Suggested by Mr. Shakes: What's your favorite city to travel to and why?
That Darn Liberal Media
Yesterday I mentioned an article in the WaPo which took Harry Reid to task for accepting “free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to influence him on federal regulation of boxing,” even though the acceptance of gifts from governmental agencies (like the Nevada Athletic Commission, from whom the tickets came) are legal, and even though Reid voted against the legislation for which the Commission was seeking his support during that period.
Paul Kiel’s dug up some additional problems with the article.The crux of Solomon's story was that Reid acted wrongly by accepting free boxing tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission. In particular, Solomon focused on a title bout in September 2004 that Reid and McCain both attended. "Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., insisted on paying $1,400 for the tickets he shared with Reid for a 2004 championship fight," Solomon wrote.
Sloppy reporting at best; a total smear-job at worst. In either case, a clear attempt to perpetuate the notion that the Dems are as dirty as the GOP. The media has decided that the corruption meme is “Bipartisan, bitches!” and even the truth won’t dissuade them. Problem is, how many people read the WaPo and walked away from that article sufficiently juiced up with the notion that both parties really are just as corrupt after all? Kiel’s done great work tearing this piece to shreds, but it won’t undo the damage that’s been done.
But it turns out that it would have been illegal for Reid to reimburse the commission for the seats. That's because these weren't actually tickets - they were credentials with no face value given to V.I.P.'s. And according to the boxing promoter who awarded those credentials to Reid, it is illegal for the commission to accept payment for them. Despite that, McCain insisted on paying, and so the commission simply gave his check (written for a seemingly arbitrary amount) to a charity since it couldn't accept it.
What's more, that same promoter says that in other cases where Reid and McCain received tickets that could be reimbursed, Reid paid.
"She beaned' em!"
Via Ezra, this recording of a guy’s description of a car accident he’s just witnessed has me absolutely ending myself with laughter! Totally hysterical.
RFK, Jr. on the 2004 Election
BradBlog’s got the scoop about the article RFK, Jr. wrote for Rolling Stone, which will hit newsstands this Friday.
The article -- headlined on the cover as "Did Bush Steal the 2004 Election?: How 350,000 Votes Disappeared in Ohio" -- has been several months in development and will contend that a concerted effort was undertaken by high-level Republican officials to steal the Election in Ohio -- and thus the country -- in 2004!Good god. What hope do the Dems have this November, or any other November, if the GOP continues to get away with this shit?
Kennedy told The BRAD BLOG this morning that "the best evidence says the Republicans succeeded" in their plan.
He writes in the 10-page long article, and confirmed to us today, that evidence shows Ohio Sec. of State J. Kenneth Blackwell was "certainly in on" the scheme, and there are indications that the effort went all the way up to the White House.
Talkin’ Shit
The US has agreed to talk to Iran, on the condition it “first agrees to suspend its programs to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel.” Condi Rice sent the message to Iran via the Swiss government.
"We urge Iran to make this choice for peace, to abandon its ambition for nuclear weapons," Rice said.I don’t see how useful and productive diplomacy can start with the issuance of an ultimatum, the parameters of which we’re not even willing to adhere ourselves, but wev. That’s why I’m some schlub in Indiana and not the Secretary of State.
Refusal to do so, she said, "will lead to international isolation and progressively stronger political and economic sanctions."
Huh?
I don’t even know why I’m surprised by this shit anymore, but I am:
When was the president first briefed about the events in Haditha?So, Time started making calls to the White House in January, two months after the incident, and only then was Bush made aware of it. I can’t find in any news reports what the official timeline of the military investigation was, but we know that the story about what happened has changed at least twice, prompting a separate inquiry into a possible cover-up and suggesting that someone in the military knew there was a problem—and if the allegations about what happened turn out to be true, it’s a major fucking problem. A human rights problem, an ethical problem, a PR problem…a problem of Abu Ghraib proportions, of which the president should have been made aware for reasons other than an interested reporter, one would think.
"When a Time reporter first made the call,'' Snow said. "Time began asking questions about it.''
The president then was briefed by National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, Snow said, and the president "began asking questions then.''
UPDATE: The preliminary inquiry has found "evidence that U.S. Marines killed two dozen Iraqi civilians in an unprovoked attack in November, contradicting the troops' account, U.S. officials said on Wednesday." Bush comments:
I am troubled by the initial news stories. I am mindful there is a thorough investigation going on. If in fact laws were broken there will be punishment.Troubled by the stories. Interesting word choice.
Shakes Makes Sense of It All*
First, a little quote of the day for you: “Marriage is under vicious attack…from the forces of hell itself…”
Thanks for the hot tip, Dr. Dobson. He’s always so helpful.
Meanwhile, Oddjob pointed to this post at Sully’s place, which shares a little tidbit about the Antichrist in the Left Behind franchise—he’s conceived by a woman and “the genetic material” of two men; her husband and his gay lover. Interesting. I see that whole contempt for science thing continues unabated. The evil spawn then goes on to—I shit you not—become the head of the UN after the Rapture, thusly rendering a parody of the Left Behind books a total impossibility.
So the Antichrist has partially (1/3?) gay DNA in conservative Christian fiction, and marriage is under attack from the forces of hell and from gays (who will destroy the earth) in conservative Christian “reality.”
This is all mooshing together in my mind to create a Big Gay Satan, which in turn conjures The South Park Movie, in which a Big Gay Satan is Saddam Hussein’s lover, which leads me to believe that the conservative platform, including both domestic and foreign policy, is all based on a movie subtitled “Bigger, Longer, and Uncut,” a cheeky penis reference, which reminds me that our president’s name is Bush, a euphemism for a vagina, and now it all makes sense why we’re well and truly fucked.
-----------------
* Or loses her mind once and for all.
"I Kick Ass for the Lord!" Part 2: The Ass-Kickening
As you may recall, a while ago I posted about the upcoming video game based on the "Left Behind" series of laughable tripe books. Well, the games will soon be released, (in October, just in time for Satan's birthday!) and now we can see that extremely violent video games aren't just for heathens anymore! (bolds mine)
Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life.
The game, slated for release by October 2006 in advance of the Christmas shopping rush, has been previewed at video game exhibitions, and reviewed by major newspapers and magazines. But until now, no fan or critic has pointed out the controversial game's connection to Mr. Warren or his dominionist agenda.
This is really incredible... a "Christian" video game, the purpose of which is to kill as many people as possible. And not only non-believers... no no no. Other Christians (not true Christians like you, the player, of course) are also fair game! It's all done in the name of Jesus.
Has your irony meter overheated yet? No? Well click on over to read more and check out some screenshots. It's "The Sims"... Judgment Day style! And lucky you, you get to play judge, jury, and executioner!
But what's that you say? You play video games to escape? You're a crazed, bigoted religious nut in real life, and you want to try something new? Well, fear not, young hatemonger... you can also join the forces of Satan!
This game immerses children in present-day New York City -- 500 square blocks, stretching from Wall Street to Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations headquarters, and Harlem. The game rewards children for how effectively they role play the killing of those who resist becoming a born again Christian. The game also offers players the opportunity to switch sides and fight for the army of the AntiChrist, releasing cloven-hoofed demons who feast on conservative Christians and their panicked proselytes (who taste a lot like Christian).
Yes, you read that right. You can also play a Satanic demon. Apparently, it's okay to be aligned with the Prince of Lies... as long as you're killing homos and Buddhists.
I'm really flabbergasted by this. I mean, there's part of me that thinks this must be a colossal joke. How could anyone in their right mind not see the hypocritical nature of this game? Real Christians should be horrified by this game.
Is this paramilitary mission simulator for children anything other than prejudice and bigotry using religion as an organizing tool to get people in a violent frame of mind? The dialogue includes people saying, "Praise the Lord," as they blow infidels away.
The designers intend this game to become the first dominionist warrior game to break through in the popular culture due to its violent scenarios and realistic graphics, lighting, and sound effects. Its creators expect it to earn a rating of T for Teen. How violent is that? That's the rating shared by Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory, a top selling game in which high-tech gadgets and high-powered weapons - frag grenades, shotguns, assault rifles, and submachine guns -- are used to terminate enemies with extreme prejudice.
