Thursday Night Music: Good Things Happen To Bad People
Richard Thompson is not exactly a singles artist so this is described as the “leading track” from his new album. Electric: Continue reading Thursday Night Music: Good Things Happen To Bad People
Month: March 2013
New York Attorney General Spanks Goodell
I love it when someone kicks some Goodell ass: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is calling on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to investigateallegations that league hopefuls were asked about their sexual orientation during the league’s Scouting Combine. In aletter to the chairman, Schneiderman reminded Goodell that it’s not just bad manners to ask a player if he’s gay — it’s illegal: “We ask that the league immediately issue a statement that any form of discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation by league teams or players against potential recruits or players constitutes a violation of state, local … Continue reading New York Attorney General Spanks Goodell
New York Attorney General Spanks Goodell
I love it when someone kicks some Goodell ass: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is calling on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate allegations that league hopefuls were asked about their sexual orientation during the league’s Scouting Combine. In a letter to the chairman, Schneiderman reminded Goodell that it’s not just bad manners to ask a player if he’s gay — it’s illegal: “We ask that the league immediately issue a statement that any form of discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation by league teams or players against potential recruits or players constitutes a violation of … Continue reading New York Attorney General Spanks Goodell
Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Scarecrow of Oz
When I wrote about Sam Raimi’s cinematic takeon the Oz mythos, I neglected to mention my own fondness for L Frank Baum’s books, which I read as a laddie. Despite being aimed at children, their tone was considerably darker than the MGM film classic, which is one reason I remain fond of the books. I used the google and found to my delight that Gore Vidal’s classic 1977 essay On Rereading The Oz Books is online at the NY Review of Books’ web site. Check it out, y’all. It’s the Master at his best. And now for today’s book cover. … Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Scarecrow of Oz
The New Pope On Same Sex Marriage
While I’m not surprised that Pope Francis is against marriage equality, I didn’t expect him to need a distemper shot on the subject: Shortly after Pope Benedict XVI announced his retirement, the gay rights activist who was the first to legally marry his partner in Latin America sent out a jubilant tweet. Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio “cannot be pope,”wrote Alex Freyre, because “he lost his papabile status the instant I married @josedibellow. Same for any other Argentine priest.” On Wednesday, Freyre was proven wrong. When the cardinals elected Bergoglio pope, they made history in two ways: They chose the first … Continue reading The New Pope On Same Sex Marriage
Thursday Night Music: Good Things Happen To Bad People
Richard Thompson is not exactly a singles artist so this is described as the “leading track” from his new album. Electric: Continue reading Thursday Night Music: Good Things Happen To Bad People
You Don’t Get To Talk In Church
Pray the non-gay-hating politicians away: Among those to decry the state’s pending marriage equality legislation, which is currently awaiting a House vote, was Bishop Lance Davis, senior pastor at a church in Dolton. “We want to make sure that we a send a message to our elected officials that as a collective community and a collaborative, we will not allow you to speak in our churches, you will not be invited to our church when you’re running for office because we as a community are incensed,” he is quoted by the radio station as saying. Wow, how awful for them. … Continue reading You Don’t Get To Talk In Church
Malaka Of The Week: Google
It’s institutional malakatude week here at First Draft. This has nothing to do with Google’s desire to conquer the cyber world, that’s what big ass tech corporations do. I have a more specific lament: they’re 86-ing Google Reader effective July 1. I’ve used it for years and really like it so I’m pissed. Do any of you lot have any suggestions as to what a poor boy can do to replace this service? I’ll let Split Enz have the finally word. Why? Why the hell not? Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Google
Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Scarecrow of Oz
