Month: June 2009

Immoral Values14 Comments

Bad Things Don’t Happen to Good People

Amanda hits on something interesting during this discussion of Oprah: No matter how bad you feared it was, Oprah’s even worse than you could have imagined, letting her “experts” push ideas such as “diet will prevent you from catching HPV, so don’t worry about the vaccine” and otherwise encouraging her viewers to take health measure that will actually degrade their health and work against their interests. It also functions a neat examination of the sort of motivations that keep health woo alive, despite all evidence and common sense against it. I somewhat disagree with the authors, who seem to think … Continue reading Bad Things Don’t Happen to Good People

Immoral Values, Law/Justice, Marriage Equality, Music3 Comments

Our business within this common mortal life

In case anyone has ever wondered, I DO realize I’m an inconsistent, intellectually sloppy, lazy asshole a great deal of the time, online and off. I’ve seldom been accused of being a fierce activist, a rigorous thinker, or good soldier. This isn’t self-deprecation, just acknowledgment that I am those things many probably would describe me as. And yes, of course, I am more. It’s almost 1 p.m. right now, I’m likely to be at least three people before I leave the office for home this afternoon. Like all of us, most of us anyway, I’m many selves and some of … Continue reading Our business within this common mortal life

So Called Liberal Media11 Comments

The Internet Kills Journalism for the 207th Time

LIBERALS EVERYWHERE!!!! As readers flee to alternative sources of information, or to no information at all, because newspapers haven’t been able to deliver much that readers find useful or compelling, the Record of Hackensack has identified the core of the problem, and is addressing it head on, with great courage and wisdom. What newspapers need to make them more useful and compelling, according to the Record’s obviously airtight and unassailable marketing survey, is to get rid of their “liberal bias.” And rather than waste a lot of time hiring crackerjack reporters and editors and setting them loose on the community … Continue reading The Internet Kills Journalism for the 207th Time

So Called Liberal Media3 Comments

It’s Always Their Fault

Okay, seriously, I think we’ve reached peak moron: KOGO Radio’s morning man, Chip Franklin, has been arguing with me for over a decade. I wait for his producer’s call every Monday morning, never quite sure where we’re going to go. We were wrapping up today’s show, talking about shows that jumped the shark, when I abruptly changed the subject tothe sentencing of Euna Lee and Laura Ling overnight to 12 years of hard labor by a North Korea court. As I tried to express my outrage at their sentencing, Chip interrupted to say that Ling and Lee were “irresponsible” and … Continue reading It’s Always Their Fault

So Called Liberal Media5 Comments

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!??!

That sound you just heard? That wet, kind of thwack-thud sound? No big thing. Just my head hitting a brick wall, over and over and over: (Crain’s) —Sun-Times Media Group Inc., which has been slashing jobs and closing down newspapers to cut costs, wants to pay 20 employees up to $1.8 million in bonuses if the company is sold for a certain amount. The owner of theChicago Sun-Times and dozens of suburban papers recently filed the request in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 31, becoming the city’s second media company to … Continue reading ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!??!

Congress6 Comments

GQ and Barney Frank

GQ is doing some very interesting stuff these days (and I’m not just talking about the swoon-worthy Christian Bale story). TheRumsfeld Biblical verses story got me watching them a bit closer, and it paid off. Lisa DePaulo hasan interview with Barney Frank on the GQ Blog that’s well worth reading. (My favorite bit comes when DePaulo asks Frank about his coming out, and whether he could survive such a “scandal” politically nowadays, and Frank’s response is, “I don’t know. Dave Vitter seems to be surviving.” Hee!) But that’s not what I really wanted to point out. It’s what Frank has … Continue reading GQ and Barney Frank

Stupid Republican Tricks22 Comments

Ross, Ross, Ross, Ross

Oooookay: Over the last week, there’s beenan outpouring of testimonials, across the Internet, from women (and some men) who lived through these hard cases. They help explain why Tiller thought he was doing the Lord’s work, even though that work involved destroying something that we wouldn’t hesitate to call a baby if we saw it struggling for life in a hospital bed. They help explain why so many Americans defend his right to do it. But such narratives are not the only story about George Tiller’s clinic. He was a target of protests — and, tragically, of terrorist violence — … Continue reading Ross, Ross, Ross, Ross

Stupid Republican Tricks2 Comments

More Fun With Diaper Dave

A quick followon to the snark Barney Frank brought that I mentioned in my previous post today. Does anybody else get a major squick factorfrom this? : Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, a Democrat, signed Sotomayor’s cast during their session. Her fellow Louisianan, Republican Sen. David Vitter, had a bag of ice and a pillow on hand when the judge arrived at his office, telling her to “please be seated and relax.” “I hope you all note that some Republicans are empatethic too,” Vitter quipped to reporters. [sic] Empathy from David Vitter? DO NOT WANT. h/t to BarbinMD at Kos p.s. … Continue reading More Fun With Diaper Dave