Man... I hope it's a joke. However, more than likely, this is simply the end result of Religious Fanatacism and Extreme Right-Wing Ideology that has almost become the norm in this country. Eliminationist rhetoric is now seen as normal discourse. See the excellent blog Ornicus for more examples than you can shake a stick at. These are the same people that think that the best way to protest an adult bookstore is with chemical weapons.
Part of me thinks that this game will be played, for the most part, by people that are laughing at the absurdity of the whole thing. You know, the same people that read Chick tracts for yucks. But another part of me realizes that other people will be using this as a fucking training tool. Check out more on Rick Warren and his "stealth evangelist" schtick at the link above. I've got news for you, Ricky-boy... if you're having to spread your message of Christian "love" by stealth, then perhaps you're not really doing God's work.
Looney.
(Energy dome tip to Crooks & Liars.
(Jesus loves me, this I know... for the cross-post tells me so...)
Anti-Gay Shirt May be Headed for SCOTUS
A legal battle being waged on behalf of a suburban San Diego teenager who was barred from wearing a T-shirt with anti-gay rhetoric to class could end up in the US Supreme Court legal analysts suggest.Any kid who wears a shirt like that probably has a truly fucked-up home life. He reminds me of kids I knew in high school who would go off on religious tangents about “queers and faggots and Sodomites” and ended up sucking dick in the parking lot of the Scuttlebutt Lounge to finance their meth habits. Anyway…
A federal judge in San Diego is weighing arguments over whether the Poway Unified School District violated Tyler Chase Harper's First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion for keeping him out of class when he wore a shirt on the National Day of Silence in 2004.
The T-shirt was hand-lettered with the words "I Will Not Accept What God Has Condemned" on the front and on the back it read "Homosexuality is Shameful" and "Romans 1:27," a reference to a Bible passage.
What do you think? Should that shirt be considered protected speech and religious expression in a public school?
Seems to me this falls under the same principle as t-shirts bearing images of alcohol and tobacco are banned in most public high schools. The argument is that the adverts could entice students to smoke or drink when they’re not of legal age. A similar argument about inciting intolerance against LGBT students could be made about this shirt, I believe. Plus, I still hold to my firm belief that religious freedom is limited to the right to practice your own religious beliefs, full stop. If you believe homosexuality is a sin, then you have the right not to be homosexual. You don’t have the right to harass people who disagree with you.
Would this even be up for debate if the shirt said “Blacks are inferior” or “Women belong in the kitchen”? Those statements don’t seem qualitatively different from “Homosexuality is shameful.” The only difference is that the latter has a biblical citation after it.
Once again…
…President Bush proves that politics is all he knows how to do:
President Bush is expected to hold a press conference next week to announce his support for a federal marriage amendment. According to the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, the president will appear in the Rose Garden on Monday to reiterate his support for the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, a day before the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the measure.I’m beginning to think the best campaign tactic the Dems could employ is a blatant admission that they are terrible at politics. “The GOP can out-maneuver us every time when it comes to playing politics, because that’s all they know how to do. You’ve twice elected the party who is good at politics. How’s that working out for ya? If you want some folks who actually know how to govern, vote for us.”
When pop culture makes you cry
When's the last time that you were moved to tears by a television show or a movie? Or a song? Or a comic book, say?
This question was prompted by a recent Lance Mannion rant on the graceless ouster-by-execution of Annie Parisse's character Alex Borgia on Law & Order. Not that I cared much about that; Borgia meant nothing to me and L&O lost most of its luster when Jerry Orbach died here in the real world. It was another, fictional death mentioned by Mannion that got me thinking: the death of Henry Blake on M*A*S*H in the season-ender in 1975. He got his discharge papers; everybody threw him a bittersweet sendoff party; he gave Hot Lips Houlihan a goodbye tonsillectomy for the ages; he left for home and wife Lorraine. And in the very last scene of the episode, we learned that Blake's plane had been shot down over the Sea of Japan. No survivors.
I was thirteen years old, a huge fan of the show, and utterly devastated. I bawled like a baby. I haven't seen that episode since.
It was very effective television.
Anyone else have a moved-to-tears moment like that, made possible by popular culture?
Ugh
The Iraqi ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie, believes that US Marines intentionally killed his cousin last year in Haditha, the site of the alleged massacre carried out by marines in which 24 civilians were left dead. This is getting so, so ugly. I don’t even know what to say. (Hat tip C&L.)
Mr. Shakes and I watched Jarhead recently, which is a really fine film about the first Bush-Iraq war, and we've also made our way through half of Band of Brothers, the WWII mini-series about Easy Company, which HBO has finally made available On Demand. Neither of us had seen it before, and it really lives up to its reputation. I also watched Baghdad ER, the HBO documentary about the docs working in Iraq now. All of them leave me with the same impression: War truly is hell. I believe it would drive me mad. All of them have reinforced my belief that fighting against preemptive warfare at all costs is the best possible way to support our troops. I can't ever foresee my mind being changed on that matter.
Wednesday Blogwhoring
What’s the frequency, Kenneth?
Reminder: Email me if you want info on the Chicagoland Shaker meet-up on Saturday.
Request: The Countess needs help.
Recent News: In case you missed it...we hit a million, the Wonder Twins had a birthday, and today is Zack's birthday, too!
Did Florida fundies turn terrorist to shut down adult bookstore?
Well, it certainly appears that way. What chemical weapons would Jesus use?
Detectives say it's an act of local terrorism. An adult bookstore is cleaning up after a chemical attack by a homemade device that investigators are calling a "weapon of mass destruction."
In Waldo, people have held prayer vigils and protests aimed at an adult bookstore along US 301, trying to keep the "Cafe Risque" from opening its doors on time.
Those efforts have all failed, so investigators say it looks like someone has turned to what they're calling a clear act of terrorism to keep the store's owner from opening up shop.
The device, discovered Sunday morning, was made of two gallon-size sports drink jugs connected by hoses. Someone set it on top of the store's window air conditioning unit.
Investigators are still trying to determine what substances were used, but know that “it was caustic, it was corrosive, it had a high pH level,” and that the “contaminated trash filled two dumpsters.” The clean-up could cost the state at least $30,000.
There was a security camera rolling when the device was planted, so the police already have “some people of interest that we're looking at.” Because the device is technically classified as a WMD, the perpetrator is “looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and... 30 years in jail.”
"You're trying to hurt people. You're trying to change their ideas or instill fear. And that's exactly what the terrorists do. So this person is a local terrorist," [Alachua County Sheriff's Sergeant Keith Faulk] said.Over an adult bookstore.
What kind of maniacal asshole thinks an adult bookstore is more dangerous to a community than using WMDs? For crying out loud.
(Thank to Fritz for the link.)
Duck Season! Fire!!
In keeping with the apparent rule that the majority of contributors on this blog must be born in the month of May, today is Zack's birthday! Huzzah!
A few years ago, I began posting on The B-Movie Message Board. As many of you that frequent message boards know, you usually have an avatar to represent "yourself." My avatar was one of the Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Another member of the board appeared as a cantankerous duck. I rather enjoyed that, as Daffy has always been one of my favorites. (I believe he was using a Daffy avatar at the time.) This particular poster, who traded snark with a sarcastic wit that was breathtaking, turned out to be our very own Zack. After several years of chatting on the message board, we eventually met at B-Fest this year (although we did not get to spend nearly enough time chatting); Zack became a frequenter of my blog, and eventually started commenting over here at Shakes' place.
And now you know... the rest... of the story.
Good day.
Happy Birthday, Zack! Shakers, I highly recommend checking out Zack's movie/literature critique website, The Duck Speaks.
Sing It, Sister!
Al Gore: The Bush administration is “a renegade band of rightwing extremists.”
