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November 30, 2006

Random Lyrics Thursday

Blind Eyes by Fad Gadget

Close your eyes and hope for sunshine
Protect your soul and you'll survive
Pray to God in all his wisdom
It's so much safer on the other side

Blind eyes turning
Hear no, see no, speak no evil

Refugees in the colour suppliment
Send a few pounds to charity
Now we're feeling so much better
Watch the rotting flesh on your colour TV

Blind eyes turning
Hear no, see no, speak no evil

Let's talk about it - No, not while I'm eating
Let's sing about it - No, please not while I'm dancing
Let's read about it - Oh, can't you see I'm sleeping?
What are you going to do about it? - Well, I'm still thinking

Waste your money on some Fad Gadget
A novelty toy for the family
Let's all play at feeling concerned
It doesn't really make any difference to me

Blind eyes turning
Hear no, see no, speak no evil

Let's read about it - No, not while I'm eating
Let's talk about it - No, please not while I'm dancing
Let's sing about it - Oh, can't you see I'm sleeping?
What are you going to do about it? - Well, we're still thinking



By min | November 30, 2006, 11:19 AM | Music| Link



November 28, 2006

I know you don't like to miss these

Paul O'Brien's October Marvel sales analysis.


By fnord12 | November 28, 2006, 4:56 PM | Comics| Link



The political affiliations of your favorite super-heroes

From Dave's Long Box. I agree with them all*, but Batman is the funniest.


*Update: On the way home from work, i decided i don't agree with Superman's.


By fnord12 | November 28, 2006, 4:12 PM | Comics & Liberal Outrage | Comments (3) | Link



So What Do You Want? A Pat On The Head?

The media is so proud of itself for defying the Bush Administration and going ahead with using "civil war" when speaking of Iraq. They're so proud, they can't stop talking about how much they talked about making the terminology switch before actually going ahead with it. They didn't come to this decision lightly, folks. It didn't just happen in a snap decision. No, sir. They reviewd the facts and gave it all very careful consideration. Almost as much consideration as deciding what type of gel to use in their hair.

You morons. You're a bunch of loathsome boot-lickers who rarely do more than parrot what you're told. If you had bothered to do your jobs in the first place, mebbe we wouldn't be mired in Iraq now. Mebbe thousands of soldiers wouldn't be dead. Mebbe we would have a lot fewer people willing to blow themselves up just to take a few of us out. So, now that the Democrats control both houses, you're feeling a little brave? You're thinking you come out and give the Bush Administration a raspberry, and we'll forget about the huge pile of shit your manipulation of public perception landed us in? I hate you even more now.


By min | November 28, 2006, 1:43 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link



Now is not the time to raise a fuss.

Some people made a peace symbol out of a Christmas wreath and hung it on their home. They are resisting orders from their Homeowner's Association to remove it.

My favorite line from the article is "residents were offended by the posting of the peace symbols 'while our country is at war.'". It's ok to be for peace during peacetime once a war happens you can pretty much go to hell until someone (not you!) decides it's time for the war to be over.

My second favorite line is "The peace sign has a lot of negativity associated with it," he said. "It's also an anti-Christ sign. That's how it started." Sure, people who are anti-war are actually Satanists. Satan hates war. Only through war can you be a true follower of the guy who advocated turning the other cheek.

Here's something positive, though:

On Wednesday, every member of the subdivision's five-person Architectural Control Committee was asked to resign when they collectively opposed the decision by the board of directors to fine Jensen and Trimarco.

In a public letter posted on Pagosa.com on Friday, Jack Lilly, the chairman of the committee wrote, "The Architectural Committee was asked to intervene. The five members met and decided that no message, other than a wish for peace could be inferred in the symbols and saw no violation of the CC&Rs (covenants, codes and restrictions). The Board of Directors has the authority to override the ACC and did so. But that wasn't enough. They demanded that anyone that disagreed with them should be removed from the committee. We all resigned."

Although, what's the point of a committee where the people are just removed if they don't agree with Board of Directors?


By fnord12 | November 28, 2006, 1:40 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (2) | Link



Documentaries have corporations worried

Documentaries like Super Size Me and Walmart- The High Cost of Low Price are making corporations worried, and some are even changing their policies as a result. Imagine if the news media did half the job they're supposed to do so that these indie filmmakers didn't have to.


By fnord12 | November 28, 2006, 1:36 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link



Turn Left!

Ecuador contributes to the trend of South American countries moving to the left. Actually, after our midterm election, i might even just say "American" countries, but we'll wait and see on that.


By fnord12 | November 28, 2006, 1:30 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link



The War on Terror International Law

"Make sure this is accomplished."

That's what Rumsfeld wrote on a memo that deliberately authorized violations of the Geneva convention in Abu Ghraib.

A lot of Republicans bristle at the concept of international law. With people like Rumsfeld and (ironically, but not coincidentally) UN Ambassador Bolton, it seems their primary purpose is to take advantage of international crises or tragedies by finding courses of action that can't happen because international law is "too restrictive". The goal with a move like this is to get ordinary people who are scared or just plain dumb to agree that we have to break international law in order to fight terrorism, thus creating mass support for anti-UN policies. If the international community doesn't react, it also sets a precedent that the action taken is acceptable.


By fnord12 | November 28, 2006, 12:39 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link



November 27, 2006

Giving it all away

Stealing this entire post from Kos:

Boy, is this (subscription link) not surprising:
Senate Democratic aides are a tad nervous about Sen. Joe Lieberman (Whatever-Conn.) hiring a former GOP spokesman to be his new communications director. Especially those working for potential 2008 Democratic presidential contenders.

Several Senate Democratic aides say they're uneasy about the notion of Lieberman's new communications director, Marshall Wittmann, sitting in on their weekly press secretary meetings.

That's because Wittmann, a darling of the press who gives great quotes, was a spokesman for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) before going to the Democratic Leadership Council.

During his political lifetime, Wittmann has bounced from the left to the right to the middle. Democratic aides say they're just not sure they can trust Wittmann. He is, after all, still a loyal supporter of McCain, the Republicans' potential 2008 frontrunner. Can they rest assured that what they say in their private weekly meetings will stay between them and not get back to the enemy?

No. They cannot. But that's the bargain they made with Lieberman. Now Senate Dems will act surprised?

We can't say we didn't warn them.

Two more years. Once the Dems increase their Senate advantage, they can put Lieberman out to pasture in the backbench.

In the meantime, it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to freeze Wittmann out.

I suppose it would be a good way to feed the other side bad information, and have the real meetings elsewhere. If only they were that smart.


By fnord12 | November 27, 2006, 3:42 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link



An Edict

Starting from Thanksgiving on through to New Year's, the work week shall be reduced to 3 days.

I declare it to be thus.


By min | November 27, 2006, 2:26 PM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (4) | Link



November 26, 2006

Give the gift of llamas this holiday season

Instead of buying your family more sweaters and ties, donate a llama or a water buftalo to a family in need.