When I wrote aboutSam Raimi’s cinematic takeon the Oz mythos, I neglected to mention my own fondness forL Frank Baum’s books, which I read as a laddie. Despite being aimed at children, their tone was considerably darker than the MGM film classic, which is one reason I remain fond of the books. I used the google and found to my delight that Gore Vidal’s classic 1977 essayOn Rereading The Oz Books is online at the NY Review of Books’ web site. Check it out, y’all. It’s the Master at his best. And now for today’s book cover. How about a … Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Scarecrow of Oz
Dictionary Definition
FromAlbum4 I would not be surprised if wingers either completely ignoreScott Prouty, or viciouslyattack him with pretty much any argument they can push through the puke funnel. On the one hand, Romney’s political career is over and unlamented, on the other, destroying the life of anyone deemed sufficiently disloyal is how they roll. That said, it’s not like Mitt said anything that’s not central to their movement, namely, their ridiculous and narcissistic belief that this country is full of takers and parasites, while they virtuously make and produce. Fuck ’em if they can’t takereality. Continue reading Dictionary Definition
Someday I Wanna Be Above The Law
Skeery, skeery banks: “I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult to prosecute them,” Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “When we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps world economy, that is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large. It has an inhibiting impact on our ability to bring resolutions that I think would be more appropriate. That is something that … Continue reading Someday I Wanna Be Above The Law
The New Pope On Same Sex Marriage
While I’m not surprised that Pope Francis is against marriage equality, I didn’t expect him to need a distemper shot on the subject: Shortly after Pope Benedict XVI announced his retirement, the gay rights activist who was the first to legally marry his partner in Latin America sent out a jubilant tweet. Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio “cannot be pope,”wrote Alex Freyre, because “he lost his papabile status the instant I married @josedibellow. Same for any other Argentine priest.” On Wednesday, Freyre was proven wrong. When the cardinals elected Bergoglio pope, they made history in two ways: They chose the first … Continue reading The New Pope On Same Sex Marriage
White Smoke Gets In My Eyes
My advances have been scorned by the Cult of the Red Beanie in favor of a 76 year old Jesuit from Argentina. It looks like the powers that be have the caretaker pontiff of their dreams. There’s no cure for the curia, after all.Charlie Pierce sees this as an extension of the papacies of John Paul and Eggs Benedict: OK, so he’s the first pope from Latin America, and the first Francis, which ties him with Hilarius and a few dozen others for last place in the papal names rankings. He’s also a member of The Society — A Jesuit … Continue reading White Smoke Gets In My Eyes
White Smoke Gets In My Eyes
My advances have been scorned by the Cult of the Red Beanie in favor of a 76 year old Jesuit from Argentina. It looks like the powers that be have the caretaker pontiff of their dreams. There’s no cure for the curia, after all.Charlie Pierce sees this as an extension of the papacies of John Paul and Eggs Benedict: OK, so he’s the first pope from Latin America, and the first Francis, which ties him with Hilarius and a few dozen others for last place in the papal names rankings. He’s also a member of The Society — A Jesuit … Continue reading White Smoke Gets In My Eyes
Catelyn Stark is My Spirit Animal
Michelle Fairley is a badass also: In person, Fairley speaks with the same deep, smoky tones with which Catelyn so often counsels war-leading son Robb, but she’s a lot more fun: wide-eyed and enthused, at one point she apologises for slapping our leg in a fit of laughter – “Oops, I shouldn’t have done that, you might charge me with sexual harassment!” It’s only when we cheekily ask her about details of season three that we get a flash of that trademark Winterfell sternness. “Life wouldn’t be worth living [if I told],” she says, eyeing the publicists in the room. … Continue reading Catelyn Stark is My Spirit Animal
Someone Else Will Fix Journalism
Virgo, who knows that things around here have been a little too calm and collected lately, sends me thisto make me add to the marks on the wall from where the shoes usually land WHEN I THROW THEM: L. Gordon Crovitz is the former publisher of the WSJ, who stepped down in 2007, but still writes a column for the paper. Today—notseveralyearsago, but today!—Crovitzasks, “What happens to in-depth reporting in the age of the blog post?” Real interesting question, L. Gordon. We are salivating to hear the expertise of a man who is a highly paid media industry advisor andboard … Continue reading Someone Else Will Fix Journalism
I Have An Active Heterosexual Lifestyle, Right?