He still swears he’s not running. We’ll see. I don’t believe it for a second. I’ve wanted no one as my president besides Al Gore since I was 16 years old; I have always been convinced we needed him—flaws and all—and I’ve never been more sure about that than I am now. And I think he feels the same, whether he’s ready to admit it or not.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Constant Comment. What's your favorite play? Musical, non-musical, one-act, classic, whatever.
I'll have to think about this one for awhile, but a few that come to mind immediately are Macbeth (which is probably my favorite of Shakespeare's), A Raisin in the Sun, The Odd Couple, Death of a Salesman, and The Little Shop of Horrors.
Howard Dean Wants More 700 Love
ARGH. People who watch The 700 Club won’t vote for Democrats. They sit and listen to Pat Robertson say crazy shit week after week and don’t even change the channel. Get it together, man.
“Many observers say that AIDS is the hammer and gun of the homosexual movement, an effective vehicle to propel the homosexual agenda throughout every phase of our society.” — Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, June 20, 1990He calls for the assassinations of world leaders. He blames natural disasters on gays. He is batshit fucking insane, and not only is it foolish to believe Dems will be able to cull voters from his brainless audience; it’s also patently offensive to those of us (women, the LGBT community, minorities), who are repeatedly and unapologetically slurred on his program, for the chair of the DNC to legitimize that backwater of televised lunacy by making appearances and going on about how the Dems share their fucking values. I certainly hope the Dems don’t share the values of The 700 Club creators and viewers. Because if they do, they don’t share mine.
“I think ‘one man, one vote,’ just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights.” —Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, March 18, 1992
“The strategy against the American radical left should be the same as General Douglas MacArthur employed against the Japanese in the Pacific... bypass their strongholds, then surround them, isolate them bombard them, then blast the individuals out of their power bunkers with hand-to-hand combat. The battle for Iwo Jima was not pleasant, but our troops won it. The battle to regain the soul of America won't be pleasant either, but we will win it.” — Pat Robertson's Perspective, April-May 1992
“The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.” — Pat Robertson, fundraising letter, 1992
“I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period.” — Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, January 8, 1992
"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." — Interview with Molly Ivins, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 14, 1993
“The radical left is doing everything they can to destroy the moral fiber of America. They want to do away with the family. I am absolutely persuaded one of the reasons so many lesbians are at the forefront of the pro-choice movement is because being a mother is the unique characteristic of womanhood, and these lesbians will never be mothers naturally, so they don't want anybody else to have that privilege either." — The 700 Club, May 18, 1993
“Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals — the two things seem to go together.” — Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, January 21, 1993
“If the widespread practice of homosexuality will bring about the destruction of your nation, if it will bring about terrorist bombs, if it'll bring about earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor, it isn't necessarily something we ought to open our arms to.” — Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, August 6, 1998
“[Terrorism] is happening because God Almighty is lifting his protection from us.” — September 13, 2001
And that has nothing to do with whether I call myself a Christian.
One more thought about fighting for LGBT equality…
Sometimes I say to people, who aren’t quite convinced that we straight folks need to engage this battle, that it’s important because we are all less free, or less protected—we are all diminished—when we are not truly equal. And sometimes, in return, I get one of those looks that seems to convey no small bit of disdain for what they perceive to be hyperbole at worst, or an abstract concept of real freedom and real protections at best.
But it’s not abstract. There are real-world consequences to enacting legislation that seeks to restrict the equality of one group as severely as possible.
An Ohio man's domestic violence conviction was voided last week because he wasn't married to the woman he abused. Dallas McKinley was convicted of a fourth-degree felony after he pushed his girlfriend, hit her and threw objects at her. The ruling, as it stands, leaves prosecutors with the option of seeking a lesser charge.Getting whacked in the noodle by random objects launched by a drunken beau who legally has the right to do so is about as concrete as it gets.
This is all because the state of Ohio would rather allow domestic violence without consequences than let gay couples get married. The state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage has made domestic violence law only applicable to married couples.
Homophobic Moscow
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has banned gay activists from holding a parade (irony whiplash alert!) to demonstrate against discrimination, saying that Moscow is “cleaner” than the West.
"Our way of life, our morals and our tradition -- our morals are cleaner in all ways. The West has something to learn from us and should not race along in this mad licentiousness," he told Moscow radio, according to local news agencies.There are two things I can say with certainty about Mayor Luzhkov. One: He is a bigot and an asshole. Two: He has never been to a gay man’s apartment. Anyone who claims the need to ban gays to preserve cleanliness and organization is really out of the gay loop.
"We may have a democratic country, but we live in an organized country and an organized city.
Okay, that last part is just a little joke for my gay pals. But what’s happening to the LGBT community in Moscow isn’t funny at all. The demonstrators were “detained by police, abused by militant Christians and attacked by neo-fascists… The protest on Saturday, which was intended as a Gay Pride solidarity event as have become common in Western capitals, degenerated into a scrum with women hurling eggs and fruit at the activists, while shouting ‘Moscow is not Sodom.’” This kind of hateful and dangerous bullshit is inevitable when a community is consistently targeted by a government for exclusion from equal rights and protections. That’s why there’s no middle ground in the fight for gay rights in America—and why it so infuriates me when the Dems (and too many liberal bloggers) straddle the fence while the GOP goes full throttle in trying to destroy gay families by banning marriage, banning adoptions and fostering, making co-guardianship illegal, denying partner benefits, etc. The exploitation of any community will deteriorate, unavoidably, into increased violence and marginalization of the community’s members. There’s no middle ground in for equal rights. People have got them, or they don’t. You’re willing to support their right to have them, or you don’t.
We know precisely where the GOP stands. They’re not afraid to unabashedly support the denial of rights and call it “moral values.” Why are so many on our side of the aisle not willing to boldly stake out the opposite territory, especially when our position aligns itself with the very morality upon which this country was founded? There’s too much to lose by staying out of this fight.
I would say, “Do we really need to see people pelted with eggs before we do something about the problem of political antagonism of the LGBT community?” except we’ve all heard the name Matthew Shepard, and if he’d only been hit with eggs, he’d just be another gay man subjected to insult and injustice that never made the news. But he wasn’t. And even after he was tortured and killed, just for being gay, some of us still don’t consider this a moral battle worthy of our attention.
I guess as long as it just happens in abandoned fields and dark alleys, to men and women who are just trying to live their lives, by men and women who aren’t officially organized under a banner like “militant Christians” or “neo-fascists,” or as long as it’s done politely, by men and women in suits, who use legislation and votes as their weapons, some of us just can’t be bothered.
Saturday Shaker Meet-Up
If anyone’s interested in the Chicago-area get-together we’re having Saturday to see An Inconvenient Truth and then go for drinks, fire me an email and I’ll get you the information about where we’re going and what time and all that stuff. Some showings of the film are starting to sell out already via pre-orders, so don’t leave it until the last minute if you’re thinking about coming along!
Did Neal Horsley move to The Netherlands?
“Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals.” The party will be called—what else?—the Charity, Freedom, and Diversity Party.
I was wondering if American perverts would form their own party, but then I realized they already have. Pedophiles, more pedophiles, lots and lots of pedophiles, wife-rapers, mule-fuckers, falafel-creeps, closet cases, gay hookers, Hookergate, dirty novelists—you name it, the GOP’s got it. They’ve got it all, baby.
Take that, Dutch pedophiles! The USA is still #1!
Prominent Methodist Wants Bush Impeached
Ouch. Bush is a Methodist. So’s Cheney.
In other religion news, another good one from Michelle Goldberg. “With conservatives already indulging in fantasies of victimization at the hands of a maniacal Northeastern elite, it will take a monumental movement to wrest power away from them. Such a movement will come into being only when enough people in the blue states stop internalizing right-wing jeers about how out of touch they are with ‘real Americans’ and start getting angry at being ruled by reactionaries who are out of touch with them.” Good stuff. Check it out.
SCOTUS deals a blow to whistleblowers
The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it harder for government employees to file lawsuits claiming they were retaliated against for going public with allegations of official misconduct.The case in question centered around a Los Angeles prosecutor, Richard Ceballos, who filed a lawsuit alleging he had been demoted and denied a promotion after writing “a memo questioning whether a county sheriff's deputy had lied in a search warrant affidavit.” The Supreme Court ruled against Ceballos, saying that the First Amendment does not protect “does not protect "every statement a public employee makes in the course of doing his or her job,” and instead sided with the L.A. District Attorney’s office.