By fnord12 | November 26, 2006, 2:04 PM | Liberal Outrage & My stupid life & Ummm... Other?| Link



November 25, 2006

More Yellow Than Mountain Dew

Smelled OK. First sip was inconclusive (all test subjects agreed). Second sip revealed a flavor that was cousin to Cream Soda, but with something extra (one test subject suggested "blue" soda flavor). Thinking that everything was OK, i settled back and began treating it like an ordinary beverage. But over the course of the next few sips, something happened. Something... sinister. With each subsequent sip, the soda became more foreign, less enjoyable. It was too sweet, too thick, too... funny tasting. By the time i was half done with the can - and we're talking an 8oz can here - i couldn't drink anymore. I had to start alternating with another beverage. Even then, i found i could not bring myself back to drink more of this sickly sweet stuff. The other test subjects refused to help out. Finally, i had to chug the remaining beverage, attempting to not taste it as it passed through my mouth.

And that was... Jone's Candy Corn Soda.

Next: Key Lime Soda.








Hey kids! Don't believe i actually drank the soda? Send 3 Supermegamonkey proof of purchase tokens to the following address to receive actual pictures of me drinking the beverage:


SuperMegaMonkey Candy Corn Soda Picture Offer
95 N. Main Street
Marlboro, NJ 07746


By fnord12 | November 25, 2006, 10:31 AM | My stupid life| Link



November 23, 2006

Random Lyrics Thursday

Seen and Not Seen by the Talking Heads

He would see faces in movies, on t.v., in magazines, and in books....
He thought that some of these faces might be right for him....and
Through the years, by keeing an ideal facial structure fixed in his
Mind....or somewhere in the back of his mind....that he might, by
Force of will, cause his face to approach those of his ideal....the
Change would be very subtle....it might take ten years or so....
Gradually his face would change its shape....a more hooked nose...
Wider, thinner lips....beady eyes....a larger forehead.

He imagined that this was an ability he shared with most other
People....they had also molded their faced according to some
Ideal....maybe they imagined that their new face would better
Suit their personality....or maybe they imagined that their
Personality would be forced to change to fit the new appear-
Ance....this is why first impressions are often correct...
Although some people might have made mistakes....they may have
Arrived at an appearance that bears no relationship to them....
They may have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish
Whim, or momentary impulse....some may have gotten half-way
There, and then changed their minds.

He wonders if he too might have made a similar mistake.


By fnord12 | November 23, 2006, 11:48 AM | Music| Link



November 22, 2006

That's One Damn Fine Recliner

A man sitting in his easy chair was shot in the head by his wife, but the sturdy recliner absorbed most of the bullet's force and left him virtually unscathed.

The couple had been arguing at home on Sunday evening, said Contra Costa County sheriff's Lt. Charles Skuce. Then Jan Kamp stood behind her seated husband and fired a gun at the back of his head, Skuce said.

Link

After he was shot, he stood up, followed his wife to the kitchen, and said "You shot me". So she shot him again, but missed. Heh. Must have been some argument.

The sad thing is they don't mention what brand or model of recliner it is. I bet they could use this to sell more recliners.


By min | November 22, 2006, 3:33 PM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (4) | Link



I Like Snow

And i'll tell you why. Snow days. Sure, the roads are treacherous and shoveling sucks. But that's no reason to wish for it to not snow. You just need to wish for it to snow at a convenient time. Say, an hour or two before you have to leave for work. If it snows enough, you get a day off. No need to clean off the car. No need to hazard the roads which are inevitably chock-full of the area's worst drivers. I don't know how that could possibly be a bad thing. Sit at home where it's nice and cozy. Make some hot chocolate. Heat up those frozen hors d'oeuvres. Watch a movie. Play some video games. Cereally. This is the stuff you used to wish for when you were a kid. What the hell is wrong with you people and you're "Oh, it's a good thing it's not snowing"??


By min | November 22, 2006, 3:16 PM | My stupid life| Link



Happy Birthday!

One year ago we put up our very first post on SuperMegaMonkey. Whoo! How much more exciting can this day get, huh?


By min | November 22, 2006, 8:13 AM | My stupid life| Link



November 20, 2006

Scientifically What Now?

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) accused the Department of Health and Human Services of allowing incorrect information on sex to be distributed to kids. This distribution of information is part of the publicly-funded "abstinence only" program. Based on that alone, i think most of us are not too surprised about that "incorrect information" thing.

What's interesting is how the Dept of HHS attempts to squirm its way out of this accusation.

The GAO gave the reasonable-sounding recommendation to HHS that it ensure that all information given to kids through these programs should be scientifically accurate.
...
In response, the Department of Health and Human Services -- which has on staff more than a few scientists and other educated types -- said the GAO's suggestion was useless. "GAO never defines the term 'scientific accuracy' in its report," HHS complained. "As such, it is difficult to precisely determine the criteria employed by GAO in making the recommendations as to scientific accuracy."

I think this is grounds for instant elimination. Or at the very least, a severe beating.


By min | November 20, 2006, 1:38 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link



After All I've Done For You People

Another member joining the Joe "I decide what the people really want" Lieberman is Representative Jim Walsh who is "disappointed" that the voters didn't appreciate his works as much as he felt they ought to have.

"I was very disappointed in the people of the city," Walsh said. "I've worked harder in the city of Syracuse than I have in any other part of the district. I have given my heart and soul to that city. And I'll continue to do that, but I've got a little hole in my heart."

Greg Sargent of TPM Cafe puts it very nicely:

"Note to Walsh: You serve at the pleasure of the voters. If they weren't as impressed with your performance as you are, this is an indication of failure on your part -- not theirs."

By min | November 20, 2006, 1:25 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (2) | Link



Man i sure am food-insecure. I could go for some fajitas.

Link:

The U.S. government is no longer referring to poor people going hungry. Hunger in America, in other words, has disappeared. It's been made inapplicable. Irrelevant. Improper. Non-existent. In its place, there's food security. This is not a joke. This is the new policy of the United States Department of Agriculture, and it was reported in this morning's Washington Post: "Every year, the Agriculture Department issues a report that measures Americans' access to food, and it has consistently used the word 'hunger' to describe those who can least afford to put food on the table. But not this year. Mark Nord, the lead author of the report, said 'hungry' is 'not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food security survey.' Nord, a USDA sociologist, said, 'We don't have a measure of that condition.' The USDA said that 12 percent of Americans -- 35 million people -- could not put food on the table at least part of last year. Eleven million of them reported going hungry at times. Beginning this year, the USDA has determined 'very low food security' to be a more scientifically palatable description for that group."

By fnord12 | November 20, 2006, 12:57 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (2) | Link



A little pre-Thanksgiving feast warning


By fnord12 | November 20, 2006, 9:02 AM | Video Games | Comments (1) | Link



November 19, 2006

Who needs sleep?

We are having a video game revival over here. We're a generation behind, but we are tearing through some games. I've just basically given up sleep and have been a zombie at work, but my philosophy has been if i'm going to be miserable i ought to be tired as well.

Monsters first, and then get the treasure, dammit!
We just played through D&D Heroes for the X-Box. When we first played it, i thought it wasn't as good as the Baldur's Gate games for the consoles, but it's actually just a slightly different style and once you accept that it's great. It's more action/arcade oriented than the Baldur's Gates which makes sense because it is four players and with four people sitting around you don't really want to click through a ton of dialogue - you just want to go on a rampage. Or at least, 3 of us wanted to go on a rampage. The 4th - and i won't say who - just wanted to smash all the boxes and open all the chests and grab the loot while the rest of us were occupied.

