Saturday, March 31, 2007
we're not kitten
if you're not getting your minimum daily requirement of cute, check out the daily kitten.
Labels: blogtopia
remember, the root of the word 'mortgage' is 'mort'
sean-paul over at the agonist offers this bit of wisdome vis-a-vis the housing bubble and the sub-prime disaster:
remember that old saw about how a conservative is a liberal who got mugged? well, elizabeth warren, a while back turned it around and said, "today a liberal is a conservative who was foreclosed."
the reuters piece that the agonist points us to confirms elizabeth's musing:josh rosner, managing director at investment research firm graham fisher & co., says the growing numbers of foreclosures outside the subprime market is just the start.
"to define the problem as a subprime problem is short-sighted," rosner said. "it's really seeing the tip of the iceberg as the iceberg."
and seeing the administration as the crew of the titanic..."to define the problem as a subprime problem is short-sighted," rosner said. "it's really seeing the tip of the iceberg as the iceberg."
Labels: economy, housing bubble
a new voice in the wilderness
vidiot speak would like us to join them in welcoming a new blogger to their site...global patriot worker.
Labels: blogtopia, vidiot speak
say hello
to billycreek, who has dumped duncan from their blogroll.
be sure to say hi to the twins, lucy mae and marigny elizabeth while you're there.
be sure to say hi to the twins, lucy mae and marigny elizabeth while you're there.
Labels: say hello
the town crier: if aWol were king...
via c&l, former judge catherine crier lays into awol:
crier: in the last six years this president has assumed more power than any president in history…
crier: how about the other matters in the king's court…former wh counsel harriet miers would now be a supreme court justice. michael brown would still be head of fema because as you know he did a " heckofajob." donald rumsfeld would still be secretary of defense because of his marvelous handling of the iraq war. and former gay prostittute jeff gannon, a mysterious member of the wh press corp. might now be sitting in helen thomas's seat….
nice use of the hanging guckert in that sentence structure...crier: how about the other matters in the king's court…former wh counsel harriet miers would now be a supreme court justice. michael brown would still be head of fema because as you know he did a " heckofajob." donald rumsfeld would still be secretary of defense because of his marvelous handling of the iraq war. and former gay prostittute jeff gannon, a mysterious member of the wh press corp. might now be sitting in helen thomas's seat….
Labels: aWol, constitution, multi-millionaire media
cue the talking heads: we're casting a vote to nowhere...
scott shane, writing in the nytimes, manages to both disallow and encourage, at the same time, the two bills passed by congress setting a timetable for withdrawl from iraq:
as has been expressed all over blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase, the left...the responsible left, at that...has been vocal and calmly analytical for the past 4 years in its reasons to not invade, occupy and continually fight in iraq.
it's only been recently that the voices of the left have been given any credibility...and unfortunately, that's mostly because the voices of the right have squandered their own credibility on corruption and incompetence.
we have no illusions that, had the right been proven even 1/10th as smart as they portrayed themselves, the left would still be relegated to the "nutty uncle who doesnt' wipe himself and mumbles about aliens" category.
luckily for us this administration is so incompetent that it makes hoover look like wilson, wilson look like roosevelt, and roosevelt look like the other roosevelt.
for a start, the two very different spending bills passed in the last 10 days have yet to be reconciled and president bush has promised a veto, with a veto override quite unlikely.
but that isn’t to say the votes were meaningless, judging from the last slow-motion collision of a wartime president and the antiwar voices in congress.
historians of the vietnam era suggest that those who look to congress for decisive action to end the current war will be disappointed. but they say that today, just as in the 1960s and 70s, congress both reflects and amplifies public disillusionment; its votes, however symbolic, could set political limits on the president’s options.
“congress becomes the public voice of opposition,” said robert dallek, the presidential historian, who has dissected the interaction of congress with both lyndon b. johnson and richard m. nixon. “and it’s happening more quickly this time because iraq stands in the shadow of vietnam.”
after a not-brief-enough review of the history of the viet nam conflict thru congressional eyes, including the fulbright hearings (which mr. shane says "made public the private doubts of key members of congress"), the piece seems to conclude that congressional opposition to awol's war is the beginning of the end, tho with the caveat that the end might take a long time in coming.but that isn’t to say the votes were meaningless, judging from the last slow-motion collision of a wartime president and the antiwar voices in congress.
historians of the vietnam era suggest that those who look to congress for decisive action to end the current war will be disappointed. but they say that today, just as in the 1960s and 70s, congress both reflects and amplifies public disillusionment; its votes, however symbolic, could set political limits on the president’s options.
“congress becomes the public voice of opposition,” said robert dallek, the presidential historian, who has dissected the interaction of congress with both lyndon b. johnson and richard m. nixon. “and it’s happening more quickly this time because iraq stands in the shadow of vietnam.”
one striking fact from the vietnam history — and a cautionary tale for iraq today — is how long it took to disengage. the pullout came fully seven years after the fulbright hearings first highlighted skepticism about american goals and capabilities.
“congress is an incremental institution,” said julian zelizer of boston university, who writes about the politics of national security. “that’s its flaw and its virtue.”
mr. brigham, of vassar, said the slow pace illustrates “an old adage, but a good one: it’s a lot harder to get out of a war than to get into one.”
we would hope mr. shane's right about his implication that an opposing congress signals the end of our involvement in the civil war over in iraq. but we'd disagree that congress is bellweather of public opposition to the war.“congress is an incremental institution,” said julian zelizer of boston university, who writes about the politics of national security. “that’s its flaw and its virtue.”
mr. brigham, of vassar, said the slow pace illustrates “an old adage, but a good one: it’s a lot harder to get out of a war than to get into one.”
as has been expressed all over blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase, the left...the responsible left, at that...has been vocal and calmly analytical for the past 4 years in its reasons to not invade, occupy and continually fight in iraq.
it's only been recently that the voices of the left have been given any credibility...and unfortunately, that's mostly because the voices of the right have squandered their own credibility on corruption and incompetence.
we have no illusions that, had the right been proven even 1/10th as smart as they portrayed themselves, the left would still be relegated to the "nutty uncle who doesnt' wipe himself and mumbles about aliens" category.
luckily for us this administration is so incompetent that it makes hoover look like wilson, wilson look like roosevelt, and roosevelt look like the other roosevelt.
Labels: history, iraq war, middle east, vietnam
skippy's saturday nite music club
ludwig van beethoven - symphonie no. 9 in d minor, opus 125
4th movement (part 2...the good part) - "ode to joy"
leonard bernstein conducting, among others, the chor des bayerischen rundfunks & rundfunkchor berlin; symphonieorchester des bayerischen rundfunks & members of the sachsische staatskapelle dresden, orchestra of the kirov theatre, london symphony orchestra, new york philharmonic, orchestre de paris
with june anderson, soprano; sarah walker, mezzo-soprano; klaus könig, tenor;and jan-hendrik rootering, bass.
recorded live in schauspielhaus, berlin, december 1989. naxos, the music label that has released this cd, tells us about this concert:
the fall of the berlin wall on november 1989 unleashed a wave of democratisation in central and eastern europe that radically transformed the world order. in a typically grandiose yet eloquent gesture, leonard bernstein spontaneously accepted an invitation to conduct a performance of beethoven’s ninth symphony to celebrate this freedom
in a typically grandiose yet eloquent gesture, bernstein spontaneously accepted an invitation to conduct a performance of beethoven’s ninth symphony to celebrate this freedom
adding to the symbolism of the event, bernstein conducted an orchestra and chorus formed of musicians from both east and west germany (bavarian radio symphony orchestra, staatskapelle dresden), as well as the united states (new york philharmonic), great britain (london symphony), france (orchestre de paris) and the soviet union (orchestra of the kirov theater)
for the true afficianados, here's part 3in a typically grandiose yet eloquent gesture, bernstein spontaneously accepted an invitation to conduct a performance of beethoven’s ninth symphony to celebrate this freedom
adding to the symbolism of the event, bernstein conducted an orchestra and chorus formed of musicians from both east and west germany (bavarian radio symphony orchestra, staatskapelle dresden), as well as the united states (new york philharmonic), great britain (london symphony), france (orchestre de paris) and the soviet union (orchestra of the kirov theater)
and part 4
and if you really want it, you can find part one here.
Labels: skippy's music club
the talking dog talks gitmo
the talking dog interviews professor marc falkoff, who, the dog tells, us, is
of northern illinois university law school, co-counsel to 17 yemenis [currently detained in guantanamo bay]... what we learn from professor falkoff is that a number of his clients are in bad shape (on hunger strike, or otherwise in distress), that a number of his clients are now-- and have been for years-- on our military's transferrable list, meaning they have been found to pose no threat, but are held anyway while we screw around talking to their home country, that prof. falkoff is working on a book of detainee poetry, and that a new history of the afghan conflict is coming out showing that our military simply made a mistake of which column to attack out of tora bora, so even though they missed the al qaeda leadership and fighters, they decided that the fleeing civilians they captured were the al qaeda fighters... notwithstanding that they weren't!
