By far my favorite suggestion inthis thread about Arizona basically having to panhandle, like, as astate, is the one about selling the naming rights. I don’t think they should sell the naming rights to the state buildings, though. I think you kick in enough cash to get millions through a budget crunch, you should get to rename the STATE. I could become a resident of Chicago, Tostitos (TS) or Chicago, Bank of America (BOA). A. Continue reading Naming Rights
Never: Sullivandigs in: I want Obama to instruct the Hawaii officials to release the official original document they say they have in their hands. Why not? Release it to who? Release it where? Could Glenn Beck and Geraldo Rivera have a live primetime special with the birth certificate? Or should we mat it on a nice American flag background and display it in the Capitol Rotunda? Or maybe a train tour of major cities, and people could pay $5.00 to view it. Or, we could spend 100 million dollars of the stimulus money and mail everyone a color photograph. Or … Continue reading It Will Never Be Enough
The Internet continues itsslaughter of serious journalism about serious things: New York Times reportersHelene Cooper, Peter Baker andJeff Zeleny live-blogged the so-called beer summit of President Obama, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and the officer who arrested him in Cambridge nearly two weeks ago, Sgt. James Crowley. It took three of them to “live-blog” the “beer summit.” I mean, I’m sorry, but Puck and Willie B could have handled that assignment admirably and Puck just right now ran headfirst into a table leg, so. A. Continue reading Three Reporters
The National Zoo’s ferretcam, guys. Baby black-footed ferrets and their mamas. I hereby apologize to all y’all’s bosses because you’re going to get nothing done for the rest of the day. (Scroll down and click on the image of the nesting box to start the cam going.) A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging
Bathe in some today! A. Continue reading Formaldehyde: Good for You!
Gallup polls Republikkkan voters on their choice of a running mate for John McCain: Cannot Name Anyone 31%Other 21%Mike Huckabee 18%Mitt Romney 15%Condoleeza Rice 8%No Opinion 5%Fred Thompson 4%Ron Paul 2%Rudy Giuliani 2%Charlie Crist 2%Joe Lieberman 2%Colin Powell 1%John Edwards 1%Tim Pawlenty 1%Newt Gingrich 1%Bill Richardson 1% Continue reading I’m Rooting For Cannot Name Anyone
That forced us to fire four of our best journalists: Laying off these staff writers, which editor Alison True did at the beginning of this week, was surely one of the hardest acts of her life and certainly a low point in the history of this newspaper. “Over the years,” True said Thursday in a message to the staff, ” John, Harold, Tori, and Steve have produced some of our most important and exciting stories. Their achievements have included brilliant investigative work, prestigious awards, and possibly most important, spurring social change in a city that always needs it. . . … Continue reading Chicago Reader: It’s the Internet
Wait A Minute, I ThoughtDana Peroxide Didn’t Believe I Evolution Q Can I ask about Pakistan? Benazir Bhutto has said today that she won’t participate in a government with Musharraf, and that her party may consider dropping out of the elections if they’re held. The situation keeps sort of getting worse. What is — how are you guys looking at this? How do you see it? Do you see it as getting worse? MS. PERINO: I would describe it as evolving and changing over — almost every hour, there seems to be a different development. And the call by President … Continue reading Today On Holden’s Obsession With The Gaggle
With the CHAIR: Key lawmakers, backed by party leaders, are drafting legislation that would effectively revoke the broad authority granted to the president in the days Saddam Hussein was in power, and leave U.S. troops with a limited mission as they prepare to withdraw. Officials said Thursday the precise wording of the measure remains unsettled. One version would restrict American troops in Iraq to fighting al-Qaida, training Iraqi army and police forces, maintaining Iraq’s territorial integrity and otherwise proceeding with the withdrawal of combat forces. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., intends to present the proposal to fellow Democrats next week, … Continue reading Happy Democrat Photo: Kicking Ass Edition
Pony Blow openstoday’s gaggle by cracking on John Bolton.
Q John Bolton is up on the Hill, and he just said that the agreement — firstly, that he’s not a fan of the agreement, and that the North will be re-writing it every day it’s in existence, it’s a fantasy, it’s rewarding the North and sending a horrible message to the world about the U.S.’ stand on weapons of mass destruction.
MR. SNOW: Well, we stood by John Bolton in his time at the United Nations, including when he advocated the six-party agreement — the September 2005 agreement that, in fact, has been enacted today. One of the things that John Bolton did note is that there are carrots and sticks in the agreement, and as he said in October of ’06, which was just a few months ago, the carrots have been there, in a sense, for North Korea of the possibility of ending its isolation, ending the terrible impoverishment of its people. It’s the leadership that can’t seem to find the carrots that are out there. We think that the leadership has begun to find the carrots. We’re going to discover in due course whether they, in fact, are going to fulfill their part of the agreement. However, as we’ve already said up here, it is a trust-but-verify situation. This is not something where we are simply going to give things to the North Koreans on a timeline. This is all conditioned on their behavior.