Economy6 Comments

We Gave the Insurance Companies All Our Money

And it resulted in everybody being hosed, solet’s require people to give the insurance industry more of our money: It is important to understand whya “public health insurance plan” created to “stand beside” existing private health insurance plans does not provide a cure. This proposal is based in part on the experience in Massachusetts. The current Massachusetts universal coverage health reform plan is being looked upon as a model for the nation. It has had some success, yet it cannot and must not be used as a model for national reform with a “stand along public health plan” option. The … Continue reading We Gave the Insurance Companies All Our Money

Economy3 Comments

Because There’s No Point

In building things for the children of poor parents: Nothing about the demolition at Collins was mentioned publicly until May 2, when Arnold Randall, who leads neighborhood outreach and legacy efforts for the bid committee, told residents at a community forum in Douglas Park that the school pool and gym would have to come down to make way for the cycling arena. “I couldn’t believe it when he said it,” said Reginald Johns, a west-side resident who was at the meeting. “That’s the first any of us heard about it. It doesn’t make sense. They just rebuilt this gym. Why … Continue reading Because There’s No Point

Stupid Republican Tricks3 Comments

How You Can Tell Kathleen Really Likes Him

Obama has reduced her to metaphors: Beyond delivering core messages of partnership and a new beginning based on mutual understanding and respect, Obama made three big scores: He essentially neutralizedOsama bin Laden. He managed to call IranianPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a hateful ignoramus without ever mentioning his name. And, he affirmed Western values of democracy, human rights, religious freedom and women’s right to self-determination — all while making Muslims feel complimented, appreciated and understood. No small feats. To delegitimize the man whose name rhymes with his, Obama had only to show up and not beGeorge W. Bush. Osama the cave-dweller’s latest … Continue reading How You Can Tell Kathleen Really Likes Him

So Called Liberal Media5 Comments

ChicagoNow. Get it? It’s NOW! Hip. Happening. Interwebs. Stuff. Things.

Looking over the list of blogs in the Tribune’s new “hey, we have a network of local blogs” venture that is in beta right now, my only reaction is … lots of sports and shopping. Yes, there’s other great stuff in there (love the CTA Tattler) but it’s lighter on news than it is on consumer/fan content. Exactly how much coverage of the Cubs does one city need? It’s not like the papers and TV and radio and plenty of blogs already aren’t acting like it’s the Second Coming every time a game takes place. Though I have to say, … Continue reading ChicagoNow. Get it? It’s NOW! Hip. Happening. Interwebs. Stuff. Things.

So Called Liberal Media1 Comment

Let’s Give Up in Advance

Then we can kick back and say it was impossible all along, and nobody will have to do anything that’s going to put them out one inch, and we can all watch Diagnosis Murder re-runs and organize our fucking recipe boxes.Jesus Bugfuck Elvis CHRIST: The choice is emblematic of the challenges facing many news organizations across the US. They’re coping with the recession at the same time that readers and advertisers are migrating to the Internet – where, fair or not, there’s an expectation that what you read should be free. The vote at the Globe is also complicated by … Continue reading Let’s Give Up in Advance

So Called Liberal Media3 Comments

Newspapers: Still Making SO MUCH Money

So maybe not so much with the “everybody’s abandoning us because they no longer love democracy and America” bullshit, please: But, of course, charts only tell half the story. Here’s the other half: $37.8 billion vs $21.1 billion Want to take a guess at which one is newspapers’ ad revenue from 2008 and which one is Google’s? Believe it or not, the bigger number–the one a healthy $16.7billion higher is the newspaper industry’s. That’s right: Google’s bringing in just over half what the newspapers haul in on print advertising alone. Which makes the currentpublisher anger towards Google more than a … Continue reading Newspapers: Still Making SO MUCH Money

Geek Cred9 Comments

You Don’t Even Have a Name

What a bunch of whiny, entitled bitchery. Outing somebody because he said you were wrong? Automatic fail. Honestly. I try to tell the newspaper kids I talk to about this kind of stuff all the time: someone criticizes you, why get into a two-week shitfight over where your critic went to school, who he “really” is, whether he’s taken as many classes as you, etc etc? It just makes you look like a petty asshole. Why not instead focus on the substance of the criticism: Does this person, even if he goes by iLikeBigJugs553, have a point about some fact … Continue reading You Don’t Even Have a Name