Labels: guantanamo bay, war on terror
swift boats are a'comin' there's lyin' tonight
margie burns, who was the libby correspondent for the brad blog, reports that the washpost is wasting no time swift boating special prosecutor patrick fitzgerald:
on tuesday, march 20, the post ran a front-page article on the doj-u.s. attorneys scandal that led off:
this juicy lede graf was followed up:
u.s. attorney patrick j. fitzgerald was ranked among prosecutors who had ‘not distinguished themselves’ on a justice department chart sent to the white house in march 2005, when he was in the midst of leading the cia leak investigation...
the item was sourced to unnamed “administration officials” who gave it to two wapo reporters “yesterday.”this juicy lede graf was followed up:
the ranking placed fitzgerald below "strong u.s. attorneys..." but above "weak u.s. attorneys who...chafed against administration initiatives, etc.," according to justice documents.
the major problem with this story? it’s not true. the department of justice never 'ranked' u.s. attorney fitzgerald negatively or as 'undistinguished.' according to sworn testimony by d. kyle sampson, today in the senate judiciary committee, fitzgerald was rated 'very strong' internally in the doj.Labels: fitzgerald, multi-millionaire media
way back when...
during the earth's infancy, this overbearing single parent who answered to god firmly told his son and daughter, who were named adam and eve, "you kids see this here tree of the knowledge of good and evil? you shall not eat the fruit of this tree under any circumstances, or you shall die. period. your father has spoken. now go play with the animals."
while they were out playing, along came this english-speaking serpent, whose name i forget. (many devout chrsitians i know of insist that his name was satan, but i don't believe that. i'll explain why in a moment.) he told adam and eve that they would not die if they ate from the tree of knowledge: "no, kids. instead, you will become just like god, knowing good and evil." it turned out that he was right -- the kids ate some forbidden fruit, they didn't die, and they suddenly developed an affinity for fig leaves. (the only satan i know of is a pathological liar. the serpent told the truth. QED, people.)
well, when god found out about this, he didn't like it one bit. he got sooo pissed off, in fact, that he banished his own son and daughter from eden for life -- and for good measure, he forced that unfortunate serpent to spend the rest of his life subsisting on a diet of dust, just for telling the truth. and wouldn't ya know, our species proceeded to go steadily downhill, from cain to ann coulter, with precious but damned few temporary reversals occurring throughout our descent. most people seem to blame the serpent for our situation. i blame god himself. he was the one who created the tree of knowledge -- had he not done that, sin would never have come into being, and we'd all be living in blissful ignorance of our nakedness in the garden. bastid.
however...
(this is what happens when i get all existential [not that i'm complaining]...)
while they were out playing, along came this english-speaking serpent, whose name i forget. (many devout chrsitians i know of insist that his name was satan, but i don't believe that. i'll explain why in a moment.) he told adam and eve that they would not die if they ate from the tree of knowledge: "no, kids. instead, you will become just like god, knowing good and evil." it turned out that he was right -- the kids ate some forbidden fruit, they didn't die, and they suddenly developed an affinity for fig leaves. (the only satan i know of is a pathological liar. the serpent told the truth. QED, people.)
well, when god found out about this, he didn't like it one bit. he got sooo pissed off, in fact, that he banished his own son and daughter from eden for life -- and for good measure, he forced that unfortunate serpent to spend the rest of his life subsisting on a diet of dust, just for telling the truth. and wouldn't ya know, our species proceeded to go steadily downhill, from cain to ann coulter, with precious but damned few temporary reversals occurring throughout our descent. most people seem to blame the serpent for our situation. i blame god himself. he was the one who created the tree of knowledge -- had he not done that, sin would never have come into being, and we'd all be living in blissful ignorance of our nakedness in the garden. bastid.
however...
(this is what happens when i get all existential [not that i'm complaining]...)
Friday, March 30, 2007
hard times in the big easy
athenae at first draft has posted some pics and description of the sights and scenes she and the other volunteers are finding on their trek to new orleans to help gut some katrina-ravaged houses:
what you don't want, what you aggressively don't want, when you're going through something, is some comfortably situated loudmouth telling you they know exactly what you're going through. misery hates company. misery hates shallowness more. misery hates, above all, being lectured at. we came to put our hands to use places where they could be used. i came, having been here as a child only once and only briefly (there was a doll shop, and a doll with a purple hat with ostrich feathers, and the raised graves concerned me, is all i remember). the light is different and the streets are narrow and everything smells sweet, like something baking, and this is what we saw, around the city, today.
people communicated through markings on houses, a code: who was here, when, what they found and what they left. a dog is trapped, in black spraypaint. no pets, in green. one body, marked in red. people painted their own street signs, because nobody else did it and it had to be done. in the lower 9th ward, there are electrical cables lying across the road ways. there is a house sitting on a car.
there were tourists on the plane, necks wrapped with beads, drunk and silly and out for a good time. the plane was full, the quarter crowded. a five minute drive away and it's a ghost town. two men sitting on a blue porch on a street called forstall (which makes me think fore·stall [fohr-stawl, fawr-] verb, to prevent, hinder, or thwart by action in advance; to act beforehand with or get ahead of; anticipate) wave at us as we drive past. they once lived on a block of houses. they're all alone now, other houses in the 9th having been torn down. weeds creep up past the level of the stoops that still stand there, ivy reclaiming the debris.
the school's fence is crushed like a giant stepped on it. the house behind mary, the windows were blown out, broken glass everywhere. the lord is with thee. she's standing watch, blessed among women, her and the kid with the visor and stop sign warning us that there's road work ahead and to turn back.
go check out athena's pics. and while you're at it, donate some $$ to their trip coffers. or, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and help!people communicated through markings on houses, a code: who was here, when, what they found and what they left. a dog is trapped, in black spraypaint. no pets, in green. one body, marked in red. people painted their own street signs, because nobody else did it and it had to be done. in the lower 9th ward, there are electrical cables lying across the road ways. there is a house sitting on a car.
there were tourists on the plane, necks wrapped with beads, drunk and silly and out for a good time. the plane was full, the quarter crowded. a five minute drive away and it's a ghost town. two men sitting on a blue porch on a street called forstall (which makes me think fore·stall [fohr-stawl, fawr-] verb, to prevent, hinder, or thwart by action in advance; to act beforehand with or get ahead of; anticipate) wave at us as we drive past. they once lived on a block of houses. they're all alone now, other houses in the 9th having been torn down. weeds creep up past the level of the stoops that still stand there, ivy reclaiming the debris.
the school's fence is crushed like a giant stepped on it. the house behind mary, the windows were blown out, broken glass everywhere. the lord is with thee. she's standing watch, blessed among women, her and the kid with the visor and stop sign warning us that there's road work ahead and to turn back.
Labels: nola
friday nite music club
is there a doctor in the blog?
luckily, yes, there is a doctor in the blog, and it's orac, the writer of respectful insolence, who himself is a surgeon specializing in treating cancer.
bad segues aside, since we're discussing science blogs, a big shout out to mike the mad biologist for linking to our youtube post were some fundie argues that peanut butter disproves evolution.
we are sorry we missed this when he first posted, but here orac discusses elizabeth edwards and her recurrence of breast cancer (with great caveats; ie, he himself has not treated her. it's a general over-view of breast cancer recurrence):
bone happens to be one of the most common organs to which breast cancer metastasizes, the others being liver, lung, and brain. how much time mrs. edwards has left depends a lot on what her true presentation is. not all stage iv breast cancer is created equal. for example, isolated bone metastases, with no disease anywhere else, tend to have an indolent course compared to other stage iv disease. the five year survival for all comers with metastatic breast cancer is in the 20% range, with a median survival of around 16-24 months. however, for isolated, low volume bone disease, which is what mrs. edwards appears to have, the prognosis, while still grim in the long term, is usually better than that. for such patients, i've seen a couple of series with median survivals as high as 48 months reported, although that's at the high end. probably a reasonable expectation for a single isolated small skeletal metastasis is for a five-year survival rate of around 30-40%, maybe even slightly better than that. prognosis also depends upon the disease-free interval between conclusion of her primary treatment and recurrence. rapid recurrence portends a worse prognosis. since mrs. edwards was diagnosed in late 2004, her disease-free interval is on the order of two years, which is fairly typical and probably doesn't suggest an unusually virulent tumor. (unfortunately, it's virulent enough.) in any case, we don't know enough to determine for sure whether mrs. edwards will have the better prognosis of a patient with isolated bone metastasis or the worse prognosis of a woman with metastases to other organs, because it has been reported that she had abnormalities in her lung as well that were too small to characterize but sound mildly suspicious. if these turn out to be lung metastases, then mrs. edwards' prognosis is likely to be considerably worse than if her rib is the only site of disease.
it should also be remembered through this, however, that metastatic breast cancer has a long "tail" on its survival curve. the numbers above are medians and averages. there are some patients who lives several years with metastatic disease, sometimes even considerably longer than 10 years. (one also has to remember that, because the above are medians, half will do worse than the estimates.) a very few even approach 20 years, but this is rare. these women, of course, are a small minority, but there does definitely appear to be a definable subset of women with less aggressive, more indolent disease who can do surprisingly well for a surprisingly long time. their disease never goes away, but they seem to do alright.
orac also discusses tony snow's disease (from afar; again, he has not treated either mrs. edwards nor mr. snow) here.bone happens to be one of the most common organs to which breast cancer metastasizes, the others being liver, lung, and brain. how much time mrs. edwards has left depends a lot on what her true presentation is. not all stage iv breast cancer is created equal. for example, isolated bone metastases, with no disease anywhere else, tend to have an indolent course compared to other stage iv disease. the five year survival for all comers with metastatic breast cancer is in the 20% range, with a median survival of around 16-24 months. however, for isolated, low volume bone disease, which is what mrs. edwards appears to have, the prognosis, while still grim in the long term, is usually better than that. for such patients, i've seen a couple of series with median survivals as high as 48 months reported, although that's at the high end. probably a reasonable expectation for a single isolated small skeletal metastasis is for a five-year survival rate of around 30-40%, maybe even slightly better than that. prognosis also depends upon the disease-free interval between conclusion of her primary treatment and recurrence. rapid recurrence portends a worse prognosis. since mrs. edwards was diagnosed in late 2004, her disease-free interval is on the order of two years, which is fairly typical and probably doesn't suggest an unusually virulent tumor. (unfortunately, it's virulent enough.) in any case, we don't know enough to determine for sure whether mrs. edwards will have the better prognosis of a patient with isolated bone metastasis or the worse prognosis of a woman with metastases to other organs, because it has been reported that she had abnormalities in her lung as well that were too small to characterize but sound mildly suspicious. if these turn out to be lung metastases, then mrs. edwards' prognosis is likely to be considerably worse than if her rib is the only site of disease.
it should also be remembered through this, however, that metastatic breast cancer has a long "tail" on its survival curve. the numbers above are medians and averages. there are some patients who lives several years with metastatic disease, sometimes even considerably longer than 10 years. (one also has to remember that, because the above are medians, half will do worse than the estimates.) a very few even approach 20 years, but this is rare. these women, of course, are a small minority, but there does definitely appear to be a definable subset of women with less aggressive, more indolent disease who can do surprisingly well for a surprisingly long time. their disease never goes away, but they seem to do alright.
bad segues aside, since we're discussing science blogs, a big shout out to mike the mad biologist for linking to our youtube post were some fundie argues that peanut butter disproves evolution.
