and should not--say at the united nations security council four days later. not all the secret intelligence about saddam hussein's misdeeds, they found, stood up to close scrutiny. at one point during the rehearsal, powell tossed several pages in the air. "i'm not reading this," he declared. "this is bulls- - -."
[ed. note: the word is "shit." "bull...shit." please make a note of it]
posted by skippy at
11:43 PM |
0
comments
to be chung, gifted, and back
back on the unemployment line, that is. cnnlies tells us that connie chung's show on cnn has been cancelled, effective immediately. rather than stay and hold paula zahn's water, connie has opted to leave the network, and run back to the waiting arms of maury povich.
back on the unemployment line, that is. cnnlies tells us that connie chung's show on cnn has been cancelled, effective immediately. rather than stay and hold paula zahn's water, connie has opted to leave the network, and run back to the waiting arms of maury povich.
posted by skippy at
11:38 PM |
0
comments
for unwary citizens knowledgable youth outrages unequivocably
romenesko directs us to a story about the sort of prank we'd have done ourselves in high school:
lawrence central high school senior drew lamar used his column in the may 20 cub reporter to direct an obscenity at a faculty member. he used the first letter of each paragraph to spell out the message.
"we would have never known if it hadn't been for another student telling us," said mary ann burden, lawrence central assistant principal. "(drew) is a well-behaved, decent young man who just had a lapse in judgment."
the kid is suspended for the last 8 days of school and will not be allowed to attend graduation. but we'd have to ask, is that a punishment?
romenesko directs us to a story about the sort of prank we'd have done ourselves in high school:
lawrence central high school senior drew lamar used his column in the may 20 cub reporter to direct an obscenity at a faculty member. he used the first letter of each paragraph to spell out the message.
"we would have never known if it hadn't been for another student telling us," said mary ann burden, lawrence central assistant principal. "(drew) is a well-behaved, decent young man who just had a lapse in judgment."
the kid is suspended for the last 8 days of school and will not be allowed to attend graduation. but we'd have to ask, is that a punishment?
posted by skippy at
11:33 PM |
0
comments
blog roll additions
we are happy to add some new blogs to our blog roll: including k-marx and i protest and from the inside looking out.
we are happy to add some new blogs to our blog roll: including k-marx and i protest and from the inside looking out.
posted by skippy at
11:22 PM |
0
comments
weapons? we don't need no stinkin' weapons
as the world pressure mounts on blair and awol to explain why nobody is finding any of those wmd's in iraq, we'd like to address donald rumsfeld's assertion that saddam may have destroyed them all before the war.
let's just think about that for a second. the scene: baghdad, in late march...
hey, saddam, there's going to be a big war! what should we do?
well, first thing we've got to do is destroy all our weapons. we surely won't need any weapons in a war!
yeah. that makes sense to us.
as the world pressure mounts on blair and awol to explain why nobody is finding any of those wmd's in iraq, we'd like to address donald rumsfeld's assertion that saddam may have destroyed them all before the war.
let's just think about that for a second. the scene: baghdad, in late march...
hey, saddam, there's going to be a big war! what should we do?
well, first thing we've got to do is destroy all our weapons. we surely won't need any weapons in a war!
yeah. that makes sense to us.
posted by skippy at
6:42 PM |
0
comments
we know the feeling
looks like sassafrass had to get a day job...so he won't be blogging as regularly. but be sure to stop by his blog every so often to see if he's able to post something now and then.
and let's not forget that eric at the hamster is back, blogging better than ever!
looks like sassafrass had to get a day job...so he won't be blogging as regularly. but be sure to stop by his blog every so often to see if he's able to post something now and then.
and let's not forget that eric at the hamster is back, blogging better than ever!
posted by skippy at
6:34 PM |
0
comments
good thing the war's over
another us soldier was killed in iraq today, along with two iraqi's, in a grenade attack on a tank in central baghdad, says reuters.
it's things like that, plus not being able to come home after "liberating" baghdad, that gives our troops low morale. drudge reports that
"the soldiers are irritated and tired," said capt. christopher carter, the commander of company a, 3-7 infantry.
"of course, they are going to go in and do the job, and they will do it professionally as if they had been told all along that they were going to have to do it," he said. "but they almost feel betrayed. you put a nice prize in front of them and now you yank it away from them."