The only bad thing - and i see this a lot in all different types of roleplaying games - is that by the time we got to the end of the game we were super-powerful and there wasn't really a challenge anymore. We had millions of heal potions and raise dead amulets, super-mega attack spells, and even my wizard was killing the bad guys in a couple of hits. After we beat the game on Hard, we unlocked the Nightmare level and we started that up and loaded our characters... and it wasn't much of a Nightmare at all.

Blue Valkyrie shouldn't shoot food. Yellow Warrior shouldn't shoot potions. Red Knight shouldn't shoot--- are you people even listening to me?
So we've moved on to Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (I am noticing that GameSpot is totally not liking these games that i think are great, which is interesting.) I played through this once before but the others have not, which is cool cause now i get to play as one of the characters i unlocked along the way last time. This is (nearly) pure arcade style fun, especially when you switch the controls to "Robotron Style". Damn right. We're playing on Hard, which means all the treasure chests and barrels are full of Poison Apples and Junk, but we're getting along.

There's a Secret War in my Xbox, and everyone's invited!
Meanwhile, we're playing through Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Yeah, it's for the original Xbox (I'm not moving on to the next video game generation), but i still think the graphics are fine, plus, who cares... you can be like every marvel character, and you get to fight the rest of them. We've fought Dragon Man, and Modok, and Fin Fang Foom, and Radioactive Man, and tons more. It's like they made the game for me! Oh, the game's actually pretty good, too. The controls are pretty intuitive and you need to have different sorts of strategies for fighting different types of charagers. About half of the boss fights aren't straight button mashers, either. There's lots of little variations and tricks to them. And you get to create a "team" - you pick a logo and enter a name (we're Power Pack, of course) and you can earn a reputation by being heroic, and you use those points to buy benefits for your team.

The only real problem is the upgrade system - sometimes when you go up a level you get a point, and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you use points to upgrade your powers, and sometimes you have to pay money. And some powers you can't upgrade until you are a certain level, which is odd (they should just make it so that it costs enough points that it's restrictive to buy at lower levels, just for consistency). But that's a minor complaint; superheroes don't really "upgrade" their powers very often anyway.

Who will be master Baten?
Meanwhile meanwhile, when the whole group isn't here, me and min are playing Baten Kaitos Origins. It's a non-action roleplaying game, which i usually don't like to play cause there's not a lot of strategy or anything involved, but we were trying to find some games that don't make certain people dizzy. And it's actually pretty unique - instead of selecting moves, it's got a Yu-gi-oh style card system where moves come up on your "deck" and you have to pick them in the right order to execute combos. And it's real-time turn based, which means you have to pick the cards quick. So it's not billed as a two player game, but i really do need a wingman to tell me what the hell is going on while i'm picking my cards. The only weird thing is, i'm a character in the game. I'm the spirit that lives in the main character's heart (uh-huh). So he keeps turning around to ask me questions. But what i've learned is, i have to always agree with what he's saying. If he asks me a question (What do you think, Chumley? Should we trust her?), if i say i don't trust her and he wants to trust her, it means we don't get certain bonuses. So it's sort of like fascism, or maybe like getting an essay assignment in school and having to answer it the way the teacher wants instead of what you think.

Using an X-X-A Combo to Fight the Power!
This post may look like a bunch of video game reviews, but it's actually a political post. This is my new manifesto. I've decided i'm not going to put my life on hold just because i'm working at a crappy job. I'm gonna stay up all night playing video games if i want to, dammit. I'm gonna enjoy my life. I'm gonna --- zzzzzzzzz...


By fnord12 | November 19, 2006, 12:06 PM | Comics & D&D & Liberal Outrage & My stupid life & Video Games| Link



November 18, 2006

An expository conversation

Recap #4.


By fnord12 | November 18, 2006, 8:28 PM | D&D| Link



But i still like comic books

Other than Iron Man, everything i've been reading lately has been great.

I just read all the Brubaker Captain Americas, and not only do i no longer mind that they brought Bucky back, i actually think it is cool. They made Bucky a cooler character in general, and the story as a whole is fantastic. I also read Brubaker's Daredevil, which is also really, really good.

And i finished reading the Runaways, which is also great. I read series 1 after series 2 because i had some trouble finding some series 1 issues, but it was actually kind of cool seeing a lot of things being set-up that i probably would have missed if i read them in the right order.

Unlike just about everyone on every message board or blog i've seen, i am loving Civil War. I think it's a great story, i think it's as tightly knit and consistent as a crossover this large can possibly be, and it seems like this event is going to have long term repercussions that are going to be very interesting.

I'm also reading Astonishing X-Men, Dr. Strange, Eternals, and Annhiliation and they're all at least very good. It's a great time to be reading Marvel comics, in my opinion.

Just wanted to share a little comic book love since my last post was a complaint and i see so many complaints about the direction of Marvel right now.


By fnord12 | November 18, 2006, 7:19 PM | Comics | Comments (1) | Link



Repeats

So in Iron Man #210 (1986), Happy Hogan was training a promising young boxer, and he went to Tony Stark to ask if he could lend him the money so that he could become a boxing manager. Unfortunately, the boxer turned out to be the Spymaster, who trapped Iron Man. But Happy Hogan, using his boxing skills, was able to beat up the Spymaster. It's not a great story, but it was pretty good. just a random issue of Iron Man that I had as a kid so it stuck in my head.

In the most recent issue of Iron Man (#13), the Spymaster show up and tried to kidnap Happy to use as bait for Iron Man. But Happy Hogan, using his boxing skills, was able to beat up the Spymaster. During the fight, Happy talks about how he still keeps up his boxing, and then says "I just knew... someday I'd get a change to rip one'a you pantywaist super-goons a new one."

So i looked it up and it turns out the original Spymaster died in Iron Man #220 and this is a new guy. But still, Happy's comments are totally oblivious to the fact that he had essentially done this before.

I guess i shouldn't demand that writers and editors be familiar with every issue of the characters they are writing, but i nonetheless do demand it, dammit. Both Spymasters have a total of about 35 appearances. It doesn't seem to be too much to ask that writers do their research before writing a character. I dunno, tell me i'm wrong.


By fnord12 | November 18, 2006, 7:03 PM | Comics| Link



November 17, 2006

I...I Can't Read The Rest Of This

Link. She just keeps saying things about a "level playing field" and "economic fairness" where everyone can "compete equally". And at no point did her nose start to grow. Nor did she choke as she was saying these words. How could anyone be in the room with her while she was saying this stuff without snickering? The idea that Condoleeza Rice could be concerned about anyone competing equally is completely ludicrous. I'd find it laughable if i wasn't so disgusted with her. It's a wonder anyone listens to a word our government says considering the hypocrisy that comes spewing out of their pie holes.

Nobody expects her to admit, "We want the U.S. to dominate the world, economically and militarily. Therefore, we will do whatever is in our power to stem China's growth." All i ask is for them to keep their traps shut about the whole thing. Say something meaningless that doesn't exactly address the question. They're good at that. It's all they ever do if they're not vilifying people who disagree with their policies.