Labels: cancer, edwards, healthcare, science
and that's the way it isn't
our bud the politicky bitch sends us jib jab - it's what we call the news.
Labels: multi-millionaire media, snark
void where prohibited by totalitarianism
we at skippy are happy to help co-sponsor the freeway blogger's public punditry contest:
freewayblogger, buzzflash, michael moore.com, after downing street and skippy the bush kangaroo are looking for america's hottest new political pundit! send pictures or videolinks of your public political punditry to freewayblogger@yahoo.com submissions may include political art, speech, theater or text placed or performed legally in public under the protection of the first amendment.
winning entries will be chosen for the creativity of both their message and its delivery and will be posted on all the above blogs (and throughout the blogosphere.) winners will also have their city and state visited, noticeably, by the freewayblogger over the summer.
photo entries should be submitted in jpeg format, and video submitted via youtube or other video links. deadline for submissions is june 1st.
the freeway blogger has some advice about the legality of posting signs & other free speech issues which you might want to check out before setting out on your protest theater.winning entries will be chosen for the creativity of both their message and its delivery and will be posted on all the above blogs (and throughout the blogosphere.) winners will also have their city and state visited, noticeably, by the freewayblogger over the summer.
photo entries should be submitted in jpeg format, and video submitted via youtube or other video links. deadline for submissions is june 1st.
Labels: freeway blogger, protest
housekeeping
we've got a few new (and a few old) blogs to add to our roll, in keeping with our blogroll amnesty day program. so please join us in welcoming
apostropher;
dashiell;
the hackenblog by ginger mayerson;
it's recess-time somewhere;
and creek running north by chris clarke, which will be found in our science blogroll category. we could have sworn we had crn on our blogroll already; but like many others of which we thought the same, it apparently either dropped off during a template cleaning, or we are just on drugs.
chris adds his own take on the blogroll purge here.
apostropher;
dashiell;
the hackenblog by ginger mayerson;
it's recess-time somewhere;
and creek running north by chris clarke, which will be found in our science blogroll category. we could have sworn we had crn on our blogroll already; but like many others of which we thought the same, it apparently either dropped off during a template cleaning, or we are just on drugs.
chris adds his own take on the blogroll purge here.
Labels: amnesty day, blogtopia, meta
hot time in the city
a wildfire spread rapidly through the rugged hollywood hills on friday, tearing through dry brush but not immediately threatening nearby neighborhoods and business districts. - access hollywoodguess "the industry" frequented burbank restaurant "the smoke house" will live up to its name tonight.
i'm sure they will be updating one of my favorite blogs, lafd news & info.
Labels: natural disasters
the letter you don't want to get
via the moderate man, we find that the marines are re-calling some 1,800 reservists to active duty. asspress:
the marine corps is recalling 1,800 reservists to active duty, citing a shortage of volunteers to fill some jobs in iraq.
members of the branch's individual ready reserve (irr) will get letters this week notifying them of plans to mobilize them involuntarily for a year, said lt. col. jeff riehl of marine manpower and reserve affairs…
the ready reserves are service members who have left active duty but still have time remaining on their eight-year military obligations. generally, marines enlist for four years, then serve another four either in the regular reserves, where they are paid and train periodically, or in the irr, in which they do not drill but can be involuntarily recalled.
members of the branch's individual ready reserve (irr) will get letters this week notifying them of plans to mobilize them involuntarily for a year, said lt. col. jeff riehl of marine manpower and reserve affairs…
the ready reserves are service members who have left active duty but still have time remaining on their eight-year military obligations. generally, marines enlist for four years, then serve another four either in the regular reserves, where they are paid and train periodically, or in the irr, in which they do not drill but can be involuntarily recalled.
Labels: supporting our troops
lawyer-gate is just part of history
of destroying our judicial system "bit-by-bit" by this administration.
joseph d. rich wrote a "must read" piece in the latte times yesterday.
joseph d. rich wrote a "must read" piece in the latte times yesterday.
the scandal unfolding around the firing of eight u.s. attorneys compels the conclusion that the bush administration has rewarded loyalty over all else. a destructive pattern of partisan political actions at the justice department started long before this incident, however, as those of us who worked in its civil rights division can attest.
i spent more than 35 years in the department enforcing federal civil rights laws — particularly voting rights. before leaving in 2005, i worked for attorneys general with dramatically different political philosophies — from john mitchell to ed meese to janet reno. regardless of the administration, the political appointees had respect for the experience and judgment of longtime civil servants.
under the bush administration, however, all that changed. over the last six years, this justice department has ignored the advice of its staff and skewed aspects of law enforcement in ways that clearly were intended to influence the outcome of elections.
...this administration is also politicizing the career staff of the justice department. outright hostility to career employees who disagreed with the political appointees was evident early on. seven career managers were removed in the civil rights division. i personally was ordered to change performance evaluations of several attorneys under my supervision. i was told to include critical comments about those whose recommendations ran counter to the political will of the administration and to improve evaluations of those who were politically favored.
morale plummeted, resulting in an alarming exodus of career attorneys. in the last two years, 55% to 60% of attorneys in the voting section have transferred to other departments or left the justice department entirely.
at the same time, career staff were nearly cut out of the process of hiring lawyers. control of hiring went to political appointees, so an applicant's fidelity to gop interests replaced civil rights experience as the most important factor in hiring decisions.
Labels: gonzales, judicial, republicans
at least they don't have electrodes attached to their genitals
The Guardian:
The Iranian acts against these British sailors and Marines should be condemned. It is a violation of the Geneva Conventions to parade captives before a camera and to require them to write propaganda letters under duress. When Rush Limbaugh described the abuse of captives at Abu Ghraib as no worse than a "fraternity prank," I thought of how I would have reacted if U.S. prisoners had been treated in such a manner. I would have been outraged and demanding we fought and annihilated any country that would treat our people in such a manner. I knew when Abu Ghraib happened, we had lost in Iraq and no "victory" on the battlefield would make up for the abject surrender of our morals.
Read all of my take here because it's long.
Turney may have been "forced to wear the hijab", as the Daily Mail noted with fury, but so far as we know she has not been forced into an orange jumpsuit. Her comrades have not been shackled, blindfolded, forced into excruciating physical contortions for long periods, or denied liquids and food. As far as we know they have not had the Bible spat on, torn up or urinated on in front of their faces. They have not had electrodes attached to their genitals or been set on by attack dogs.
They have not been hung from a forklift truck and photographed for the amusement of their captors. They have not been pictured naked and smeared in their own excrement. They have not been bundled into a CIA-chartered plane and secretly "rendered" to a basement prison in a country where torturers are experienced and free to do their worst.
The Iranian acts against these British sailors and Marines should be condemned. It is a violation of the Geneva Conventions to parade captives before a camera and to require them to write propaganda letters under duress. When Rush Limbaugh described the abuse of captives at Abu Ghraib as no worse than a "fraternity prank," I thought of how I would have reacted if U.S. prisoners had been treated in such a manner. I would have been outraged and demanding we fought and annihilated any country that would treat our people in such a manner. I knew when Abu Ghraib happened, we had lost in Iraq and no "victory" on the battlefield would make up for the abject surrender of our morals.
Read all of my take here because it's long.
now there's another ticket
to disaster
romney names jeb bush as possible running mate.someone keep checking the court records to see if anyone tries to change a last name.
...but he did say bush was "quite a guy."
"i love him. if his name weren't bush, he'd be running for president, i'm convinced," said romney.... - latte times
Labels: jeb bush, prez campaign
Thursday, March 29, 2007
fraud not
steve bates, over at the yellow doggerel democrat, takes on the idea that the attorneys were fired because they couldn't find enough voter fraud:
sic. sick, actually. brennan center for justice (nyu) executive director michael waldman and attorney justin levitt have emphatically reminded us in a washington post article of what most honest people already knew: the concept of widespread individual voter fraud is itself a fraud. before presenting the basic evidence of absence of evidence (thanks, rummy; we can laugh at you now) for widespread fraud, waldman and levitt offer this assertion:
firing a prosecutor for failing to find wide voter fraud is like firing a park ranger for failing to find sasquatch.
(that's not quite as funny when you consider the changes made by bush administration political appointees to the conclusions of government-sponsored scientific research. next week's fox news headline: "sasquatch attempts to vote in alaska!!!")Labels: gonzales, judicial, voting integrity
blogroll binge and purge
one of the more comprehensive looks at all sides of the great amnesty day blogroll purge that we have found is at the republic of t.
(and not just because terrance quotes us three times):
(and not just because terrance quotes us three times):
and there’s a strange kind of schizophrenia this inspires among those at the top of the list. on the one hand, they seem to be fully aware of the power of their blogrolls, when guys like aravosis, atrios, kos and bowers hold forth at length about why they aren’t going to link to some blogs. on the other they seem to deny that they hold any such power, like kos’ claim that he’s not a gatekeeper (though skippy says kos is a gatecrasher who’s closing the gate behind him), though the “blogroll purge” is kind of like closing the gate.
sure the blogs that were cut can still be found, but they won’t be getting the kind of traffic that comes from having a link on kos’ blogroll. and that’s partially because many of the readers at kos at other major blogs are like the people i mentioned in the scenario above: they’re looking where everyone else is looking, because everyone else is looking there, and everyone else can’t be wrong. by extension, if there was something worth looking at somewhere else, then everyone would be looking at it already. and if they look at anything else, it will probably be what the “authorities” (to borrow a concept from technorati) tell them to look at, in the form of a link.
so, skippy and the others are caught between two apparent laws of human behavior. the first was explained by clay shirky in new york magazine.
as readers of this space know, we have no problem speaking about it at all, perhaps to our detriment.sure the blogs that were cut can still be found, but they won’t be getting the kind of traffic that comes from having a link on kos’ blogroll. and that’s partially because many of the readers at kos at other major blogs are like the people i mentioned in the scenario above: they’re looking where everyone else is looking, because everyone else is looking there, and everyone else can’t be wrong. by extension, if there was something worth looking at somewhere else, then everyone would be looking at it already. and if they look at anything else, it will probably be what the “authorities” (to borrow a concept from technorati) tell them to look at, in the form of a link.
so, skippy and the others are caught between two apparent laws of human behavior. the first was explained by clay shirky in new york magazine.
the power law is dominant because of a quirk of human behavior: when we are asked to decide among a dizzying array of options, we do not act like dispassionate decision-makers, weighing each option on its own merits. movie producers pick stars who have already been employed by other producers. investors give money to entrepreneurs who are already loaded with cash. popularity breeds popularity.