By a 5-4 vote, justices said the nation's 20 million public employees do not have carte blanche free speech rights to disclose government's inner-workings. New Justice Samuel Alito cast the tie-breaking vote.
"Public employees are still citizens while they are in the office," wrote Justice John Paul Stevens [in the dissent]. "The notion that there is a categorical difference between speaking as a citizen and speaking in the course of one's employment is quite wrong."Precisely right. The Bush administration has been seeking to limit the scope of the whistleblower statutes, for reasons I bet we can all imagine quite easily, and it looks like stacking the court with hacks got them exactly what they were after.
SHOCKER: Bush's new domestic policy advisor unethical
The WaPo reports: "Karl Zinsmeister, President Bush's new domestic policy adviser, acknowledged he did something wrong when he took a newspaper profile of himself, altered quotes and text, and then posted it on a Web site without noting the changes."
In one example, the original article attributed to Zinsmeister this quote: "People in Washington are morally repugnant, cheating, shifty human beings."I'll ignore, for now, the mind-addling dismay of a domestic policy advisor who refers to the American underclass (a term generally used to refer to endemic poverty stretching across generations with little means of escape and most perpetuated by conservative policies) as "morally repugnant," since that would require a whole other post, with at least one tangent about how equal parts nauseating and refreshing it is to see someone of Zinsmeister's position be so nakedly honest about how not compassionately conservative he is.
But, on the institute site, it appeared as: "I learned in Washington that there is an 'overclass' in this country stocked with cheating, shifty human beings that's just as morally repugnant as our 'underclass.'"
After the profile was published in the Syracuse New Times, Zinsmeister reposted it on the website of the American Enterprise Institute, for whom he serves as editor in chief, making the surreptitious edits because, he claims, he was trying to "correct the record while protecting a young journalist who had made mistakes." Said young journalist, Justin Park, however, is rather surprised by the explanation, considering that "he had received a laudatory e-mail from Zinsmeister after the profile was published."
Huh.
Zinsmeister shrugs off the whole thing by saying he expects "people to dig through his vast writings as he prepares to start his White House job."
There's so much insincerity in the political discourse. I write very bluntly and I know that, and the president knew that when he picked me. That's somewhat of the bond between us.Aww. Very sweet. I bet the bonding over being lying douchebags is worth its weight in gold, too.
As for digging through his past writings, well, Garance Franke-Ruta has obliged, finding some gems about Zinsmeister's attitude toward the press that might explain his ethical lapse more plausibly than his stated concern for a young journalist.
(Crossposted at AlterNet PEEK.)
Frist has lost the plot
War? Gas prices? Inflation? Millions of Americans without healthcare? Pshaw. What we really need to be worrying about is banning gay marriage and flag burning. Now, I know what you're thinking—this is just more disingenuous, cynical rhetoric from the GOP, but Senator Bill Frist assures us, it's not. Oh—and...activist judges!!!
When you look at that flag and you tell me that right now people in this country are saying it's okay to desecrate that flag and to burn it and to not pay respect to it, is that important to our values as a people when we've got 130,000 people fighting for our freedom and liberty today? That is important. It may not be important here in Washington where people say, well, it's political posturing and all, but it's important to the heart and soul of the American people. Marriage — marriage, you asked about. Right now. Why marriage today? Marriage is for our society that union between a man and a woman, is the cornerstone of our society. It is under attack today. Right now there are 13 states who passed constitutional amendments in the last year and a half to protect marriage. Why? Because in nine states today, activist judges, unelected activist judges are tearing down state laws in nine states today.I don't know about you, but he's certainly convinced me. Here I've been thinking with my brain all this time, when, really, I should have been listening to my heart and my soul, both of which are screaming out, "I want to join Cuba, China, and Iran—models of democracy one and all!—as the only other country to ban flag desecration!" And when they're not busy lamenting our damnable freedom, my heart and soul are definitely puking at the thought of boys kissing. I mean, at the feeling of boys kissing. My heart and soul don't think, of course! Silly.
So now I'm totally on board with Frist's priorities—except for one little thing. My brain is still a little concerned about all this, since these priorities fundamentally undermine all the conclusions to which its come during my lifetime. (If I'm honest, even my heart is feeling a little weird about ignoring the millions of Americans lacking healthcare, but whatever—if need be, I'll just remove the damn thing; it seems to work for lots of conservatives.) I think my conversion will be complete, though, if Frist can just convince me of one last thing—that he's not just high on gorilla testosterone. 'Cuz that stuff can fuck you up, dude.
(Crossposted at AlterNet PEEK.)
Snow out; Paulson in.
In a move that has been widely expected for some time, Treasury Secretary John Snow has resigned, and Bush has nominated the chairman of prominent financial firm Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson, as his replacement.
This won't be Paulson's first stint with the government. He was a Pentagon aide during part of the Vietnam War, serving as staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense, and later worked as part of Nixon's White House Domestic Council as assistant to John Erlichman, who was a key Watergate figure, convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. When the administration for which he working began to crumble under the weight of scandal, he headed off to a job at Goldman Sachs in 1974.
And now comes his grand return to government—in the middle of a foreign war from which its architects can't seem to extricate us, and for an administration plagued with scandal, including figures indicted on charges that, well, certainly ought to seem familiar.
Apparently, Paulson is best suited for Treasury Secretary mostly because there's no Secretary of Full Circles.
(Crossposted at AlterNet PEEK.)
Democrats are corrupt, too, darnit!
The headline: Reid Accepted Free Boxing Tickets While a Related Bill Was Pending.
The lede: "Senate Democratic Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to influence him on federal regulation of boxing."
Sounds pretty scandalous, all right.
The problem with the casting Reid as dirty: Paul Kiel points out in TPM Muckraker that "there is an exception for gifts from governmental agencies (like the Nevada Athletic Commission) in the Senate ethics rules. So there is nothing untoward about Reid having accepted the free tickets."
The bigger problem: Reid voted against the legislation for which the Commission was seeking his support.
Oops. Well, that accusation certainly fell a bit flat. Better luck next time in the ongoing game of Who Wants to Claim a Bipartisan Scandal?
(Crossposted at AlterNet PEEK.)
Happy Birthday, Wonder Twins!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Patrick and Thesaurus Rex!!!!!
Happy Birthday to you!
And many moooooooooore!
Happy Memorial Day
Sorry for the lack of posts, Shakers. My computer’s been down for about 24 hours while we were working on the office. And we’re still…not…done. Sigh. A few more hours tonight, and we'll both collapse into a giant heap of radiating pain and dripping sweat.
Yesterday, I had to carry all of our books out of the office so we could move the shelves to lay the carpet, and now I’m in the process of carrying them all back into the office. And let me tell you, it a damn lotta books. I have now officially declared reading overrated!
Hope you’re having a wonderful holiday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!
(Btw, I left the key to the bar under the front door mat, so if anyone would like to take up bartending duties, please feel free. Remember, drinks are always on the house and McEwan’s Scotch Ale is on tap...)
check out
Pach at Firedoglake: Memorial Day Truth: There is no 'War on Terror'
The Dark Wraith: A Comment on Massacre
Maha: Memorial Day
Also, blogwhore it if you've got it.
Actual Headlines
Actual Headline #1: Michael Jackson visits Tokyo orphanage. Okay, there’s nothing obvious or ironic about that headline. It just made me feel a bit nauseous. Although, I guess a country that sells the used panties of schoolgirls in vending machines and Michael Jackson are a perfect match.
(I’m just kidding—I love you Japan! But keep Michael away from your orphans. No, seriously.)
Actual Headline #2: AP Poll: Survey finds a nation in a hurry. Yeah, the AP did a poll to find out that Americans are “impatient,” “demanding,” and “want it all NOW.” What a fucking shocker. Wait for their next mind-blowing survey when they discover that Americans have short attention sp— Hey look! Something shiny!