Uncategorized7 Comments

Quitting Time Booster Shot

“Have fun,” A told me when we discussed the guest gig. OK, so here are some random thoughts garnered during a flu-induced, NyQuil-driven, holy-crap-my-back-just-went-out-on-me-too day on the couch: – Can we call for a moratorium on these ads while I’m trying to watch the playoffs? I want to explain to my kid what a bunt single will do in a tie game in the seventh inning, not why the guy in the weird tux is leering at his Stepford Wife or what this group of “excited” band mates are singing about. –Then again, maybe there are worse things to be … Continue reading Quitting Time Booster Shot

Stupid Republican Tricks7 Comments

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession With The Freeperati – mixed bag o’ nuts edition

Good morning, everyone! Before we get started, I’d like to address a scurrilous rumour that due to last week’s “Obsession” getting front-paged by Kos himself, I’ve become insufferably immodest.
Not true.
I was insufferably immodestlong before that.

Peasant.

Now that that canard has flown innuendo, let’s cycle the airlock and see what putrid posts the Freeperati have to offer…

Our appalling appetizer –Apparently Freepers don’t have credit cards!‏

Credit-Card Fees Curbed

The Wall Street Journal ^

| 05-20-09
| SUDEEP REDDY

Posted onWednesday, May 20, 2009 6:28:09 AM byGOP_Lady
Sweeping new restrictions on credit-card companies would ban extra
fees and fluctuating rates and arm tens of millions of consumers with
more information on their debts.
Starting in February 2010, a
Senate bill passed Tuesday would ban practices such as charging
consumers to pay by phone and sudden surges in interest rates. Payments
above the minimum due would be applied to balances with the highest
interest rates. Information once relegated to tiny print must be made
clearer, and consumers will soon be told how long it would take to pay
off a balance if they pay only the minimum due.

To: GOP_Lady
This will simply make it more difficult for marginally creditworthy consumers to get credit.

5
posted onWednesday, May 20, 2009 6:32:19 AM
byMr Ramsbotham
(“Baldrick, to you the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people.”)

Um – hasn’t that been part of the problem?

To: GOP_Lady
I know many people who will be happy to see this type of government control.
The problem was not the credit card companies/banks but people
living way beyond their means. If this were not the case they could
take their business elsewhere.
It’s not good news if freedom is what you’re after.
When the governmnet(sic) “lightens your load” in one instance it doubles, triples, or quadruples it in another.

7
posted onWednesday, May 20, 2009 6:34:10 AM
byBoucheau

Boucheau is seriously conflicted here.
On the one hand, he disagrees with Mr. Ramsbotham that people living beyond their means is a problem. Or maybe it is.
In the next sentence, he allows that in either case, this is bad news for Freedom.
They do, however, agree that any legislation signed into law by President Obama is bad, because he’s Obama.

To: ninonitti
Another example of redistributing wealth and scr… responsible people who pay their bills on time etc…

10
posted onWednesday, May 20, 2009 6:38:48 AM
bySacajaweau

Yeah! Because of the part of the bill that restricts interest rate increases.
These people clearly inhabit Bizarro-world.
The only “wealth redistribution” I see in credit card-land is out of working stiffs’ pockets to MBNA.

To: JDW11235
“I also don’t necessarily agree it’s the CC companies’ job to educate them.”
The terms are very clearly laid out in the CC agreements.
Most people are too lazy to read them.
Most people are too stupid to read what they sign and deserve to be had more than they are!

47
posted onWednesday, May 20, 2009 7:39:40 AM
bydalereed

Those poor old financial institutions! Stupid people need to have clauses in their credit card contracts that obligate them to be sent off to a work farm, because they’re stupid, and banks are all nice and stuff.

And of course, there always has to be a killjoy:

To: Boucheau
The problem was not the credit card companies/banks but people living way beyond their means.
No, that’s not necessarily true at all. In the past, I’ve been in
situations (major car and home repairs, medical bills, and wholly
unexpected college/university fees) in which I would have been royally
screwed if I did not have a credit card to back me up.
The
credit card companies are in fact THE problem, with their fraudulent
lending and pricing policies, and countless pitfalls, any one of which
leads to major fees and interest rate hikes at usury levels, courtesy
of those fine-print “Important Amendments” we all get in the mail from
time to time. The whole system, as it is now constituted, is one big
debt trap.
Having been screwed myself by my credit card issuers
in the past, I actually agree with Obama on the need for this
legislation because this industry is wildly out of control, with prior
congressional complicity (Kennedy, Biden, and Dodd).
Sorry to burst some bubbles on this thread, but even a clock is right twice a day.