“it’s not about moral failings or any sort of psychological thing. people aren’t lazy—they just base their decisions on what other people are doing,” shirky says. “it’s just social physics. it’s like gravity, one of those forces.”
the other i attempted to describe in an earlier post.“it’s not about moral failings or any sort of psychological thing. people aren’t lazy—they just base their decisions on what other people are doing,” shirky says. “it’s just social physics. it’s like gravity, one of those forces.”
when you have a fairly static system, again like the economic model mentioned above, where it’s in the interest of those at the top to keep things the way they are, you have to find a way to keep the unrest of the “have nots” down to a managable level. one of the ways you do that is to (a) convince them that the peak is reachable by almost anyone and (b) make them feel better about where they are. make the middle sound better, look better, and reward them a little bit and you’ve created a “middle class” that’s satisfied enough to act as a buffer between the top and the bottom. do it will enough and they’ll continue to admire those at the top, and probably even link to them.
and of course, the entire system itself must never be spoken of and it’s existance should be denied. the articles states that “[t]he very subject of the a-list is so toxic” that none of the big-timers mentioned in the article would agree to be interviewed for it.
and of course, the entire system itself must never be spoken of and it’s existance should be denied. the articles states that “[t]he very subject of the a-list is so toxic” that none of the big-timers mentioned in the article would agree to be interviewed for it.
Labels: amnesty day, blogtopia, meta
still in saigon...
from rez dog (and be sure to read the comments, too):
that was one hell of a sight. i was there. it was incredibly surreal. one minute, i was looking at and walking down the length of the vietnam wall for my first time; reading the letters to and brief pastiches of the lives of the fallen vets their surviving relatives and friends continue to leave them a quarter-century after the wall was created; shaking hands with vietnam vets who thanked me for visiting; and feeling a profound sadness over it all...
and then i was being viscerally harangued by other vietnam vets who were incensed over the idea that people would participate in an anti-war march. the disconnect between those two experiences was staggering. i was born in 1970, and that was during the vietnam war, so i have no tangible memories of it. but while i was still a little kid, i sensed, on some abstract level, that the americans who fought in vietnam got a very raw deal. i sensed right. seeing the wall for the first time was the final proof.
i will never understand why any vietnam vet would support the war in iraq. never...
the sight of vietnam veterans shouting at each other during the recent march in washington brought me the realization that we are all still fighting the vietnam war as we debate the war and occupation in iraq. i and my fellow anti-war veterans see the same lies and errors that put so many of us into a pointless war. the pro-war veterans argue against making same mistakes that led to the collapse of our war effort in vietnam. i see the conflict as a generation trying to justify its actions 40 years ago...
that was one hell of a sight. i was there. it was incredibly surreal. one minute, i was looking at and walking down the length of the vietnam wall for my first time; reading the letters to and brief pastiches of the lives of the fallen vets their surviving relatives and friends continue to leave them a quarter-century after the wall was created; shaking hands with vietnam vets who thanked me for visiting; and feeling a profound sadness over it all...
and then i was being viscerally harangued by other vietnam vets who were incensed over the idea that people would participate in an anti-war march. the disconnect between those two experiences was staggering. i was born in 1970, and that was during the vietnam war, so i have no tangible memories of it. but while i was still a little kid, i sensed, on some abstract level, that the americans who fought in vietnam got a very raw deal. i sensed right. seeing the wall for the first time was the final proof.
i will never understand why any vietnam vet would support the war in iraq. never...
in the criminal justice system, sexual crimes are considered especially heinous...especially up the anus
fred thompson is so much more than the actor who plays the district attorney on tv's law and order. he's also the actor who gave bruce willis a hard time in die hard ii and clint eastwood a hard time in in the line of fire.
but if american elections are ever handled like a fantasy football league, then fred might well become the president of the united states. usatoady:
fred thompson's surprising third-place showing in the latest usa today-gallup poll is certainly a reflection of rank-and-file republicans' unease about the declared gop candidates. but it also provides insight into the show-biz requirements of a successful modern candidate.
thompson, who has oscillated between the political and entertainment culture for 35 years, personifies that cross-cultural appeal more than any republican now in the field. simply put, americans like a little rock star in their presidential candidates. (see barack obama).
[ed. note: uh, excuse us, but you're thinking about kanye west.]thompson, who has oscillated between the political and entertainment culture for 35 years, personifies that cross-cultural appeal more than any republican now in the field. simply put, americans like a little rock star in their presidential candidates. (see barack obama).
the question is whether a few polls and some internet buzz is enough to entice a 64-year-old man with two children under age four and a successful career on nbc's "law and order" series to jump into an 18-month meat grinder toward the presidency.
because he has name identification and friends in both the political and entertainment world, he probably could wait until summer to decide, especially if some of the gop front-runners continue to slide. sen. john mccain, r-ariz., continues to do reasonably well in polls but said recently he got a late start on fundraising. translation: his first-quarter 2007 numbers might not be so good. former massachusetts gov. mitt romney slipped to just 3% in the recent usa today poll. front-runner rudy giuliani continues to lead in gop polls, but his support fell 13 points in a month in that poll that included thompson, and giuliani continues to face questions about his support of abortion rights, gay rights and gun control.thompson, a tower of a man, has played virtually every kind of government authority figure, from fbi director on down, in more than a dozen movies. he plays a law-and-order district attorney on "law and order." before being elected to the u.s. senate from tennessee in 1994, he was a republican lawyer on the watergate committee and then went into acting. he is well thought of as a movement conservative, though his support of campaign finance reform puts him at cross purposes with right-wing activist organizations that don't like the restrictions on third-party advertising in federal campaigns.
one thing that would actually work out if thompson ever becomes president: when he fires all the democratic u.s. attorneys, they can all stare at him for a beat and then ask, "is it because i'm a lesbian?"because he has name identification and friends in both the political and entertainment world, he probably could wait until summer to decide, especially if some of the gop front-runners continue to slide. sen. john mccain, r-ariz., continues to do reasonably well in polls but said recently he got a late start on fundraising. translation: his first-quarter 2007 numbers might not be so good. former massachusetts gov. mitt romney slipped to just 3% in the recent usa today poll. front-runner rudy giuliani continues to lead in gop polls, but his support fell 13 points in a month in that poll that included thompson, and giuliani continues to face questions about his support of abortion rights, gay rights and gun control.thompson, a tower of a man, has played virtually every kind of government authority figure, from fbi director on down, in more than a dozen movies. he plays a law-and-order district attorney on "law and order." before being elected to the u.s. senate from tennessee in 1994, he was a republican lawyer on the watergate committee and then went into acting. he is well thought of as a movement conservative, though his support of campaign finance reform puts him at cross purposes with right-wing activist organizations that don't like the restrictions on third-party advertising in federal campaigns.
Labels: gop, pop culture, prez campaign
help!
coming this summer:
a hard day's night of the living dead
as one commenter put it, it's got the beatles, it's got zombies, what more could you want?
a hard day's night of the living dead
as one commenter put it, it's got the beatles, it's got zombies, what more could you want?
Labels: pop culture, snark
thursday nite music club
they're a little older now, but aren't we all...
the tokens - the lion sleeps tonight
who doesn't like this song? it's impossible!
the tokens - the lion sleeps tonight
who doesn't like this song? it's impossible!
Labels: skippy's music club
thursday nite music club bonus trax
we couldn't find life in the food chain, presumably because the eagles legally enjoined them from ever playing it again, so instead, here's...
little roger & the goosebumps - stairway to gilligan's island
little roger & the goosebumps - stairway to gilligan's island
Labels: skippy's music club
it's a bit runny, sir
today's "must view"...
do not... i repeat... do not miss this crooks & liars clip of karl "mc" rove keepin' it real. karl's antics here remind me of something my old, much-beloved high school music teacher used to say about many of the performances we students put on in order to impress him: "it's got potential." that was his way of saying, "it sucks eggs, kid, but somehow it manages to entertain." mc rove is just bursting with potential -- as are all the other funky wonder bread slices around him.
but karl, karl, karl. that stage name has gotta go. mc rove?
wigga, please.
lemme think a sec. how about... "ice tre"? your $#!+ is cold and pretty close to being square, you know what i'm sayin'? or how about... "tone def"? 'cause if you could sing "santa claus is coming to town," dawg, then i could guide his sleigh through a christmas eve blizzard with nothin' but my shiny little red nose. word up.
hey, i've got it -- "busta nut"! i know i sure as hell did...
(big hop for flame821...)
but karl, karl, karl. that stage name has gotta go. mc rove?
wigga, please.
lemme think a sec. how about... "ice tre"? your $#!+ is cold and pretty close to being square, you know what i'm sayin'? or how about... "tone def"? 'cause if you could sing "santa claus is coming to town," dawg, then i could guide his sleigh through a christmas eve blizzard with nothin' but my shiny little red nose. word up.
hey, i've got it -- "busta nut"! i know i sure as hell did...
(big hop for flame821...)
three coins in the font
any one notice the larger point size of the posts here at skippy? anyone care?
feel free to use this post as an open thread, hopefully for suggestions as to how to make skippy a better blog, but also for whatever's on your minds.
feel free to use this post as an open thread, hopefully for suggestions as to how to make skippy a better blog, but also for whatever's on your minds.
