Not quite like this. I just finished Jon Krakauer’sWhere Men Win Glory. If we lived in a just and decent society, Donald Rumsfeld would be awaiting a public garroting. George Bush would be reduced to penury and forced to live out his days as a minimum-wage worker. Continue reading Deep Thought
Megan McArdle knows when you’ve been depressed, and when you’re just bummed out: Apparently, the administration has issued rules requiring parity for mental health treatment with other illnesses. They’ll take effect July 1st. If you want to know why health insurance costs keep marching upward seemingly uncontrolled, this is why: mandating new benefits is always popular, and the government doesn’t have to pay for them. I am very sympathetic to the plight of the mentally ill.Unfortunately, most of the people who will tap the benefits are not severely ill people who need intensive care; they’re people who are unhappy. Unhappiness … Continue reading Making a List and Checking It Twice
Jacob: If you have that kind of information, if you know that the tracks run out and people are going to die, it’s not only your duty to use it, but your purpose on this earth. To be in the world, but not of it. To help, and to heal, and to save the world, and in so doing, save yourself. Or, as a lovely harsh woman will say years from now, to fulfill your destiny: to love them, and take care of them, show them the glory of peace. To see your infinite mercy matched only by your power, … Continue reading Younger Than That Now: Caprica Thread
What is the thing that frustrates you most about yourself? Me? Procrastination. God, the amount of productive I could be if I didn’t fuck around so much spending twice the amount of time it would take to do the work avoiding the work. A. Continue reading Weekend Question Thread
Swing away. A. —– Continue reading Saturday Blogwhoring Thread
Welcome to the Booster where we really need a break from teen angst and vampires… – Spent the afternoon watching “Aliens” simply because I’d never actually seen this from the beginning. I have seen everything from about the 20 minute mark about 9,000 times, but never saw the opening. Two things I hadn’t realized until just this viewing: 1) After seeing the first 20 minutes, I had a new appreciation as to how well Paul Reiser plays a douche bag and 2) I forgot what movies were like when Phillip Morris and its ilk ran Hollywood. Everyone in this movie … Continue reading Quitting Time Booster Shot
This classic scene from Sorkin’s “American President” resonated with me today. In the argument between the president and Lewis, you get the leadership metaphor of people crawling across the desert, looking for an oasis. When they show up and it’s only a mirage, they’ll drink the sand anyway. Lewis argues that it’s because they’re thirsty for leadership. The president says it’s because people don’t know the difference. My take: In some cases, it doesn’t matter, as long as we realize it and stop drinking the sand. This amazing piece by Amy Kingsley shows us all what we already know on … Continue reading Stop Drinking The Sand
The Saints are obviously the talk of the town: NOLA’s pride and joy. The NFL, on the other hand, is about as popular as the bubonic plague in these parts right now. Why? The No Fun League claims that it hastrademarked the term Who Dat and has come down hard on some local businesses: Count theNational Football League among the growing members ofWho Dat Nation. After all, they own the phrase — or so they say in cease and desist letters sent out to at least two local T-shirt retailers earlier this month. In letters sent to Fleurty Girl and … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: The No Fun League
Someone in the crack van, I think it was M31, asked if ferrets smell. Yeah, they do. If you don’t clean their cage and you don’t clean their litterbox and you don’t swap out the bedding and blankets they sleep in, they smell. Like any animal, really. So once a day the litterboxes get cleaned, once a week the laundry gets swapped out, and about once every couple of months or whenever I feel like giving them a rockin’ good time, the boys get a bath. You’re not supposed to bathe them too much or put heavy, perfume-y sprays on … Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging: Aftermath Edition