(thanks to antiwar.com for the links!)
another us soldier was killed in iraq today, along with two iraqi's, in a grenade attack on a tank in central baghdad, says reuters.
it's things like that, plus not being able to come home after "liberating" baghdad, that gives our troops low morale. drudge reports that
"the soldiers are irritated and tired," said capt. christopher carter, the commander of company a, 3-7 infantry.
"of course, they are going to go in and do the job, and they will do it professionally as if they had been told all along that they were going to have to do it," he said. "but they almost feel betrayed. you put a nice prize in front of them and now you yank it away from them."
(thanks to antiwar.com for the links!)
posted by skippy at
6:31 PM |
0
comments
bottled water riots
usually peaceful switzerland finds itself to be host to a major series of violent confrontations today, as european protesters create havok at the g8 summit in alpine towns near evian, where the industrialized nations' leaders are meeting:
in lausanne, one man was seriously injured and six others, including two police officers, were wounded in a two-hour assault in which protesters smashed windows, destroyed three gas stations, looting one of them as well as a grocery. vandals also uprooted parking signs, billboards, benches and threw them in the road. they spray painted slogans in four languages along office buildings, shops, bus stops and people's homes
belgium indymedia reports the police are firing rubber bullets at the protesters. uk indymedia reports use of water cannons and "unlimited supplies of tear gas." here is an account of the day's happenings (updated frequently) from indymedia's dispatching system.
one young man was seriously injured when a policeman cut the rope the man was using to dangle from an overpass...apparently the policeman did not know there was a human being on the other end of it, reports say.
meanwhile, inside the meetings, awol has kissed and made up with putin, but is giving chirac the chilly shoulder still, according to the bbc.
usually peaceful switzerland finds itself to be host to a major series of violent confrontations today, as european protesters create havok at the g8 summit in alpine towns near evian, where the industrialized nations' leaders are meeting:
in lausanne, one man was seriously injured and six others, including two police officers, were wounded in a two-hour assault in which protesters smashed windows, destroyed three gas stations, looting one of them as well as a grocery. vandals also uprooted parking signs, billboards, benches and threw them in the road. they spray painted slogans in four languages along office buildings, shops, bus stops and people's homes
belgium indymedia reports the police are firing rubber bullets at the protesters. uk indymedia reports use of water cannons and "unlimited supplies of tear gas." here is an account of the day's happenings (updated frequently) from indymedia's dispatching system.
one young man was seriously injured when a policeman cut the rope the man was using to dangle from an overpass...apparently the policeman did not know there was a human being on the other end of it, reports say.
meanwhile, inside the meetings, awol has kissed and made up with putin, but is giving chirac the chilly shoulder still, according to the bbc.
posted by skippy at
6:26 PM |
0
comments
we have seen the future and it is blogs
our reader sbmail sent us this heads up to the observer's column about blogs vs. big time media: if you really want to know, ask a blogger.
in it, mr. john naughton discusses why the proprietors and creators of big media look down so condescendingly on us bloggers:
on 18 may, for example, one geoffrey nunberg fulminated in the new york times about the fact that whenever one does a google search on any topical issue, the top page rankings often go to blogs rather than established media sources (such as the new york times ). this was, according to nunberg, a bad thing.
mr. naughton deconstructs the prejudices behind this mindset. and we heartily agree with one of his conclusions:
there is the problem - not often touched upon in the new york times, by the way - that many controversial public issues are ignored by big media for the simple reason that the ideological and commercial interests of their proprietors preclude it.
this is why the us mainstream media has wound up misleading its audience about iraq and the 'war' on terrorism. the fact that most us citizens believe a majority of the 9/11 hijackers were iraqis rather than saudis is a case in point.
it's a fine read, even if it doesn't mention us specifically.
our reader sbmail sent us this heads up to the observer's column about blogs vs. big time media: if you really want to know, ask a blogger.
in it, mr. john naughton discusses why the proprietors and creators of big media look down so condescendingly on us bloggers:
on 18 may, for example, one geoffrey nunberg fulminated in the new york times about the fact that whenever one does a google search on any topical issue, the top page rankings often go to blogs rather than established media sources (such as the new york times ). this was, according to nunberg, a bad thing.