Labels: blogtopia, open thread
politico as usual
via caro at makethemaccoutable, we get to see eric boehlert's piece about the lop-sided journamalism that the new "insider" zine the politico is trying to pass off these days:
on march 22, the nascent beltway operation made news for all the wrong reasons when its online report erroneously announced that former sen. john edwards (d-nc) was going to suspend his presidential campaign, if not drop out completely, because his wife had suffered a cancer relapse. the embarrassing gaffe made headlines, and the politico quickly apologized for its sloppy work.
based on recent offerings though, i don't think the much-hyped beltway launch is finished handing out mea culpas -- the politico ought to apologize to new mexico gov. bill richardson (d) and to sen. barack obama (d-il) for a series of dishonest and misleading hit pieces this month that were every bit as egregious as the edwards whiff. the richardson
piece suggested he was being hounded about questions regarding his "behavior with women," and the politico announced that obama had a "jewish problem."
that's right, a baby boomer democratic governor with a habit for chasing skirts and a prominent black democrat with a strained relationship with jewish voters. both stereotypes are extremely damaging and both in this case were created -- concocted, really -- by the politico (much like the edwards story), since neither the richardson nor obama accusation could be substantiated by the politico in any way that reflected the norms of mainstream journalism.
the reporting simply reinforced the notion that politico plays loose with the facts when dealing with democratic candidates. i can't find similar examples of the politico manufacturing phony controversies about republican candidates. and honestly, i don't want it to. i just want politico to practice sound journalism.
the piece goes on to lay out actual facts, with actual links and quotes and cites...something eric wished politico would do more often!based on recent offerings though, i don't think the much-hyped beltway launch is finished handing out mea culpas -- the politico ought to apologize to new mexico gov. bill richardson (d) and to sen. barack obama (d-il) for a series of dishonest and misleading hit pieces this month that were every bit as egregious as the edwards whiff. the richardson
piece suggested he was being hounded about questions regarding his "behavior with women," and the politico announced that obama had a "jewish problem."
that's right, a baby boomer democratic governor with a habit for chasing skirts and a prominent black democrat with a strained relationship with jewish voters. both stereotypes are extremely damaging and both in this case were created -- concocted, really -- by the politico (much like the edwards story), since neither the richardson nor obama accusation could be substantiated by the politico in any way that reflected the norms of mainstream journalism.
the reporting simply reinforced the notion that politico plays loose with the facts when dealing with democratic candidates. i can't find similar examples of the politico manufacturing phony controversies about republican candidates. and honestly, i don't want it to. i just want politico to practice sound journalism.
Labels: blogtopia, right hypocrisy
obama at occidental college
angsty poet.
of the many embarrassing revelations that can result from a decision to run for us president - the drugs, the sexual behaviour, the fits of anger or religious hypocrisy - here perhaps is a new, excruciating low: having your not-terribly-good student poetry laid bare.
that is the plight of barack obama, the superstar democratic senator from illinois. some enterprising students at occidental college in los angeles, which obama attended en route to columbia university in the early eighties, dug through old issues of their campus literary magazine and found two published poems which they have now reprinted. - the independent
Labels: obama
survey says...
it's bleak.
the snow pack, an essential part of california's water supply, is far below normal, ranging from 55 percent of the average in the north to 40 percent in the south.
authorities say there is enough water in california's reservoirs to assure normal deliveries to cities and farms this summer. but the scant expected runoff also means that reservoirs will be abnormally low in the fall, and another dry winter could spell dire water shortages throughout the state
...the lack of water could also mean an early start to fire season this year.- sfgate
Labels: california, environment, water
unlike this administration
the prefecture of hyogo in japan sends more aid to new orleans.
a region of japan devastated by a 1995 earthquake donated $200,000 to the new orleans museum of art to help this city's children cope with post-hurricane katrina devastation.
.."it is art, among other things, missed and needed by children in devastated areas who have sustained deep psychological wounds," said masaru sakato, the consul general of japan in new orleans. - abcnews
Labels: katrina, new orleans
berkeley blogger bound for baghdad...
or at least kuwait.
lonestariconoclastjane stillwater is a 64-year-old berkeley woman who left for kuwait on wednesday, hoping to embed with the u.s. military there and in iraq as a blogger. and if she is refused? she's got a sleeping bag and plans to sleep on the beach in kuwait until her return flight in three weeks.
protection? a berkeley city councilman tried in vain to get her some body armor; she's accepting online donations through paypal so she can buy some in kuwait.
credentials? the military said the prolific blogger needs to be sponsored by a media outlet. no problem: the lone star iconoclast, a 900-circulation liberal weekly in president bush's vacation getaway of crawford, texas, is sponsoring her. - sfgate
Labels: blogtopia, middle east
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
word on the street
skippy international headquarters is situated in the los angeles neighborhood that is affectionately knowns as "irangeles," or "little persia."
many, many immigrants from iran and environs have settled in the neighborhood, opening shops and raising families. there is such a large contingent of persian people here that it was literally impossible to drive thru the area when iran wins any round of the world cup. there are celebrations filling the streets, with people waving iran flags and honking horns, spilling out into the intersections.
we'd hate to see what would happen if iran ever actually won the cup.
so, with that in mind, we were not surprised to find this grafitti on some sort of utility box on a corner near skippy international headquarters:
and, nearby, the same feeling expressed on one bus bench...
and another bench with a cryptic search engine suggestion:
so we did. we found, among other things, this wiki entry:
many, many immigrants from iran and environs have settled in the neighborhood, opening shops and raising families. there is such a large contingent of persian people here that it was literally impossible to drive thru the area when iran wins any round of the world cup. there are celebrations filling the streets, with people waving iran flags and honking horns, spilling out into the intersections.
we'd hate to see what would happen if iran ever actually won the cup.
so, with that in mind, we were not surprised to find this grafitti on some sort of utility box on a corner near skippy international headquarters:
and, nearby, the same feeling expressed on one bus bench...
and another bench with a cryptic search engine suggestion:
so we did. we found, among other things, this wiki entry:
hubbert's peak can refer to the peaking of production of a particular area, which has now been observed for many fields and regions. "peak oil" as a proper noun, or hubbert's peak applied more generally, refers to a singular event in history: the peak of the entire planet's oil production. after peak oil, according to the hubbert peak theory, the rate of oil production on earth will enter a terminal decline. based on his theory, in a paper[1] he presented to the american petroleum institute in 1956, hubbert correctly predicted that production of oil from conventional sources would peak in the continental united states around 1965-1970 (actual peak was 1970). hubbert further predicted a worldwide peak at "about half a century" from publication. many observers such as kenneth s. deffeyes, matthew simmons, and james howard kunstler believe that because of the high dependence of most modern industrial nations on inexpensive oil, the impending post-peak production decline and resulting severe price increases will herald grim implications for the future global economic outlook. note, because of world population growth, oil production per capita peaked in 1979 (with a plateau 1973-1979).[14]
we know it's true, because the wikipedia is always on target.Labels: foreign policy, Iran, middle east
how long do they have to go to obedience school to learn that?
while strolling thru the neighborhood (see above) skippy found this sign on a lawn setting the parameters for dogs who wander by.
now, we know some dogs that are smart...
but we don't know any dogs that are that smart! (or their humans which are that unhygenic!)
now, we know some dogs that are smart...
but we don't know any dogs that are that smart! (or their humans which are that unhygenic!)
wednesday nite music club
loudon wainwright iii - unrequited to the nth degree
loudon at his best - bitter and funny.
Labels: skippy's music club
ooooo! the brits have documents!
they have documents proving that iraq sought uranium from niger. oops! wrong invasion. the brits now have documents that the iranians were 1.7 miles inside the imaginary line separating iraqi and iranian sea boundaries.
10,000 miles from us and thousands of miles from britain we are now willing to send 3000 more americans to their deaths and spend trillions of dollars more because iran says we were past this line and bush's poodle says we weren't. it doesn't get more logical than this.
10,000 miles from us and thousands of miles from britain we are now willing to send 3000 more americans to their deaths and spend trillions of dollars more because iran says we were past this line and bush's poodle says we weren't. it doesn't get more logical than this.
Labels: foreign policy, Iran, iraq war, war
say hello
to leave us alone!
Labels: say hello
it's all nukes to us
no fish, no nuts asks are we sending nukes to greece?
Labels: foreign policy, middle east
drumbeats
a russian newservice says:
just what a dry drunk would do. after losing two wars, he's fixing to start a third, hoping for a different result. gives a whole new sense to the term "a geographical."
moscow, march 27 (ria novosti) - russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by u.s. armed forces near iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said tuesday.
"the latest military intelligence data point to heightened u.s. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against iran," the official said, adding that the pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.
just what a dry drunk would do. after losing two wars, he's fixing to start a third, hoping for a different result. gives a whole new sense to the term "a geographical."
nypd "red"
the montecito home of lee & lori mikles was the site for what is likely to become a familiar scene over the next year and a half: political candidates – announced and otherwise – raising money. there is plenty of money in montecito, and anyone who believes there is little republican strength in what many see as a decidedly democrat-leaning community, some serious rethinking may be in order.co-chairs of this preliminary fundraiser to benefit “the rudy giuliani presidential exploratory committee, inc.,” were, in addition to the mikles, andy and dolly granatelli, ralph and melissa iannelli, david lack, parker and carolina montgomery, and tom and mary belle snow. among those who responded to the $2,300-per-person event were montecito mainstays like dennis and joanie franz.... - montecito journal
Labels: giuliani, prez campaign, republicans
the last 30 percent are different from you and me
tpmmuckraker has the video of bruce braley (d-ia) skewering lurita doan about rove's plan to use the gsa for their 2008 election efforts (christy hardin smith liveblogged the whole hearing if you want a blow by blow). go watch it. first of all, braley gives as fine a cross of a witness as you'll be likely to see since u.s.a. v. libbey ended. second, if this is rove's idea of a good defense (all she says is "i forget" - over and over), waxman's various hearings are going to be the lead story on the nightly news everynight until january 2009.
but third, consider the nitpicker's (another dirty f'ing hippy with the determination and fortitude to watch the whole hearing) observation:
this is an expansion of the nixon doctrine ("well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal") that tricky dick in all his evil glory didn't dare dream. the rove doctrine, indeed, puts nixon republicans to shame - if it's good for "the republican team", it's not a crime - even if there's a law against it.
we might even ask, is it proper to call these last 30 percent of the populace who support aWol no matter what, "republicans"? wouldn't it be better to think of them as "stepford citizens" whom the republicans have created during the course of the last thirty years. these stepford citizens were summoned to service by bush v. gore and activated on 9/11 like a thousand raymond shaws. and now, the stepford citizens apparently occupy all the bureacratic offices of the federal governement, completely indifferent to the fact that there are laws that govern their exercise of bureacratic power.
