Month: March 2010

Athenae, Diary1 Comment

Friday Ferretblogging: Non-Bucky Edition

So I’ve been noticing Bucky’s kind of a camera hog. It’s not his fault, really. He’s just so cute and so fluffy and he’s slower than the other two on account of his being shaped like a giant furry football. Nevertheless, two other ferrets do live here. Puck’s been spending this winter being a lap ferret, which in my freezing cold house I appreciate. Riot, on the other hand, has spent his time scattering his toys everywhere, and perfecting his begging skills. A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging: Non-Bucky Edition

Current Affairs, Doc2 Comments

Say Anything…

Where have you gone Norman Peterson? Our sarcasm turns its lonely eyes to you… The other day, I was working on The Classic when I had to run into town for a part. As I was driving out of our little cul de sac, I noticed the local PD trying to catch speeders who tended to use that stretch of road as a drag strip. “What a shit head,” I muttered. And then I felt bad as I drove by and looked at him. Sure enough, he had no discernable facial features. Just a pile of shit on top of … Continue reading Say Anything…

Athenae, Stupid Republican Tricks6 Comments

I Think the Real Question Is …

… what kind of countertops do they have in their kitchens? You know, what wouldn’t you do to your enemies if you knew there were no consequences? It’s not that this shit isn’t understandable. It’s human nature to want to crush your enemies. It’s just that at some point usually our better natures or, you know, our moms, say, “Maybe you shouldn’t be such a DICK today, kiddo.” I don’t know if you get that part surgically removed when you enter government or what. Then again, it’s not like these people will really face any repercussions. After all, nobody else … Continue reading I Think the Real Question Is …

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media2 Comments

Why They Hate Us

It’s not really a surprise. We hate them, after all: Where is the mystery about Rahm stories? Mainstream media reporters hate hippie bloggers. Don’t know why. No small part of our cultural blood feuds in America is the idea that somebody else’s life calls into question one’s own choices. The stay at home moms hate the working mothers, and vice versa; the childless and childfree hate the parents and vice versa; the marrieds and the singles are perpetually lobbing grenades at each other; and the reporters hate the bloggers. It’s all because each is convinced the other has the better … Continue reading Why They Hate Us

Adrastos, Books4 Comments

Side by Side

Peter Adrastos Athas

At theAdrastos Virtual Cafe, I’ve been doing a feature calledPulp Fiction Thursday for a few years. I’m inordinately fond of lurid-n-trashy pulp covers dating from 1945 to 1960. Every so often I stumble on some *other* types of paperbacks whilst doing some virtual slumming. The books below came out at around the same time. I dunno about you but I’m relieved not to see a shirtless Tricky Dick: Notice how Tricky tried to synthesize sincerity but just couldn’t pull it off. In contrast, JFK looked cool with print blotting out his bony circa World War II chest. The dude was … Continue reading Side by Side

Athenae, Stupid Republican Tricks12 Comments

Wrong About Everything

Truly, at this point, when some Hot Young Conservative Thing comes out with accusations that some Big Liberal Institution is engaging in Scandalous Wrongdoing, don’t you start to say “possibly we should consider whether you are completely full of shit until you prove you are not?” Instead of the other way around? Example one: Book claiming Muslims are in ur Congress, pwning ur n00bs 4 jihad, turns out to have been coauthored by total anti-Muslim squirrel nut with an agenda to push and is also basically just about how some Muslims work in the Capitol, quelle horreur. The Congresswoman who … Continue reading Wrong About Everything

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media4 Comments

ChicagoNow: I’m Shocked, I Tell You

Chicago Tribune’s big “hey, we have some blogs” network turns out to prove, once again, that that the journalism is killing the Internet: I don’t think the needs of bloggers were ever truly considered when ChicagoNow was originally planned out. I don’t think they have been taken seriously in the months since the network debuted. And I fear they never will be. Now that the culling has started, ChicagoNow staff say they’re moving away from a niche blogging strategy and towards a “community news” model, creating new neighborhood blogs to provide more “granular” local news. I wish those new bloggers … Continue reading ChicagoNow: I’m Shocked, I Tell You