(Ed. Note: Here’s part two of the thing that was too long for the Internet.Here’s part I in case you missed it. Thanks for indulging me with the thing that took 30 years to get to write. — Doc.) Why don’t we have a table? I asked Dad once when I was 20 or so. You’re in college and you’ve got stuff to do, he said. I can’t do it by myself. The pricing, the packing, the inventory and stuff. Plus, you need two guys watching a table so that you can make sure no one is stealing your stuff. … Continue reading The Show (Part II)
There’s a really swell tortoise shell cat named Lucy who lives in Faubourg Marigny around the corner from theKrewe du Vieux den. Like most torties, Lucy has major cat-itude as well as, apparently, a belly of steel. Here’s a picture Dr. A took of her on a recent float building/decorating day: Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Krewe du Vieux Guest Kitty Edition
The ringleader of the wingnuts who tried to sabotage Mary Landrieu’s phones, Little Liddy the Pimp, has beenordered to live at home with Mommy and Daddy in New Jersey. Unless, you’re Bruce Springsteen this sounds like a savage punishment to me: Little Liddy has stay within the Jersey state boundaries or have his parole revoked. Hmm, I wonder if he’ll hang out with Little Steven? Probably not: Van Zandt’s a rabid lefty, after all. If you believe what these cretins told the Feds, their intent was to sabotage/vandalize Senator Landrieu’s phones in order to report on her reaction to such … Continue reading Grounded
All right, look. I don’t want to get into it over the iPad or whatever the fuck new shiny thing is coming along tomorrow that will “save newspapers.” It’sbullshit, I’ve been saying it’s bullshit, you all know about it. What I do want to talk about is this: But leaving aside any discussion of Brooks the human being, this latest column of his is something that has to be discussed. The propagandistic argument he makes about the dangers of “populism” is spelled out here as clearly as you’ll ever see it expressed in print, and this exact thing is a … Continue reading Passion and Delivery
FromAlbum3 So, the latest is that it allegedly wasn’t even a case of P Liddy or Ti Liddy (note: in parts of Cajun Louisiana, “ti” is a diminutive), but more like third rate “I’m-not-a-journalist-but-play-one-in-my-homemade,-amateurish-videos” for O’Keefe and his pals. Saying they were a gang that couldn’t shoot straight is an insult to gangs that really can’t shoot straight. Regardless of what eventually happens to the little creep–my inner schadenfreude wouldn’t mind seeing them learn first hand about the harsh realities of federal prison, my inner cynicism thinks between IOKIYAR, first-time offender status, and whatever other connections they might have, a … Continue reading Media Whore
He’s been in office one year. Look, I’m not 100 percent pleased with the guy either, but COME THE FUCK ON. It’s a loaded term that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When was Bush described as embattled? Not till his second term, and not that much outside of overseas media and filthy hippie blogs. Look, we can argue all day long about the merits of various policies and who should be doing what but can you honestly, honestly tell me the rules aren’t different for Democrats? A. —– Continue reading Embattled
“I forgot he was black for about an hour.” NO REALLY. A. Continue reading Quote of the Night from Chris Matthews
Posts in the van belong to their posters, not to Jude, Adrastos, Athenae, Puck, Riot, Bucky, Della, Oscar or any of the our weekly friends. If you can’t find something, just ask. If you don’t know what’s up with theHAMS, or thecatbus, or whatever, don’t worry. There will be a new private joke in about six minutes and nobody will get that one either. Update: Van closed! Thank you to all who stopped by, especially our ND friends in our first-ever joint van. Next time … Super Bowl Van! A. Continue reading SOTU Crack Van
So what is our POTUS thinking about right this minute? Jobs. No, not jobs like work.Jobs, like Steve. Obama is totally wishing he had Steve’s job, I bet. “Fucking Jobs! He’s got it easy. People WANT to hear what he has to say. He’s had his most profitable year ever. Damn, I hate that guy.” In fact, according tothis poll, 69% of respondents thought today’s unveiling of the Apple Tablet was more important than theState of the Union address tonight, which only 27% believed was bigger. The moral of this highly un-serious story? We need shinier, more awesome Democrats. —– Continue reading Que es mas macho?