when you think of screeching hysteria the right engaged in over the utterly trivial - if not manufactured- kerfluffles of the clinton years (just how many indictments did the whitewater investigation result in? did they really include chelsea clinton's sleepover party guests when they complained about the lincoln bedroom - is it a bad trip or did they really impeach a sitting president over a blowjob?) and compare the intensity and duration of that hysteria to stepford citizen lurita donan's "i forgot," you really can come to only one conclusion (that doesn't involve violence). these people are different than us.
they believe, with a devotion appropriate to religious creed, but not political affiliation, that they are utterly entitled to what they want simply because they want it. laws, schmaws. karl has a little target list and we have this nice shiny federal government - let's use it kids!
this is ancien régime thinking like we haven't seen since the ancien régime. the next time you hear/read one of these stepford citizens railing that the democrats don't support the troops, or that liberals are traitors or faggots, you throw your shoulders back, you hold your head high, and you look them in the eye and say,
but third, consider the nitpicker's (another dirty f'ing hippy with the determination and fortitude to watch the whole hearing) observation:
Listening into the live webcast of the GSA hearings just now, the camera was down, but the audio was still up and you could here GSA Administrator Lurita Doan griping about the investigation and telling one of her people to take her glass, cause she doesn't want "them to have my fingerprints. They've got me totally paranoid!"lurita doan doesn't need a shrink, she needs a lawyer - she's just been busted - live on national tv (or at least webcast) for violations of the hatch act that should cause teddy roosevelt to rise from his grave and utterly repudiate the corrupt republican party (oh, wait, he did that before he died). but ms. doan doesn't get it. she can't even imagine that someone might question her decisions - much less consider the possibility that a decision that's good for the republican team might be, what's the word we're looking for - a crime?
this is an expansion of the nixon doctrine ("well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal") that tricky dick in all his evil glory didn't dare dream. the rove doctrine, indeed, puts nixon republicans to shame - if it's good for "the republican team", it's not a crime - even if there's a law against it.
we might even ask, is it proper to call these last 30 percent of the populace who support aWol no matter what, "republicans"? wouldn't it be better to think of them as "stepford citizens" whom the republicans have created during the course of the last thirty years. these stepford citizens were summoned to service by bush v. gore and activated on 9/11 like a thousand raymond shaws. and now, the stepford citizens apparently occupy all the bureacratic offices of the federal governement, completely indifferent to the fact that there are laws that govern their exercise of bureacratic power.
when you think of screeching hysteria the right engaged in over the utterly trivial - if not manufactured- kerfluffles of the clinton years (just how many indictments did the whitewater investigation result in? did they really include chelsea clinton's sleepover party guests when they complained about the lincoln bedroom - is it a bad trip or did they really impeach a sitting president over a blowjob?) and compare the intensity and duration of that hysteria to stepford citizen lurita donan's "i forgot," you really can come to only one conclusion (that doesn't involve violence). these people are different than us.
they believe, with a devotion appropriate to religious creed, but not political affiliation, that they are utterly entitled to what they want simply because they want it. laws, schmaws. karl has a little target list and we have this nice shiny federal government - let's use it kids!
this is ancien régime thinking like we haven't seen since the ancien régime. the next time you hear/read one of these stepford citizens railing that the democrats don't support the troops, or that liberals are traitors or faggots, you throw your shoulders back, you hold your head high, and you look them in the eye and say,
call me anything you want, stepford scum. i will pick up any label you throw and wear it proudly. because at the end of the day, you aren't a good enough citizen in this democracy to be worthy enough to clean the shit from this traitor-faggot-citizen's shoes.
"someone tell bernanke to stfu!"
fed chairman ben "at least i don't have to sleep with andrea mitchell" bernanke was testifying before congress about the current mortgage mess in the sub-prime sectors this morning, and the dow dropped over 130 points as he did. asspress:
80 90 points below opening.
and, even tho (as the asspress pointed out) last week the dow rallied after the nasty nasty drop of late feb, this week it's not feeling so well:
we feel bad for any one who invested in real estate and stocks.
peanut butter! that's the ticket!
stocks slid wednesday after federal reserve chairman ben bernanke chided investors who may have looked past long-standing concerns about inflation following comments last week from the central bank. the dow jones industrials at times fell more than 100 points.
in capitol hill testimony, bernanke said while core inflation slowed "modestly" in the second half of 2006, recent readings remain "uncomfortably high." he also said troubles among some mortgage lenders that cater to those with poor credit doesn't appear to have spread to the broader economy, though he added that the situation warrants further observation.
stocks rallied last week after investors interpreted language from the fed as opening the way to the possibility of a reduction in interest rates. but concerns about stubborn inflation could reverse investors' hopes for a reduction in rates, even as the economy continues to cool.
"i think what the fed is trying to tell us is that it is between a rock and a hard place. and when you're between and a rock and a hard place you just can't move," said drew matus, senior economist at lehman brothers holdings inc.
in midafternoon trading, the dow industrials fell 87.80, or 0.71 percent, to 12,309.49. the dow had been down about 140 points before recovering.
as of this writing, the dow inched back up to a mere in capitol hill testimony, bernanke said while core inflation slowed "modestly" in the second half of 2006, recent readings remain "uncomfortably high." he also said troubles among some mortgage lenders that cater to those with poor credit doesn't appear to have spread to the broader economy, though he added that the situation warrants further observation.
stocks rallied last week after investors interpreted language from the fed as opening the way to the possibility of a reduction in interest rates. but concerns about stubborn inflation could reverse investors' hopes for a reduction in rates, even as the economy continues to cool.
"i think what the fed is trying to tell us is that it is between a rock and a hard place. and when you're between and a rock and a hard place you just can't move," said drew matus, senior economist at lehman brothers holdings inc.
in midafternoon trading, the dow industrials fell 87.80, or 0.71 percent, to 12,309.49. the dow had been down about 140 points before recovering.
and, even tho (as the asspress pointed out) last week the dow rallied after the nasty nasty drop of late feb, this week it's not feeling so well:
we feel bad for any one who invested in real estate and stocks.
peanut butter! that's the ticket!
Labels: economy, housing bubble
but was it skippy peanut butter?
talk about strawmen: arlen of the daily background sends us this youtube wherein minister chuck missler "proves" there is no such thing as evolution because a jar of peanut butter never erupts spontaneously into a living organism.
he's dumb and he's angry and nobody likes him
even the saudis!
saudi king condemns u.s occupation of iraqgosh, and just a few short years ago, they were best friends forever. our bet: western governments will be leaning all over abdullah to pump more oil this summer as gas prices shoot up. ksa doesn't have it and doesn't want to say they don't have it. so they're creating the predicate for their refusal. this summer they'll tell aWol, no extra oil till you solve the palestinian crisis. think of as aWol's rumplestiltskin moment - with octane. of course the way things with iran's are going right now, abdullah may not need much of an excuse.
riyadh (reuters) - saudi arabia's king abdullah told a summit of arab leaders that sunni-shi'ite violence in iraq threatened the stability of the oil-producing gulf region and he called for an end to the international blockade on the palestinian people.
``in beloved iraq, blood flows between brothers in the shadow of illegitimate foreign occupation and hateful sectarianism, threatening a civil war,'' he added. (emphasis supplied)
did the rethugs blast brett favre
for doing what they're blasting john edwards for? did they call for brett favre to quit to stay home with his wife? did they slam brett favre for having enough money to quit and spend time with his wife?- considered the iron man of the nfl, favre is the only nfl player to have started every game his team has played over the past 14-year period.
- favre has played 16 seasons in the nfl, starting every game since his first start for the packers in 1992 - wikipedia
but, deanna, just like elizabeth, wanted her husband to continue on with his quest, his job.
and bless brett, he even shaved his head when deanna was losing her hair undergoing chemo.
he shaved it for a good reason, however. his wife, deanna, is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and is starting to lose her long brown hair. favre wants to show her his support."she'll look a hell of a lot better than me without hair, but maybe that will make her feel better. i don't know. she has to do it, has no choice, but whatever support i can give her," favre said. - wisceveryone...every couple has the right to make their own decisions about how they want to confront tragedy and mortality. it's their own private decision. it's not ours to make for them.
the deanna favre hope foundation supports breast cancer education and state-of-the-art women's breast imaging and diagnosis services for all women, including those that are medically underserved.
Labels: cancer, right hypocrisy
falcon fans aren't just in atlanta...
there are some in "the city"...and they watch out for cheer on the "real" ones.george and gracie, peregrine falcons with their own internet following and a fan base that includes thousands of san francisco office workers, have abandoned the skyscrapers of lower market street for an alarming new perch underneath the bay bridge -- where an attempt will be made soon to rescue the eggs they have laid.
...on friday morning, brian latta, a field biologist with the research group, will climb under a tower on the west side of the bay bridge and try to remove the eggs, which were deposited about two weeks ago and require up to 35 days to hatch after they're laid.
"they happened to pick the same aerie george was hatched in," latta said. "i actually took george out of the nest when he was a wee downie. he's gone full circle. he's nesting in his parents' aerie.
- sfgatemoving back to the parents home. just like some people i know.
Labels: environment, nature
straight hack express
via liberal catnip, we find that john mccain's myspace site was hacked...by the guy that designed it, because he wasn't given any design credit:
[ed. note: we're not saying anything would happen, but just to make it clear, our site was designed by the incredibly talented lauren bruce! not us! lauren bruce of faux real! so don't hack us, lauren! or august j. pollack, who designed the skippy logo, either! we give credit where credit is due! those two are jake with us! they are brilliant! so don't hack us! and we love attractive lesbians!]
if you visit john mccain's myspace page (as of 9am pst tuesday morning), you will notice an interesting announcement from him. he's apparently reversed his position on gay marriage as well as revealed a bias towards attractive lesbians.
why would a presidential candidate make such an important announcement on his myspace page?
the answer? he wouldn't.
but i would.
you see, john mccain's people commandeered my world-renowned myspace design template and did a few things wrong:
1. they did not credit me for the template, even though the template explicitly requested credit.