I feel like a quote out of context
But some rock songs really are conservative — and there are more of them than you might think. Last year, I asked readers of National Review Online to nominate conservative rock songs. Hundreds of suggestions poured in. I’ve sifted through them all, downloaded scores of mp3s, and puzzled over a lot of lyrics. What follows is a list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs of all time, as determined by me and a few others.Words fail me.
Well, maybe not entirely- I mean, come on. How desperate do you have to be to argue that “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is pro-conservative? It’s like claiming 1984 is pro-totalitarian, simply because Big Brother wins in the end. Acknowledging the futility of struggling against the system isn’t the same thing as celebrating that system, and only a fool would think so.
This arrogant need to interpret content in a manner that simply reinforces one’s own beliefs, regardless of the original work’s complexities, typifies the rest of the list; it’s a telling indictment of the conservative ideology as a whole. Any political philosophy that requires its followers to value blind adherence over rationality is useless, and while the original ideas behind conservatism may have some merit, modern conservatism is simply a sharp stick for people so terrified of color that they’d rather blind the world than admit they can see.
Anyway, it's a hilarious article. And informative as well; I never realized that not getting what you want, but trying and finding and sometimes getting what you need, was a Conservative Value.
The World Rejoices!
This can only mean that world peace, the end of starvation, cures for all disease, and a reversal of the aging process are right around the corner:
"The night of May 27, 2006 in Namibia, Africa, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt welcomed their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. No further information is being given," publicist Cindy Guagenti said in a statement.Hallelujah! A child has been brought unto the world who will save us all.
An interesting wind blows in Chicago
More than30 of Chicago’s 50 city council members have already signed on to a proposal that would make Chicago the first city to require large retailers to pay their employees a living wage.
The bill would affect only stores that have at least 75,000 square feet and are operated by companies with at least $1 billion in annual sales, allowing smaller retailers to continue with the state minimum wage of $6.50 an hour.That means Wal-Mart, for example, would be required to pay its employees $10 “at least $10 an hour plus $3 an hour in benefits” if it wanted to open a store within city limits.
Proponents of the proposed ordinance say it will help “preserve the middle class.” Dissenters are worried that it will prevent retailers from coming into the city and providing much-needed jobs.
"Don't let me be the experiment," said Emma Mitts, the alderwoman in the poor and mainly African-American neighborhood of Austin on the West Side, where the city's first Wal-Mart is scheduled to open this year. "Not at a time when my community needs these jobs so badly."So Wal-Mart says a wage law wouldn’t affect their plans for one store, but would it for others? That’s a big unanswered question. Another is whether the ordinance can pass legal muster, which its drafters believe it can.
…John Bisio, a spokesman for Wal-Mart…said such a wage law would not affect plans for the Austin store.
Some 9,000 people have applied for about 400 jobs at the store in the Austin neighborhood, Mr. Bisio said, even though the opening is more than three months away.
I’m really of two minds about this proposal. In the sense that it protects employees of “Big Box” retailers, and would provide a disincentive for them to come into any old community and drive smaller retailers out of business, I’m all for it. It’s a very nice way of protecting the workers and many of the single-store retailers that make the North Side of Chicago such a great place to live—and own a business.
In the sense that none of those concerns, aside from employee protections, really apply to the South Side and parts of the West Side of Chicago, which are mostly minority communities without many employment options or many independent retailers, I’m rather skeptical. The residents of those neighborhoods are equally in need of a living wage and benefits, but if it were a choice between $6.50 an hour and no job at all, that’s not much of a choice, is it?
That said, Illinois’ higher-than-federally mandated minimum wage hasn’t put a dent in the growth of Big Box retailers all over the state. So maybe this wouldn’t, either. Santa Fe has the highest minimum wage in the nation, at $9.50/hour, and although a study by the Employment Policies Institute found it had realized all the worst-case scenarios (“the higher wage rate actually including increased unemployment and reduced work hours among the city's least-skilled and least-educated employees -- the very individuals that wage hikes are supposed to help”), the EPI perhaps isn’t exactly as independent as they’d have us believe. Santa Fe, even with their high minimum wage, has a Home Depot, an Office Depot, a Best Buy, and at least two Wal-Marts, according to the Yellow Pages. Of course, I don’t know what parts of town they’re in, nor when they were built.
Like I said, I’m really of two minds about it—but I’m leaning toward thinking that the evidence seems to suggest the potential benefits outweigh any potential downsides.
What do you think?
(Crossposted at Ezra’s place.)
Home
When Mr. Shakes and I bought our house two years ago, we knew it was going to take a lot of work to make it the home we wanted. It wasn’t in disrepair, but it was decorated in a style that not remotely our own, including lots of wallpaper. Lots and lots and lots of flowery wallpaper. The kitchen alone featured three different flowery wallpapers on one wall.
So, we expected a lot of work. But oh…my…god. The work we’ve done. The previous owner hadn’t properly prepared the walls with an undercoat, so as we removed the wallpaper, after scoring it, DIF-ing it, and steaming it, it was bringing the plaster off with it in chunks, leaving us with the task of rebuilding every wall in the house: plastering, sanding, finishing, the works. Part of the problem was that the previous owner had also added some extra-strength glue to the wallpaper backing, so it was damn stuck to the walls. Taking it down meant pulling off teensy shred after teensy shred. Destroyed walls, and mounds of little bits of paper. It was, suffice it to say, a nightmare.
After that, we set to tearing out the carpets on the ground level, so Mr. Shakes could install hardwood floors. He nailed in over 1,800 nails by hand, because after buying the wood, we were too broke to rent a nail gun! They turned out beautifully—and give him some serious bragging rights.
Matilda admires the hard wood floors.
Then came what should have been some easy stuff—replacing light fixtures, window dressings, that sort of thing—except I got laid off, and we had no money. So we did instead the little bits we could, which was basically just some painting here and there. But it made a big difference, and we started to see progress emerging from the chaos.
Loft now:
This weekend, we’re back at work. Our credit card limit got raised, so we were finally able to purchase some carpet to put into the guest room and office. The office has been bare floorboards for months and months; Mr. Shakes is pulling the nasty old carpet out of the guest room right now—and, at his request, I’m doing the most helpful thing I can do at the moment: Stay out of the way.
It’s taking so long. It feels like we’ve been living in a construction site for two years, but we’re getting there. Slowly but surely. We’re almost home.
in which I am the anti-Craft
So last night I mentioned that I have a pics of my anti-craftness where I am icing a bunny cake and the damn thing looks more like I skinned a rabbit and put it on a platter. So, I found the pictures and I thought I'd share them so you can enjoy a chuckle at my expense. :-) Enjoy your holiday weekend.
The story behind this is that my mom called me up shortly before Easter of 2004 and said: "I want you to bring a cake for easter brunch".Me: A cake? What kind?
Mom: Jell-o cake would be nice.
Me: Ok.
Mom: Hey, why don't you make it a bunny cake?
(silence)
Me: What?
Mom: You know, a bunny cake. Ears. Whiskers. Bow tie.
Me: Are you serious?
Mom: Why wouldn't I be?
(silence)
Me: You're doing this because we don't really celebrate Easter, aren't you?
Mom: (laughs)
Me: Ok then.
I resolved that if she wanted a bunny cake, she'll get a damn bunny cake. Heh. Maybe if I had any skill in cake decorating. Unfortunately, the sole picture of the final product has gone missing. When my laptop died a month or so ago, it took all my (stupidly) non-backed up images with it. I cannot find the cd that had the picture on it, I fear it was a victim of the Junk Genocide that occured with our recent(ish) move. But, here are the pictures John took of me in the midst of "decorating" it:
If I looked oddly proportioned, it's because I was 7 months pregnant with my third kiddo. And I promise you, if you ever come eat at my house, I won't lick my fingers when I make you your food. Honest.
Waiting for the end of the world
You’re reading this on your computer screen (if not, get out of my head), which requires electricity and a lot of complicated circuit boards and wires and still smaller wires to run. I think. Anyway, we can all agree that being able to use a machine like this proves you aren’t living in the Dark Ages, at least not in the historical sense.