By min | November 17, 2006, 9:19 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link



November 16, 2006

Disappointed

You know, i guess i'm a hypocrite or something, but i don't really care about the fact that Murtha considered (but didn't actually take) a bribe 26 years ago. I'm interested in stopping the war in Iraq as soon as possible. Murtha was the anti-war candidate (whatever his actual position, that's what he represented) and this guy represented the "moderates". And the democrats in the house voted overwhelmingly for the moderate. Which signals to me, and i hope i'm wrong, that they aren't really interested in stopping the war.

The Republicans put Trent Lott back in a leadership position, so i guess it's ok for Republicans to admit that they're racists again, but it's too soon to forgive Murtha for something that may have happened in 1980.

(Hey, at least Hoyer supports music education...)


By fnord12 | November 16, 2006, 5:16 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link



CIA Acknowledges Bush Authorized Detention Facilities and Torture

The CIA recently acknowledged the existence of these documents - one signed by Bush authorizing detention facilities to be set up outside of the country, outlining interrogation techniques that may be used and the second from the Justice Department a legal analysis on torture techniques the CIA could use on detainees.

The documents had been sought by the A.C.L.U. in a suit filed in a New York federal court under the Freedom of Information Act. The suit has previously led to the disclosure of thousands of documents from the Pentagon, the F.B.I., the Justice Department and other agencies.

In the past, C.I.A. lawyers have sought to avoid any discussion of whether the agency had documents related to its interrogation and detention practices, the A.C.L.U. said. The group added that the agency had said national security would be jeopardized if it were compelled to disclose in any way its involvement in interrogations.

In the C.I.A. letter, Mr. McPherson confirmed the existence of the documents but declined to release them, saying that essentially all of their contents were exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act because release would damage national security and violate attorney-client privilege.

The timing of this acknowledgement is interesting. Does it have anything to do with the results of the mid-term elections? Is the CIA sensing a change in the wind and trying to make sure they aren't the ones left holding the bag? Or is it just because the lawsuit has forced their hand? As it is, they still refuse to release the documents themselves. Knowing them, if they did release it, it would be so completely redacted that it would become a useless piece of paper. I've long wondered why the CIA still obeys the administration. Considering how Bush and Co. totally give the CIA the shaft whenever it's convenient for them, i'm surprised the CIA hasn't turned on them. They are the CIA afterall. I'm sure they've got plenty of dirty laundry on everybody. Especially since Bush stuck them with Mr. Hide-Behind-the-Door after throwing Tenet under the bus. If that's not grounds for mutiny, i don't know what is.


By min | November 16, 2006, 11:47 AM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link



Random Lyrics Thursday

Take On Me by A-Ha

We're talking away
I don't know what
I'm to say I'll say it anyway
Today's another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, OK?

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

So needless to say
I'm odds and ends
But that's me stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is OK.
Say after me
It's no better to be safe than sorry

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

Oh the things that you say
Is it life or
Just a play my worries away
You're all the things I've got to
remember
You're shying away
I'll be coming for you anyway

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two



By min | November 16, 2006, 11:18 AM | Music | Comments (3) | Link



Denigrating Into A Rat's Nest?

Is "denigrate" being used properly in this headline?

"Iraq denigrating into a rat's nest, general testifies"

The definitions i'm familiar with are these:

  1. To attack the character or reputation of; speak ill of; defame.
  2. To disparage; belittle

I would have used "degenerate," personally. I also noted that the terms "denigrating" and "rat's nest" aren't actually quoted anywhere in the article.


By min | November 16, 2006, 10:50 AM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (1) | Link



November 15, 2006

What do you people want?

Seriously.


By fnord12 | November 15, 2006, 4:40 PM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (7) | Link



Murtha No Coward, But Not A Good Guy Either

Remember when Murtha criticized what was going on in Iraq? Remember how happy we were that there was finally a Democrat who was willing to say something? I, at least, thought, 'hey, this Murtha guy is great'. Well, it's still great that he finally came out and said something. But, the man himself is by no means great.

ABSCAM was the media's name for an FBI undercover operation to catch corrupt lawmakers. Around 1980, agents and an informant met with several lawmakers posing as representatives of a fictional "sheik Abdul" to offer them $50,000 in cash for legislative favors. Murtha was one of the lawmakers who met with them.

Ultimately, six lawmakers went down on corruption charges stemming from the operation, nearly all of them Democrats. Murtha wasn't one of them -- but not, as Murtha implies, because his innocence was ever demonstrated.

...

In 1980, Tip O'Neill was House Speaker and the center of Democratic power in Washington, George Crile wrote in his book, "Charlie Wilson's War." Murtha was a member of O'Neill's inner circle.

When O'Neill learned that the special prosecutor, Barrett Prettyman Jr., had set his sights on Murtha, "the Speaker immediately summoned [then-Texas Dem. congressman] Charlie Wilson into his office with an offer he couldn't refuse" -- a seat on the House ethics committee.

...

"[S]hortly after Charlie's arrival the rules of the game changed completely and before [special prosecutor] Prettyman could fully deploy his investigators to move on the Murtha case, he was informed that the committee had concluded there was no justification for an investigation. 'This matter is closed,' proclaimed the newly appointed Ethics Committee chairman Louis Stokes, another of the Speaker's reliables."

Prettyman was stunned, Crile said, and resigned his congressional post in protest. Murtha kept his -- and, come Thursday's secret ballot election among his fellow Democrats, may take the top seat in the House.

I'll try to not be so naive next time. Sorry about that.


By min | November 15, 2006, 3:52 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link



November 14, 2006

Meat Bad

Eating red meat may raise a woman's risk of a common type of breast cancer, and vitamin supplements will do little if anything to protect her heart, two new studies suggest.

Women who ate more than 1 1/2 servings of red meat per day were almost twice as likely to develop hormone-related breast cancer as those who ate fewer than three portions per week, one study found.

The other - one of the longest and largest tests of whether supplements of various vitamins can prevent heart problems and strokes in high-risk women - found that the popular pills do no good, although there were hints that women with the highest risk might get some benefit from vitamin C.

Link

Boys can get breast cancer, too.

Here's the thing - if it's hormone-related breast cancer, what happens if they eat beef from cows who aren't pumped full of the stuff? If it's grass-fed, free-range, organic beef, would the same problem occur? And, if hormones are causing all this breast cancer, why the hell isn't someone (other than your usual "hippy liberal") doing something about getting the hormones out of beef production? Hormones causing breast cancer? Stop ingesting it, you moron.


By min | November 14, 2006, 12:54 PM | Science | Comments (2) | Link



Rumsfeld Facing War Crimes Charges?

We should be so lucky.

A US-based civil rights group today asked German prosecutors to take legal action against the former US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes.

The Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR) lodged a complaint with the German federal prosecutor urging investigations of Mr Rumsfeld, who resigned last week, and other former US officials over alleged abuses in Iraq and at Guantánamo Bay.

Under a law enacted by Germany when the international criminal court was created in 2002, the federal prosecutor can investigate and prosecute war crimes regardless of where they are committed or of the nationality of the perpetrators.

Not that it would really matter if they did. The U.S. government would simply ignore the ruling just as they ignore any ruling that's not in their favor. They've been charged by the U.N. before. They won't even pay their U.N. dues. What makes you think they're gonna care if you charge their politicians with crimes?