2. they used my own unmodified imagery, specifically for the "contacting john mccain" table.
3. as if #2 wasn't bad enough, the mccain crew is actually pulling their image directly from my server on each page load. so every time someone visits the mccain myspace page, my bandwidth is being used to deliver part of the page! bad mccain!
bad, bad mccain! roll over! play conservative! now, beg for votes!why would a presidential candidate make such an important announcement on his myspace page?
the answer? he wouldn't.
but i would.
you see, john mccain's people commandeered my world-renowned myspace design template and did a few things wrong:
1. they did not credit me for the template, even though the template explicitly requested credit.
2. they used my own unmodified imagery, specifically for the "contacting john mccain" table.
3. as if #2 wasn't bad enough, the mccain crew is actually pulling their image directly from my server on each page load. so every time someone visits the mccain myspace page, my bandwidth is being used to deliver part of the page! bad mccain!
[ed. note: we're not saying anything would happen, but just to make it clear, our site was designed by the incredibly talented lauren bruce! not us! lauren bruce of faux real! so don't hack us, lauren! or august j. pollack, who designed the skippy logo, either! we give credit where credit is due! those two are jake with us! they are brilliant! so don't hack us! and we love attractive lesbians!]
david neiwert is the best writer in blogtopia*
and here's proof...
other writers cover the ann althouse breakdown (including crooks&liars who brings you the video), but neiwert cuts thru the bull, sets up the context clearly, and knocks down the points in concise, uncluttered order, and backs up his analysis w/cites and sources.
*and yes, we coined that phrase.
other writers cover the ann althouse breakdown (including crooks&liars who brings you the video), but neiwert cuts thru the bull, sets up the context clearly, and knocks down the points in concise, uncluttered order, and backs up his analysis w/cites and sources.
*and yes, we coined that phrase.
say hello
to real's world.
Labels: say hello
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
tuesday nite music club
the chuck stops here...again
...but senator chuck hagel of nebraska broke with most of his republican colleagues in endorsing a timetable and opposing the cochran amendment. “there will be no victory or defeat for the united states in iraq,” mr. hagel said. “there will not be a military solution to iraq.”
“iraq belongs to the 25 million iraqis who live there,” mr. hagel said. “it doesn’t belong to the united states.” - wapo
Labels: iraq, occupation, senate
why we fight
causabon's book leads us to this very helpful quiz (even better, with answers!) on oil, politics and the economy. read it and weep.
looking forward to the next episodes of
"carnival of the green"
and if you didn't see it last week, make sure you see it this sunday...and a few more sundays to come on the discovery channel....planet earth. unbelievably terrific television.
and if you didn't see it last week, make sure you see it this sunday...and a few more sundays to come on the discovery channel....planet earth. unbelievably terrific television.
Labels: blogtopia, television
"compassionate conservatism"
at work.
cities are cracking down on charities that feed the homeless, adopting rules that restrict food giveaways to certain locations, require charities to get permits or limit the number of free meals they can provide.orlando, dallas, las vegas and wilmington, n.c, began enforcing such laws last year. some are being challenged.
last november, a federal judge blocked the las vegas law banning food giveaways to the poor in city parks. in dallas, two ministries are suing, arguing that the law violates religious freedom. - usatoady
Labels: food, right hypocrisy
these are not serious people
dangerous, but not serious. high bitrate at the orange borg blog discusses the employment history of monica goodling.
mendacious bag of excrement - alternative energy edition
you, no doubt, have heard that aWol, had a big press party for flex-fuel, yesterday. some folks think that his deciderness may have been pulling one over on a gullible press, yet again. my question is: has any one checked to see if aWol and cheney and the gang have been buying a lot of archerdaniels midland recently?
health care at all?
linkmeister makes a great point vis-a-vis john edwards focusing, in consideration of elizabeth's cancer recurrence:
there are thousands of americans whose spouses are terminally ill; do they all stop working at the first diagnosis and go into permanent care-giver mode? of course not. they may need to adjust their lives to fit with the treatment schedule, but they don't give up on careers, on life, or on anything else.
in addition, we've had presidents whose own health might have suggested to outsiders that they should have quit or never run for the office; did fdr or jfk or ike do so? certainly not.
let's have no more of this pundit projection. it's insulting.
in addition, we've had presidents whose own health might have suggested to outsiders that they should have quit or never run for the office; did fdr or jfk or ike do so? certainly not.
let's have no more of this pundit projection. it's insulting.
Labels: cancer, edwards, healthcare
Monday, March 26, 2007
same old war; brand new blogroll addition
we got an email from sailor of vidiot speak:
i don't know how you feel about the latest house resolution 'leaving iraq: unless bush doesn't want us to' but a few folks around blogtopia (y,wksctp!), including armando, (formerly of dailykos, now with talkleft as big tent democrat) have started a blogroll of folks who ... well, here's the scheme:the out of iraq blogroll is intended to be a roll of bloggers that are:
1) opposed to the supplemental.
2) opposed to funding bush's iraq debacle.
3) committed to getting the troops home as soon as possible.
4) determined to end george w. bush's iraq and mid-east debacle as
quickly as possible.
5) determined to restore some sanity to the world.
regards,
sailor
ergo, we have established a new part of our blogroll, up towards the top, titled, coincidentally, the out of iraq blogroll.1) opposed to the supplemental.
2) opposed to funding bush's iraq debacle.
3) committed to getting the troops home as soon as possible.
4) determined to end george w. bush's iraq and mid-east debacle as
quickly as possible.
5) determined to restore some sanity to the world.
regards,
sailor
Labels: congress, iraq, middle east
don't let the drug war hear about this
over on greg laden we hear about a new index for measuring the worth (or anti-worth) of a drug via its effects on people:
university of bristol researchers published (today) a paper in the lancet that proposes a new drug classification. i think this is interesting because of the large social disconnect between drug policy and drug reality. the new classification uses the following three criteria:
whoops. call for phillip morris...not!- the physical harm to the individual user caused by the drug
- the tendency of the drug to induce dependence
- the effect of drug use on families, communities, and society
Labels: drug war
more prayers/good vibes needed
steve gilliard update...slow progress.
Labels: blogtopia
quote of the day
tbogg, on the attorney firings scandal:
watergate is starting to look like a high school prank gone awry compared to where this is going.
keyboard kommando komics kontinues
the poor man institute presents
the making of jonah goldberg’s ‘liberal fascims: the totalitarian temptation from mussolini to hillary clinton’ pt. 2: the academy strikes back! in lifelike dough-o-color!
read it all!
the making of jonah goldberg’s ‘liberal fascims: the totalitarian temptation from mussolini to hillary clinton’ pt. 2: the academy strikes back! in lifelike dough-o-color!
read it all!
Labels: blogtopia, multi-millionaire media, right hypocrisy
monday nite music club
hey, if it's good enough for chuck hagel, it's good enough for us
chuck hagel talks impeachment. latimes:
addendum: crooks&liars has the video of sen. hagel saying the "i" word on this week with george "snuffelupagus" stephanopoulis.
sen. chuck hagel of nebraska, a member of the foreign relations committee and a frequent critic of the war, stopped short of calling for bush's impeachment.
but he made clear that some lawmakers viewed that as an option should bush choose to push ahead despite public sentiment against the war.
"any president who says 'i don't care' or 'i will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about iraq or anything else' or 'i don't care what the congress does, i am going to proceed' — if a president really believes that, then there are … ways to deal with that," hagel said on abc's "this week”…
in the april edition of esquire magazine, hagel described bush as someone who didn't believe he was accountable to anyone.
"you can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment," hagel told the magazine.
sure, hagel's mulling a run for president himself, and this could be just so much smoke blowing up our collective ass. but it's nice to hear a publican say it out loud.but he made clear that some lawmakers viewed that as an option should bush choose to push ahead despite public sentiment against the war.
"any president who says 'i don't care' or 'i will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about iraq or anything else' or 'i don't care what the congress does, i am going to proceed' — if a president really believes that, then there are … ways to deal with that," hagel said on abc's "this week”…
in the april edition of esquire magazine, hagel described bush as someone who didn't believe he was accountable to anyone.
"you can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment," hagel told the magazine.
addendum: crooks&liars has the video of sen. hagel saying the "i" word on this week with george "snuffelupagus" stephanopoulis.
Labels: gop, impeach, prez campaign
quality of life
jon swift sends us this piece from bloggers blog on improving your rank in google blog search. as jon points out, notice the first criterion:
these are some of the positive things that can help your blog rank better in google blog search.
we're just sayin'...- links from blogrolls (especially from high-quality blogrolls or blogrolls of "trusted bloggers")
- links from other sources (mail, chats)
- using tags to categorize a post
- pagerank
- the number of feed subscriptions (from feed readers)
- clicks in search results
Labels: amnesty day, blogtopia, meta
Something about truth
Does the Army cover up unpleasant information with respect to the death of service men and women? Pat Tillman's family would probably say "yes" to that question. So would LaVena Johnson's. Did you say "who"? You've never heard of LaVena Johnson?
Exactly. And that's at least partly the point.
Please read about LaVena Johnson and, if you take a moment to do so, send an email to your representative asking that he or she look into this.
Col. Jessep: You want answers?It seems to be the military that can't handle the truth, though they have given answers.
Kaffee: I think I'm entitled.
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth.