Adrastos, Hurricane Katrina & Federal Flood, Law/Justice4 Comments

The Frayed Blue Line

Peter Adrastos Athas

This is a piece I wrote formy blog and posted this morning. It’s geared to my NOLA readership so let me provide some context. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s violent crime and police misconduct were endemic.Marc Morialwas elected Mayor of New Orleans in 1994 and promised to clean house at the NOPD and hire a reform minded police chief. He did:Richard Pennington was hired and got rid of 1/3 of the force he inherited. Modern crime fighting techniques such as COMSTAT were brought in and the murder rate was halved. Pennington left office in 2002 after an unsuccessful … Continue reading The Frayed Blue Line

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media5 Comments

I Can’t Help Myself, Politico Edition

I know, you guys, I know it’s all link-baiting and that my giving them traffic just helps them WIN THE MORNING and WIN THE AFTERNOON, but COME THE FUCK ON: Over the past few weeks, the world has learned quite enough about John Edwards – from the lies he told in trying to cover up an adulterous affair to the compulsive vanity that left some people close to him questioning his judgment and even his grip on reality. Democrats who seriously considered making Edwards the party’s 2008 presidential nominee could be forgiven for asking: Now you tell us? The revelations … Continue reading I Can’t Help Myself, Politico Edition

Athenae, Stupid Republican Tricks10 Comments

Attacks on the IRS

Way to go, teabaggers! Over the past four years, there appears to be a “steady, upward trend” in threats against IRS staffers, a TIGTA official told Dow Jones Newswires last week. The most unnerving incident in recent memory occurred just two weeks ago, when Joseph Stackflew his plane into IRS offices in Austin, Texas, killing one employee nearing retirement. Other notable attacks on the tax-collecting arm of the government in recent years include: In March of 2009, Randy Nowak hired a hit man to kill an IRS worker auditing his tax return and to burn down IRS offices in Lakeland, … Continue reading Attacks on the IRS

Athenae, Immoral Values11 Comments

Republican: Suddenly I am Deeply Concerned about Black People

Right: In an interview with bloggerMike Stark, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) appeared to say that African-Americans are worse off today because of legalized abortion, than they were compared to slavery. “It seems like humanity is very gifted at hiding from something that’s obviously true. I mean in this country we had slavery for God knows how long. And now we look back on it and we say, ‘Well how blind were they, what was the matter with them, you know, I can’t believe, I mean four million, this is incredible,’” said Franks. “And we’re right. We’re right, we should look … Continue reading Republican: Suddenly I am Deeply Concerned about Black People

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media3 Comments

Newspapers Matter, Part 2

I wish the executives who casually destroy the newspaper industry would consider things like this: The newspaper vendor lost most of his sight years ago, but he knows most of his customers so well he grabs their favorite papers off the rack before they walk up. There’s the lady with the black fur-lined coat who’s always in a rush. The businessman who pays with all quarters. TheSt. Louis Cardinals fan who gives him a hard time for likingthe Cubs. John Tuider, 89, retains a mastery of the comings and goings at the Downers Grove Main Street station. “I like people, … Continue reading Newspapers Matter, Part 2

Adrastos, War in Iraq5 Comments

Guns, No Butter

Peter Adrastos Athas

Another entry in the “ain’t democracy in Iraq wonderful” dossier: A senior Iraqi spy has accused the prime minister, Nour al-Maliki, of handing out thousands of guns to tribal leaders in a bid to win votes. The claim was made by Iraqi National Intelligence Service former spokesman, Saad al-Alusi, a week beforeIraq‘s general election, in which allegations of vote buying and exorbitant handouts have become widespread. Maliki, who faces a bitterly contested final week of campaigning ahead of the7 March poll, has been photographed handing out guns to supporters in southern Iraq, engraved with a personal message from his office. … Continue reading Guns, No Butter

Stupid Republican Tricks, Tommy T7 Comments

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Athenae’s Choice Edition

Good Monday morning, gentle people. As Ms. A noted here, the top story in Freeperville this week was the fallen angel that we all know as Scott Brown (R-Quisling). Suit up, everyone – the sploo … um …toxic waste from exploding Freeper noggins s going to be flying in all directions. Form this: Gallery of pictures of Scott Brown during his modeling days. Link Only Boston Globe | 2/4/10 | Staff Posted onSaturday, February 06, 2010 9:22:24 PM byruralvoter Link only to online gallery of six pictures. Scott Brown was a catalog model for ten years during the 1980’s. The … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Athenae’s Choice Edition