By min | November 14, 2006, 12:37 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link



Guantanamo

How is it that they can make up laws that allow them to snatch people off the streets from around the world and hold them indefinitely, but when it comes time to use the law to say these people have rights, the government gets to say "oh, they don't apply because they're not being held on U.S. soil"?

Assholes. It is our shame that this is done in our name.


By min | November 14, 2006, 12:29 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link



November 10, 2006

As I Was Saying

The Democrats do really stupid things.

In a post-election news conference, Lieberman said he was reassured by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid that he would retain his seniority when the new Senate convenes.

Mebbe they're like Thanos. They think they want to achieve their goals, but something inside them forces them to sabotage their own efforts everytime. (Or at least, that's what i hear about Thanos.)


By min | November 10, 2006, 3:30 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (5) | Link



Oh Crap

They're producing them factory style now.

These students are part of a large, well-organised movement that is empowering parents to teach their children creationist biology and other unorthodox versions of science at home, all centred on the idea that God created Earth in six days about 6000 years ago. Patrick Henry, near the town of Purcellville, about 60 kilometres north-west of Washington DC, is gearing up to groom home-schooled students for political office and typifies a movement that seems set to expand, opening up a new front in the battle between creationists and Darwinian evolutionists. New Scientist investigated how home-schooling, with its considerable legal support, is quietly transforming the landscape of science education in the US, subverting and possibly threatening the public school system that has fought hard against imposing a Christian viewpoint on science teaching.
...
Home-schoolers are drawn to PHC partly because of its political connections and partly because, unlike most Christian colleges, it boasts high academic standards. Besides the focus on creationism, much of the curriculum is dedicated to rhetoric and debate, preparing students to fight political and legal battles on issues such as abortion, stem cell research and evolution. The technique is effective. For the past two years, the college has won the moot court national championship, in which students prepare legal briefs and deliver oral arguments to a hypothetical court, and has twice defeated the UK's University of Oxford in debating competitions.

As evidenced by the neocons, the evangelists are very good at organizing. We are in so much deep shit. These kids will be programmed to push the neocon meme. Because they're being groomed for political positions, they'll be able to get that meme out in the media and into government policies.

Let's be honest. The Democrats won this midterm election and miraculously won both Houses. Great. But it's pretty common in a midterm election for the power to shift, so how much of it was due to the Democrat's own strategizing and how much was it just that people are fickle? I still harbor doubts that the Dems could win themselves out of a paper hat in most scenarios. And the Leftists and Progressives (as in "not the Democrats") are so factioned that for them to set up any kind of organized response to the fresh batch of neocons set to be pumped out by Patrick Henry College is a far fetched hope.

I think we might be doomed. And i have no hope that the norms will wise up and put up some sort of resistance. Most of them have trouble with doors.


By min | November 10, 2006, 3:17 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (2) | Link



Bolton Out?

One hopes that the very least that can come out of this Democratic victory is that Bolton's nomination doesn't go through.

A key Senate Republican has joined Democrats in opposing one of Bush's initiatives for the lame-duck Congress: John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

With leaders from both parties promising a new bipartisan Washington, Bush began efforts to get two of his most controversial decisions approved before the Democrats take over.

Along with Bolton's nomination, Bush said he would like to move forward on legislation to retroactively authorize the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.

Bush said he would like to see action on both issues before year's end. The Democratic-controlled Congress begins its term in January.

But Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who was defeated in this week's election, said he would block Bolton's nomination.

It's nice to see that Chafee won't use his last few months to push through the rest of Bush's agenda. Although, i'm still peeved on the Alito thing. At least he isn't a Republican posing as a Democrat like others we know.

At the end of the article, Bush talks about how he hopes the Democratic congress will work together and rise above partisanship. By which, he means, they should rubberstamp and back everything he says they should. Any contrary opinions expressed will be labelled as "partisan". Is he simply arrogrant or simply simple?


By min | November 10, 2006, 2:30 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link



November 9, 2006

There's Hope for Me Yet

They have successfully transplanted light-sensitive cells in blind mice to restore their eyesight.

A breakthrough in restoring sight to the blind has been made with a study showing that a damaged eye can be repaired by transplanting light-sensitive cells. The results of an experiment on laboratory mice have been so successful, scientists believe clinical trials on blind people could start within 10 years.

If the breakthrough can be developed further it could lead to new forms of treatment for the 300,000 visually impaired people in Britain who suffer from age-related macular degeneration and the thousands of blind children with inherited diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.

I'm not blind yet, but if the trend continues, i will practically be there. Although, this article only talks about being able to restore sight to blind people and those with age-related macular degeneration, i'm hoping that can also extend to people who just have bad eyesight. I'm sure laser surgery is in my future, at the very least. Stupid eyeballs.


By min | November 9, 2006, 11:51 AM | Science | Comments (1) | Link



Random Lyrics Thursday

The Bomb by L7

Plastic people with their plastic lives
Plastic lips tell plastic lies
Plastic drivers in plastic cars
Plastic food from plastic jars

Frustration is the fuse
The flame is hate
Tick tick tick
Detonate
She's the bomb

Plastic models in plastic magazines
Plastic kings and plastic queens
All are seen on plastic TVs
Prayed to by people on bended plastic knees

What you think, well that's good too
But not as much as what do you do
This fuse burns slow
Waiting to blow
The world is a heavy load
Watch it explode

Lawmakers with plastic policies
Put plastic locks on their cities
In hopes to keep them quiet
Well go off
Well blow up



By min | November 9, 2006, 11:13 AM | Music| Link



Fine. I Give In

I've been trying to ignore it because i just didn't want to know what sort of quagmire was forming. More than a week i've been doing my best to pretend it wasn't in the headlines. But they're persistent bastards, so i finally clicked on the link to read today's bright and cheery news on Israel.

Can somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on?

They're playing chicken with the French and German peacekeeping forces in Lebanon.

French troops forming part of the peacekeeping force in Lebanon nearly shot down Israeli fighter jets, which appeared to be in attacking positions, revealed French defense minister Michele Alliot-Marie Wednesday.

They missed by just two seconds, she told the lower house of French parliament, citing instances of how Israeli warplanes had been adopting a hostile attitude to French and German forces maintaining peace in the disturbed area.

As if the resumption of hostilities between them and Palestine weren't enough.

Early on Wednesday, Israeli tanks bombarded a residential district in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, killing at least 18 Palestinians, including eight children, and leaving several dozens injured.

Is this part of some larger plan or has everyone completely lost their minds? Again.

Granted, Israel feels threatened by its neighbors, who are quite willing to shoot rockets at them. But Israel's not innocent in all of this either. Taking a cue from the U.S. (whose foreign policy and strategy are peerless), i think they've been much more willing to strike "pre-emptively" to protect themselves. Seeing as that turned out so well for us, i can only imagine how much better it will work for Israel.


By min | November 9, 2006, 10:45 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link



November 8, 2006

Hijacked

5 of first 10 posts on racmu are currently about the Heroes tv show. Screw that, i wanna read about comic books!


