Month: July 2008

Political Crack4 Comments

You Could Have Been A Grown-Up, John

So I’m dumb and naive, and for a few minutes there, I honestly thought we were gonna have a really cool presidential campaign between two genuine adults, butnot so much: John Weaver, for years one of John McCain’s closest friends and confidants, has been in exile since his resignation from McCain’s presidential campaign last year. With the exception of an occasional interview, he has, by his own account, bit his tongue as McCain’s campaign has adopted a strategy that Weaver believes “diminishes John McCain.” With the release today of a McCain television ad blasting Obama for celebrity preening while gas … Continue reading You Could Have Been A Grown-Up, John

Hurricane Katrina & Federal Flood2 Comments

Ray Nagin and The Mystery of The List(s)

Watch this Video. Seriously. It’s laughable. Contrary to what an angry Ray Nagin says I think WWL’s Lee Zurik knows what he is doing. Investigative Journalism. The Mayor’s problem seems to be Zurik isdoing it. Last week WWL aired an investigative report on possible irregularities in the list of homes remediated by the New Orleans Affordable Homeownership or NOAH. Mayor Naginslammed WWL for their report claiming it was based on an old intake list. “The list that counts is the list where we paid for services, and that list was provided to you,” he said. This week, using that list, … Continue reading Ray Nagin and The Mystery of The List(s)

Stupid Republican Tricks8 Comments

Shorter Family Research Council

WE’RE FUCKED: Last year, Sen. Larry Craig made an unforgettable visit to the men’s restroom in Minneapolis, and now Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is poised to join him in the hall of shame with allegations that America’s longest-serving GOP senator took hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from oil executives. As Republicans try to claw their way back to respectability before an election cycle that could plunge them even deeper into the congressional minority, they’re instead pushed back into the familiar role of damage control. The news of Stevens’ indictment can undo any progress the party has made in … Continue reading Shorter Family Research Council

Uncategorized4 Comments

Four US soldiers charged with shooting detainees in Iraq

FromStars and Stripes: GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Four Germany-based soldiers charged with conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in Iraq allegedly took male detainees to a canal and shot them, according to details released by the Army on Tuesday. SNIP The charges in Cunningham’s case, for example, specify: “Premeditated Murder of male detainees of apparent Middle-Eastern descent whose names are unknown, and in order to effect the object of the conspiracy … SSG Jess C. Cunningham and members of his unit took the male detainees to a canal and members of his unit did shoot the male detainees with firearms.” In the … Continue reading Four US soldiers charged with shooting detainees in Iraq

Uncategorized2 Comments

Maybe it is what it is…

I don’t know whysomepeople can’t just leta-so-low-I-weep campaign ad art wash over them. I mean the meaning is obvious and logical and nothing more–Obama is a celebrity and that is Bad so McCain hates celebrity and as The Leader, he will do something about it. He may have already started… Kate and Lance had a nice little romance going until this past weekendwhen… It was at the conference that Hudson and Armstrong decided to go their separate ways, a source tellsUs. Andwho was at that conference? My Friends it would be irresponsible not to speculate…did thepresumptuous John McCain break up … Continue reading Maybe it is what it is…

Immoral Values9 Comments

Declare, or Shut the Fuck Up

Guess what, bigots? You’re just going to have to say it now. You don’t like the idea of two people being allowed the same civil protections guaranteed you and your wife/husband by our Constitution because Teh Buttsecks freaks you out. Yes, you’re exactly that absurd, and yes, you’re going to have to say that with a vote. You’re going to have to punch a card that says, “I don’t want somebody else to be protected under the law because I have a childish squick and a deeply unhealthy obsession about how other people live their lives.” You’re going to have … Continue reading Declare, or Shut the Fuck Up

Congress2 Comments

Irena Sendler

About whom we postedhere, is honoredby Congress, who might take a lesson: Whereas on May 12, 2008, Irena Sendler, a living example of social justice, died at the age of 98; Whereas Irena Sendler repeatedly risked her own life to rescue over 2,500 Jewish children in Poland’s Warsaw ghetto from Nazi extermination during the Holocaust; Whereas inspired by her father, a physician who spent his career treating poor Jewish patients, Irena Sendler dedicated her life to others; Whereas Irena Sendler became an early activist at the start of World War II, heading the clandestine group Zegota and driving an underground … Continue reading Irena Sendler

Geek Cred13 Comments

The Commissioner Gordon Movie

Post contains spoilers. Scroll on by if you’ve been hiding under a rock and don’t want to know anything. The love for Heath Ledger in the new Batman movie doesn’t surprise me. That you can tell, just by looking at the line of criminals in the opening scenes, which one he is just from the way he carries himself, just from the set of his shoulders … it’s remarkable, he’s remarkable, you’ve all heard it. It’s usually the tertiary characters who wind up making a show or a film or a book or a whatever for me, somebody whose story … Continue reading The Commissioner Gordon Movie