mr. naughton deconstructs the prejudices behind this mindset. and we heartily agree with one of his conclusions:
there is the problem - not often touched upon in the new york times, by the way - that many controversial public issues are ignored by big media for the simple reason that the ideological and commercial interests of their proprietors preclude it.
this is why the us mainstream media has wound up misleading its audience about iraq and the 'war' on terrorism. the fact that most us citizens believe a majority of the 9/11 hijackers were iraqis rather than saudis is a case in point.
it's a fine read, even if it doesn't mention us specifically.
posted by skippy at
6:05 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
5:46 PM |
0
comments
It's Skippy the Bush Kangaroo!
- Please Click Our Advertisers!
They need Luv, too!
- Co-Founder of B.A.D.
Vote For Skippy!
- We Lost.
Get Over It.
- Buy a Skippy Tee Shirt!
Just$20$16$15!
Special "We Have to
Unload This Crap" Price!
Email Us For Details
- Jon Stewart Sez : "When I want news, I turn to CNN...and they...turn...to Skippy...the Bush Kangaroo."
- Founder, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Skippy - Environmental Editor
Cookie Jill - Contributors
Jim Yeager
Carnacki
Pudentilla
Tami, the One True
George
- Cartoonist
Brett Penrose
- Skippy Alumni, They Never Write, They Don't Call
Holden Caufield
DBK
RJ Eskow - John, Mike, Nicole & The Gang
- Jane, Christy & The Gang
- Michael Berube
- John Cole
- Kevin Drum
- Gavin & The Snark-O's
- TRex
- Steve & Hilzoy
- Thers & Molly & Some Others
- Sister Blogs
Skippy Jr.
The SkippyPedia
- Blah3
- CorrenteWire
- Cryptome
- Dependable Renegage
- Dohiyi Mir
- Excuse the Mess...
That was Just My Head - First Draft
- Main and Central
- Rising Hegemon
- Scrutiny Hooligans
- The Sideshow
- Suburban Guerilla
- Today in Iraq
- WTF Is It Now?
- Rough & Tumble Cal. Politics
- Your White House
- The Polling Report
- Find Your California Leglislator
- Your Senators
- Your Representatives
- Your Constitution
- Logical Fallacy Index
-
618 Rants and Raves
Agitprop
The Agonist
Allan's Perspective
Altercation
Alternate Brain
Alternet's Peek
All Things Democrat
American Airspace (Berube)
Amahchewahwah
American Politics Journal
And Yes, I Do Take It Personally
Andy Worthington
Ang's Weird Ideas
Annie's Annals Apostropher
Archy
Are You Effin' Kidding Me?
The Aristocrats
B12 Solipsism
Bad Attitudes
Badtux the Snarky Penguin
Balloon Juice
Balls And Walnuts
The Barefoot Bum
Bark Bark Woof Woof
The Barstool Chronicles
Bear Waller Hollar
The BRAD Blog
Beggars Can Be Choosers
Big Brass Blog
Blast Off!
Blogging Out Loud
BlondeSense
Blue Gal
The Blue State
Bride of Acheron
Brilliant at Breakfast
The Broad View
Bring It On
Buddhist Jihad
Bunko Squad
Burned Over District
Buzzflash
Cannablog
Captain Dyke
Chapomatic
Chuck for
Coeruleus
Covert History
Coyote Mercury
The CultureGhost
Cynical Nation
D-Day
The Daily Background
The Daily Blatt
Daisy's Dead Air
dKos Bloggers
Dashiell
Brad De Long
Deb's Quirky Web
Democratic Veteran
Disguested in St. Louis
Distributorcap NY
Deep Confusion
Democratic Underground
DemoKat
Divided We Stand United We Fall
D.R. Scott's Pulp Culture
Drexel Democrats
Driftglass
Drinking Liberally in New Milford
Kevin Drum @ MoJo
Done With Mirrors
Drug War Rant
Down With Tyranny!