By fnord12 | November 8, 2006, 1:51 PM | Comics| Link



Comic Rage

Wow. I've never seen Paul O'Brien so angry:

Happy New Year! Yes, in the warped world of comic book indicia, it's now January 2007. And we all know what a new month means - a whole new set of adverts!

You can probably guess where this is heading, can't you?

In October 2005, Marvel shipped a month of comics containing a frankly outrageous quantity of adverts. In some books, the adverts actually outnumbered the story in terms of page count. Not surprisingly, there were complaints. Adverts are distracting, quite intentionally. They disrupt the flow of the story. A certain amount can be screened out, but when the adverts outnumber the story pages, you've got a real problem in terms of readability. The quality of the product is seriously compromised.

Marvel apologised, and cheerfully announced that it wouldn't be happening again the next month. Of course, on a close reading, that was partly because they just didn't have as many advertisers lined up for next month. But still, they acknowledged the problem. They apologised to readers. Joe Quesada ended up telling Newsarama that it wouldn't happen again.

Now, if recent history is anything to go by, Marvel will probably deny that they ever said any such thing. So, just for reference, here's the passages.

Joe Quesada, on 21 October 2005:-

"We're very aware of the problem, and we're going to rectify it. ... We've heard the fans and will make sure that their reading experience is the number one priority and not the ads. They will be seeing short and long-term resolutions in the next couple of weeks."

Joe Quesada, on 11 November 2005:-

"We've been looking to resolve this as quickly as we can, which is why I'm proud to say that come December, all our books go back to their normal page counts. And in the future, if we ever find ourselves in this sort of dilemma again, we will place the bulk of the ads towards the back of the books so as to interrupt the stories as little as possible."

I'll just repeat that last bit in case you didn't get it.

"In the future, if we ever find ourselves in this sort of dilemma again, we will place the bulk of the ads towards the back of the books so as to interrupt the stories as little as possible."

Well, once again we have a vast quantity of adverts this month, and it turns out Joe Quesada was not telling the truth. No effort whatsoever has been made to group the adverts at the back of the book. Not only that, but Marvel themselves have made the situation even worse. This comic contains 23 pages of adverts between the first and last page of a 22 page story. Of those adverts, one is a double-page house ad for Incredible Hulk, one is a full-page house ad for newuniversal, one is a half-page house ad for Iron Fist, and one is a half-page house ad for Bullet Points. The half pagers may just about be forgivable, because they're needed to fill out the page due to the dimensions of the paid advertisements. But three pages of house ads in the middle of a 22-page story already fit to burst with adverts? A full spread house ad in a story that already contains no less than three double-spread paid ads? Are they on crack?

Nobody could seriously argue that this story is unimpaired by the adverts. Take, for example, page 15 of the story. It's a big explosion that's meant to be a cool, dramatic moment. But it's stranded miles away from any sort of context - the preceding two pages are adverts, and so are the next three.

Here's the thing. Marvel acknowledged, just twelve months ago, that this was unacceptable. They accepted that it damaged the quality of their product. They claimed to have heard the complaints. They said that if they had this many adverts again, they'd group them at the back.

Well, so much for Marvel's word.

And do you know, it's the strangest thing. Because Marvel love quality. They tell us so, every time one of their flagship titles is running several months late. It's because something unexpected has come up, yet again, and Marvel is willing to stick with the creators, because they care so much about quality.

Heaven forfend anyone should suggest that Marvel has a chronic lateness problem because they indulge primadonnas who think their Jerry Bruckheimer story is Citizen Kane; artists who somehow find time to draw magazine covers when their regular title is six months late; and TV writers who put their TV work first and have no discernible intention of handing in their scripts on anything remotely resembling a deadline. Heaven forfend anyone suggest that Marvel's scheduling department appears to consist of six monkeys and a dartboard, and that the company persistently announces comics on schedules that it knows full well will never be achieved. Dear me, no. It's all because the unexpected continues to occur with clockwork regularity, and Marvel care so terribly much about quality.

Well, if Marvel truly care that much about quality, why are they shipping comics with 23 pages of adverts in 22 story pages, something that they've previously acknowledged is unacceptably damaging to the product? Why didn't they keep to their word and put the adverts at the back of the book? Why didn't they just turn some of the adverts down? Come on, you're always telling us how you're willing to sacrifice short term profit when it comes to indulging your big name primadonnas! Where's the same effort when it comes to the adverts? You people do realise that at the end of the day, paying customers are supposed to read these bloody things?

I'm not a happy customer. I'm a seriously angry customer.

Of course, it could be worse. You could be reading Ant-Man #2. That book contains a 22 page story interpolated with 25 pages of adverts - and since that apparently isn't bad enough, they've chucked in the letter column to make it 26. So the adverts outnumber the story pages by 18%.

Look me in the eye, Joe, and tell me this is acceptable.


By fnord12 | November 8, 2006, 12:45 PM | Comics| Link



Jerk

He should come over to my house and fix my rubik's cube.

Astrophysicist says Rubik's Cubes are easy

Tyson Mao, 22, is among a new generation of competitive solvers of the Rubik's Cube, a plastic puzzle made up of small, coloured cubes which players twist in various directions until each side of the cube is a solid colour.

This weekend he will try to regain the title of world blindfold Rubik's Cube champion, a title he lost last year to his friend Leeann Loo who beat his time of one minute 58 seconds by 30 seconds.

"With some hard work I can probably make it. It is within reach," Mao told Reuters.

Mao took up playing with Rubik's Cubes about three years ago, introduced to the puzzle by his younger brother Toby who currently holds the world record for solving the Rubik's Cube -- 10.48 seconds.

Link


By min | November 8, 2006, 11:00 AM | Ummm... Other?| Link



Dems win

Click over to Daily Kos and see his nifty chart at the top of the page. Dems take the House with a gain of 28 seats for a 231 to 204 advantage. They take the governorship with 6 gains and control 28 states to the Republican's 22. And the Senate is now tied 50/50, with two recounts outstanding. Lieberman won, but at least he got kicked out of the party. He's said he'll caucus with the Dems but after the treatment he's received i wouldn't be surprised if he switched sides. The good thing about the Lamont challenge is it forced Lieberman to change a lot of his positions, especially around the war, and also hopefully humbled him a bit.

6 years ago i would have said this wouldn't matter much. Today, i'm not so sure. On the one hand, we know that a lot of the new Democrats that have been elected are right-leaning, and we know that nearly all of them are still under the influence of corporate power. On the other hand, it is important that a lot of ordinary people switched parties or came out of the non-voting woodwork to make this change - even in districts that 6 months ago were considered "safe" red zones. The goal is to keep that pressure on and make sure that politicians know that people are sick of bullshit wars and fake terror alerts and an economy that leaders say is doing well while people are struggling. This election we pushed things from far right to somewhere in the center. Next election let's tip it a little further to the left.


By fnord12 | November 8, 2006, 7:42 AM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (3) | Link



November 7, 2006

What's the Big Deal About Copper?

Why are all these Hawaiians digging up utility lines or chopping down telephone poles to steal copper wiring?

A 47-year-old man accused chopping down a utility pole to steal its copper wiring was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass. He also faces several felony charges.
..
There have been several copper thefts on Oahu in past few months, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In September, thieves made off with more than 2 1/2 miles of copper wire they dug up along the H-1 Freeway in West Oahu. The wire connected 16 lights along the freeway from Makakilo to Kunia, which was already dark after being hit by thieves this summer.