So Called Liberal Media

For The Love of Steve

In much the same way that we don’t need the Internet to kill journalism so long as CEOs keep robbing their companies blind, we really don’t need political bias to ruin newspapers so long as we have the utter dumbassedness best demonstratedhere. Stories like that make me grateful for the many afternoons spent deciphering Ron Fournier’s various fuckups in campaign coverage, because at least … it’s campaign coverage. A. Continue reading For The Love of Steve

Of Interest9 Comments

Education

Chew on this today: BEREA, Ky. — Berea College, founded 150 years ago to educate freed slaves and “poor white mountaineers,” accepts only applicants from low-income families, and it charges no tuition. “You can literally come to Berea with nothing but what you can carry, and graduate debt free,” said Joseph P. Bagnoli Jr., the associate provost for enrollment management. “We call it the best education money can’t buy.” Actually, what buys that education is Berea’s $1.1 billion endowment, which puts the college among the nation’s wealthiest. But unlike most well-endowed colleges, Berea has no football team, coed dorms, hot … Continue reading Education

Stupid Republican Tricks4 Comments

Today on Athenae’s Obsession with the Freepi

You just knew the threads about the Knoxville shooting were gonna be winners: This is a symptom of a culture that feels free to spew venomous hatred and bigotry against people of faith. There is no doubt we will begin to see more of this. Begin? A bright spot in the bad news is that America is remembering how to fight back! Thank God you’re able to find the silver lining. I’m so pleased Knoxville could take time out of its busy schedule to brighten your day. What place does “Annie” have in a worship service. I’d have probably shot … Continue reading Today on Athenae’s Obsession with the Freepi

Stupid Republican Tricks2 Comments

Column: Haha, McCain

Link: It’s too bad we have all this serious real-life stuff going on, because McCain’s jokes are really something. Did you hear the one about why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father. Hah! Nothing like a sitting U.S. senator picking on an awkward teenager to score some chuckles. Wait, though, he’s got another one, this one sung to the tune of a Beach Boys song: “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran. …” Isn’t that hilarious? Maybe we could play that over loudspeakers at the Republican National Convention next month. Maybe we could use it as … Continue reading Column: Haha, McCain

Uncategorized7 Comments

Flood Maps Rescinded for DC

TheWashington Post reports here on FEMA’s decision to rescind new flood maps which would have “drastically expanded the 100-year flood zone for downtown” DC thus “sparing the need for stricter insurance requirements and tougher building codes for private and government buildings.” DC had filed a suit against FEMA calling the new flood maps “arbitrary and capricious.” The District has agreed to spend $2.5 million on a flood control plan specifically to “strengthen its levee system at 17th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.” This story points out, once again for those that missed it after Katrina, the complicated issue of flood … Continue reading Flood Maps Rescinded for DC

Stupid Republican Tricks11 Comments

Fascism

There’s something else going on here besides stupidity, opportunism, nonsense and waste. I know, I know, it’s a lot to cram in, but bear with me. They are actually trying to work something here and it’s kind of interesting to me, in the way that the digestive processes of the dung beetle are interesting to me. Think about the basic, unifying principle of Republicans in government. It’s that government sucks. It’s that we are paying them to do something that they hate and don’t want to do all that well. It’s that we’re supposed to be angry and disappointed with … Continue reading Fascism

Jude, Of Interest12 Comments

God DAMN, That’s Stupid

This shit isn’t that hard to figure out. Tupac H. Christ. Even by WSJ op-ed standards, this is one stupid fucking article. There seems to me no question that the Batman film “The Dark Knight,” currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. That’s because you’re a fucking idiot with only three functioning neurons.  Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like … Continue reading God DAMN, That’s Stupid

So Called Liberal Media6 Comments

Obama Is Winning, Which Means Bad News For Obama

No, really, even the liberal New Republic says so: Reporters are grumbling more and more that the campaign is acting like the Prom Queen. They gripe that it is “arrogant” and “control[ling],” and the campaign’s own belief that Obama is poised to make history isn’t endearing, either. The press certainly helped Obama get so far so fast; the question is, how far can he get if his campaign alienates them? Fuck me blind, I thought it would take at least until Obama was actually elected for all the shit that was okay for Bush to become magically out of bounds. … Continue reading Obama Is Winning, Which Means Bad News For Obama

Of Interest3 Comments

A Quick Thank You

To everybody who came out to Mad River Grille last night to the reading. It was a little like my wedding; I kept saying “Oh hiiiiiiiiiii, thank you for coming, so good to see you, what are you up to OMG SO AND SO’S LEAVING I NEED TO GO TELL HIM SOMETHING” and then I looked up and it was four hours later, everyone was gone, I was a little drunk and feeling very guilty for not talking to anybody enough. Actually, it was a lot like my wedding. But seriously, the turnout was awesome, and your support — for … Continue reading A Quick Thank You