Col. Jessep: You can't handle the truth.
how to win friends and influence people - or not
Sunday, March 25, 2007
the main reason phil spector should fry
our co-blogger mimus pauly recently referenced badtux the snarky penguin in his examination of the spector-produced leonard cohen album, death of ladies' man.
in the comments section, skippy mentioned that he knew, and worked with lana clarkson, the actress that phil spectoradmitted to the police that he killed is accused of shooting.
we are not fans of phil spector. lana was a bright, ambitious, dedicated, funny and focused woman working her way up the hollwyood ladder, who nonetheless was always happy to share her talents and good nature with her friends and colleagues, and never fell into the trap of bitterness that afflicted most people who didn't make huge amounts of money in this business we call show.
now, in the face of the upcoming spector trial, brad slaight, an actor/comedian (and another of our friends) who also knew and worked with lana, has written a tribute to her over on the blog los angeles: where hot comes to die:
she was lovely, gracious, enthusiastic and full of life. her example of undying optimism will is sorely missed.
have we mentioned that we hope phil spector fries?
in the comments section, skippy mentioned that he knew, and worked with lana clarkson, the actress that phil spector
we are not fans of phil spector. lana was a bright, ambitious, dedicated, funny and focused woman working her way up the hollwyood ladder, who nonetheless was always happy to share her talents and good nature with her friends and colleagues, and never fell into the trap of bitterness that afflicted most people who didn't make huge amounts of money in this business we call show.
now, in the face of the upcoming spector trial, brad slaight, an actor/comedian (and another of our friends) who also knew and worked with lana, has written a tribute to her over on the blog los angeles: where hot comes to die:
i first met lana at the l.a. cabaret comedy club in encino (now a bagel nosh, which i predict will be the fate of most comedy clubs in the future). my first impression of her was the same as most people who met this tornado of talent for the first time, “wow!” she was six foot tall, blonde, charismatic and cover girl gorgeous. lana was looking for someone to help her with new material for her standup act and the club’s manager introduced her to me.
the first writing session took place in brentwood at an upscale condo that belonged to a friend she was house sitting for. our thirty minute meeting turned into several hours. never before had i worked with someone who was so prepared and had such a clear vision of what she wanted to do. lana was, in a word, professional. by the end of the session i felt that we had known each other for a lifetime. over the next few years we would meet from time to time to work on our acts, discuss new project ideas, or just hang out.
i know many actors in this town but lana was one of the few i’ve ever met who could truly be called a 'working actor.' she was always working on some project – stage plays, commercials, television and movie roles. at one point i hooked her up with my commercial agency “the flytrap” (great boutique agency, terrible name, now out of business) and she quickly started booking more commercial work than i did.
lana also had quite a fan base from her roger corman days where she starred in many movies, including the title role in barbarian queen and barbarian queen ii. those movies earned her the title of ‘b movie queen’ which she used to great effect in her standup act. i used to joke with lana that she was entering the ‘jessica period’ in her hollywood career. that period for an actress was when they hit jessica lange’s age they didn’t work again until they looked like jessica tandy. lana knew the clock was ticking and the days of playing young and sexy were ending. however in lana’s case it wasn’t an end, it was a transition. she truly was much more than just a proverbial pretty face. lana had talent plus.
there is more to the post, which we urge everyone to read. and there was more to lana. the first writing session took place in brentwood at an upscale condo that belonged to a friend she was house sitting for. our thirty minute meeting turned into several hours. never before had i worked with someone who was so prepared and had such a clear vision of what she wanted to do. lana was, in a word, professional. by the end of the session i felt that we had known each other for a lifetime. over the next few years we would meet from time to time to work on our acts, discuss new project ideas, or just hang out.
i know many actors in this town but lana was one of the few i’ve ever met who could truly be called a 'working actor.' she was always working on some project – stage plays, commercials, television and movie roles. at one point i hooked her up with my commercial agency “the flytrap” (great boutique agency, terrible name, now out of business) and she quickly started booking more commercial work than i did.
lana also had quite a fan base from her roger corman days where she starred in many movies, including the title role in barbarian queen and barbarian queen ii. those movies earned her the title of ‘b movie queen’ which she used to great effect in her standup act. i used to joke with lana that she was entering the ‘jessica period’ in her hollywood career. that period for an actress was when they hit jessica lange’s age they didn’t work again until they looked like jessica tandy. lana knew the clock was ticking and the days of playing young and sexy were ending. however in lana’s case it wasn’t an end, it was a transition. she truly was much more than just a proverbial pretty face. lana had talent plus.
she was lovely, gracious, enthusiastic and full of life. her example of undying optimism will is sorely missed.
have we mentioned that we hope phil spector fries?
Labels: judicial, pop culture
censorship is alive and well in connecticut
what a surprise, the state that voted to keep joe lieberman as senator is a hotbed of authoritarian censorship. from firedoglake:
good on ya, kids:
seems some people in wilton are okay about their kids being old enough to be on the speed dial lists of any local military recruiters, but the same kids can't write and stage a play made up of reflections drawn wholly from the writings of young men and women fighting in iraq or afghanistan. they want these kids to stfu. i'm totally with the kids on this one.
jackroyd, in fdl's comments, directs us all to the kids own voices in conflict webpage w/the script, and an impassioned plea for a venue to put the produciton on.wilton, conn., march 22 — student productions at wilton high school range from splashy musicals like last year’s “west side story,” performed in the state-of-the-art, $10 million auditorium, to weightier works like arthur miller’s “crucible,” on stage last fall in the school’s smaller theater.
for the spring semester, students in the advanced theater class took on a bigger challenge: creating an original play about the war in iraq. they compiled reflections of soldiers and others involved, including a heartbreaking letter from a 2005 wilton high graduate killed in iraq last september at age 19, and quickly found their largely sheltered lives somewhat transformed.
“in wilton, most kids only care about britney spears shaving her head or tyra banks gaining weight,” said devon fontaine, 16, a cast member. “what we wanted was to show kids what was going on overseas.”
but even as 15 student actors were polishing the script and perfecting their accents for a planned april performance, the school principal last week canceled the play, titled “voices in conflict,” citing questions of political balance and context.
there's a very good account in this article of all the ways the kids tried to amend the play's content to make it acceptable to the lieberman voters who killed the production (i'm sure you're all shocked to learn lieberman won wilton handily last november). well worth a read.for the spring semester, students in the advanced theater class took on a bigger challenge: creating an original play about the war in iraq. they compiled reflections of soldiers and others involved, including a heartbreaking letter from a 2005 wilton high graduate killed in iraq last september at age 19, and quickly found their largely sheltered lives somewhat transformed.
“in wilton, most kids only care about britney spears shaving her head or tyra banks gaining weight,” said devon fontaine, 16, a cast member. “what we wanted was to show kids what was going on overseas.”
but even as 15 student actors were polishing the script and perfecting their accents for a planned april performance, the school principal last week canceled the play, titled “voices in conflict,” citing questions of political balance and context.
seems some people in wilton are okay about their kids being old enough to be on the speed dial lists of any local military recruiters, but the same kids can't write and stage a play made up of reflections drawn wholly from the writings of young men and women fighting in iraq or afghanistan. they want these kids to stfu. i'm totally with the kids on this one.
Labels: connecticut, free speech, protest
say hello
sunday nite music club
that guy's got an 8 inch patriotism
we agree w/bill maher: "saying you're a patriot is like saying you have a big cock. if you have to say it, it's probably not true."
via the good folks at crooks & liars.
via the good folks at crooks & liars.
Labels: right hypocrisy
the dawg is the schizzle!
mediabloodhound gives us a recipe for sizzle.
Labels: blogtopia, multi-millionaire media
mad about the iraq bill passed in the house
snowed in
joe gandelman, over at the moderate voice, does an admirable job of sloughing off politics and examining the humanity invovled in both tony snow's and elizabeth edwards' announcements this week that they have both experienced recurrence of their cancer (something we tried to do earlier this week...sloughing off politics, we mean, not experience a recurrence of cancer. excuse our poor sentense construction).
here are the money graphs for us:
here are the money graphs for us:
snow provided a stark contrast in humanity to conservative talk show rush limbaugh who didn’t wait a second before going after the edwardses politically and trying to turn the announcement of her illness into yet another chance to whip up republican listeners suspicions and hatreds against democrats. read this and this.
whether you like snow’s answers on political issues or not, tony snow got it right twice this week. humanity does count. and limbaugh? as in the case of michael j. fox, limbaugh seemingly enjoys going after high-profile people who are ill and questioning their motives (even if he later partially backs off on it due to an outcray later) if they do an appearance with high media impact in public.
why? because they belong to the “wrong” party.
but, rush, on this sunday perhaps it’s worth remembering:
the mili-second after each of us leaves this earthly scene, we’ll no longer be republicans or democrats or independents. just souls.
and it’s unlikely god will say: “ditto.”
we're not sure god is the one limbaugh will have to deal with after he's crossed over.whether you like snow’s answers on political issues or not, tony snow got it right twice this week. humanity does count. and limbaugh? as in the case of michael j. fox, limbaugh seemingly enjoys going after high-profile people who are ill and questioning their motives (even if he later partially backs off on it due to an outcray later) if they do an appearance with high media impact in public.
why? because they belong to the “wrong” party.
but, rush, on this sunday perhaps it’s worth remembering:
the mili-second after each of us leaves this earthly scene, we’ll no longer be republicans or democrats or independents. just souls.
and it’s unlikely god will say: “ditto.”
Labels: cancer, healthcare, politics
Saturday, March 24, 2007
say hello
to racism 101.
Labels: say hello
klein after klein
in this corner, joe klein.
in this corner, eric alterman.
greg sargent calls it for eric. we tend to agree, because eric uses cites and sources to back up his argument, something joe has been known to avoid in the past.
Labels: multi-millionaire media
saturday nite music club
Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby and John Anderson singing Rick James' Super Freak.
[ed.note: skippy, in his previous incarnation as a radio comedy producer back in the 90's, had the great pleasure of meeting john anderson. mr. anderson was a sweet, gracious individual who took time to listen to skippy's comedy and compliment him. we are quite proud to feature him on this wonderfully imaginative cover.]
[ed.note: skippy, in his previous incarnation as a radio comedy producer back in the 90's, had the great pleasure of meeting john anderson. mr. anderson was a sweet, gracious individual who took time to listen to skippy's comedy and compliment him. we are quite proud to feature him on this wonderfully imaginative cover.]
Labels: skippy's music club
bat out of hell
keeping in mind what we said yesterday about this country's military readiness being depleted, thanks to awol's adventure in iraq, we chuckled dolefully at this post from ranger against war.
ranger postulates, with cites from military experts, that since we're already in iraq and afghanistan, a third front would be close to impossible.
the reason we chuckle is that ranger opens with the lyrics from meatloaf's 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
ranger postulates, with cites from military experts, that since we're already in iraq and afghanistan, a third front would be close to impossible.
the reason we chuckle is that ranger opens with the lyrics from meatloaf's 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
Labels: afghanistan, iraq war
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