Is there some huge black market demand for copper wiring that i didn't know about? If they want copper, i think typer195's got tons of pennies he hates to carry around. We could just steal them.


By min | November 7, 2006, 11:09 AM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (2) | Link



November 6, 2006

It's D&D's Fault....Again

A mentally ill man killed a co-worker with a homemade "samurai" sword. He happened to enjoy Dungeons and Dragons, but due to his mental illness, couldn't separate reality from fantasy. He thought he was a ninja. Now, d&d might be responsible for his choice of delusion, but if he was delusional and felt endangered enough to attack someone, it would have happened regardless of d&d. The article doesn't actually say that d&d is to blame. It just likes to mention it, both in the headline and in the article.

Jurors find 'Dungeons & Dragons' player guilty but mentally ill in the murder of a co-worker

At least it doesn't mention satan, too.

Link


By min | November 6, 2006, 12:51 PM | D&D & Ummm... Other? | Comments (3) | Link



Naked Man Arrested for Carrying Concealed Weapon.

That's right. That's what i said. A naked man was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. And if you think that's disturbing, wait til you read what that weapon was.


By min | November 6, 2006, 12:32 PM | Ummm... Other?| Link



Left behind

Another of our neighbors has moved to the left:

Former Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega appeared headed for victory Monday in his longtime quest to regain power, 16 years after a U.S.-backed rebellion helped drive the former Marxist revolutionary from office.
...
The race has generated intense international interest, including a visit by Oliver North, the former White House aide at the heart of the Iran-Contra controversy. That effort to oust Ortega's Moscow-leaning Sandinista regime created a huge scandal in the United States when it became known that Washington secretly sold arms to Iran and used the money to fund and arm the Contra operation.
...
At stake are millions of dollars in potential investments, many from foreign companies drawn to Nicaragua by its cheap labor, low crime rates and decision to join the new Central American Free Trade Agreement.

By fnord12 | November 6, 2006, 8:52 AM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link



November 4, 2006

The Deadly Follies of Stick-Figure Man

Kinda funny.


By fnord12 | November 4, 2006, 9:47 AM | Ummm... Other?| Link



November 3, 2006

Misunderstanding the Job Responsibilities

It would seem that law schools have put out a few bad apples. Lawyers who don't quite understand what their job is really about. Patrick Fitzgerald, Eliot Spitzer, and James Comey to name a few. Well, here's another.

Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart W. Bowen Jr. in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces.

And tucked away in a huge military authorization bill that President Bush signed two weeks ago is what some of Mr. Bowen's supporters believe is his reward for repeatedly embarrassing the administration: a pink slip.

The order comes in the form of an obscure provision that terminates his federal oversight agency, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, on Oct. 1, 2007. The clause was inserted by the Republican side of the House Armed Services Committee over the objections of Democratic counterparts during a closed-door conference, and it has generated surprise and some outrage among lawmakers who say they had no idea it was in the final legislation.

...

Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who followed the bill closely as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, says that she still does not know how the provision made its way into what is called the conference report, which reconciles differences between House and Senate versions of a bill.

Neither the House nor the Senate version contained such a termination clause before the conference, all involved agree.

"It's truly a mystery to me," Ms. Collins said. "I looked at what I thought was the final version of the conference report and that provision was not in at that time."

It would seem that even the politicians who are paying attention and actually reading the materials they're voting on still don't know what it is they're voting on since last minute provisions can be tacked on without telling anyone. Nice how the government works, isn't it?

It's his own fault, really. Bowen should have known that his real job was to cover up any embarassing instances of fraud or misuse of funds. Duh. Get on the ball, dude. Neo-cons don't like honest dealing.


By min | November 3, 2006, 9:46 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link



Could Someone Please Tell Me

WTF is a memory expert?


By min | November 3, 2006, 9:37 AM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (2) | Link



Newborns Get Screwed, Too

Once again, the complete and total lack of smiting is such a sure sign that there is no God. If He did exist, He would surely have struck down Bush and the rest of the so-called Christians who only pay lip service but do nothing remotely Christian-like in terms of caring for others and having compassion and all the things the New Testament mentions. The latest example:

Under a new federal policy, children born in the United States to illegal immigrants with low incomes will no longer be automatically entitled to health insurance through Medicaid, Bush administration officials said Thursday.

Doctors said the policy change would make it more difficult for such infants, who are U.S. citizens, to get health care in the first year of life.

...

Under the new policy, an application must be filed for the baby, and the parents must prove the child's citizenship.

"The federal government told us we have no latitude. All states must change their policies and practices," said Marilyn E. Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Medicaid program.

...

Obtaining such documents can take weeks or months in some states, doctors said.
...

About 4 million babies are born in the United States each year, and Medicaid pays for more than one-third of all births. The number involving illegal immigrant parents is unknown, but is likely to be in the tens of thousands, health experts said.

"We're totally opposed to abortion. Every sperm is sacred. You're committing murder when you have an abortion. But once they're out of the womb, they're not our problem anymore. We just care about unborn children. All the ones that make it out of the womb can just go to hell."

Also, explain to me why there isn't just a simple document from the hospital that certifies "Yes. We delivered this baby here on US soil"? Cause that's pretty much all you need for the baby to be a citizen.


By min | November 3, 2006, 9:17 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link



Oh, the Irony.

The leader of America's powerful National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal supporter of George Bush and opponent of same-sex marriage, has resigned after being accused of paying for sex with a man.
...
The Associated Press reported that Ross Parsley, the acting senior pastor at the New Life Church, had told local station, KKTV-TV, that Mr Haggard had admitted that some of the accusations were true, but did not elaborate any further.

"I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that has been discussed, but there is an admission of some guilt," Mr Parsley told the station.


Link

Mebbe they just like having a "sordid" secret life, and that's why they're so opposed to gay marriage. It just wouldn't be as exciting if it was ok.

Between this and the Coulter thing, the week is starting to look up just a tiny bit.


By min | November 3, 2006, 8:38 AM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link



November 2, 2006

Even the Robbers are Polite

It's no wonder they get traumatized when they go to France.

The young man ate a bowl of "ramen" noodles and a side order of fried chicken at a restaurant in the city of Osaka on Wednesday then produced a knife and forced a waitress to hand over takings of 46,000 yen (205 pounds), the Sports Nippon newspaper said.

When the woman demanded he pay for his meal, the robber gave her 1,000 yen and waited for his 100 yen change before running away, the paper said.

Link


By min | November 2, 2006, 12:46 PM | Ummm... Other?| Link



Random Lyrics Thursday

The Weird Revolution by the Butthole Surfers

On behalf of Dr. Timothy Leary; in association with the legions of illuminated social rejects; and as an influential administrator and creator of musical chaos in these so called "United States" I stand as a messenger of strangeness this evening in order to impress upon or at least to instruct the honorable musicians as to the methods and motives of the truly bizarre reality -- The Weird Revolution.

Thomas Jefferson, cofounder and president of this normally corrupt nation said
"If God is truly just, I tremble for the fate of my country".