Apparently, some people haven’t got the message yet:
With 06/06/06 looming (June 6, 2006), authorities in some cities are worrying prophecy theorists or hate groups might read something ominous into the date and use it as an excuse to stir tension. Some expectant mothers are making birthing appointments to ensure they avoid the date, according to the Sunday Times in London.Marvellous. I’ll give you that the hate group thing may be a legitimate concern; but then, hate groups are always a legitimate concern. What really gets me are the “prophecy theorists” who might “stir tension.” Damn those book-cooks! They’ve had their Da Vinci jumble, wasn’t that enough? Must they take their suspiciously vague and impossible to prove paranoia to the easily swayed masses?
Also nice to hear that expectant mothers are trying to delay (or hasten) their pregnancies. Look, if the sixth of this year really was, for some damn fool reason, the evilest day ever, I’m willing to bet that Satan would be able to override modern medicine to get that all important Anti-Christ in under the wire. Or better- the Morningstar is a tricky sonofabitch, I’ll bet he’ll slip his spawn in on some unrelated date simply to mess with us. “Oh, Luke, I thank God every day that we were able to induce you on the first. Unlike that Damien brat down the block. His mother lets him wear purple, can you believe it? He simply must be evil. Now, finish your lamb’s blood, and maybe you can help me find what happened to your nanny…”
I suppose there’s something to be said for trying to bring some suspense into your life by believing in the unseen, but it's just so exasperatingly arbitrary to assume a group of numbers other than your credit rating will have any real influence over your life. I’m going to tentatively assume that this Yahoo article is a bit of under-the-radar marketing for the upcoming Omen remake, but it’s a hoot regardless.
Still, Ann Coulter’s new book is coming out on the sixth, so I guess it won’t be an entirely evil-free day…
Friday Night Virtual Pub
Come in, belly up to the bar, and tell us a story. Have a drink and leave a link, if you like.
McEwan’s Scotch Ale is always on tap, but we serve just about anything. Name your poison.
Drinks, as always, are on the house.
(Stolen, with permission, from The Heretik, occasional proprietor of Lefty’s Bar.)
QoTD: please go away
Insipired by comments in the No Tampons For The Pope thread:
What ads would you be happy with never seeing again?
For me: the Burger King "eat like a man" commericals, the Welch's grape juice kid commericals, and pretty much all medicine commericals. They bug me.
Daily Round-Up
Shakes: Go, Pam!
Shakes: Bush’s mistake is people misunderstanding him
Shakes: Congressional hypocrisy
Shakes: Too short for prison update
Spudsy: Name That Cult Movie Answers
Shakes: Hayden confirmed
Shakes: Book recommendation
Shakes: Gunfire at the capitol
Shakes: Haditha update
Misty: I can’t see you…
Shakes: Bush makes me boring
Shamanic: Kraut’s a dope
Litbrit: Fashion for victims
Shakes: Egg wins!
Shakes: Thanks a bucketload, Newsweek
Shakes: Bushshit
Shakes: I’m going to hell
Shakes: Correcting the record for the NYT
Shakes: Caption This Photo
Thesaurus Rex: WTF?
Shakes: Big girls don’t whine
Hmm
Someone has complained to Blogger about ARAVOSISblog, which is “written and maintained by John Aravosis' ego, Johnny A-List.” Personally, I think it’s a nifty little site, but I guess not everyone agrees, since someone is mad enough about it to ask Blogger to delete it.
I can’t imagine who it could be, but whoever it is, I bet he’s a big girl.
(Hat tip to Gideon.)
What. The Fuck. (pt. XXVII)
I don't know what brand of stoopid gas they're pumping through the ventilation system at Hardball these days, but Chris Matthews and Noron really outdid themselves last night. Somebody check their freezers for wads of cash, please. "Lincoln", Chris? "LINCOLN?!" Lincoln who? Lincoln Chaffee?
And then there's sweet Nora wearing what appears to be a poultice of prunes over each eye, waxing rhapsodic about how "open" and vulnerable Dear George is being to admit that maybe he kinda sorta misspoke a few things in his Otherwise Perfect War Plan. "He seems to be thinking," she oozes, "about his legacy!"
Yeah, careful there, Nora, you and Chris might knock your heads together in your race to see who can hit their knees and fellate ol' Preznint Flightsuit first. Ick. She sounds like a battered wife swearing that really this time it's different! He's changed! He took her and the kids out to Applebees and didn't lose his temper once! He talked about his feelings and even paid the check an' everything! By all means, Noron. Move back into the trailer at once. What could possibly go wrong?
(a poultice of cross-post)
Best Correction Ever
“In a May 25, 2006 article describing Georgetown University faculty opposition to a teaching appointment for Douglas J. Feith, former Bush Administration undersecretary of defense for policy planning and analysis, the Times noted that Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks, top commander of the Iraq invasion, once referred to Mr. Feith as ‘the stupidest guy on the face of the earth.’
“However, according to Gen. Franks' autobiography, American Soldier, what he actually called Mr. Feith was ‘the fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth.’ The Times regrets the error.”
— New York Times
(Passed on by Angelos. Oh, and yes, it's satire.)
A little blasphemy for your Friday afternoon…
If I hadn’t already long ago purchased my one-way ticket to hell, this would pretty much do the trick. Of course, I was raised by a Lutheran mother who is quite convinced that Jesus has a fabulous sense of humor, with which I agree, so basically, I couldn’t help but laugh. (Hat tip to Spudsy, who had to run off to the eye doctor and left the blaspheming to me; he found it at Dependable Renegade.)
Speaking of Lackluster Sorries…
More on Bush’s “contrition” for the mistakes he’s made at Crooks and Liars and The Left Coaster. I don’t think I’ll be spoiling either post for you if I mention that there are none too few people who feel it was a bullshit act. Huh.
Newsweek: Sorry for the spinster scaremongering 20 years ago
In 1986, Newsweek ran a cover story, complete with ominous graph, which claimed, infamously, that single women over 40 were more likely to be killed by a terrorist than ever get married. For those too young to remember it, it’s difficult to convey how widely that article reverberated. I was 12 at the time, and the closest I ever got to a copy of Newsweek was on a trip to the dentist, but I heard adults around me talking about for a long time afterwards. Now Newsweek has issued a mea culpa of sorts: “It turns out that getting married after age 40 wasn't quite as difficult as we once believed.”Rarely does a magazine story create the sort of firestorm sparked 20 years ago next week when NEWSWEEK reported on new demographic projections suggesting a rising number of women would never find a husband. Across the country, women reacted with anger, anxiety—and skepticism. The story reported that “white, college-educated women born in the mid-1950s who are still single at 30 have only a 20 percent chance of marrying. By the age of 35 the odds drop to 5 percent.” Much of the ire focused on a single, now infamous line: that a single 40-year-old woman is “more likely to be killed by a terrorist” than to ever marry, the odds of which the researchers put at 2.6 percent. The terrorist comparison wasn’t in the study, and it wasn’t actually true (though it apparently didn’t sound as inappropriate then as it does today, post 9/11). Months later, other demographers came out with new estimates suggesting a 40-year-old woman really had a 23 percent chance of marrying. Today, some researchers put the odds at more than 40 percent. Nevertheless, it quickly became entrenched in pop culture.
And stayed there—in spite of much of its content having been long discredited. Feminists (like Susan Faludi, as Amanda points out) called Newsweek on their dubious reporting, but the menacing lesson fixedly lingered. I’ve heard the terrorist reference invoked even in the last few years—sometimes even gleefully by women (in the mold of Caitlin Flanagan) and men who seem to revel in its fatalistic prophecy for strong, independent, well-education women. It was a convenient weapon to scare and scold women, and when it was proven wrong time and again, no one seemed to notice.
In the current article, Newsweek seems to take a rather too-cheerful view of their two-decades-old mistake. “Boy, we sure got that wrong—ha ha!” But it was a big thing to get wrong, and to leave uncorrected for so many years. I heard the “more likely to get killed by a terrorist than married after 40” thing when I was 12; I didn’t find out it was bullshit until my first year of college. I imagine there were women, young and old alike, who never found out in the interim that it just wasn’t bloody true.