Q In what way is this not rewarding the North for bad behavior?
MR. SNOW: Mainly because what we have said all along is, you guys have got to come back to the table without preconditions and, furthermore, you’ll have to agree to get rid of the nuclear program.
Obsession continues…
Continue reading “Today On Holden’s Obsession With The Gaggle”
‘The country is so barbarously large and final. It is too much country . . . alternatively drab and dazzling . . . so wrongfully muddled and various that it is difficult to conceive of it as all of a piece.’ *** I was looking at amap last night. A satellite version of the hurricane map, showing the geology of the continent. The mountains and plains and rivers, the canyon shelves hidden by the Gulf’s surface, right underneath where that storm is sitting out there. It’s strange to contemplate something like a hurricane in relation to the immovable mass of … Continue reading The Gulf
This is from an email I received that I think is making the rounds but it’s Friday and it made me laugh so… Excerpts from a Dog’s diary Dog… 8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing! 10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!12:00 pm – Lunch! My favorite thing!1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing! 5:00 pm – Milk bones! My favorite thing!7:00 pm – Got to … Continue reading Friday Cat Blogging
Smell it. “The evidence does not suggest that the surge is actually working,” said Alastair Campbell, the outgoing defense attache at the British Embassy in Baghdad May 20. According to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph, Campbell also disclosed that U.S. commanders had decided that the criteria for “success” would be only a reduction in violence to the level prior to last year’s bombing of the al-Askari Mosque in Samarra. That means 800 dead Iraqis a month – a figure that the Telegraph admits “few would regard as anything remotely approaching peace.” Continue reading Progress!
Political distractions just happen all on their own, with no help at all from the press: A dispute over their behavior when Crowley investigated a potential burglary at Gates’ house exploded into a national debate onracial profiling, fueled further when Obama said the police “acted stupidly.” The episode has come at a political cost for the president, stealing attention from his agenda and drawing negative public reviews on how he handled the matter. Stealing attention from his agenda. All by itself. You know, I’m not ignorant of the fact that Obama jumped into this on purpose, but what drives me … Continue reading Serious Business
Keep in mind that I have the best insurance possible in our system, a fact for which I am grateful every single day. This is a conversation that took place in my doctor’s office at 6:15 this morning: “You have a balance here of X dollars.” “I sent in a check for that. You sent the bill to my house.” “Do you have a copy of it?” “The check?” “The bill.” “No. I don’t generally drag my household files around in my purse.” “Do you know when you sent the check in?” “Not off the top of my head.” “Do … Continue reading The Best Health Care in the World
From2Millionth Web Log Diaper Dave insists he is the embodiment of“core conservative values,” not “wishy washy moderates” like (R-OH) George Voinovich. Just as an aside, Vitter has a very weird public image. His communication “style,” is a cross between robot and dullard, although I get the feeling this is to hide a tempermental and arrogant persona…anyway… More of this, please: Louisiana Democratic Party spokesman Kevin Franck e-mailed us a fun comment. “Last time I checked, you don’t find core Southern values in the places David Vitter has been found,” said Franck. “If David Vitter can lead his party back to … Continue reading It’s a Family Affair
“You people.” CLASSY. A. Continue reading GOP to 9/11 Heroes: Drop Dead
Via reader LW, herecomes Roger Simon, trying to be funny and I’m sure very edgy and “non-PC” in a way: Here are “The 21 Things You Cannot Say to the President after a News Conference”: 1. Hey, we hear the Golf Channel is going to carry it next time. Well, actually, only the Golf Channel is going to carry it next time. 2. Don’t worry. We’ll get ’em next year. 3. Professor Gates called. He can’t find his house keys. 4. You want to take a mulligan on this one? 5. We did try to plant a question about Bo, … Continue reading Roger Simon, Tool of the Century
Pulitzer Prize winner Jerry Kammer, in an interview with John Temple: The closing of Copley’s DC bureau (which at the end was the bureau of Copley’s flagship paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune) means that San Diego has no eyes to concentrate on its congressional delegation in DC. It means the paper would have missed the Cunningham scandal had it developed a few years later. But there are some fine reporters and editors who remain in San Diego after the brutal downsizing. I’m pulling for them. I’m also pulling for my old colleagues at the Arizona Republic. We had a great … Continue reading It’s the Ownership, Stupid
You cannot HAZ a Favre: MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —Brett Favre has handed theMinnesota Vikings one more loss. The 39-year-old Favre called Vikings coach Brad Childress on Tuesday to tell the coach he won’t be coming out of retirement to play for Minnesota. A. Continue reading Sorry, Minnesota
Again, with the way-back machine to 2004, we didn’t go this crazy, right? This is not Kanye West saying Bush doesn’t care about white people, or Michael Moore saying something provocative while a guest on CNN (though I challenge anyone to find Moore saying anything this ugly on anyone’s program). This is Rupert’s prized employee appearing on his channel, and doing the equivalent of shouting “fire” in a crowded movie house. This is the sort of comment that I might expect to read about in some SPLC missive concerning neo-Nazi websites, or the like. But as uttered by the paid … Continue reading Nutso Attribution