Secondly, there are some dynamics at play which I must familiarize you with.
The so-called weirdos in this country stand as completely freaked out by the normal man as the normal man is completely freaked out by the weird masses' reaction to him.

Which came first -- you may ask -- the chicken or the egg; you may ask.
Well, the chicken of course; and it's time to break this weird-ass chain.
The weird masses don't want to be normalized.
Weirdos want to be abnormal.
The freaks can't be formally normalized nor can we normally formalized.
What we want is complete weirdification.

Basically, we don't want weirdness from the normal man.
We don't want to be freaked out by the normal man.
We want to outfreak the normal man.

The normal man entices and prostitutes and performs surgery on our weird women.
Yes, even your brother could be a victim of his plastic fantasies.
And if you weird out his daughter he'll plast your ass.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Are you freaking with me?
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

So you can pluck out his feathers and smile because you are defending our weird women from the freaky-ass thoughts of the bug-eyed, bow-legged normal man.


By min | November 2, 2006, 11:59 AM | Music| Link



Halperin's Crushing on Hewitt

When the Political Director of a major media outlet such as ABC News goes out of their way trying to prove they're not a liberal, even going so far as to vow to Sean Hannity that the programming on their stations will not reflect any anti-conservative views for at least 2 weeks, we've got a problem.

Glenn Greenwald has a piece up about Halperin and how he basically kept pleading with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt to change his opinion that Halperin is "very liberal." It's kinda pathetic. It's also kinda mean of Hewitt to keep toying with the guy. I suppose he figures if he keeps Halperin dangling, it will mean Halperin will do more and more to "prove" his conservative-ness, which means more positive exposure in the media for the neo-cons (or absolutely no exposure on their illegal activities). It's a good strategy. They couldn't strategize their way out of a cardboard box, much less Iraq, but they sure know how to get good PR.

Today, Halperin is very upset -- very emotionally distraught -- because Hewitt remarked both during and after the interview that he thinks Halperin is "very liberal." Halperin spent three hours in the interview desperately trying to convince Hewitt that he is on Hewitt's side, but that wasn't enough to win Hewitt's approval. Nonetheless, Halperin is willing -- actually, quite eager -- to go to still greater and more horrifying lengths to obtain Hewitt's blessing.

First, Halperin e-mailed Hewitt today to again try to persuade Hewitt that he is not a liberal.

...

Unconvinced by Halperin's pleas both in the interview and again today that he is not a liberal, Hewitt rubbed the comment in Halperin's face again: "Not only do I think that Mark Halperin is very liberal, I don't think it is possible to conclude anything else."

In response, Halperin returned to Hewitt yet again, this time to request that Hewitt allow him to post a statement on Hewitt's blog, in which Halperin expressed how hurt he was that even after he agreed with almost everything Hewitt said during the interview, Hewitt is still calling him a liberal...

Apparently, the most traumatizing and horrifying thing that could ever happen to Mark Halperin is for Bush followers like Hugh Hewitt to think he's a liberal. It is self-evidently very important to Halperin -- on an emotional and deeply personal level -- to demonstrate that he is one of them, or at least not one of those liberals. To achieve this, he made an extraordinary vow to Sean Hannity when trying to win Hannity's approval, in which he pledged that the media would spend the next two weeks compensating for all of their anti-conservative sins over the past decades, and now he is engaged in a truly debased and highly emotional crusade to obtain Hugh Hewitt's affection.

I really question whether someone who has obviously made it such a high priority to obtain a very personal form of right-wing absolution can possibly exercise appropriate news judgment. If Halperin is willing to expend this much time and energy and shower Hewitt with such gushing praise -- and if he's willing to make such a public spectacle of himself when doing so -- all in order to convince Hewitt that he isn't liberal, won't that goal rather obviously affect Halperin's news coverage? Isn't there something extremely unseemly about the political director of ABC News engaging in such an intense campaign to win the approval of one of the most blindly partisan, extremist Bush followers in the country?

...

The need of journalists to please right-wing extremists and convince them that they are good and fair is very pervasive among the national media, and Halperin's highly emotional interaction with Hewitt is placing a high-powered microscope on how that dynamic works. As ugly as it is, it is highly instructive.


By min | November 2, 2006, 11:16 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link



The Beginning of Coulter's Downslide?

I wish, but i won't hold my breath.

I know she's a vicious and stupid flake who was pretty enough and mean enough to get on TV, but is she really this stupid?

Conservative columnist Ann Coulter has refused to cooperate in an investigation into whether she voted in the wrong precinct, so the case will probably be turned over to prosecutors, Palm Beach County's elections chief said Wednesday.

Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson said his office has been looking into the matter for nearly nine months, and he would turn over the case to the state attorney's office by Friday.

...

Anderson's office received a complaint in February that Coulter voted in the wrong precinct during a February 7 Palm Beach town council election.

Anderson said a letter was sent to Coulter on March 27 requesting that she clarify her address for the voting records "or face the possibility of her voter registration being rescinded." Three more letters were sent to Coulter and her attorney, but she has yet to respond with the information requested, Anderson said.

I guess once you get away with saying things about killing dissenters for being "traitors" or about widows from the Twin Towers attack "enjoying their husbands' deaths," why wouldn't you think you were invincible? In one sense, she will most likely forever be immortal, because she'll never shut up and people will still be drawn to the hate she spews. Plus, there will always be someone else to take her place if she should go down in flames. I know Michelle Malkin has been working hard to get that promotion.


By min | November 2, 2006, 9:21 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link



For Those of You Who Haven't Got Kids

Don't despair. You can still dress your pets up.

    

 

  

 

  

 

But, i think that even the pet costumes wouldn't fit Popo.


By min | November 2, 2006, 8:33 AM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (4) | Link



November 1, 2006

Vegan Lunches

Found this site with kewl vegan lunches some woman makes for her kid to take to school. Unfortunately, they take way more time to prepare than i'd want to dedicate to making my lunch for the week. I do love the bento-style lunchbox, though. I might even convince myself to get a couple. And i've always liked the idea of a thermos - one that didn't end up leaking all over the place.


For Halloween: Mummy calzone on a bed of mummy wrappings (torn paper towel), with a bucket of blood (pizza sauce) for dipping. Two shrunken heads (a baked apple with clove eyes) in a swamp of blackberry applesauce, and a little paper pumpkin holds dessert" (a couple of pieces of candy).

I must say, for an 8 year old, this kid sure eats fancy.

They stole your identity, shmoo. Either that, or you're related. In which case, i've gotta say, "where the hell are my bento box lunches, chippie?".


By min | November 1, 2006, 1:46 PM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (1) | Link



The Bush Cabal

I'm sure there's a conspiracy theory out there to explain this.

A Maine attorney who released information in 2000 about President George W. Bush's drunken driving conviction was arrested on Tuesday after he dressed up as al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and waved a fake gun at traffic.
...
In a phone interview, Connolly said he'd been trying to protest a planned change in local tax rules.

"I didn't expect to be arrested," he said. "Obviously I touched a post-9/11 nerve."

He releases Bush's drunk driving record before the election in 2000 which totally pissed Bush off. Now he's arrested for waving a fake gun at traffic while dressed as Bin Laden. I can almost taste the conspiracy.


By min | November 1, 2006, 11:25 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link



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