I remember, as clear as it were yesterday, standing in a check-out line with my mom when I was maybe 15 and listening to two women in front of us, who were discussing whether one should leave her boyfriend. “I’m so tired of all the hitting and fighting and screaming, but I don’t know if I should leave him. I’m almost 40; I have a better chance of getting killed by a terrorist than getting married..” Living with a terrorist in the hopes he would one day pop the question was apparently more desirable than facing the odds you might be more likely to get popped by one.
Thinking back on that now, I wonder how many women stayed in bad relationships because they’d been told their odds were so long. With society reinforcing the notion that spinsterhood was a fate worse than death, and Newsweek selling them scare stories, it made for a powerful incentive to succumb to the notion that someone bad is still better than no one at all. It’s a dreadful thought to consider how many lives may have been affected by such a pernicious and flatly wrong assertion, infiltrating itself as the conventional wisdom free of the critiques found only in lesser-known journals. Twenty years is a heck of a long time to wait before issuing a retraction.
(More from LeMew.)
Done and Dusted
Well, I’m glad that’s settled:
After centuries of ruminating on one of life's great mysteries, science has finally made a bold declaration. No longer will we wonder "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"File this under Things You Won’t Learn at the Creation Museum.
Professor John Brookfield, specialist in evolutionary genetics from England's University of Nottingham, insists that the egg predates the chicken.
But if that's true, who laid the egg?
Brookfield notes that genetic material doesn't change over the course of an organism's lifetime. Any change or mutation that took place to create the first chicken must have taken place within the confines of an egg.
"Therefore the first living thing which we could say unequivocally was a member of the species would be this first egg. The egg came first."
Katrina-ravaged Libraries to Benefit From Washington Wives' Fashion Auction
I'd be remiss in my duties as an officer of the Fashion Police if I didn't give everyone a heads-up about the special designer-clothing auction going on over at eBay right now. The event is hosted by the Senate Spouses, and proceeds from the sale of these ladies' suits, gowns, dresses, and children's attire will buy books for school libraries devasted by Hurricane Katrina through the Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative. The fundraiser is being organized by the First Lady and the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.
Join the spouses of our United States Senators and help provide funds to buy books for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Working with the Laura Bush Foundation, the Senate spouses are auctioning 100 dresses they have donated. The auctions theme comes from the book, “The Hundred Dresses,” by Eleanor Estes which tells the story of a girl who owned just one dress but dreamed of having 100.
[.....]
The Senate Spouses organization, known until the 1990s as the Senate Wives, dates back to World War I when the ladies of the Senate formed a Red Cross unit to support the allied cause. After the war, the group turned its attention to other causes. Eleanor Roosevelt initiated the First Lady’s involvement with the group in 1942 when she dropped by for lunch at one gathering, bringing her own sandwich.
Be forewarned: if you're more the leather mini-skirt or plunging-neckline Versace gown type, these offerings might not be for you. The clothes are conservative. Extremely conservative. (If you've ever spent time in Washington, you know what I'm talking about.) But if your line of work calls for outfits with simple lines, modest lengths, and/or quiet colors, there are some reasonably good deals on Valentino, Escada, and other designer goodies. Feel like splurging? The bright Chanel jacket above, one of Laura Bush's own, is hovering around $200 as I write; purchased at the boutique, it would cost ten times that much.
As for me, though, I prefer my vintage a bit older--as in 1940's suits and 1950's dresses--and my contemporary clothes a little closer-fitting.
I wonder if there will be an auction of Senate Mistresses' finery?
A kiss on the hand may be quite Continental, but Crossposts are a girl's best friend...
Krauthammer on Drugs. Er... war. Er... negotiations. On the way to war.
The man gets points for bluster.
It is not rare to see a regime such as Iran's -- despotic, internally weak, feeling the world closing in -- attempt so transparent a ploy to relieve pressure on itself. What is rare is to see the craven alacrity with which such a ploy is taken up by others.Why would he call it rare when he's been attacking "the left" for "supporting terrorists" for years. This is the man who coined the term "Bush Derangement Syndrome" to describe Howard Dean during his anti-war primary bid.
The very fact that Iran is desperately trying to change the subject, change the venue and shift the burden onto the United States shows how close the mullahs believe we are to achieving major international pressure on them.See, we're just about to turn a corner with Iran.
Ah, but Krauthammer's crafty. He can scheme this out like nobody's business. There is one circumstance in which we should consider sitting down with the long-standing and deeply flawed democracy of Iran. There is one situation that would warrant discussions with the president of a country that is widely regarded as the most-pro-American populace of the theocratic regimes in the middle east. It is this:
You want us to talk? Fine. We will go there, but only if you arm us with the largest stick of all: your public support for military action if the talks fail.Once upon a time, America was led by people who fought valiantly to avoid war, and when those efforts failed, fought valiantly in war. That time has passed.
Our allies can't trust this administration to negotiate in good faith with Iran. They can't trust this administration to conduct a war compentently. They can't trust this administration to reward their efforts. They suspect they may be blamed if things go badly. They suspect the motives of everything our government does.
I agree with Krauthammer's foundation that a nuclear Iran cannot be allowed, but unlike him, I miss the days when America sincerely looked for ways to avoid war, not to start it.
Actual Headline
Lower Income May Mean Higher Stress. I find this difficult to believe. I’ve always found the choice between paying bills and buying groceries to be delightfully freeing. Nothing leaves a person footloose and fancy free like destitution! It’s like that sitcom that gets pitched in The Fisher King—homelessness is wacky! You’re not homeless; you’re Home Free!
I feel like I should write a serious post about this, mentioning why this feeds into the necessity of a living wage, and how it can be tied into everything from healthcare to illegal immigration, and how the Bush administration has categorically failed to address the needs of the poor, instead moving increasing amounts of wealth further and further up into the clutches of those who are the least in need. But would I really be able to say anything new, anything we haven't discussed here a thousand times? No.
Fuck Bush for a whole new reason: He's made me dull and repetitive.
in which science rocks
Ever wanted a cloak of invisibility? One could be coming soon! Check it out:
The keys are special manmade materials, unlike any in nature or the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. These materials are intended to steer light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation around an object, rendering it as invisible as something tucked into a hole in space.
“Is it science fiction? Well, it’s theory and that already is not science fiction. It’s theoretically possible to do all these Harry Potter things, but what’s standing in the way is our engineering capabilities,” said John Pendry, a physicist at the Imperial College London.
[...]
“This is very interesting science and a very interesting idea and it is supported on a great mathematical and physical basis,” said Nader Engheta, a professor of electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Engheta has done his own work on invisibility using novel materials called metamaterials.
From what I gather, metamaterials can cause light to bend “the wrong way” or negatively.
A cloak made of those materials, with a structure designed down to the submicroscopic scale, would neither reflect light nor cast a shadow.
Instead, like a river streaming around a smooth boulder, light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation would strike the cloak and simply flow around it, continuing on as if it never bumped up against an obstacle. That would give an onlooker the apparent ability to peer right through the cloak, with everything tucked inside concealed from view.
How cool is that?! Such a cloak is not yet available but “early versions that could mask microwaves and other forms of electromagnetic radiation could be as close as 18 months away” with the promise that “we will have a cloak after not too long”.
I suppose this gives fundies yet another reason to be scared of science. Science doesn’t just “hate god”, it creates the devil’s magic!
(Beware the vanishing crosspost)
Haditha Update
The NYT reports that Pentagon officials confirm that a military investigation is “expected to find,” as Rep. Murtha suggested last week, that two dozen Iraqi civilians were killed in cold blood by US marines last November. The deaths, which were originally ascribed to a makeshift bomb, and then to crossfire between marines and insurgents, actually look to be the result of “a sustained sweep by a small group of marines that lasted three to five hours and included shootings of five men standing near a taxi at a checkpoint, and killings inside at least two homes that included women and children.”