Above, the marvelousSelf Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, one of Frida Kahlo’s most iconic works. It’s just one tiny part of the ginormous holdings of the University of TexasHarry Ransom Center. Not kidding folks, they have alot of stuff. From theoriginal manuscripts and private papers of Virginia Woolf to the blurryView from the Window at Gras, or as they call it at the HRC: The First Photograph (Ever). AGutenberg Bible here, a first draft ofCat on a Hot Tin Roof there, Walt Whitman’s original edits forLeaves of Grass over here, and well, things add up. We’re talking stacks and … Continue reading I knew her when
Last week I asked for help in coming up with topics for a series of discussions I may be moderating for my local Democratic Party office. There were a lot of really good suggestions, for which I thank you. What’s really cool is I think I found my schtick for this regular Tuesday slot–discussions about the Constitution. It’s not like I’ll be lacking for fodder… Today’s discussion is about the sometimes forgotten third child of the Constitution, the Judicial Branch (forgotten till there’s an opening on the Supreme Court, anyway). Here’s what theConstitution has to say: Article III, Section 1: … Continue reading The Judicial Branch
The Internet makes them impossible: After all, are chubby dietitians or portly physicians in any position to advise others how to get healthy? That question is at the heart of a debate set off when Dr. Regina Benjamin was nominated for surgeon general. As noted above, one side of the “debate” seems to be limited to online comment trolls and Neil Cavuto’s televised series against decency (thisTelegraph article is the best I could find otherwise). The other side, from what I’ve seen, is mostly doctors and people who aren’t professional obesity trolls. YMMV. But with the nation’s obesity crisis worsening, … Continue reading Journalistic Standards
Who needs regulation? The Tennessee Valley Authority failed for more than 20 years to heed warnings that might have prevented a massive coal ash spill in Tennessee, then allowed its lawyers to stifle a $3 million study into the disaster’s cause to limit its legal liability, an inspector general’s report said Tuesday.Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and chairman of the TVA congressional caucus, said the report “raises major concerns which must be taken seriously … to ensure that such a coal ash spill never happens again.”The 111-page report from TVA Inspector General Richard Moore came as officials from the nation’s largest … Continue reading Freedom: You’re Smothered By It
You know, I wrote some pretty intemperate shit back before the 2004 election, about the clash of civilizations and the death of all we hold dear, about the true worth of the work we did and the karmic bitchslap that surely awaited our opponents, about BREAKING THE LAW and ALL THE DEAD PEOPLE and whatnot. But honest to God, and I’ve been combing the archives for a while now, I don’t think I wrote anythingquite as crazymaking as this: People around me are telling me to step back and let someone else fight the fight. You are spending too much … Continue reading Freedom Fighters, Patriots, Poseurs
Lazy management. By the 1990s, the landscape in newsrooms across the country clearly was changing. Longtime reporters and editors retired, and increasingly were replaced by second- and even third-generation college graduates who had little in common with “the underdog,” that handy euphemism we employ for those who suffer in silence and anonymity until we step in. Some of us detected a growing resistance of newspapers to covering these stories. The economic turmoil of the last two years has changed much about America, including the rank and file of newsrooms. There is not a newspaper in the country left unscathed. Journalists … Continue reading You Can’t Guarantee Empathy in Anyone, Connie Schultz
Chuck Todd, giving the garden weasel a run for its money as the most famous tool there is: CT: The political conversation is this: What message does that send if we have this political trial, and how do you know this won’t turn into a political trial? In fact, we know it’s going to turn into a political trial. I’ll take that back – we don’tknow whether it’s going to turn into a political trial. That is the experience of how these things have worked in the past, that end up getting turned into a political trial. And then… GG: … Continue reading Oh No, Not Politics!
Ezra: The irony is that some of the health reform proposals on the table this year are a bit of back to the future. The health insurance exchanges that Obama envisions — regulated markets that the government would set up where insurers would compete for business — are the successors to the managed competition that Clinton sought. The regulations on insurer behavior and the out-of-pocket caps are direct descendants of the Clinton bill. There are important ways, however, in which the bills currently working their way through Congress do not go as far as Clinton’s plan did 15 years ago. … Continue reading Improving Conditions for the Insured
Morning, everyone!Well, the Freeperati are churning out the stupid like there’s no tomorrow, and I’m still going through threads from a month ago. Before we start, I want everyone to suit up outside the lab, because I have to share something with you garnered from “whatobamameanstome.com” A Freeper, as helpless outside the controlled environment of FR as a turtle is on its back, breaks down and threatens violence against yours truly. My telling him that I’m probably a better shot than he is does not help. His next missive is (no, I’m not making this up): “Face it tommy t, … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Obsession With The Freeperati – “Still playing catch-up” edition