For God’s sake, if you mean “fucking,” just say “fucking:” University of Portland is a Catholic institution that allowed students to form an official Gay-Straight Partnership in 2008, but not everyone was happy with the decision. As conservative site LifeNews wrote at the time: Although the Gay Straight Partnership has made pains to state that it will be adhering to Catholic teaching on sexuality, experience has shown pro-family advocates that such alliances typically result in the push to normalize and to affirm as morally acceptable an active homosexual lifestyle amongst university students. That’s exactly what the students campaigning today want: … Continue reading I Have An Active Heterosexual Lifestyle, Right?
The Ryan Plan, Now With Electrolytes
Paul Ryan released his new budget which, from all I’ve read thus far, is remarkably similar to the one Americans resoundly rejected last year as being mathematically impossible and morally depraved. The “new” plan includes VoucherCare, screws people under age 54 out of Medicare (as a 51-year-old, let me repeat:FUCK YOU, PAUL RYAN), cuts taxes on the wealthiest and corporations, increases defense spending by $500 billion over the next 10 years, and magically cuts the deficit by such amazing feats as repealing Obamacare. In other words, this isn’t anything close to a serious attempt to deal with “fiscal issues.” So … Continue reading The Ryan Plan, Now With Electrolytes
Someday I Wanna Be Above The Law
Skeery, skeery banks: “I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult to prosecute them,” Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “When we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps world economy, that is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large. It has an inhibiting impact on our ability to bring resolutions that I think would be more appropriate. That is something that … Continue reading Someday I Wanna Be Above The Law
Red Smoke
If the Cult of the Red Beanie is looking for a preposterously unconventional candidate for the papacy, I’m available. I may be a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage atheist who was never a Catholic but I did costume as a Cardinal on Mardi Gras day in 2007: No, those are not nuns, they were the Krewe of Anna Nicole Smith, and if you insist on asking, I was not the daddy. Btw, I’d like my smoke signal to be red: Continue reading Red Smoke
Tuesday Night Music: Us and Them
I saw a documentary about Dark Side Of The Moon on BBC America the other day and, quite naturally, it gave me an earworm.Us and Them is a drop dead gorgeous song and it has long been one of my favorite Pink Floyd numbahs: Continue reading Tuesday Night Music: Us and Them
Catelyn Stark is My Spirit Animal
Michelle Fairley is a badass also: In person, Fairley speaks with the same deep, smoky tones with which Catelyn so often counsels war-leading son Robb, but she’s a lot more fun: wide-eyed and enthused, at one point she apologises for slapping our leg in a fit of laughter – “Oops, I shouldn’t have done that, you might charge me with sexual harassment!” It’s only when we cheekily ask her about details of season three that we get a flash of that trademark Winterfell sternness. “Life wouldn’t be worth living [if I told],” she says, eyeing the publicists in the room. … Continue reading Catelyn Stark is My Spirit Animal
You’re In My Prayers
I know it’s becoming the Pope Frank fanblog around here, but this is actually genuis: Krajewski gets his marching orders each morning: A Vatican gendarme goes from the Vatican hotel where Francis lives to Krajewski’s office across the Vatican gardens, bringing a bundle of letters that the pope has received from the faithful asking for help. On the top of each letter, Francis might write “You know what to do” or “Go find them” or “Go talk to them.” And so Don Corrado, as he likes to be called, hits the streets of Rome and beyond. He visits homes for … Continue reading You’re In My Prayers
Everyone is Lost