12
posted onWednesday, May 20, 2009 6:45:36 AM
byVirginia Ridgerunner
(Sarah Palin is a smart missile aimed at the heart of the left!)

That’s“Stopped clock”:.

Communist.

Well, more and sillier Republicans after the jump, so follow me into the dark, children…

Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession With The Freeperati – mixed bag o’ nuts edition”

Hurricane Katrina & Federal Flood8 Comments

No charges in post Katrina Bridge incident

FromWWL A grand jury has declined to bring criminal charges against anyone in the 2005 police blockade that kept hundreds from crossing the Mississippi River to safety after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, the district attorney’s office said Wednesday. Several hundred people claimed police from suburban Gretna prevented them from crossing as they tried to flee New Orleans on Sept. 1, three days after the storm hit and floodwaters inundated the city. One officer, Lawrence Vaughn, allegedly fired a shot during the confrontation. But a New Orleans grand jury on Wednesday declined to indict Vaughn on a criminal charge, said … Continue reading No charges in post Katrina Bridge incident

Political Crack9 Comments

Being Happy About The Election Doesn’t Mean We Didn’t Think He’d Suck In Some Way

My real problem with all theOH MY GOD YOU GUYS GOT SUCKERED NOW I BET YOU WISH YOU’D VOTED FOR HILLARY/MCCAIN/NADER/MCKINNEY/RONPAUL HUH that goes around every time somebody opines that Obama fucked something up is the presumption that everybody thought Obama would solve all our problems. I remember people supporting him passionately but I do not, outside of psycho Kos diaries, remember a whole lot of “well, this is all it’s gonna take and then we can go home.” All these pieces seem to begin, “unlike all you other fuckers, I alone was smart and pure enough to realize that … Continue reading Being Happy About The Election Doesn’t Mean We Didn’t Think He’d Suck In Some Way

Uncategorized8 Comments

Remembrance

I read this story years ago. I go looking for it every once in a while, because its opening lines have never left me. You should read it all: BEDFORD, Va. – On a high hilltop far from any ocean, a monument is rising for the 6,603 Americans who fell on the sands and sank in the waves while storming ashore in the largest military landing in history. The site won’t be dedicated for another year, but on this Memorial Day a crowd of some 6,000 is expected for the unveiling of a statue of a fallen soldier. The question … Continue reading Remembrance

So Called Liberal Media7 Comments

May Lee Enterprises Rot In Hell, Too

Demanding reporters take a 23 percent pay cut: Lee Enterprises wants Newspaper Guild-represented employees at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to take a 23% pay cut over the course of a new three-year contract, according to the union. In an article posted on its Web site, the St. Louis Newspaper Guild says the management proposal would cut wages 15% the first year, followed by smaller cuts in each of the next two years. Lee as a matter of policy does not comment on labor negotiations. “The company also proposed contract changes that would allow them to lay off employees for any … Continue reading May Lee Enterprises Rot In Hell, Too

Uncategorized6 Comments

More than One Way to Skin a Cat(holic)

Had an odd experience this week, in that the Missus, the Midget and I were invited to witness my sister-in-law’s conversion to the Baptist faith. The Missus and her whole clan were raised Catholic but my SIL married into a family of Baptists, which led her to start to consider this process. No gripes against her husband, as he’s one of the most decent men I’ve ever met and the only thing I’ve ever been able to find wrong with him is that he’s a Bears and Cubs fan. My biggest problem with this whole thing was the concept of … Continue reading More than One Way to Skin a Cat(holic)

Uncategorized1 Comment

Quitting Time Booster Shot

Welcome to the QTBS, where we understand that certain things are patently obvious, but we feel the need to point them out anyway… – OK, there’s innovation, there’s desperation and then there’s this. When Newsweek decided to try something completely different and to move away from the “shackles” of the old news-weekly format, I don’t think this is what readers had in mind. Stephen Colbert is fine, I think he’s funny, but he’s not a JOURNALIST (which we scream a lot about when people tend to pick at Jon Stewart). This can go one of two ways: a) he does … Continue reading Quitting Time Booster Shot

So Called Liberal Media7 Comments

Your Regularly Scheduled Post About How It’s Not Really Funny

A couple things today that happened: Twitter shoved in front of my face the tasty morsel thatWGNTV was going to be having a bikini fashion show coming up, andI proceeded to snark on it, andWGN proceeded to get snitty backthat they do good things as well as this crap. Which, yes. I will freely stipulate that a bikini show is not all that you are. The point of my snarking wasn’t that you’re just trivial peddlers of bullshit. The point is that for going on five years now I’ve sat and listened to one self-satisfied butthead after another tell me … Continue reading Your Regularly Scheduled Post About How It’s Not Really Funny