A separate inquiry is looking into the cover-up, and yet another inquiry this week has found “sufficient information” to recommend the commission of the formal criminal probe into the killing of another Iraqi civilian near Hamandiyah.
I’ve spent awhile reading some of the responses to this story by conservative bloggers, and every one I read (which should not be conflated with every one, period) has taken the position that this happens in all wars, move along, blah blah. You know, I don’t think they’re wrong—but while they use this ghastly fact to continue to defend the Iraq war, I have always used it to approach all war very carefully indeed. It’s jarring to see the ultimate betrayal of troops meant to be liberators invoked as a misguided justification of the alleged liberation.
More from TBogg, The Heretik, Tom Tomorrow.
Gunfire reported at the Capitol
UPDATE: The Capitol complex was reopened, and now is locked down again. Blogenfreude just told me that it’s being reported there was no tape in the cameras in the garage. (Oy.) Raw Story says that gunpowder has been found in the Rayburn office building, according to a Democractic aide, and that Fox News reports “women who ran out of the building told Capitol police they had seen a gunman in the ‘locker room’ and the ‘gymnasium.’”
Anyone hearing anything more about this?
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CNN:
Capitol Police said Friday they were investigating reports of sounds of gunfire in the garage of the Rayburn Office Building, where members of the House have their offices.No victims. No active shooter. Investigation continues. May be nothing. Just passing it along.
The entire Capitol complex has been locked down, CNN's Dana Bash reported.
Lapdogs
Arf. Mannion and I are reading the same book, Eric Boehlert's Lapdogs. It’s a book about the utter failing of the press, and their obedience, during the Bush administration—a topic of much interest for many readers of this blog. I’ve already been struck by the same thing that Mannion points out in his post today:
I have yet to come across anything that I didn't already know from five years of reading blogs, but on every page I have something that I had forgotten, always something that even if I had accidentally jogged back into memory on my own I would not have been able to recall in the detail that Boehlert provides or with anything near the amount of supporting facts he provides.He also calls the book a godsend (“Oh, all right, it's a publistsend, but I'm still awful grateful to have it.”), and I totally agree. It’s a mountain of evidence, and Boehlert is a patient and resolute sherpa.
By way of introduction, I recommend this piece at Salon, to which I linked a couple of weeks ago. If you like the article, you’ll love the book. Well, love is maybe a bit peculiar. There isn’t much to love about the content, but you will certainly admire the information amassed by Boehlert and his ability to pull it all together in some kind of cohesive narrative. I read a lot of political stuff, but don’t feel particularly compelled to recommend much of it. I’m recommending this one.
(Like Mannion, I received a copy from the publisher—for which I am ever so grateful; otherwise, I never would have been able to buy it at the moment. I wanted to let you know by way of full disclosure, although I suspect you all know me well enough by now to guess, free or not, I wouldn’t recommend it if it I didn’t mean it.)
Hayden Confirmed
The former head of the NSA who oversaw and defended the domestic wiretapping program has been confirmed by the Senate to head of the CIA. He was approved by a vote of 78-15.
Wev. Looks like our democracy is still right on schedule for decimation.
"Name That Cult Movie"- The Answering
You cannot escape the Mullet.
Looks like it was a particularly tough one this week; and I thought many of them were giveaways. Anyway, I hope I didn't frustrate and/or piss off too many of you! Here are the answers (with quotes included)
1. "Don't worry. A naked girl is not going to get out of this complex."
Lifeforce. Space vampires! This was Tobe Hooper's first movie after Poltergeist, unfortunately, it wasn't quite as popular. Which is a shame, when you consider this movie has everything: space vampires! Zombies! 'Splosions! And nekkid ladies, for those of you that like that sort of thing in your space vampire movies. I got all nostalgic after using this quote yesterday and put it in my Netflix queueueue. This will be the best Memorial Day weekend ever! Did I mention space vampires?
2. "The chicken's beautiful, it's dead... are you gonna fuck it?"
Liquid Sky. Aliens come to earth looking for heroin, but find they get a bigger charge out of the chemicals produced by the human brain during orgasm. This is one of those cult movies that most of my friends seem to love, but I just find incredibly dull and pointless. But that's just me. View at your own risk.
3. "I'm about to go like Jesse on your ass! I'm gonna find me some other black ghosts and then organize a march. The African American Apparition Coalition. The A-double AC! And I'm gonna tell you something, Frank. There ain't nothin' worse than a bunch of pissed off brothers that's already dead."
The Frighteners. Apparently, I'm obsessed with pointing out every movie Peter Jackson made before he got all Hobbity. This was pretty much dismissed when it was released, but if you've never seen it, I highly recommend renting it. (Or buying it; a new special edition just came out.) It's a fantastic, fun movie... Michael J. Fox is great in it, and Jeffrey Combs' twitchy, "Mulder-esque" character is worth the price of admission.
4. "I hear all sorts of bullshit everyday, pal. You want some advice? Take your fancy clothes and your black silk underwear and go back to Disneyland."
Double Impact. See, Jean-Claude Van Damme stars, and he's.. heh... he's playing two roles, *snicker* and see, one's a nice guy kung-fu expert and dancing instructor, heh heh, and the other one's a criminal, and they're twins separated at birth when their parents are killed by crime bosses... bwah hahahaha! God, I love this movie. "Bad" Jean-Claude is obsessed with the fact that his "faggoty" brother wears black silk underwear. Hearing him say that phrase is one of the high points of the movie. Snicker.
5. "I got good news and bad news girls. The good news is your dates are here."
"What's the bad news?"
"They're dead."
Night of the Creeps. Classic 80's Zombie Horror. Where's the damn DVD release? Look, it features zombie frat boys with exploding heads filled with extraterrestrial slug monsters. If that doesn't deserve DVD, I don't know what does. (Toast is going to kill me for that one.)
6. "Robert, I have good news and bad."
"Custom dictates that you render the bad news first."
"We have a little problem with Miss Hastings. It appears she has uncovered our alliance."
"No problem at all. And the good news?"
"Your wife died."
Darkman. Sure, Liam Neeson is Mister Respected Actor these days, but don't forget, he was in this, and Krull. (Somehow, I think he's got a good sense of humor about doing these movies.) Also featuring Frances McDormand! If you haven't seen this one, definitely rent it. They haven't given Sam Raimi those big Spiderman movies for nothing, you know.
7. "Queers are just better! I'd be so proud if you was a fag, and had a nice beautician boyfriend... I'd never have to worry!"
"There ain't nothin' to worry about."
"I'm worried you'll work in an office! Have children! Celebrate wedding anniversaries! The world of a heterosexual is a sick and boring life!"
Female Trouble. Fran is right, this incredible quote was used as an intro to a song by the band "Sloppy Seconds." I had this as my answering machine message for a while.
8. "Look at 'em jump! Just like rabbits!"
*Gunshot*
"It... ain't... supposed to be... this way..." *dies*
The Violent Years. Written by, but not directed by, Ed Wood. Bad, vandalist girls that wreak havoc in a small town while wearing proper, prim skirts and sensible shoes. There's a completely weird scene of implied rape, where the girls drag some baffled guy off into the woods to have their nasty way with him. In 1956! No one did 'em like Ed Wood. You know they're really bad girls, because they have names like Geraldine and Phyllis.
9. "There are many different kinds of love, Boris. There's love between a man and a woman; between a mother and son..."
"Two women. Let's not forget my favorite."
Love and Death. Take your Manhattan, take your Sleeper... great movies, but this has always been my favorite Woody Allen movie. The silent "bottle knockout" scene is one of the funniest moments of slapstick in movie history.
10. "I caught a big fat bug right in my spider web and now the spider gets to give the bug a big sting... Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting!"
Spider Baby. A family suffers from a rare illness that causes them to regress mentally as they age. They're kept in a huge, crumbling house by their "caretaker," (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and slowly go nuts. A classic. There's a great review and images (and an MP3 of the title song!) here. Don't say I never gave you anything.
So, how did you like having the quotes included with the answers? Was this one too difficult?
Black. Silk. Underwear.