Eccentricity
Echidne of the Snakes
Electrolite
Ellen's Illinois 10th Congressional District Blog
Esoterically.net
Evil George's Personal Website
Evil Mommy
Ex Cathedra
Fallenmonk
Faux Real
Feministe
Fiat Lux
Fixer & Gordon
Fold to Combine
Folkbum's Rambles and Rants
Foreign Policy Watch
The Freewayblogger
Froth Slosh B'Gosh
Frieddogleg
The Funny Farm
The Galloping Beaver
Good Nonsense
The Garlic
GOPnot4me
The Great Endarkenment
Great Scat!
Grits for Breakfast
Group News Blog The Grumpy Forester The Gun Toting Liberal The Hackenblog by Ginger Mayerson
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time w/Norbizness
Harp and Sword
Bob Harris
Hartsongs
The Heretik
Hoot at the Dark
How Appealing
Howard-Empowered People
Humor Has It
HyerStandard
I Am TRex
I Don't Like You Either
Iddybud Journal
If I Ran the Zoo
I'm No One to Blog, But...
Immigration Orange
The Immoral Minority
The Impolitic
Incertus
Informed Comment
Instapundit
Internet Ronin
Instaputz
Interrobang's Internationale
Intrepid Liberal Journal
The Jaundiced Eye
Jelly Pizza
Jinky the Cat
Jobsanger
John's Blog
Jonestown
Just An Earth-Bound Misfit
Just Ain't Right
The Kenosha Kid's Blog
Kid Oakland
The Kitchen Sink Collective
Knoxviews
Last Left Turn Before Hooterville
Last One Speaks
Left Blogistan
Lawnorder
Left I on the News
Left in SF
Lean Left
Liberal Catnip
Liberal Common Sense
A Lie A Day
Like Sunday
Linkmeister
Lunaville
Mad Kane
Main St. USA
Man Eegee
Manifesto Joe's Texas Blues
Lance Mannion
Martini Revolution
Media Needle
Middle Earth Journal
Migra Matters
Mister Apologist
Mixter's Mix
A Mockingbird's Medly
The Moderate Man
Moderate Voice
Modulator
Monkeyfister
Moue Magazine
My Left Wing
My Thinking Corner
My Two Cents
My View of It
The Needs of the Few
The Nefarious Lair of LGPPP, Inc.
Newsback
Newscoma
Newshoggers
Newsroom-L.Net
New Pairodimes
Nine Pearls
No Blood for Hubris
No More Apples
No Fish, No Nuts
No More Mister Nice Blog
North Shore Journal
Norwegianity
Notes From Underground
Objectivist v. Constuctivist v. Theist
Olio
OC Progressive
Ole Blue the Heretic
Only Sayin'
Onyx Lynx
The Opinion Mill
Orcinus
Ornery Bastard
Outta the Cornfield
Over the Cliff, Onto the Rocks
P!
Pacific Views
Patriot Daily
Patriside
Peace Tree Farm
Perception Managers
PhysioProf
Pissed on Politics
Play On!
Plucky Punk's Happyland
Plum Crazy
The Political Cat
Political Site of the Day
Politickybitch
Popehat
Proof Through The Night
Pros Before Hos
Pudentilla's Perspective
Pygalgia
Ranger Against War
Rants from the Rookery
Raw Dawg Buffalo
Reality Frame
Real's World
The Reef Ahead
Resident Bush
Rightwingsnarkle
RipCoco
Rodger A. Payne's Blog
Roger Ailes, Over and Out
Rook's Rant
Rubber Hose
Ruminate This
Rumproast
Sack of Monkeys in My Pocket
Scoobie Davis
Scriptoids
The Seminal
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shakesville
The Sideshow
Simply Left Behind
Sisyphus Shrugged
Skimble
Slacktivist
the S.N.A.F.U. principle
Snow Moon
Solarray
Southern Atlantis
Spiiderweb
The Spinning Goth
Spocko's Brain
Spontaneous Arising
Staring at Empty Pages
State of the Day
Staring at Empty Pages
Straight, Not Narrow
SteveAudio
Stinque
Stop the Press!