I know everyone’s heard the bizarre news that someyoung wingnutsled by James O’Keefe (hereinafter and forever Little Liddy The Pimp) were arrested for trying tomess with Senator Mary Landrieu’s phones at her New Orleans office. The details are vague but it looks like what Tricky Dick’s minions G Gordon and E Howard would surely have called a black bag operation. This one, however made the Watergate bugging look masterful. Little Liddy The Pimp is, of course, the bozo who punked ACORN by posing as (what else?) a pimp. I’m enjoying his latest predicament and can’t wait to see which one … Continue reading Little Liddy The Pimp
Well done. A. Continue reading Double-A-Plus Kid
Because if it is going to be basically that Republicans are right and we should stop doing everything, I cannot watch that alone. Van will roll out at about 7:30 p.m. Central tomorrow. For the pre-game. Because that will in no way be rage-inducing or anything. We will also have visitors fromNorth Decoder, as we’re trying out a Joint Session of the Crack Van with them. It may not work. The Van may not be able to bridge the space-time, you know, thingie. But hey, as I would tell the president if he was taking my calls this afternoon, better … Continue reading State of the Crack Van Address
I Ioved Ron Shelton’s hilarious 1992 hoops hustler comedyWhite Men Can’t Jump with Woody Harrellson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez. I hadn’t thought about that flick for years until I stumbled upon the news atNOLA blogger Jimmy Huck’s joint that some Atlanta based bigots have decided to organize awhites only minor league basketball league: The All-American Basketball Alliance announced in a news release Sunday evening that it intends to start its inaugural season in June and hopes Augusta will be one of 12 cities with a team. “Only players that are natural born United States citizens with both parents of … Continue reading White Men Can’t Jump
GAAAAH: To me, it sounds like Obama has decided to imitate Bill Clinton, except that he’s going to skip 1994 and jump right to 1995-1996–the years that gave us welfare reform and the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, among other things. Deficit reduction is a classic “Third Way” policy, but by doing it this way Obama is ceding ground to the government-haters (who just want to cut spending) without getting anything (future tax increases, or votes for health care reform) in return. And here’s what makes me crazy:It’s not going to work. Politically, I mean. You know why people … Continue reading Ineffectiveness
I really, really wanted to be wrong about this, but it’s already this passive-aggressive shitpile of justification: The CNN anchor Anderson Cooper knows the 24-hour news cycle as well as anyone, and last week, he lamented that the survivors of theHaiti earthquake would soon fall victim to that reality. “We all know what’s going to happen” in a week or two, he said to Dr.Sanjay Gupta, the CNN medical correspondent and a practicing neurosurgeon. “People are just going to lose interest in this as a story. They’re going to stop watching.” Dr. Gupta answered, “In part, it’s up to you … Continue reading Story Fatigue
The Editors should be writing for the editorial pages of every newspaper left in America: How’s Obama doing? It’s like this: America is a very, very sick country. The old gal ain’t doing so well right now. Now, we can argue about how she got here and how she might have been achieved her full health potential, but I would hope we should at least agree that the eight years spent undergoing Dr. Dubya’s patented Crack Rock and Drano Enema Therapy, with twice-daily hour-long bullwhippings in the asbetos room administered by Nurse Cheney, may not have been the wisest treatment … Continue reading Doomed
Oh, GREAT: Hoping to replicate some of the box office success of “The Passion of the Christ,” indie producer Bill McKay is mounting “The Resurrection of the Christ,” with a 10-week shoot starting in July. McKay, through his American Trademark shingle, has set an Easter 2011 release, with Samuel Goldwyn Films handling domestic for the $20 million production. Day-and-date international launches will come through an array of distributors. Scribe Dan Gordan (“The Hurricane,” “Murder in the First”) is penning the screenplay with a focus on the power, greed and ambition of those involved in the crucifixion — Pontius Pilate, Herod, … Continue reading Jesus 2
p>Good morning, gentle people! The“Do not send Haitian help-moneys to Obama” edition left some residual scum on the floor of the iso chamber that seems resistant to even carboranes acid, so I’ve put down some wooden pallets for the time being – please watch your step. Well, with the coronation of Scott Brown ( or as I like to refer to him, Teabag-action Ken ) as King Of All Creation, you’d think the Freepers would be on top of the world. They’ve persevered throughout losing both houses and the Presidency, mostly over Chimpy McFlightsuit (on whom they turned like a … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Blog Pimp Edition
I hate everything today: Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has compared giving people government assistance to “feeding stray animals.” Bauer, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, made his remarks during a town hall meeting in Fountain Inn that included state lawmakers and about 115 residents. “My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further … Continue reading Sick, Amoral, Disgusting, Compassionless Penile Implant of a Human Being