We weren’t in the terminal two minutes before Mr. A found his first lost soul. I don’t know what it is about my husband, but he seems to collect people who need help, wherever he goes. Maybe it’s his confidence; he always looks like he knows where he’s going, even when he’s more lost than I am, and he never seems panicked or nervous no matter where he is. This is, after all, the fellow who went to Brazil for a week and came back with a sunburn, speaking more or less fluent Portuguese, and had a dozen epic stories … Continue reading Everyone is Lost
Pope Francis is Wrong Because Fuck Obama
I haven’t ventured over into the Breitbart Memorial Museum for Fuckwittery in a long time, because a) why and b) no, but last week Pope Frank decided to point out that hoarding money isn’t cool, and that any system that doesn’t serve the needs of everybody needs to be amscrayed, just as his Employer once commanded. Not a radical statement, unless you’re following on the heels of Pope Prada of the Hitler Youth during a time of epic income inequality reinforced by every major mainstream media outlet in the entire world. So most people were quite pleased to hear a … Continue reading Pope Francis is Wrong Because Fuck Obama
Saboteurs
Time for some non-Papal posting. I do, however, get a kick out of A’s calling him Pope Frank. It reminds me of the late, great Francis Albert Sinatra, sinner and patron saint of saloon singers. Now where the hell was I? Oh yeah, saboteurs. I’m referring to GOP Governors and how their massive resistance to the ACA is sabotaging it and harming the interests of their own people. The current generation of Gopers is so in thrall to the teabaggers and the Randian/Social-Darwinian 1% that they’ve forgotten how many Republican voters do not have affordable health insurance. Do they care? … Continue reading Saboteurs
The Ryan Plan, Now With Electrolytes
Paul Ryan released his new budget which, from all I’ve read thus far, is remarkably similar to the one Americans resoundly rejected last year as being mathematically impossible and morally depraved. The “new” plan includes VoucherCare, screws people under age 54 out of Medicare (as a 51-year-old, let me repeat:FUCK YOU, PAUL RYAN), cuts taxes on the wealthiest and corporations, increases defense spending by $500 billion over the next 10 years, and magically cuts the deficit by such amazing feats as repealing Obamacare. In other words, this isn’t anything close to a serious attempt to deal with “fiscal issues.” So … Continue reading The Ryan Plan, Now With Electrolytes
You Don’t Get To Talk In Church
Pray the non-gay-hating politicians away: Among those to decry the state’s pending marriage equality legislation, which is currentlyawaiting a House vote, was Bishop Lance Davis, senior pastor at a church in Dolton. “We want to make sure that we a send a message to our elected officials that as a collective community and a collaborative, we will not allow you to speak in our churches, you will not be invited to our church when you’re running for office because we as a community are incensed,” he is quoted by the radio station as saying. Wow, how awful for them. They … Continue reading You Don’t Get To Talk In Church
Photo Of The Day: Sopranos Edition
I’m an obsessive Sopranos fan. Once when a friend and colleague of Dr. A’s asked me if I’d ever seen the Sopranos, my wife burst out in hysterical laughter and had to be sedated. Not really but it makes for a good story… Anyway, it was James Gandolfini day in the late actor’s home town of Park Ridge, NJ the other day. They renamed a stretch of road after Gandolfini and some of his teevee family showed up to pay their respects. The photo was taken by Amy Newman of NorthJersey.com: Continue reading Photo Of The Day: Sopranos Edition
Excommunicate the Nonbeliever!
Speaking of unpleasant people who want to wine-dine-69 Jesus but haven’t heard a damn word He said: The Rockford Pro-Life Initiative has called on Francis Cardinal George to excommunicate Governor Pat Quinn for his outspoken support of same-sex “marriage.” [snip] Governor Quinn’s support for same-sex “marriage” puts him at odds with the leadership of the Catholic faith he claims to belong to.ThreeIllinoisbishops released letters to be read from the pulpit in parishes statewide over the weekend opposing the legislation. Members of the Rockford Pro-Life Initiative, however, do not think the letters go far enough. “If Cardinal George and all the … Continue reading Excommunicate the Nonbeliever!