The Strange Death of Liberal America
Stump Lane
Survivor Left Blogistan
Jon Swift
Talking Dog
TerryFacePlace
Texas Liberal
They Gave Us A Republic... This Blog Will Self-Destruct in 5 Seconds
Tholos of Athena
Three Wise Men
To The Center
Tommyjournal
A Town Called Dobson
Joe Trippi
The Truth Laid Bear
Truth Serum
Two Ton Green Blog
Universal Health Upper Left
Unsolicited Opinion
The Van Der Galien Gazette
Vagabond Scholar
The Vanity Press
Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy
Vidiot Speak
Virgotext
Vodka Pundit
Waiting for Dorothy
Watching Those We Chose
Watergate Summer
Wampumblog
The Washington Monthly
Ian Welsh
Westminster Wisdom
West Virginia Blue
Wet Machine
Where's The Outrage?
Whiskey Fire
The Whole American Hog
Why Now?
The Wild Wild Left
William K. Wolfrum Chronicles
World-O-Crap
WriteChic Press
WTF Is It Now? - tblog
Xoverboard
Zaius Nation
Zen Comix
ZenYenta
- The Bonddad Blog
Calculated Risk
Clive Crook
Brad DeLong
Economist's View
Paul Krugman
Marginal Revolution
Megan McArdle
Mish's Trend Analysis
Naked Capitalism
Roubini's Global EconoMonitor
Brad Setser
Supply and Demand
- DC Media Girl
Hotline's Blogometer
LA Examiner
MediaBloodhound
Media Matters
Media Whores On Line
Meme-orandum
Nova M Radio
Press Think by Jay Rosen
Romenesko
Soundbitten
Sully Watch
Take Back the Media
TV Newser
- Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments
The Biomes Blog
A Blog Around the Clock
Coyote Crossing
Deltoid (Tim Lambert)
Mike the Mad Biologist(Mike)
Pharyngula, by PZ Myers
Respectful Insolence
Wetmachine
- AMCGLTD
Cheek and Bluster
Celebrity Crash
The Daily Cookie
The Countess
Easy Bake Coven
Elayne Riggs
EroticaLee1
EroticaLee2
JC's Designs
Late Nite Mash
The McVlog
Milk River Blog
Miss C Recommends
The Morehead the Merrier
Mostly True Stories
Neargh
Pop Culture Gadabout
Scott's Tip of the Day
- Ayn Clouter
GWBush04
Get Your War On
Ironic Times
The Onion
Scrapple Face
Opinions You Should Have
The White House.org
- current
- July 2002
- August 2002
- September 2002
- October 2002
- November 2002
- December 2002
- January 2003
- February 2003
- March 2003
- April 2003
- May 2003
- June 2003
- July 2003
- August 2003
- September 2003
- October 2003
- November 2003
- December 2003
- January 2004
- February 2004
- March 2004
- April 2004
- May 2004
- June 2004
- July 2004
- August 2004
- September 2004
- October 2004
- November 2004
- December 2004
- January 2005
- February 2005
- March 2005
- April 2005
- May 2005
- June 2005
- July 2005
- August 2005
- September 2005
- October 2005
- November 2005
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- May 2006
- June 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- November 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- July 2007
- August 2007
- September 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- April 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- August 2008
- September 2008
- October 2008
- November 2008
- December 2008
- January 2009
- February 2009
- March 2009
- April 2009
- May 2009
- June 2009
- July 2009
- Illustration by August Pollak
- Design by Lauren Bruce
- Skippy is not responsible for the views and opinions of any website linked to & from this page.
- All Original Material Copyrighted 2009. We can't beleive we have to tell you this, but the writers and proprietors of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo are not responsible for the opinions, ideas, conjectures and snark of any articles linked herein. It's the Internet, Stupid, that's how it works. Ok? Deal with it.
-
Skippy's Daily Reads
Contact
Feeds
Our Peers: Other Winners of the
Comprising The "A List of
B List Blogs" (Shystee)
Some Links You Might Need
Community Blogs
Liberal Blog Advertising Network
Political Blogs That Do Link To Us
Rest In Peace
Economy Blogs (Some Link To Us, Some Don't, But These Days It Pays To Be Informed)
Media Blogs (Some Link To Us, Some Don't)
Science, Technology and Medical Blogs, All Linking To Us
Social Blogs, All Linking To Us
Hateful Blogs, One Of Which Links To Us And We Hate The Others
Humor Blogs, Some Of Which Link To Us, Some Don't (Go Figure)
Archive
Credits
